Chapter 5

(Told by Bella)

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. Maybe I'd go back to not drinking if it meant not waking up feeling like hell. I made my way into the bathroom of my apartment. I stripped off my clothes & got into the shower, turning on the water & just standing there letting it hit my body. Last night had been amazing. I'd had a great date with Nick, & I'd experienced things I'd never done before. If it was so amazing then why did I feel so awful about what I'd done? I'd let things go too far with Nick. I just really didn't know how I was going to be able to face him today at the studio. They still had a couple of weeks scheduled there & I knew I couldn't really avoid seeing him. I finished my shower & got dressed; ready to start my day whether I wanted to or not. I popped a few aspirin before grabbing my bag & heading out the door. Here goes nothing.

***

"Good morning, Bella. How are you?" Mr. Warren asked me as I walked into the studio that morning. I looked at my watch; I was 15 minutes late.

"Oh my goodness, Jay. I am so sorry I am late. I overslept & I didn't feel great when I woke up..."

He put his hand up to silence me. "Relax, it's fine. Seems we're still waiting on a couple of the guys to arrive anyway."

I nodded & headed towards my desk. "Has Mr. Carter arrived yet, sir?"

He looked at me & narrowed his eyes. "No, he hasn't. Why?"

"Uhm, no reason. I just...uhm...I was just curious."

He didn't look convinced, but he didn't push the issue. "I'll be in my office."

I nodded & watched as he walked away; down the hall to his office. I was a mess. One date with Nick & I was a hot mess. I didn't know how I was going to deal with seeing him pretty much everyday for the next 2 weeks. Maybe I'd take my vacation time & go back home to Georgia to see my family. That wouldn't be obvious, would it? Maybe I'd just pretend nothing happened. Yeah, that's what I would do.

***

(Told by Nick)

Last night...Well, it had gone better than I'd expected it to. I'd gotten pretty far with Bella before she absolutely flipped out on me. I was hoping that today we'd have a few minutes to actually talk about what happened in private. I hadn't planned to go down that route; the opportunity presented itself & she didn't say no. At least until it was time for me to get a little bit out of the situation. To say I was pissed would be a huge understatement. She'd had me convinced that I was going to get laid, but then she fucking flipped out. God help me I was going to get this girl, she'd already teased me enough. I'm Nick fucking Carter - I always get what I want.

***

I was running late this morning. I'd woken up in a panic, thrown on the first set of clothes I could find & made my way down to the studio, trying to push thoughts of last night out of my mind. It seemed to be working until I saw her car parked outside.

I got out of my car & made my way inside. "Hello Bella."

She jumped a bit & looked up at me. "Hello Mr. Carter."

"Oh, so last night it was Nicky, today I'm Mr. Carter?" I scowled.

A look of confusion crossed her face. "Excuse me? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh cut the bullshit, Bella. You can't tell me you forgot about our date last night."

"Well, of course I remember the date. Dinner was great by the way."

"What about after dinner? In the limo? Do you remember that?"

"Uh, no. I'm sorry, Mr. Carter, but I really haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about." I watched as she went back to typing up some sort of document on her computer. Surely she hadn't been that drunk last night, right?

"Come on, Bella. We almost fucked & you're going to tell me you don't remember that?" She quickly looked up.

"Well, better late than never," I heard AJ say from across the room. I turned to face him.

"Sorry, I'm late, J. Late night last night."

"Well, you better get in here. Kevin is about to have a fit."

"I'll be right in." I watched as AJ walked back into the studio before turning back to Bella. "Well, aren't you going to answer me?"

"Mr. Carter..."

"Nick. Stop with this Mr. Carter bullshit, Bella."

"Ok then, Nick," she said, standing up. "The way I see it is that we went out to an amazing dinner, had a few drinks & you took me home. Whatever the hell you think happened must've been your wishful thinking." She grabbed the files that were laying on her desk & took off into one of the offices down the hall. Oh this girl was going to be mine, whether she liked it or not.

****

I'd not been in a mood to record today, not since my run in with Bella earlier. How could she pretend like nothing had happened? Had it been that horrible of an experience for her? No. I've never disappointed. Surely she was just messing with my head.

We finished up our recording session & I watched as each of the other guys left. I made sure to stick around because I had a little conversation I needed to have with one Ms. Bella Deveraux. I just hoped she was still there.

My question was answered when I walked out into the hallway & could hear her laughing, talking with Mr. Warren at her desk. Was she flirting with him? That guy was twice her damn age! Oh hell no, this wasn't going to fly at all. I made the decision to casually 'interrupt' them.

"Uhm, excuse me, but I need to speak to Bella....alone." I said. Mr. Warren gave me a look & then looked back at Bella.

"Are you okay, Bella?" He asked her. She nodded & he walked into his office. I had no doubt he was eavesdropping, but I really could give two shits.

"What do you want, Nick?"

"An explanation for one thing," I grabbed her hand, she quickly pulled it back.

"An explanation for what?" She asked me.

"Well, for last night. Things were going great until you had to go & ruin it."

She lowered her voice a bit, I think she may have thought the same thing I did about Mr. Warren eavesdropping. "Listen, Nick. Last night was great, but I just realized I'm not ready for that step. It was one date. I went out with you & you promised that you'd leave me alone after that. So please, let me get on with my life." She started to gather her things to leave for the day.

I grabbed her hand again. "I can't."

"Oh I'm sorry, you can't? Why the hell not? A couple of days ago you didn't know who the hell I was, I'm pretty sure you can go back to not knowing me." She pulled her hand back again, quickly grabbed her things and tried to rush past me to get out the door. I grabbed her by the arm & pulled her back to me.

"This isn't over, Bella. It's far from it," I whispered in her ear, before releasing her arm. She stood there for a second before turning and rushing out the door to her car. It was at this moment that I knew I had her right where I wanted her.

***