A.N. Hey guys, had this one pre-written so I thought I'd put it up. Thank to everyone who reviewed the last chapter
Bella's brain and eyes began to ache; she had been staring at the computer screen for way too long.
Working on the stocks and shares had never been a quick task; not even for Bella.
Her eyes strayed around the room; her mother's head was also stuck in the computer, typing away as if her fortune depended on it.
Bella's gaze landed on the clock on the far side of the room.
4:58pm
"I'm gonna go for a walk. I need some air."
She said to the room.
"Marie!" Her mother called.
"No!" Bella objected. "I want to go alone... I'll be back real soon."
"Make sure you are."
Was Renee Swan's cold reply.
The cold air hit Bella's face and she smiled; it was really refreshing.
She started towards the convenient store down the road, it wasn't too far.
Eventually, her mind began to drift towards her current situation.
She missed Embry. A lot.
She missed the way he looked at her; she missed the way he used to gently coax her into conversations.
Bella didn't talk much now.
Not that there was anyone for her to talk to now anyway.
She missed the way she felt when he kissed her cheek, his soft lips lingering. His hand rested on her small hips.
But most of all, she missed the feelings she once had for him.
Everything was going fine; she was falling for him just like it was supposed to be.
Embry Call, Bella swan.
Angela Weber, Paul Meraz.
It was how it was supposed to be.
Now, things were turned upside.
It was comical really.
Perhaps one day, probably one day soon, Angela would crack and give into her imprint.
Embry would be able to forget about Bella and Angela, though still bitter, would accept him.
But Bella and Paul were different; he was still avoiding her.
Or she was avoiding him, she didn't really know which. Maybe both.
He was probably still in love with Angela.
How could he not be?
Angela was perfect. She was beautiful, moderately intelligent, witty, funny.
What did Bella have?
Well, she was pretty and she was extremely intelligent.
But most found that fact about her irritating, hard to reach, unattainable.
Someone had said that to her before,
"Bella, you're just not that approachable."
Angela was approachable.
Plus, she was the one who saved Paul.
Saved him from his stupid self-destructive path and made him into a one woman man.
How could Bella compete with that?
How was she supposed to compete with that?
Did she even want to?
Maybe not.
Maybe if sh-mmm
Bella's thoughts were interrupted as she began to hear footsteps behind her, catching up slowly.
She wasn't stupid enough to turn to see who it was; she didn't want whoever was there to be aware of the fact that she knew she was being followed.
Bella was frightened; her heart was beating much faster than usual.
What if they were here to kidnap her?
Kill her?
Maim her?
There was no one around to help her and it was getting dark, fast.
She wasn't ready to die, now.
She hadn't done half of the things that she wanted to.
She hadn't even rid herself f her mother.
She hadn't made things better with Angela…. Or Paul.
And she hadn't seen him in a while.
She managed to calm down a little as the convenience store came into view.
She couldn't help but jog the last few metres to the safe zone.
Bella crouched down and peered up over candy isle tentatively.
The man couldn't see her; he searched the store, looking hopeful yet irritated.
That was when he recognised him; it was the man from the meeting that day.
Flashback (Chapter 2)
Bella was unusually tired when she arrived home this evening.
She trudged into the house, leaving her converse at the door and walked through to the living room, hoping that her mom wouldn't make her work tonight.
Lucky for her, she was in a business meeting.
Bella took one look at the men in the room and she could easily tell that they were bad news.
So she doubled back on her steps, hopefully unnoticed and tiptoed to her room.
Sadly, she hadn't noticed that one of them is staring at her like a shiny object. One that belonged exclusively to him.
Bella changed into her pyjamas in silence and stared outside of the wall-sized window at the forest for a while before climbing into her king sized bed and calling it a night.
End of flashback
Bella pulled her phone out of her pocket aggressively.
911
Her fingers wavered over the call button.
Wait a second, if she decided to call them wouldn't they take her home… and tell her mother?
No!
That woman would never let her out by herself again!
Bella went through her contacts. There were only four.
She skimmed over Angela's name easily.
The second name, she chewed on her bottom lip; there was no way he could get here fast enough to help her. His family had long moved to Vancouver.
The third was Marie, her mother's personal assistant. Nope.
The last was her only option, her finger hovered over the call button again and she eventually pressed it.
It rang twice.
"Hello?" He sounded a little irritated.
"Paul? Help me."
