This Is Who I Am By pattyrose.pdf

This Is Who I Am By pattyrose

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5980177/1/

Chapter 1 – First Impressions

First Impressions are a constant in society. However, their product, the period

that proves or disproves their validity is not; good ones are pleasant and long-

lasting, bad ones long and difficult to disprove. - Diego Velasquez

EPOV

"Shhh. Jesus, keep it down!" I whispered roughly into Lauren's ear. Her moans

were getting annoyingly louder. I fisted her short bleached hair within my palms,

trying to communicate the need for her silence right about now, but that just

seemed to get her more worked up. I rolled my eyes in the low light of the closed

conference room.

Truth be told, I was having a hard time seeing what the hell she was so excited

about. I mean, for Christ's sake, we were both still fully dressed here. Granted,

she'd been hinting at getting me alone in this conference room for months now,

but she was going to have to get a grip or we'd both be knee deep in some

serious shit if we got caught.

"Sorry!" she giggled quietly, her clumsy hands working on my shirt buttons with

an almost amusing eagerness. I had to press my lips together to keep from

laughing out loud. Sighing, I leaned my head back against the wall and let her

continue with her efforts. When her hands reached the last button, she looked up

at me triumphantly and I rewarded her with the grin I knew drove 'em all crazy.

Dazed, she fumbled with the button, unable to get it open and finally giving up.

She threw her arms around my neck and greedily attacked my lips instead.

"Oh God Edward," she moaned, pulling my head forward. "I can't believe I'm here

with you!" In her zeal, she pushed me back against the wall with a loud thump.

I grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms off of me. "You seriously need to calm

down or we're both fucked," I hissed.

"Well, that's the idea!" she giggled again, winding her arms around me once

more. Her lips landed sloppy kisses all over my face. I smirked and gave up,

letting her have her way with me. She was right, after all. That was the basic idea

here.

'What the hell am I doing here?' I wondered, during a short moment of clarity.

Emmett would friggin' castrate me if he found out I was locked in one of our

conference rooms with an employee. As one of the owners of Cullen, Cullen &

Whitlock, or CCW for short, the fastest growing privately-owned ad agency on the

East Coast, there were certain standards I was expected to abide by; certain

rules and regulations to follow. Or so Emmett and Jasper constantly reminded

me. I was pretty sure a quick hook up with one of the agency's Graphic Artists in

a locked conference room wouldn't fall under one of those standards.

But damn it, what was I supposed to do? For months now, Lauren had been all

but physically jumping me every time I so much as glanced her way. She'd give

me her please-do-me-now eyes from across the conference table during

meetings, bend down and stick her junk out to pick up invisible objects whenever

she saw me coming. Hell, lately she'd graduated to "accidentally" bumping into

me and shoving her hooters right in my chest. I mean, shit, there was only so

much a man could take before looking like a total pussy.

If anything, I was doing her and the agency a favor here. The girl obviously had

only one thing on her mind when she came into work every day. By letting her

finally have her way with me, maybe she'd finally stop with the less-than-subtle

advances and get her ass back to work.

A win – win situation all around, right?

'Yeah, good luck getting Em and Jazz to see it that way,' the small part of my

brain not currently in my pants snorted. They'd hang me by my balls for this. I

sighed and closed my eyes, while Lauren continued her ministrations. Was this

shit seriously even worth the trouble?

Lauren must've mistaken my sigh for some friggin' sign of encouragement or

some shit. Her hands moved down to my belt buckle, and the small part of my

brain that had still been in my head took a quick trip south. A crooked smile

formed on my lips.

Oh yeah. This was going to be worth it.

But Lauren was either dexterity-challenged, or her continued over-eagerness kept

messing with the competency of her fingers, and she fumbled with the buckle,

her fingers pulling and yanking with no regard for the noisy clanking metal.

"Shh" I hissed in her ear, making her quiver and fumble even more.

I rolled my eyes and smirked. Her over-eagerness was going to get us so

unbelievably busted.

And just as I was thinking that, a light tapping on the door wiped the smirk off of

my face. Lauren's floundering hands stopped instantly, and although it was dark

as hell in here, I was sure the look of horror suddenly pasted on her face

mirrored mine exactly.

"Fuck!" I whispered roughly into her hair, lifting my hands to her shoulders to

keep her still. "I told you to keep that shit down!"

I covered her mouth with my hand and waited, not daring to breathe. After a few

seconds of silence, I sighed in relief and quickly began doing up my shirt and

adjusting my belt. Even in the dark, I could see OverEager Lauren's annoyed

smirk, as if I'd just snatched a cookie out of her hands. I shot her a look that said

'What the hell is your problem?'

The girl was definitely nuts. Was she trying to find her ass unemployed in this

type of job market? She worked in Rosalie's department, and Rose would have

her eager ass on the street in a heartbeat if she ever found out about this. And

knowing Rose, she wouldn't hesitate for a second to rat me out to her hubby

Emmett. That traitor quickly forgot who the hell introduced them to each other in

the first place.

Scowling, Overeager adjusted her clothes and smoothed down her short,

bleached-blond hair.

And then we heard it again.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

Three little rasps; like the sound of tiny pebbles scraping against the door.

"Shiiit!" I mouthed, nervously running one hand through my hair.

Suddenly, a sweet, honey-like voice called out. "Hello? Who's in theugh?"

It was a kid's voice; a very young one.

What in the hell was a little kid doing in our offices?

I frowned, looking over at Lauren. But instead of looking as confused as me,

Lauren wore an annoyed smirk on her face.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

Again.

If we hadn't been twenty-two stories up, I may have seriously considered

jumping out the window.

"Hello? I left my Angie dolly in theugh," the tiny voice called out timidly. "Can I

peez have huh back? I miss huh."

My frown deepened. My confusion grew. Abruptly Lauren rolled her eyes and

sucked her teeth, before walking towards the door. As soon as I realized what

she was about to do, I grabbed on to her arm to stop her.

"Relax!" she whispered before turning the door knob. "It's the new girl's kid. I'll

take care of her."

Before I could protest, the light from outside the room streamed in, blinding me

momentarily. I pressed myself up against the wall, trying to make myself invisible

to whoever stood outside.

"Hey Macie!" Lauren cooed in a sickeningly sweet voice. "What can I do for you?"

"Um, hi miss," the little girl answered shyly. "I left my dolly in theugh. Can I get

huh back peez?" Her pleading tone almost broke my heart, which was surprising,

because I hadn't even been aware that shit worked.

Her peculiar enquiry though made me quickly scan the room, and my eyes landed

on a small rag doll with two pigtails, smack in the middle of the conference room

table. Funny how it had gone completely unnoticed while Lauren had me up

against the wall.

But Lauren was already answering the little girl.

"There's no doll in here honey. Sorry. Now run along and go play by the water

cooler. There's some cups there you can pour water into and get all nice and wet.

Doesn't that sound like fun?" she purred.

The little girl was silent for about three seconds. "Peez?" she begged in an almost

whisper. "Can I just get Angie? I miss huh, and she must be scauhd." Her tiny

voice cracked at the end.

And I felt as if my heart were cracking with it.

But I had no time to examine the meaning of that, because apparently it did

nothing to the heartless witch at the door.

Lauren sighed, annoyed. "Look, I told you. There's no doll in here. Now run along

and-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. In two quick strides I'd snatched

the doll of the table and, glaring at Lauren with a look that called her the word I'd

been taught by my mother to never call a woman, I passed her and knelt in front

of the little girl with the angel voice.

With an encouraging smile, I held out the small rag doll, meeting her eyes.

Huge, chocolate brown eyes locked on mine, momentarily startling me. I'd never

seen such a tiny face with such big, expressive eyes. Something clenched inside

my chest.

But once again, I had no time to examine what that meant, because quicker than

I could've imagined such a tiny being moving, she grabbed her doll and started

running.

I stepped out of the conference room, my eyes locked on the tiny thing running

at full speed.

"Hey. Wait!" I called out, needing to find out who the little girl belonged to.

Two things happened at once then.

A brunette I'd never seen before suddenly rounded the corner, relief coloring her

pale face as she caught sight of the little girl. But before my eyes and my mind

had enough time to fully register that scene, out of my periphery, I saw Rosalie

step out from the opposite corridor. I closed my eyes and cursed under my

breath.

Shit!

I was going to have to play this one carefully. I was still standing in front of the

conference room. Lauren was just behind me, right at the door. My office was one

floor above, between Emmett and Jasper's offices, and there was really no reason

for me to be on this floor right now. I ran a frustrated hand through my messy

hair, wondering how well I'd fixed myself up before stepping out of the

conference room.

I was so screwed. And not in the way I'd been hoping to be a couple of minutes

ago.

But then the already crazy morning got even crazier. My eyes fell on the little girl

- who'd turned around when I'd called her – and when her eyes locked on me

again, a huge smile lit up her tiny face, like she'd just won a shopping spree at

F.A.O Schwartz or something.

But that wasn't even the crazy shit. The crazy shit was my reaction to that smile.

That…that thing inside my chest clenched tightly again, and I swore I felt it grow

two sizes; like I'd just returned a bag full of presents to the citizens of Whoville or

some shit. I couldn't even help the wide grin that covered my own face in

response, regardless of the fact that Rosalie now stood a few feet from me, her

hands on her hips and eyeing me suspiciously. Like a warden out of friggin'

Alcatraz.

I ignored her for the moment while I studied the little girl. She was definitely a

beauty. Tiny – no more than five I'd say, with a face like a porcelain doll. Her

long, brown hair flowed almost to her waist. Her big brown eyes looked like pools

of melted chocolate, and her little button nose turned up slightly at the end, like a

little cherub. I suddenly got the strange urge to protect this little girl, to keep her

safe from everything and everyone that would ever want to mess with her.

Abruptly, she skipped back over to me and stopped just inches away.

"I'm sorry mistuh! I fowgot to say thank you. But my mommy would be looking

fuh me and I didn't want huh to wouwy. Thank you!" she exclaimed, looking

much happier than she had just a few seconds ago.

"You're very welcome," I chuckled, ignoring the way Rosalie's eyes were piercing

a hole through my brain. At that moment, I couldn't have cared less about the

shitload of grief I knew I was in for.

The little angel hugged her doll close to her and gave her a soft kiss on the head,

looking up at me through long, dark eyelashes. Just then, the brunette reached

her.

"Maddie," she breathed, both relief and slight reproach in her tone. "I told you to

stay in my cube while I went to the copy room. You almost gave me a heart

attack." She knelt down and hugged the little girl to her.

"I had to get Angie mommy," the little girl explained, her voice muffled in her

mother's hair. Hair that I was now noticing was the same exact shade as her

daughter's. "The nice man heeuh found huh fuh me."

"He did?" the brunette asked, pulling her daughter far enough away so that she

could look into her tiny face. "Did you thank him?"

"Uhuh," she answered sweetly, but looked back up at me. "Thank you so much

mistuh!" she repeated.

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