"Remind me why I don't come to work with you more often? Damn, Bells. I wished I could live like this."

"It's not that special, Nikki. Honestly." We'd managed to make it inside without encountering anyone that I knew, which I was pretty happy with – after my episode yesterday, I wasn't too sure that Lisa would be happy with me bringing a friend into work for the day. Then again, she might just be grateful that I was there at all.

"Yeah, yeah. Wish I had a view like this where I work."

"Well, I doubt you're going to, seeing as you work on the high street. Which, unfortunately for you, is usually only a single storey building." I broke off when I heard a soft knock at my door, and Alex poked her head around a second later, looking mildly surprised to see Nikki but passing no comment.

"I have some news for you that you aren't going to like."

"Let me guess. Alice is here."

"Mm-hmm. And not only that, but… She's going to be here quite a lot from now on."

"What? Why?"

"Apparently, she was destined to stay for a while even before the interview. The board of directors… They decided that they wanted a more permanent fashion fixture, and because Kate's going to be on maternity leave for a while… I'm sorry. Lisa tried to talk them out of it when she found out you and her had a history, but they wouldn't listen."

"I… Thanks for telling me. Anything else?" I wanted her out of there before I started either screaming or crying – at that point, I honestly couldn't decide which reaction was at the forefront of my mind.

Anger was starting to win out, though. Because, really, how dare she come back here? How dare she just waltz back into my life as if nothing had happened? As if her and her family hadn't ripped my life to shreds four and a half years ago?

Yeah, screaming was definitely starting to sound better than crying.

"Uh, no." She seemed to sense that I wanted her gone, because she turned hastily and left. Nikki was frowning, and when our eyes met she raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously. I can beat her up, if you want. Won't be too hard to find her."

"Somehow, I really don't think that would help."

"Spoilsport. So, what's on the agenda for today?" I was glad that she was there, and that she'd thought to change the subject – the better distracted I was, the less chance I'd have to worry about potentially running into Alice whilst I was working.

I had a few articles that I needed to finish off, and Nikki kept the conversation flowing between us, never allowing my mind to wander far from either what I was writing or what we were talking about.

I hadn't realised that several hours had passed until Lisa stuck her head around the door, forcing me to glance up from my computer screen and see the time on the clock that hung on the wall opposite.

"Hey, Bella, can I have a quick wor - Oh, I didn't realise that you had company."

"I'm sorry," Nikki said, standing up and stretching. "If it's a problem, I can go..."

"Oh, no, no, it's fine. Just wasn't expecting anyone else to be here, is all. Bella, come and see me in my office later on, will you?" She left without giving me the chance to decline, and I sighed as I watched her walk away. I had little doubt of what she wanted to talk to me about, but that didn't mean that I wantedto.

"Tough break, Bella. You gonna go later or…?"

"No, I'll go now. And then we can go for lunch, if you want." I saw her eyes brighten at the mention of food – Nikki was one of those girls who could stuff her face with enough junk food to feed a family and not put on a single pound.

Not that I was at all jealous of that.

I didn't really want to leave the safety of my office (even though that safety was an illusion – I knew that she would know where my office was, and if she wanted to find me, I was positive that she could), and I made my way hesitantly to Lisa's office, mentally scolding myself the whole way there for how much of an idiot I was being.

Mercifully, I didn't see another soul on my trek, and I presumed that everyone was either on their lunch break or in their offices. Lisa's door was open, so I just knocked lightly on it before stepping inside, closing it behind me.

"Please, sit down," she said, without taking her eyes off the folder she was reading. I sat, casting my eyes around her office briefly, already knowing where everything would be – there was little escape from your boss when you chose a career such as mine.

"Alex has told you the news, correct?"

"Unfortunately."

"I'm sorry about this, Bella. I really am. I had no idea that you knew her, none at all. If you'd have said before the interview…"

"I didn't know it was going to be her."

"But you must have known the name of the person you'd be interviewing, surely." I hadn't, if I was being completely honest with myself – I was good at my job, really. It was just… fashion. What was the point in it, at all?

"She's changed her name since I knew her." Which wasn't a lie – there was no way she'd be able to use the same name, or at least not the same whole name. Why she had even decided to become a fashion designer was beyond me. I mean, I was aware of how much she'd loved fashion, and assumed that that hadn't changed, but she couldn't get too well known – because if she was recognised, years after, when she would inevitably be unchanged, then questions would definitely arise.

Not that I planned on asking her about it anytime soon, though.

"Alright, then. But I'm afraid that I she wont be leaving for a fair while, Bella. The board want her to stay; apparently her family's done work for them before or something… They won't budge. Is that going to be a problem?"

Yes.

"No. I can be professional. Besides, I won't have to see her around much, will I?"

"Well…"

"That does not sound like a good 'well'."

"They gave her Kate's office. Which is - "

"On this floor."

"I'm sorry." I wondered, abstractly, if she'd asked for that office. Used that stupid Cullen-charm to get that office, to ingrain herself into my life just that little bit more. It was infuriating, really, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

"Anything else?"

"No, I don't think so. I can tell her to stay away from you, if you'd like."

"Somehow I doubt she'd listen. I'll see you around." I stood and saw her open her mouth, doubtless to satiate her curiosity about how I knew Alice and what our history was, but I turned and left before she got the chance.

I collected Nikki from my office (thankfully not seeing her on the return trip), and we made our way to the ground floor, which held the massive cafeteria that catered for the whole building. There were a couple of other, smaller, publications that occupied the bottom few floors, and then the rest were either unoccupied or taken by some division of our magazine.

"So, this chick in here? Any table we need to avoid?" I cast my eyes around the room briefly, flickering over faces familiar and unfamiliar alike, and, finding no sign of black hair or golden eyes shook my head. We went and sat on one of the few empty tables, and I kept shooting furtive glances at the door until Nikki caught my chin and held my head in place.

"Babe, you look like you've got a twitch. Chill out. If she comes in, we'll leave, alright? I just can't believe she's got you so freaked out." I bit my lip, unable to stop myself from attempting to look at the door yet again, causing Nikki's hold to tighten by a fraction. "Stop it."

"I can't help it. She… She's not even spoken to me and I'm looking around every corner."

"Sure it was the brother you were dating and not her?"

"What? No!" I nearly choked, I was so surprised by the comment, but her eyes flashed with triumph at the fact that I'd stopped looking over my shoulder. "No. That's… that's a ridiculous idea."

"If you say so." She hadn't yet dropped her hand, still deliberating whether it was a good idea to do so, when I heard someone cough from behind me. My eyes closed, because I knew, I just knew who I'd see when I turned around.

"Is this seat taken?" Her voice washed over me once again, and a million memories, memories that I had tried my very hardest to repress, washed over me. I heard her pull out a chair to my left, not waiting for my answer, and I opened my eyes, wishing that I could turn to face her to give her the full effect of the glare that came across my face.

But, alas, I was too much of a coward and only ended up glaring at the wall.

"It is, actually." If she noticed that I was speaking through gritted teeth, she didn't show it. I saw Nikki's eyes flash dangerously when she put the pieces together, and I wondered what would happen if I let her launch across the table, because it looked like she was readying herself to.

"She doesn't want to talk to you. So I think you should go."

"Bella? Do you want me to go?" I didn't look at her, couldn't look at her, so my gaze was fixed on Nikki's face, silently begging her not to make a scene in front of everyone else – I could tell that they were looking over here, curious what the (as much as it killed me to say it) attractive new girl was doing sitting with me. Not that I was antisocial or anything (well, not really), I just imaged that they'd be pretty jealous.

It was like high school all over again.

"No." I saw Nikki's eyes widen slightly in shock, before she saw my shove my chair backwards as I stood up. I turned to face Alice, finally, my jaw clenching, as I forced myself not to say one of the thousand thoughts streaming through my head as our eyes met. "You don't have to go, because I am."

I turned and left without another word, wordlessly accepting the hand that Nikki intertwined with my own, not giving a crap what conclusions anyone drew, and hoping that I wasn't going to either faint or burst into tears before I reached the doors. Had they always been so far away? Had we really sat that far back? But finally, finally, we were outside, and I managed to somehow not collapse onto the floor like I wanted to, but make my way back to my office without so much as stumbling.

It was quite an achievement for me, if I do say so myself.

"So, still think I couldn't take her?"

"Can we please not talk about her for now? Please?" There was more than a hint of desperation in my voice, and I wasn't sure, entirely, where it had come from, but she didn't push the subject any further and instead asked me some completely random question that later I couldn't even remember. But I was so, so grateful, once again, that she was there. That she kept me thinking about something else.

I had no idea what I was going to do when she left later.

As it turned out, she nearly didn't leave – after my shift was over and we were walking home, she refused to leave until I insisted that she did. It wasn't that I didn't want her to stay, because I did, but I felt terribly guilty that she'd spent so much time with me over the last couple of days. I knew that she didn't mind, but that didn't ease my mind much, so I told her to go home and that I'd ring her if I started feeling too down.

I wanted, more than anything, to go out, get drunk, and crawl into bed with the first girl I saw. I knew, however, that that really wasn't a good idea. It was a good coping strategy, in the short term, but on a work night… Sometimes, having a responsible mind really sucked.

The folder that I had supposed to have read before that dreaded interview caught my eye as I walked through my front door, and I stared at it for a while before I picked it up, doubting that it would do much harm to just look through it. I was, admittedly, curious about what story she had made up to conveniently end up here. And I figured I may as well learn something about her, seeing as she seemed so determined to be in my life.

She was using the name Alicia, and had apparently grown up in Paris, which was how she became interested in fashion. I soon saw how she was getting around the issue of being recognised later on – she refused to have her picture taken. I didn't really see how she could carry on with that, especially if she kept designing. Because according to the information I had in front of me, she was set to become pretty famous if she carried on at the same rate.

It was useless to me, though. It told me nothing of use – and though I had known that it wouldn't, it still came as a blow. Because, regardless of the fact that I really didn't want to see her, I was still extremely curious as to why she was here.

It was an endless circle, and it was enough to make me want to pull my hair out with frustration.

"Oh, fuck it." I knew it was a bad idea – but I was going out anyway. I didn't call Nikki, knowing that she'd try and talk me out of it, or come with me, and I wasn't really in the mood for being sociable tonight.

I ended up in the same club I'd been to with Angela, and, after however many shots of whatever I'd asked the bartender for, I was showcasing my God-awful dancing skills. That was how I knew I was drunk – because I was actually dancing, and, for once, I didn't care.

The music made my head throb, and the lights made my eyes burn, but I had no desire to leave. My mind was blissfully fuzzy, almost blank, my inhibitions pretty much non-existent. If I had wanted to go home with someone, I was definitely past it now – if the dancing hadn't put them off, then the fact that I couldn't focus for long enough on anyone's faces was enough to ensue that I kept my hands to myself.

I was distantly aware that I should be leaving soon, but as I turned to get off the dance floor and go to the toilets – something about cold water helping to sober up tickling the back of my mind – I tripped, and I saw the floor getting closer and closer by the second until I was caught by a pair of hands.

They felt cold. Colder than they should be in a place this hot, and I shivered at the touch as they set me back on my feet. I remembered something about cold hands – and when my saviour moved to stand in front of me, I put that together with the height and the hair and the eyes, and I took a step backwards, nearly falling again at the sudden movement. Her hand caught my arm again, and though I flinched away, she didn't let go.

"Bella, please. I know that you don't want to talk to me, but at least let me help you home. Otherwise, you won't get there." Her voice was soft, pleading, and I didn't have the will (or ability), to argue with her, so I merely nodded dumbly and let her pull me towards the door.

The journey back to my apartment was just a blur were I was aware only of her arms keeping me upright, and the drizzling rain falling on my face, cooling me down.

I didn't think of how she knew the way to my apartment, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know the way anyway. She took my key from my bag when we reached the door, and looked like she was deliberating whether or not to cross the threshold or whether to leave me to my own devices. But when she released her hold on me and I teetered dangerously, her decision was made.

With a sigh, she pulled my through the door and led me to my bedroom, making a brief stop at the kitchen where she handed me a glass of water and two tablets.

I saw her turn and leave my bedroom after she'd deposited me on my bed, but then I must have passed out because the next thing I knew, my alarm was waking me up, and when I cracked one eye open, bright light was streaming through my window.

I sat up, expecting a wave of pain that didn't come, and saw that a note was lying on the pillow next to me:

Bella,

I won't be in work today, because, as you can doubtless see, it's sunny today. But I'd still really like to talk to you – I know that you're angry, and that I don't have a right to be here, but please, just hear me out.

One talk, and then I'll be gone.

I promise.

Meet me in the park down the street at six o clock tomorrow.

Please.

Alice.

A/N:

Hey there! Sorry this took a little longer than usual; I had a teensy case of writer's block. So, if this chapter is worse than the others, I apologise profusely.

It may seem like Bella's gone of the rails a bit, but I assure you, it won't last for long.

And I promise that the next chapter will have more Alice. :)