THE HER AGENCY

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

As she reached this point in her thoughts the young woman that she had come to see and to judge her talent took the stage to begin her unexpected and unknown audition for Bella.

CHAPTER 14: WHAT A SURPRISE

Edward was becoming a bit obsessed with trying to get to know the lovely Mrs. Herndon, and knew it when he realized that all he wanted to do was question the three people that knew her the best to gain all of the knowledge he could concerning her. But, he was realistic enough with himself to admit that he was possibly border lining on being stalkerish in his need to know.

He needed to just calm down and allow the plan to work. It was a good one and his new friends who knew best in this situation were trying to make sure all went according to the plan. So far, everything seemed to be working out just fine.

Sure he was disappointed that she wasn't present tonight as the three guys were having a good time with the girls, but, still he didn't like the position of being the odd man out. It just wasn't something that he was used to because of who he was and it made for a very uncomfortable evening, in a way, but, overall he still enjoyed himself for the most part. But, in unoccupied moments his mind was busy wondering what his obsession was doing at that moment, or, if she even gave him any thought at all.

He also was wishing at times that tomorrow would hurry up and arrive. It was at that time he thought that Alice would have all of them rehearsing together.

But, little did he know that that was exactly not what Alice and Rosalie had planned. That was why they were working so hard to make sure that Emmett and Edward knew what they were supposed to do and that they were confident enough in their moves to be able to do them without any hesitation at any given time. They weren't going to be rehearsing with Bella or any of the models; they would all come together the day of the showing and not before.

Neither Alice nor Rosalie wanted to give Bella an edge to be able to pull away from what they have planned. So, with no advanced warning she wouldn't be able to find any excuses for not working with Edward. And, to have both Bella and Edward together as Bella modeled the wedding dress was going to be the icing on the cake. After all it was Bella that had suggested making the evening gown into a wedding dress when she had seen it.

None of the guys had realized that the two women hadn't mentioned that fact to the three guys and you can bet that they aren't going to do so since it might mean one of the guys, or, all, backing out of doing the show. Not that Alice or Rose had sat down long enough to have that exact thought, but, it was possibly hovering somewhere in the back of one of their heads.

No. The two women were determined to get Bella with a man that had all of the attributes of being worthy of her. And the more they learned about the real man behind all of the public image, the more they liked him. He appeared to be realistic in his outlook of things like his life, his goals, his ambitions and his approach to work. In other words, Hollywood didn't seem to control him; he was in charge of his own life both professionally and privately; in charge of his own destiny.

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While Bella was at the club waiting for the young lady to begin her show, and then afterwards, her mind did wander back to what might be going on with the five people that were together having a good time. She realized that she could have been amongst that group, but, still she had work to do and "Hollywood" as she dubbed him would be there as well.

It wasn't that she had anything against him personally, no, that wasn't the problem; the problem was that he was involved the same as what James had been: The Hollywood scene. She put up with that nearly the whole time they had been married and he did nothing, but, abuse her in private and expected her to enhance his reputation in public as he made the rounds and did the party scene. Never once did James consider her to be anything else other than property, a buffer when needed and then to be used in whatever way he chose to do in private: to use as a punching bag, a whore, or a slave when she wasn't being used in the other two ways. But, to say that in the long run she was the lucky one not to end up with some kind of disease because of his ways with drugs and unprotected sex with both genders. How ironic that he should die of lung cancer and not something contracted from his habits or associates.

If it hadn't been for the fact that his family was well respected in Hollywood even though they had been killed in a skiing accident and James was determined to play on that fact to use it to his advantage at the drop of the hat, she wonders how long his nonsense would have lasted otherwise. Bella knew from the experience she had gained through her marriage and then through her business just how fickle Hollywood, above all other areas of industry, could be.

One day an unknown, the next you're hailed as the up and coming and then you're a has been, all in the blink of an eye. But, the ones that come from the established Hollywood families, the ones referred to as the royalty of the industry and are considered to be the elite, have an advantage over anyone else coming into the field. The family name will get you a part quicker than actual talent, at times. Bella had seen it happen time and again with James and everyone would make excuses for him, his behavior, his excesses and lack of actual talent all because his name got him what he wanted each time. She often wondered how long it would have taken for his free ride based on his family name to begin to wear thin. Signs of such a happening was already starting to appear when James's health had begun to fail.

It took a sudden bump by another customer into her table to jerk Bella's thoughts back to the present. She looked down at the notes she had made concerning the newbie that she had come to evaluate as she considered whether or not to take her on as a client. Bella had to agree that the young singer/comedian was good and extremely talented. With the right representation Dolly Maddox could go far in this business. So, Bella made the decision to approach the young woman back stage to sound her out as to how serious she was about working to achieve stardom and to have The Her Agency represent her.

It didn't take a genius to find Dolly's dressing room and as Bella slowly made her way through the many admirers that seemed to have collected around the young performer, Bella realized that this sort of thing was going to have to be gotten under control if she and Dolly came to terms.

Finally getting tired of having to avoid this or that person as she was slowly making her way to Dolly, Bella got extremely frustrated, especially as she heard Dolly's voice asking everyone to please leave and no one seemed to be making a move to do as the young entertainer had requested to allow her some privacy and that was when Bella helped as she demanded of everyone, "Get the hell out of here now to allow my client some breathing room."

All heads turned in Bella's direction as silence hung heavy all around her. No one made a move to leave, but, continued to stare at Bella from the shock that someone would dare to tell them what to do. It was then that Dolly also told everyone to leave as she needed to change clothes and to speak with her agent.

Bella was glad that the young woman was so quick on the uptake of what Bella had been trying to do to help out and that she had backed Bella up. That act was a way of Dolly showing trust and trust between client and agent was extremely important since they had to work together for the benefit of both individuals and their business together.

The club manager showed up at Dolly's dressing room door as Bella and then Dolly had spoken up to tell everyone to leave. He called for assistance from club security and quickly disbursed the crowd that had collected around Dolly as she was making her way back to her dressing room. And as they were trying to get Bella to leave Dolly spoke up to let them know that Bella was expected as she was going to be her agent.

So, as everything quieted down and the door was finally able to be closed to allow the two women some privacy it didn't take long for the business end of things to be discussed while Dolly was busy at the same time removing the theater makeup.

Once the makeup was removed and Dolly had changed into street clothes both she and Bella left the club and went back to Bella's hotel where they chose to have a late meal while still discussing the details of Bella's agency representing the young woman. By the time they had finished eating an agreement had been reached and Dolly Maddox had agreed to having The Her Agency represent her to be able to move forwards in reaching stardom in her chosen field.

Each satisfied with what they felt had been a very productive evening, parted ways to return to their own lodging. Bella went up to her suite while Dolly went to her hotel feeling very happy about the outcome of the evening. Her spirits were uplifted, flying high and she now felt that the future was a whole lot brighter; she had a well-known agency representing her and willing to direct her career in all of the right directions.

And, Bella felt that her agency was about to be beneficial in helping another young, but, very talented, performer to reach for the brass ring in the right way. At least, Bella and her staff would be able to keep the wolves from gobbling up and ruining the future of a beginner.

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The next day passed quickly for everyone. Alice and Rosalie had told the guys that they would be expected for final rehearsals and a walk through around one in the afternoon. However, they had told Bella to be early so they could have final fittings and rehearsals. And by eleven in the morning Alice and Rosalie were satisfied with the outcome of how everything had gone and felt confident about the showing having little, if any, problems the next day.

Now, it was time to get everything finalized with the three guys, but, before that everyone broke for lunch. All of the models had been there with Bella and were ready for a break as well. And as they all were getting ready to leave Alice informed all of them to take the afternoon off, but, to be ready to work first thing the next morning. They all needed to report at seven thirty just to be on the safe side that any last minute emergencies were able to be dealt with.

Everything went as planned and even Emmett had no problems and no complaints about what he was requested or required to do. Alice and Rosalie were both very pleasantly surprised about how well everything had gone with the newbies, but, then the two women had to stop and remember that Edward wasn't a newbie, exactly: he was an actor that did do some modeling from time to time as he became a spokesperson for a product line of some sort.

Jasper did well in knowing what all he would be needed to do in the wings to make sure the models were able to get on stage both on time and prepared to model their selected attire.

So, by four that afternoon everything was in readiness for the next day which led Alice to call a halt and told everyone to get a well-earned rest. Of course, she was talking to all of her staff that were working behind the scenes and had been helping her to get everything ready and had been putting up with her fussing about everything under the sun.

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The next morning Alice was busy running around driving everybody crazy with all of her worries and double checking which was leading to triple checking on everything over and over almost every time she turned around. Even Rosalie wasn't able to get her completely under control since she, herself, was involved with getting made up and hair done for the showing.

Once Bella had arrived Alice had quickly whisked her off into a private area where all of the special clothing that Bella would be modeling was hung. A separate makeup artist and hair stylist were in the room ready to begin working on getting her ready. Little did Bella know that Alice was keeping her out of the mainstream of the activity because she didn't want Bella to know about Edward being involved in the showing. It was meant to be a total surprise so Bella would have no options, but, to continue as planned.

Finally, the time arrived for the showing to begin and just like a switch being flipped Alice became as cool as a cucumber as she walked out onto the stage to begin the show.

Edward, Emmett and even, Jasper were on top of their game and acting as professionals. Alice knew that Edward won't really have a problem, but, she did have concerns about Emmett and Jasper being able to do what was required of them. However, to her surprise they were doing great; Edward and Emmett were the perfect escorts for the models and Jasper definitely kept things moving smoothly in the back.

Alice and Rosalie had managed to have things planned that when Bella was modeling one of her outfits the only persons she saw was Emmett and Jasper. To her way of thinking Bella reasoned that it was only natural that those two guys would be helping out in some way with the showing the same as she was.

The real surprise came when it was time for the last outfit of the showing to be presented and Bella was wearing the wedding dress ensemble. She walked out onto the stage never paying any attention to the guy that was acting as the groom until he took her arm and the tingle began. Jerking her head to her right Bella saw Edward walking with her and the surprise of that was so great that she missed stepped and almost fell, but, Edward quickly moved in front of her as he dropped to one knee facing her as if proposing and grabbed both of her hands in his to help her maintain her balance.

A/N: Edward saved the day with his quick thinking. How many points did that win him with Bella? Will she now allow him the time to talk with her? Will she even consent to celebrate the success of the showing with him?

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