Is It Black Or Is It Noir?

Dark Nights, Knights!

Bella was officially starting work for the Whitlock's on Saturday but dropped in several times with purchases and receipts. It became apparent she was not wasteful, quite often she bought things for function rather than style. Her office space was now fully operational, she loved the furniture. It was solid and heavy, but light in colour. She had the only PC; the guys had laptops, so they could work from anywhere.

Everything was linked to office PC and she was surprised at how much they trusted her, a relative stranger. Not that she'd dream of ripping them off. It was Friday after Uni when she popped in, to drop off more stuff that she remembered something Charlie had told her,

"Jasper? Did you know the girl that went missing from Forks? She'd have been in your year when you were there" Bella asked as she made coffee for the two of them, Peter was off somewhere Jasper had said.

"Eh, I heard darlin' but I'm not sure who it was?" he hedged, he really didn't know and he felt bad that at the time he didn't care.

"Ashley ..., Ashley Dowling! Her father owns the Auto Repair place, really overpriced, Charlie says" Bella told him handing over his coffee.

"Oh! Yeah, I had a couple of classes with her. She was sporty and outgoin' if I remember rightly. But I didn't really know her or anyone else, the family kinda kept to themselves. It was frowned upon to make friend's outwith our group, one of the reasons I left to find my brother!" he said trying to make a back story for her.

"That's sad. Why do people do that, become so insular like that?" she mused, not really to him so he let it slide.

"Big day tomorrow then. We don't have any clients yet, but you'll have a lot to do orderin' stationery and such like. I've put ads in the paper and we'll do a mailshot too, okay?" Jasper said changing the subject quickly.

"Yes, I'd better get going, need to get my beauty sleep. Can have my bosses saying I look tired," she quipped and after tidying away their mugs she left, wishing she'd seen Peter, but he'd be there tomorrow.

IIBOIIN

Peter was upstairs in the flat making it liveable for Bella, it was more than just a mess it was totally uninhabitable. He had repaired the walls, fixed the plumbing and was at present sorting out the electrics. He heard Bella arrive and was going to join them when his spidey senses stopped him. So listening in he stayed where he was and finished his task.

He felt the wave of, was that pain? Jasper had projected it too quickly for him to be sure. Did he know more about that girl than he'd said before? Strange, it's not like his brother, to lie to him about anything. Or had he been unaware of the connection to her until now, hearing her name triggering a response? Alice had kept him on such a tight leash, tight enough to strangle a human.

Whilst he had been working Peter had found some original fixtures and had refitted them knowing Bella would love them. The whole place had that forties feel she loved so much and it suited her well. Finally, he painted the walls and using his vampire speed, buffed up the wooden floor and fit sliding panels to allow her to block off the bed and kitchen areas if she wanted. He checked everything twice, to be sure she couldn't resist tomorrow. He wanted his mate here, nearby where she'd be safe.

Sitting down in the middle of the room, Peter heard Bella preparing to leave,

'I watched the dame walk out of my door, eyes glued to the sway of her hips. The loud sound of her stilettos faded into the distance, as my heart clenched at the loss. Tippin' my hat back, I stared out the window into the dark. The night was as black as my soul!'

"Pete, Stop it! Awe shit, can we talk?" Japer said barely raising his voice.

"Yeah bro, what's up?" Peter asked entering the office below,