I arrived at work early the next day and awaited the phone call that I knew was coming. At nine o'clock on the dot, an outside call was transferred to my extension.
"Izzy Swan."
"Isabella, do you still doubt my power? Did I not prove to you that I can indeed control the trajectory of Emmett's career?" Aro growled into the phone.
"What do you want, Aro?"
"You. In my bed."
"Why? Why me? Why are you willing to ruin Emmett just to have sex with me?" I hissed into the phone, looking around to see if anyone was close enough to overhear.
"Emmett means nothing to me. He's smart but there are hundreds of smart, driven men that could do his job. You, on the other hand, are a rare jewel- beautiful, yet innocent; sexy but unassuming."
I closed my eyes. "Would this be just once?" I whispered.
"Just one time." He agreed. Hot tears escaped my closed lids and zig-zagged down my face, dripping onto my desk.
"When?" I asked with a lump in my throat.
"Saturday night. Come to my home. Alone." He gave me the address which I jotted down on a post-it note.
"How can I trust that you will keep up your end of the bargain?"
"You'll find out before the end of business today." He said cryptically before hanging up. I jumped up from my desk and ran to the ladies room emptying the contents of my stomach into the toilet. How did I get here? Was this punishment from the universe for having sex with Edward?
I walked around the rest of the day like a zombie. I was moving and talking, but I was dead inside. Tyler stopped by my desk in the afternoon and dropped off a bag of pretzels and a bottle of ginger ale. I looked up at him, thoroughly confused.
"I've heard that salty foods and ginger ale help with the morning sickness." He whispered.
"Tyler, I'm not pregnant." I said emphatically. He looked skeptical.
"Izzy…you've been forgetful, distracted, throwing up…what else could it be?"
"I have a lot on my mind. But a baby isn't one of those things. I do appreciate your thoughtfulness." I said, sincerely. He was a sweet guy.
"You can keep the ginger ale, but I'm taking the pretzels. I am starving." He said, snatching them off of my desk and opening the bag.
"You jerk." I said. My cell phone rang and Tyler waved and walked back around the corner, munching the pretzels.
"Hey Em. How are you?"
"Babe, you will not believe what happened! Human resources called me a few minutes ago and said that they mixed my file up with someone else's and it was all a big misunderstanding. They apologized profusely. I'm on my way into the office right now."
"That's great, Em!" I feigned enthusiasm. Aro moved swiftly, I had to give him that.
"Some stupid secretary almost fucked up my whole life. I hope she gets fired." He grumbled.
"Just be glad they discovered their mistake."
"I'm pulling into the garage now. I'll talk to you later, babe. Hey- I love you." He said.
"Love you, too."
~SD~
The next couple of days were kind of miserable. Okay, that was an understatement- during the day I felt like I was living an awful nightmare and at night I had actual nightmares, so I slept as little as possible. I could barely focus at work. I am sure I looked haggard and pale. Every time I thought about having sex with Aro, my stomach lurched and I had to run to the bathroom to vomit. The software from the project that Emmett was overseeing was finally launched and it was a success. Emmett was over the moon and it seemed to be a big accomplishment for the whole department.
On Thursday, Tyler came over to my desk excited about something.
"Izzy, the sexiest man I have ever seen is in the reception area asking for you."
"What does he look like?" I asked.
"He's gorgeous. Russet skin, huge muscles, at least six feet five…"
I rolled my eyes. "That's Jake. Rose's boyfriend." I explained. Tyler had met Rose and Alice on several occasions when they had come to my office to meet me for lunch.
"Tell that bitch I will fight her for him."
"She'll tear you to shreds." I snorted. I walked into the lobby and Jake grinned at me with his perfect white teeth and then lifted me up and hugged me, swinging me around.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked when he put me down.
"Someone called for a tow down the street so I thought I'd drop in on you. I'm hungry. Let's get a hot dog before I hitch this car." Rose and Jake worked in the same auto body shop. Jasper figured his younger sister would get sick of him after seeing him all day at work and then at night in the apartment that they shared, but that never happened. Jake knew that Rose needed a lot of space and he wasn't the clingy type anyway.
"Let me go grab my purse."
"No, I got you. Come on."
As we rode the elevator down, Jake looked me up and down.
"You're too skinny, Swan. You're getting two hot dogs."
"Only if you eat one of them."
We walked about a block until we found a hot dog cart that looked clean enough for me. Of course Jake didn't care; he would have eaten a hot dog that was rolling around in the dirt.
"Three hot dogs with relish and mustard." Jake said when it was his turn in line. "And a couple bags of plain chips."
We sat on a nearby stone bench and unwrapped our hot dogs.
"I think I want to propose to Rose." He announced unceremoniously. I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face.
"Did you already buy a ring?"
"Yes."
"Did you bring it down here for me to look at?"
"Yes." He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a black velvet box. He handed it to me and watched me carefully as I opened it. It was perfect- a princess cut diamond framed by smaller diamonds on a delicate white gold band.
"Jake, it's beautiful. She'll love it. When are you going to do it?" I closed the box reverently and handed it back to Jake.
"This weekend, I think." He said, stuffing the box back into his jeans and biting his hot dog.
"Are you nervous?"
"Nah. Rose is it for me."
"Love seems to be so simple for some people, but it's so complicated for me." I admitted, opening my bag of chips.
"Relationships are complicated, but love isn't. You either do or you don't."
"What if you don't know?"
"Then you probably don't."
I spent the rest of the afternoon writing evaluations for the interns. Friday was their last day. Victoria wanted them all completed by the end of business so she could read and sign off on them. I had just hit send on the email to Victoria when my cell phone rang. It was Emmett.
"It's looking really good for me, babe. I just met with the board and they told me that they were looking to fill Felix's position in the next four weeks and that I was one of the people they were considering."
"That's great!" I responded weakly.
"My dad stopped by the job today. He's in the city for the day." Emmett's father was a prominent oncologist. He was partially retired, but he did consultations for his friends and had office hours once a week.
"That was nice of him." I said absently, looking at the time. I had to get out of the office in the next ten minutes if I was going to make it to spin class on time.
"He told me that Edward is leaving his firm and going to a firm in North Carolina. I told you he was lazy. Why would he leave a big New York firm to join a firm in North Carolina as an associate? I could see if it was a more prestigious firm but…"
"W-what? He's moving to North Carolina?" I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me.
"Apparently so. Do you think you can meet me and Dad for dinner tonight?"
"Not tonight, I have spin class." He couldn't move, he just couldn't.
"Come on, Izzy. It's just one night." He started with his pleading but I cut him off.
"No, Emmett. No. I have to go. I'll talk to you later." I said and hung up. I grabbed all of my stuff and was on the elevator in thirty seconds. This was too much. With Aro and Emmett and now Edward was leaving. Leaving.
I made it through my apartment door before I completely broke down. I fell to my knees, crying until my throat was raw and the tears dried up. Then I crawled to my bed and cried some more. I heard my phone going off but I ignored it. An hour or so later I heard banging on my door which I also ignored. I looked over at my alarm clock. It was almost eleven at night. I heard a key in the lock and then Rose's voice calling my name but I didn't answer. The door swung open and she looked relieved to see me.
"She is here, Mrs. Santrini. Thanks for unlocking the door for me." Rose called over her shoulder and I heard the front door click shut.
"You scared the shit out of all of us. When you didn't show up for spin class, we were concerned. We called Emmett to see where you were and he told us you were at spin class. We called your cell, your work phone, you didn't answer either. I banged on your door for a half hour before your neighbor told me she had the key and would open the door so I could check and see if you'd ever made it home. Are you okay?"
I shook my head.
"What's wrong?" she said, sitting down on the bed next to me.
"Everything!" I said, the tears starting again until I was hysterical. Rose hugged me and rocked me until I calmed down enough to talk. I poured my heart out and told her everything, about Edward, Emmett, Aro. She listened quietly until I finished.
"Izzy, I can't believe you've kept all of this stuff inside. No wonder you're so upset."
"I didn't want you to think I was a horrible person…"
"You are the sweetest person I know, but Izzy you always put everyone else first."
"No, I don't."
"Yes you do. Izzy, you can't fuck this Aro guy to help Emmett's career. That is absolute madness! Aro is crazy…what if you go to his house and he kills you! You have to tell Emmett that Aro is blackmailing you!" she screamed at me.
"But then Aro will end Emmett's career." I argued.
"He might set him back a bit but he can't end it. Emmett can always leave and go to another company."
"And then Emmett will resent me."
"God forbid King Emmett be inconvenienced." Rose's voice dripped with sarcasm. "You can always leave Emmett. Which brings us to Edward."
"Even if I broke up with Emmett, I can't start dating Edward."
"Why not?"
"How slutty is that? And Emmett would hate me forever!"
"So the fuck what?"
"What is it that you have against Emmett, Rose? You're always telling me that I'm settling and making little snide comments. What is your problem?" My voice was shrill with anger.
"He treats you like shit, Izzy!" she shouted, her own anger spilling over.
"He does not! He loves me! He wants to marry me, Rose!"
"And what kind of marriage would that be, Izzy? You waiting on him hand and foot until you keel over and die?"
"I do not wait on him hand and foot!"
"You were willing to sleep with his boss to help him keep his job. If that's not codependent, I don't know what is."
"What do you know about codependency? You're not a psychologist. You work in a fucking auto repair shop," I snapped, my voice filled with venom.
Rose regarded me coolly before she continued. "Attack me all you want. You know I'm right. He doesn't put anything into your relationship. He just takes and takes and takes. I can totally see why you would cheat on him. You weren't getting any of your needs met. You were vulnerable."
"But with his brother?"
"I'm not saying it was ideal, but he was there. He was willing to give you what you needed."
"And now Edward is moving away." I sobbed.
"Can you blame him? You pushed him away. So he went away. You made your choice. He has to move on."
"Emmett wants a future with me, Rose. I couldn't throw that away to take a chance with Edward."
"You're like a broken record. What would that future be like?"
"I don't know, but knowing we have one is comforting. Rose, I have no one. My mother died when I was eleven, my father died when I was twenty, I don't have any siblings. It's just me."
"How can you say that? You have me. You have Alice. You know Jasper and Jake love you like a little sister. You have a family. We are your family. You don't have to go through all of this to be loved. We love you." Rose said, tears sliding down her face. Her tears touched me profoundly; it was the first time I'd ever seen her cry.
"Izzy, put yourself first for once in your life." Rose pleaded one last time.
She took off her sneakers and pulled my comforter up over the both of us.
"So...how was the sex with Edward?" Rose wanted to know.
We giggled together until we fell asleep.