Chapter 2

EPOV

As I approached the porch my intention was to be polite but not necessarily friendly. The closer I got I noticed more about the woman. She was young, probably in her mid 20's and she wasn't simply attractive she was gorgeous and I felt myself attracted to her. That pissed me off, I hadn't had this instant attraction to someone in a long time and this woman was completely unacceptable in my world. Esme said something to her and she threw her head back in laughter, it was probably the most heartwarming sound I ever heard and I felt myself responding to it physically. So when Esme went to introduce us I was angry and rude and gave her a look that definitely let her know nothing would ever happen between the two of us. When I saw her blanch at the look I was giving her I knew I got my point across. Then I looked at my mother and knew I was in trouble, she wouldn't stand for rudeness, and it would be an eventful ride to my parent's house. As soon as I closed my car door Esme pounced.

"Edward, I can not believe you were so rude. I raised you with better manners. You did not even allow me to properly introduce you to Bella. Have you met her somewhere that I am unaware of because I do not understand your attitude towards her?"

"I apologize for my behavior mother. It has been a long stressful day and I have my mind on my meeting tomorrow with Mrs. Sinclair about their possible Seattle office and a few other projects. While I was more hostile than I meant to be you know how I feel about people trying to latch on to our family."

"She is not trying to latch onto our family. She is a nice young woman Edward you should give her a chance. When you see her you need to apologize for being so rude to her."

"If I see her again I will apologize as long as she knows she needs to not become attached to the family."

"What do you mean if you see her again, of course you will she works for the Sinclair Foundation. Are you sure you know who she is? I mean she runs ...."

My cell phone started ringing cutting Esme off. "I need to take this." There were a few things that were still off with the Sinclair contracts and the call lasted until I was pulling into my parents drive.

"I am sorry about that mother. Yes. I know who she is I told you Kate told me about her. Are you still having the luncheon tomorrow? I can't be there for the actual lunch because I have a meeting but I could stop by after my meeting if you would like?"

"That would be great dear. I have invited the wives of the Sinclair Executives that are in town for the week, of course the Denali sisters, Victoria, Charlotte and the normal crowd. I do hope the Denali's behave themselves; they are not always accepting of new people. I am sure Tanya will be happy to know you will be stopping by."

My mother was laughing at my expense when she got out of the car. I shook my head as I pulled away. Tanya desperately wanted to be a Cullen and since I was the only male she was convinced we should be together. She wasn't just pursing me it was an all out campaign to become my wife. She makes sure to try to drive off anyone I show any interest in. Gold diggers weren't my only problem sometimes it was a woman who just wanted to be higher on the social ladder. I have almost resigned myself to never marrying.

All I wanted was a woman who saw me for who I was, not the money or the name but just me. At heart I was a very simple man. I preferred a quiet night at home over a club or gala. I wanted a woman I could curl up with in front of the fire and either talk softly to all night or say nothing all night and have both situations be comfortable. I wanted someone to love and love me in return. I knew I was becoming bitter and cynical but if I couldn't find that I preferred to be alone.

I spent the rest of my night preparing for the Sinclair meeting. I had heard the other meetings went well but the people were surprised by Mrs. Sinclair, she was not what they expected. I had also been told she had a young woman working with her who was very intelligent and advised her on business decisions. I couldn't understand the mystery surrounding Widow Sinclair but hopefully tomorrow I would have my answers and a signed contract.

As I laid in bed waiting for sleep to take me I found myself thinking back to Bella. I was feeling guilty about how I treated her and I was pissed at myself because the more I thought about her the harder I got. I wanted her badly but would never act on that because I couldn't offer her anything more than sex. As I drifted off to sleep I saw myself and a brown haired beauty curled up in front of the fireplace.

BPOV

I jolted awake in the morning in a cold sweat. At first I had trouble orienting myself then I remembered I was in the Seattle House. I loved this house; it was my second favorite next to the Chicago house of course. The reception we received in Seattle when we married was what helped us make the decision to live in Chicago. The social circle in Seattle was not at all accepting of Edgar and I, they judged us without having any of the facts. That thought is what made me remember my dream.

My dream about Edward Cullen, the one where he was yelling at me in a crowd about how I would never be good enough for him or his family. The one where he was looking down on me in disgust telling me I would never be worthy of his love and in that dream I wanted his love. I think that is what caused me to wake up because in the light of day while I was attracted to him I didn't want his love I didn't even like him. Yet I was due to have a meeting with him in a few hours.

As I was in the shower I thought back to yesterday. I had enjoyed Esme's company, in some ways she had reminded me of my mother. Once I had explained who I was and why I was in Seattle she had been more than helpful in answering questions about The Cullen Group and Edward. I didn't tell her what I thought Edgar's true task was but I knew I needed more information going into my meeting with Edward and she gladly provided it. I had noticed the way Kate was watching us and Edward's behavior after talking to her confirmed my suspicions about her opinion of me. That was one reason I disliked Seattle no trial, no explanations just judgments.

The Sinclair Executives had been rotating visiting between cities with their families and I knew Seattle is where they were receiving the coldest welcome. When Esme mentioned she had invited several of the wives to her luncheon I was worried about how they would be received. After the first batch of executives had been through we warned the others who would be visiting and I promised them we would not open an office in a city where the people were openly hostile to them or their families.

As I drove to the Metropolitan Grill to meet Edward Cullen I couldn't help but wonder what his reaction would be when I explained who I was. He had said Kate explained who I was but she since she didn't actually talk to me I didn't think she had any idea what my name was besides Bella. I arrived at the restaurant first and got us a table. I was going through my notes for the meeting when I noticed Mr. Cullen making his way to the table behind the hostess. When he realized which table he was being lead to the look on his face went from curious to furious. He stood beside the table for a minute and it looked as though he was deciding if he would sit or not. When he finally pulled out his chair and sat I decided it was time to clear up any misunderstandings and hopefully he would calm down.

"Mr. Cullen it is nice to meet you but I feel I should clear up any misunderstandings from yesterday. I don't think Kate realized who I was when she told you about me. I am Bella Sin..."

"I told you yesterday I know exactly who and what you are. You are the young woman who has been taking meetings for Widow Sinclair and trying to ingratiate herself into Seattle social life. I thought I was meeting Mrs. Sinclair. You do realize I am the CEO of The Cullen Group and I usually don't take these kinds of meetings but I was told I was specifically requested that the meeting had to be with me. If this meeting had to be with me then why am I meeting with an underling?"

The venom in his voice shocked me and it took me a moment to respond. "Well, yes I do realize who you are and I appreciate you meeting with me. I am not an underling Mr. Cullen if you would just allow me to explain then we can continue..."

He opened his briefcase and removed a stack a papers throwing them on the table as he stood. "Listen I don't have time for this or for someone who probably just received their MBA based on your age. Here are the contracts take them back and let someone who knows what they doing look over them and get in touch with me. This was a waste of my time. Oh and Bella you need to stay away from my family. Apparently I wasn't clear enough in my message yesterday so let me speak plainly so you will understand. I will not allow you to get your gold digging, social climbing claws into my mother, my family or me so if any more of these meeting are needed I suggest you have someone else take them. If we attend the same business functions I suggest you give us a wide berth, the next time I have to explain this I will not be so nice about it. Have I made myself crystal clear?"

We had garnered quite the crowd as he was making no effort to control the volume or fury in his voice. "Yes Mr. Cullen I understand completely." As soon as the words left my mouth he turned and left the restaurant leaving me stunned and speechless. I gathered up the papers and left returning to Sinclair's temporary offices at Rainier Tower unfortunately Cullen's offices were also in the building. I was so busy making sure Edward wasn't around as I entered the building I didn't notice who I stepped onto the elevator with.

"You're Carlisle Cullen?" The man nodded. "I'm Isabella Sinclair but please call me Bella. I met your wife yesterday at Hope House, she was very welcoming."

"Nice to meet you, Bella. Esme enjoyed spending time with you also. I thought you and Edward had a lunch meeting today. If I may ask, how did that go?"

"The meeting was ... surprising I suppose you could say. Edward is very concise and no nonsense. I can honestly say I left it knowing exactly where I stand with him and that rarely happens." The elevator stopped on my floor - thank god I could escape.

"It was very nice to meet you Mr. Cullen. I hope to see you again at the fundraiser on Saturday night."

"Very pleasant to meet you Bella and I look forward to speaking with you more on Saturday. Have a good afternoon." Then the doors closed and I breathed a sigh of relief. I really liked Esme and Carlisle seemed nice also. How did the two of them combined to have a son that was such an arrogant prick?

I passed Gabe's office and asked him to join me in my office. I told him about the meeting and Edward's reaction to me. "Gabe I don't think he has any idea who I am but he is so full of himself that he won't give me the opportunity to explain. What bothers me most is the venom coming from him and the fact that he won't allow me to explain. I tried several times and he cut me off every time. It really makes me wonder about how he not only treats women he has to work with but women in general. We have too many women executives for him not to have to interact with them sometimes and I will not allow my executives to be treated with that level of disrespect. I do not think Seattle is a viable option anymore the environment here is just to hostile."

"Bella I was going to wait to tell you this but you need to know now. Esme Cullen hosted a luncheon today concerning Hope House and invited the wives of the executives that are currently visiting. I have received several calls about that lunch. Apparently while some of the attendees were nice the majority, especially the Denali's and their cohorts, were openly hostile in their criticism of why they were there. Things were said about gold diggers and social climbers and how no one working for the Sinclair's would ever be accepted in Seattle. Things were thinly veiled but my understanding is it got ugly."

"I don't understand this Gabe, how did things get to this point? We won't make a final decision to keep Seattle on the list or not until after the fundraiser on Saturday. I am giving a speech and will make clear to everyone who I am. Maybe after that attitudes will change, if they don't Seattle is out I don't care how good of a deal the city tries to give us."

"OK I agree. For now give me the contracts to look over so I can see what they are offering us. Did you need anything else? We are almost at the end of your task, any thoughts on that?"

"You and I both know why Edgar set me on this path. I must admit it feels nice to get out and meet people and interact with the world again. I am not sure how long it would have taken me to do it on my own. I find it hard to believe the he wanted me to meet Edward Cullen, the man is a self righteous, pompous, condescending son of a bitch and I can't believe Edgar ever would have found him acceptable. What was he thinking?"

"Bella I have heard Edward has changed quite a bit in the last several years. It is possible that with Edgar being sick he didn't realize this and that is why he is still on the list. Anyway we still have to go to San Diego and meet with Jacob Black of The Black Trust. We leave on Sunday morning and will be in California for two weeks. We do not have as many firms to meet with and will be working out of hotel as we do not have any current projects ongoing there."

"You're right. Look over the contracts and we can talk about them in the morning. I will be spending tomorrow afternoon at the new Hope House and then I will see you Saturday at the fundraiser."

Tanya POV

I was upset before I even arrived at Esme's lunch. I knew she only invited me because I was a Denali and she couldn't invite my sisters and not me. Kate had told me about seeing Edward and the way he looked at the woman at Hope House. He wouldn't let anything happen because she was nothing in his world and he had learned his lesson the hard way.

Then there was the lunch itself - who did these upstarts think they were. They didn't come from money. Yes their husbands made money and a lot of it but they didn't come from money. They hadn't been born into it and had no idea how to survive in this circle. I made sure the younger women froze them out, they got the idea they weren't welcome here and wouldn't ever be. I was almost starting to enjoy myself when I overheard the conversation that put me into a rage.

The woman from Hope House was Isabella Sinclair. That would not do when Edward found out his reason for avoiding her would be out the window. Then I heard he was having a meeting with her today for the Foundation. I would have to call him tonight to find out if he knew or not. If he knew she was Sinclair I would have to dig in her past and find a reason to get rid of her. If he didn't know I would take care of her on Saturday night. She needed to realize, Edward Cullen was mine. He may not have come to his senses yet but every woman in Seattle knew he was mine and the consequences of seeing him. I couldn't wait to explain that to Isabella.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.

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