BPOV

The morning bore some unexpected and bad news. Ness' daycare caught on fire, because a neighbouring restaurant left the stove on. That was tragic news for the owners, but also left me to wonder where I could keep Ness, especially because of the upcoming important meeting... I couldn't just bring her to the office...

I tried calling up the company agency, but because it was on such short notice, they couldn't help it, they had a certain procedure to follow, which was understandable but really inconvenient for me at the moment. Not to mention the fact that they were already overcrowded.

I had to tell Leah, so I called her - "hey Leah... I don't think I'll be able to make it. Ness' daycare burned down and the company daycare requires a notice..."

"So... bring her to the office." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No I can't do that. That's extremely unprofessional."

"Bella, I've met Ness a few times. I know she's not a troublemaker. So bring her to the office, I'll ask Jess to watch over her for some time, then you can take the rest of the day off. But if you want to be taken seriously, you need to attend the meeting." I knew her tone meant that there was no room for argument.

"Ok..." my voice pretty much gave away my nervousness.

"Listen Bella. No one will say anything. This is something out of your control. If tongues start to wag, then rest assured that I will deal with them. Now make sure you're on time. See you soon!" With that she disconnected.

I was anxious, but at the same time knew Leah was right. I cannot afford to cost us my job. We needed this. On top of that I needed to prove that I got the position on my merit.

I decided to wake up Ness and and tell her -

"Bewwa! Tank you!" She was jumping up and down, while hugging me. So not the reaction I was expecting.

"You're okay with this Ness?"

"Yup! I get ta spend time wid you afta!!" She was so happy.

"I love you little one." I said hugging her back. She was the most easygoing kid in the world. Thank god for that.

We were dressed and ready to go. I needed to look professional, so I wore the only black button down blazer that I owned with my black pants and flats and tied my hair into a ponytail. While I dressed Ness up in a semi-formal polka dotted black dress with the same hairstyle, in case she ran into anyone in the office.

The office was barely ten minutes from our place. Once we reached there, I looked to Ness and said - "promise me, that there will be no mischief. Okay."

"I pwomise Bewwa." She said sincerely.

With that I held her hand and took her up to the last floor, which just had two conference rooms, one of which was where the meeting was happening, and two separate office spaces. As I looked around I saw Jess -

"Oh my god Bella!!! You didn't tell me I was babysitting your mini me! She's adorable!" Jess was already fawning over her. And Ness was enjoying the attention.

"Hey Jess!" I said smiling at their antics, "how are you?"

"Good! But Bella seriously your sis looks almost exactly like you, except for the blue eyes... wow!" She was enamored by Ness. Leah had brought Jess up to speed about my situation, because we needed her help. Jessica is awesome with kids and it helps that's she's a really nice person. She sometimes volunteers at the daycare, when they're understaffed. I believe her and her husband have been trying for a kid, for some time now, but have had no such luck. It was so wrong, because she truly would be an amazing mother.

"Thank you Jess... for doing this I mean." I meant every word.

"Oh please Bella. You know I would volunteer without even asking." She replied laughing. Fair enough.

"Okay then... I'll head into the conference room." I responded laughing as well. "Take care Ness. Remember do not trouble Ms. Jessica, okay?"

"Yes Bewwa!" Before I could comprehend what was happening Ness was pulling Jess to one of the rooms.

I walked into the conference room, and saw few of the managers and directors already seated, and spotted Leah at the back. She waved at me, and gestured for me to sit next to her. I was thankful she chose the seats which were at the back of the room.

"Looking great Bella, nice and professional. Good timing too. The rest of the people and the new CFO, should be here in another fifteen minutes." She mentioned while, going over her notes. Her approval meant that I was on the right track.

"Okay cool, and thanks." We sat in a comfortable silence, as I too went over my notes and wrote down questions, I thought were necessary to ask. As Leah had mentioned, I needed to be here, and had to make my presence known, by being insightful and asking questions. Although I was shy, I had to get this over with, to secure a good school and life for Ness.

Just as she said, people have been trickling in for the last ten minutes, the (probable) CFO was the only one remaining.

That's when I heard the door open, "I'm sorry everyone for the delay, my name is Edward Cullen, and I hope to be your new CFO. I'll get right to it then, starting with..." I didn't hear the rest of what he was saying.

The breath went out my lungs, my eyes went wide and I felt the room go cold. I finally looked up to see him, and realized he must've not noticed me. Thank god! He looked as amazing as ever, only more mature, although slightly tired and his hair was messed up from what I recognized as his nervous habit.

I did the only reasonable thing I could think of and slid down my chair, in hopes of not being noticed. There goes my plan for making my presence known...

A/N:

How will Bella get through the meeting? Will Edward notice that Bella is there?

Hope you enjoyed this Chapter!