'Face for the Radio' by WaterCoolerRomance

……..

You have a face for the radio,
But I know you'd like to see it in a show,
Claiming to be the next best everything,
Which way will you go?

………..

"You can be whatever you want to be"

That's what she was always told and that was what she always believed. That was how she lived her life.

And why change that now? After all, it had gotten her this far hadn't it?

Thanks to those words of wisdom she was well on her way to the perfect life.

Well, that's what she let everyone think.

………..

"Where'd you like this, miss?" a middle aged man in overalls asked her from across the room as she stood at the window, surveying the street beneath her. In his hand he had the last box of her possessions. All day the workmen had been bringing in box after box of her things, they had moved all the furniture in the previous day and her new apartment was pretty much ready to be called 'home'. All it needed now was for her to make it her own.

"Over there's fine" she smiled sweetly, thanking him and resisting the urge to slap him when he smacked her rear. "Here's your pay" she said pointedly, showing him to the door and closing it forcefully in his face.

Pervert. She thought as she went to sit on her newly purchased sofa and stretched out, tired despite having not done much today, other than point and tell people where to leave things. Yawning, she kicked off her shoes and curled up on the sofa, more than happy to sleep there. She easily drifted off the sleep and was soon in her own little world.

Early the next morning, she was woken by the sound of her phone. Stumbling through her apartment she hunted down her bag and pulled out her phone, smiling slightly when she saw the caller ID.

"Hey, Jake" she smiled into the phone, stifling a yawn and going over to the kitchen, signing when she realised she hadn't unpacked.

"Hey, Bells." He greeted her, she could hear from his voice he was smiling and she found herself smiling at that, he was her own personal sun and she loved the way just his smile could make her happy. "So, how's my supermodel's new abode?" he laughed as se giggled, going over to a box marked with 'kitchen' and opening it up, pulling out the kettle and a mug.

"Good so far, I haven't done much though, in fact I slept the rest of yesterday and through the night. I never knew bossing workmen around could be so tiring!" she joked, smiling as his laugh filled her ears

They talked for a while longer, filling their time with meaningless talk and finally rang off when Bella's phone started to bleep.

"Sorry, my phone needs charging, I'm going to have to go" Bella told him, slightly saddened to be cutting their conversation short. "Tell Lauren I said hi" she giggled, hearing him groan at the hint of the rivalry his girlfriend apparently felt the need to create between Bella and herself. Lauren was convinced Bella was trying to steal Jacob off her and would get really uptight whenever they were alone together, she usually ended up inviting herself along to all social events so as to keep and eye on the pair. It aggravated Jacob no end, it simply amused Bella, who only found it annoying when Lauren made a scene, and their other friends found it simply hilarious. Everyone knew the idea of Bella and Jacob being anything more than just friends was ludicrous. Well, everybody except Lauren of course!

"See you soon, Bells" he signed "Take care"

"You too" she smiled down the phone before saying a final goodbye and ending the call. She went through to the small dining area where she had put all the boxes that held things she used regularly and took out her phone charger, plugged it into a socket in the kitchen and then set about making the cup of coffee she had intended to make earlier that morning.

After she had gotten her coffee fix and pulled on some clean jeans and a hoodie she set about unpacking. First, she went to the electrical box and pulled out her Ipod dock, grabbing her Ipod from her bag, whacking it into the dock and hitting shuffle, she smiled as 'Henrietta' by The Fratellis filled the room and then went skipping through to her bedroom to start unpacking the boxes that she had placed in there, tripping slightly as she went.

It had taken her next to no time to pack when she moved out of her old place; she didn't have time to waste and had thrown everything into boxes and decided to look through the things when she got to her new place. She had been on a tight time scale and had to get out of her rented apartment in a suburb of London as quickly as possible. Luckily, the past four years of modelling had brought her a fair amount of money and she decided it was time she invested in a property of her own, finding herself an apartment she loved and making it official. It was about time too, at 28 her parents were always nagging her to settle down. They were always telling her to find a nice man and settle down, start a family and all that jazz. But that wasn't for her, at least not at the moment. She had just ended things with her boyfriend, James, and was looking for a whole new start; she hoped that moving into the centre of London would provide that opportunity.

The doorbell rang about 5 hours after she had started unpacking and she untangled herself from the pair of curtains she was battling with in the living room, having unpacked in her bedroom, bathroom and dining room.

"Coming!" she yelled as she jumped down from the stool she had been standing on and running towards the door, suddenly in high spirits. However, her coordination did not quite agree with her high spirits and she tripped over a box that was in the hall, flying into the door, hitting her head and falling to the floor.

"Bella, dear?" Her mother, Renee's, voice drifted through the door "Are you okay, love?"

She sat up, rubbing her head and foot, glaring at the guilty box, huffing when it didn't react, staying in its box-like state. She stood up, and kicked the box in frustration before turning around and opening the door to her worried mother.

"Oh my, what on Earth did you do? That was quite a bang!" Renee fretted as Bella stepped aside to let her in, closing the door behind her.

"I'm fine mum, I just tripped is all" she smiled meekly, throwing a glare over to the guilty box and walking through to the kitchen, silently cursing the damned box for ruining her good mood.

Her mother nodded, seemingly appeased "Well, you always were clumsy"

The seriousness of her tone made Bella want to laugh and she turned around so as to hide her smile.

"Coffee?" she offered

"oh, no" her mother waved her off. Bella rose a carefully plucked brow at her

"Since when have you not drank coffee?" she inquired, smiling slightly. This must be another of her little fads.

"I'm on a strictly caffeine free diet." Her mother informed her, producing a carton of orange juice from her bag and placing it on the counter while Bella battled internally with her need to laugh. "Do you have a glass, love?"

"One sec" she nodded, going over to the box she had opened earlier and digging to the bottom, producing a glass and unwrapping it from its protective layers. "Here you go, one glass" she smiled, handing it over and going over to the just boiled kettle, pouring herself a drink and taking a sip, sighing in content.

They chatted idly for a while before migrating to the living room and making themselves comfy, launching into a new conversation.

"So, what happened between you and James? I heard from Angela you had broken up with him" she inquired as she took a sip of her orange juice. Bella tolled her eyes, her mother: always the gossip

"I wanted something new mum, I just wanted a new start here. James wasn't too keen on that idea and I didn't want him to hold be back." She told her mother, watching her frown and sighing internally; looks like her mother won't be giving up any time soon

"Oh, but he was a lovely man. I'm sure you could have talked him around" Renee seemed genuinely upset about the disappearance of James in Bella's life but it was just something she would have to get used to. She wasn't going into a relationship to appease her mother.

"Look, even if I hadn't moved or he had been okay with it we probably wouldn't have lasted much longer any way" Bella sighed, slumping back in her chair and hoping they would find something new to talk about soon.

"oh, but why on Earth not?" he mother asked, somewhat sulkily as she took the last sip of her orange, placing the empty cup on the coffee table

"We were never the perfect match, mum. We're too stubborn for our own good, we were always arguing."

"You weren't always arguing" Renee said quietly as her daughter sighed and stood up, picking up both their empty glasses and taking them through to the kitchen. Renee followed her, not wanting this to be the end of the conversation, after all, James had been lovely to her and whenever she had seen them they looked lovely together

"No, but I think I can safely say that arguing was the most eventful part of our relationship. He was boring mum, lovely and kind and sweet, but boring all the same. At first I thought he was great but do you know what? I realised I needed somebody with a little more fun in them. Face it, he wasn't for me"

Renee sighed one final time before letting the subject go with a carefully casual "Whatever makes you happy, dear" and kissed her daughters forehead lightly.

Renee took a look around the place for the first time then, apparently too engrossed in gossip to look around Bella's new abode earlier.

"Oh, what a lovely room" she gushed as she went into the main bedroom. It was a large, light room with a fireplace in the middle of the left wall and Bella's wooded bed stood against the opposing wall, looking slightly out of place in its new home.

"I think so" Bella said, grinning proudly "I'm not sure whether to keep the bed though; it was given to me by a friend who was getting rid of it when I moved into my old place. It's a bit tatty and it doesn't really go with the room. I'm not sure what to replace it with though" she mused, walking over to the window and looking down over her new garden. She sighed, pretty as it was it would take some looking after. Oh lovely, yet another job to squeeze into her hectic life.

"A lovely iron wrought bed, maybe?" Renee suggested, joining her by the window and taking in the pretty little garden, smiling slightly at the thought of something so picturesque being in the centre of London.

"Well, Bella, you sure have gotten yourself a nice little place" Renee said as she prepared herself to leave later that night. Bella nodded in agreement, looking around fondly. Renee said her goodbyes and promised to see her again the next day with some shopping Bella had asked her to bring along. She had only brought a little food with her when she moved and by tomorrow it would surely all be gone. Renee had offered to pick some stuff up for her and she gratefully accepted, giving her a list and some money.

Bella grabbed a bite to eat and then went into the second bedroom to unpack for a while before she headed off to bed. Although she had no furniture except a bookshelf from her previous apartment in the room she could see it being a lovely guest room/study. She planned to put a sofa bed in the far corner and a desk in the other, leaving the back wall for her bookshelves in which she would perch all her favourite books and some memories. She didn't want pictures all over the house but would still like to have some memories on show. She figured since she would probably be spending a fair amount of time in this room, what with her books being in here, she may as well make this the place for memories.

An hour later she had already unpacked three boxes of books and had moved on to unpack some of her photos. She placed a photo of her and her parents on one of the shelves followed by one of her and Jacob that had been taken last Christmas. She smiled at the picture; Jacob was wearing his signature smile and had his arm draped loosely around her shoulder. Jacob was like a brother to her, everybody knew that, and it was times like this, when she was looking back on days they had spent together, that she resented Lauren. Because of her and her jealousy, Jacob had been spending less time with her and now that she had moved they would, undoubtedly, be seeing even less of each other. Hopefully, he would come to his senses soon and dump the bitch. He could do so much better than her! Bella knew that one day he would some lucky girl extremely happy and she hoped him all the best. She also knew that lucky girl was not Lauren, by a long shot!

She sighed, placing the picture on the shelf and deciding to empty just one more box before going to bed. Although Bella was not one for collecting junk this box seemed to hold some rather meaningless possessions and most of the contents of the box ended up in a black bag, ready to give to charity. All, except an ancient copy of 'Pride and Prejudice', a mirror she thought she could make good use of in the bathroom and an old photo album had been put in the bag. She placed the book on the shelf with the others and took the mirror, photo album and bag of junk into the living room where she dropped the bag by the door, ready to take to the charity shop at some point in the week, and placed the album on the table while she went to put the mirror in the bathroom. She returned and made herself a cup of coffee, grabbing a blanket and the album and settled herself on the sofa.

She eagerly opened the album, looking over childhood memories, and smiled when she recognised the bronze haired boy in the first picture. A young Edward Cullen was smiling as he pushed an even younger Isabella Swan on the swing set she had received for her ninth birthday, the day this photo had been taken. Bella smiled as she looked over the photo, remembering the good old days when Edward had been her Edward. They both looked so happy in the photo, as if they hadn't a care in the world. Well, they hadn't. At nine and ten they were too busy playing together in her garden to care about what was going on in the world. They had been neighbours, their parent had been best friends, and they had grown up together, they were inseparable and were convinced they would be friends forever. She could see though, even in this picture from their early childhood, that they would not last, she could see the thing that would eventually split them up. She could see his good looks and her lack of them.

She had a face for the radio, as it were.

Funny how when she was growing up as a teenager, having lost her best friend and not a clue how to get him back, she had resented the superficial world that was beauty and fashion. As far as she was concerned then, that was what had split them up. He was gorgeous and fashionable, even from a young age, while she, as a child, had a face only a mother could love. She dressed like a blind hippie that had just been let loose on a charity shop and had a face full of spots. She was shy and geeky and he was completely the opposite. The 15 year old Bella blamed the superficial society for the loss of Edward from her life and she hated it with a passion.

Ironically, here she was; a much sought out model living in the heart of London, a fashion guru and she had a bigger makeup collection than anyone she knew!

At about the age of 18 she had 'grown into her looks', as her gran had put it, and her body had soon followed, all trace of baby fat and acne were nowhere to be seen. She got regular offers from attractive guys, asking to take her out to dinner, the movies etcetera, etcetera. She went to college, she got qualifications in English and was planning on becoming an English teacher but when she was out shopping one day she got spotted by a model scout. At the time she needed the money so took the job on as a temporary thing but soon, she realised that this was something she wanted to do for good. All the attention made her feel beautiful and she didn't want to trade that feeling in for anything else. Soon, she got where she was today; a much sought out model. And, although she sometimes felt like she was missing something, like there was a part of life she wasn't experiencing, she was happy, overall.

Taking another sip of her coffee, she turned the page, flicking through several childhood pictures of her and her family and the Cullen's. She smiled at old memories, remembering nights when they would have a barbeque or she would go over to Edwards and they would camp in the back garden. The innocence of childhood seemed a million years ago and Bella sometimes found herself wishing that she could go back to that, just for one day.

The last picture in the album was of her and Edward on her 13th birthday. He was 14, in the year above her in school, and he was really starting to turning into a man. She, however, was still chubby and had the beginnings of what would be several years of acne problems.

She held no bitterness though, not anymore. On hind sight, it would have probably have happened sooner or later, regardless of if Edward had ditched her for his popular friends. They were a year apart in school so they didn't see all too much of each other except for lunch and out of school hours. They didn't have all too much in common and, although they had made their friendship work as children, she doubted it would have lasted throughout adulthood. No, she wasn't bitter any more.

Last she had heard, he was in a band. They were small but they had been signed, that was for sure. Edward wrote all the music and played the guitar but he didn't sing, apparently, although she didn't know why; when they were growing up he had always had such a good singing voice. But whatever, she was happy for him. She had never heard this band but she had heard they were pretty good.

Hopefully, the opportunity to see him again some day would arise. She hadn't seen him since she was 17 and he was 18, when he had left Forks high. She hadn't talked to him since she was 15, though she had kept in contact with his parents. They called every now and then to see how she was but they never mentioned much of Edward, remembering how upset she had been after he had stopped talking to her.

She doubted he would recognise her, even if she did see him again; she wasn't exactly the ugly duckling she was as a child. Still, the probability of seeing him again was quite slim.

She yawned, stretching her hands above her head and closed the album, deciding it was time to go to bed. She washed her mug in the sink and then put the album on the bookshelf in the spare room and changed into her pyjamas. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, quickly tidying the bathroom and then going into her own room. She closed the curtains that she had battled to put up that morning and turned off the light, crawling into bed and closing her eyes for a well earned nights rest.

……….

"So, when're you going to be adding your own personal flair to this place?" Renee asked as they packed the groceries she had bought Bella away in the kitchen.

"I don't know to be honest" Bella answered uncertainly. No doubt her mother wanted to know whether she could help out of not. "It's quite nice like this, very neutral" she commented, looking at the white wash walls that echoed throughout the apartment. "Still, I think I'll put some colour on eventually"

"Eventually? Don't you want to get it over and done with?" Renee puzzled

"Well, I think I've earned a break from working in my spare time this week" Bella smiled, putting away the last of the food and beginning to make a coffee for her and her mother. "I'm really busy then for about a month though." She sighed, passing her mother her drink and going through to the living room so they could chat on the sofas.

"What've you got planned?" Renee asked, taking a sip of her coffee. Well, that caffeine free diet didn't last long did it?

"Well, Monday I've got an interview with a magazine about the last lot of work I did. Tuesday I need to go shopping with my stylist for a shoot I'm doing on Friday. Wednesday I've got to go and see somebody about having my portfolio updated; I want to add some stuff we did last month." She paused to take a sip of her coffee before continuing "Thursday I planned to get lunch with some friends and then I'm having a quiet evening. Friday's the shoot and then I've got the weekend off."

"Busy week" Renee muttered

"Tell me about it, I think that's pretty much my weeks planned out for a while now, though. I have several shoots to do for the same company I'm working with on Friday and they want me to be there as much as possible during the designing process."

Bella sighed one more time before she asked her mum about Phil, her new husband. After this tactful subject change on Bella's behalf they moved into more trivial conversations, talking light-heartedly and laughing and joking. After a few hours Renee left and Bella started making herself a lasagne for her tea. After eating she took a long, relaxing bath and carefully dried her hair. She went to bed early for once, still tired from the precious days work.

The place was nearly unpacked now; all that was left was the stuff she had to find a place for. She would have to buy a CD rack at some point and maybe another, small, bookshelf. She needed some more cooking utensils as hers were old and overused. She needed a new bed, wardrobe and bed side table as all three of these items looked out of place in her bedroom. She fell asleep contemplating what colour to paint each room, and had some good ideas about how to make this place feel like more of a home to her.

………..

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