Edward Masen, Chief of Staff to none other than Senator Aro Volturi of New York was sitting in his office, sipping at a strong cup of black coffee. It was so early in the morning that the only sounds in the building were the sounds of the cleaning crew moving around, vacuuming, polishing floors, emptying out waste bins and shredders.

He liked this time of the day. There weren't staffers bothering him every five seconds, his Blackberry wasn't buzzing constantly, and his office phone wasn't ringing and lit up like a Christmas tree. This was the time of day that he could actually think.

Most people supposed that he would have been happy finding peace and solitude at home, but his apartment depressed him more than anything. It was the space where he slept, showered, and sometimes exercised, but other than that, he was most comfortable up on the Hill.

It was here that he had run through the corridors as a child and played hide and seek with interns and staffers. He had done his homework in offices similar to the one he sat in now, being shuffled off to a staffer to be taken care of.

Yes, this was home. It was his territory and where he felt most comfortable.

It was also becoming tiresome, but he didn't know exactly how to find an outlet. Sure, he had a the proverbial little black book with the numbers of countless women who would be happy to keep him company, a few of them might even be discreet, but it wasn't sex that he was looking for. He just felt…restless.

It was probably why he had made his way to that staffers' function the previous evening. Those gatherings were commonplace. Chiefs of Staff, communication directors, and other high level employees of different Senators gathered, sometimes from the same party, sometimes across them, and tried to be cordial while secretly looking for a way to take down the other guy in the hopes of climbing up the political ladder.

For a long time he had avoided those types of gatherings, sending other members of Senator Volturi's staff in his place. So, he wasn't exactly sure what had compelled him to make his way to the building where the function was being held. Perhaps he just wanted to change some of the monotony that had taken over his day to day life, hoping that something interesting might happen during the course of the get-together.

But, once he got there, he couldn't make himself go inside and instead he had settled outside the building, smoking a cigarette in the cold night air. He was mentally berating himself for making the track there instead of going home when he saw her.

She had walked out of the building, her shoulders automatically hunching against the cold as she hugged herself, rubbed her arms and shivered. She had looked the opposite direction from where he was standing, looking down the street, before she turned her face in his direction.

She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her face was framed with dark hair that was set off by the fuzzy white fabric of her hat and scarf. Her pale skin looked even softer then the cashmere and she had large, doe-like, chocolate brown eyes that he could get lost in. The warmth he saw in them seemed to heat him to his very core.

He could tell that she was cold and had used that as a way to start a conversation.

He found the fact that she fumbled through almost everything she said rather endearing, figuring that due to the fact that she was used to being in the background, most likely a low level staffer or intern.

He didn't want her to get intimidated when she heard his last name or who he worked for, so he had insisted that they just not reveal that to each other.

Of course now he was kicking himself because of that decision.

He had enjoyed the short walk to the front of her building, drawn in by her laugh, her blush, and her smile as he described some of the antics that he had seen at previous functions. For him, the walk had been much too short. As they stopped in front of her building, he had kissed the back of her gloved hand before he watched her make her way safely inside.

As soon as the door closed behind her he regretted that he didn't know her name and hadn't asked for her number.

Getting up he went to refill his cup of coffee and was just starting to pour it when Emmett, his Deputy Chief of Staff walked in to the office. Seeing Edward standing at the coffee pot he made a face.

"Damnit all to hell, Edward! Just one of these days I'd like to come into the office before you do so I can make the coffee and don't have to drink that shit that's stronger than tar."

Edward just snickered. "C'mon, Emmett. This stuff is just what we need to keep you going and get a bit of hair growing on your chest. Rosalie might like that."

Emmett shook his head and moved to hang his coat up. "If that swill is as bad as I think it is I'm going to have to trek over to Starbucks later and it's starting to snow. Seriously though, man, do you live here? Is there a secret tunnel that you discovered as a kid that leads to an awesome apartment or something? And, if not, when the hell do you sleep? I swear that if I didn't see you walking around in the daylight I'd think you were a vampire or something."

Edward just chuckled and shrugged. "How'd your date with Rosalie go last night?"

Emmett's goofy grin as he went to pour himself some coffee told Edward all he needed to know. Last week before he'd gone out for the first time with Rosalie Hale, a national image consultant, Emmett had been more nervous than Edward had ever seen him.

Emmett was a former Naval officer who had actually served as a Navy Seal before an injury had put him behind a desk. After that he had gone through law school while still enlisted and then joined JAG for a while before he figured out that being in the military and not actually being part of the action wasn't for him. It would have been funny to see the hulk of a man acting like a pubescent teen about to go on his first day if it hadn't of been affecting his work. Edward had finally had to sit him down, have a good talk with him, and get him to calm down.

That date had gone well and last night was the second.

"Take it that it went well then?" said Edward.

Emmett grinned and nodded. "I'm telling you right now, Edward. I'm going to marry that girl."

Edward nearly spit out the gulp of coffee he had just taken and he coughed a bit as he looked over at a chuckling Emmett. "Seems it's a bit premature for that don't you think?" he asked when he was through coughing.

"When I know what I want, I go after it. You should know that by now, Edward," Emmett said with a shrug.

Edward just snorted. Emmett's relentlessness was legendary. It was actually how he had gotten the job that he had. Senator Volturi was a very particular man. He wanted things a certain way and with very few exceptions all his staff had political connections as well as ivy league educations. All his staff had at least one of those two qualifiers…all of them except Emmett.

Emmett had sent his resume to Edward several times, and while Edward was impressed by his service record and mentioned him to Aro, the Senator hadn't been all that interested. Then Emmett had started calling. Then he had started coming around.

In the end, he had convinced Aro that hiring a former military man with such a stellar record would only help their image, especially with active and former service members. And, that was how Emmett had come on board several years back. He'd proved himself and that's how he'd ended up being not only Edward's right hand man, but his best friend as well.

He could already imagine Emmett being just as relentless when it came to Ms. Hale.

"God help that girl if she doesn't feel the same way you do. If she doesn't you're going to go stalker on her ass and then we're going to have a problem on our hands till she finally gives in." Edward said with a chuckle.

Emmett just laughed. "So you end up going to that function last night? Was it as dry and boring as you expected?"

"Hmm," Edward responded as he sipped his coffee. "I went, but didn't go in."

"What the hell was the point of that? I thought you wanted to get the scoop on Cullen's new staff. Aro's going to want more inside information on that." Emmett replied.

Edward just shrugged. "We have what everyone else has, bios on the new staff members. If he's going to want more than that he's going to have to find a different way of getting it."

Emmett made a face as he tasted his coffee and added more cream. "Don't you mean you're going to have to find a way of getting that information?" Emmett asked with a pointed look.

Edward sighed. "It's ridiculous really. If he really is running for President in a couple of years what difference is Cullen's staff going to make. I'm sure whoever he's hired is going to be loyal to him and if he wants to run a smear campaign, well…" He just shrugged. "The election is a couple of years off. We have time."

Emmett snorted. "As Aro's said repeatedly, you start preparing to run for president the moment you even dream about it or the moment the country names you an heir apparent…as in your case."

Edward scowled. "Enough of that. I'll put one of the staffers on it. I'm sure some of his new staff is going to need friends being new to the area and all."

As he said that he thought about the woman he'd met last night. He wondered if she had any friends and hoped she did so people wouldn't try to take advantage of her, pretending to buddy up to her when they would really be doing nothing more than using her.

"Who you think of putting on it?" Emmett asked.

Edward didn't answer, still thinking of chocolate brown eyes and flushed, pale skin.

"Edward?" When there was no response, Emmett tried again. "Hellloooo, earth to Masen. Come in Mr. Masen."

Edward shook his head. "What?"

"I was asking who you're going to get to try and buddy up to Cullen's staff," Emmett said. "Where was your mind just now?"

"Oh, it's nothing," replied Edward. "Just thinking about some things I need to get done today. Why don't you talk to Jane and see what she can find out."

Emmett nodded. "Will do, Chief."