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Chapter 3: Fall for you - Leela James
Early March was alway one of the coldest in my opinion. The mind is so settled on the upcoming spring that even similar winter temperatures seemed colder. I personally paid more attention to the breath that came out from my mouth or nose when I breathed heavily or when I exhaled my cigarettes.
However there was something about this season that made me happier, days like that day made me smile, a clear blue sky and sun shining without getting its heat just made being outside bearable and enjoyable as it lasts.
A cold breeze hit, blowing up slightly my skirt and my hair. I immediately tucked my skirt before anyone notices, the wind made me shiver but I was still convinced I looked nice, with my black skirt and matching sweater. As much as I wanted to dress up nicely sometimes the cold weather took over, that's another reason why I liked these days.
I looked down at my phone's GPS trying to locate myself. Edward had texted me the address of his office right after our call that night. His message was sharp and formal. No emojis no extra dot …
1068 Park av.
The reception will show you to me.
The arrow finally got to the red pin indicating that I got there, I silently thanked my responsible side to take a couple of minutes early, I always get lost in Manhattan, it made me nervous since the day I can remember.
I locked my phone and put it back in my purse, took a deep breath and I smiled to the man in a suit in front of the door. He almost did not even look at me and silently pushed the building glass doors to let me in.
My heels made the echo the second the doors closed behind me. The lobby was huge and all marble, the reception was in the middle, two ladies that sat there smiled at me. I took one more look around the space, and walking in their direction. My heels kept making that annoying sound and I was so tempted to tip toe to them.
"Good afternoon, how can we help you" I decide to ignore the fake smile she gave me, she must be doing this all day… TGIF, bitch.
"I have an appointment, Edward Cullen?"
"May ask which firm?" The blonde one asked me, the stupid smile still on her face, I imaged the small wrinkles she might have she's not doing this clown face. Before I could answer the brunette next to her nearly jumped out of her seat.
"Volturi finances" She said excited. A smile that the blonde did not fail to return. She looked back at me and directed me to the elevators.
I pressed the button on the elevator once inside. The door closed, and I faced the mirror. I pushed my bra to the sides, I adjusted my skirt once more. With one hand I put the majority of my brown hair to the left side, pressed my lips together and thanked Rose for her latest Resistant lipstick. A beep alerted me that I got to my destination.
Edward in his text message said the reception would lead me to him. I found myself outside of the elevator trying to decide between left of right there was no directions and unlike he said no reception. I wish I had a smoke before to calm my nerves.
I decided to do the old fashion way, and find a soul in this deserted office to ask. A couple of minutes afterwards, a mid aged man came to my rescue, he was surprised to be stopped in the middle of a hallway but right after I gave him my best smile he told me around the corner I should find his assistant office. His name would be on the door and I wouldn't miss it.
Like the man said, after a couple of turns I faced a squared cubicle in front of a door where I read Edward Cullen, business associate. I was impressed, I mean Edward was my age or a year older tops.
I looked at the watch in front of me, I was 3 minutes late. But there was no assistant, the cubicle was empty. The computer and the purse next to it clearly sent the message that his assistant was still around but not here. I decided I was not going to wait around and I should probably just knock on his office directly. Nothing could go wrong …
I approached the door and when I put my fist up to knock on the door I heard a woman shouting "This isn't fucking high school, Edward". I brought my fist back near my chest, I was not so sure if I should interrupt what was going on.
The door of his office opened widely and I was facing a short haired woman. Her black eyes were big and I had the impression they grew bigger when she saw me, may be because she realised I heard her anger through the door. Her hair was darker than mine but shorter, she was all short. She was wearing heels double the size of mine but I still looked down when I stared at her.
She did not stop long and walked out, her shoulder roughly hit my arm. She took the purse that was near the computer and stormed out. Was she just fired?
I stopped following her with my eyes and turned to the still open door. I walked quietly, and faced the image of Edward on his desk chair. He was slightly leaning back his long fingers held the top of his nose, his eyes were closed. I knocked on the wooden door before closing it.
Edward opened his eyes and jumped from his seat when he saw me.
"Sorry, your assistant left the door open and I thought it was okay to come in" I explained since clearly he was aware of my presence. For a second I got nervous and thought he forgot about our appointment.
"Bella…" He breathed out. "Don't apologise, I am sorry for Alice"
"Alice?"
"Yes, Alice my assistant. Also goes by my sister" He rolled his eyes.
"I didn't know you had a sister" I said walking towards his desk.
"Oh, I thought you would remember her. She went to high school with us"
"Sorry, I'm not so good with faces" I felt terrible, she did not look charming but I felt like a jerk not remembering his sister.
He invited me to take a seat in front of him. His office was big, he had a huge desk but very simple, only a computer in front of him and a couple of file to his left. On the other side of the room, there was a big couch facing a big glass window.
"Well at least you remembered me" He chuckled bringing my attention to his face.
"You have eyes that no one can forget" I smiled crossing my legs.
He smiled as a light blush covered his cheeks. He cleared his throat and closed down his computer. His hand stayed on top of his laptop his eyes fixed to mine.
"Thank you for coming, and I'm sorry again for the welcome" I raised my hand for him not to worry, I didn't need a bunch of protocol.
"So what is it you think I do, and what is your work proposal" I smiled at him, he looked down shyly. Cute
"Tanya spoke highly of your work, she's very proud of what you did to her place. I happen to be in need of a interior designer myself. We have just located this office and your touch sounds like exactly what I'd need" He said the last part with a deep voice without leaving my eyes.
"So you would hire me for your office?"
"And my house" He added quickly.
"It looks like you did not do your homework correctly, Mr Cullen. I specialise in hotels and restaurants" I saw the disappointment in his eyes, they looked for an answer which made me smile "But a Swan never backs out from a challenge. I work with my own conditions though"
"Name them"
"First, I do my work through my lawyer, he will contact you with the a contract and negotiation, I don't like mixing business with pleasure" I winked and he blushed. Even cuter…
"Second, I only do personal spaces of my families and friends, because I know them well enough to adapt their space to them. So when the paperwork are done I would require to help me out, you can show me a piece of furniture, something personal, anything I can inspire from" He nodded with a grin.
"Third, I am not cheap" I finished putting my weight on my elbow against the arm chair.
"I wasn't expecting you to" He handed me his hand for a verbal commitment.
He stood up, closing the button on his suit and walked toward the small table near the couch. He poured two glasses of what looks like good scotch into 2 glasses. He turned to me and handed me one and arched an eyebrow.
"Let's toast to it?"
"It's 5pm, is it appropriate during office hours?" I said nonetheless walking up to him.
"It's happy hour Friday, everyone leaves and meets up at 4:00pm"
"And yet you're still here" I pointed out taking the glass from his right hand.
"I got everything I need to make more than a happy hour right here" His glass met mine, he put his glass up and we cheered.
While he took a sip our eyes locked, his gaze traced my face. I was again feeling the same feeling in the kitchen, I felt like the most attractive person on Manhattan. I walked past him and sat down on the leather couch. I crossed my legs together, showing more of my skin, his eyes immediately looked down of where my skirt stood then.
I put my glass on the table in front of me, my fingers touched the wood and immediately recognised it. I fell in love with this model when I first saw it with Rose. My eyes did not stop and kept looking around me, the lamp, the table and the rug they were all in the catalogue. On the latest catalogue.
"Edward? Why is the real reason you called me in? A big firm like yours don't usually have an address book for external services?"
"Bella you have your conditions I have mine, I need to work with people I trust" He calmly responding taking a seat next me.
I opened my mouth for a second argument. His office under my professional eye clearly looks like it has just been done. Which means he was not in the need of an interior designer, perhaps only in the need of me. The unreasonable Bella inside of my head clearly just have won the battle that was going, I did not try to understand why did Edward called me or hire me, instead I took another sip of my drink and smiled at him"
"So do you usually go back often to GreenPort?" He changed the subject.
"I do, my parents are hilarious growing old and enjoy being with them a lot, so I drive there every once in a while"
"I thought your parents were divorced"
"Oh they are, but they never stopped being together. My mom had an extreme feminist path and for some reason she believed a feminist should be independent and never get married so she filed for divorce. She's the coolest!" I laughed.
But my mom had her reasons, my dad finally gave up and gave her what she wanted, his words filled my heart with love When you love someone, you wouldn't hesitate doing the most unorthodox things to make them happy, I knew that the minute I arrested your mother. A cop who fell in love with the woman he arrested for trespassing, long but oscar worthy story.
Truth is Renee, my mom was different from all the country club mom that cared about fake charity and making their kids look good on paper, instead she use everything to give all the love she could to me, dad and Tanya, whose mom was no other than the country club women.
She raised me in such an open relationship that I was never anyone but my true self under her roof.
Edward and I continue sharing stories from the same hometown as we kept refilling our drinks. If someone would hear us, they would never guess we had grown up in the same city and same school. We had different routines and different lifestyles. I could believe that we went all our childhood with nothing more than chemistry class together.
Edward told me that after his sister graduated, two years after us, his parents moves and bought a house in the Hamptons. So he actually never went back to GreenPort, and he lost contact everyone until the Facebook group was created.
"Wait what about Angela from the Library?" He asked for the 10th try to see if we actually had the same person in our friendly cycle.
"Weber? Does it count if I only hang out with her after graduation?"
"Count as a win" He raised his arm in the air "How's she doing? I haven't seen her since senior year" He then asked.
"Oh she's great, I saw her during Thanksgiving break, went back to her for a check up"
"She's a doctor?" He raised an eyebrow and i burst out of laughter
"She's a tattoo artist" I said in between laughs, Edward's eye grew from disbelief
"No way! hold up are we talking about Angela Weber from the library?"
"Well no more library but yeah ! She has magic hands"
Edward leaned on the couch his eyebrows still raised, obviously trying to picture the shy Angela as a tattoo artist.
"So I understand you a have a tattoo?" He turned his head to look at me
"Tattoos." i corrected.
I then straighten my arm so he could see my wrist tattoo "Birds, because my mom taught me to never stop flying", turned slightly and pulled my hair up so he could see the one on my neck "Deer horns, because it's my spirit animal", then I took my heel off with my hand and put it on his thigh to show him my ankle tattoo "An anchor, because I am one of the few who loves GreenPort" I grinned.
My smile disappeared and my breathing accelerate when I saw that Edward had put his hand on my ankle just under my tattoo and still hasn't removed it. His thumb was slowly caressing my skin surrounding the anchor, then his eyes met mine and I added whispering "Then I have a back one that I only show when I have sex"
Unlike me his breathing stopped. His eyes darkened still fixed on mine. His hand moved up in the beginning of my legs. I knew at that exact moment that he was imagining my own words in action, he was imagining to see my back tattoo in a whole different position. I licked my lips.
His hands were softly but then again roughly grabbing and caressing the skin of my leg. Then I realised that his body was so close to mine, I could feel his breath and his cologne. My cheeks were burning, and I knew the scotch had nothing to do with it, it was his proximity. His eyes had left mine, and were looking down at my lips, back at my eyes.
"I should go" I whispered, this time my eyes fixed on his lips.
He nodded but his hand never moved. I moved my foot away and put back my heel. We stood up at the same time, and we now avoided eye contact. My heels were again the only sound on the room as I took my purse that was still on his desk.
I turned and smiled at him, he was watching me closely and his gaze didn't change even when I caught him. Instead he walked before me to the door and opened it.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you Bella"
"All mine"
I stood on my toes and put a kiss on his cheek. My body was pressed against his, from my thighs until my chest, he could feel everything. And so could I.
I stayed still for a couple of seconds, my lips on his cheek. And then I move away, I watched my hands rested on his chest.
Without another look I turned my heels and walked away.
—
"Jasper, you seem like an educated guy, you go to med school right? Tell Bella that she's being stupid" Rose shouted over the music at Jasper, but staring at me.
I took a cab in front of Edward's office right away. Once inside I looked up the building hoping to meet the green of his eyes one more time. The taxi driver kept checking in on me through his review mirror, asking if I was fine. I probably looked confused and red as a tomato.
I had plans like any other Friday, Emmett goes all in and his bar gets crowded and turned into a mini club. Fridays were also the only day Rose joins me at the bar, since it gets full of people, with the music and the lights she avoids Emmett all night.
Jasper as always was waiting for me in the same place we always took, he had already started his weekend drinking when I got there. I caught up with him as we drank shot after shot. It didn't take me long to get slightly drunk after all the scotch I sipped before.
When Rose joined us I was already shouting to them what happened with Edward earlier that day, in the alcohol in my system didn't hold any detail. Rose kept showing her disapproval while Jasper kept smirking and drinking.
"Law school" Jasper corrected Rose, to which she rolled her eyes "And if you ask me I think Bella is grown up enough to know what she's doing, right Bee?" He added massaging my shoulder with his hand.
"Damn right !"
"Whatever, I think you just speed dial a hook up and get this horniness out of your body" Rose mumbled.
Jasper excused himself to the bathroom, and left me facing Rose who was still trying to convince me that any guy in the bar could take me home and make me forget all about Edward. The idea was tempting, I could follow her advice forget about what happened today or how irrevocably attracted I was to him.
"Why don't you just fuck Blondie" She suggested her head pointing to the empty seat on my right.
"Jasper? Are you out of your mind"
"Why so surprised? You're lusting over your best friend boyfriend but hooking up with Jasper is such a bad idea?" She asked, taking a sip of her drink.
"First of all they are not together, so he's not labelled as 'The boyfriend', second of all Jasper is the closest thing I have to a brother I'm not going to throw that away"
"Funny how his friendship means more to you than others. And please a brother? He would jump on you the first minute he knows you're up for it"
I chose to ignore her first comment, Jasper friendship did mean a lot to me. From the minute we met at NYU he was always next to me for four years straight, after graduation if it was even possible we got even closer. I don't think I went a day without seeing him.
Jasper came back, climbed to his stool another time, taking me away from my thoughts which was liberating, I knew if i kept thinking about it I will be paranoid like Rose wanted me to be.
"Jasper, Bella thinks that you never think of her differently that in a brotherly way" Rose's word widened my eyes, I noticed Jasper freezing next to me, nothing moved except his Adam's apple.
I looked at Rose mortified "Cut the shit Rose"
A couple of second later a girl made her way to Jasper, her hands kept touching his forearm while she spoke in his ear. Jasper only smiled and turned to her, without a word. We watched him following the girl, hand in hand and entering the bathroom. That's a first …
Rose and I kept on drinking, shot after shot. Her eyes turned red and her bitch face disappear to a giggly one. I convinced her that Edward was not a big of deal, she agreed as long as I agree that Jasper could be my speed dial hook up. She dropped my life story when she noticed Emmett flirting with girls at the bar, she growled downing her drink. Her eyes did not leave his body, she was watching him closely as he felt her stare, Emmett turned to look at her, they kept a long stare before he turned back to the ladies that were begging for his attention.
She then rose from her chair, downed another drink and told me she was going home. I screamed her name for her to wait for me. I saw Emmett glancing at the door, ignoring the girls this time. He looked back at me with a sad face, and I shrugged.
I downed the drink in front of me, blew a kiss to Emmett and ran after Rose. I got out of the bar and starting putting my coat, my eyes looking for Rose's blonde hair. I found her near the road looking left and right for a cab. I took my pack of cigarettes out of my coat took one out and offered the pack to Rose when I got next to her. She looked at me and took one smiling. I helped her light her cigarette before doing the same to mine. We both inhaled without saying a word.
I was watching Rose as she smoked her cigarette, her head never looked down at me. Her eyes were red but she was blocking the tears.
"Fuck, this is so stupid" she laughed ironically.
A tear left her right eye and she quickly whipped it off trying to mask it. I put my arm around hers and lean my head against her shoulder. As I know Rose she must have been feeling sad and angry at the same time for showing her weakness. I stood there without saying a word, leaving her the choice to open up. `
A taxi stopped in front of us, she threw the cigarette on the floor looked at me with a sad smile.
"Please don't mention this to him" She gave me a kiss on the cheek and hopped on the cab.
I smoked my cigarette as I watched the yellow taxi take my friend away, a friend I couldn't help, I didn't know if by helping her I would actually make things worse for her.
I felt a presence next to me, I turned to see Jasper staring at the same empty street where the taxi had left. He didn't ask any question, he probably understood right away. A couple of minutes later Jasper asked me if I wanted to go home, I nodded.
Our drive to Tanya's place was as quiet as our waiting time was, not even a single word was shared. We just stood there in the cold, breathing and avoid eye contact. This was the first time I knew Jasper hooked up, I knew he was sexually active but somehow he never showed any in front of me, he was even a prude in front of me with his college girlfriend. He always rejected women when I was there, he never hit one in front of me either.
And it bothered me.
Jasper took his wallet out before I could reach mine, I didn't try to battle with him instead I went out of the cab and slammed the door. The taxi driver cursed at me and Jasper apologised as he exited from his side too. We walked towards Tanya's building together again in the complete silence.
When we got to the door we were forced to look at each other, he looked at me shyly also confused about how to act in these situations I guess.
"Why did you do that?" Slipped my mouth before I could think
"I wanted to prove Rose wrong" He shrugged honestly.
"You don't have to do that, you don't have to prove anything"
"I do, or at least to myself" He looked down.
"Jas" I whispered
He shook his head not wanting me to continue my sentence, quite frankly I did not even know what my sentence was. But the tone in my voice was clear, I wasn't prepare for this. I wasn't sure if the alcohol was making me see his vulnerable eyes or I was really about to break his heart.
That thought made me sick, my stomach twisted and I felt my eyes starting to water. Jasper kept avoid my eyes which made me feel even shittier, I couldn't explain what I was feeling, a mix between sadness and guilt rushed through my body and I did the only thing I thought was going to fix it.
I kissed him.
Probably not the twist hoped for but getting there. I promise.
