Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Secretary… they belong to the respective groups. All I own is the imagination of combining the two.

I apologize I was a complete epic fail with Review Replies and teasers this go around, I have a really good excuse… my RL BFF's mom lost her battle with ovarian cancer and I just couldn't think straight… This chapter is dedicated to her… she was the one there for me when I was going through my own personal hell. I love and miss you mom… I promise to make it up to you all with the next chapter teaser.

I know this is a couple of days late, but my wonderful beta was out of town and I refused to post until she gave it her okay. We all know how ugly with would look without her or Cecile who pretty up my mess. I love them both dearly.

Chapter warning… There is a small part of this chapter that deals with a difficult subject… One that I am very familiar with since it is my own experience… so if it may be a trigger for you, just pm me and I will be more than happy to tell you what the chapter was about… Also keep in mind that I love touching on hard subjects, (if you hadn't figured that out by the fact that I dealt with cutting from chapter 1). So I will try to put warnings when the subject matter will be extra difficult or a trigger.

The weeks following that day in his office were crazy for Edward, his time being spent in and out of court helping a client with a Malpractice suit they had against New Moon Medical Center. While Edward didn't typically take those types of cases, it had been very difficult for him to say no to the family, especially after what they'd been through at the hospital. The hospital, in its typical way of dealing with things, had let a small child sit in the ER for hours before she had been seen. Unfortunately, by the time they brought the little three year old girl back, the infection she'd developed had spread so much, and so far, that they had to amputate her little arm. The case was hard not only on the family, but on Edward as well. That child should never have ended up the way she did. The nurses should have seen the potential of what would happen to the child when she walked into the ER with the high fever and swollen finger. According to the reports by the hospital staff, they didn't think the paper cut she had gotten a few days ago could possibly be the cause to the fever she was experiencing. They just figured it was something related to a simple cold or flu. Needless to say, the case was complicated in and of itself. However, Edward had also been particularly preoccupied and distracted with his conversations with Alice in regards to Isabella.

Alice supported their decision to begin a D/s relationship, but was also quick to caution Edward about not letting the past be a factor for him when it came to Bella. Alice knew how he was after Jane left, and was a bit concerned that their breakup had generated lasting effects on Edward. The way things had ended between him and Jane hadn't been easy for him, especially since he'd never experienced such an end to any of his relationships, especially a D/s one.

The sound of the phone ringing in his office caused him to push these thoughts out of his mind before he could become upset. "Edward Cullen," he answered tersely.

"Mr. Cullen, good afternoon. This is Charlie Swan, Bella's dad. I was hoping I could speak with you a moment."

"Of course, Mr. Swan, is there something wrong?" Edward became suddenly nervous, wondering if there could be something wrong with Isabella. She'd yet to arrive and that wasn't typical behavior for her. She was actually quite punctual all the time.

Charlie hummed a moment, thinking about how he was going to word things. He needed to know if Edward had noticed a difference in his daughter's behavior like He had, or if it was just him seeing things that weren't there, He wasn't sure how to go about it without giving away too much personal information. "I'm not sure. It's just that... ummm... that well... Bella's acting a little strange lately... or should I say, stranger. I was wondering if you'd noticed anything at work." He wouldn't have called his daughter's employer if the circumstances hadn't called for this drastic measure.

"No, she's been perfectly fine here. Is there something going on with her at home?" Edward asked, he wondered if it could be something different from what he'd been instructing her to do.

"Well, not really."

"What do you mean, not really?"

"It's just that, she came home a few weeks ago with an intense and confused look on her face. Then, a few days later she received a package, and since she's never gotten any packages before, that alone confused me. Now she's changed her normal morning routine, from the time she gets up to the way she gets to work. I'm just a little nervous that something is stressing her out, and since she's had difficulties handling stressful situations in the past, I don't want her to go back to her old ways of dealing with them." Charlie hoped that Edward wouldn't ask him for more details, but his daughter's new behavior was really starting to worry him.

Edward didn't want to give Charlie any information about what exactly had caused the changes in Bella, but he had to put her father at ease about the things that he was himself pushing on her. "I am sure that the changes you are seeing/witnessing are part of her therapy, and I can assure you that Alice, Mrs. Whitlock, will make sure that Isabella doesn't revert back to her old ways of coping. She's being taught more positive and healthy stress relieving skills." There, he thought, that should be enough information without giving too much away.

"I'm going to have to take your word for it," Charlie sighed. "And I trust that Mrs. Whitlock will let me, or my family know if she is doing something that could put her in harm's way." Charlie had to just wait and pray that Bella wasn't going to go back to cutting herself, and that Edward was telling him the truth . "Thank you for answering and sorry for interrupting your day."

"No worries, Mr. Swan. Please feel free to contact me if you have any more questions, and I will call you if I start to notice any possible risky behavior," Edward said before hanging up the phone.

He reclined on his office chair, thinking back to some of the different tasks he'd imparted on Bella in the last few weeks- Little things to help her become accustomed to the changes he'd want her to make as well as to test her on her instruction following skills.

The first task had been when he'd sent her to research everything she could about BDSM during work hours. He had not only wanted to see if she'd do it, but also wanted her to be informed of her role in the relationship they'd agreed upon starting. He couldn't believe she'd spent the entire day doing nothing but research; he'd thought she'd spend a few hours on it, but certainly not the entire day. While he had not been upset about it, he'd been highly surprised about her thoroughness and immediate commitment. He'd also hoped that she'd gotten enough information and would come to him to ask about any question she could have had about her various discoveries.

Edward chuckled as he recalled the night he called her a week after.

Bella was just getting finished with dinner with her family when Edward phoned her. "Isabella, good evening."

"Hello Mr. Cullen. Is there something I can help you with, Sir?" She greeted back, making sure that he heard her words of respect.

Edward hummed a bit at hearing her call him Sir. "Yes, Isabella, I believe you can. I was calling to see what you were up to this evening."

"Well, I just finished having dinner with my family, and we were getting ready to sit and watch a movie. Was there something that you needed from me?" Mr. Cullen calling her after hours was not very common, so Bella wondered what the call could be about. She hoped it had something to do with what they'd talked about in his office the week before.

"Are you going to have popcorn, Isabella?"

"Yes sir, we are," Bella answered, confused about where the conversation could be going.

"Is it buttered?"

"Yes sir, it is."

"Good, then I want you to make sure you have lots of extra hot, buttery popcorn," Edward said in a very soft, sultry voice. He wanted to make sure Bella could understand the double meaning in his comment.

Even though Edward couldn't see her, Bella blushed pink at the way he made the comment sound. Breathing a little harder, she asked if there was anything else that she had to do.

"No, Isabella, enjoy your evening. I will see you at work in the morning."

Edward was brought out of that particular memory by the sound of the phone ringing again. Looking at the clock, he noticed it was way past eight am and that Isabella had yet to arrive. Once again, he began to worry that something may have happened to her since she was never late to work. He decided then to put a make a quick phone call to Alice to see if she'd heard anything from Isabella.

"What's up, Edward? Everything okay with Bella?" Alice asked, a bit nervous. The last time he called her she'd locked herself in the bathroom.

"That's why I was calling you. She hasn't arrived at work yet, and that's unlike her. She is always quite prompt, especially since she knows how I feel about tardiness."

Now Alice was really beginning to become nervous. What could have happened to Bella? "Have you tried calling her at home?"

"Isabella's father called me a little while ago to ask me something and said that she'd already left and she was taking a new route to work today."

"Well maybe the new route caused her to be delayed. Give it another half an hour, and if she still hasn't arrived I will go out looking for her myself," Alice offered.

"Fine, I will call you if I hear anything."

While Edward waited, he let his mind drift back to the day, two weeks before, when he put Isabella on the task of sharpening each of the pencils in his holder, making sure that each one was of the same length by the end of the day.

Isabella huffed each time she came across a pencil that didn't meet Edward's standards. She'd have about half the box sharpened to the point that they were perfectly exact, when she'd over-sharpen one, which would make it slightly shorter than the others. "What the hell, now I've got to start all over again. Fucking pencils that need to be the same." Edward heard her grumble.

Edward would hear her start all over again with each of the pencils she'd already done, then, continuing on with the rest until she came up to another one that would get slightly over sharpened. Once again, she'd grunt and grumble about the fact that the "stupid pencils" wouldn't just sharpen the same length.

He sat in his office chuckling, wondering how long it would take her to become frustrated with the task and refuse to do it. That moment never happened. By the end of the day she was pissed off, frustrated, and moody, but all the pencils were of the same length and point.

With a large huff and sour tone, Bella gave Edward his "finely sharpened" pencils. "Here are your pencils, Sir," she announced with a bit of a sneer at the end of the comment.

Edward simply raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to continue with her sour tone.

Bella quickly changed her tone to something less snippy. "Is there anything else you need, Sir?"

"No. But, I want to take a moment to explain to you exactly the reason why I had you on this task today."

Bella nodded before taking a seat in one of the chairs directly in front of his desk.

"It is very important to learn patience, Isabella. Nothing will be done exactly as you desire it, or when you want it. It will all always be done at my will. This lesson is more about being able to direct any frustrations in a positive way," Edward began to explain. "I have to say that I commend you. Even though you let frustration get to you at times, you did not give up. You didn't let your annoyance dictate when and how to do things. That's a very good thing because I will push your limitations as often as I can."

Bella looked down, not sure if she was being complimented, or reprimanded. She was hoping that he meant it as a good thing. She then got up, looked her boss in the eyes, and softly asked, "Is there anything else that you need of me tonight, Sir?

"No, Isabella, please go home and have a wonderful night."

The opening and closing of the front door once again brought Edward out of his memories.

"Isabella, is that you?" he asked from his desk.

Bella walked into his office with her head down, "Yes, Sir." she replied in a very quiet voice. She knew that she was extremely late and that he was most likely worried, but it couldn't be helped. Bella had seen the beautiful blonde that had walked out the door just as she was arriving. It took her nearly an hour to get her thoughts and feelings under control enough to be able to walk into the office and not make it so noticeable to Mr. Cullen that she was upset about anything.

"Is everything all right, Isabella? It is unlike you to be tardy, and completely out of character to be this late."

"Everything is fine, Sir. Is there anything you need from me?" Bella continued to speak to the floor. She did not want him to see the red, puffy eyes she was sure he would notice if she looked up.

Not believing her in the least, Edward told her, "Look up at me when you are speaking to me." When Bella's eyes finally met his, he had to force himself to stay calm long enough to find out what was wrong with her. "Isabella, have you been crying?"

Bella didn't want to straight out lie to Edward. She knew that one of the most important things in their relationship was honesty, but she didn't want to have to tell him what was bothering her either, so she tried to evade the question instead. "I have lots of work to do today and I am already behind, so if you don't mind, Mr. Cullen, I would really like to get back to it."

"Damn it! Isabella, don't be dense and answer my question." Edward pounded his fist on the table, angry and frustrated that Isabella was purposefully being obtuse and not answering his question.

Something in what he said transported Bella back fifteen years, and in her mind she found herself back in his house.

"What the hel,l Isabella? Are you purposely being dense or are you just that stupid. How could you think that I would be okay with this shit you call your homework? This looks like a goddamn four-year-old wrote it. Why can't you be like Jessica or Lauren? Look at how nicely they write their essays."

Bella was gasping and panting, her eyes were completely out of focus and Edward could tell that her mind was no longer there. It was stuck back in whatever it was that caused her to turn on herself.

"Isabella, breathe. I need you to come back to me. Focus on my voice." Edward was out of his chair and in front of Bella in an instant. When she didn't respond to him he lightly touched her arm.

Bella looked up at Edward, but even though she could see him, her mind was still very much lost in her memories. All she could hear was his voice, telling her how stupid she was, and how messy her homework assignment looked with all the erasing she'd done. How Jessica and Lauren were the only ones who could write neatly in their big bubble letters, while Bella's were small and jammed too close together.

"Bella? Can you see me?" Edward asked when he noticed that she was looking him in the eyes. Her look was still unfocused, but she appeared to be seeing him, and less lost than she'd been moments earlier. Since he got no answers, he gently took her by the arm and began to guide her towards the chair. The last thing he wanted was for her to pass out from hyperventilation and hurt herself.

Edward's touch seemed to bring her out of her mental torment, but all she could do was to chastise herself, mumbling lowly about how stupid she was over and over.

"Isabella, you are not stupid. Why would you say that about yourself?"

"Because I am. You said it yourself, Sir, I'm dense."

"No, Isabella, that is not what I said, I said you were purposely being dense, which is very different," Edward explained.

"See, stupid."

"Isabella…" Edward warned. She was purposely contradicting him and if she continued to do so, she was going to earn herself her first punishment.

When Bella wisely didn't say anything, Edward asked her where she had gone in her mind suddenly.

"I was back in his house, back to when I was nine and I was writing an essay for school. He said that I was stupid and dense. He asked why I couldn't be like Jessica and Lauren, the twins from next door that were also in my class, who incidentally got straight A's." Like always, Bella's voice was void of any emotions as she talked about her past. At least now she was able to talk about it a bit easier since she'd been seeing Alice.

"Who is he, Isabella?" Edward couldn't lose the opportunity to get the answers he needed so that he could get some questions out of his own mind. Now that she was talking, he was going to take advantage of it, for his own sake, and hers. .

"He was Renee's boyfriend, Marcus, the man/monster who would come into my bed every night while Renee was working." Again, her voice was void of emotion, but her face showed exactly the pain she held inside.

AN: So I will be working on the next chapter in the next few days, in the mean time I would like you all to go check out my next story Before He Cheats, and to also let you all know that I am working on chapter 2 of Santa Baby (for those of you that read that one).

Also if you aren't reading all the OS's for Breath-of-Twilights Valentine's day countdown I highly suggest you do… I wrote a little OS for that and helped work on the colab… I will have the OS up sometime today.

Finally I want to thank all of you who R&R/ Alert and Fav. Also a big kiss and thank you to my Skype WC girls that keep me on track. I love you girls.