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.

Thank you to the following people: Flyaway Dove, my wonderful beta extraordinaire; angelicwish, who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide this insecure writer with loads of feedback; Lita for making me beautiful banners and being awesome in general; Vicky my new LA pal; and last but certainly not least, to Jen – she makes me smile all the time. And thanks to all of you who read and profess your love for this story!

Chapter Nineteen: The vultures descend

Edward and I spent the remainder of Monday evening naked and wrapped in each other, our bodies a tangle of limbs. We devastated my condom supply, and Edward said he'd go out and get the next box. And I couldn't help it; I thrilled at the idea that we'd need more of them. When we couldn't ignore our hunger anymore, I ordered room service. We ate dinner -- French toast with strawberries and scrambled eggs and toast -- in bed as we watched the national news.

"Sometimes watching the news really depresses me," I submitted as I flipped through channel after channel detailing wars, car accidents, robberies and hate crimes. "Why doesn't the media ever report on something nice happening? Like someone found money and turned it in? Or someone donated a kidney to a stranger?"

Edward shook his head, a lock of copper falling into his eyes, and laughed softly before stuffing a large slice of French toast into his mouth. Call me crazy, but even watching him chew his food turned me on. This girl's got it bad.

"If it isn't sexy, it's not news," he quipped, his tongue darting out to catch some syrup that had escaped.

"Speaking of sexy…," I said suggestively, putting the remnants of my eggs on the room service cart. On my hands and knees I crawled toward him, licking my lips as images of his naked form flickered across my mind's eye. Edward swallowed his French toast with some effort, his expression one of incredulity.

"Bella, how could you possibly want more?" Nervously he ran his fingers through his hair, but still put his plate on the nightstand as I reached him. With nowhere to go -- he was leaning against the headboard -- I had him trapped. He inhaled a ragged breath as my tongue traced a path from his navel up his chest, to both nipples and then to his collar bones, neck and jaw. When I reached his mouth, I took his lower lip between mine and then sucked on it gently. Maple syrup and strawberries. Yum.

"How could I not want more?" I asked him with a smirk. "I can't help myself when it comes to you."

Edward swiftly flipped me over so that he was hovering over me and his hands pinned my arms to the mattress. With mischief in his eyes, he quickly discarded my tank top and undies and kicked off his boxer briefs.

"Close your eyes," he said, his voice like velvet. With a moan I did as he asked.

With the tips of his fingers, he played my body like I imagined he played the piano. Edward's hands fluttered over me, committing each one of my curves, each freckle and every inch of skin to memory. He tormented me with his lips, tongue and hands until I thought I might lose consciousness. And then he made me his once more.

Damn.

****************

Tuesday morning began the same way as the day before. And again I tried, with zeal, to stick to my plan and act less like a lovesick puppy. Ugh. Completely useless. Any reflection on my behavior during the last twenty-four hours left a pit in my stomach, so I focused on each small effort, every habit that was part of my morning ritual. Hair pulled into a tight bun. Stockings smoothed and seams perfectly straight. Suit pressed and neat.

Edward's hands.

Edward's mouth.

Edward's tongue.

Edward's body.

In a feeble attempt to refocus, I began my ritual once more, smoothing my hair, pulling up my stockings, running my fingers over my skirt and suit jacket. It didn't do a damn thing to help my nerves or my concentration. Well, let's get this over with.

After collecting my things, I closed the door behind me and walked the three strides to Edward's door and knocked. Cheerfully he greeted me and quickly pulled me into his room for a "proper good morning kiss." If he was nervous about his presentation he didn't show it, and I couldn't help but envy his bravado. These days I seemed to lack the gumption to stick to the smallest of my convictions. See Exhibit One.

"You ready? If we leave now we can grab some breakfast inside the convention center," I offered after he stood me back up.

"Good morning to you, too, Bella," Edward replied sarcastically with a smirk that tempted me to kiss him once more. Once he saw, however, that I was truly eager to leave he said, "Well, I'm ready, so let's go."

Over our quick breakfast we went over his presentation for that morning, and it appeared as though Edward was completely prepared; of course, I'd expect nothing less from him, despite all of the distractions from the previous day. And night. Focus woman! As we walked into the large hall for the morning welcome Edward's hand briefly brushed mine and a smile and blush automatically raced across my skin. I cast a sideways glance at him and saw that he too was smiling, though his eyes were trained at the doors ahead of us.

Edward was scheduled in the second morning session to give his presentation on Swan & Platte; as our advertising and marketing manager it made perfect sense that he would boast of all the ways S&P kept its clients happy in the 21st century. After all, it was the people and the technology that worked in perfect harmony at our firm. Companies -- and our competitors -- wanted to learn from us. Edward and I had committed many hours to presenting something that would be informative for the convention, but would keep an air of mystery around our success -- just the way I wanted it.

And Edward was perfect in his delivery; and the audience loved it and him.

That evening we both manned our booth in the exhibit hall and thankfully Edward didn't try to distract me. The clock, however, taunted me with its nearly backwards movement. Silently I wondered what would happen this evening. Would we have dinner together? Could I invite him back to my room? Dutifully he and I had been sleeping in our respective beds, all under my guise of getting the requisite hours of sleep. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to bend a little tonight.

Give all to love;
Obey thy heart;
Friends, kindred, days,
Estate, good-fame,
Plans, credit and the Muse,
Nothing refuse.

In the middle of handing out some brochures and answering a young woman's question about whether we were currently hiring, I heard a voice that sent chills through me. And then a high-pitched breathy laugh that convinced me I was in hell. Choosing to wait and eavesdrop before busting up the devil's rouse, I stepped closer to the wall that separated Edward's side of the booth from my own.

"…hope it hasn't been too torturous for you working there," the female voice purred. "Trust me when I say that I've been there, and would never think less of anyone who walked away from a job at Swan & Platte."

Anxiously I waited to hear a reply or rebuttal from Edward.

Nothing.

"Mr. Cullen, we've watched you closely since you moved to Swan & Platte, and have been more than impressed," the soft male voice added. "And after seeing your presentation today, we'd like to make you an offer."

I had heard enough. Angrily -- and ready for a fight -- I marched to the other side of the booth and confronted the two people who were attempting to steal Edward from me. From Swan & Platte, I mean.

"Aro. Tanya. Fancy meeting you two here," I seethed as I stood between them and Edward. The expression Edward wore suggested he knew nothing of the two conniving, nasty people in front of him, so I continued. "I should have known, Tanya, that you'd high-tail it to Aro. I think that firm certainly suits you."

Tanya regarded me with a snicker of her own. She looked from me to Edward and back, a Cheshire cat grin contorting her beautiful face.

"Aro gives me the freedom to be creative and said I could be promoted to vice president of marketing and advertising very soon," she said, gazing admirably at the shriveled man standing next to her. "You never let me do any of that, and you certainly wouldn't have promoted me."

"Tanya, first of all, if you had an iota of common sense, you'd realize Aro is all talk. As long as you listen, he'll continue to fill your head with nonsense. Secondly, I only promote those who are deserving of it, and never led you to think that you had earned that distinction in such a short time. That's good business; it's not a case of being unfair."

While our exchange continued, Aro smiled smugly, fingering a large gold ring on his left hand, decorated in an elaborate crest with a large V in the middle. The sight of him -- shoulder-length gray hair slicked back, pin striped suit complete with pocket watch and fob, wing-tipped shoes, longer than socially acceptable fingernails -- was enough to make my blood boil. But knowing why he was speaking to Edward and then hearing his voice was enough to send me hurtling over the counter to strangle him.

"My dear Isabella, why such mistrust and disdain?" he cooed, his small black eyes boring into Edward. "This is business, and your boy here is so much more worthy of a larger firm. I could give him things that you and Esme could never offer. Benefits, retirement, corporate jets and cars, trips all over the world, fringe benefits that would curl his toes. The possibilities for someone of Mr. Cullen's caliber are endless. With you, he's restrained, suffocated."

At the risk of spitting at him, all I could do was keep my mouth shut, my hands balled into fists at my sides. Tanya stepped around me, taking advantage of my target lock on Aro, and dragged one long, red nail down the front of Edward's suit jacket.

"Edward, just think about what we've said," she said, her voice dripping with sex. "Aro -- and I, for that matter -- can offer you so much more than she can -- in so many ways. Consider it, will you?"

As if Aro had cast some sort of spell over me, my body was frozen in place as his bony fingers extended a black business card with the same crest and V on it to Edward. Glancing nervously at me, and then back to Tanya and Aro, Edward took the card and offered a polite but weak smile. Then Aro focused again on me, and the hopelessness of a battle lost registered deep within me as he smiled his creepy old man grin.

"Isabella, my dear, we'll be seeing you soon," he nearly crooned, and then they were gone.

Suddenly I could feel my toes once more and I staggered back against the wall of the booth, exhausted. Words escaped me; panicked, I looked at Edward, who stood there flipping the business card over between his fingers. He seemed mesmerized by the whole thing, and it made me furious.

"So. What's the deal with Volturi Enterprises," he asked me softly. But I couldn't answer immediately. My mind was already racing with the prospect of losing Edward to Aro, Caius and Marcus…and now Tanya. It wasn't as if Aro hadn't tried this before; hell, he'd garnered a reputation in our industry for stealing souls and grooming the finest and prettiest ad, marketing and PR execs for world domination.

Alright, so I was exaggerating a bit on the world domination, but the things Aro was capable of equated to something similar. And Tanya obviously had a personal vendetta against me, which was fine. There was no love lost; I had no regrets in her leaving. But seeing her with Aro was disturbing, and Tanya had made it quite clear that she wanted Edward in an extracurricular context -- which really pissed me off.

"Bella, are you alright?"

Edward's voice brought me back to our current surroundings and I reflexively smoothed my hair before acknowledging him. Pull it together. Tell him exactly what Aro and Volturi Enterprises is like.

Though I spared him the kind of detailed disclosure that should only be accompanied by comfortable surroundings and multiple drinks -- some of the stories about Aro were shocking at best -- I told Edward about Volturi Enterprises, Aro, Caius and Marcus and then Tanya.

When I finished my semi-diatribe it dawned on me that while Edward would most likely never want to work for Aro and leave Swan & Platte, he had never outwardly declared his intentions beyond this week and the conference. Instantly I recalled the night he resigned and couldn't help the panic that resurfaced. Technically, he could still walk after this week. And, of course, if for some strange reason he wanted to pursue something more serious with me he'd have to leave. Did he realize all of this? How could he? Was he even thinking the same way? Probably not. Sure, he had professed that he wanted to see where "this" went, but did that only apply to our tryst this week?

After hour three-hour shift was up at the exhibit hall, we left the convention center in silence. My mind raced with wild and unreasonable inklings. Maybe Edward was surprised by my revelations; maybe he was planning his exit. I could only wonder, and that drove me crazy.

"So, what do you want to do for dinner," Edward offered hesitantly, no doubt sensing the mood had shifted between us. "Want to go out or order in?"

Struggling not to meet his gaze -- if I did, I'd be putty in his hands -- I studied my shoes as I spoke. We both stood awkwardly outside the hotel entrance, neither one of us wanting to talk further about what had happened before.

"Um, Edward, actually I think I'm just going to go up to my room," I said. "I'm not feeling well, and don't really feel much like eating." Half-heartedly, I offered a smile as I rifled through my bag. "Please use the company card if you'd like, and get yourself something to eat." Through his protests I forced the card into his hand and started to turn toward the doors.

"Sorry. Please get yourself some dinner, and I'll see you in the morning," I said, only looking at him long enough to offer him what I hoped was a more convincing smile. And then before he could say anything, I walked into the hotel lobby, leaving him on the sidewalk.

**********

The encounter with Aro left me feeling dirty. After my long shower, I dressed immediately in my PJs and climbed into bed, feeling truly sick and a bit sorry for myself. Taking advantage of the free time, I called Renee – who was at a baseball game watching Phil strike out – and then I placed a long-overdue call to Charlie.

"Hey Bells," he answered. I nearly burst into tears at the sound of his voice. It had been too long. "What's going on?"

"Hey Dad. I know it's been a while – sorry about that. I just wanted to call to say hi and to let you know that I'm alive and well."

We talked for a few minutes about Charlie's job, his latest fishing conquest and a friend, Sue Clearwater, who apparently cooked a mean stew. He sounded good, and happy, and it made me happy. I said my goodbye to him with the promise that I'd call him again soon.

Finally, when I couldn't avoid it any longer, I called Esme. She needed to know what had happened today.

"Hey Es, It's Bella," I said, realizing quickly that she was still at work. The clicking of keys and the quiet drone of the office building gave her away when she said hello. "Working late tonight? I thought that was my job."

"You know that when you go away on business trips without me, and take one of our most prized and productive employees with you, you force me to slave away here at the office for hours on end just trying to keep up," she quipped, and then laughed softly. Even if she was a bit overworked, I knew she'd never hold it against me. I did the same for her when she traveled without me.

"Es, I hate to do this to you while I'm here and you're still at work, but you need to know what's happening on this end," I began, and then heard an audible gasp at the other end of the phone. Did she somehow already know about Aro? "Aro and Tanya came to visit Edward today."

I let the words sink in a bit, and when I heard Esme begin breathing again, I continued to tell her of the exchange. Retelling it forced me to admit my own shortcomings in handling the situation, but Esme assured me it sounded like I handled it well.

"B, it must've been horrible," she sympathized. "What Aro and Tanya did was dirty, under-handed and just plain unprofessional. But I think you diffused the situation as quickly as you could, and that's all you can do in a circumstance like that."

"So…Esme…do you think Aro's pitch might appeal to Edward," I asked, unsure of which answer I'd prefer at this point. Mentally I slapped myself; keeping Edward safe from Aro should be my primary objective.

"Well, Edward is an intelligent man, and although in the end it's his decision to make, I'm sure he at least saw Tanya's ploy a mile away," she said. Ashamedly, that revelation made me feel better. "Aro is a mastermind, I'll give him that. But Bella, I don't think we have any reason to worry right now that he'll be successful."

With my fears assuaged for the time being, I filled Esme in on the conference thus far and told her about Edward's overwhelming success today with his presentation. Honestly, I was quite proud of him and wasn't afraid to tell her.

"That's wonderful, hon," she enthused. "I had complete faith that he would help us to shine at the conference. I'm so glad he's with us." Me too. We said our goodbyes and I promised to keep Esme apprised of any other news from Chicago.

"Es, do me a favor and go home, okay?" I pleaded. "I'm sure you would much rather spend your evening with Carlisle than going through client files." Esme giggled, thanked me and said she would. Before she hung up, she paused.

"Bella? I'm proud of you, too. And I have complete faith in you."

Closing my phone, I pondered her comment, but assumed it was a work thing. With Esme, though, I could never be sure. There was always so much more under the surface, things that remained unspoken but deeply implied.

Now that I'd made my much-needed phone calls, and Esme had calmed my fears somewhat, my stomach seemed to awake and growled, angry at my choice to skip dinner with Edward. Knowing I wouldn't make it until morning on an empty stomach, I dressed and decided to go down the street to scrounge up a quick meal. Upon searching for my room key, I discovered it missing from my purse and hotel room. Probably left it next door or dropped it in my travels. I soon located the spare key card, though, and grabbed my coat. As I left my room I nearly tripped over something blocking my path and looked down to see what the dangerous roadblock could be.

A white paper bag sat in front of my door, with the following note attached:

Sorry you're not feeling well. I thought at some point you might be hungry.

I'll miss having you in my arms tonight. Rest, sleep well and feel better.

- E

I peeked inside the bag and found a deli sandwich, complete with pickle.

With an authentic smile – the first one I'd had all day – I went back inside my room and closed the door.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself
But if your love and must needs have desires,
Let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook
That sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
And give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer
For the beloved in your heart
And a song of praise upon your lips.

A/N: The first excerpt is from "Give All to Love" by Ralph Waldo Emerson; the second poem in this chapter is "Let This be Your Desire" by Kahlil Gibran (gifted poet, in my opinion). So, what did you all think? Think Edward's going to be lured away by Aro and Tanya? Did Bella handle the situation as she should have?

Please leave reviews/comments! I love them like I love possessive Bella!