Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading :)

Nice reviews are better than chocolate, unless maybe you're licking that chocolate off someone.

Seven

I wish I'd just taken the day off of work. So I could do what? Talk to Bella all day? She had to go to work too. As much as I wanted to, there's no way I would have tried to get her to stay home just so she would talk to me - although now it seemed like a good idea. I was also seriously considering skipping out a little early today, though early for me was any time before six. What time did kindergarten classes let out? I also couldn't forget about the time difference; I didn't want to get home only to have to wait for hours for Bella to come home too. What if –

"Hey, did you hear me?" Jasper was talking to me from his desk.

"What?"

He looked like he was trying not to laugh. "So, who is she?"

"Is that what you said in the first place?" I looked up, pulling off my glasses.

"No, I said I was going to take a look at the model. Now I want to know who the girl is you keep thinking about."

I went for apathetic, "What girl?"

He was laughing at me, "you're being really obvious, Edward. Your vibes are different -"

"My vibes?"

"Yeah, shut up. It's got to be because of a girl."

"It's not because of anything." I was wondering though, should I just tell him? I glanced at him, he still looked suspicious. "Ok, there's someone, but I don't really know what it is yet so let's leave it at that."

He nodded as if in approval before heading out of the office, leaving me with nothing to do but think about her. I tried to keep myself busy, doing so much work that by the time I was finished I was several days ahead of schedule. Jasper came back after a while, but left again for lunch soon after. I spent so much time trying not to think about how I was falling for Bella, I hadn't realized it was already three o'clock. I decided to skip lunch since it was so late and leave at six; I knew the reason I was doing that was completely counterproductive to why I'd worked so hard all day in the first place.

I left just after six o'clock, earlier than Jasper for the first time in I don't know how long. "Have fun with your Good Vibes Girl," I could hear that he was on the edge of laughter.

"How long did it take you to come up with that?" I grumbled.

He shrugged, a smug smile on his face, "it just came to me."

He'd noticed that I didn't leave him much work to do, but I doubt he minded. I all but ran down the hall to my apartment when I got home. Inside, I grabbed my laptop and took it into the bedroom with me. I changed out of my work clothes and into my flannel pajama pants, then realized I was hungry so I moved to the kitchen, setting the laptop on the counter. I signed into my e-mail account, but was a little disappointed to see that she hadn't sent one to me. I left it open and went through my fridge to find something eat. I made a turkey sandwich and grabbed a bottle of ginger ale before moving to stand in front of my laptop again. She had sent me an instant message.

Bella: Hi, Edward.

I set my plate down, suddenly happier than I'd been all day. I was absently wondering why I'd tried not to think about her that day.

Edward: Hi, how was your day?

Bella: Good, except one of the kids got sick and had to be sent home. That wasn't very fun. How about you?

Edward: It was busy, but I'm way ahead of schedule now. I'm even home from work early.

Bella: 6:30 is early?

Edward: Yeah, I'm usually not here until around eight o'clock.

Bella: Wow, I guess I'm spoiled. I get home around three or four.

Edward: That would be nice; I'm beginning to forget what actual daylight looks like.

I hadn't realized how less easy talking to her like this would be. When I sent an e-mail or a letter I had time to organize my thoughts, but now I felt like I had to come up with something impressive on a moment's notice. Was I trying to impress her? Yes.

Edward: So Jasper asked about you today.

Bella: Oh?

Edward: He thought I looked "different" and he guessed it had to do with a girl.

I left out his nickname for her; I doubted she would appreciate that much. I put down my sandwich to wait for a response.

Bella: Do you look "different"?

I had no idea, but most likely. It wasn't very often that I was completely taken by a woman, actually it had never happened. What was I getting myself into?

Edward: I suppose so; it's not every day I meet someone that captures my attention as much as you do.

Bella: Is that a bad thing?

I smirked, let's hope not; I wasn't sure I wanted this feeling to go away.

Edward: Definitely not.

We talked until almost 2 a.m. (my time) that night. She told me more about her friends and her class. She also said that she'd broken up with someone right after coming back from New York. It was the first time I'd considered that she might not be single; I breathed a sigh of relief after her story. She didn't give me much detail about the guy or her relationship with him, however. She said his name was Mike, that they'd been together for three years, and that their relationship was one of those slow to disintegrate types. I knew one thing for sure, Mike was an idiot. How could he be around this woman and let things just fall apart?

The next evening, I didn't get to talk to her. She had parent-teacher conferences and then was meeting with her girl friends afterward. I got home early enough that I was able to go for a late run around the park; it felt good to be outside, to move again. It cleared my head and when I got home; I had an idea. I showered first, cleaning the sweat and the day off myself, and then put on a clean pair of pants before sitting down at my laptop.

I opened up a window for a new e-mail message.

Dear Bella,

I wanted to make this a complete surprise, but I apparently don't have the willpower. I'm sending you something in the regular mail (hopefully within the next few days) that I hope you'll like.

Did your conferences and everything go well?

Yours,

Edward the Inspired

I closed the lid on the laptop, in case she happened to come online, and took my phone off the hook; I didn't want any distractions. I moved to my piano, which sat in a large empty space near the living room. I sat at the bench and closed my eyes, took a breath, and let everything about her come to mind. Her shyness, kindness, the way I knew she held something back, and the curiosity and pleasure I felt when I talked to her.

And then I started to play.