Bring Him Home - Chapter 22

I couldn't help but gaze at him and my face was actually starting to hurt from the size of my smile. He just looked so well, so healthy, so normal and well, so totally drop dead gorgeous, and he was holding my hand. That last thought brought me back down to earth and made me focus on the fact that he was normal and just had some sort of bad luck that had kept him away from his family.

"Oh I'm sorry Edward, where are my manners? Come through to the office and sit down, we can catch up with how you have been getting on" I said as I turned and walked back to my office.

I needed those few seconds to catch my breath and to try and rearrange the smile on my face.

"Come on Isabella, get your game face on" I said to myself as I sat behind my desk so I had a barrier between us. Edward followed me into my office and sat facing across from me, Emmett must have stayed in the outer office with Rosalie.

"Would you like a drink, coffee, water or juice?" I was babbling again, why was I so nervous?

"No thanks I can't stay long. I'm on my way to see the Dean of my old university to see what can be done about my Degree. I dropped out just before my final exam "he shrugged, but didn't explain.

"Well I hope that goes ok for you" There wasn't really anything else I could say, but who drops out just before their last exam, and why?

"How are you, are you over all your injuries?" I was concerned because he had looked so broken in the hospital.

"Yes I'm fine, Dad and Emmett have me on a special diet at the moment and I will just have to be careful with my ribs for a while. My nose will always have a small bump in it now, but I can live with that the only other thing is I will still need some more shots of vitamins and stuff but I'm nearly done with them."

"I'm so glad you're ok, seeing you lying there in that hospital bed really shook me"

"I never did find out, how did the hospital know to call you?" he asked

"You had my business card in your sock, they figured if you had gone to so much trouble to hide it, it must have been important, and they had no other way of identifying you"

"So you really did save me then?  I knew you were going to be important from the moment you ran into me"

I was just about to argue that actually he knocked me over, but the door opened and Emmett popped his head in, "As much as I hate to break up your little reunion if we don't leave now Edward you are going to be late for the Dean"

"Well we can't have that can we" I said, hating the fact he was leaving already.

"Bella.... can I call you later? I have so much I want to tell you, to explain what had been going on in my life "he asked as he started to leave my office.

"I'd love that Edward" I told him honestly as I reached for a new card, "I'll put my private cell phone number on the back so you don't have to come through to the office to reach me".

He took the card and slipped it into his inside pocket, "Thank you. I'll call you soon Bella "

With that he was gone, Emmett blew me a kiss from across the office and followed him out of the door.

"Well, well, well, boss what kind of secrets have you been keeping?" Rosalie asked as she sat down in front of me, I was annoyed for a second that she was sitting where Edward had been not a minute ago.

"It wasn't a secret and I did tell you about him. What I didn't tell you was that he was Emmett's brother but I didn't find that out until a few weeks ago. "

"So who is he then? I know I would remember you telling me you had met that long streak of gorgeousness"

I laughed at her because I knew she wasn't going to believe me, I opened my laptop and typed in the web address of the video clip. Before I could explain to her and turn the screen round to face her, Rosalie made her own mind up.

"Tell me you did not meet him on a dating site, I'm on so many I know I would have come across his profile long before now"

"No Rosalie I didn't meet him like that, but I can show you the exact second I met him"

I turned the screen around fully to face her and pressed play.

"I don't understand this is the video of you bumping into that homeless guy"

"I know and Edward is that homeless guy"

The look on her face was priceless, she kept looking at me, down to the screen and back up again. Finally she spoke "Fuck off boss you are having me on, there is no way that is him"

I smiles as I brought the screen back around and checked the views, it had slowed dramatically and there had only been a few thousand views in the last two weeks.

"It is and he is Emmett's brother, now I don't know much else so I suggest you speak to Emmett if you need any more information" I wasn't about to start gossiping and to be honest I really didn't know much else anyway.

"I'm going out with Emmett tonight so I will ask him, you can be sure of that"

I couldn't help but smile as she left the office, and as I watched the video again my smile got even wider.  Edward wasn't that homeless guy anymore and he wanted to call me to talk.

I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the day, I was supposed to be putting together a pitch for a new customer but it just wasn't happening. My thoughts kept returning to Edward and how he had fared with the Dean but at no point did I give Jacob a thought until my office phone rang.

"Boss it's him, the idiot with a florist for a mother; do you want to speak to him?" Judy asked the disgust in her voice quite apparent.

"Put him through Judy I could do with a giggle"

The line went dead for a second before I heard him 

"Well hello honey, I'm just ringing to make sure you got home ok and to find out what you want to do tonight?"

I couldn't believe him. He'd left me to get myself home at 9.30 pm last night and it was the middle afternoon now, if I hadn't made it home ok then he was a little late checking.

"I'm fine thank you Jacob, but unfortunately I have plans already for tonight"

"Ok thank fuck! I really want to go to the strip club with Embry and Quill tonight but I could swing by your place later. I will be horny as fuck and you could definitely scratch that itch"

"No Jacob that will not be happening now or ever. Why don't you give Leah a call? I'm sure she will be ok with a booty call"

"You know I'm so glad you don't mind about Leah, and once we get married I will give her up you know, unless of course you want her to join us"

I looked at the phone to make sure I was actually hearing this correctly, this guy was seriously deranged and for a second I worried that maybe I had a problem brewing.

"Jacob we are not getting married EVER. I doubt we will even spend any more time together so please go out and enjoy yourself, meet someone else or settle down with Leah for all I care but forget about me because I'm really not your type, and you're not mine"

"Oh Bella I love that you're playing hard to get, I won't give up because I have a feeling you'll be worth the effort"

With that he was gone and I was once again looking at my phone, trying to understand what had just happened. I placed the receiver back in its base and sat back and sighed. What the hell had I got myself into?

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thanks as ever to AJG and Edlovesme x

Can I also say thank you to everyone who has reviewed or favorited and followed my story. Readers numbers are rising slowly so whoever is recommending this as well as the gorgeous Rita thank you xx