Bella dangled her leg that was crossed over her right one as she nervously waited for the first interviewer to show up.
The hairstylist did one more check and reminded her yet again not to run her hands through her hair.
Bella smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sorry. It's kind of a tic of mine. I'll try not to do that."
The hairstylist gave her a simple nod, swept Bella's loose curls behind her shoulders, and then walked away.
Bella brought her thumb nail to her mouth but before she could chew, her publicist called out to her.
"Bella."
Her eyes snapped up to Eric's face. He shook his head. She dropped her thumb and pasted another sheepish smile on her face. "Sorry."
Eric gave her a small smile. "Don't worry about it, honey. Jessica will just have to give you a touch-up. Jessica."
Jessica rushed over to Bella and applied another coat of lip gloss. "Okay, blot." Bella did as she was told and Jessica gave her a bright smile. "Great. You look great. Like always."
Bella smiled shyly. "Thanks, Jess."
Jessica nodded. "Of course."
Jessica then flitted off, back to where the crew was waiting for the busy day to begin.
Angela approached her, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Bella. Edward's on the phone and he wanted to talk to you quickly before you got stuck in the junket."
Bella accepted the open phone gratefully. "Thanks, Ang."
Angela nodded and quietly slipped away.
Bella held the phone to her ear. "Edward?"
"Bella! How are you doing, love?"
Bella let out a huge breath. "Um, I'm okay. Just a little nervous, you know? Last big junket we had like this, I messed up so much and every word that came out of my mouth was scrutinized."
Edward chuckled. "Don't worry, love. You'll be fine. That was a year ago. I'm sure these journalists are all new and the ones that aren't don't even remember it."
Bella grimaced. "I wish that was true."
"Love, everything's going to be fine. You have Jacob there with you. He'll help you through it. Besides, I'm sure he's just as nervous as you are. Probably even more so. They always want to talk to him more, anyway, right?"
Bella frowned. Way to calm the old nerves there, Edward. "Um, yeah. I guess you're right." She released her lip, held her forehead in her palm and sighed. "I miss you, Edward. I wish you were here."
Edward sighed just as sadly. "I do, too, love. If I wasn't shooting, I'd be right there with you. You know that."
Bella did know that. Edward always took care of her, always protected her, kept her safe from the prying eyes of the press. Unfortunately, that only spurred rumors of the two's romance even further so a lot of times she had to go without her knight in shining armor. At least that's the way Eric had put it when she had gotten upset over the advancing frenzy over Belward. The name alone made her cringe.
So the two were often forced apart unless they were doing promotional tours for the Twilight films. But this one, Edward's shooting schedule had conflicted with the set dates for the promotion of Eclipse, the third film. The studios weren't happy and neither was Bella. But, there was nothing that could be done and Edward refused to back out of the project. She secretly admired him for taking a stance on the subject but she still missed him.
"I know, Edward. It just...sucks."
Edward chuckled again. "Yeah, it does."
"Bella!"
Bella's head snapped up towards Eric. "We're gonna be on in five! Angela, get the phone!"
Angela hurried over to Bella, giving her an apologetic look.
Bella sighed again. "I have to go, Edward. We're gonna start letting them in soon."
"Alright, love. Just remember, be yourself and smile. Have some fun. Stick to the film and answer very little about your personal life and you'll be fine. You'll have Jacob there to walk you through it."
Bella nodded even though she knew Edward couldn't see her. "Right. Just stick to the film and I'll be fine."
"That's right. Remember what I told you. Deflection and humor go hand in hand. That's the key and it works."
Bella nodded again. "Right."
"Angela! Get the phone! We gotta make sure she's completely ready!" Bella and Angela both winced at Eric's insistent yell from across the room.
"Okay, love. I'll let you go before Eric has an aneurysm. Good luck and call me when you get back to your room."
"I will and thank you."
"Of course. I love you, Bella."
Bella bit her lip. She wanted to say it back but knew she couldn't. Not with everyone standing around and God knows how many members of the press outside waiting for her and Jacob. "You, too."
Edward chuckled once more, knowing full well why she didn't return his heartfelt sentiment. "Talk to you later, love."
"Bye."
Bella snapped the phone shut and handed it to Angela.
Angela gave her hand a squeeze. "You'll be fine today, Bella. Anything I can get you?"
Bella gave the girl a warm smile. Sure, it was Angela's job to make sure she had everything she could ever need or want, but Angela had actually become a true friend over these past six months. Angela always went above and beyond for Bella. "I'm okay, thanks. Oh, except, maybe some water, please. I mean, if that's okay?"
Angela gave her a smile and a roll of the eyes. "Of course, it's okay. It's my job."
Bella smiled wider. "I know but I just hate telling you to get me something. I'd rather ask or better yet, get it myself."
Angela narrowed her eyes. "Nice try. Keep your butt glued in that chair, missy. I'll be right back."
Before Bella could protest, Angela was gone, on the hunt for a bottle of Evian.
Bella sighed and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms. This was really the last place she wanted to be. Why am I doing this again? Oh right, because I love my job. And this is a part of it. Right.
Just then, a side door opened and a massive group mixed with security, stylists, and Lauren, Jacob's assistant walked in.
Bella felt like she was starting to hyperventilate when the door closed. Where was Jacob?
She leaned forward in her chair in a bid to look around the sea of bodies now in the room. Nope. Jacob wasn't found to be anywhere. She sat back in her chair, her leg shaking furiously. Where could he be?
She kept her eyes transfixed on her jeans. She wished she had her phone right now. She'd text him and find out where he was. Had he gotten sick? Was he not coming for some strange reason? Had something happened?
Her eyes widened. Oh God, was she going to have to do all of these interviews? Alone? Shit.
And then she felt a warm hand on her arm. She swiveled her head to the right to find Jacob in the seat next to her, smiling warmly, concern deeply etched in his dark eyes. "You okay, Bells?"
She nodded, unable to answer.
He smiled wider and just like that, she was able to breathe. "Really? Because you look so nervous that you're about to pass out on me."
She narrowed her eyes at him in a mock glare. "I am not about to pass out." Truthfully, she had been about to. Or have a panic attack. Or something. But now, with him here, she was okay. She felt safe and relaxed next to him.
He snorted. "Sure, you weren't. I mean, Ang over there with the smelling salts and the paramedics on standby are just absolute coincidence, I'm sure."
She scoffed and turned her head away.
He laughed. "Kidding, Bells. Look," She turned back to face him. "I'm just as nervous as you are but we'll be fine. We're here together so we'll be good. Alright?"
She let out a breath in relief and smiled at him before nodding.
He gave her a confident smirk. "Good." His hand then trailed down her arm, grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed his back.
They didn't look away until Lauren's nasally annoying voice interrupted the moment. "Jacob, there's a phone call for you. It's your agent. Do you want to take it quick?"
Jacob turned towards his assistant and let go of Bella's hand. "Yeah. I'll take it quick. Where's the phone? Over there?"
Lauren nodded, took his arm and walked him away, sneering at Bella over Jacob's shoulder.
Bella rolled her eyes, sighed once more and crossed her arms again, sitting back.
It was amazing. She couldn't breathe one minute and the next Jacob was there and she could. Now he had left, to take a phone call, he was literally across the room, and she felt like she couldn't breathe again. Get a hold of yourself, Bella, for Christ's sake. You're 20 years old. Act like it.
Eric snapped his fingers and ordered Jessica and the temporary hair stylist to do one more quick check on Bella. Angela appeared with water in hand. Bella smiled gratefully and took a sip as the hair stylist fretted with her curls once again. Within seconds, Bella was primped and prepped. Angela grabbed her glass and shooed away the two other women. Jacob hurried over and sat back in his chair, now wearing his leather jacket, grinning at her. "You ready?" He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze.
Bella smiled meekly at him. "As I'll ever be. You?"
He rubbed his hands together. "Absolutely."
She smoothed her hands down her the thighs of her jeans, looking down. "That's good."
She repeated the motion a couple of more times before a big hand covered hers, stopping their progress. "Hey."
She glanced up to meet those warm dark eyes again, staring at her intently. "Everything's gonna be fine. I'm right here with you. Okay?"
She couldn't tell those eyes no, that she didn't believe them, that she knew better. She nodded slowly.
He pulled her right hand up to the arms of their chairs and intertwined their fingers. "We're gonna hang out tonight, right?"
She nodded again.
He beamed at her. "Awesome. I'm thinking we should grab some dinner and sing some Miley." He wiggled his eyebrow at her, smirking.
She grimaced. "Jake, you know I can't sing."
He laughed and she found herself smiling, feeling much better than she had a few seconds ago. "I know you can't. That's the whole point, Bells. Duh." She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed again. He brought her hand up and kissed it, then let it go.
Bella stared at him for a minute, confused by the gesture. He always held her hand to help her descend stairs, get into cars, walk down the red carpet, escort her onto a stage, and sometimes to reassure her like he had just done before. But, he had never kissed her hand before. That was new.
She lightly shook her head, clearing away the weird thoughts. No, it's no big deal. He's just trying to make you feel comfortable, get you to relax. Christ, Bella, get a hold of yourself. You're falling apart at the seams here.
Jake smiled at her again and she smiled back before turning to see Eric rushing towards them. "Alright, guys. Jacob, how you feeling? You good, brother?"
Jake nodded and rubbed his hands together again. "Yeah, man. Let's get this show on the road. I'm ready."
Eric nodded, smiling happily at the young actor's enthusiasm. His smile faded and he turned cautiously towards Bella. "Bella? How you feeling, hun?"
She forced a smile. "Good. Let's get this thing done."
Eric winced and so did she. Bella wasn't fooling anyone.
Jake laid a hand on her shoulder and smiled up at Eric. "You heard her. Let's get going on this, Eric. The longer they wait, the longer this is gonna take."
Eric nodded and glanced worriedly at Bella one more time. "Remember, vague and only talk about the film. If something comes out of nowhere, be prepared, keep a smile on, and absolutely stay quiet or say 'I don't know'. Got it?"
Bella nodded timidly, blushing a little that she had to be told this for the sixth time today.
Jake laughed. "Eric, she knows the drill. Now, come on, let them in already."
Eric took a deep breath and plastered his usual fake smile onto his face. "Alright, that's the kind of energy I like to see. Let's go!" He spun on his heel and rushed across the room.
Bella turned to Jake and smiled her thanks.
Jake smirked. "Don't worry, Bells. I got you." He leaned in, kissed her on the side of the head, above her ear, and then sat back in his chair, staring ahead at the doors that were about to be opened.
Bella was stunned. He had never done that before. What the-
But she never had time to contemplate it or talk herself out of her crazy thoughts because at that moment the first set of journalists walked in.
The two women were hurried over, shook hands with both Jacob and Bella and sat down. They introduced themselves as being from some movie review channel.
Of course, Jacob charmed them easy. Most of the questions that revolved around the film were centered on him and his shirtless scenes. Jacob answered them easily, laughed frequently and kept their attention solely on him. Jake always did that any time he and Bella had junkets together like this. He would ease her in by involving her in a question here and there but for the most part, took on most of the interview himself. Unless they specifically had questions for Bella, which was almost never the case.
Bella watched Jake in awe. She wished sometimes she could have his confidence and his laidback manner. He seemed so at ease just being himself and yet saying all the things he was supposed to say, keeping quiet and vague on the things he was supposed to, while giving the most articulate well-thought intelligent answers to questions that had somehow not made it into Prep. Sometimes it was hard to believe he was only 18.
Bella looked over at the two women and she could see them staring at Jake, wide-eyed, completely taken in by him. She wanted to lean forward and offer them a tissue to wipe the drool from the corner of their mouths. She had to stifle a giggle and an eye roll when the women were practically climbing over each other to tell Jake just how much they enjoyed his work in the films once their five minutes were up.
Once hands were shaken (a little longer on Jake's not surprisingly, Bella thought security might have to help soon but luckily they didn't) and they waited for the next journalist, Jake settled back into his chair with a cocky smirk and a contented sigh.
Bella shook her head at him. "It's not fair, you know."
He turned to smile at her. "What's that?"
"You don't even give them a chance. You turn that charm on and looking the way you do, they're goners before they can even get their names out."
His face lit up and he leaned in a little. "Looking the way I do?"
She slapped his chest and he smirked wider. "Oh please. You know what I mean."
"And I've got charm, you say?"
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Oh God, here we go."
Jake feigned innocence. "What? I didn't say it. You did."
She laughed and bit her lip. "Uh huh."
He stared at her for a minute, in a way that almost made her uncomfortable, which was rare for her in his presence. She was about to ask him if she had something on her face or in her teeth when he a lazy grin spread across his face. "Charm?"
She rolled her eyes again. "You know you've got it."
"And you say I turn it on and the women just go," He snapped his fingers. "Like that?"
She arched a brow at him. "I don't think I put it quite like that but yeah, pretty much."
He sucked in his bottom lip and bit down onto it. "Hmm."
She stared at him questioningly.
He waited another minute and then he laughed and turned back in his chair to face the incoming journalist. "You know, Bells. I think you may be right. I'm gonna have to test that theory."
Bella laughed. "Um, okay. You know you've already got it made, Mr. Black. You don't really need to test anything."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Couldn't hurt, though. We'll see. By the way," He leaned in to whisper into her right ear. "Have I told you how gorgeous you look today?" His warm breath in her ear made her shiver. He grinned and sat back in his chair, acting as if he had merely whispered the weather to her.
Bella was about to hit him in the arm when instead his hand landed on her own, inched down to her hand and slowly stroked the skin there with his fingers. The way he did it was so soft and yet made her shiver again.
The bastard. He knew what he was doing and she wanted to hit him. He was trying to test his theory on her, was he? Well, two could play at that game.
She retracted her hand and brought it up to toss a loose curl behind her shoulder. Jake didn't look at her but instead stared forward, leaving his hand where she had let it drop.
Bella uncrossed her legs and then recrossed, doing it in a way that made her heel brush up against the leg of his jeans slowly and teasingly. One more inch higher and then she pulled away and acted as if nothing had happened but not before she heard his breath hitch. She almost laughed out loud when she saw him squirm in his chair and then adjust his position.
She waited a minute and then acted as if she had something to tell him. She leaned in and whispered into his left ear. He tilted his head towards her so he could hear her better. "Two can play at that game, Jake." She sat back in her chair, smirking, confident he would think twice next time before trying that with her. Cocky kid. She smiled.
He leaned back over towards her and whispered once again in her ear. "Is that a challenge, Bells? Because if it is, I should warn you. I have every intention of winning." His lips brushed against her lobe and made her gasp quietly. Jake heard it, though, and he sat back in his chair, chuckling wickedly.
Bella glared at him and he smiled. Her skin had erupted in goose bumps at that touch and he knew it.
"So, game on?"
She glowered at him as her skin tried to return back to its smooth state.
He smirked. "Don't tell me I've won already. That's too easy."
She scoffed. "You haven't won anything." She crossed her arms and dangled her leg. What the hell was taking this journalist so long to reach them? Did he realize he only had five minutes?
"I know. That's no fun. What do you say we make this interesting?"
Bella turned to stare at him in disbelief. "When exactly did this become a bet, Jacob?"
He smirked wider. "Just now. I bet that my charm can turn you into any one of these women. Even if only for a second."
She rolled her eyes. "Do you realize how ridiculous you sound right now?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "You started it. Not me."
"That's bull."
"Nope. It's not. So, what do you say? Interested in our little wager?"
She scrunched her brows at him. She was about to tell him he was nuts or that she wasn't in the mood for any immature teenage boy crap today but then she realized he was probably trying to keep her mind occupied. Keep her engaged so she wouldn't be so nervous. He could just make it simple and talk and joke with her all throughout but this was Jacob. Jacob rarely did the expected.
She shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
His eyes widened for a minute and then he narrowed them at her. "Really?"
"Yeah. So, what's the bet then? That I won't let that happen?"
"I guess."
"And what do I get if I win?"
He cocked his head and smiled at her. "Anything you want."
She arched her brows. "Anything?"
"Yep."
"Like what?"
"Whatever your pea-sized brain can come up with."
She glared at him and he chuckled. "You're such a dork."
"Yep, that's me."
Jake then leaned forward and stared at her, but not before making sure everyone else was otherwise engaged for the moment. "And if I win, you give me what I want."
Bella quirked a brow. "And what exactly is it that you want?"
He pulled back and shrugged. "You'll have to wait and see."
"Only if you win."
He turned back to face the room of people. "I'll win. No doubt about that. So, do we have a deal?"
Bella thought about it. This was a very strange situation she had put herself in with Jacob. But as she saw the man in his fifties making his way towards them, smiling, with a "Pick Taylor, Kristen. Pick Life" t-shirt on with a big picture of herself underneath the caption, Bella sighed and slapped Jake's chest gently. "Deal."
Jake smirked triumphantly and nodded.
Bella rolled her eyes. At least this thing would keep her occupied in the meantime, no matter how weird it was. Strange what you find yourself engaging in when you're somewhere you don't really want to be doing something you don't really want to do.
She shook hands with the journalist as did Jake before he sat down and began his interview. As expected, his questions were geared towards both actors, mostly about the film and the choice Bella's character, Kristen has to make. As she listened to Jake's answers, in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder. What exactly was it that he wanted should he win? The way he said it with such conviction meant he had something in mind already. But what the hell could it be?
Bella's thoughts were interrupted when the journalist, Dave was his name, turned to her and asked her if she had to choose, who would she pick? Taylor or Robert? Jake turned to hear her answer as well, smirking that cocky smirk once again. Bella shrugged her shoulders. "I choose Team Peter."
Dave's mouth dropped.
"Yeah, he's a sexy guy. I mean, yeah, he's Robert's father but there's something kind of sexy about an older man who just happens to be a vampire, you know? And a doctor to boot? That's who I'd choose."
Chuckles were heard throughout the room and for the first time that day, Bella felt good about her odds lasting through the day of endless press.
Bella turned to flash Jake a smile, happy that she had finally said something that wouldn't come back to haunt her in a bad way, but stopped when she saw him staring at her, eyes tight. But as quickly as she saw it, he smiled and turned to answer the man's last question about Taylor's transformation from boy to werewolf.
Bella faked a quiet cough so she could cover her mouth with her hand, trying to play off her confused expression as one of experiencing a tickle in her throat. What was that about?
The journalist's five minutes were up, shook their hands again and left the room for another journalist to enter.
Bella turned to Jake and leaned in. "Hey, you okay?"
He laughed and turned to her, grinning. "Yeah, why?"
"I thought you were ups-"
"Hey, Bells. Hang on a sec. Your hair is caught on the tag of your shirt. Here." He motioned for her to lean forward and she did. Angela shot her a questioning look and she shrugged her shoulders. Her nose was practically bumping Jake's right shoulder. "There we go."
Bella began to inch back and stiffened when she felt him place a feathery kiss on the back of her neck before sweeping her hair over her shoulders. He pulled back but made sure to trail his fingers lightly down her arms as he did, leaving more goose bumps in his wake, in just the right spot so no one could see. Bella glared up at him and he smiled. "Game on, Miss Swan." And then he sat back in his chair, his hand covering his huge smile as he waited for the next journalist to sit down.
Bella watched him and not once did he turn to look at her. She sat back in her own chair and watched the journalist walk over to them. "Game on, Mr. Black. Game on."
She didn't have to look to know that Jake's smile was bigger than it had been a moment ago.