One chapter will talk about the past, one about the present until we reach the point where we began with the present. Confusing much? It keeps things interesting. ;)
Same disclaimer applies-Twilight belongs to S.M., but the idea of this story is mine.
Many thanks to my awesome betas and friends - TeamAllTwilight and m0t0b33. And to my newest help: Momma Laura.
October 2011
At last, the Halloween party is here.
I'm really not looking forward to it, but I can't say I'm not curious.
Victoria gave us tons of ideas, and it is just now when we're driving to work on October 31st that I see we didn't realize she gave us paired costumes.
All her ideas were of couples. Ugh.
Out of all the silly things she rattled off, we chose pirates. And even like this, Edward looks too funny for words.
"If you laugh one more time, I have this sword, and I'm not afraid of using it!" he threatens me on the way to the elevator.
I giggle, walking a good foot away from him. "And I have this gun." I try to twirl it around my finger, managing to drop it with a lot of fumbling.
"What a lousy pirate you are, my lady!"
I scowl at him, retrieving my gun before we step in the elevator.
"Hold the door!" someone shouts. James—the boss.
"If he's not dressed up, I'm slicing his throat," Edward mutters.
True, he kept reminding us the whole week to come dressed up today, then we're to stay for the afterhours party or something.
"Oh, what do we have here?" he asks cheerfully looking at us amused.
"What the fuck are you supposed to be?" Edward mutters, eyeing him. "You don't even have a costume. Just because you're the boss—"
"This is my costume, man!" James straightens his raised collar, running a hand through his hair. "Don't you see the resemblance?" he asks, turning to me. "You should know, Miss Swan."
I feel like a deer in the headlights. "Uh, guessing is not my forte."
He shakes his head, the corner of his lips lifting up.
What the….?
"Holy…you're…uh…that vampire…the one Brad Pitt played!" I squeal.
Edward turns to look at me shocked, his eyebrows drawn up. The boss looks smug.
"Correct. Call me Louis today."
Edward snorts, resting his elbow on my shoulder, tilting his hat back with the tip of the sword. "Call us Jack and Liz."
I press my gun to his ribs. "Shut up!"
James is laughing so hard, he doubles over. "As long as there's not a blood spill in the company… Oh, let me guess, now you're going to be enemies since she's taking over the other team?" he asks, still chuckling when we step out of the elevator.
"Lucky guess." I beam, pushing the fake pistol harder into Edward's side.
"Ow, woman! Seriously, Bella." Edward rubs his rib. "For this, you'll be punished today."
"Goodie! Just admit you can't handle a woman taking charge!"
"You're going with the ones that go for the final photo shoot session on the makeup commercial."
"Aw, but it will be boring."
"The commercial is just as good as done," James butts in. I almost forgot about his presence. "If you don't need her around, I'll steal her and introduce her to her new team."
Edward frowns but turns on his heel and heads to his office.
Well. Shit.
I hope he's not truly upset.
James leads me on the opposite direction of the part of the round floor where I usually work.
Tanya gives me thumbs up. "Good luck with the newbies!"
I smile a little, feeling like throwing up suddenly.
"Nice costume," James calls to her.
I don't see anything changed—she's always wearing a blouse and a skirt. Yeah, now she has some interesting glasses on her nose, and her hair is done up. Maybe she's trying the sexy librarian look, or maybe a secretary. Not very original, anyway.
"Are you sure, Mr. Brown?" I stop him right before going into the room.
"We've been over this. You can start on Monday. I bet tomorrow the current project can be wrapped up, and then you have the weekend to mull this over."
"They're going to see me like this," I say, pointing to my attire.
"They're dressed up, too. You need to find a better argument than that."
I hang my head down, effectively allowing him to open the green door.
"Good morning!" he says loudly. No one answers. "The pirate-lady is going to be your supervisor. Mind yourself, or you might get shot."
I raise my head to look at him in surprise. Edward told me that James is not as serious and bossy outside work, but I never really had the chance to see this side of him.
When I realize the room is empty, I turn to glare at him, not even caring he's my boss.
"How could you?" I moan.
"It was fun seeing you squirm. Go on, make whatever changes you'd like. It's yours now. Oh, and what's left of the Green team is in the team's room. I hope. Have fun." He waves to me before leaving.
After walking around the spacious office, I start rearranging chairs, the desk, put away papers. It's a mess in here.
I've only talked with Bill a handful of times and never liked him; it turns out he wasn't tidy, either.
The door opens and closes, but I can't really see who came in. I'm on the floor, stacking papers on dates and projects.
"Here'll be empty until we meet the new supervisor," a man's voice says quietly.
"Still, aren't there cameras?"
I stifle a giggle.
Good to know Edward and I aren't the only ones sneaking around.
But if I don't make my presence known soon, I'll end up a spectator to live porn.
I take one stack of papers and sigh loudly as I stand making the couple jump apart. They're still near the door, kissing furiously.
"Oh, we didn't think anyone was… You wouldn't tell anyone?" he asks, begging me with his eyes.
"Nah. But I could use some help." I smile sweetly.
"I'm Conner, and this is Betty." He gestures to the red-faced girl.
"Green Team?" I ask.
"Yeah. What are you doing in here, anyway? Aren't you Red?"
I smirk. "Soon to be Green." I wink, walking the papers to the bookcase. "The supervisor," I add, glancing over my shoulder at him.
"Oh my God, Conner! She's our boss!" the girl squeaks.
"Don't worry. It's hard to find a good hiding spot," I blurt out then avoid their wide eyes. "Anyway, James isn't exactly against this. He's worried of the effect a bad relationship can have on the team."
"Oh, so he accepts your relationship with…whomever you're sneaking around with?" she asks quietly.
"Who says I'm sneaking around with anyone? I was just stating a fact. This company has too many cameras." They nod in agreement. "Have you met Laurent, the one managing the tapes?" I laugh, shaking my head. "He's this old man. I bet he sleeps all the time, but James loves to bring him up to scare people."
"Wow. You met the camera guy!" Conner exclaims. "Old? You sure?"
"Yes. Like really old. He just stays there and watches us. Creepy dude." I shrug. "I had to go for the footage when we stayed here after hours one night, and in the morning, Edward couldn't find a CD. I tracked it through the footage."
They laugh, and I join them.
Yeah, I felt a little like 007 that day. Loved the action.
They're really nice and offer to help me organize my new office.
Time flies, and when we realize it's lunch time, we head that way together. I had no idea there were nice people on other teams, but then again, I didn't actually interact with others…much.
It's been Red Team and only that for me.
In the cafeteria, I look around but don't see my pirate. This is odd. He's the first when food is involved.
I stop Jake, who used to be on our team until James gave him his own team a month ago. I think I understand how this works, shifting between teams, having different responsibilities.
"Hey," I say.
"Bella!" he exclaims. "Whoa. Didn't recognize you there."
I giggle. "I'm supposed to be a pirate. You?"
He points to his jersey. Right. Giants player.
"Nice. Listen, have you seen Edward?" I ask, looking around.
"We were on the way here when his phone started ringing, and then he left."
"Oh, okay. Thanks."
I walk to an empty table and pull my phone out, dialing his number. It goes to his voicemail.
"Hey, just wanted to know…" What's going on? If you're okay? How are you? "…what's up. Call me."
The second I put the phone on the table and open my fries, it starts ringing.
Laughing, I answer distracted. "That was quick."
"Hi, honey. Am I calling at a bad time?" Mom's voice asks amused.
"Oh, hey, Mom. No. Just you know…expected it to be someone else."
"A he?"
"Mom… My supervisor," I explain, not lying, just leaving out the most important part.
"Oh, I see. So what about the new thing you told your father about?"
"Seriously?" I ask astonished. "He's gossiping like an old lady. It's still new."
"You don't have to give me details, hon. I just want to know if you're happy." She sounds concerned.
"I am. Uh, why did you call?"
I pick at my fries, watching how everyone is dressed in the craziest get ups.
"Can't I call my favorite daughter?"
"I'm your only daughter—only child, actually. What is it?" I insist.
"I want to know if you have plans for Thanksgiving. I talked with Charlie, and he invited us there."
Crazy, I know.
They're divorced, and they should hate each other, but they get along pretty well. They were really young when they had me and Dad being busy with the police academy and all, they decided to split. Of course, I was too young to remember, but I always shared time with the both of them equally.
I even attended high school in Philly after a huge teenage hormone inducing fight with Mom. I simply left home and went to Dad—scared both of them to death.
"So, do you?" Mom snaps me out of my daze.
"Uh, not that I know of."
Just then Edward steps into the cafeteria looking agitated. His eyes find me, and he makes his way here.
"Listen, I have to go. I'll catch you up later," I rush out, hanging up.
"Bella, can you take over for me?" Edward begs me, not joining me.
"Uh, yeah. Is this a trick again?" I check amused.
"No. I really have to go to Vic's school. I don't know what she did, but I better get there before Mom or Dad hear about it. I usually save her ass."
"Victoria, a troublemaker?"
"Don't let her angelic face fool you. Thanks again. See you later." He cups my cheek before turning around and leaving.
I scan my surroundings, afraid someone saw our exchange, but no one is looking…besides…holy fuck. James.
I dig in my food, not looking up.
Next chapter on Wednesday - present time.
PS: They didn't elope as many of you thought. they just got married at the city hall. The church wedding is still on.
Don't forget about the pictures in my FB group if you want to see the Halloween costumes. :)
