CHAPTER FIVE

On Saturday, I woke up extra early, to try and get out of the house before Edward could make fun of me for my play date with James. I left him a quick note that I was planning on going into town before meeting with James and that my phone was on hand.

I spent the morning walking around going into all the shops admiring them for the goods. The bakeries were my favorite; everything was delicate and drizzled with chocolate or various fruit sauces. At 11:45 I made my way down to the gelateria like James and I had agreed upon. He was already there dressed very casual, sporting his usual dark shades. I had worn a comfortable dress which I began to think was a mistake when I saw him leaning against a Moped.

"Good afternoon, beautiful Bella." He greeted me.

"Hello, thank you for showing me around today," I said shyly.

"It's I who should be thanking you. It's one of my many pleasures showing people the place I love so much. Shall we get going?" he asked.

"I didn't know we'd be traveling this way, maybe I should go get changed." I was pondering the very idea of me getting on and off this contraception with grace, and my odds were not so good.

"Don't you worry; nothing will happen while you are in my company. Come here." I walked over anxious and he placed a helmet on my head stating safety first. Maybe Edward would get along well with this man after all. He helped me on and then sat down in front of me sitting on my dress to make sure it wouldn't fly up.

Who knew one would have so much fun on a Moped, I may have to think about getting one when I got back to L.A. With my new job I would definitely be able to afford it. We spent the day riding around up and down the hills near Lake Bracciano. It was truly magical. Around four we arrived at this small bistro for a bite to eat. James insisted on educating me on the different wines of Italy. I had never been a big drinker, but I could tell the wine was making me braver.

After our meal, I was feeling a bit tipsy, but James stated that the night just began. He wanted to take me to a small club/ bar that evening. I told him I would have to go home and change first. He was hesitant to drop me off but I assured him I would be back by nine. He gave me a brief kiss on the lips and made me promise I'd return.

I walked into the house a sense of euphoria overwhelming me; I was feeling a thousand things and didn't know even where to begin. Of course, that would have to wait for later since Edward was sitting in the front room reading.

"You're back; I was just starting to get worried." Edward let out a breath.

I smiled over to him, "Yes, just for an hour or so, we are going out to this club nearby tonight."

"A club?" he questioned. "Did you fulfill your end of the proposition today?"

CRAP.

"No," I quietly said with my head down, damn now I knew how Alice felt. I tried to recover as best as I could. "But I'll give you two hours tomorrow."

"That's not good enough, the rules state one hour every day. You may go now if you wish."

"Ah come on, I have to be back by nine, if I go now I'll never have enough time to get ready," I pleaded. I knew this nap thing was going to bite me in the ass.

"Have you been drinking?" he came close to me.

"So, I drink with you all the time." Now I was getting irritated.

He could tell I was getting pissed, I think he was trying to reign in his anger too. "You owe me an hour or the deals off, take it or leave it."

I huffed and began stomping up the stairs, I may like James but there was no way I was about to throw away my future for him. Hopefully, he wouldn't mind me being a tad bit late. I set my alarm for one hour, threw myself on the bed. As soon as I laid down the room felt like it was spinning. Wow maybe I did have more to drink then I realized. Even though I was feeling slightly dizzy it didn't stop me from thinking about how pissed off I was at Edward that moment. I mean, who did he think he was, I knew that it was my job to take orders from my boss but since I had started working for Edward, none of these orders felt like they were business related. I was definitely going to have a talk with him.

I had just started to fall asleep when my alarm went off. I got out of bed slowly now feeling a bit groggy and headed to the bathroom. It was 8:50 pm; great there was no way I was going to make it with the extreme case of smeared makeup and bed head I was going to have to wrestle with.

I worked as quickly as possible, threw on a cute black dress, gave myself one last spritz of perfume and ran out of my room. I didn't see anyone around when I got downstairs which was probably a good thing. I was definitely not one to be trifled with at the moment.

I managed to make it to James at 9:20; I could tell he had just about given up. "I thought you weren't going to show." He sounded irritated.

"I'm sorry my roommate was being an asshole. If you want to cancel I understand."

"That's ok, you owe me one," He stated. Owe him what? Hasn't he ever heard girls sometimes take their sweet ass time to get ready? I knew I was misdirecting my anger at him so I paused for a moment and continued on. "You ready?"

We arrived at the dance club, and it was really intense. The music was loud and oddly enough they were playing American pop songs. I told James I had to go to the bathroom, which was one thing I left out in order to make it to him. When I came back James already had a small high table and on it were a couple of shots.

"Alright Bella, since you kept me waiting, we have to make up for lost time." He picked up a shot and slammed it. I picked up mine inspecting it, I was lightweight and I was a tad bit nervous about how this was going to affect me. What the hell, you only live once right? I slammed the shot, the liquid instantly burning my throat as it traveled to my stomach. I don't think I'll do that again.

"Alright Bella, one more shot then I let you choose the next round." James was pressuring me big time and I was about to tell him no when my eye caught something in the corner. Sitting in the dark corner was Edward and Emmett. Emmett with his back to me, talking animatedly with his hands flying through the air and Edward staring at me. I looked directly at him and slammed the next shot and pulled James to the dance floor.

I was really starting to feel good, dancing close to James I could feel his hot breath on me, he grabbed my hips and brought them to his front. He started grinding on me, and slowly nibbling my neck. I was really starting to feel hazy; James brought a glass to my mouth, whispering for me to drink. When did he get another drink? I turned around and his lips instantly landed on mine, his tongue pushing into my mouth. Whoa calm down there buddy, if his tongue went any further in my mouth I was going to choke on it.

The music changed to something really upbeat, we started dancing so fast, everything was going so fast. James yelled in my ear trying to make me hear him over the music. He was going to get more drinks. I was drunk once in college, Angela managed to ambush me and we spent the night drinking. I don't really remember much from that night; other then I think there was a scandalous case of ding dong ditching involved. Yeah, we were real party animals. But now it felt like all my inhibitions were gone and I could just dance like a crazed monster and not care what anyone thought. A guy came up to me and picked up where James left off, oh that's right James. He had been gone for a bit, I wonder where he went. New guy just grabbed my ass; wow never had that happen before. Italian men were really liking the Bella.

I started laughing out loud at my own thoughts. I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me. "Hey, man back off! I was here first." The new guy was talking to someone behind me, the person pulling at my shoulder. "No I was here first, let her go." I turned to see Edward. The guy instantly stops touching me and walked away.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Come on Bella, it's time to go." Edward took my hand and started pulling me to the exit. I tried to pull my hand from out his grasp but he just kept squeezing tighter. I kept yelling his name trying to get him to stop but he wasn't listening. When we arrived outside, Emmett was there waiting.

"Edward let me go!" He kept ignoring me so instantly dropped to the ground becoming dead weight. He let go of my hand. "Get up Isabella."

I looked up at him; this was not good I was having trouble focusing on his face.

"I feel tired, Edward can I have my nap now?" I started to giggle while laying my head down on the nearby curb.

Edward squatted down next to me, "Isabella, you need to get up."

I could hear crickets chirping; no really I could hear actual crickets chirping.

"Bella if you don't get up, I will be forced to carry you." I was so tired and my stomach started hurting.

"What should we do?" Emmett asked.

"Here take this." Edward handed my purse over to Emmett; he leaned down picking me up like a rag doll and throwing me over his shoulder. It's funny the only thing I could think about on that walk home was how strong Edward was. I was no skinny Minnie and yet he lifted me up like I was no heavier than a sack of potatoes. I have to admit it was kinda hot. There was an odd feeling in my stomach, was I having feelings for my boss? No, nope the feeling was definitely something else.

"PUT ME DOWN," I yelled.

"We're almost home, Bella," Edward said back to me.

"No, I'm starting to not feel…" and then it happened. There are moments in your life that no matter how long ago they happened, just thinking about it makes you cringe.

The great thing about vomiting is that once you start you don't stop till your stomach feels like it. Did I say a great thing? But where were we, oh yeah I had just blown chunks all over my boss/Sexiest Man Alive back.

I instantly started crying as Edward pulled me down from off his shoulder. He laid me down gently on the grass, which was far better than I deserved. If anyone had ever thrown up on me while I was carrying them I might toss them in the lake.

"Dude that was awesome!" I could hear Emmett's booming voice.

"Shut up, Emmett!" Edward shouted. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it aside. His jacket and possibly his shoes got the worst of it.

He got down on the ground, took my face in his hand.

"I'm so sorry Edward," I managed to blubber out. Tears were littering my face. If you had looked up the term "hot mess" in the dictionary my picture would be there as a reference.

Edward pulled me into a hug and began to hold me. It was then I realized we had taken the lake path to get to his house and we managed to make it to his backyard.

"Please don't fire me. Oh god, I'll do anything," I groveled. My breathing was coming on fast.

"Calm down Bella, I'm not going to fire you. You need to calm down honey or you're going to make yourself sick again." He was rubbing my back in a circular motion.

"I'm going to help you stand and then we are going to walk to the house, we are almost there. I want you to stop me if you start to feel sick again." Edward got to his feet and pulled me up; it was in that moment I felt just how inebriated I was. I couldn't even stand on my own without falling over.

With Edward's help, I managed to make it to the house, albeit going at a snail-like pace. We ever so slowly climbed to stairs toward my bedroom; I began to feel that lovely nauseous feeling. There was no way I was going to throw up all over his beautiful carpet, so I hightailed it to my bathroom managing to barely make the toilet.

I felt Edward come up behind me and gently pull my hair out of the way. I laid my head down on the toilet seat and of course like many a drunk person before me I started spewing out all the standard clichés. "I'll never drink again." "Make it stop." "Just let me die."

Edward got up went over to the shower and turned it on. He pulled my shoes off and helped me up again walking me toward the shower, I put the brakes on as I realized what he was about to do. "I'm still dressed, I can't go in there."

"Bella no offense but you have vomit splattered all over your clothes, just get in the shower try to wash off as much as possible." He sat me down on the stone bench in the shower, an asset that I fell in love with the first time I needed to shave my legs.

"Bella I'm going to run over to my room and change real quick. When I get back I'm going to yell for you to make sure you're ok. Once you're done, I'll hand you your clothes through a crack in the door. Please try to wash up and best you can." He left and I just sat there, exhausted.

I had no idea why Edward was being so nice; I mean he could have fired me for what I did. I felt like a world class jerk. Why did I have to drink so much? Oh, that's right, James. James! I had completely forgotten about him. Crap. He probably hates me now, thinking I ditched him. It wasn't his fault that I was such a lightweight drinker. I don't even have a way to contact him. Trying to maintain a love life while working sucks!

Edward returned a couple of moments later like he promised and continued to follow through on his plan. Let me tell you getting dressed while tipsy is hard. I climbed into bed and Edward tucked me in.

"I'm going to place this trash can next to your bed if you should need to throw up again during the night." I wanted to tell him how grateful I was that he was here, but I was so tired I knocked out pretty quick as soon as my head hit the pillow. I didn't even notice that Edward had set himself up on my big chair and hassock in the corner till the next morning.

AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing.

DISCLAIMER: STORY IS MINE. CHARACTERS BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.