A/N: Howdy y'all. This is a story that has been plaguing my mind and I just had to get it down on paper. Read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I own my own characters.

Chapter 1 - New Job

TPOV

Bzzt… Bzzt… Bzzt… 6:00 A.M.

I don't want to get up, but I am starting my new job today. Shutting of the alarm, I roll off my air mattress and make my way to the bathroom to get ready for work. Shower, hair, teeth and a touch of make-up and it's time to get dressed. Wanting to make a good impression on my first day, I decide to wear my black slacks, purple blouse and black blazer. Since I am not one for heels, my nice black loafers will have to do. I'm ready for work; well almost ready. I walk into the kitchen to grab my thermos that I filled the night before with my 'special diet' drink.

Normally I would only drink this at home, but with my nerves of starting a new job, I just might need this boost to calm me. Hopefully I won't need it since I drank enough of it last night.

Before I head out, I let Gretel out for the day, since it isn't supposed to rain, she should be fine.

With one last glance at my mostly empty house, I lock the door. I can't wait for my furniture to be delivered—hence the reason I am sleeping on an air mattress. I have only been in the house a day, having just moved here to Forks from McDade, Texas.

A lot has happened to me in the past few months. I've had some life altering changes. Starting a new job, refreshing my old office skills by learning some new computer programs, and moving back to the West Coast. Did I mention that I won the Powerball Lottery? I don't usually play the lottery, but I had a feeling and played and won! I have invested most of it, but used some to help family and friends. I also bought myself a house here in Forks, Washington, and a new truck.

Looks like my luck after all of these years has finally changed. But I do wonder if it is for the better.

I have thirty minutes to get to the hospital. I want to be there a little bit early. Since I don't live in town, I need to leave now. So I climb into my sunburst orange Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5.7L V8 Hemi. God I love this truck, not to mention I really needed a 4x4 after looking at the private road to the house.

Twenty minutes later, I pull into the Forks Community Hospital employee parking lot. With my messenger bag on my shoulder and thermos in hand, I check my eyes one final time. Yep, nice and bright. I hope they stay that way. I walk inside the lobby and make my way to the information desk.

As I approach the desk, I am greeted warmly by an older gray- haired lady, whose nametag reads 'Gladys'.

"May I help you?" she asks.

"Yes please, my name is Tina Hassell, I am Dr. Carlisle Cullen's new secretary. Could you please page him for me?" As I am talking to her, I notice she keeps looking at me in an odd way. Some looks people have given me over the last few months, have bordered on curiosity and fear, and I have yet to figure out why. It seems to be worse when I flash a grin with my teeth showing. So now I try to keep my teeth hidden with I smile. Sometimes that doesn't even work, but I have gotten somewhat used to it. With my skin and eye color, it does attract a lot of looks and stares.

Giving me a smile, Gladys picks up the phone and punches a button. "Dr. Cullen to the information desk, Dr. Cullen to the information desk." I could hear the page echo all over the building.

We didn't have to wait long for the phone to ring. "Information desk. Yes, Dr. Cullen, Ms. Hassell is here. I will tell her, Dr. Cullen." Putting the receiver down. "Dr. Cullen said to please have a seat and that he will be with you shortly."

"Thank you for your help, Gladys." I smile and make my way to the chairs at the side of the waiting room. I'm glad I came early, this way I can get a feel of the place. It has been a long time since I have worked in a hospital. Back in the mid 80's, I worked as a ward clerk at a VA Hospital in California. At least, this time I will be working for just one doctor.

As I sit here waiting for him to arrive, I watch as the night shift leaves and the next one arrive for the shift change.

I look down the hall and see a good-looking doctor in a lab coat walking in my direction. Having no idea what Dr. Cullen looks like, since I was hired over the phone, I have no idea if he is young or old. I wonder if it is him. I should say, 'God I hope it's him!' That man is what I call a hottie!

Listen to me; I am starting to sound like my daughter.

He's Tall and blonde. What more could you ask for? But knowing how my luck usually runs, he's probably married with a bunch of little rug rats running around.

But one can dream, can't she?

He stops and talks to Gladys, who in turn points me out to him.

Damn, it is him! I stand up as he approaches.

"Tina Hassell?" I nod in response. "Hello, I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen. I am the Assistant Chief of Staff and I want to welcome you to Forks Community Hospital and to thank you for accepting this job offer," he says sticking his hand out to me.

I reach for his hand and quickly note the coolness of it. It wasn't uncomfortable, in fact, it was nice for a change. This kind of threw me for a moment. For the past few months, every hand I shook was very warm, almost hot. It was strange, even the people whose hands were always cold, like Mrs. Freda's, felt hot when they touched me.

Looking straight into his gorgeous yellow eyes… wait a sec, yellow eyes?

Hmmm. Well, that isn't a color you normally see, but then again, neither is mine.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, Dr. Cullen and finally be able to put a face to a voice." And what a voice he has. There is a musical quality to it, kind of like mine, or so I have noticed and been told on several occasions. It did help me make my church choir—if you can call us that—sound better. Shoot, that choir needs all the help it can get!

My voice changed about three months ago and what a shock that was. I'm just glad it didn't happen during the interviews for this job. Can you imagine talking to someone one day and the next time you talk to him or her, you sound totally different? How could I even try to explain that, when I don't even understand why it happened, myself.

Dr. Cullen laughs. "I agree, let's go to my office and get you set up. Then you need to go over to HR to finish your paperwork."

"Sounds good to me. I already have the paperwork that they sent me all filled out. I just need to turn it in and get my badge to make me official," I say as I start to pick up my bag. Dr. Cullen reaches over and takes my bag from me, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Thank you, but I can carry it," I say smiling at him while reaching over to take my bag back from him.

"No," he says grinning back at me, "I want to." Did he just flirt with me? "And," he continues, "I was always taught to carry a lady's bag for her. You won't deny me that privilege, would you?"

Now how can I deny a request like that?

I decide it was not worth a fight over, especially on my first day at work and with my boss. And I got to thinking, maybe he is just being a gentleman. It couldn't hurt letting him carry it. "Ok, if you are sure, it's only my laptop."

As his left hand settles on the shoulder strap, I notice a band on his ring finger. It figures.

Ah damn, he is married. I guess he was just being sincere. At least, I hope he is, because I'm not going down that road again.

As I followed Dr. Cullen to his office, I take note of where everything is and commit it to memory. This is one of the things I have really liked since all these odd changes started happening to me. It seems that my brain is now able to work on so many levels, that it should be impossible. Like, I notice how all the female workers keep trying to catch Dr. Cullen's eye, while all the men seem to be doing the same thing with me. I am able to memorize the hospital layout, and compose a list of things I'll need to do after work. Several other things are also running through my mind at the same time. It would be enough to drive a normal person crazy. But it just seems second nature to me now, like I have done it all my life. I have also found that with the way I think, I don't get distracted like I used to. It is a blessing, because I can now get several things done at once.

"Have you had a chance to settle in before you had start work today?" he asks.

"Not really, I have only been here a couple of days. I spent the first night at a hotel in Port Angeles, until I could sign the final papers to get the keys for my house."

"If you needed more time, you could have called and postponed your start date."

"Honestly, it's fine. The majority of my stuff won't be here until Saturday, along with the furniture delivery. So I might as well be here, rather than sitting around in an empty house," I say as we reach his office.

He opens the door to reveal a very stark office. At least, the outer office is, for the most part. There is a desk, a couple of chairs and some filing cabinets. To the left of the desk is another door, which stood ajar. From what I can see, it is another office. I assume it is Dr. Cullen's office.

After sitting my bag on the desk, Dr. Cullen excuses himself and steps into his office to allow me a few minutes to put my stuff away. I put my thermos and purse into an empty desk drawer and pull my laptop out of the bag to set it up. The techs were supposed to set up my laptop today so I could access the hospital's mainframe when I needed to work from home. Reaching back into my bag, I pull out the folder with all of the filled out paperwork to turn in to HR.

I start to knock on the door to let him know that I am ready to head down to HR, when I hear him on the phone.

Now, I am not one to eavesdrop on private conversations, but along with the other changes my body has made, my senses are now highly developed. My vision is now like seeing everything in high definition and I am no longer nearsighted; glasses are now a thing of the past! I have to admit though; everything was very disorientating at first. I am able to see things that no normal person can and at distances that boggle the mind. Hearing is a bit more challenging than before. It's very unnerving to hear the conversations of strangers and friends alike that you would prefer not to . Not to mention hearing heartbeats where ever you go. Although, it is interesting hearing the rhythm change as the person's emotions do. I am able to hear things that are at least a mile away, and no one can now sneak up on me without me hearing them.. I am getting better at tuning out a lot of what I hear, or I should say, push it to the back of my mind. But when a conversation is this close, I can even hear the person on the other end of the phone.

This is the problem I am faced with now. I don't know who Dr. Cullen is talking to but I assumed he was talking about a patient, until I hear the voice on the other end say to him;

"I would say that she is, but the presence of a heartbeat and the eye color, just doesn't add up."

New A/N: I want to thank my new beta Feralness for going over this chapter and fixing my mess. I don't know how I ever got along without her! With her gracious help, I hope to have all the current chapters betated and up to snuff.

Please read and review and let me know what you are thinking. I do reply to every review that is left!

Thanks

CC