Disclaimer:

I don't own Twilight… Stephenie Meyer DOES!

I don't own the characters… Stephenie Meyer does!

I do not own… OK… so you get the point.

Chapter 1

BPOV

Ugh! Training. Out of town training. More training!

Business trips. They were a necessary part of my job. I loved them. I hated them. I loved them because they got me away from the office and my dull, lonely, single life. I hated them because I hated to travel. Scratch that! I hated to have things out of my control. Traveling on business was out of my control. When my company told me I had to go, I went.

I had no choice but to leave my travel arrangements to my trusty (ha) assistant Jessica, again. Ugh, Jessica! She was an idiot. I hoped she put me in a better hotel than the one she chose for my last trip. It couldn't have been more disgusting. I think it was also the furthest hotel you could get from the conference center. I wasn't sure they even washed the sheets, and judging by the noises that came from both shared walls of my room, they needed to, YUCK. Jessica assured me that this hotel was much nicer. And it better be, or she'd be looking for a new job. Okay, maybe not, but one could only hope. At least she booked me in business class for my flight.

I hated to fly, especially in the coach section. The three-cluster-seats were so close together you had no choice but to spill into the space of your fellow passenger, and they yours. The recycled air always felt stale to me, typically causing a wave of nausea to hit at some point during the trip. And to top it off, trying to preserve the welfare of my pristine business suit was impossible.

I noticed a couple of my co-workers talking while I waited to board the flight. I hoped none of them tried to "make friends" with me. I had managed to maintain nothing but business type relationships at work. I was not looking for new friends.

Controlling, much? my snide personality questioned from the back of my mind.

Knowing the group of co-workers that was assigned to attend this conference, they would end up drunk and a few of them buddied up before the end of the week. I was not interested in a hook-up.

James Loden of course was there. He bothered me to no end. At first, it was sweet. He would ask me to lunch and I would politely decline. He was nice, but I just wasn't interested. But he was relentless; everyday for months, he would ask me out. Finally the requests started to become less frequent. It was then that I would find him in the hallway outside my office where he would accidentally "bump" into me on my way out and try to weasel in that way. I was on to him. I had started bringing my lunch and eating at my desk to avoid him all together. I was not interested in him at all.

Edward Cullen though, now that was an entirely different story. He was gorgeous, in an obvious sort of way. His emerald green eyes were piercing. When he looked at you, it felt like he was looking straight into your soul…not that I noticed or anything. He was hot and he knew it. He had plenty of conquests. Well, I really wouldn't know that personally. That was just what the office gossip was anyway. I didn't really know much about him.

Though we could use a little T.L.C. or a good hard... STOP! The little voice in my head liked to remind me just how little "attention" she/we got from the opposite sex.

I shook my head a bit at the tiny voice, trying to will the thought away, so I could move to board my flight.

I settled in for the almost 4 hour flight from Seattle to Chicago. I had a new book in-hand and my ear buds in place, just in case whoever was seated beside me wanted to chat. I had made all the necessary arrangements that I could at home, to give myself some control and keep my sanity. My neighbor and one of my best friends, Rosalie, was going to be checking my mail and picking up my daily newspaper. The refrigerator was basically empty, to keep me from coming home to spoiled food.

I managed to pack lightly for the 5 day trip, needing only one very small suitcase, my garment bag and my carry-on. Taking my mother's advice, I packed my really important stuff in my carry-on.

"You never know what might happen, Bella."

Alright Mom, I thought.

Of all the people to talk about being responsible and prepared, my Mom was not one. She was basically the reason I was so controlling. That's what Rose and Alice called it anyway, "controlling". I called it responsible; it was all semantics. Growing up the way I did, I had to become the responsible adult fast. It seemed to be my lot in life.

Five hours later, we finally arrived in Chicago. The flight was delayed due to a storm, as such was my luck. Turbulence and reading did not mix well. I was just glad to be on the ground. I needed to check into my hotel, drop my bags in the room, freshen up and head to the conference center for my 1:00 session. It was early and I had a couple of hours yet. I contemplated a nap or lunch, maybe both. But after that flight, maybe lunch wasn't such a good idea.

I waited, along with everyone else from the flight, for my luggage to drop from the ceiling gods.

That's a weird looking carousel, I thought to myself, but who am I to judge?

I lifted my head, after about 10 minutes of waiting. Why was I one of the last people standing here? Oh, right…such was my luck. After everyone had retrieved their luggage, I was left standing in front of the carousel that had just stopped.

"Well shit!" I muttered to myself. I looked around and saw the sign I was looking for. I made my way over to the Information Center to get some help.

As I entered, an elderly lady behind the counter looked up. She greeted me and I explained why I was there, like she doesn't already have an effin clue. With hair too red to even remotely look natural, one Mrs. Cope gave me some paperwork to fill out. Really, her hair looked like Strawberry Shortcake's.

Be nice Bella, my sweeter side chided.

"Once it is found, they will deliver it to your hotel dear," she explained.

Sounded simple enough, right? I found a seat and began the process.

A few minutes later I returned the completed forms to Mrs. Cope and asked, "How long does it typically take, for luggage to turn up, in your experience?"

"Oh it…umm," she hesitated, "it could take a couple of hours or it could take a couple of days."

"A couple of days!" I squeaked. What was I supposed to do for clothes this week?

"Yes dear, but it could be sooner. You just never know," she replied sweetly with a sad smile on her face. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," I muttered before I made my way outside. I hailed a cab and felt a bit lost.

At least I had today's suit. Worst case scenario I could do a little shopping. Chicago would be a great place to shop. Alice would be so proud that I was even contemplating shopping without her. She knew how much I hated it, but she had taught me well. I suppose it was time for this little bird to fly from her nest. I was kind of glad I took my Mom's advice about my carry-on. Insert eye rolling here Bella.

After arriving at the hotel, I headed toward the front desk to check-in with only my one bag. I could imagine how I looked after a 5 hour flight and a downtrodden attitude, due to my crappy situation. At that point, I really didn't care. I just needed to get to my room for a nap!

Looking around, I realized I was among about 1000 other people trying to do the same. Okay, so if I was being realistic, it was more like 20. But who was counting? So there I stood... with no luggage… at my hotel... in line... waiting. It had only been a couple of hours and the trip had already gotten off to a bad start.

AN: A very special "thank you" goes out to Project Team Beta for accepting my story. Also a big "thank you" to batgirl8968 and LouderThanSirens for your hard work in fixing my many mistakes. I promise to try harder, to make your work easier.

I'm going to be that dork who reminds you that this is my very first attempt to write a FanFic… so please be nice.

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