Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns all things Twilight. I just decided it was time to shake things up a bit in her characters' world. And I wanted a bitchy Bella, so here we go!
Oh, and all of the references used in this story in relation to the advertising and marketing company and accounts are only used here for entertainment purposes; no copyright infringement intended.
Gracias to Flyaway Dove, who's been kind enough to beta both of my stories! She's great! Check out my other story and let me know what you think – Two Worlds Collide.
Thanks also to angelicwish for providing me with feedback – I heart you! As always, Hellooo and hugs to Lita and my bestie Jen who devours my chapters faster than I can churn them out!
Gang – you must know, I begged Edward and Bella to finally get it on, but they've got a lot of personal stuff to wade through before either one can even think of making a move. So in the interest of getting on with the show, I'm going to press my magic FF button and see where it takes us, okay? Here we go.
Oh, and Edward told me he has more to tell us, so Bella's gonna take a backseat for a bit. Yes, I know it's strange that he's speaking to me. I am aware.
Chapter Twelve: A walk and then…
Edward's POV
"Deal," I said.
In an effort to clear my muddled thoughts – three (or four, I forgot) glasses of whiskey will do that to you – I suggested we take a walk, and thankfully Bella agreed. We walked all over the city – along Navy Pier and all of the shops and eateries there, along Lake Shore Drive, through Millennium Park and past Shedd Aquarium – and talked about everything. She told me more about college and how she and Esme worked so well together all these years. Bella touched on her friendships with Rose and Alice, and I realized that there was a great deal of truth to her statement about the four of them being like sisters. In turn, I told Bella stories of my childhood, of Carlisle's and my upbringing, and what brought me to the marketing world.
Hours later, the air had turned frigid and the wind was whipping, and Bella shivered repeatedly under her long, black wool coat. After suggesting we go back to our hotel, she agreed with another full-body tremor, and I hailed the nearest taxi. She laid her head back against the headrest, and I watched her as she rubbed her arms in an attempt to get warm. The gentleman in me wanted to offer that we huddle for warmth, but I shoved the idea aside. Bella would surely refuse that offer.
"Bella, would you like my coat," I asked instead. "Your lips are blue." I started to unbutton my long, heavy trench but she shook her head.
"Thank you Edward, but no. I'll be fine once we get inside. Besides, it's freezing out there, and I won't have you catching pneumonia just because I was cold."
A few minutes later, we arrived at the hotel. She paid the driver and the two of us ran into the lobby and into a waiting elevator. On the ride up, Bella continued to try to warm herself in silence. It took everything I had not to intervene and wrap my arms around her. For warmth only, of course. Shit, man, get it together. This woman would sooner rip your head off than lay a finger on you. My dick was playing a game of strategy with the part of me that hated my boss and didn't give a shit that she was a beautiful woman.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened, and she looked at me anxiously. Right, the trial "period" was almost over. Checking my watch, I saw that it was very late – close to one in the morning. Thankfully, tomorrow was Sunday, so I wasn't too concerned with the late hour. And technically, the jury was still out on what I'd do when I awoke, so I wasn't in too much of a hurry to end the evening. It seemed that Bella was thinking the same, because she asked if we could stay up and talk more.
"Edward, I don't want this to come across as being untoward, but would you like to come next door? We can…um, sleep in tomorrow," she said, suddenly appearing unsure of herself. She stared at her room key, and I couldn't help but smile. "God, I sound desperate, don't I?" she added with a half-smile.
I laughed because I agreed with her; she did seem desperate. And I laughed because I was really enjoying this. A bit sadistic, sure, but she'd put me through hell for the last two months; the least I owed myself was a bit of enjoyment at her expense, right?
"If I'm honest, are you going to fire me?" I asked, partly teasing. The way I figured it, I had nothing to lose here. For once, where Bella was concerned, I had the upper hand. She shook her head but said nothing. "Okay, okay. Yes, it sounds desperate, but I don't mind. I kinda like you when you're desperate. It levels the playing field."
I'm going to blame that bit of excessive honesty on the Laphroaig. Have you ever wanted to hit the rewind button on some master remote control? This was definitely one of those moments, and I braced myself for impact. Would it be yelling, or the evil stare, or nasty words spewed at me the way that only she could? Or maybe she'd place the call to Esme now, telling her I'd been fired.
"Okay. I deserved that," she said quietly, and it nearly knocked me over. "But while we're being honest, I'll say that I'm relieved to find that there's something you like about me, even if it's my desperation." And then she blushed. This whole carrying a grudge thing is definitely not going to last if she keeps doing that. Needing to put some distance between us before we continued our discussion, I made a suggestion.
"Bella, why don't you get changed into something…warmer, and I'll meet you in your suite, say, in ten minutes? I, um…need to check my voicemail and then I'll be over," I said. "I'll even bring some snacks, if you'd like." She agreed and disappeared behind her door. Quickly I retreated behind mine, and let my forehead fall against it. After splashing some water on my face, I knew I needed to make a phone call.
"Hey Edward, man, what's up?" Jasper's southern drawl came through my cell phone and I sunk onto my bed. I heard some shuffling and the faint sound of a door closing.
"Hey. I'm in Chicago for a conference. I know it's late, man, sorry. This couldn't wait."
"Sure, no worries. Just went to bed, actually," he said, and I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "What's goin' on? Everythin' okay? I heard from Alice that you and Bella were goin' over there together."
"Okay, J, here's the thing: I've got a problem," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "Bella and I had it out tonight, and I gave my notice." Jasper started to reply but I kept going. "Wait – so after that she and I agreed to try talking things out tonight, and if we didn't come to a truce, that I'd call Esme in the morning and let her know of my decision."
"Shit man," was Jasper's reply. "That sucks. Alice was tellin' me a bit more about your boss lady. Sounds like she's got some baggage. Not that it excuses her for treatin' you like garbage."
"I know. But the thing is – and you know this has been part of the problem all along – there's just something about her, J," I said, completely vexed. "I've tried to distance myself, to not think about her, to remind myself how she's treated me. But shit, when she blushes, when she chews on her fucking pen, or when she's not being a bitch…she drives me crazy – crazy good. I just don't know what to do."
"You want my opinion?" Jasper asked rhetorically. He knew I valued his perspective. "Wait for her to come to you, Ed. You obviously have a thing for her, but she is your boss. She needs to make the first move, pal. And when she does, let her lead. Be that chivalrous sonofabitch I know's in there."
"You seem pretty confident that she's going to make a move, J," I said suspiciously. Did he know something? Had Alice told him something?
"Oh, I am confident," he answered, and then he laughed. "How can any woman resist your charm and wit?"
"Ha-ha, J, sure. So what do I do in the meantime?"
"Just be yourself, and try to remember that she's got a wall built up around her," he said, the teasing tone gone from his voice. "She's had a lot of practice in gettin' her heart broken, man, so it's gotta be someone special who will take that wall down, one brick at a time. Be patient, okay?"
"Thanks Jasper," I said, feeling as if a bit of the weight had been lifted. "I gotta get back to her room. We're going to talk some more. She's letting me sleep in tomorrow – you believe that shit?"
Jasper laughed again, wished me good luck, and we said goodbye. I called down to the front desk to have some snacks delivered to Bella's suite via room service, and assessed my appearance quickly before reaching for the door. It was then that I started to hear banging and shouting coming from the next room over. Shit. What now? Fearing there might be a fire or some other emergency, I raced over and knocked on the door. I heard another bang, a low curse, and then Bella yelled for me to come in.
Bella was in her bedroom, wrapped in her comforter, crouched over the heating and air conditioning unit near her window. She was hitting it with a high-heel. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing aloud. As I walked through the door, I realized that it was horribly cold in her suite; I could actually see my breath.
"All of the heating units are broken and the A/C is on full blast!" Bella yelled over the noise. After a quick inspection of her suite, I realized she was right. The master keypad for the heating and cooling read "ERROR" in digital letters and all four units were pumping refrigerated air into her rooms. "I tried to manually turn them all off, but it didn't work and now I've completely broken this one! It's fucking freezing in here!"
I'd never heard Isabella Swan swear before, and it was so much more endearing in the present situation. Apparently she had given up on the broken unit in her bedroom, and wandered out to the living area looking disheveled, pissed off and a bit frozen. Her useless stiletto was still in her hand.
"Let's move this to my room, then, okay," I said loudly. "We can call the front desk from a much warmer place. Come on over." It didn't take much convincing; Bella was out the door and at mine before I even managed to close her suite door. Once inside, she sat down on my bed, shivering inside her comforter. I called down to the front desk – to have the room service delivered to my room instead and to alert them to the problem next door – and told them Bella would need sleeping accommodations immediately.
"Well, it looks like it's going to be a few hours until they can get someone up here to repair the heating in your room," I said. "They're booked solid right now too, because of the conference and some festivals going on, but the manager assured me that he'd call if something became available. If not, he said he would compensate you for the inconvenience."
"That's alright," she said, sighing. "I'm not finished torturing you yet, anyhow, so we won't be sleeping for a little while." I wanted so badly to sit next to her on my bed, to kiss her, to smooth her hair and caress her creamy skin. So I kept my distance and sat down in a chair on the other side of the bed.
"You're not torturing me, Bella," I said. "Not right now, anyways. I like talking with you about your life. It's very interesting to me."
She looked down again, almost disappearing into her plush cocoon, but not enough to hide the blush that crept across her face. I was so focused on her skin that I almost missed her next comment.
"Thank you," she said in a whisper.
"For what?" I replied.
"For giving me a second chance," she answered. "I know that I haven't sold you yet on why you shouldn't quit, but I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to make amends."
"I hope that you would afford me the same opportunity if our roles were reversed, so sure," I said. A knock on the door signaled the arrival of room service, so I got up to retrieve it while Bella stayed where she was. When I returned with an armload of assorted snacks – popcorn, soda, veggies, cookies, crackers and cheese and candy – her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Since you're not done torturing me, I figured some sustenance was in order," I explained.
Once she had warmed up, Bella discarded the comforter, and we sat talking for two more hours. I stayed in the chair, and she on the bed. Bella pitched my job to me as if she needed to sell me on it all over again. Truly it would have been foolish for me to leave Swan & Platte after only two months, but the stubborn ass in me refused to cave so easily. Bella needed to change the way she treated me, and we'd both have to work on making that a reality if I were to stay.
With complete sincerity and self-effacing frankness, Bella explained that I wasn't in fact as replaceable as she had led me to believe. That the work I'd accomplished thus far was impressive and impeccable, she told me. And that if I left, she'd never forgive herself for being the driving force behind it.
"Edward, I've been thinking about why I was so hard on you," she began. "I think I see a lot of myself – the aspirations, determination, work ethic – in you, and it was too much like looking in a mirror. And seeing those traits in you every day just reminded me…of other things." Bella let her statement hang there, pregnant with implication, but I couldn't press her. She'd offer me more when she was ready. And she was already giving me so much.
"Thank you, for being honest with me," I said. "It means a lot."
It was close to three-thirty when we'd run out of things to say. Bella's eyes closed against her will, and I was exhausted from the day's events and the emotional highs and lows that had come with it. Having not heard from the manager, I called down to the front desk again, only to find that Bella was out of luck in getting a new room for the night. Quietly I informed the manager that she'd stay in my room, in the other bed. He apologized profusely and told me he'd speak with her at her convenience. I hung up and turned to tell Bella the bad news, only to discover her asleep on my bed.
Silently I moved closer to her, and watched her for a few moments. Her long brown hair was splayed across the bed, and she slept curled in a fetal position, hugging her knees. Should I wake her? Deciding against it, I simply pulled her comforter back over her, and slowly untied her shoes before slipping them off her small feet. Then I brushed my teeth, stripped out of my jeans and sweater and climbed into the other bed, wearing my t-shirt and boxer briefs. I turned off the light and whispered into the dark room.
"Good night, Bella."
***************
Sometime before sunrise I was jolted out of a sound sleep by noises of a struggle. As I attempted to get my bearings, her voice called out in anguish.
"No! Please, don't leave me!" Bella started to whimper, and I could see in the darkness that she was thrashing around, seemingly still asleep. For a few moments I wavered; should I wake her or leave her alone? "I'll do anything. Please, just stay." And then she started to sob. In one swift movement I threw the covers back and jumped to her bedside. Hesitantly I touched her arm and gently shook her.
"Bella? Wake up," I pleaded. "You're having a nightmare. Wake up."
"No, please, no," she cried in between heaving sobs. "God, please, no."
When my first attempt failed, I sat gingerly next to her on the bed, and used both hands to wake her. With one hand I smoothed her hair and with the other I continued to try to jostle her from her bad dreams. Her hair was so soft – like silk. I wondered what could have her so terrorized, so distraught.
"Shhh…Bella, honey, please wake up," I said, oblivious of proper decorum when trying to wake your boss from a nightmare. "It's alright. I'm here. Please wake up." In that instant she awoke and threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my waist in a vice-like grip. As she continued to sniffle and cry, I held her, rubbing her back.
"It's alright, Bella. It was just a dream, okay? Shhh…"
Gradually I felt her grip on me loosen, but just slightly, and then her breathing slowed and her crying ceased. Unsure of the boundary in this kind of situation, Jasper's advice echoed in my mind, and I opted to let her decide when she wanted space.
"I'm s-sorry, Edward," she said, hiccupping a bit. "H-how embarrassing. What an awful d-dream." I felt her face tilt up toward me as I stroked her hair, and I suppressed the now overwhelming urge I had to take away her pain with a kiss.
"Shhh…it's okay, Bella," I whispered. "We all have bad dreams sometimes." Despite my dismissal of her embarrassment, I made no move to separate us, and continued soothing her. After a few more minutes, she let go of me and sat up. My body immediately registered the loss of her warm touch, and I shivered.
"Edward, um, would you mind it if I…stayed with you for the rest of the night," she asked timidly. "I don't want to be alone."
If I said my heart didn't break into a full gallop at her words, I'd be lying. She was so raw and vulnerable. And I couldn't be angry with her – not right now.
"Of course," I said quietly, finding her hand in the dark. "Your room won't be ready anyways. You can stay here for as long as you'd like, okay?" Then I squeezed her hand, and turned to get off her bed. But she held on and pulled me back to her.
"No, I um, meant…can I get into bed with you? Please?"
As she uttered those words, I felt as if my body had detached from the world and was floating toward space. My mind clawed and reached upward, trying to pull me back together. Surely I had somehow died and this was my hallucinatory version of heaven. How else could I explain this woman's desire to lie next to me, to share my bed? It couldn't be possible. What the fuck? Meanwhile, my dick was doing a happy dance.
Bella dropped my hand and I managed to walk the two steps to my own bed and get in. After taking a deep breath, I pulled back the covers on her side and whispered to her, "Come on over." In seconds, her warm body was pressed against mine, and she pulled my arm around her and shivered. Silently I prayed that I could keep my dick from misbehaving; this was not the time.
"I hope this is okay," she said into the darkness. Too tired – and too overwhelmed – to respond, I simply nodded into her hair. It smelled like strawberries. I fucking loved strawberries.
Bella tightened my arm around her, and I reveled in the warmth that radiated through her thin sweater. My sleepy brain tried to process what was happening, but failed miserably. Bella Swan was in my bed. She wanted to be there, with me. She needed me. I tried not to let this one event throw my heart into a tailspin, but it was certainly headed in that direction.
"We're just two people, making the most of it, right?" she added, as if she knew just how weird this really was. I managed to respond this time.
"Just two people – right," I said. She sighed and began tracing circles on my hand with her thumb. This must be heaven. As I molded myself to her, I decided I didn't care what happened in the morning. This – right now – was good enough for me.
Okay, so we've made it to the bed gang! Progress, right? We're all about the slow burn here, in case you somehow didn't figure that out yet.
Besides, haven't you ever just needed to be held? Especially after a nightmare.
Please leave reviews. I love them like…cuddling after a bad dream.