The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep - Robert Frost
The First Step
Bella's neck craned as she looked up at the building before her. It was like something from a sci-fi film. Tall, very tall, full of shiny windows with the sunlight reflecting off it. She was glad today was a slightly sunny day, otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten the courage to face him.
Her journey was an exciting one. She had placed all her worry in another place, just for a moment.
She straightened her pencil skirt once more, something she forgot she owned till she found it, covered in dust in the back of her closet. Her eyes closed as she remembered the owner of the skirt. It felt like a lifetime ago.
She walked across the pavement, crossing the road carefully and halting at her reflection in one of the many shiny panels that were placed outside the building. She looked…determined.
Her hand gripped the strap of her bag in fear. Despite her newfound courage, she knew today could go down the drain if she wasn't careful.
The lobby was a sight to see. The floor was a shiny type of marble, with a checkered pattern that wouldn't have looked as good anywhere else. She had often dreamed about such checkered floors. She had seen it in many travel magazines, and somehow they became ingrained in her mind as somewhere new and exciting, like walking across one of these floors would invite her into new happiness. She had no clue why, but she felt sad at the idea that the first time she had come across these floors were in such a dire situation.
Despite the building's beauty, there was an obvious coldness to it. Something she could attribute to its owner. The ceiling was high, and she couldn't seem to find one speck of dust anywhere. There wasn't a flurry of people like she'd expect in such a company, but a few here and there fully focused on their work. It seemed as if Mr. Cullen was running a well-oiled machine.
"Hi, I'm here to meet Mr. Cullen", she spoke confidently, and under her breath. Practicing always helped.
She repeated the same not moments later to a man sitting at the reception. His hair was perfectly coiffed and she noticed he had a rather large nose.
"Name?" he said without even looking up at her, fingers typing away at his keyboard. She marveled at the way his fingers flew. It was like he was dancing with his hands.
"Um Bella- no, Isabella Swan", she managed out. Her hand came to push back a piece of hair behind her ear. She had made an effort and blow-dried it in the morning. But it still didn't look half as good as the man before hers.
"We don't have you down for an appointment," he stated, finally looking up.
"I need to see him," Bella spoke with conviction. "Where is he?"
"Ma'am, this is not just anyone you're talking about. You can't just waltz in here and ask for the CEO, there are procedures," his face was annoyed now as he leaned back and folded his arms.
"Fine." she uttered, annoyed, but understanding."Call him and tell him Bella is here"
"You think I have his phone number? I'm just an assistant, I can't get through without calling in before first."
"You know what, I'll go find him myself", she huffed, speed walking as she heard him yell out behind her. As soon as she got on the massive lift, its doors shut in his face. Good riddance.
"Cullen Enterprise welcomes you," came a sound from the speakers of the elevators. Bella jumped, pulling back to slam herself on the back pane.
"What in the world?" She was slightly afraid standing in the talking lift, which seemed to never stop as it kept rising. She watched the numbers increase, 10, 11, 12... it never stopped till it reached the top floor.
Seventeen.
The doors opened to the most empty office she had seen. It had one person in total. A woman it seemed, who sat next to a double door. Bella cautiously moved forward, head moving to the side, brows raised. All she could see was a small head, with gray hair.
She reached the tall desk. And all she could see was a pair of wrinkly eyes staring back at her. She was slightly unnerved by the spookiness of it all. Big tower, check, creepy old witch-like lady, check, rude prince who has locked himself up, check. Did she just walk into the set of a modern-day fairy tale? Except for the way things were going, it seemed more like a nightmare with no happily ever after.
She focused on the old lady. Who just kept blinking.
"I'm here to see Edward…Cullen," she said slowly, lips pinched back apprehensively.
The lady blinked twice more before picking up the receiver, she had one of those dial telephones that you'd find in Graham Bell's closet. Bella tiptoed further to see her dial slowly, 6… 30 seconds pass, 0, another 40 seconds, 6.
She desperately wanted to huff in frustration, but she was too preoccupied with this petrifying old lady and her stone-age telephone.
The lady put the phone up to her ear.
"One young miss here, dark hair, lovely eyes… could do with a little meat on her bones," the lady remarked looking her up and down.
"Pop in honey," she smiled.
"Uh, thanks…" she glanced at the nameplate, "Mrs…Bea?"
The lady simply nodded to the double doors. Bella gave a small grimace and gripped her bag strap till she felt all the blood rush out from her fist.
Here I go, into the dungeon, she thought to herself as she pushed the door and walked inside.
Bella heaved hard as she lay there on the bed. The fabric felt rough under her fingertips, yet comforting nonetheless. She looked on at the ceiling as a ray of evening light lightly brushed the edge of her wardrobe. She quickly turned to her side brows pinched, fingering at the moss green bed sheets. Despite it feeling like paper, the smell instantly soothed her mind. It smelt like the cheap fabric conditioner she had grown up with, like jasmine and berries.
When she had walked into the room, he had been sitting at his desk, eyes cast down at a sheet of paper and ignoring the click-click of her heels. She had stalked purposely hoping he'd hear her but to no avail. He looked the same, handsome, if not more, but his face was dim like somebody had reached out and turned off a switch, forgetting to turn it on again.
"Ahem"
His eyes lifted and she felt a slight jolt in her stomach. This man made her so nervous she could hardly breathe.
"I-I need to speak with you," she said strongly, surprisingly her voice did not wobble. When he simply sat there looking bored she tried again.
"You know you could smile once in a while, it won't kill you," she snarked before grimacing at her word vomit. She would be out on the streets for sure. Her nerves had gotten the best of her.
"Are you here to advise me on how to smile?" he lifted a brow.
"No," she said, gripping her bag tighter, this man was gonna be the death of her. "I'm here to tell you I won't ever give up my cafe. Ever. And if you plan to knock it down and build some type of shopping mall extravaganza like all the villains do in films after they steal from poor people you are wrong"
She was heaving but there was no going back.
"I won't leave, I'll even handcuff myself to the goddamn door,' she said while pointing a finger to the floor to emphasize her words. He simply leaned back a little and watched…waiting.
"Look, I'll pay off the loan, every month, with interest. Just please, don't do this to us," her eyes started to water but she blinked it away before she could cry in front of this man. All her dignity was nearly gone, she wanted to save the last shred.
He regarded her with no sympathy. In one swift moment, he grabbed the receiver and spoke.
"Jasper, come here please"
A moment later a blonde guy with a giant scar across his forehead came in. He looked like a model who had been attacked with a knife. Not scary at all in Bella's eyes.
"Please escort Miss Swan out," Edward exclaimed before returning to his paperwork.
"Hey!," she yelled out as the man pointed towards the door. "You can't do this Mr. Cullen, I won't take this"
The Jasper guy came forward and tried to usher her out. She had gone through nearly all five stages of grief in front of this man and he had no sympathy whatsoever.
She huffed out before throwing her bag on the floor. He's gonna use brute strength? Okay, then he'll get what he gave. She swiftly grabbed Jasper's arm, which was quite puny for a security guard, and pulled it against her shoulder as she whipped him on his back. Everything happened so fast that she was shocked at how good she was.
He groaned out and lay there surprised as if he had never expected to be ambushed by a woman. Jasper looked up at Bella's smug face, wondering where this woman came from and if she had learned the same type of Taekwondo he had. He was strong, he knew that, but the vulnerability had come from a very unexpected attack. She had his respect.
He lay there as Edward rose, his eyes murderous, striding towards Bella.
"You assaulted my security guard." he simply stated while angrily staring down at Bella, who was huffing and puffing, looking at anywhere but him.
"How would I know if you weren't making him take me somewhere and dump me in the middle of the Atlantic with weights tied to my ankles?" she questioned while stabbing his chest repeatedly.
They stood unnaturally close and she gulped, feeling like she was going to throw up. Blaming that on the fact that she hadn't eaten all day she stared at him defiantly. There was utter silence as she stared into his eyes, they were staring right back, challenging her. The only distraction was the gentle tick-tick of the clock, which only increased her anxiety.
"You have a very active imagination" he softly replied while grabbing her hand. He twisted it behind her and pulled her flush toward him. Her breasts mashed against his chest yet he didn't look down once. Not only does he manage to completely ruffle her, but now he also made her feel ugly.
"That's what arrogant money grabbers like you do.' she whispered back, afraid to raise her voice and break this moment.
"You got me all figured out do you Isabella?", He looked between her eyes slightly tilting his head in question. His hand on her back was gripping her so tightly she could hardly breathe, her wrist was aching as he squeezed. Her face trembled slightly yet she held strong, even if he drew blood.
As the clock passed a full minute, neither noticed that Jasper had quietly slipped out, blushing furiously. Or that they were still pressed against each other, encased within their fragile bubble.
"Isabella"
Her name had came out of him mouth like a curse. Harsh and grating. No one had called her that in years. It created a chill that expanded from her insides to the very tips of her toes.
She scoffed as she gazed at the TV, there he was again, unrelenting, always near her for some reason. One day he appeared and never seemed to leave her.
Edwards' scowling face was filling the screen, with some uninteresting news about his achievements, and his status as a single, attractive man. There were rumors of no women. This surprised her greatly. What made Bella curious, or what made her sit and research him at 3 am in the dark for days? She didn't know. These feelings were new, her body was waiting on whether to accept them or reject them.
She sighed as she contemplated the way he forced her away. They had both moved away from each other in a sudden move, and Bella wanted to bring her palms to her face in embarrassment. She had rushed out without a word of warning, leaving him standing there gazing at where she stood.
"What would you like?", the waitress approached her with a smile. She was blonde and had a blue nose stud. She wondered if it hurt her, and she tried to picture the woman crying while she got the piercing. It must have hurt.
"Um…" her eyes suddenly perused the menu and landed on the cheapest item. "An egg sandwich please, and a glass of water"
She whipped out her notepad, scribbling down every last penny she had to pay this month. Utilities were quite low this time round, simply because Cullen had forced her to shut down the cafe. Nona's bill was high, and the loan…she groaned. She had to treat her grandmother. All the electricity went to the heating bills. Nona couldn't be cold.
At least he had haggled her way into turning all the lights off and buying nona a battery-powered night lamp to read her books. That way she saved loads on lighting.
A blessing was that she hated television, said it made her feel old and confused. But she had a feeling she said that just to ease her worries, Nona may be hard on her, but she had a heart of gold. A heart she wanted to protect.
Her heart hurt and a lone tear slipped down her cheek. She sniffled and wiped it back furiously with the back of her hand. She had to do something drastic. There was no way she could let that hateful man take away her way of living. She was all in. There was nothing more she could lose.
Her eyes fell on the TV again, and what she saw gave her hope in her heart.
She had found a way.
