Chapter Two

Bella

Yesterday I would have sworn on my life that Mike Newton was the most aggravating man in the entire world. Today, however, I was positive, without a doubt, that Mike's own father had won that title by a long shot. I mean, who the hell does he think he is, marching into my office, touching my possessions, and telling me that he's scheduled me to travel to France for our magazine company? I was surprised at first, because he never offered to let me travel with them for work. Mike, Jr., was my boss, and his father was his boss, so that would make Michael my "big-boss". So, I could not say no to this ridiculous trip.

Mike and his father were leaving before me to make sure everything in France was in order for us. I would get there three days later on a plane leaving from my Florida, just a few miles away from my hometown. I had only been on a plane once, and that was when we moved from Arizona to Florida. I don't remember it being pleasant, so my nerves were going a little out of whack. But going to Paris would be a once in a lifetime experience, even if I was only going for work and no play. I would be really sad if I never saw the outside of our appointed building. I still couldn't figure out why Newton wanted to bring me; I didn't even know French, but, as my friend Angela reminded me over and over again, I was a workaholic who needed a damn break.

It was true. After my depressing breakup with Eric my senior year, I threw myself into studying. I aced all my classes in college, and finished in only three years. I was a twenty-two year old prodigy with no life and, even though I never admitted it out loud, no happiness. Sure, my parents always made me feel a little better, but they had each other to be happy with, Angela had Ben, and I had…no one. I had no extracurricular activities, no siblings, and no real friends to hang out with. I had Angela, but like I said, Angela had Ben. I didn't know what my problem was. I knew I didn't want a boyfriend since my relationship with Eric had ended so badly. I was so heartbroken at the texts I found from some girl in his biology class. Hmpf. Biology, how ironic.

I didn't get along with people easily because I was so shy, plus people tended to dislike me because I always corrected when they were wrong. Hey, I'm a perfectionist, and it's not my fault people need to go back to high school and learn how to talk correctly.

I decided that when the time came, I would just take a sleeping pill to knock myself out on the plane and just sleep through the entire flight. Well, if I grew the guts. I had a problem with taking medicine ever since my grandmother took medication and fell asleep while driving.

I had started packing everything from my office that I would need in France when I heard a jovial voice enter my office.

"Bells!" Mike Newton said excitedly, "My dad just told me you're coming with us to Paris!" I smiled at him, though it probably came off as more of a grimace. I was not looking forward to spending a few nights in a hotel room right next to his.

"Yeah. I just hope we're not stuck in an office the entire time we're there," I said while stuffing papers into my briefcase.

"Nah, Dad says we're gonna have dinner on the Eiffel Tower one of the nights we're there. I think I'll rent a moped, and you and I can ride on it through the streets at night," he said, his face lighting up.

I internally groaned. Sure, it was a sweet idea, but wasn't it also romantic? I never wanted to hear the words 'romantic' and 'Mike' in a sentence, especially if I was involved. But he was my boss, and I had to act nice.

"Sounds good, Mike. Listen, I have a lot of stuff to do, and if I don't finish by tomorrow, I'll never get it finished in time, so…" I trailed off, politely throwing him out of my room. He nodded and smiled his goofy grin, and thankfully left without another word. It had been a lie. I was almost finished packing. And I didn't have much clothes at home, mostly I just wore the same outfits over and over- jeans and a T-shirt, so it wouldn't take any time at all to pack my stuff at home.

I sighed. Mike and the others were leaving tomorrow, so that gave me an extra few free days of nothing to do. I hated my days off more than I hated my working days. I would rather be paid to be flirted with all day than to sit at my boring house alone and doing absolutely nothing.

Would my life always be this monotone?

***

"Please be careful, Sweetheart," my mom's worried voice over the phone made me feel bad for not telling my parents about my trip sooner. I had put it off and put it off, knowing that they would worry.

"Mom, I'm going to be fine. I'll be with the Newtons the whole time. And I can take care of myself," I added. I heard the announcement for my flight on the intercom. "I'm sorry, I have to go, Mom. Do you want me to call you when my plane lands?"

"You better," she said, "I love you, Isabella."

"I love you, too. Try not to worry too much. Bye, Mom." I snapped my cell shut and headed for the area I was supposed to go in. It had been so long since I had been on a plane, and I was getting the goose bumps.

My suitcase was loaded and I was seated towards the middle next to some fat and stinky guy, and the next thing I knew, we were off. I held onto my armrests and tried to slow my erratic heart beat. I looked around the plane, trying to find things to distract me. It was a good thing I wasn't next to the window, because then I would have been totally freaking out.

Ten minutes later the stinky fat guy was out. So was the old lady on the other side of me. I knew it was impossible for me to fall asleep, so I just laid my head back and tried to watch the movie playing on the little screens. It was P.S. I Love You, and I cried when it ended. At the start of another movie, I heard a low noise that sounded very much like a…fart?

And then I smelled it. Ugh. The stinky fat guy sitting next to me was farting in his sleep! The old woman sitting next to me had awoken sometime during the movie, and was now looking at me curiously. I realized that she could smell the farts, too, and she thought I was the one passing gas by the look on her face. Her wrinkled nose was even more wrinkled with disgust.

"Oh, no, that wasn't me, that was him," I said quickly, pointing my finger at the guy next to me. Her eyebrows came together and she frowned at me.

"It was him," I repeated, gesturing toward the guy again.

"What?!" she practically yelled. Oh great, she can't hear me, but she can certainly smell. I groaned.

"Such rude teenagers these days! Why, if I ever did that with people around in my day, my father would have whipped me!" she said. My jaw dropped open.

"I am not a teenager! AND I DID NOT FART!" I yelled in frustration. People started looking at me like I was crazy. It didn't do any good, either, because the old lady still didn't hear me. I groaned and got out of my seat, heading for the bathroom, getting away from the smell and the crazy lady. I realized this was a bad idea as I had trouble trying to stay up. Not wanting to make an even bigger fool of myself by tripping, I kept my eyes on my feet to make sure I didn't fall.

Suddenly I had the hugest urge to look up. Something was telling me to. Then I locked gazes with the most beautiful pair of green eyes I had ever seen and a complete mess of strange bronze hair. He was beautiful, with a strong jaw and chin lined with a bit of stubble, defined cheekbones, a straight nose, and pouty lips. His features reminded me of a lion, especially his hair, or perhaps he could have been a Greek god; both were fitting to describe the man looking at me. I felt my face grow hot, and at the worst moment, I felt the plane move quickly, and my feet gave out, losing eye contact with the hottest guy I'd ever seen.

I wasn't disappointed for long, however, when the man rushed to my aide. He helped me up by my elbow, and I could not help but notice the feeling of electricity flowing through my arm to my whole body at his touch. I looked away from him quickly with a small 'thank you,' and headed for the bathroom, my heart racing once again.

I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to gain some confidence. I should go talk to him, I thought. Really, what could it hurt? You'll probably never see him again anyway. Gathering up all my courage, I opened the door to see him talking to some blonde bimbo who worked on the plane. She was obviously flirting with him, but I couldn't see his face until she walked off. Losing all my bravery, I started walking back towards my seat with my eyes locked on my feet again.

"Hi," a velvety voice came from behind me. I looked up to see the Greek god talking to me. His eyes were kind but intense at the same time. I realized I was being rude by staring at him, so I smiled, hoping not to let my heart jump out of my chest. Wait…aren't I to say something back? Oh , yeah-

"Hello," I said nervously.

He held out his hand to me and told me his name was Edward. My hands were still wet from washing them, and I cursed myself for not wiping them better, for I really wanted to touch him again and feel that electricity. I told him my name quickly, hoping he got it all, and he looked as if he were about to say something until the bottom of the plane gave an enormous jerk, and we were knocked to the floor. I could feel myself about to hyperventilate, and I felt strong arms grab onto my weak ones and wrap them around something hard--Edward's body.

"Hold onto me!" he yelled. I held on tighter as I heard beeping and screaming from all directions. The plane was making circles, and I felt like I was on some type of roller coaster. I couldn't breathe right when I tried, so I just held my breath. I could feel my stomach in my chest, and knew that the plane was going down into the ocean. I opened my eyes a little and saw a giant hole above me and realized the left wing had been torn off. Passengers' seats were being ripped from the floor, sending them into the air. I knew from this height they would not survive--hitting the water when falling from a certain height was like hitting cement.

Oh my God, we're all going to die. I could feel tears prickle in my eyes even in my state of shock. Edward must have had a good hold of something, because it was a miracle we hadn't been sucked out, too. I pulled my face out of his lower back and tried to get his attention. Suddenly I heard a loud crash coming from the bottom of us and felt water hit my feet. Drowning had to be the worst possible way to die because it was slow and painful, not to mention scary. The fact that I knew this would be my fate made my heart race even more, my breath completely leaving my body, and my mind go completely blank until I knew no more.

Edward

I felt Bella's arms going limp from my waist and grabbed her before she fell into the water. I managed to get a good hold around her waist, and when the water started to rise up enough for me to float, I quickly swam to where there was a hole in the side of the plane. All the seats there had been ripped out with the passengers strapped to them, so I didn't have much trouble maneuvering to the gash in the side. Now the plane was sinking slowly, but I didn't have time to look for other survivors. I held firmly onto Bella, prepared for the plane to try to suck me down with it once we went through the hole. Survival was the only thing on my mind, and I couldn't think of anything else but the small body in my arms and how the hell I was going to do this without passing out in fear.

Finally the water rose up to the top of the plane and we floated through the hole. It was a good thing my old basketball coach had worked our team so hard in high school, otherwise I didn't think I would be able to kick my feet hard enough to fight the pressure of the plane sinking and swim to the surface of the water. It was hard, and I was fighting for breath under the water, and it would have been so much easier if I didn't have the girl in my arms, but I couldn't just let her die, too. I kicked and kicked so hard until finally my face broke the surface of the ocean water. I took a deep breath and brought Bella's head up to make sure she was breathing. Her heart was beating slowly and her breath was coming up short, but I knew she would be okay. I was a doctor, after all.

My body was exhausted after that enormous adrenaline rush. I didn't think I would be able to stay awake much longer. I looked around, hoping someone else would come up from the plane, even though it was probably a hundred feet down already.

No one did.

I found a floating airbag that was still intact, and had no doubt been ripped from the plane. I held onto it and pulled the girl up so that half her body was on the thing. I wrapped an arm around it, too, and felt myself drifting off quickly.

The weather was nice and the sun was starting to go down. The waves were relatively calm and the water wasn't cold, so what the hell had happened to make the plane go down? My body was still in shock and exhausted, and I could feel my fingers starting to prune in the water before I fell asleep on Bella on my makeshift raft, way out at sea with no one and nothing to help me.



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