Chapter 11

BPOV

The first class lounge was to die for and I seriously mean that. I had never seen a place so large, clean and well presented. Mind you, I'd never actually been anywhere to see something like it, but you get what I mean.

They were so welcoming and kind, but then Alice informed me that they were paid to act that way and I laughed. It felt good to be away from that shit hole of a town.

I forgot how much of a 'small town girl' I really was. Well, I might be a small town girl, but I didn't have a small mind and I made a promise to myself there and then to open my eyes a bit more, and also to take a few risks once in a while.

I was so naive when it came to things like this, but you could hardly blame me. I had led a relatively sheltered life growing up, thanks to mom. Alice had done her best with me, but there was only so much you could do with limited funds and a shitty truck.

"Our flight should be boarding soon and then we can relax for a few hours," Alice broke through my thoughts as she took my hand and smiled at me.

"We're really doing this," I laughed awkwardly as I thought about the unknown.

Maybe it would have been good to Google Edward. I mean, I knew we were young, but we weren't stupid. Who travels thousands of miles to go for a job that we knew nothing about in a city that was so huge, we'd get lost if we weren't careful?

If I was being honest, deep down, I was shitting it. I couldn't believe we were actually going into this so blindly.

"Yep, and it's going to be a blast, I just know it," she sniggered in reply.

Gone was the unsure Alice from the other day. Oh yeah, that Alice was a distant memory compared to the small bouncing girl next to me, holding my hand in an excited death grip.

She finally determined that it couldn't be anything too bad if they were advertising in a national paper and even if it didn't work out, we could still look for other jobs while we were there.

I ended up agreeing with her and now here we sat, ready to catch our plane to start a life doing God knows what.

~(*)~

We touched down in LA at around 2:30 and I was now a stuttering wreck. It finally hit home that we had moved on with our lives into the unknown and as much as I wanted to be positive about it, until I knew who we were meeting and what the job was, I was going to continue being in a state.

This was me, Isabella Swan, the woman who planned. It was always the same. First day of school I was shitting it, but as soon as I walked into the classroom, I was cool. My first day at the library, exactly the same. It was just how I worked. I knew that I would calm down as soon as all was explained, but it didn't help me out right in this moment.

We obviously didn't have to wait for any luggage and as we were in First Class, we were let off of the plane first.

I had no idea what to expect and I certainly had no idea how busy the airport would be as I clung to Alice, and followed everyone else to the exit.

Jesus Christ, it was like a human version of an ant farm.

"Bella, calm down, otherwise you're going to draw blood on my hand," she smiled softly and I realized that I had her hand in a death grip.

"Sorry, Alice," I mumbled as I stopped dead in my tracks. Just a few yards in front of us were three guys. One was dressed in a sports jersey, one in a plaid button down shirt and the other one was in an expensive looking suit.

The suit guy was looking at something on his phone, so I had no idea what he looked like from here, but he was fucking tall!

"Alice, it's them," I hissed in her ear as I saw that the one in the plaid shirt was holding up a sign with our names on it. The guy in the jersey was talking to a blonde girl who was with them and she kept giving him soft smiles. She looked nice. The guy in the suit was still looking down at his phone, but even though I couldn't see his face properly, I could still tell that he was really good looking.

"I think so too," she smiled at me, and then at them.

She walked with purpose, with her head held high, dragging me along with her.

I managed not to stumble as she came to a stop in front of them and smiled wider as she coughed a little.

"Good afternoon, gentleman," she said firmly, but with a smile, as they all looked up and around to us.

I just stood there like a fish out of water as the guy in the suit looked straight up into my eyes and gave me the most dazzling smile.

I was so fucked.

"Good afternoon, Alice, Bella," he said softly over the din of everyone here as he held out his hand gently. I took it instantly, shaking it gently as I gave him a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," I mumbled as I heard Alice talking to the others.

"Nope, you have to call me Edward, being called 'sir' makes me feel old," he chuckled softly and I was hypnotized.

So this was Edward, in the flesh.

Again, I was so fucked.

I would have to start chanting that he was my boss, so totally off limits.

I could not screw my boss... I could not screw my boss...

"Okay," I said through a heavy breath as he kissed the back of my hand and then placed it by my side.

"And it's a pleasure to meet you, too." He smiled again as Alice bumped my arm, bringing my attention back to the fact that we weren't alone.

Alice introduced me to Jasper and Emmett and the blonde girl, Rose. Up close, she didn't seem as nice as what I first thought, but it could have been the nerves. Alice told me that Rose was like us, applying for the job, so we were all in the same boat.

All the time we were making small talk and introducing ourselves to each other, I could feel Edward's eyes on me. I should have felt a little creeped out, but so far I didn't. I just hoped that my instant attraction to him wouldn't cause any long term issues for us, or me in particular.

"Are ya'll hungry, we thought we'd start with gettin' some lunch?" Jasper asked and we all nodded. I hadn't managed to eat anything so far, so I knew I needed to get something in me, because trying to survive on a cup of coffee was not the way to go.

Straight away I noticed that as we walked out of the airport, we had split off into pairs.

Emmett was with Rose, Alice was with Jasper, and so I was left with Edward.

I wondered briefly if that was how they wanted it.

Or planned it.

That would seriously put a dent in the whole not wanting to screw my boss on the first day issue that had been brewing.

"Take my hand, Bella, I don't want to lose you in the crowd," Edward whispered to me as he held out his hand. I looked to see that Alice was holding Jasper's, so I gave in and took his in mine.

"I'm really glad you came," he whispered again, but this time it was closer to my ear and his warm breath caused me to shiver and break out in goose bumps.

He threw me a sexy look as if to say that he knew how he affected me and then we carried on walking.

This was so strange.

I was holding the hand of someone I didn't know, in a city I knew nothing of, on top of having accepted a job I knew nothing about.

My alarm bells should have been ringing, but I just couldn't get them to make a sound, no matter how much I tried.

My nerves had also taken a back seat as I tried as hard as hell to work out what the hell was going on.