'I should have known.' Bella thought as she and Alice walked through the main doors of the hospital.
Standing at the front reception desk was Rosalie's fiancé, Emmett. He was a pharmacist and had been working at West Seattle General Hospital for a little over two years. He loved it there and was always talking about how great his co-workers were.
The smile he seemed to always wear widened when he spotted them. “Ladies!” He welcomed, holding his arms open. “Welcome to West Seattle General!”
“We've been here before, Emmett.” Bella said as she and Alice came to a stop in front of him.
“Many times.” Alice added, glancing sideways at Bella, who rolled her eyes.
“I know,” Emmett said, putting his arms around their shoulders and steering them toward the elevators. “But this time it's not because Bella's hit her head or broken a bone.”
Bella sighed loudly, shooting them both dirty looks. “If you've just brought me here to make fun of me-”
“Of course not.” Emmett pulled her against his side in a sideways hug. “I had Alice bring you because there's a job opening that I thought you'd be perfect for.”
Alice pushed the call button for the elevator once they reached it. “We're just trying to help, Bella.”
Bella looked at them both silently for a moment, and then gave in. “What's the job?”
Alice clapped her hands together in excitement. “That's the spirit!”
The elevator doors opened to reveal an empty lift and they all stepped inside.
“Assistant to the Dean of Medicine.” Emmett answered her. He pushed the button for the fourth floor.
“Okay...” Bella said slowly and she thought about the job. “But don't I need to set up an interview? Like, make an appointment after he's reviewed my resumé?”
“He's already read it.” He said.
“The one in your bag is just in case you need it.” Alice supplied.
“What?” Bella shook her head. “Can someone please just tell me exactly what's going on, instead of waiting for me to ask the right questions?”
Emmett leaned back against the wall calmly. “Being in the medical field, we all heard that your office was closing. That's why I called you yesterday. I wanted to see how your morning was going, if anything had happened yet. I was hoping you wouldn't lose your job but then Rosie told me you did. Then I remembered the Dean had a job available. Alice emailed your resumé to me and I gave it to him this morning. Since you're a friend of mine, and I'm such a good judge of character,” he smiled, extremely proud of himself, “the Dean told me to have you come in.”
“So here you are.” Alice said, proud of herself as well.
Bella's heart rate picked up a little. Her friends had set this all up and now the Dean of Medicine was waiting for her. What if she messed up big time in front of the Dean? He was Emmett's boss! What if he thought she wasn't good enough? Would that make him think less of Emmett for recommending her?
The elevator doors opened, making Bella jump. Then she felt a hand on her arm.
“You'll be fine.” Alice said soothingly.
The three of them stepped out of the elevator and into the main hall of the fourth floor. Straight ahead was a large wooden door with glass panels on each side. Emmett led them through the door and into the front office area.
'Wow,' Bella thought as she looked around the room. 'Much nicer than my last job.'
The room had a warm, welcoming feel to it. The floor was covered in a rich maroon carpet and the walls were a nice cream color. There was a sofa against the left wall – almost the same color as the walls – and a matching chair kitty-corner to it. A mahogany coffee table sat in front of the sofa, a few magazines sitting on it. On the right side of the room was a big mahogany desk and a long filing cabinet against the wall. In the middle of the back wall was another door. Bella assumed that door led to the Dean's office.
“Hey Emmett.” The girl behind the desk greeted cheerfully.
“Hey Angela.” Emmett greeted back and then turned to Bella and Alice. “This is Angela. She's a nurse from the ER but she's helping out up here since Dr. Cullen doesn't have an assistant.” He turned back to Angela. “Ange, this is Bella Swan and Alice Brandon. Bella's here to see Dr. Cullen for the assistant job.”
“Thank goodness!” Angela laughed. “As much as I like Dr. Cullen, I just want to get back to the ER.”
Emmett laughed at that and leaned on the desk. “Yeah, we need you down there to keep the other girls in line.”
“Definitely.” Angela nodded, a knowing look in her eyes. “Okay, I'll let Dr. Cullen know you're here.” She picked up the phone and hit a button. “Dr. Cullen, Bella Swan is here.” She listened for a moment and then hung up. “He'll be right out.”
“Thank you.” Bella said and she, Alice and Emmett went to sit down on the sofa.
Emmett sat between the two girls and began talking to Alice. Bella couldn't concentrate on their conversation, she was too nervous. All she could do was worry about the interview. What if Dr. Cullen didn't like her? What if he thought she wasn't qualified enough?
A large hand grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from her mouth before she even realized she had been chewing on her nails.
“Don't worry, Bells.” Emmett said and let her hand go. “Dr. Cullen's cool.”
She gave him a tight smile.
The door behind Angela opened and a man in a white doctor's coat stepped out. He had blond hair, blue eyes and a warm smile. He handed a folder to Angela and then walked over to the sitting area. Bella, Alice and Emmett stood up as he approached.
“Dr. Cullen,” Emmett said formally, “this is Bella Swan.”
Bella stepped forward and held out her hand. “It's nice to meet you, sir.”
Dr. Cullen shook her hand. “It's my pleasure. And no 'sir.'” He said with a laugh and let her hand go. “Carlisle or Dr. Cullen is fine.”
Bella nodded.
“We'll leave you to it.” Emmett said and patted Bella on the shoulder. He and Alice turned to leave.
Alice shot Bella an encouraging smile and she knew Alice was wishing her luck.
“Shall we?” Carlisle asked, motioning toward his office. He let her enter first and closed the door behind them.
“Cheers to Bella!” Emmett said loudly, raising his beer in a toast.
“Here here!” Rosalie joined in.
“Hell yeah!” Alice giggled.
Bella blushed and took a sip of her coke.
After Bella's interview, Carlisle had told her he would contact her soon. He hadn't offered her the job. Even though Bella knew there were barely any jobs in the world now where one would be hired on the spot, she had still felt the sting of rejection. So it surprised her later that day – around 4:30pm – when she received a phone call from him. Carlisle told her he would love to hire her if she still wanted the job.
“Yes!” She had blurted out before she could control herself. She cleared her throat and calmed her voice. “I mean, yes, I'd love to take the job.”
Now she sat in Emmett and Rosalie's living room with them and Alice, eating pizza and celebrating. The television was on in the background; a horror movie that no one was paying attention to.
“I'm so excited for you, Bella.” Alice said happily.
“Thank you, guys.” Bella said, her blush deepening from all of the attention. “Especially you, Emmett. You didn't have to go through all of that trouble for me.”
“Are you kidding?” He asked, grabbing another slice of pizza. “I was more than happy to!” He took a bite and continued talking with his mouth full. “Plus I'm glad it's you working there and not some bitchy, gossipy girl!”
Rosalie watched him talk with a look of disgust. “Really? You can't swallow your food before you speak?”
Emmett only grinned at her.
“So, is Dr. Cullen nice?” Alice asked Bella. “He seemed nice.”
“Yeah. He told me everything the job entailed and it doesn't seem too hard since I did most of that stuff at my last job.”
“Yeah, he's a great boss.” Emmett added.
Bella nodded and thought about her interview for a moment before speaking again. “He did seem extremely adamant about employees not dating other employees.” She looked at Emmett, hoping he might be able to explain that.
“Yeah, there was some trouble with that about a year ago. Two employees were dating and when the guy ended it, the girl started making his life hell. She wasn't getting her work done and was making it almost impossible for him to work as well. Long story short, she was fired and the 'no dating' policy went into effect.” He paused to take a sip of beer. “I mean, people sneak around it, but if Dr. C finds out, it won't be good for whoever's involved.”
“Huh.” She said thoughtfully, and then shrugged. “Well, I told him it wouldn't be a problem. I'm not looking for a boyfriend.”
“Well, you should!” He said sharply, putting his feet up on the coffee table. “And you,” he pointed his beer bottle at Alice, “you too! I swear I'm suffocating with all this estrogen around!”
All three girls rolled their eyes and smirked to each other.
“Don't get me wrong, I love my girls, but I need some testosterone up in here! Some male bonding!” He ranted. “Basketball, football, baseball; man stuff!”
Bella and Alice tried not to laugh.
Rosalie reached over and rubbed his arm. “Don't worry, baby. We'll find you some friends.”
“Maybe I can introduce you to Jasper.” Alice suggested excitedly.
“Who's Jasper?” Rosalie asked, she and Bella's curiosity spiked.
Alice bit her lip and smiled. “The bartender at Lux.”
“Nice.” Bella laughed.
“Oh, I so knew it!” Rosalie said loudly. “I knew you showed tit for those shots!”
Alice laughed but shook her head. “No, I really didn't, but I gave him my number and he called today!”
“Ugh,” Emmett grumbled as the girls squealed happily. “I need another beer for this girly shit.”
Rosalie smacked his butt as he walked past her, and then turned back to Alice.
“So, what did he say?” Bella asked, leaning closer.
“Not too much, but he asked me out for tomorrow night!” She bounced up and down in her seat on the couch.
“If things go good maybe we can all go out to a bar next weekend.” Rosalie suggested. “We can hang out and celebrate Bella's first week at her new job.”
“No more celebrating.” Bella plead. “You know I hate being the center of attention.”
“Wah wah, whatever.” Rosalie waved her off.
The rest of the night was spent making shopping plans for the next day; new work clothes for Bella and clothes for Alice's date. After a little while they gave in and watched another horror movie with Emmett. Halloween was just a month away and he was already in the spirit of all things scary, creepy and gory. It didn't surprise Bella that his favorite movies were slasher flicks, since those had the most nudity. Rosalie had thrown a pillow at him during the first nude scene when he had yelled out 'boobies!'
'Yeah,' Bella thought. 'We definitely need to get Emmett some friends.'
The weekend went by faster than Bella would have liked. Though she looked forward to starting her new job, she was still extremely nervous about how much responsibility it required.
Alice's date on Saturday night had gone so well that every time Bella would talk to her the next day, the conversation would always come back to something Jasper said or did. She and Jasper went out again Sunday night and Bella was secretly grateful to have the apartment all to herself. She focused all of her energy that night into preparing for work the next day. By the time she went to bed her clothes were laid out for the morning and her attache case held any and every piece of paperwork she thought she might need.
Bella woke up extra early the next morning to give herself enough time. Not only was preparing for work her main concern, but she also had to try to concentrate on listening to Alice continue gushing about how great Jasper was. It was only when she asked Alice if she had to work that day did Alice break out of her love-haze and panic about being late.
Emmett met Bella at the hospital's front entrance again. Even though she tried to act as normal as possible he could tell she was nervous. He took the elevator up to the fourth floor with her, giving her a pep-talk the whole way. They shared a quick hug and she entered Carlisle's front office alone.
The first thing she saw when she walked through the door was Angela sitting behind the desk, smiling brightly. A wave of relief ran through her. She had thought, for some reason, that Carlisle might just give her a list of things to do and leave her to it. Now she realized what a stupid thought that was; Carlisle was too busy running a whole hospital to train her in any way.
“Morning, Bella.” Angela said warmly.
“Morning, Angela.” Bella said, returning her smile. She stopped in front of the desk that she would now be working at.
“You can hang your coat up and put your bag under the desk.” Angela waited for her to do just that and then launched into explaining the plan for the day. “Okay, since I've been Carlisle's assistant for the last couple of weeks, he wanted me to help you get familiar with everything.”
Bella nodded as she watched Angela begin to search through the desk for something.
“I'll be working with you this morning,” she continued, “but after lunch I have to work down in the ER. Ah, here we go.” She pulled a notepad out of the left bottom drawer and sat it with a pen on the desk, close to where Bella was standing. “You can take notes on things to do if you want but, considering you did most of this stuff at your last job, I think you should be okay.”
Bella took up the pad and pen; better to write things down and not need it than to forget.
The morning went by rather quickly and Bella wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not. She was glad the day wasn't dragging on but she was rather nervous about being on her own. Angela was right with the assumption that Bella had done a lot of what the job called for at her last job, which made explaining things so much simpler. She learned that, while she was supposed to be there at 8AM, Carlisle usually didn't come in until 9AM. He liked to have any messages waiting for him, along with any patient files he would need for that day. Line three on the phone was his direct line, so if it was lit up no one was to interrupt him.
She and Emmett had lunch together. He gave her one more pep-talk for good measure and by the end of lunch she was feeling a bit more at ease with things.
Bella got back to the office ten minutes before her lunch time ended; she wanted to go over the notes she had written down that morning. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Carlisle's phone line was blinking and reminded herself to not disturb him with anything. She began to organize medical files that had to be put away and as she turned around to open the filing cabinet she heard the door open and someone walk in.
“Hello.” She welcomed them as she put a folder in the cabinet and closed the drawer. She spun around in her chair to see what she could do for whoever had walked in, but words escaped her immediately.
Standing on the other side of the desk was easily the most beautiful man she had ever laid her eyes on. He had stunning green eyes and a tossled mane of brown hair that had a bronze hue to it. He wore blue scrubs and a white doctor's coat.
A crooked smile appeared on his face that made her heart pick up its pace and her stomach flutter.
“Um, hi.” She said dumbly and resisted the urge to cringe at herself.
His smile widened. “Hey.”
Bella's eyes started to glaze over; his voice was just as lovely as he was.
“So, you must be Carlisle's new assistant?” He asked.
'Snap out of it!' She blinked. “Oh! Yeah, I am.”
“I'm Edward Masen. I'm Head of the ER.” He reached his hand out and she shook it.
“Bella Swan.”
“It's nice to meet you, Bella Swan.”
She felt the familiar warming of her cheeks. She hated that she blushed so easily but the sound of her name from his lips was like music.
“It's nice to meet you, too, Dr. Masen.” She replied formally.
“I know some doctors like to be called by their last name but it's okay, you can call me Edward.” He glanced at Carlisle's office door. “Is Carlisle in?”
“Yes, but he's on the phone at the moment.” She said, checking the phone and seeing that line three was still lit up.
“Oh, it's okay. He won't mind if I go in.” Edward said, heading for the door.
“But I was told that no one was supposed to go in when he's on the phone.” Bella said quickly.
He shook his head and smiled. “Don't worry, he really won't mind.”
The desire to not screw anything up on her first day propelled her out of the chair. She threw herself in front of Carlisle's door, her arms spread wide. Edward stopped in front of her.
“Please,” she began, trying not to sound as though she was begging. “It's my first day and I would really love to not mess anything up.”
The confusion left his eyes and an amused smile appeared. “Okay,” he nodded, “I'll wait.”
“Thanks.” She felt so embarrassed for going as far as throwing herself in front of him but she really wanted to keep her job.
Edward walked over to sit on the couch and Bella sat back down behind her desk. She couldn't help glancing at him every couple of minutes as he occupied himself with a magazine. There seemed to be no indication that the smile he wore was going to fade any time soon. Chewing on her bottom lip gently, she tried to concentrate on getting her work done. She finished putting the rest of the medical files away and when she turned back to her desk she realized she had nothing else to do. She began to drum her fingers nervously and sneaked another peek at Edward.
Her heart jumped when she caught him watching her. The blush returned to her cheeks instantly. She looked away quickly and could have sworn she heard him chuckle.
The door next to her opened and Carlisle stepped out of his office.
“Bella, can you file this for me, please?” He asked, setting a folder on her desk.
“Of course.” Her voice was a bit shaky as she could still feel Edward's eyes on her.
Carlisle turned to head back into his office but stopped short when he noticed Edward sitting on the couch. “Edward, what are you doing?” He asked, confused.
“Just waiting for you to get off the phone.” Edward explained. He tossed the magazine he had been reading onto the coffee table and stood up.
Carlisle raised an eyebrow. “Okay... well, you can come in now.” Confusion still plain as day on his face, he turned and went into his office.
Edward followed and as he passed Bella, he winked.
The butterflies in her stomach went into a frenzy and she tried to remind herself of the rules.
'No employee dating.' She laughed nervously to herself. 'Yeah, no problem.'
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