Chapter 8

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Chapter 8

"Do you think you're ready for conversation now?" Seth asked with a raised eyebrow as he and Edward sped off toward the offices of Cullen Publishing in downtown Chicago.

Today the angel was dressed much like Edward, wearing a pair of black dress pants and a surprisingly manly, at least on the otherworldly being, baby pink dress shirt with a black and pink striped tie. His feet were inside of another pair of expensive black dress shoes and Edward couldn't help but chuckle at the sight before him.

"You pick out your own clothes?" Edward asked, truly wondering why the pretense with the clothes if he was the only one that could see him. Of course, the angel being dressed was preferable to his being naked, but he didn't understand why the lengths to dress as nicely as he did. Edward shivered as an unbidden image of Seth dressed in a toga with white wings flitted into his mind. There was no way he would have ever been able to handle such a thing!

Seth's blue eyes twinkled again and he let out a rumbling laugh and then looked pointedly at Edward and said, "Why? Do you need pointers or something? You seem to have as impeccable a taste in clothes as I do, my young friend."

Edward scoffed and rolled his eyes and said, "No, of course I don't need pointers from you. I was just wondering why, if I am the only one fortunate or unfortunate enough to see you, you felt the need to dress as you are."

The being arranged himself in the back of the Escalade and regarded his charge for a moment before speaking. "I'll let the fortunate versus unfortunate comment slide for the time being, only because I know you said it to see if you could get a rise out of me. You might want to remember what I told you yesterday, Edward Anthony. You'd be much better off using your remaining time to figure out how to straighten out the mess you've made of your life instead of purposely trying to antagonize me," Seth finished sternly.

Properly chastised, Edward huffed and looked out the window without comment. He was nervous and on edge, for more than one reason. Being away from Isabella was hard, a fact of which he had to finally admit. He had always felt uneasy when he was apart from her; it was just now so much more since he was going to stop keeping her at such a distance. From the moment he closed the door behind him to go to the car all he wanted to do was run back inside and just be near her. Taking her back to bed and making love to her all day wasn't even a calculated thought, though he certainly wouldn't have turned it down if the opportunity had presented itself, but it was more than that. Ever since he walked into his house last night, the pull to be near her, to touch her and remind himself that she was real, was like a physical reaction.

Edward sighed and Seth cleared his throat, needing to go over a few things with Edward before they arrived at CP and he had to face the myriad of problems that awaited his arrival.

"Edward, she'll be there when you get home, try not to worry," the angel tried to soothe with his words.

Edward turned slowly from the window and stared at the angel beside him for a moment before he said, "She's always been there. Why does it almost physically hurt to be away from her?"

Knowing that Edward needed to understand what he was about to tell him before he'd be able to move forward and tackle the issues at the office, Seth began quietly, "Edward Anthony, love is a very powerful, all-encompassing emotion, even for someone like you." When he noticed that Edward was about to make a comment, Seth held up his large hand in order to cut him off before he could speak. "Yes, Edward, even someone like you. While I know better than anyone that your love for the lovely Isabella has never been in question, you have done an excellent job of burying that love for her deep down inside of you. Now that you've let it out, it refuses to be contained again. You're experiencing what any person, man or woman, does in the early stages of a loving, fulfilling relationship. Yes, you've been married for five years now, but you've only just begun to truly let yourself feel and experience all that Isabella has to offer you. It's a bit overwhelming and it will require you to find some sort of balance."

Balance. Well that really sucked, Edward thought ruefully to himself. After letting go and experiencing just a bit of what being free with Isabella was like, he was quite loathe to give any of that up. He must have had a far away look on his face because when he focused again on the present, he looked to his left only to find Seth gazing at him with a smirk.

"There is time for that later, Edward Anthony. Right now we need to talk about your day at CP. There is much to do," Seth said and clapped his hands together. Either Edward was getting used to the sharp, booming sound or the angel was losing his touch because the clap was barely loud enough for Edward to acknowledge. "Just keeping you on your toes, my boy," the smug being said with a wicked grin.

Said being shifted around in his seat so they could get down to business. "So, fill me in on what you're thinking about New York," Seth said in a very businesslike manner.

Edward stared at him for a moment and for the briefest of seconds he saw only a man, not an otherworldly being. Dressed as he was and speaking like one of his colleagues, it wasn't that big of a stretch.

Seth sighed mightily, thinking that if Edward didn't focus, nothing would get accomplished today at all, and that just wouldn't do. It would be even harder than before to keep Edward on task and focused on the matters at hand, now that he had begun to allow himself to feel what he tried to keep hidden for Isabella. There was still so much for Edward to try to get done. Time. It surely meant something different to his kind than to humans, but he knew there wasn't any to spare. The angel wasn't positive of the time line they were dealing with, he never was in these instances, but from much experience he knew; the end would come before Edward was ready.

It always did.

It was really hard to remain objective and somewhat detached this time around, Seth thought to himself quickly as Edward flipped through some papers he'd pulled out of his briefcase. Not only was Seth supremely attached to Isabella, Edward had also managed to become very important to him. No matter how difficult a human Edward Cullen was, and boy was he ever, the angel knew the heart and soul that was buried beneath the aloof veneer.

A loud, frustrated sigh focused Seth on the here and now and that meant finding out what Edward's immediate plans were. Everything that mattered to Edward: Isabella, her family, his parents, his family, his few friends, his business, all were part of the entire package. It was all interwoven together. Edward's past, present, his future entwined with the other pieces of his life, and all were important and essential to his finding peace. The angelic being was not wrong in placing Isabella above all else, but the rest, it all mattered as well.

"Damn, Sinclair really is becoming a pain in my ass," Edward muttered and flicked the papers in his hand onto the seat beside him.

"Yes, well, I imagine he says the same about you, Edward Anthony," the angel said with a knowing look.

Edward rolled his eyes, but didn't dispute the obvious statement. Of course Vincent Sinclair would say the same about him, Edward thought to himself. Ever since prep school and then when they were unfortunately at Northwestern at the same time, Vincent Sinclair and Edward had been adversaries. It was totally one-sided on Vincent's part, but there was no way Edward could deny that he hadn't egged him on a time or two or twenty. It was just too easy sometimes, especially as they had approached graduation and Edward had begun to make a name for himself at CP.

"Why are you so concerned about the business? Shouldn't you be concentrating on my soul or something like that instead of all this materialistic bullshit?" Edward flippantly asked but was shocked when he saw the very serious look on the angel's face.

"Edward, whether you realize it or not, or more accurately whether you choose to admit it or not, Cullen Publishing is your legacy. Sure, you didn't build it, but you've been in charge for more than five years. Your father doesn't want to run it and your brother is quite happy in his supporting role. The fate of CP rests with you, Edward, and you must do all you can to protect its future," Seth said in as serious a voice as he could. And, well, he was an angelic being, so the voice was pretty damn serious.

Edward wanted to talk about the reasoning behind that statement, but it wasn't the time or the place for such a discussion. Instead he said, "Well, obviously, Vincent is coming after me. Somehow he found out about Deaton-Hall and managed to acquire them before me. It's clear he's going to keep doing all he can to undermine me so Sinclair Publishing becomes even larger than CP. I just need to figure out how to stop him and what my next move needs to be. If he gets wind of the deal we've been working on with McMasters and Sons, and that one falls through as well, CP could really be in trouble."

It was a huge mess and one that normally would get Edward's competitive juices flowing. Maneuvering, scheming, deal making. It usually drove him and stimulated him to no end. In all honesty, it was what made him such a superior businessman. His natural charm and magnetism, coupled with his extremely sharp business mind made Edward Cullen quite the force to be reckoned with. There were many literary agents, small publishing house owners, and competitors that knew up close and personal how persuasive and commanding he could be. Even those who were on the short end of the stick so to speak when it came to a business deal or whatnot, couldn't dispute his talents. He'd seemingly been born to lead, born to run such a large and diverse company, and no one could fault his success.

Edward wasn't perfect in his business dealings, often cutting corners or bending truths to fit his immediate needs, but overall he could honestly say that he'd achieved the success he'd had fairly and with only a modicum of underhandedness. Nothing illegal, of course, and nothing that would compromise him ethically, but Edward did look for and exploit any weakness or strength to his advantage. He was rather proud of that fact to be honest. Of course he'd done little in the five plus years he'd been in charge to show his appreciation to those that worked alongside of him. He was fairly certain that because the annoyingly persistent angel was accompanying him to the office, he'd have to start rectifying that oversight.

The all-knowing angel chuckled softly beside Edward as they drove through downtown Chicago and approached the impressive building that was the home of Cullen Publishing.

"No, Edward, today will not be an easy day for you, in case you were wondering," Seth said and grinned when a look of distaste flashed across his assignment's face.

Edward sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in what was surely the first of many pass-throughs. "Tell me this isn't going to be totally humiliating." He cringed as the Escalade pulled up to CP.

"What do you think, Edward Anthony?" the angel asked in a tone of voice that conveyed just how much he was looking forward to watching the day's events play out and most probably, the more uncomfortable for his young charge, the better. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be quite as bad you think it will be!"

"Have a good day, Peter," Edward said as he got out of the backseat. He huffed when his long-time driver stared at him with his mouth opened in shock.

Damn, he really must have been quite the insufferable ass, Edward thought with a regretful shake of his head. He flashed what he hoped was a sincere smile and let out a long exhale when Peter finally was shaken out of his stupor.

"You, too, sir. I'll see you back here around eight o'clock," Peter answered.

Edward shocked him once again when he shook his head and said, "Actually, Peter, if I can manage it, I've promised Isabella I wouldn't be late. How about we plan on five o'clock?"

"Um…yes, of course, Mr. Cullen," the poor driver managed to say.

Edward entered the office without saying anything further. After stepping on the elevator and nodding at the others in the car with him, he rode to the top floor. His mind was a flurry of activity. Isabella and the way she looked in the kitchen was quite the persistent image and instead of trying to fight it, he smiled and took the next few moments to lose himself in the memory of her.

The way she sighed when she laid next to him in bed. The way she looked when she fell apart in his arms. The way she smiled at him when she caught him watching her…all those thoughts and more wormed their way to the forefront of his mind. His fingers twitched beside his leg as he thought about calling her, but he'd been gone less than an hour. If he gave in and called her now, no matter how much he wanted to hear her voice, would just make getting through the rest of the day that much harder.

He sighed, quite put out that his time for daydreaming was over when the doors to the elevator opened. He exited and made his way to his office, taking care, surprisingly without any special prodding, to say good morning to his secretary, Donna.

"Can you inform Emmett, Jasper, Marcus, and Alec that I'd like to see them in my office in an hour, please?" Edward asked her as he stood by her desk.

Donna, for her part, looked much like poor Peter had just moments ago but recovered much quicker.

"Of course, Mr. Cullen. Don't forget you have a meeting with Amy Kim from Public Relations after lunch and Reggie Loggins from distributing wants to meet with you this afternoon at about four," she told him as she checked over his calendar for the day.

She followed Edward into his office like she did every morning, but noted the obvious shift in his attitude. Edward set his briefcase on his desk before turning on his computer and then turned to his secretary and said, "That will be fine. However, I'm planning on leaving no later than five today so I can meet Isabella at home."

Donna tried to keep her face from showing her complete surprise at his statement, but Edward didn't miss it. It was kind of hard not to, but he made no attempt to explain himself. He supposed it was quite the change, but did it really mean that everyone had to look at him like he had two heads?

"Is there anything else you need before I contact the others?" she asked him once her voice returned to somewhat normal.

"No, thank you, Donna," Edward answered as he sat in the chair behind his desk. He huffed an exasperated sigh as she left the office, closing the door behind her.

"You're going to have to deal with a lot of that, Edward Anthony," Seth said as he materialized in the chair in front of Edward.

Edward glanced at the clock on his computer and realized he only had a short while before the others arrived and he wanted to call Isabella before the meeting. He didn't want to wait any longer, and besides he could always call her again later if the urge to do so came once more. As was always the case, he was sure Jasper would arrive a few minutes before the others did.

"I suppose so," Edward answered the angel, thinking that it was rather ridiculous for something as simple as expressing his wish to go home early to garner such reactions. "Okay, so you're going to be around all day?" he asked.

It did not go unnoticed that for the first time in as long as he could remember he was focused on something other than work.

"Yes, of course, Edward. Like I told you, it is imperative for you to come up with a plan that will protect the future of CP," Seth answered in a serious manner.

"I suppose you'll be explaining to me why that is the case?" Edward asked as he made a few notes of things he wanted to cover during the meeting.

"Hmmm…well, we are working on a need to know basis for the time being. Suffice it to say, when I feel it's necessary for you to know, I'll tell you," the angel said with a smirk.

Admittedly, the seraph enjoyed the gamesmanship he partook in with his young charge, but in this case Edward really didn't need to know just yet the reason behind the cryptic warning. It would come in time, but not yet.

"Hmph," Edward grunted and picked his iPhone up off his desk. "Well, because I only have a few minutes left before Jasper gets here, I'd like to call my wife if you don't mind," he said, indicating the request for a few moments of privacy wasn't really a request at all.

"Very well," the angel agreed, disappearing before Edward even had a chance to ask when he would be back.

"Damn angel," he muttered before focusing on the phone in his hands. It still amazed him, still seemed almost like living in a dream, that his life had changed so drastically in only twenty-four hours. While parts of it, like his reawakening feelings for his wife were most welcome, that whole dying soon thing left a lot to be desired.

As Edward continued to stare at his phone, trying to decide why it was causing him so much distress to make a simple phone call, Isabella was thinking about her husband. She'd gotten her edits faxed to her office at Cullen Publishing where her assistant, Meredith, would forward them to the author and now all she had to do was wait until it was time to meet her mother for lunch.

Of course the free time meant she had time to remember the morning she had spent with Edward, both in the bed and out. The sex, as it had been the night before, was beyond belief, but it was his actions in the kitchen that had her smiling like a maniac and made her heart race. Whoever would have thought that Edward Cullen, multimillionaire CEO, would want to spend the night curled up on the couch with his wife watching a scary movie like a teenager?

Isabella wasn't blinded by his sweet actions and even sweeter words though. She understood more than anyone else how easy it would be for him to revert back to his old ways. Edward had promised her he would change and she hoped he kept true to his word. The way he was last night and the way he acted this morning gave her hope that he had indeed begun to change.

She hoped so, for both their sakes. Isabella was astute enough to realize that in order for her husband to truly change he would need to open up and talk to her…really talk to her. She also knew that it would be up to her to help him do so. It was up to her to support and encourage him, to make him believe that she would be there, no matter what. She was more than a bit apprehensive about the ghosts that seemed to haunt her husband, but seeing him smile this morning made her more determined than ever to completely break through all of his walls.

Her ringing cell phone made the smile on her face even larger as Edward's ringtone played. "Hello, sweetheart," she said with a sigh, thrilled beyond words to hear from him so soon after he left.

It reminded her of when they first met and started seeing each other seriously. That nervous, excited feeling all girls, no matter their age, got at the beginning of a relationship. How you counted down the minutes until you saw each other again. How your heart raced every time you thought about him. How you couldn't wait for the next phone call. Isabella supposed that in a way, it was like she and Edward were at the beginning again. He was different, she was different, and it was as if they were starting anew. Instead of lamenting the fact that there was so much lost time, she chose instead to focus on the reward of hopefully, finally, have the Edward she'd always known had been there.

"Hi, Beautiful," Edward said. It shocked him how just the sound of her voice calmed him. "I wanted to call before my first meeting of the day."

Isabella didn't miss the hint of frustration that eked out as he ended his sentence. "Is everything okay at the office, Edward?"

On the other end of the phone, Edward pushed his hand back through his hair and spun his chair around to look out the window at the impressive downtown Chicago skyline. "Ah, well, we have some issues to deal with. Nothing too terrible and nothing that will keep me from coming home early like I told you," he answered her.

Isabella smiled a brilliant smile, even though her husband couldn't see it. "Well, I'll make sure you get an extra helping of dessert tonight, too," she giggled.

"Mmmm," he said as he lowered his voice. "How about we share a bowl of butter pecan…one bowl, two spoons?" He smiled when he heard the small gasp of surprise escape his lovely wife's delectable lips. He may have been the most neglectful husband ever and he may have spent the past few years behaving like an idiot, but he wasn't totally stupid or blind. Isabella's love of butter pecan ice cream was just one of the things, though it was small in the grand scheme of things, that he knew about his wife.

In all matter-of-fact, the list was probably much longer than his past actions and attitude would indicate, contrary to what the invisible, but very present being believed, but truthfully not much of that mattered going forward. He knew, from the moment he woke up this morning with her in his bed and in his arms, that no matter what the future held or more accurately how long that future wound up being, he was totally committed to the promise he'd made last night and reiterated this morning. He would be the man his wife needed, the one she deserved. If there was nothing else he was able to accomplish before his time was up, being worthy of Isabella and making her happy was most important to him.

"Yes, love, I'm well aware of your affinity for butter pecan ice cream," Edward said softly.

Isabella closed her eyes as she held the phone to her ear and laid a hand over her rapidly beating heart. Edward's words elicited such a strong reaction in her, somehow touching her more than the term of endearment even, though the fact that he'd called her 'love' and 'my love' and 'beautiful' hadn't escaped her. He'd been gone less than two hours and already she was counting down the hours, minutes, in her head until he would be home. It couldn't come soon enough.

Edward, for his part, was thinking much the same thoughts miles away, but one look at his watch and he knew Jasper would be arriving any minute. Using great restraint, even though he wanted nothing more than to keep talking to his wife, he knew he needed to say goodbye.

"Well, I just wanted to hear your voice before my day got crazy," Edward said, shaking his head as he realized just how very true that statement was. That whole wanting to beat his own ass for being such an idiot was making itself known again, annoyingly so, but he knew the elusive seraph would be along shortly and would take great joy in reminding him, repeatedly, how much of one he had been. Of that, there was no doubt.

"I'm so glad you called, Edward. Did you still want pizza for dinner?" Isabella asked, knowing that her phone call was coming to an end.

"Absolutely. As long as dinner is followed by dessert and time on the couch with you, it's all good," Edward answered, chuckling quietly when he heard her giggle on the other end.

"I hope you have a good day, sweetheart, and good luck with your meetings," she told him, hoping that the day wasn't too stressful for him. Of course, if he came home tense it might give her a good excuse to give him a massage. Anything that allowed her to touch him was all good in her book.

"Thanks. You have a good day, too, okay? I'll see you tonight," Edward said as Jasper walked in his office.

"Bye, Edward," his wife said softly.

"Bye, Beautiful," he answered before ending his call.

Jasper, though he tried as hard as he could, couldn't stop the scowl from showing on his face. It was hard as hell to be friends with someone like Edward Cullen, but Jasper Whitlock had managed to do so for a long time now. It wasn't without frustration, and it didn't come without wanting to kick his ass and beat some sense into his thick head either. Like Isabella and Emmett, Jasper was somehow able to look past the hard, outer shell Edward kept around him like a suit of armor and see the man that lay beneath. Besides Isabella, Jasper was the only other person that had ever seen the true Edward Cullen, and it was because of that he was seething mad right now.

Irate…enraged…furious…take your pick…because Jasper was less than a minute away from beating his soon to be ex-friend into oblivion.

As Jasper stewed, Edward hung up his phone and gathered the papers in front of him, taking a precious few moments to savor the feelings of happiness and anticipation his phone call with his wife had left him with. He heard Jasper shift from foot to foot in front of his desk and with a regretful sigh, Edward pushed all thoughts of Isabella back and focused on the issue at hand. He noticed the pink and black dressed being that suddenly materialized and was seated at the head of the conference table Edward had in his office.

Edward narrowed his eyes in warning to the audacious angel, a move that was dismissed with a wave of a massive hand.

"If you think you're staying in that seat, you are sadly mistaken," Edward sneered, though in the back of his mind he realized he was conversing with a…spirit, illusion, other worldly being…right in front of Jasper, who from all appearances, had no idea of what was going on.

The rational part of Edward recognized how farfetched the whole thing was, but since yesterday afternoon, he learned it was better to just go along with it. Anything else was liable to lead to a breakdown or men with white coats and a padded room and no one wanted that, Edward most of all.

"Whatever, Eddie," the smug angel answered and smiled what could only be described as a mischievous smile. "How about you concentrate on poor Jasper there? The man looks like he's about ready to explode."

Edward finally acknowledged his friend's presence. He took in the clenched jaw, the steely blue eyes that seemed to almost shoot sparks out of them they glinted so much, the ramrod straight posture he held himself in and asked, "What the hell, Jasper?"

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