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Sunrise-Sophiiee pre-read and edited. She's just so good at it!
L-O-V-E you, Soph!

Chapter 1
Bosses and Friends

Bella Swan

"…and you have a meeting with the owners of that new Italian place over the lunch hour… Isabella, are you even listening to me?" My boss sighed. She already knew the answer to that question. The only time Esme Cullen used my real name was when she needed my attention.

"Yes, I promise I am. You were talking about the meeting this afternoon, I just zoned out. Sorry." I smiled apologetically.

Esme Cullen was the editor in chief of Seattle's own Volterra Magazine, she was a very powerful and highly respected woman. Esme could be an intimidating lady when she wanted to be, but once you got her talking about that stud muffin of a husband she was married to or the new pushup bra from Victoria's Secret, she could be a pretty cool chick.

Esme gave me a quizzical look, but then proceeded to prep me on my first project. Santoreggia was the newest addition to the Seattle area. It was owned and operated by a very large, very boisterous family. Their grand opening was planned a couple weeks from today and it was my job as author of the Lifestyle section of Volterra to review their restaurant.

I was scheduled to meet with the owners themselves at twelve o'clock sharp for an interview, but that wasn't for another four hours.

I gave a farewell to my boss and sauntered out of the room in search of something to occupy my time. It was only my second day at this job after all, and so far the article about the Italian place was my only project.

I casually ambled down the fluorescent-lit hallway and waved as my coworkers passed by. Once I reached the mass of cubicles, I plopped into my black swivel chair and spun around lazily. For a cubicle, it was pretty roomy. I had your average three and a half walls and no ceiling. There was also a bendy lamp, computer, telephone, and a pad of post-it notes which all sat on top of my plush white desk nestled in the corner. I had yet to bring little knick-knacks to decorate the space and make it my own.

It still seemed pretty surreal to actually have this job. Volterra was one of the most popular magazines in the industry, up there with In Style, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue. I remember my first day as an intern and looking around, wide-eyed at all the bustling people in the office. Being one of many interns, my chances were slim of essentially landing the job, but I was young and having fun exploring my options as a post-graduate so I thought, 'what the hell?' At least I could get some experience if nothing else.

When we arrived that fateful Monday morning, the receptionist ushered us into a boardroom where we patiently waited to start the day. Then, none other than the great Editor in Chief herself strolled into the room like it was no big deal.

I about had a heart attack.

For a journalist like myself, breathing in the same air as Esme Cullen was like a high school basketball player getting to play one-on-one with Michael Jordan. Yes, she was that big of a deal. Esme was a normal college grad like anyone else that started at the bottom of the food chain grabbing coffee, making copies, and answering phones. Her dirty work paid off when Mr. Volturi himself used to run the office and noticed her creativity and work ethic. He immediately bumped her up with a few promotions and she was the youngest editor on staff. Only a few years later was Esme hand picked by the boss man to run this office in the northwest while he started a new office in New York for V-Mag (Volterra magazine for pre-teens).

Esme Cullen was the fastest rising corporate executive in the Continental U.S. and she was my idol.

In the midst of my hyperventilating, I took a peek around the room and found only two other girls that looked as though they were sharing the same feelings I was experiencing. Did the rest of them not know who Esme Cullen was?

I gaped at Esme as she gave a very motivational speech about work ethics, fulfilling your dreams, and reaching your goals. Once she was done, she gazed around the room like she was measuring us all up, like she could see exactly how much potential we possessed.

Her eyes landed on me and I totally tensed up. The left side of her mouth turned up in a small, half-smile before she moved on.

Half-smiles are good… right?

We were then given a tour around the office where all the magic happened. Esme showed us everything, from where the ideas started and ended, to how the design of the magazine was determined, the many people that contributed to this effort, right down to the copy room.

My attitude from earlier that morning had changed. This was no longer and internship I did for just the heck of it. I. Wanted. This. Job.

When we were dismissed for lunch, I made my way down to the cafeteria and ordered least messy thing they offered, a boring salad no less, in fear of somehow spilling on myself. I wasn't going to let anything keep me from reaching my goals just as Esme had talked about, and at that moment my goal was to land a job working right along Mrs. Cullen. I was determined.

Of course gravity had other plans, and as I started searching for a table to sit at my left heel broke. My balance faltered and there I stood, lunch smeared all over my blouse and one leg slightly taller than the other.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" A shocked voice from behind me asked.

"I've had worse…" I mumbled and bent down to retrieve my broken shoe.

Once I stood back up I found myself staring into a pair of deep blue eyes, and I mean deep, royal blue, like the heart necklace from Titanic, blue eyes. The girl was absolutely gorgeous, her blonde hair was thrown into a low ponytail, and you could see the curly tendrils cascading down the back. She had a funky pair of platinum colored reading glasses perched atop her head and when I looked down as my face heated up, realizing the embarrassment of myself I had just made in front of this beautiful girl, I couldn't help but realize she wore barely one inch high heels.

I cast a speculative glance up at her, I would have guessed she would at least be wearing two and a half's. "I didn't want to risk falling on my face my first day…" she shrugged, answering my unspoken question, "or toss food all over myself…" she chuckled, grabbing my arm and leading me out of the cafeteria, "Come with me and we'll get you cleaned up."

We ended up in the girls' bathroom; me sitting on the counter by the sink and who I now knew as Rosalie Hale, super gluing my high heel back together.

We had gotten ourselves into a conversation about what things must always be in a woman's purse, namely really durable glue, when a petite woman rushed in. She couldn't have been over five feet tall and was carrying a large tote that looked like it could swallow her whole. She stopped short when she noticed the scene in front of her.

"What happened?" she gasped in horror and pointed at my food covered outfit.

"Well, my lunch decided it would rather be on me than inside me…" I laughed nervously as Rosalie shook her head in agreement.

Realization dawned on her face and she asked, "You two are interns, right?"

At that moment I also realized I had seen these two women before as Rosalie and I answered yes to the small girl's question. They were the only other interns that had felt just as star-struck when Esme walked in the room as I had. The two girls I noticed earlier in the boardroom.

After introducing herself as Alice Brandon, she quickly rummaged through her monster bag and whipped out a brand new blouse and skirt that matched my newly repaired heels perfectly.

This girl seemed like she was always prepared. Alice must have been a girl scout growing up…

After that fiasco, we stuck by each other's side the rest of the day and eventually the entire year, becoming fast friends and working our butts off to impress Mrs. Cullen. We each formed a special bond with her, at work Esme was our mentor and idol we aspired to be like and during lunch breaks (when we had persuaded her to take a break from work and eat with us) she would tell us all about her days as an intern and the messes she got herself into.

Outside of work, Rosalie, Alice, and I were inseparable. We ended up getting a three-bedroom apartment together right in the heart of Downtown Seattle and loved every minute of it.

Our last month of the internship was in March and only four of our group's original twenty-five would be offered jobs. The process took nearly the whole day as one by one we entered the familiar boardroom to learn if Volterra wanted to kick us to the curb or invite us onto their team.

Having gone in alphabetical order, Alice emerged from the room first looking defeated and disappointed, only to turn her frown upside down claiming she was just kidding and started bouncing around, squealing for being chosen as a journalist for the Fashion & Style section. Rosalie and I waited on pins and needles when another intern, Tanya Denali, came out of the room joyfully as she got offered the junior graphic designer position.

After that each person who passed through those doors came out looking dejected from the obvious bad news they had received. Then it was Rosalie's turn. It seemed like she was in there for much longer than anyone else, when she re-entered the waiting area though, Rose was all smiles. She had been accepted as author of the Beauty article.

This was it, only one more position was left.

I sat in the uncomfortable chair with my hands clasped in my lap. They started clamming up and my heartbeats became closer together and increasingly louder.

"Isabella Swan." The receptionist finally called for me and I carefully walked into the room, expecting the worst.

Esme sat there with a soft smile and excitement in her eyes, "Bella, I have been watching you very closely from the moment you looked like you were having a panic attack your first day here," she snickered, "Remember the speech I gave?" I nodded. "I talked about how I looked for people who wanted to work, and loved what they did, people who weren't afraid to reach out and grab what they wanted. You have shown that, Bella. You have shown us over this time that you would have done anything for this job, and I don't mean kissing ass to make your way to the top. I mean hard work, dedication, and a passion for what you do…" I heard her words, and tried to decipher whether this meant something good or bad. "…which is why Volterra would love for you to join us."

In that moment, everything stopped. My breath caught in my throat, Esme and the few people around her stared at me, waiting for my reaction, and all I could hear was my heartbeat pounding in my ears and the annoying tick of the clock on the wall, "Yes! Oh my gosh, YES!" I burst out.

That afternoon, the whole office welcomed Alice, Rosalie, Tanya, and myself and I was introduced to my cute little cubicle.

That was one week ago. Now it was Tuesday, April 6, and I had a fancy nametag on the outside wall of my cubicle that read:

Isabella Swan
Volterra Magazine
Journalist
Lifestyle & Entertainment

I spun around in my chair once more before I stood up and popped my head over the wall of my cubicle, "Good morning Mary Alice!" I said cheerfully.

"Yeah…hi." Alice waved her hand dismissively at me while she studied the arrangement if pictures on her desk. I watched her move one frame half a centimeter to the right and then move it back two centimeters to the left. That girl had serious OCD problems…

Scooting across to my other wall, I leaned over and found Rosalie trying out different screensavers for her computer, "Morning, Rosy Posy!"

"Good morning Jelly Belly!" she laughed back.

I went to go sit back down in my chair when instead, my ass made contact with the gray carpet, "Stupid rolling seat, just stay in one place!" I grumbled and pulled myself back onto my feet.

"You okay Bells?" I heard my two friends call from each side of me through the plastic walls.

"I'm fine." I huffed, grabbing the chair with two hands and firmly placing it behind my desk.

Alice and Rose appeared in front of me, silently giggling, "Having troubles?"

"You know it's really creepy when you two say the same thing at the same exact time like that." They just rolled their eyes and laughed…at the same time.

"Mail call! How are my favorite new employees doing this fine morning?" Mike Newton grinned as he parked his mail cart behind Alice and Rosalie.

"Fine, but Bella has already seemed to nearly injure herself and we haven't even been here an hour yet." Alice giggled.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Mike tsked, "What are we going to do with you?"

"Beats me, but if you do figure it out let me know. I've been trying to answer that impossible question myself for close to 23 years." I sighed dramatically.

Mike Newton was the biggest schmooze I have ever met. He was a good kid, completely harmless; a sophomore in college and also worked down in the mailroom, but the biggest gossip I'd ever met. If you wanted to know the 411 on all things Volterra, Mike was your guy. Although that wasn't much of a surprise, considering he worked along side Jessica Stanley, which definitely didn't help with his nosiness. She was queen of all gossip and Mike was her eyes and ears of this place.

News traveled faster than ice melting in hell when those two got to talking.

Mike chuckled at my comment as he scanned through his massive pile of envelopes, "Ah, here we are. Miss Swan, Miss Brandon, and Miss Hale, you each have a welcoming letter from Mr. Volturi himself."

Mike distributed our letters and with a tip of his invisible hat, he wheeled his cart away.

I tore through the white paper and unfolded the single sheet of paper.

Dear Isabella Swan,

I am pleased to have you join our little family here at Volterra Magazine…yadda, yadda, yadda…If you have any questions or concerns…blah, blah, blah…Once again, welcome to the team…something, something, something…

Sincerely, Mr. Aro Volturi

President of Volterra Co.

"Well, I guess its official!" Rose squealed, "We are now proud employees of the most fabulous magazine in the northwest!"

Edward Masen

I pulled up in front of the tall building I would now call home and put the moving van in park. Climbing out of the cab, I walked around to the back, lifted up the door, and started unloading my things.

I huffed, staring at the mounds of boxes I had to transfer from the truck to my apartment. This was going to take a while…

"Edward Masen?" I heard a voice call to my right.

I carefully set down the box of breakable plates that were currently in my arms and looked over to find a tall, lanky man with wavy blond hair in his eyes and a huge dude with dark chocolate hair walking towards me.

"Yup, that's me." I smiled and offered my hand.

"Jasper Whitlock. They said you would be getting here around noon. We're your welcome party." He motioned to himself and the other guy, "I'll be working with you over at the station, and this is Emmett McCarty, he doesn't work at the station." Jasper chuckled.

I shook Emmett's large hand before picking up the box again.

"I can tell you need help getting all your stuff upstairs, so we won't even ask." Emmett smiled as he jumped into the back of the truck and grabbed three boxes, followed by Jasper.

In the hour it took us to haul all my things into my new apartment, I learned that Jasper and Emmett lived right across the hall from me. That was about it…we couldn't really talk much while lugging everything around.

Once we had finished the job and the mover guys picked up the van, I rode over to KZIZ headquarters with Jasper. Emmett promised to catch up with us later after he took care of some things at his own workplace.

We arrived after about a five-minute drive since traffic was light and walked through the doors of the KZIZ 98.9 FM radio station.

My new boss, Carlisle Cullen was waiting for us in the lobby. He was a fairly young man, in his mid-thirties who had naturally blonde hair that my mother would kill for and not a gray spec in sight. His hazel eyes were welcoming as Jasper and I walked up to greet him. "Mr. Masen, I'm glad you're finally here." He smiled warmly and shook my hand, "We have a few things to go over before you start next week, so follow me and I can show you around."

I was lead straight to the recording studio first which was on the top floor. The room looked brand new, it couldn't have been more than a year old. There were state of the art soundboards, microphones, recording materials, everything an audio manager wished they had at their disposal.

"This is the main studio where the shows that actually air on the radio are broadcasted from. You will be working up here quite a lot Mr. Masen, although, that being said, I think you will find it very rewarding seeing how your eyes lit up when we walked in." he smiled. "We just recently upgraded all our technology around September, so everything you see here is brand new."

I could only nod. There had to be millions of dollars worth of audio equipment right in front of me.

"I have you scheduled to work during the morning and early afternoon shows. That will include "All that Jazz" with Jasper "Jazz" Whitlock, who you already met, and "Lunch Hour With Leah" which obviously stars Leah Clearwater – who you will meet later this week."

I was then escorted around the rest of the remaining two floors where I found my office I shared with the other two audio managers, Sam Uley and Angela Weber, the break room, which Jasper mentioned was always stocked with plenty of donuts and coffee, the extra recording studios with the outdated equipment, and lastly, Carlisle's office.

"Well, that's all I have for you today Edward, you just need to fill out these forms so we can get your information stored in the computer. Bring them back tomorrow." Carlisle handed me a small packet and I was on my way.

As we walked out to the parking lot, Jasper asked, "What do you think? You gonna like working here?"

"Yeah, its way more laid back than anywhere I've ever worked," I admitted.

"That's just because Carlisle is a cool dude. He actually used to do the morning show until he got promoted and I filled in his place."

"So he's always worked at KZIZ?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, Carlisle's dad owns the station so once he finished school, got a degree in business, and moved back to Seattle, his father offered him a temporary spot at the station until he found a job. He ended up loving it and had the morning show for a few years before his dad left him in charge and took early retirement."

"Huh, that's pretty funny."

"Uh-huh," Jasper said as they sped down the street. "And if you like Carlisle, you're sure to like his wife. Esme Cullen is one smokin' hot lady. She visits from time to time and is really great, she helps me out with my girl problems…or lack thereof." Jasper joked.

We arrived back at the apartment and my mouth watered as soon as we hit the fourth floor. I looked over at Jasper and he grinned, "I love when Emmett cooks."

Jasper unlocked his door and the scent wafted from the kitchen. I could definitely smell some sort of sauce and cheese. I liked sauce and cheese, so I followed Jasper and the wonderful smell.

Emmett was cheerfully whistling as he slipped on an oven mitt an opened the oven door. He reached in and pulled out the biggest pizza I'd ever seen in my life.

"Hey Em, it smells great. Whatcha cookin'?" Jasper greedily tried to steal a bite, but Emmett was too fast for him and swatted his hand away.

"Papa McCarty's own secret recipe. I thought our new friend here should be welcomed to Seattle the McCarty way, with good food," Emmett said seriously and laid the pizza down on the stovetop to cool.

We each grabbed a beer and a few slices of Papa McCarty's pizza and headed to the rooftop for a change of scenery. The April air was cool and refreshing and I leaned back in my chair, relaxed for the first time all day.

"Alright Edward, time for the grilling. Here we are, already sharing our food with you - and let me tell you something, Emmett doesn't mess around with food - and all we know is that your name is Edward Masen, you're an audio engineer, and live across the hall from us. Care to share a few more details?" Jasper asked as he took a swig of his beer.

"Well…uhh…" I ran my free hand through my hair as I thought about what to say, "I grew up in Chicago, I'm an only child, and I used to work at this crappy college radio station back in Illinois… what else would you like to know?"

"Got a girl?" Emmett asked suggestively.

"Nah, I mean I've dated but never anything too serious. At least not since high school…"

"Yeah, same here. There just aren't any girls that have struck me as the type I could bring home to mom…" he replied thoughtfully.

"That's because your mom is picky. No one is good enough for her Baby Emmy." Jasper cooed, as Emmett flicked a pepperoni at him.

"What about you guys? What's your life story?" I chuckled.

"Well I was born and raised here in this beautiful city. Went to college at the university, landed my job at KZIZ, and just been livin' life." Jasper smiled and propped his hands behind his head.

"Emmett over here grew up in a small town not too far from here and is the youngest of six and the only boy. His dad was adamant about having a son." Jasper smirked at Emmett.

"I don't think my mom was ever that happy in her life when she finally popped out a boy," Emmett laughed. "Jasper and I met in college after he made a pass at one of my sisters when they came to visit me. When Elizabeth socked him right where it hurt, I felt sorry for the little guy, taught him how to block a punch, and he's been following me around ever since."

Jasper chucked his crust at him, which Emmett nimbly caught and shoved in his mouth. "See what'd I tell ya? Emmett doesn't mess around when it comes to food," he said proudly as Emmett stuck out his tongue, visibly showing off his half chewed food. When he tried to close his mouth again, a chunk of it slid off his tongue and onto his nice clean shirt.

"That's disgusting man." I laughed and tossed him a napkin.

"You know Masen, you're alright," Jasper mused.

"Yeah, it'll be fun having you around," Emmett agreed as he wiped the soggy crust off his shirt.

We spent the better part of the late afternoon cooped up on the roof as Jasper and Emmett told me stories about the crazy things they got themselves into. Most of them followed the line of Emmett getting a big idea, Jasper's support of the idea, and one of them getting completely embarrassed.

We cleaned up our mess and trudged back to our respective apartments. Jasper promised to give me a ride to work the next day when he went in since my car was still being sent over.

I tiredly waved goodbye to my new neighbors and shut the door to my apartment. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and fall into a peaceful sleep.

Too bad I had to assemble the bed first.

Crap.

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Love,
Emeleigh

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