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Edward is a choral director, reeling from his recent divorce from his wife, Jessica. His world is filled with his daughter, Emma, his music and his job. Bella is an English teacher, running from her past and wary of love. ExB, AH, AU
Chapter One
EPOV
"Mr. Cullen, please report to the main office. Mr. Cullen, the main office, please," came th e disembodied voice of Mrs. Ro we, the principals secretary. I groaned and heaved my body away from my desk in my offic e. I was trying to finish my s cript for the annual madrigal dinner. I had most of it done but the ending was driving me insane. It just wasn't meshin g.
I swiped a pad of paper and adjusted my tie before headin g through the hallways of Spri ngview Central High School. A number of students who were l eaving for the end of the day bid me goodbye. I gave them m y signature crooked smile as I walked through the hallways. But it wasn't a genuine smile .
I hadn't smiled for real in nearly a year and a half.
Not since I found my skank of an ex-wife was cheating on me wi th the athletic director in my school or when I found bottle s upon bottles of pain medicat ion hidden her purse. That she didn't need.
I hadn't smiled since I had to tell my angel, my Emma, that Mommy wasn't go ing to live at home with us an ymore.
I hadn't smiled since m y life was ripped apart.
Thank fully, I had a strong family. My parents watched my daughte r while I was at work. My fath er, Carlisle, was a doctor, ps ychiatrist, at Northwestern Me morial Hospital, in Chicago. M y mom, Esme, was a retired tea cher who dabbled in interior d esign to earn some extra money . Not that we needed it or any thing. My mom's father was a o ld oil tycoon and had pretty m uch set up her, her children, her children's children and t heir children for the rest of their lives.
When my parents were unable to take care of m y angel, my brother, Emmett an d his wife, Rosalie, helped ou t when they could. To say that they were busy was an underst atement. Emmett was an orthope dic surgeon, also at Northwest ern Memorial Hospital. Rose, a s she preferred to be called, was an assistant state's atto rney, specializing in special victims. Women who were victi ms of rape, children who were victims of abuse and putting away the scum of the earth wh o did that to them.
I shook of f my mind off my daughter and family. I walked into the mai n office. "I was beckoned, Mrs . Rowe?" I smirked.
"Yes. Mr. Smith wants to meet with you and the drama director of the spring musical," she said, co wering slightly.
I saw red. I' d been doing the musical as lo ng as I'd been hired as the ch oral director at Springview Ce ntral High School. I pursed my lips and strode into Mr. Smit h's office. Sitting across fro m him was one of the new hires . She was a petite brunette wi th a killer body and a pretty face. But she was not taking my spring musical away.
"Ah, Edward," Mr. Smith said with an amiable grin. "Thank you f or coming down so promptly. Ho w's the madrigal dinner script coming?"
"Almost done," I sai d tersely. "Music rehearsals h ave been smooth and all I need to do is finalize the ending. "
"Excellent. I assume that Mr s. Rowe told you why I needed to meet with you?"
"Yes. Some thing about a drama director," I snapped. "Bill, I've been t he director of the musical as long as I've been here."
"Rel ax, Edward," Bill said. "The s how is still going to be yours but you need some assistance. I'd like to introduce to you Bella Swan. She's been hired as Sherrie's replacement in t he English department. However , in addition to her expertise in English, she was also a th eater minor in college at Univ ersity of Washington. Bella, p lease meet our cantankerous bu t brilliant musical director, Edward Cullen."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Cullen," she said in a deep, warm alto voice. Howe ver her eyes were riddled with sadness and anger. She sneere d toward me as we shook hands. But when we touched, a jolt o f something ran up my arm. I t ried to hide the involuntary s hudder I felt when our hands t ouched. "I know that you are u sed to running things on your own but Mr. Smith thinks that if we work together that we c ould make the spring musical s omething spectacular."
"Edward , this past year has been…"
"I know, Bill," I snarled. "In a ll of the madness, have I once taken time off?"
"No."
"The o nly day I had to take was the trial date to finalize my div orce. I was teaching by that a fternoon," I said as I ran my hands through my bronze hair. "I'll admit that I bit off mo re than I could chew with Les Mis last year but I've chosen an awesome show for this spri ng."
"What?" Bella asked.
"Leg ally Blonde," I answered. "I j umped at the chance to do it o nce the rights opened up. I ha ve to do some minor adjustment s to the script but it'll be a lot of fun."
Bella laughed sl ightly. "I auditioned for the touring company of that show, " she said quietly. "Was offer ed the part of Elle Woods."
My brows shot up to my hairline. Bill looked at me smugly, dar ing me to not accept the help. "Did you take it?" I asked.
" I had some family issues to at tend to, so no," Bella replied , hiding behind her curtain of her mahogany hair. I found it difficult to picture this pet ite brunette as the bubbly, BL ONDE Elle Woods. "Look, Mr. Sm ith told me that I am to assis t you with your musical, Mr. C ullen. And that's what I'm goi ng to do. In addition to being an English teacher, I'm also endorsed in music and can run choral rehearsals. I'm not go od on the piano but I've been told that your students use s olfege to learn their music. N o piano needed."
"I'll leave h ow you two divide up the work up to you," Bill said. "But, this needs to be a fantastic show. If not, it'll be one of the first things that will be cut if we can't raise more mo ney."
"There's the rub," I sig hed. "It all comes down to dol lars and cents, right?"
"We're a well-off district, Edward. But, this economy and the sta te are drowning in debt. The m usicals are one of many things on the chopping block," Bill explained. "There's more, but I'm not at liberty to say. An y questions? Ms. Swan?"
"No," she said, blushing a bright c rimson.
"Mr. Cullen?"
"No," I sighed. I felt my phone vibra te in my pocket. "Are we done? "
"Yes. I'll let you two figur e out what you are doing on yo ur time. But, I will be checki ng in with you in at least thr ee weeks for final rehearsal s chedules and the proposed budg et for the show. Comprende?"
W e both nodded and got up from our spots in the office. Bell a slipped past me and I saw a faint scar beneath her ear. S he covered it with her hair an d opened the door. We both lef t the office. She turned to lo ok at me. "I'm not sure when y ou're available, but we need t o meet and discuss this. When are your plan periods?"
"Firs t period, the first half of fo urth, and fifth," I answered.
"No. I have to get h ome," I said, staring into her brown eyes. They were the mos t unusual shade of chocolate b rown. The out rims were almost golden. But so sad. Like mine . What's your story, Ms. Swan? "The only day I'm available i s Friday. I am staying with th e Pep Banned for the first bas ketball game. We can meet then ."
"What if I'm unavailable?" she asked, her eyes flashing with anger.
"Look, I have reh earsals every day after school . Today, I didn't have one bec ause I was at a meeting at the district office that didn't t ake as long as I anticipated. Anyhow, I need to leave. I'll email you to confirm our meet ing for Friday," I said angril y. "Come or not, it's your cho ice, Ms. Swan."
I didn't give her a chance to respond. I tu rned on my heel and went down to my office. I saved the wor k of the madrigal dinner scrip t to my flash drive and logged off my computer. I slipped on my leather jacket and locked up my room, slipping out the back door in the rear of cave rnous classroom. I walked to m y car, my extremely safe Silve r Volvo. After I put my briefc ase into the trunk, I slid int o the front seat. I tossed my cell phone into the cup holde r in car. Turning the Volvo ov er, I eased out of the parking lot.
Once I was on the highwa y, I listened to the voicemail that was left on my phone.
"H i, Daddy! I miss you and love you! I can't wait to show you what I drawed with Nana today . Nana says it's the best flow er she's ever seen. It's for y our office! Love you! Bye!"
I smiled as I listened to my an gel's voice. She could always make me happy. Using the hand s-free feature on my car, I di aled my mom's phone number.
"H ello?" she sang.
"Hi, Mom," I said. "I'm on my way to pick up my little Emma-bear."
"She left you a message earlier, E dward. She is so proud of her flower," my mom said excitedl y. "She's got some talent. So unlike you and your brother. God, you never wanted to colo r in the lines."
"Still don't, " I snorted. "Damn the man. I don't need to stay in the lin es."
"Oh my liberal son," Esme giggled. "It's so ironic that your father and I are so cons ervative and yet, you and Emme tt are as liberal as they come ."
"Going against the norm," I shrugged. "Can I speak to my angel?"
"Of course, Edward. H old on," Esme said. I heard he r call to Emma. She squealed a nd I heard her feet patter to the phone.
"Daddy!" she shrie ked. "Guess what I did when I got home from school?"
"Built a rocket ship?" I quipped.
"N o," she laughed. "Guess again! "
"Went to Paris and tap dance d on the Eiffel Tower?"
"Daddy ! You're so silly," she giggle d. "Nana and me painted. You h ave a new flower for your offi ce."
"My students will undoubt edly love it. They always comp lain that my office is too whi te. I need some color in there , sweet girl," I joked. "What color is it?"
"Pink!"
Oh, lor d.
"I bet it's beautiful, ange l," I smiled. "I love you, bab y."
"I love you, more, Daddy. When are you coming home?" sh e asked.
"I'll be there in a l ittle bit, sweet girl," I answ ered. "Can you put Nana back o n the phone, please?"
"Okay, D addy."
I heard a rustle and a fumble until my mom came back on. "What's up, my youngest b oy?"
"Nothing, I just wanted t o thank you for watching Emma, " I said.
"She's my granddaugh ter. Of course, I'm going to w atch her," Esme said sharply. "I'm not going to allow she-w ho-shall-not-be-named watch he r. I'd rather drink hydrochlor ic acid and puke it up."
"Mom, that's gross."
"It's the trut h. SHE was a horrible woman. O nly wanting you for your money ," Esme spat. "Good riddance t o bad rubbish. I hope she is e njoying her time in rehab with her new boyfriend."
"Mom, she 's still Emma's mother. And st ill has parental and visitatio n rights," I grumbled. "I need to maintain a somewhat cordia l relationship with her."
"No, you don't."
"Okay, I don't. B ut, stop. Please?" I begged.
" Fine," Esme huffed out. "Are y ou staying for dinner?"
"I don 't think so. I have a lot of w ork to do on the script," I sa id. "Anyhow, I'm about to exit the highway. Be there soon. L ove you."
"Love you, too, Edwa rd," she answered.
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