AN hi everyone! hope you're all still with me and enjoying reading this story.
here's the next chapter!

Chapter 47

BPOV

Kate was in my office bright and early when I arrived, with a gleeful smile on her face.
Jane was there too, though there definitely was no smile on her face. She looked just about ready to bodily remove Kate from my office.

'Ms Swan, Kate insisted that she see you right away, but she has no appointment scheduled.' Jane procalimed, the moment the door of my office closed behind us.

'It's fine, Jane. I asked her to do something for me that is time sensitive.' I said, hoping to assure her. 'did you get my mail?'

'yes, it's all there.' she pointed to my in box. She was still frowning slight. 'and I brought your coffee too.'

'thank you.' I took the cup form her and smiled at her gratefully, hopeing to remove the frown. It worked only slightly. 'I'll be with Kate most of the morning I think, please hold my calls and reschedule any appointments I might have.'

'there was only one, at eleven. I'll see if it can be moved to the afternoon.'

I nodded my thanks and Jane left, after giving Kate a side eyed look that conveyed she still wasn't happy with how Kate had just barged in without an appointment. Jane was a stickler for the rules after all.

'She is one hell of a PA.' Kate remarked when the door closed after Jane. 'she threatened to throw me out.'

I grinned. 'that's why I hired her. she's amazing.'

I gestured for Kate to sit down and I quickly put my things away and gave Jake a bone to chew so he'd be busy while we got down to business. I joined her on the couch a moment later and Kate immediately dove right in.

'So, I've gone over his contract as you asked, and we can definitely nail his ass if this goes sideways.'

'That's good.' I felt a smile creep up on my lips. that asshole would be getting his just desserts.

We spent the next few hours going over all the ways he was in breach of his contract, meaning we didn't have to pay him out and could just boot him fro the team. It would take a while until everything was sorted legally, but it should seamlessly flow from his suspension into permanent expulsion. I couldn't wait. I told Kate to start proceedings immediately. Then I informed the security staff that his suspension was in full effect and that they were not to let him on the terrain under any circumstances. I also asked them to let me know if he did attempt it.

It was past three when Kate and I were finally done going over everything. Edward would be getting checked over now, so I couldn't call him up to tell him the good news, even though I really wanted to. I'd have to wait.

Instead I called Harry to my office and updated him on the situation with Laurent, then I headed down to the lower levels to talk to the coaches. Training had already ended for today, so most of the players were heading home or were training by themselves in the gym. The coaches were in the coach room, going over plays for the upcoming game in two days.

I knocked once before stepping inside.

'Ms Swan.' Sam greeted me I nodded to him.

'How did the announcement this morning go?' I asked them.

'There was some disbelief.' Emmett didn't look too happy about that. 'Tyler in particular didn't believe that Laurent would actually injure another player. But we didn't engage and simply repeated the statement that Leah had prepared for us.'

'good. Keep me updated if Tyler keeps being troublesome.'

He nodded.

Jared cleared his throat. 'perhaps it would help if we showed them the footage. Right now it's a case of Laurent's word against Edward's. Seeing the footage might put it all to bed.'

'I'm not sure if we're allowed to do that right now. Edward is pressing charges. I think we will have to wait to see what the police say about the whole situation.'

Jared nodded. 'perhaps having Edward here to tell the story in the meantime might help as well.'

'He's due back tomorrow to start PT, and I'm waiting to hear from Dr Cullen about the extend of his injuries. You'll be CC'd of course.'

Sam nodded. 'That sounds good. Can you arrange for him to come in earlier?' that was direct at Emmett. Emmett nodded.

'Yeah, I'll probably see him tonight, so I'll discuss it with him.'

I nodded and then asked about the plays they were thinking of to get us to win the next game. We went over the different strategies and how to make sure that Edward's sitting out wouldn't be felt too keenly. We weren't exactly too saddened about Laurent not being able to play, but it did mean we had to put in two alternates and get them ready in an incredibly short amount of time and that worried me.

We were going over the different possibilities when there was a knock at the door.

'I'm sorry to disturb you all.' Emily stood in the doorway, looking slightly hesitant.

'Hi Emily, no worries.' I smiled at her. 'you're a coach too, after all.'

'Right.' she smiled nervously. 'doesn't really feel like it though, I'm just the pilates instructor. I don't really have a lot of knowledge about baseball.'

'We can always teach you.' Sam said smiling at her. she smiled back.

'Did you need something?' Emmett asked after a moment of silence as Sam and Emily stared at each other.

She seemed to start. 'Right. sorry. I was just looking for you Ms Swan.'

'Please, call me Bella.'

'Right, Bella. I wondered when the best time would be to go over the players progress. You mentioned when I started you wanted monthly progress reports.'

'oh right.' I glanced at my watch. It was already six. I frowned. Time had really gotten away from me today. 'I can't discuss it today anymore, sorry. I think Jane is still in office though, you can go up and make an appointmenat with her. Tell her I definitely want to talk to you tomorrow though, she'll fit you in.'

Emily smiled and nodded. 'no worries, I wasn't expecting today either. I'm just about to head home. I'll go up and see her now.'

I nodded and she said goodbye.

'Wait.' Sam said standing up. 'I need to head up for a moment too, I needed to catch Harry before he left. I didn't realize it was this late already.' He turned back to look at me 'If that's alright?'

I nodded. 'yeah, we're pretty much done here anyway.'

Emmett nodded in agreement and Emily and Sam both headed out the door after another round of good night's.

Jared grinned as he stared after them. then as teh door closed he held out his hand to Emmett. 'pay up man.'

I glanced between the two men, confused.

'no way, that's not a date.' Emmett refused, crossing his arms.

'oh but it's going to be. they'll be up there, and then Sam will suggest getting something to eat together, it's the perfect cover. It will difintely be a date.'

'No way. He'll chicken out.' Emmett refused.

'Are you two betting on them dating?' I asked slightly amused.

They both nodded. 'ever since Sam started he's been goo-goo eyed about Emily.' Emmett said with a smile.

'He even took a few classes of hers.' Jared said with a grin. 'any excuse to bump into her, or see her or talk to her… but he hasn't gotten round to asking her out yet. I bet it would be this week. Emmett bet it will take another two weeks.'

I shook my head at them. 'Don't let either of them find out about this little bet, I don't want either of you dealign with complaints from HR. I'm heading back up, send me the reports tomorrow morning, then I'll go over everything.'

Emmett grinned sheepishly at my rebuke but nodded. 'will do.'

'good. Then I'll see you tomorrow.' With a wave I left their office and headed back upstairs, as I walked to the elevator I spotted Emily and Sam walking out of the club together. I smiled to myself, pleased for them. Yet I also felt a little envious. They could be out in the open like that… while Edward and I still had to wait and when we did go public, face the opinions of everyone around us who didn't even know us. I sighed and shook my head, forcing the negative thoughts away again. I knew Charlie would have liked him. in fact, he had liked him. He had been so happy when he'd acquired Edward for the Cubs. So I focused on that.

I slipped my phone from my pocket and frowned when I noticed it was off. The battery must have died. I sighed. I really needed to be better at charging it. I headed back to my office, just catching Jane as she was packing up to leave.

'You shouldn't be working so late, Jane.' I told her.

'I just wanted to finish one last thing.' She said with a smile.

'You're young, you should be heading out and having a social life, not working all the time.' I told her.

'I'm just as old as you. you're still here too.' She said with a cocked brow.

'you got me there.' I grinned at her. she grinned back. I wished her goodnight and she did the same before she left and I headed into my office to grab my things and head home as well. Jake wagged his tail when I entered the office again.

'Hi buddy, sorry it took a while. I'm almost done.' I told him, petting him as I went to put my phone on the charger.

I grabbed my bag and put my laptop inside along with the paperwork I hadn't gotten round to today.

just then the office phone rang and I frowned. HArdly anyone ever called me in my office.

'Bella Swan.' I answered.

'Your phone is dead isn't it?' Edward's voice filtered down the line.

'How did you know?' I asked with a smile.

'I texted you a few times but you didn't respond.'

'sorry. I'll try to be better about it.'

'it's fine, I texted Emmett and he said you were heading to your office. So I figured I'd call here.'

'how did it go today?' I asked sitting down in my deskchair. Jake ambled over and put this head in my lap.

'It was okay. The police aren't sure yet if anything will come of it. it's up to the prosecutor now and he's not sure there's enough there for acutal charges and an arrest.'

I sighed. 'he assaulted you. how is that not enough?'

'I'm not sure either. Perhaps because they're not sure what the cause was? Or because I fought back?' he sighed. 'we'll just have to wait and see.'

I agreed though I wasn't happy about it. 'And what did Carlisle say?'

'I'm definitely benched for the next game. Carlisle wants me to rest tomorrow. Then I have to start PT and can train half a day. after that I have to see him and we can see how I get on. But I'm not allowed to bat for a while.'

'see I told you it was worse than you said it was.'

'he's just being extra cautious because it's my elbow. But there was no real damage, nothing torn or busted up too bad. Just bruised.'

'well at least that's good news.'

'it is. I'll stick to the regimen he prescribes, I promise.'

'good. I was about to tell you that.' I grinned.

'I thought so.' He chuckled. 'are you almost done for today?'

'almost. But then I have some paperwork I need to finish at home.'

'don't work too hard. You need rest too, especially after what happened.'

'I know. I'll try.' It was the best I could do for now.

we hung up shortly after, with Edward telling me again not to work too much. I quickly gathered my things and Jake and headed out. I was escorted down by security and I was glad of it when I noticed the sea of paps waiting out the door.

'Why are they here?' I groaned.

'The statement about Mr Dupont went out this afternoon. I think they're here to see if they can get a story about it.'

I sighed. 'damn vultures.'

Arnold nodded and grinned. 'don't worry, we'll keep them away from you.'

'Thanks.'

we headed out and the questions immediately flew at us.
Was Mr Dupont fired?
What happened between Mr Dupont and Mr Cullen?
Did I have something to do with it?

I did my best to ignore them, but it was disorienting how many people there were and how hard they were yelling at me. The flashes of their camera's were blinding. I was glad Arnold had taken hold of my arm to make sure I wouldn't trip. Jake was anxious and glued to my side, his hackles raised in warning.

Thankfully they kept at a distance and I was able to get into my car quickly. Arnold promised to keep them here, so they wouldn't be able to chase after me in their cars. I wasn't ready for a repeat of that happening.

'Thank you.' I told him and then we said goodnight. I quickly drove off and Arnold and the rest of the security team indeed kept the reporters from taking off after me.
I was grateful to them and decided they probably deserved a bonus for putting up with everything that had been going on since I'd taken over. I resolved to talk to Harry about it tomorrow.

Once home I took Jake on a long walk and then grabbed a quick and easy dinner, before setting up in my home office and going over the paperwork that still needed to be done.
It was tiring and boring, but I knew it had to be done. These were my responsibilities so I just had to suck it up and deal with it.

It did end up being a late night and it was nearing twelve before I finally was able to put everything away. I quickly took Jake on his last walk and then gave him a bone when we got back before getting into bed, exhausted.

I hoped tomorrow would be easier. At least I would be seeing Edward tomorrow again. with that in mind I fell into a dreamless sleep