Chapter 1

"Shit, shit, shit," Bella screamed in frustration while banging her hands against the steering wheel as she sat in her car stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the NJ Turnpike. To make matters worse the cell phone sitting on the passenger's seat beside her, started ringing through the car's Bluetooth for the third time in five minutes. Seeing her office's name appear on the screen once again, Bella quickly answered the call.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Oh thank God I caught you," said the frantic voice of Bella's assistant Mia, her tone immediately sending Bella into high alert mode.

"What happened?" She questioned starting to get panicked. Is anything going to go right today? She thought.

"Justin called, Kate was a no show. They've been waiting for her for over two hours and Carol is refusing to move forward without her. He said she is in total freak-out mode and they only have the space for another hour and nothing has been produced yet," Mia explained.

"Are you kidding me?" Bella huffed. "I knew she would do something like this! I told Carol—Kate is to unreliable to book! Who else is on the set? Is Gina there?"

"Yeah Gina's here, but Carol is refusing to use her. She keeps saying that Gina's look is all wrong and using her will mess up the campaign," Mia told her.

"Well, that's not her decision anymore," Bella replied now sufficiently annoyed. She had a lot going on today and this was the last thing she wanted to have to deal with. "Tell Justin I said to use Gina and take as many shots as he can. I want so many pictures of that girl taken in the next hour that she feels like a fucking Kardashian! Then find Franco, tell him to put her in the red Valentino, if there's time for a second option, and there better be time, he is to use the J Brand boyfriend jeans."

"Ok," Mia responded a bit timidly after listening to her boss's instructions.

"And Mia, Franco is to take point on this," She said with a no nonsense tone. "He is the only one that should be discussing anything with Justin. As far as I'm concerned Carol is done for the day, she can go home. And if she tries to give you any shit about it, tell her to call me."

"Ok," Mia said but Bella not only knew how timid her assistant could be but also how badly people would try to treat her, especially when she was not around to defend her. Giving people orders was not Mia's strong suit but she was so good at everything else that Bella just couldn't replace her. She also figured that it would only be a matter of time before Gina found her back bone. She wouldn't survive the business they were in without it.

"And Mia, don't let her walk all over you, Franco is there if you need back up." She emphasized, as a beep came through the line indicating there was another call coming through. "Alright, I have to go but keep me updated."

"Will do," Mia told her. "Have fun tonight," she added with a laugh.

"I'll try," Bella retorted before disconnecting the first call and answering the second.

"Hello," she answered as traffic finally began moving.

"Oh Bella, I'm so happy I caught you. Can you do me a huge favor before you come over to the house," a kind voice questioned.

"Sure Aunt Esme," Bella said immediately recognizing the voice. "What do you need?"

Forty-five minutes and four stops later Bella was sitting outside of a prestigious private school waiting for her younger cousin when her phone began ringing.

"Oh my God! It never stops," she mumbled and then looked to see Franco's name flash across the screen. "Hello," she answered.

"Lucy! You got some splainin to do!" Franco's voice boomed through the speakers in his best Ricky Ricardo impression.

"Ha ha," Bella deadpanned while rolling her eyes.

"Seriously, what did you say to the wicked witch of the west? She was pissed, said she was going home and stormed out," he told her.

Bella once again rolled her eyes, as was common whenever they discussed Carol and her dramatics. "Are you serious? She's unbelievable, I told her to go home!" she explained in disbelief. "I told Mia, Justin was to go with Gina after Kate was a no show."

"Yeah, I know she told me about your instructions, which were brilliant by the way. The Valentino looked great! I think it will work out fabulously!" Franco interrupted.

"Great," Bella replied. "I also told Mia not to let Carol walk all over her and if she had any issues to tell her to call me. Of course Carol couldn't just accept the changes I made, and she immediately got on the phone to bitch to me about it. She went on and on about how Gina wasn't experienced enough and her look was all wrong."

"Ok, but what did you say to her? She fled this place faster than Amanda Bynes after a hit-and-run," Franco exaggerated.

"I told her it was no longer her decision and I had complete faith that Gina would pull of the campaign flawlessly. And I also might have told her that I was done with Kate. That not only is she unreliable but quite frankly she's just not that good and I'm sick of her booking people, namely Kate, just because it's her best friend. She's a no good washed out junkie, and I'm sick of it. Needless, to say she wasn't happy with me" Bella informed him.

"She threatened to go to Bobby," Franco said.

"That's probably because I told her she can no longer book people without my approval. But it doesn't matter anyway, let her go to Bobby," Bella responded as the passenger door opened and her cousin got into the car.

"Hey," she greeted putting her bag down and closing the door behind her.

"Hey," Bella smiled addressing the young girl in return.

"Oh my God! Is that the beauty queen?" Franco exclaimed. "Hey Booooo!"

"Ignore him Nicole," Bella told the girl while starting up the car and pulling away from the school.

"She will do no such thing!" Franco cried offended at the thought of being ignored. "Besides I have some Chanel for her if she's nice to me."

"Yeah, because she really needs your freebies," Bella said her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Goodbye Franco."

"Bye Boo!" Nicole laughed ignoring her cousin's exasperation.

"How was school?" Bella asked while navigating the windy roads of the suburban New Jersey town.

"It was fine," Nicole answered while grabbing a bottle of water from the case in the backseat. "Who's in trouble with Uncle Bobby?" she asked twisting the cap off the water bottle and taking a huge gulp.

"What?" Bella questioned.

"Franco, he said someone was going to Uncle Bobby and you said 'let them'" Nicole said repeating what she had just overheard. "So who's in trouble?"

"We're not in junior high Nicole, we don't get sent to the principal's office or 'get in trouble'" Bella laughed.

"No, you just get fired" Nicole retorted.

Bella rolled her eyes at her cousin's smart ass remarks before responding to her. "To answer your question it's Carol. She didn't agree with a decision I made and threatened to go to your uncle about it."

"I wouldn't worry about it; he'll take your side. He hates Carol," Nicole informed her. "And even if he didn't you know my dad will have your back."

Not wanting the young girl to worry about the situation Bella turned towards her and gave her a warm smile. "Thanks sweetie, but I'm not worried," she told her with a wink as they pulled into the long driveway that led up to the Nicole's home.

"Good," Nicole smiled while gathering her things from the front seat. "You ready for tonight?" she asked with a smirk placing her hand on the door handle.

"A night filled with serving beer to a group of barbarians who make their living fighting each other—yeah, that's my idea of a good time," Bella replied sarcastically.

"Oh come on you know you love it," Nicole teased.

"No, I love watching them fight while I sit behind the glass sipping a beer, there's a big difference. Now come on, help me get the bags out of the back for your mom," Bella said as they both got out of the car and made their way to the trunk.