All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, the author of the Twilight Saga.

BPOV

Edward left almost immediately after he got the phone call from his secretary, or rather, after dropping a gigantic bomb on me and asking me to come home with him. The rest of the day went by in a flash. The teenage girls at Forks High continuously bombarded me about Adonis, which was not so surprising, but galling, to say the least.
Charlie picked me up at 4:30 instead of my usual 5:30 leave time. I told him I had made plans for 6 tonight. My guess is he'll assume I'm going to the reservation to see Jacob, therefore he'll mind his business. I'm a grown woman, I don't have to tell my father I'm going on a date, right?

We both dash into the house due to the rain, Charlie shuts the creaking front door, "Headed to the reservation again?" Shit.

Turning towards him while taking my hood off, "Not tonight."

"Where are you headed?"

"Uh, just to dinner"

He looks at me with contemplation, "Alone?"

I'm not a suspect, Charlie. "Dad, I have plans… with a man."

He clears his throat, "Gotcha. Anyone I know?"

"Dad... are we going to talk about boys?"

Turning his head away from my gaze, "No, I suppose not."

Putting my hand on the banister to the stairs, "I'm gonna get ready. Thanks for picking me up from work today."

"Always Bells," with that I made my way up to my room.

My room was cluttered due to the rush I was in this morning. Opening my closet's sliding door, I looked at the five items of clothing I owned hanging up. The pay from being a sub barely allows for me to help with groceries for Charlie, but I went into a thrift store a week after I began working.

Thank god for the one dress I own, which is nothing special, but will have to do. It's a gray sweater dress, appropriate enough for work, but still hugs my body nicely. I tugged some black stockings on and threw the dress over my head. Heading to the bathroom, I washed my face to reapply some simple makeup. I decided against eyeliner but opted for some mascara and light brown eyeshadow. My hair held up pretty well considering the weather today, I pulled it out of the half up half down style and brushed it out to frame my face.

Stepping out of the bathroom clumsily, I grabbed my chucks and slid them on for the ride, but snatched my black-heeled combat booties for when I arrived. Throwing on my purple scarf and peacoat, I made my way back down the stairs. Only owning one purse, I was glad it was a plain leather satchel, (well, faux leather), and would match my get-up.

There was a brisk knock at the front door, and I saw that the clock read five minutes until six. Charlie was planted in front of the television with some sports highlights on, so I made my way to open it.

The man was tall, a bit muscular, and had light blonde hair, "Miss. Isabella Swan?"

How damn eloquent, "Yes?"

"I'm Alec, I'll be escorting you to meet Mr. Cullen this evening," He nodded his head to the side to show the black Mercedes he'd be driving me in.

"Oh, hi! Uh, how are we going to make it to Seattle by 8 by car?" Confusion overwhelmed me.

Alec looked perplexed, "We won't only be traveling by car, Miss. Swan. Follow me, please."

Mutely, I sat down in the comfortable leather seats, which had heat coming through the leather, heated fucking seats. Alec didn't speak for the remainder of the ride. It seemed he had a Bluetooth earpiece on, but no one had called him yet. It was a 20-minute drive until we were passing the "You're Leaving Forks, WA" signage, and crossing over the tiny bridge. Soon enough we pulled into a giant field that had cement layered in the middle with a gigantic circle. If my memory serves me, this was Fort Worden, a military base Charlie used to talk about.

Alec turned his head towards me in the back seat, "Now we wait, Miss. Swan."

"Okay… what are we exactly waiting for?"

Without a second passing, I heard the whirring of some type of plane. Scooting closer to the window and looking upwards, I saw it was in fact a helicopter. A fucking helicopter. I sat there aghast, I sat by until the giant machine landed directly on the vast red "x".

I'd flown in regular aircraft, only to get from Charlie's to my Mom's home in Arizona for the school year. This was bizarre, and extravagant, and had me feeling as if I was having a stroke. No words were leaving my mouth, and I'm positive there is drool dripping out of my mouth.

I barely noticed the vehicle's door being opened, along with Alec's voice, "Ms. Swan? Are you ready?"

"This is how we're getting to Seattle?"

"Yes, and Mr. Cullen will not appreciate it if I have you arrive a second late. Shall we go?"

My face scrunched up, acknowledging the price of this ordeal, "Alec, this is a bit much, I mean, what the hell is "Mr. Cullen" thinking?"

Alec's eyes glowed with humor, but his face remained polite and blank, "Mr. Cullen only wants the best, and this is the safest helicopter model there is. I assure you, your safety is his priority."

His hand reached out to guide me forward, sheepishly I stepped towards the multi-million dollar machine. I knew Alec purposefully misunderstood my question, I just couldn't wrap my head around how loyal he seemed to be to Adonis. Was he, too, a part of the Mafia?

Stepping up into this new life experience, I'm handed a pair of noise-canceling headphones. I'm beginning to understand this, as the whirring of the helicopter is ferociously spinning above me. The seats were lush and leather, just as everything else Edward has, I thought. The inside had touch screens, and a gigantic navigation map, which seemed to show other flights in the area. Alec got into the passenger side, with me being driven, sorry FLOWN, around like an elite human being.

Being lifted above reality provided me with a therapeutic escape. It was like I was drunk, perhaps on the power, or because I felt my messes slipping away, slowly but surely becoming nonexistent.

It only took around thirty minutes floating above civilization to land on the top of a Highline. I'm not ignorant, and clearly saw Alec and the pilot, pointing at other aircraft's coming towards the helicopter- yet picking up speed. All to please Adonis.

Alec deplaned first, opening the side door I occupied the seat beside, reaching his hand out to me. Cautiously, I grabbed his hand, exiting the speed machine. He began making odd gestures to his ears, leaving me to squint in hesitation, in turn- yelling "What?"

Laughing and showing some semblance of emotion, he mouthed "headphones", which I surprisingly recognized and reached to take them off.

"Sorry," I mumbled,

"Nothing to be sorry about Ms. Swan. I'll escort you to the elevator, would you like to use the powder room before seeing Mr. Cullen?"

Looking at my reflection in the blacked-out, helicopter windows, I saw a head of flat hair looking at me from the headphones.

Giggling, "Uh, yeah, that's probably a good idea."

The elevator required a key, of course, this place is highly secured. We traveled down to the level that read "R" on the elevator board. Exiting, I saw a lot of individuals in business-like attire, and the women all carried Chanel clutches, with five-inch heels to match. Is this an alternate universe? Where the fuck am I?

The facilities were marble, with gold features, even the toilet handles dripped in gold. Bewildered, I made my way out of the stall and began the task of my hair. Taking some stray bobby pins out of my bag, I twisted the front pieces back, making a less flat hairstyle. Although my hair looked fine, I thought my $10.00 sweater dress from Ross for Less wouldn't fit into this crowd. There's nothing I can do now.

There's a soft knock at the door, and suddenly, Alec's voice- "Are we ready, Ms. Swan?"

Swallowing the bile threatening to rise from my nerves, "Coming!"

This was it. I'd get to see Edward. I'd get to see Edward, on a date, with me. Smiling to myself, I made my way out the door and was escorted by Alec through a chic restaurant. Don't be nervous, Bella. It's only your future.

EPOV

' Sitting at the head of the conference table, my musings were entirely focused on Isabella. This meeting is for a building I'm acquiring in Shanghai, it's going to be one of my most expensive properties to date. There's a relaxation for me when I'm in these meetings. No blood, no guns, (except for the one I keep in my waistband), only solid business. The irony is there isn't such a thing as solid or pure business. Capitalism is what makes America run, and corruption of Government is what keeps capitalism at the forefront.

"Mr. Cullen, do you agree with the written terms?" My lawyer, Eleazar, he's a calm man who knows business law better than anyone.

"No. I'd like 80% of the revenue from the hotel that will overtake the building. I assure you that I can maintain the oversight of assisting to run the hotel, we won't need an active CEO, I'll be that. Therefore I deserve the revenue." Eleazar smirked slyly when he turned towards me, he knew I was a stubborn asshole.

"EIGHTY PERCENT? THAT'S THE MAJORITY OF WHAT WE'D PAY EMPLOYEES! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE." That'd be Chang Ho, a good businessman, but not a great one- like me.

"The employee's pay will come from my pocket. This way they'll be fairly compensated, whereas before, you were taking a percentage of their pay. Am I correct Mr. Ho?" My hands were placed on the table, with no tenor, no shakiness. I knew this game.

Mr. Ho's face resembled that of a tomato, "Are you insinuating I steal from my employees?"

Clicking the button that turns on the projector to the specific slide I want, "This is the transcript of paystubs from this past year. As you can clearly see, there's a huge gap between all of your employees' pay stubs. This next slide, *click*, shows your banking statements, and in that exact time frame, it seems like you granted yourself $100,000, into a private account that you somehow thought couldn't be found. This is evidence of fraudulence, and I'd be happy to alert the press to it. Otherwise, we could just sign the deal to Cullen Enterprises- my way, and we can forget about your law-breaking."

"Are you blackmailing me, Mr. Cullen?" toxins laced his words.

"Blackmail would mean I have any bother in what the outcome is for you, Mr. Ho. Truthfully, I can get what I want without you. I'm simply attempting to speed up the process."

Mr. Ho's lawyer wrote something on a piece of paper, passing it to him with disdain- "We'll allow 80% of revenue to go to Cullen Enterprises, but we need an official non-disclosure agreement to be signed by you, and the rest of the board at Cullen Enterprises."

Eleazar stood up, I followed, "Excellent. We can have those signatures by the end of the evening, and Mr. Cullen will sign a redrawn contract with the correct revisions."

My turn to be polite, "Pleasure doing business with the Shanghai Firm."

We all shook hands amicably, although Chang Ho looked aghast. Exiting the room I looked down at my matte black Bvlgari watch, shit. Now I'm running late for my first "official" date with Isabella.

Whipping my phone out of my front breast pocket, I dial Alec, "Sir?"

"Is she here? How did the flight go? I'm running a few minutes late." I barely recognized my own voice as I strung all of my concerns out.

"Sir, Isabella is safe, she's in the powder room. I'm sure you'll be in perfect timing with us." I actually find Alec's British accent soothing at this moment.

"I'll be at the table in two minutes." Disconnecting the call as I made my way towards the elevator. The restaurant was two floors below these conference rooms. I slid my key card and clicked the down button. This elevator is only used for the conference suites, therefore, the arrival of the elevator was swift. I stepped in and clicked the floor two below this one, it even had a "D", to indicate dining.

Stepping off the machine, I walked through a private hallway and slid my keycard through another security measure, to get through two adjoining glass doors that led to the back side of the restaurant. I walked to the bar located closest to me, a man was working, I gave him my name. I was given immediate service, him speaking into an earpiece, and the maitre d' made their way to me.

This restaurant was fine, for all intents and purposes, but for Isabella- I wished for the best I could give. Being that I was here for business, it was the most facile option to have our date in the hotel. If I hadn't had a meeting minutes before, I would have planned something more attentive.

The maitre d' led me to a private room with a circular table, dawned with a deep red silk cloth, of course, candlelit. It looked fantastic for the time I had. Pulling 5, one hundred dollar bills, out of my suit jacket inside my pocket, I handed it to the maitre d'- who then excused themselves politely.

I stood, waiting for Isabella. Knowing she'd be here so soon was so satisfying to me, almost like an addict with their fix. I heard some muffled noise and then Isabella's voice, "Are you sure I'm supposed to be in the private dining?"

Smirking, I let out a dark chuckle, "Solo il meglio per te, Isabella." ("Only the best for you, Isabella.")

Isabella stopped short and jumped slightly with widened eyes, "Oh! I thought you'd still be in the meeting."

Walking towards her like a mountain lion stalking its prey, "Miss Swan, are you disappointed?"

A playfulness sparked in her orbs, "Assolutamente no." ("Absolutely not.")

Finally, I reached her, the maitre d' turning around and swiftly exiting the room, giving us privacy. Reaching my hand out to her, I slowly stroke the side of her face, the height of her cheekbone, to the bottom of her mandible. Her skin was so supple and unblemished, a beautiful ivory that was unforgettable. She begins to bite her lower lip as her cheeks flush, so I put my finger in between them to cease her.

She sighs, "I've never been in a helicopter before."

Holding eye contact, "Ah, was it a bad experience for you?"

"It was an experience, just that." She grasped my hand and began stroking the bottom side of my palm gently.

"Ti piacerebbe sederti?" ("Would you like to sit?")

"Yes please."

Leading her to the circular table for two, I pulled out the chair that's back facing the exit, never being too careful. My hand was pressed into the small of her back, making contact with the knitted fabric of her dress, I made note it felt worn in and that she'll need a new one. She gently sat down and her oak eyes now looked at me as I got into my seat across from her.

"Sembri così bella." ("You look so beautiful")

Her cheeks fanned a deep rose, "Thank you. You always look like a perfect human. It's actually alarming at times."

"Isabella, I have a lot of practice, keeping up appearances. Wait until you see me… before sleep or grabbing breakfast in the kitchen, to make your judgments"

She snickers, "Do you wear satin suit pajamas?"

I must've grinned ear to ear, "There's that wit I love!"

The rest of dinner went off without a hitch. Minus the waiter, Mike, attempting to flirt with Isabella during the first moment of meeting her. I promptly went to the maitre d' and got a new server, and hoped that Isabella would leave the subject alone. The stubborn woman she is, she got frustrated with me and pleaded with me to apologize. The answer was, a resounding no.

We were currently sitting next to one another, almost facing each other, because I slid her chair over towards me halfway through the meal.

"You know, chances are that guy was only being nice, and you made him feel like he was bad at his job…" The wine had hit her, I could tell by her flushed cheeks.

Now I snickered, "Is that a joke, Isabella? He stared at your chest before he even spoke!"

She made a face of befuddlement, "No way!"

"I notice many things, and trust me, I noticed THAT."

Laughing at herself, "Okay, okay. I concede. He was a dick."

A ringing sound interrupted our eye contact, as Isabella mumbled, what sounded like "shit". Digging into her little pocket bag, she pulls out a cell phone with a cracked screen, no case either. From what I saw the name of the caller is Charlie, her Father.

She fumbled the phone clumsily to her ear, "Hello"

Her face contorted into a shocked expression, "SHOOT! I forgot to let him know.." she looked at me, "That I had plans, other plans." Him? Who's him?

"Ch- Dad, do you mind if I speak to him?" She removed the phone from her ear and covered the bottom half of it with her dainty hand, "Sorry!" she whispers.

Isabella stands and turns around, facing the opposite direction of me. The change in her behavior… her demeanor, something's off.

"Jake!" Jake?

She steps further away, "I'm so sorry. I got ready for this dinner, I barely had time to think about our plans. I'm so sorry Jake! I'll make it up to you." This Jake is getting on my nerves.

Turning to me, her face blushes Scarlett as she sees I'm surveying her- "Uh, Jake, I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow, we can have a fish fry and mess with the bikes for a while... Okay, sweet! See you." Bicycles? I see, he's a child! The feeling in my chest uncoils.

Isabella saunters over to me and sits in her seat, crossing her legs as she sits, "Oh, Edward, that was.. rude of me. I'm sorry."

Reaching my left hand up and tenderly brushing her face, "That's okay, you needed to take a phone call. Of all people, I can understand that."

Leaning forward I place my lips just above her left eyebrow, smirking, I go above the right eyebrow next.

"Who was it on the phone?"

"Charlie, my Dad."

I grinned slyly, "Ah, yes- and who's Jake?"

She pulled her head away from mine to meet my eyes, but then began to avoid them, "Uh… Jake's.."

Heckling her, "It's okay, Isabella, but whose child is he?"

Isabella's face broke out into a disoriented look, "What..?"

"Jake? I assume he's a child, you were going to play with bicycles together?" How is she confused by this?

Her response was one that never happened to me, she broke into a fit of laughter, almost maniacal laughter. I'm sure my face held no amusement by the time she was done.

"Oh, Edward.." Now noticing my face, "Oh! Why are you angry?"

"Why are you laughing at me?"

"Well... Jacob is an adult."

"Mi scusi?" ("Excuse me?")

Her eyes bore into mine, "He's been my friend since I was a child. He's a few years younger than me, but last time I checked, he's still an adult."

My eyes bore back, "Avevi intenzione di vedere un altro uomo stasera?" ("You were planning to see another man tonight?")

The emotion on her face turned to one I recognized, rage.