A/N: So my updates have been slow…I'm sorry! I promise the next one will come before Friday!

Happy reading!

Chapter 27

BPOV

My flight was uneventful. I was allocated the window seat and didn't have a neighbour so I was quite comfortable. Shortly after take-off I plugged in my iPod and snoozed for the better part of the flight. I woke about half and hour out from Chicago and reset my watch to local time.

We landed without incident and I spent twenty minutes at the baggage carousel waiting for my suitcase. From there, I headed to the 24 hour rental desk to pick up my car. For an additional $15 a day I also hired a GPS – I really didn't want to get lost. I found my car in the lot and programmed the address of the Intercontinental into the GPS and headed off.

Around half an hour later I was checked in and in my room. It was spectacular. The king-size bed was made up with crisp white linens and there were fresh flowers in a vase on the small table off to the side. The bathroom was tiled in white with gold accents, with a nice deep spa and a separate shower. Two hotel robes hung on the back of the door and there was an abundance of fluffy towels.

I snapped a couple of pictures with the camera on my phone and sent them through to Alice with the message;

Arrived safe, the room is beautiful. Will talk to you tomorrow. xB

I kicked off my shoes and climbed into the middle of the bed, flicking on the TV as I relaxed against the mountains of pillows. A girl could get used to this, I thought, just as my phone rang, snapping me out of my reverie. I checked my watch and thought, Who the hell is ringing me at 2:30 in the morning? before I realised how late it actually was.

"Hello?" I answered without checking the display, stifling a yawn.

"Bella? Where the hell have you been?" Edward almost shouted down the line.

"What do you mean?" I asked, playing dumb.

"I've been trying to call you at home all night and there's been no answer – I thought you were off for a few days now?" He sounded more settled now that he knew I was ok.

I remembered Alice saying she was going to stay at Jasper's while I was away, so I hedged my bets with my reply. "We went out for a while, then we went to Jasper's. Why didn't you call my cell? And where are you calling from? It wasn't your ring tone…"

"I'm at the office, there was a major blowup in a case, hopefully I'll be home before the sun comes up. I was so worried about you…" he trailed off.

I smiled softly at his words. "Well, now that you know I'm safe, you should go and do what you need to do so you can go home and get some sleep. I'll call you around lunch time your time tomorrow?"

"That sounds good – I've already asked Tanya to postpone moving her stuff in so I can get some sleep. I can't wait to see you on Thursday," he said.

I stifled a laugh and replied, "I can't wait either. I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok baby. Be safe," he said quietly.

I hung up and set my alarm for 11am. Since I was booked in for two nights I'd requested no maid service between my check in and check out so I could sleep. I put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door nevertheless and slid the chain into place, then cleaned my teeth and pulled on my new nightgown from Alice before sliding in between the sheets and drifting off to sleep.

Sunday morning

I woke at 10:45, according to the clock on the nightstand. I stretched lazily before getting out of bed and heading into the bathroom. I took a long, hot shower and got dressed in my jeans a t-shirt before heading out into the sunshine. I found a coffee shop a couple of blocks away and had a French vanilla latte with some raisin toast before I called Edward at 11:30.

"Hummo?" he answered, sounding like his head was in his pillow.

"Did I wake you?" I teased.

"No…I'm up," he mumbled.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, I know full well I just woke you up – don't tell lies!" I joked.

"Ok, you woke me up. And how the hell did you know my full name?" he asked.

"Alice," I said simply. "What have you got planned for today?" I felt my insides start to quiver as I waited for his answer.

"I have to go back into work for a few hours, I'll probably finish round five, then I was thinking I'd have a nice quiet night at home, and a nice long phone call with my girlfriend who I miss like crazy."

Excellent, I thought. "Well," I said, taking a deep breath. "How about after you finish work at five, you go home and relax for an hour, then get dressed in something suitable for dinner at the Intercontinental and meet your girlfriend who you miss so much there for dinner?"

Silence. Uh oh, I thought.

"Dinner? At the Intercontinental? In Chicago? Bella, are you crazy?" Edward sounded confused.

"Nope, not crazy, just sitting in a coffee shop in Chicago, wondering what to do with myself for the next three days or so," I prompted him.

"You're in Chicago? Since when?" He still sounded gobsmacked.

"Since just before I was talking to you on the phone this morning," I giggled, picturing the look on his face.

"You're kidding! You're actually here? In the same city as me?"

"Yes baby, I'm actually here. I wanted to surprise you!" I told him.

"Well, I'm surprised! Can I see you earlier than dinner?" He sounded like a little boy at Christmas.

"Nope," I said, popping the p for emphasis. "Seven o'clock at Zest in the Intercontinental. The reservation is under Swan. Don't be late!" I teased.

"I won't be. Will you be coming back here to spend the night?" he asked with more than a hint of hopefulness in his voice.

I smiled. "I was hoping you'd spend tonight at the hotel with me, actually. I booked my room for two nights and there's a gigantic spa that I'm dying to test out with you…"

"I'm in," he agreed enthusiastically. "I guess I should bring a change of clothes for Monday then…I'll go into the office late so I can spend some time with you. How long are you here for exactly?"

"My flight home is six pm Chicago time on Wednesday, which means I've got time when I get home to do some laundry and be ready to go back to work on Thursday morning," I filled him in.

"And then I arrive Thursday night and I'm there until the following Wednesday!" he finished.

"Indeedy," I replied. "I'd better let you get in to work so you're not late to dinner."

"Nothing is keeping me from dinner Bella. I'll see you tonight at seven," he said as we hung up.

I wandered around the area for a couple of hours after that, window shopping and generally familiarising myself with Chicago. I was planning on doing some of the tourist-y things over the next couple of days while Edward was at work.

I stopped off at a McDonald's for a late lunch around three and then walked back to the hotel to get ready for my date with Edward.

EPOV

My head was reeling when I hung up from my conversation with Bella. She's here, in Chicago, I thought to myself as I dragged myself out of bed.

I wandered out to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee to brew while I had a shower. I had a couple of days' growth but left it, deciding to shave just before dinner. I smiled as I remembered Bella rubbing her cheeks against mine just after I shaved while I was in Seattle. I showered quickly, throwing on sweats and a t-shirt once I was dry. There was no point in going in to the office now. I was only going in to tidy up a few loose ends and take care of some filing issues – things that could be dealt with during the week. There was no way I was going to be able to concentrate on anything other than Bella now until I saw her. I went back to the kitchen and poured myself a coffee and decided to forgo breakfast since it was almost 12:30pm. I made myself a ham and salad sandwich and ate in front of the TV, but nothing could hold my interest.

I spent a small amount of time tidying up but, being a neat freak there wasn't much to do. I changed the sheets on my bed and changed the towels in the bathroom so it would all be fresh for Bella when she came over on Monday night. I put them in the washing machine and I made a quick trip to the grocery store while they were in there to stock up on a few things and put it all away when I got home. I threw the sheets in the dryer while the towels washed, then folded them after the towels went in the dryer.

I chanced a look at the clock and it was just past four. I decided to play my piano for a while to try and take my mind off things. I started out with some basic scales and warm-up exercises to loosen my fingers and then pulled out my music for Moonlight Sonata. I made it to the end of the first movement without an error and ignored the music in front of me as I played the rest of it. Then I moved into one of my own compositions, A Song for Alice.

When we were younger, Alice was always in awe of my talent and used to go on and on about how she wished she had someone who would write her a song. So for her eighteenth birthday I did just that. It was light and melodic, full of happy chords as she used to call them. I smiled to myself as I played, remembering how happy she was when I played it for her for the first time, before giving it to her on a CD.

I played a few more of my favourite classical pieces after that but I couldn't really focus. There was a string of notes running over and over in my head and I finally gave in and let them out onto the beautiful instrument in front of me. The melody flowed from my fingertips as if I'd been playing it my whole life and the bass accompaniment fell into place as I went along. I quickly grabbed a pencil and a sheet of manuscript paper and dropped down some dots before I forgot what I'd played. It was intricate and soulful and I knew just what had inspired me.

I stole a quick glance at the clock to see an hour had passed since I sat down, which still left me about an hour before I needed to get ready. I set about fine-tuning the piece that had come to me from nowhere and by six o'clock I was amazed at the way it had all come together. An hour or two more and it would be totally complete.

I played it through once more as I pictured Bella sitting next to me on the piano stool as I played her song for her. I had no doubt this was Bella's Song. That was all it needed to be called. The tenderness in the melody was sweet and the deep belly notes of the bass added confidence – the two main parts of my Bella. So sweet and tender, yet so confident at the same time. I made a couple more annotations and then I was done.

I gently closed the lid over the keys and tucked the seat underneath before I headed to my room to get ready. First I packed a suit, shirt and tie for work the next day into a garment bag before throwing a change of underwear, some socks, a t-shirt and some jeans into a small overnight bag. I picked out a nice pair of black slacks and my favourite white shirt with silver pinstripes to wear. I matched it up with a silver tie and my family crest cuff links.

I whistled as I headed back to the bathroom to shave, deciding to take another quick shower to kill some time. I shaved carefully, leaving my skin glassy-smooth and applied the after-shave gel that Rosalie bought me for Christmas the year before. I threw my toothbrush and deodorant into my overnight bag and then got dressed, taking the time to make sure everything was perfect.

At 6:40 I set the alarm and locked the house, placed my clothes and bag carefully in the trunk of the Volvo and headed towards the Intercontinental for my date with the most beautiful girl in the world.

A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I hate to leave it there but it makes sense to – trust me! The date will be the next chapter and I promise there will no Tanya and no other interruptions or distractions…however there will be a lemon!