AN Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the support regarding my situation. My dad's doing okay, he's not actively getting worse. So that's nice :)

anyway, here's the next chapter.

hope you enjoy it :)

Chapter 19

BPOV

The press had indeed had a field day.

As I sat at my kitchen table I was scrolling through the various news outlets and although there were some that were at least neutral, a lot were indeed very negative:

Nepotism at its finest!

What does a 23 year old know about baseball?

Baby Swan takes over Chicago's pride and joy - against board's wishes

I pushed the Ipad away from me with a huff. God they made up ridiculous stuff.

But the tabloids were even worse, if that was even possible. They were already speculating how quickly I would tank the team, especially as I'd fired the head coach and the batting coach.

I put my head down on the counter, and banged it against it a few times, maybe that would help… one could hope. Perhaps if I did it often enough I would somehow make all of it go away. Or break through the counter... mostly it would porbably just give me a headache. I sighed and stopped banging my head.

I knew I shouldn't let them get to me. Kate had warned me they would be harsh. They would start dogging my steps, and spread fake rumours around wherever they could. Especially the tabloids.

The first thing I would have to do was hire a PR person. They could do some damage control probably… hopefully.

I quickly grabbed my Ipad again and stayed far away from social media and the likes, quickly opening google and searching for PR firms in Chicago. I dialled the number of one that seemed promising and made an appointment for the following monday morning. I hoped they would be able to help me, because I wasn't sure how to handle this. Apart from throwing my Ipad away, so I wouldn't have to read any of it.

I headed over to the couch and tunred on my TV, going through random channels. To my horror I realized that a few of the sport and newschannels were also reporting on my taking over the Cubs. God, even TV wasn't safe anymore! This was getting ridiculous.
I huffed and angrily turned it off again. throwing the remore across teh room. JAke's ears perked up and he glanced at me confused.

'Sorry, buddy. let's go for a walk, shall we? That should still be safe.'

I grabbed his lead and we set off for a nice walk through the chilly morning.

Angela called just as I was coming back from walking Jake.

'How are you holding up?' she asked, jumping right in and skipping the hello's and how are you's.

'Have you seen any of it?' I asked in return.

'Yeah… it's pretty much everywhere.' She sighed.

'I can't even turn on the TV without seeing my own face. I hate this Ang.' I sighed.

Jake wagged his tail happily as he waited for me to give him his food. I smiled at him, thankful he was helping keep the paparazzi at bay.

'Are you able to leave your house at all?'

'Jake helps keep them away.' I said giving him his food. 'They tried to crowd me when I was spotted just a block away from my building., but one bark from Jake and they pretty much fled with their tails between their legs.'

'Good boy.' Angela said with a laugh.

We talked for a while longer. Angela asked about my therapy session and how I was doing. And I asked about Ben, her husband. Eventually Angela had to excuse herself to get ready for work. she worked at a preschool and today she had a late start.

We hung up and I decided to head to the office as well. I grabbed a bag and started loading some stuff for Jake in. I figured if I was going to be at the club often, I might as well take Jake so he wouldn't be alone. I grabbed some of his toys, his food and water bowl and one of his spare beds so he'd be comfortable.

'Ready to go boy?' I asked him.

I also wanted him to come to keep any lurking press at bay, although I had a feeling I would be paying for it in tomorrows papers.

The day passed quite quickly as I started getting more familiar with the business side of the club. I also went over the rest of the business holdings with kate. And there were quite a lot of them. It was a miracle really how Charlie had done all of this. I knew he'd had a team working with him of course. There was kate, the accountant and a tax advisor and of course the boards helped with all the different decisions that had to be made.

I was meeting with the Cub's board in just a few minutes, my final meeting of the day. I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could go home and just relax. It was exhausting to be here and keep up the front that everything was fine and I was doing well, when all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and let the sadness overtake me.

'Come on, boy, let's go scare some old white men.' I grumbled as I gathered my papers and headed for the conference room.

I opened the door and noted I was once again the first one here. And just like a few weeks earlier the catering boy was here, Mike something. He turned at the sound of the door opening and as he spotted me blanched and nearly dropped the coffee mug he was holding.

'Ms Swan!' he exclaimed.

'Ah this time you do recognize me.' I said grinning a little. I couldn't resist rubbing it in just a little.

'I would like to thank you for not having me fired. I'm so sorry about my rudeness before. I didn't realize.'

I held up my hand to stop him. 'It's fine… Mike? Was it?'

He nodded. 'Yeah, Mike Newton.'

I smiled at him. 'Just don't let it happen again. I don't like rudeness. Not just to me, but to anyone.'

He quickly nodded. 'could I make it up to you though?' he pressed.

I frowned. 'there's no need.' I assured him.

'Still, I'd like to take you out and buy you some dinner.'

I supressed a groan. Jesus this boy was thick. 'I'm sorry Mike. I'm not really in a place to be going out with anybody.'

He turned slightly pink. 'Oh, well, I mean we can go as just friends?' he asked, but it seemed he wasn't sure of that either.

I shook my head. 'I'm sorry, Mike. It's better if we don't start anything. I am your boss after all.'

He sighed and hung his head dejectedly. 'Well, take my number anyway.' He insisted and I wanted to roll my eyes. Of course no just wasn't an option in his head.

He went to hand me a napkin where he'd written his number on quickly, but Jake was not having it. He quickly placed himself between us and started growling softly at Mike. He quickly backed up, taking in Jake's huge form and gave me a hesitant look.

'Sorry, he's protective.' I said, making no moves to make Jake heel.

'Ah that's good, i guess.' Mike said, his voice cracking a bit as he looked at Jake nervously. He placed the card on the table and kind of pushed it over awkwardly. Then he quickly turned around and left the room through another door. I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me and I gave Jake some pets telling him he was a good boy.

The board members started trickling in then and I quickly grabbed the napkin and went with Jake to sit at the head of the table. As soon as everyone was seated they kicked off.

'Well, the headlines are absolutely dragging us through the mud.' Mr Graham said in his haughty tone.

'It's nothing we can't handle.' Harry tried to appease him.

'It most definitely is.'

'Look, the headlines were exactly as expected. Kate is sure that as long as the team keeps doing what they've been doing we'll be fine. She's keeping an eye out for any libel.' I assured him. 'I'm also hiring a PR representative to make sure that we can spin anything the press might want to do to make me look bad.'

'You've thought about this thoroughly.' Mr Brown said as he leant back in his chair and appraised me.

'I may look young, but I know about business. I know what I'm doing. So yes, I've thought about everything. Including making sure we get the Cubs in their best shape yet and winning the world series.' My tone was slightly harsher than I would have liked, my emotions got the better of me for a moment there. But then again letting a little passion show wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

They all regarded me for a moment as they let my words sink in.

I decided to drive home my point. 'At the end of the day, gentlemen, my father left this club to me because he knew I would be able to handle it. I intend to do everything in my power to make this club prosper and my father proud. For now gentlemen, that will be all.'

With that I signalled for Jake to follow me and left the room, not giving them any time to question me further. I was the majority share holder of this lcub. It was mine in every sense of the word. The board was here to help me, not stand in my way. And if they weren't going to have my back, I would look into replacing them. I was getting sick and tired of these old guys telling me I couldn't do this.

I could do this. And I would prove it to them all.

As I was walking back to my office I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

'Hey!' I called out. I was sure I had seen someone slip around the corner quickly. I thought I'd seen long blond hair, but none of the guys on the team had long hair, and I couldn't recall any of the staff having it either.

'Who's there?' I called, walking quickly to the corner and nearly bowling someone over.

A pair of gentle but strong hands grasped my forearms and Jake gave a short bark.

'Oh god, I'm sorry.' I quickly apologized telling Jake to calm down.

Then I looked up into the kind eyes of Dr Carlisle.

He smiled kindly at me. 'That's fine. Where are you going in such a hurry?'

'I thought I saw someone going this way that didn't belong here.'

He frowned and looked back at the empty hallway behind him. 'I was in the office, but I didn't see anyone when I stepped out just now.'

I sighed and rubbed my temples. 'Perhaps it was just my imagination.'

'who did you think it was?'

'there was this reporter a few days ago, I got a bad feeling from him… he seemed too eager to get a story out of me. I thought I recognized his hair.'

Carlisle narrowed his eyes as he looked back at the hallway again. 'Let's head to your office and I'll call security.'

'No, that's fine.' I protested feeling mostly silly. But Carlisle shook his head.

'I don't mean to overrule a superior, but Ms Swan, this is serious. This is a restricted area, there are quite a few valuable club secrets to be found here. It's better to be certain.'

'Alright.' I conceded, seeing his point. It was better to be careful, and make sure nothing was amiss. And if Mr hunter was indeed lying in wait here somewhere, I'd like to catch him and finally be able to ban him from the club.

Carlisle led me back to my office and quickly grabbed the phone on my desk to get security to do a sweep of the restricted floors.

When he turned back to me he smiled. 'How have you been?' he asked.

'I took your advice.' I told him with a small smile. 'You know, at the funeral?'

He nodded. 'I remember.'

'I was dehydrated as you predicted and I'm seeing a therapist. The one you recommended. She's really great.' Carlisle was easy to talk to, I didn't feel embarrassed or shy telling him about these private issues.

'That's great to hear, Bella. I confess I was worried about you. But you're looking much better than when I saw you last, and I'm glad of it.'

'Thank you for your help that day.' I said.

He shook his head. 'it was nothing, Bella. I am a doctor after all.'

'Still you didn't need to take such a personal interest, so I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me.'

He nodded in acknowledgement, but his eyes were tight. I decided to change the topic.

'So I know my dad gave you a contract based on your reputation, but I don't know if you've ever really met?'

He shook his head. 'Sadly not. We did speak on the phone a few times. I wish I could have known him better.'

I smiled sadly. 'He was a good man. You would have liked him.'

'I'm sure he was.'

'Are you currently treating any of the team members?'

'I have two I am consulting currently.' Carlisle immediately switched into professional mode as he gave me their names. 'they both have relatively old injuries but aren't back to one hundred percent. I'm seeing how we can get them there with physical therapy. I'm also treating one pre-emptively. Emmett told me he was worried about one of the guys pulling on this leg slightly when running. We want to stay ahead of any injury.'

'That's good to hear. Are you here regularly?'

'Oh no, this is a fluke actually.' He said looking slightly embarrassed. 'I was just dropping by to see my son, Edward.'

'Right. he's your son.' I nodded to myself.

I knew that of course, but I wasn't sure if Edward had told his parents that we knew each other outside of the club.

He nodded. 'Normally I only come in when the physical therapist requests it. Most of the time I just get faxed the progress reports and have regular appointments with the men in my own practice.'

There was a knock at the door then. 'Ms Swan?'

'come in.' I responded, signalling for Jake to stay in his bed.

The door opened and a security guard stepped inside.

'We did a sweep of the floors, as requested.' He said. 'we didn't find anyone that was not supposed to be there, but we did find the door to the stairwell had been propped open.'

I frowned at that.

'So anyone could have come in?' Carlisle asked, slightly incredulous.

'It would appear so.' The security guard seemed even less happy about it. 'We're investigating the situation, reviewing camera footage and seeing who accessed the stairwell today.' he looked around the office. 'I would ask you to check if anything was moved in here or tampered with. If so please report it immediately and we will get the police involved.'

I sighed and rubbed my temples. Great another thing that I had to deal with. I nodded to the guard. 'thank you. I'll let you know. I would like a full report ont his as soon as it's available.'

The guard nodded and then left the room again.

'Do you have any advil?' Carlisle asked.

I glanced at him in confusion. He smiled kindly at me.

'You're rubbing your temples again. I can only imagine that everything going on is giving you a headache.'

I smiled back at him. 'Yeah, it's doing my head in, for sure. But I left my advil home.'

'I'll go get some from the PT office.' Carlisle said and before I could object he was out the door.

I took the time to look around to see if anything was missing. I ddin't see anything amiss right away. My laptop was still here, my papers were still locked in the filing cabinet and the lock didn't appear to be tampered with. there was some mail in my inbox, but that was all still sealed.

Carlisle came back as I was booting up my laptop. It was cold so it seemed like it was untouched.

He handed me a bottle of advil and got a glass of water.

'I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner with my family on Saturday.' He said after I downed the pill and water. 'I didn't know your father, but I would like to get to know you better as my new employer.'

I smiled at him. 'That sounds wonderful, Carlisle.' But then I paused. 'Is your son going to be there?'

Carlisle looked at me confused for a moment. 'Edward? I'm not sure. He usually comes around once a week, but our family dinners are usually on Sunday. It will probably be only my wife Esme and myself. My daughter, Alice, might join later in the evening but she has an event.'

I smiled then. 'Okay, that sounds good. It's not that I have anything against your son, but right now I'm trying to stay clear of the press and if they catch wind that I'm having dinner with one of my player's and his parents, who knows what kind of stories they might come up with.'

Understanding dawned in Carlisle's eyes. 'Ah of course. Yes the press really are giving you quite a hard time.'

I shrugged. 'I'm hoping keeping my head down and the numbers of the Cubs up will get me in their good graces.'

'I'm sure it will. ' Carlisle assured me kindly. 'I'll leave you my number and address and let me know if you have any allergies. And then we'll see each other Saturday at six?'

'Six is fine. Can I bring my dog?' I quickly asked, gesturing to Jake.

'Of course, we're used to dogs. My son has a rather large one himself.'

'Right, I'd imagine Mike'll probably be a frequent guest at your house.'

'Yes…' Carlisle muttered, giving me a confused look again. I couldn't exactly place it, but he shook it off again.

'Can I bring anything?' I asked.

'No, Esme loves cooking so she'll have everything in hand.' He assure me with a quick smile. then he made his excuses and we said our goodbyes.

I had a feeling I was missing something though and I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

With a sigh, I turned my thought from it and started checking more thoroughly if there were any signs of tampering. I tested all the cabinets and files, but found everything secure. It seemed if someone had indeed snuck in they hadn't made it into my office, or they'd just been extremely polite and hadn't touched anything.

I called down to security to let them know I hadn't found any evidence of something amiss in my office. They thanked me and I asked them to give priority to the investigation and to cc me on every relevant email about it.

when that was dealt with it was already nearing four thirty and I was ready for this day to be over. I gathered up my mail, deciding to do some paperwork at home, and with Jake in tow headed out.