"She had blue skin,

And so did he.

He kept it hid

And so did she.

They searched for blue

Their whole life through,

Then passed right by-

And never knew."

― Shel Silverstein, Every Thing on It

Bang bang bang bang

Bella's fist was tightly wound as she angrily hit the large door that led to Edward Cullen.

"Open the door you thieving asshole!" she yelled as the door stayed shut. "Open it now" she kicked the door harder only to fall to the ground in sweet agony. It seemed like the giant thing was made out of rocks and steel.

She huffed and blinked a few times, wondering what to do next, when the door opened swiftly. Her eyes climbed from his feet up to his dark suit and deja vu came upon her, it felt like she had run into him years ago outside the cafe when it had rained abysmally, he had greeted her from up above, just like today, a storm brewing from his eyes. That dark green stood out against his dark suit which was tinged with a hint of maroon, barely noticeable, but it felt like a single thread was wove in between another with the utmost care and when the light of his lamp hit his profile, the suit shone slightly.

She caught herself glaring up at him while he looked back down in annoyance. His brows were slightly pinched, ever so slightly, his hands in his pockets and face tilted down.

"Why are you screaming outside my office?" he said, one eyebrow raised. "Who let you in?"

She gathered her falling purse and stood up slightly stumbling. She breathed in and out before walking closer to him.

"I know what you are"

His other brow raised.

"I know you're secret. Edward Masen"

His face instantly blanked. Her heart dropped at what she had done. This man was rich enough to wipe her off the face of the earth if he pleased. Suddenly she regretted this whole thing. She readied herself to beg and plead as he hauled her inside, slamming the door behind him.

He looked straight at her piercingly, scrutinising her up and down, her insides felt like they were on fire.

"Well done Miss Swan", his eyes glimmered as he regarded her. "I am guessing you want what I took from you"

She gulped once, chest puffed at her one upping him. She nodded once, eyes darting between his, trying to decipher what he was thinking.

Was he going to bring in his security guard again and kick her out? Or is he going to make him take her to the nearest ocean, tie weights to her legs and sink her?

She had watched way too many crime thrillers. But the fear wasn't lost on her. He could do it.

"What exactly do you know?" he questioned, leaning back on his desk, eyes trained on her curiously.

"I know that you're an illegitimate child. You're not the heir of the Cullen Empire, in fact you're not even close to inheriting, you're real father…he-he is lying in that graveyard". She let out everything she had assumed. "Your father is Carlisle Masen. Not Cullen."

The first thing she found was a picture of Carlise. He was blonde, with blue eyes and a handsome, kind face. Although Edwards 'supposed' mothers whereabouts were unknown, someone had commented on a forum that she had black hair and black eyes. Edward had green eyes. Through further digging she realised his photos were also out of the press till he turned thirteen…This took her a while, finding every picture of a young Edward Cullen. He was always handsome...and he was always moody.

At about four am a revelation had hit her. It seemed there were two Carlisles… one his real father, and the other the king of this empire that somehow landed in Edwards hands. Carlisle had died young, almost too young. Heart attack Google had said… and he was buried beside his wife at their residential home. So who was this Carlisle?

He was not Carlisle Cullen's Child. She knew that for a fact now considering his reaction. She had come in with only an inkling, and somehow somewhere her guardian angel had made her suspicions true.

Right here standing before him and spewing this was a gamble, she knew that, and she also knew how much danger she was in. His eyes were penetrating her from across the room as he took in her words, she felt herself shifting slightly and looking down at the ground every few seconds. Her hands had started to loose grip on her bag and her body had suddenly become too hot for the clothes she was wearing.

"You're right." He stated simply.

She looked up at him in triumph.

"I'll leak it" she blurted, "If-if you don't give me my cafe back I'll leak it to the press"

"No one will believe you" he retorted, picking up a rubix cube on his table and turning it slowly, his full concentration on the toy.

"A spark is enough" she replied, growing more confident by the minute.

He looked up, head not moving an inch. He clenched his jaw for a second before speaking.

"Let's negotiate"

He pointed to the chair in front of his desk, as he took the seat in front, crossing his leg.

She gulped slightly before taking the seat. This was it, she was going to get everything back. She was sure she had him, yet there was an uneasy feeling still present inside her. Like a bony hand was reaching into her chest slowly turning her heart into stone, minute by minute.

"All I want is my cafe." She pleaded. "I don't want it for free, I'll work the rest of my life paying it off. Every single penny of yours I'll return."

The thought of it made her numb. Like there was no point in being alive any longer. Like life isn't worth it, as if happiness was a myth.

"Alright." He spoke. Her heart suddenly filled with gratitude for the man before her.

"But you will work for me."

Her eyes widened. This was it. The catch she was waiting for.

"What?"

"I said, you will work for me. You pay me back. By working for me."

"How long?" One thing she did know was not to underestimate this man.

His face ever so slightly pinched at her reply. Was it shock? Or annoyance that she wouldn't just succumb to giving her life away?

"Five years" his voice was smooth as he dropped the bomb on her. He expected her to waste that long on him? She contemplated running away… but it was too late now.

"Absolutely not," she replied menacingly, "I won't be able to stand being near you for that long."

"The only way you're paying back the price of that rundown building is after you work for me for three years." He sneered. "And if you think," his face came down towards hers as he leaned in, "that i'll just let this go, you are sorely mistaken."

She was afraid. He was looming over her. The hatred she saw in his eyes was real. This man had no good in him.

"Three? But you said five.."

"The other two is interest." His eyes glimmered, the satisfaction in his face blinded her. What did she do to deserve this?

"No." she ground out.

"Fine then. Evacuate the building"

"I-I can't do that"

"Then you're mine"

She was furious, her face grew hot under his gaze.

"Fuck you"

He leaned back again, face hard. Getting up he picked up his phone and dialed.

"Jasper. Please take Miss Swan to complete the necessary paperwork"

"What about my cafe?!" she half yelled.

"It'll open when you pay me that final penny you told me about." He moved away and stared out the window. His silhouette was sharp against the evening light.

"Now get out" his words were soft, but his tone was hard. The room was dim as she got up. She looked back once as she started to open the door. The only brightness was coming from the deep red side of the cube…which was now fully completed and left for her to admire on his desk.

Bella lay awake staring at the ceiling. For once she felt warm and comfortable. The heating was back on and she could finally afford something other than ramen and frozen pizza for dinner. Her belly was full. But she felt like she was going to be sick.

"You're going to be his secretary"

Jasper's frightening words rang in her ear.

She had assumed when he meant work for him, that she'd be some low level peon who doesn't even get to have a whiff of the CEO. This. This was a nightmare come true.

She had argued with Jasper, who just stood there and blinked at her while she ranted. He ended up placing a hand on her back and telling her to shush, rushing her forward to her cabin.

"Your workday starts at 5:30" he had said, that blank look ever present on his face. By then she was sure he was a product of artificial intelligence.

"Five thirty?!" she had retorted. When is she even meant to sleep? Is that normal?

"What the hell are you talking about? When do I get to sleep then? You know it takes twenty five minutes on the bus to get here?!" she had yelled at Jasper while he just stood there.

"Well…I apologise Miss Swan, but that's what Edward wants"

She kicked off her covers in fury as she tried to force herself to sleep. What Edward wants. Is her whole life going to be her dancing along to his tunes? Her bedtime was now nine PM. How much more pathetic can life get?

Suddenly, her laptop pinged with an email, she lifted her head and squinted.

Cullen Inc

She dragged the laptop towards her, blinking against its harsh light. It took her a minute to drag the cursor and click the damn thing. Her laptop was bought second hand on Craigslist. It was currently breathing its last.

Hello Isabella,

This is Letitia Bea. You met me at the reception. I am Edward's current secretary. You will soon replace me. I am a little under the weather so I am not sure I can make it to the office for a while. I have included all the necessary documents we need you to sign. It is vital this is done.

I am also going to follow this up with an email containing all the tasks needed to be done for tomorrow. Going forward these will be directly mailed to you from Edward himself.

Sincerely,

Letitia

P. S I hope you have a lovely time at the company. And make sure to look after him. He can be a little difficult.

"A little difficult" she mumbled, "more like tyrannical". Did he have split personality disorder or something? One for the general public and one for her? She pulled out the magazine she found in the downstairs reception, with his dumb face plastered all over it.

"Asshole" she muttered, throwing it against the wall. His face slammed against it before sliding down.

The mail Mrs. Bea had sent afterwards contained enough work for her to stay up for four hours. She had noticed that whatever was sent was too tough, too precisely constructed, too many leads which made her spend more and more time worrying. She had a strong suspicion this wasn't the old lady's doing.

She had finally made it to sleep at two thirty in the morning. Adding to waking up for Nona's bathroom breaks, she was officially fatigued beyond belief. Her trek to work was a long one, but she was determined to make a good first impression. He can make her life as difficult as he wants, but she couldn't back down without a fight.

Ten minutes later she found herself blinking down at the same receptionist she ran into…and ran from.

"Look what the cat dragged in" he said sassily, huffing up at her.

"Hi", she looked down at his nameplate sheepishly, "Eric"

"Don't act all shy with me, I nearly lost my job after you bulldozed into Edscare's room" His face was pinched in annoyance as he glared at her.

"I'm sorry I…It was an emergency", she grimaced at the obnoxious amount of hair gel on his head. This man was in a relationship with his hair. She wondered whether if she tapped on his scalp it would make noise as if she was knocking on a door.

"Stop gawking at me and take this" he strutted over and dumped a pile of files in her arms, she teetered to find her balance as she tried to look over the mountain of paper at his smug face.

"Come on", he grabbed her by the elbow and led her down a long string of dark corridors, finally reaching a tiny cubicle.

She proceeded to dump the paper on the table, huffing and puffing while she looked at her surroundings. There were several cubicles around her but nobody was occupying them. The hell is going on?

"Wh-" she started as she turned to Eric. "Am I the only employee here?" she questioned, one hand on her hip.

"Clearly not as I'm here" Eric spoke in a high pitch. "Mr Cullen is already in his office. He wants you to complete all the work emailed to you. He also wants you to submit all the stuff he sent you beforehand in his office right about…" He looked down at his watch, "Now."

"So what you're saying is, us two are the only people here?" she spoke as he started to sashay away. "Does that make sense?!" she spoke loudly at him as he slammed the door shut in his wake.

She fell into her stupid chair and glared at her stupid desk. She lifted her foot and kicked at the side of the table. Her limbs felt like they had been through a ringer and it was only sunrise. Gathering her things slowly she pensively walked to his office, knocking on it once. Then twice.

"Yes." a voice spoke. The same deep tone that plagued her dreams.

She cracked the door open and peeked in.

"Sit" he spoke curtly, going back to his phone. And phone he did. For the next half an hour. Her legs had gone numb but she wasn't gonna open her mouth and sabotage herself. She spent her time reading the first free e-book she found on her phone and counting the number of hairs she had gathered from her head. If he had bothered to pay attention she must have looked like a pyscho. A few more weeks of working for this man she was sure that potential scenario wouldn't be far from her future.

His pompous self had finally got off the phone and looked at her after a long dreadful wait. He looked away as quickly as his eyes landed on her.

"Wear something else". He clenched his jaw.

What?

She looked down at her pencil skirt and full sleeve. It was buttoned to her neck. Was she meant to wear a sack?

"I-" she started as he interrupted her.

"Hand me the work and get out," he spoke curtly. That stupid dark strand falling into his left eye.

This is what he made her wait half an hour for? She opened her mouth to fire back but thought the better of it. She took two deep breaths in and out. She needed to stay calm and collected. Cool Bella, that's the only Bella he was going to see. She was going to kill him with kindness. She internally scoffed at the thought.

On the other hand it was great that he loved to kick her out so often. So she didn't have to spend too much time near him. His presence stirred something weird in her. Her heartbeat quickened and her face felt hot. His irate face was always playing on her mind like an annoying pest. She hated him passionately. She hated him for occupying her mind. She hated the way he looked at her, like she was a stranger. And she disliked that for some reason.

"Alright," she muttered, standing up and leaving quickly, feeling his stare burn her back.

An hour later she pulled her headphones out to see there were two women glaring at her from much, much larger cubicles. She looked back at her own and raised her brow. Did she get a workstation or a nook? She balled her hands into fists, she could barely move in here.

"Is this Mr Cullens new secretary?" one of the women walked up, popping her hip aggressively as she came to a standstill. She felt herself being analysed from head to toe. She didn't back down either, as she looked at the woman. Lauren, her name plate said. She was a dirty blonde, with thin lips and beady eyes.

"Yeah. Isabella. The same one I complained about the other day" said Eric, who seemed to be lurking around her for some reason.

Lauren looked back at her swiftly, clenching her jaw once. "Stay in your lane, Isabella"

"Or what?" she retorted, head slightly bent to the side. Who does this weirdo think she is? She had been walked all over by a lot of people, but not now, not here.

Lauren blinked a few times, then more, she looked like she had a bug in her shirt tickling her. Bella smothered a laugh behind her hand and looked at an amused Eric.

Another grueling two hours later a sandwich landed in front of her. She looked up to see Eric, who wouldn't meet her eyes, she smiled at his attempt to look annoyed, which turned into a giggle, and soon they were laughing together.

"Miss Swan, I don't pay you to stand around laughing with the staff" came a voice. Eric was suddenly nowhere to be seen as she turned. Mr. Cullen stood there, eyes blazing. He walked forward throwing the work she had completed the night before down in front of her.

"This is the most pathetic piece of work I have ever seen"

"What's wrong with it?" she spoke calmly, looking up at him, trying to ignore the smug looks from the other two women.

"Redo it" he spoke suddenly, refusing to answer her question.

"But I did it correctly" she glared at him from her seat.

"Not correct until I say so" he sauntered off unphased.

She stormed after him, ignoring Laurens over dramatic gasps..

"What do you think you're playing at?" Bella spoke swiftly once she reached his room.

He raised a brow.

"Do you speak to all your bosses this way?"

"No" she said, walking up to him, "Because I have never had one, I am my own boss. Until you stole that from me"

There was a lingering scent of cinnamon and her eyes darted behind his glare to see smoke rising from a put out candle. The smoke seemed to be swirling around them as he took a step forward, the earthy smell of cinnamon was ever present, but mixed with the hint of citrus that was lingering on him, it was almost divine. She felt like taking deep deep breaths.

"I took it because you have been mooching off me for the past five years." he tilted his head and watched her as he spoke. "I thought you were an honest woman Isabella…are you sure you want to be indebted to me your whole life?" He continued in that arrogant tone of his. He had confidence that struck you instantly. It was painful.

She swallowed at his mocking words. No matter how much she argued, she knew he was right. She had to pay him back.

"I understand that" she gritted her teeth. "But that doesn't mean you get to treat me like a dog."

"Too bad." he said in a clipped tone. His demeanor was back to the no nonsense it was before, right before he slipped into something else. He had caught himself just in time it seemed.

"Now," he looked at her once and once only, "Redo the work"

The next month was grueling. Her bones ached and her head was spinning for most days. Every Sunday she would try to sleep longer to rest her body, but Mr Cullen wouldnt take no for an answer. It was always "Miss Swan do this, Miss Swan do that", it seemed as if all the interaction she had with another human being was limited to Edward Cullen. And that was torture in itself.

He was absent most days, only emailing her when necessary…which was very often. It seemed as if everyone else's workload was half of hers, as her day ended when the beast stepped out to go to...where she didn't to kick puppies or make children cry. She'd reach home famished. Sometimes she would cry. Sobbing was not an option as Nona had pretty good hearing for an old lady. She would just bite her pillow and soak it.

"Hello?"

It was a foggy Monday but for once Bella was well rested. Mr Cullen had shot off yesterday without a word, leaving her wide eyed and confused. She never heard from him after that…so she left. It was a peaceful afternoon of books, baking and sleep. Lots of it. She felt refreshed.

"Come to my office," a voice snarked from the phone, she took the receiver away and scowled at his tone. Seemed like whatever he dashed off to yesterday had pissed him off greatly. This was not good, but she tried to stay optimistic. She actually had the energy to fight back today.

"You need to organise an event" he didn't even look up as she rushed in, pen in one hand twirling and head bent towards the desk he was the epitome of sophistication. He wore a crisp dark purple shirt, his sleeves rolled up to his elbow and a light dusting of hair on his forearm.

"Alright," she said shortly and sweetly. She pulled out her notepad and took a step forward. The click of her heels made him pause and glance at her feet, which dragged all the way up to her throat. He couldn't seem to go to her face, something was weighing his eyes down.

"No heels" he went back to work.

"What?" she was flabbergasted. She already had to spend some of what was left of her salary on new slacks because of his no skirt policy.

"I don't see this ban on the other women" she questioned, clenching her notepad. In fact Lauren wore the highest neck breaking stilettos every day, Bella often wondered if that's why her nose was always in the air.

"I didn't ask for your input"

"Asshole" she mouthed. She was gonna wear her damn heels. She didn't pay twenty bucks for all of this to go to waste.

She took a deep breath and tried again, it felt like she was talking to a an angry toddler.

"When's the event?"

"In six days" he flipped another page.

"What?! That's not enough time to plan!" she half yelled.

He glanced up once before going back to his stupid work. The morning light did nothing to dim his handsome face.

"You need to plan a charity gala. For one of the leading human rights charities in the country. I have emailed all the information, go over it, study it, and make sure nothing goes wrong, it is imperative that this goes well."

"Is there a dress code? Food preferences? Colour scheme?" she had returned an hour later. An employee had emailed her pages on Justice Foundation and their operations, but nothing to do with the intimate decisions of the company.

"That's for you to research." he spoke nonchalantly. "Run it over with the marketing team and get back to me."

"But i-"

"Leave"

She huffed before stomping off, her morning energy was all drained due to his happiness sucking energy. Now she had a whole lot resting on her shoulders, and a whole lot just waiting to wrong.