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Bella's POV

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and tried to find anything familiar in the person looking back at me.

I was wearing a long, sleek, black dinner dress with straps that criss-crossed down my back; something I would have considered torture just a few short years ago. I fussed a bit more with my hair. Tonight, I was wearing it impeccably straight and it reflected the light as I turned to examine myself from the side.

I was being coerced by my boss into attending another excruciating dinner party. Tonight's horrific affair was at Mayor Bloomberg's home and the only incentive to my accepting the invitation was that someone there may have a lead on "C". It had been two weeks since I'd instigated my mission to find out the identity of this mysterious "C", and to my utter dismay, I'd found out absolutely nothing.

I walked over to my massive windows and stared out over the lights of the city. My windows were floor to ceiling, taking in the whole North and East walls of my penthouse. It was a beautiful sight, but I couldn't appreciate it. I'd gotten ready too quickly and my driver wasn't due to arrive for another five minutes. And that, I realized with a certain level of panic, left me with down time. My instincts always told me to keep moving; to keep my mind occupied, and I struggled to find something that would distract me now.

As I stood at my windows, I focused on the buildings far in the distance, but despite all my defenses, a memory weaved its way in. It was so subtle and harmless, that at first, I wasn't even aware that it was there.

I was standing on the platform of the Seattle Space Needle. It was night time and the city was bright with lights. The reflection blurred out through the Puget Sound and a ship could be seen shining its lights far out in the water. A breeze fluttered my hair and then two cold, stone arms came from behind and enveloped me.

"Hello, love."

The voice was warm, like a velvet blanket draping over me.

I relaxed back into his marble shoulders as he began softly humming my lullaby in my ear. It took all my senses to just savor the moment. I knew he could feel my blood pulsing in ever heightening excitement. I laced my fingers through his as his cold breath sent chills down my neck.

"Ughh."

I felt like I'd been punched in the chest. The memory…this stupid, stupid memory was brief, but it had the effect of a lightning bolt searing through me.

For so long, I had trained myself to not feel anything, so when a memory came back to me in which I felt . . .well, everything . . .it paralyzed me. My forehead rested against the window and my arms went instinctively around my middle. It was a crippling thing; these unhealed gashes. I didn't understand why the passage of time refused take away the throbbing.

I clenched my teeth against the anger. It had been seven years. Seven years! Why wouldn't this pain just go away? I'd done everything I could think of. I didn't know what more I could do. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply and reminded myself that although time was heartless, it had taught me one thing. That I had grown strong enough to bear the pain. I clenched my teeth and rode out the storm; cursing the fact that I couldn't even go running right now and drive it all out of me.

The phone rang. My driver had arrived and suddenly getting out of my apartment didn't seem like such a bad thing. I grabbed my small handbag and ignored the mirror. I didn't care one way or another how I looked.

The dinner party was predictable. All I wanted to do was find information on C-Corp, but I instead spent most of the evening deflecting advances from the men in attendance. You would think that some inner instinct would make them naturally want to shy away from me. The Senior Senator of New York was particularly insistent.

"So, Ms. Swan, I read that you are from the Upper West Coast. Is that true?"

I held my drink between us like it was a dagger. "Yes. I lived a few hours North of Seattle."

He flashed his vote-winning smile and said, "The Seattle Seahawks are playing the Giants this Sunday, and I have a Suite. I would love for you to join me."

I thought I remembered hearing one of the guys at the office mention that the Giants were a football team here in New York. I would rather pull out all my fingernails than sit through a football game. I answered with as little emotion as possible.

"Sorry, but Sunday is just another working day to me. I'll be at the office all day."

He was used to fighting for the vote. "Oh, you can't tell me that you have anything so important you can't take off for a few hours. It's a night game. You can work until 4:00. I will even take you back to your office after the game if you want; unless you find me so much fun you don't want to leave."

He actually raised his eyebrows up and down when he said that. I fought off the urge to just throw my drink in his face and walk away. Instead, I swallowed the urge and said, "Tempting, but no."

And then I walked away.

I spotted my assistant Simmons from across the room. With his light blonde hair, olive toned skin, and his height of 6'2, it was always fairly easy to spot him at a party. He was the quintessential California guy. A very smart California guy. For some reason, he thought the women found it attractive for him to keep his blond hair just long enough that it curled slightly and fell lazily on his neck. And in truth, quite a few women had proved his theory right.

He walked towards me knowingly and when he was finally standing right in front of me, I narrowed my eyes. "One of your jobs," I growled, "Is to stand by me so that slimy senators and the like aren't free to hit on me. That's what I pay you the big bucks for."

He just laughed. "So sorry, but we humans need to use the bathroom once in a while."

I snorted. "Yes . . .well, I also saw you stop and talk to that supermodel, "Gazelle - what's her name."

Simmons' thick eyebrows rose appreciatively. "Her name is Giselle Bundchen and if you tried to fire me over that one, there wouldn't be a jury in the world that would take your side."

I folded my arms in a huff and said in a low voice, "Have you been able to find out anything about C - CORP?"

I sat my drink on a tray as it went by. I never touched the stuff. It dulled the senses and I liked to remain sharp. At parties like this, it was more or less a prop.

Simmons breathed a heavy sigh. "Not one guest here has even heard of the company. C- CORP has been quietly making millions of dollars a year without anyone even being alerted to their dealings."

He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to him and continued on in barely a whisper. "Most of the Fortune 500 players are in this room. If they don't know anything, no one will."

I was frustrated beyond belief. Now it was getting to be a game with me. Smelling the prey, and not being able to pounce, was driving me mad. I was in this now just as much for the thrill of the challenge as anything else.

"Warning," Simmons muttered. "Boss coming in quick on your left."

I turned and plastered a smile on my face. "Good evening, Mr. Hathaway," I purred.

"Good evening to you, Isabella. You're looking stunning as always. Just like a beautiful cat luring the mouse to his death," he smiled wickedly.

If there was one person in this world who was more brutal and ruthless than I, it was my boss, the CEO of Whitmore-Hathaway, Mr. Sterling Hathaway himself. He leaned in closer. "Do you have any news about C- CORP yet?" He whispered.

I shook my head. "Not yet Mr. Hathaway, but we are nowhere close to giving up. We will have their head on our chopping block soon."

He pumped my hand and smiled wickedly again. "Oh, I'm sure of that. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever. Happy hunting." He slapped me hard on the back and walked away following the drink tray.

Before I could open my mouth to talk to Simmons, I felt a very soft touch on my elbow. I turned to see a man about 6'4 with thick, coal black, wavy hair looking at me. He had tan, rugged, chiseled features like from an Abercrombie & Fitch ad. And I couldn't help but notice that he had the darkest blue eyes I'd ever seen. I looked at him expectantly.

"Excuse me," he said in a deep, soft voice. "I have to leave soon and I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't come over here and meet you." He stuck out his hand and said, "Hello, my name is Thomas Vaughn, and you are?"

Before I could open my mouth, I heard a garbled squeak emerge from Simmons' throat. I glanced at him curiously.

"I'm Bella Swan," I replied. I put out my hand to shake with him, but instead, he took my hand and lifted it to his lips. "Hello Bella," he whispered.

Simmons finally seemed to find his voice. "You're Thomas Vaughn!" he stammered. "Hey man, I'm a huge fan! You're the best quarterback the New York Giants have had in eighteen years! Your game last Sunday was unbelievable! That throw in the last three seconds to win the game was just . . ."

Simmons didn't seem capable of finishing his sentence. I looked back at Thomas Vaughn and saw that he just smiling graciously.

"Look," Vaughn stammered, "If the two of you are together, I'm sorry . . ."

"No!" Simmons practically spit on the guy. He came behind me and grabbed me by the shoulders and pointed me in Vaughn's direction. I had no idea he was so strong. He gave me a slight push and said, "Here, you can have her!"

I whipped my head around and gave Simmons the look of impending death and he leaned in close so that Vaughn couldn't hear. "Look!" he whispered furiously. "I know you haven't had a date in like, maybe, ever. You might as well be in a convent. You will do this! This is Thomas Vaughn!" He nudged me forward slightly. "Now smile like you're human."

I turned back to Vaughn. I smiled politely and winced. I think I pulled a muscle in my cheek. I guess it worked, because I got a 100 watt smile shot right back at me.

"Listen," Vaughn said. "I'm very sorry, but I really do have to go. Is there a chance I could spend some time with you on Sunday afternoon?"

My last date had been to a house of vampires on my eighteenth birthday. I didn't want to go anywhere with this Thomas Vaughn, or anyone else. I never would. Not ever. I opened my mouth to tell him "No" when I felt Simmons grab the back of my head and move it up and down. I was nodding "Yes" against my will.

"Great!" Said Vaughn. "May I call you?"

Simmons jumped out from behind me and handed Vaughn a napkin with my personal cell number scrawled across it. Vaughn bent a little at the waist and said, "Until Sunday." Then he turned and left.

I narrowed my eyes and turned to Simmons. "What in the heck was that?" I spat.

"Hey, don't even start, okay? Honestly, on Monday morning you'll come to work thanking me. You need a date like . . .well, like a flower needs the rain."

"What?" I breathed.

His wide smile spread across his face. "Where's your sense of adventure?" he asked.

Adventure….I was set to have the greatest adventure, but he took it all away from me.

Simmons must have seen something in my face because he suddenly became very serious. "Look, you are dead inside, Bella." He put his hand up to stop me from interrupting. "I know, I know, you have it altogether. You can go in for the kill like nobody ever has, but you are not really living. Somewhere along the way something or someone killed anything in you that made you human. You're physically here with us, but you're more like a walking corpse."

I straightened and folded my arms indignantly. He had no right to talk to me like that. I was his boss, his superior. I could fire him right there on the spot. But then I pursed my lips into a hard line and thought about how much his words stung. I thought I'd hidden all the hurt down so deep that no one saw anything when they looked at me but a tough, no nonsense, smart woman. Apparently, there was at least one person who wasn't fooled. Was there anyone else who could see through me? I would just have to make my shell harder to penetrate. I wasn't about to go down. This shell was the only thing keeping me together.

He put his hands on my shoulders and said, "Look, I'm not saying you have to marry the guy, you don't even have to go out with him again if you don't want to. But come on, Bella. Face the facts. You're a human being. Things are happening all around you if you would just look." He got closer to my face and whispered, "You're alive."

I stared at him and swallowed hard. "Alive" meant my heart was beating and blood was coursing through my veins. It usually meant you had hopes and dreams for the future. Alive. I wasn't so sure he was right.

A long time ago I'd made the decision that I wasn't going to be human anymore. Somehow, that had altered me. No matter what world I was currently living in, I wanted to be in that other one.

Was there a manual floating around somewhere that would teach me how to do this? "Human for Dummies", perhaps? Or maybe, "How to Become a Human in Three Easy Steps?"

Everyone else seemed to be handling their lives just fine. I wasn't the first person in the world to get my heart broken. I looked around me. I could hear conversations and laughter. I saw a woman flirting with three men by the bar. Even Sterling Hathaway seemed to handle being ruthless with a few human traits mixed in. Why couldn't I do this?

There was only one reason.

And he didn't care.

I growled and left the party. I was going back to the office. Work was calling my name.