With two hours to go, her debut on the auction circuit was drawing ever closer. Leah had all but insisted they meet during the week and after some internal chastising, Bella had managed to keep her teeth from gritting and her mood from souring as Leah had thrown a number of revealing outfits her way. They had finally agreed on a very short, very sequined silver dress that hugged her curves to perfection. Paired with sky high stilettos, when she'd tried it on Leah had sworn it would be that or nothing else, but the more she thought about the revealing length, the more nervous she became. All of which was currently hanging over her shoulder in a garment bag, a baseball cap was pulled down over her eyes as she clung to the possibility that she could hide from the world.
"Bella!" Leah called, gesturing her over while slipping her two-way hands-free radio to the side. Smiling as Leah dismissed her bounty of assistants who were milling around like gnats, Bella shuffled through the crowd, raising the corners of her lips knowingly when Leah looked her over in admonition.
"That bag better contain what we bought Swan, or I'm sending you out in your underwear!" Bella lifted the bag in response, unzipping it slightly to prove she knew better than to test Leah's commitment to an idea.
"Great, although I do have to warn you, you're probably going to have some stiff competition as a few of the other girls weren't so negative when I suggested a little skin might go a long way." Leah cocked her eyebrow and Bella couldn't contain the mirthful laugh that sung between them.
"Nice try!" Bella nodded back to the dressing rooms behind Leah. "You got somewhere I can change?"
Leah immediately sprung in organization mode, shouting out for one of the girls who were lying in wait only meters away to show Bella around. The girl was small and mousy, nondescript in her facial features, but her eyes seemed almost apologetic as she led Bella out to the ballroom.
"When Leah introduces you, you need to walk to this white line. She'll do a little intro where she'll let the guests know all about you and then…" Bella held out her hand, "Wait, what do you mean? What's she going to say?"
"Oh." Replied the girl, shuffling through her clipboard of papers in distress, before looking over her shoulder back through the door where they'd just entered. "Umm, I think it's just a basic bio. All the other volunteers filled out a questionnaire; didn't you get one?"
Bella kept her wry chuckle short as she shook her head back and forth, not wanting to confuse the girl any more than necessary. "It's okay; I'm sure Leah decided to take care of that for me. So what comes after the first white line?"
The girl walked on, her confidence growing a little when the potential disaster was averted. "Okay, then you walk to here, where you'll stand count to ten and then move on over here."
It seemed simple enough, but Bella didn't hold her breath that it would go without a hitch, she could just see herself tumbling down like a weak legged fawn, her old clumsy ways returning when she needed them least. Looking back over the simple steps, Bella pushed aside her doubts and threw back her shoulders. "Great, so where can I get ready."
The girl scampered ahead, no further words coming from her as she lead Bella back through to a dressing room, one that was surprisingly empty. She'd expected some sort of backstage gathering, a huge changing room with girls dotted around in various states of undress, something like a locker room she supposed, but this was Leah, so she really should have known better.
"If you need anything, just hit the intercom, one of us will be with you in no time. Hold on, let me check my schedule…" Bella hung up her garment bag as the girl fluttered through her sheets of paper once again. "…Okay, here it is. You're on pretty close to the end, so we need you ready by 9:30."
Bella turned and smiled, letting the girl knew she understood before she turned away again, effectively dismissing her. It worked well too, because by the time she turned around again a few seconds later, the doorway was empty and only the mumbling sounds of chaos from down the hall were filtering into the room.
Taking a quick inventory of the room, she noted the theatre like mirror, surrounded with exposed bulbs, the little card with her name on and finally, with delight, she lingered on the bottle of champagne, chilling in a bucket of ice.
Stepping towards the champagne she quickly popped the cork, thinking that a little glass would help to ease her nerves.
"How're you wearing your hair B? Because I was thinking you need it down and big…" Bella whipped around at the intrusion and from the way Leah was looking at the amber liquid in her hand, she thought maybe she was in for a telling off, but then Leah was closing the door firmly behind her and strolling eagerly across the room. "God, I need one of those, if I have to answer one more idiotic question, I'm going to wring someone's neck!" She ranted, pouring herself a large glass and throwing half of it back, all in one swift motion.
"Anyway, where was I… oh yeah, your hair."
Bella laughed deeply at Leah's swift about turn, earning her a reproachful look in return. "You need to concentrate Swan, now how do you feel about a little backcombing?" Leah looked thoughtful and Bella knew well enough to just shrug, it would happen whether she agreed now or was needled into it later and she didn't think Leah had the patience to fight fairly today.
"Great, you're gonna be amazing B, and just you wait until you see some of the guests I have lined up, who knows who you might be going home with tonight!" Leah winked and Bella nearly choked on her small sip of bubbles.
"Umm, I don't know what you think I've agreed to Leah, but I'm not going home with anyone, I don't care how much they pay!" Bella had her indignant face on, but Leah wasn't bothered by it in the slightest as she shrugged. "Figure of speech chica, nothing more." Leah said, brushing off Bella's reaction.
"Okay, I have to get back out there. I'll try to come and see you again before show-time." Leah said as she rushed in, hugging Bella briefly before she had a chance to tense up or avoid the show of affection.
Alone again, Bella sat down on one of the two chairs available, turning the little note over in her fingers. She didn't recognize the handwriting, so after a thoughtful sip from her flute, she ripped open the manila envelope and pulled open a blank white card.
Flipping it open she smiled to herself, because although he couldn't be here, he hadn't forgotten about her completely.
Good Luck Bell…
You won't need it!
J
His simple words were just what she needed to get her through the night and as the minutes ticked past and her call time drew nearer, she read them over and over again, forcing herself to believe they were true.
"Bella, you're up." A light rap at the door accompanied the head which peered around her door and the mousy eyes from earlier appraised her as they travelled up and down her body. "You look great! Come on, you're on next."
Bella didn't take the time to compose herself, or even out her rapidly climbing heartbeat, but she did glance over at the card one last time before striding out the door, her shoulders thrown back and her head held high.
Her hair had been ruffled and sexified to within an inch of its life and when Leah caught her eye as she stood in place, ready to ascend the few steps which would expose her to the audience, she gave a discrete nod of approval. Bella couldn't help the reflexive surge of confidence it gave her and though she should have been filled with nerves, she barely felt a thing as she confidently stepped out into the glaring lights.
"Our penultimate bachelorette for you tonight is one of the City's leading fiction editors…." Leah's winked at her as she strode past and the smile which fell effortlessly onto Bella's lips was genuine, she'd worked hard for her career and though she could have objectified herself as she twirled in the barely there skirt of her shimmering dress, she felt proud of her achievements, proud that she might be able to contribute a small sum to Leah's charity because of them.
The bidding began and try as she might to drown out the figures at Leah shouted them out, she couldn't help her eyes as they were circled the faces, looking for the bidders raised paddles. She spied Paul, looking dashing in his James Bond tuxedo, and though he grinned and nudged Rachel when he saw her looking, not once did he bid. The numbers kept on rising and with each new figure, her heart beat swelled, she tried to remain calm, but she couldn't believe anyone would be willing to pay this much just to spend an evening by her side.
"Going once…" Leah called out, her voice low and full of dramatic tension.
"Going twice…" She drew out, spinning the words into long and twisted webs.
"Sold to number one nine eight, for the wonderful sum of twenty six thousand dollars."
Although she knew she was being obvious, although she knew it was the done thing to play it calm and act like this was something that happened to her everyday, her mouth dropped open as she turned to Leah to check she'd hear her right. While the numbers had been high when her attention had been focused, that had been nowhere near that sum. Leah simply winked and Bella took that as her cue to depart. Her legs felt a little like jelly as she walked back to the thick curtains and she her body slid through the heavy fabric, she felt a small hand grasp her forearm.
"Oh my god, that was amazing!" The little mouse gushed and Bella nodded, trying to show that she actually felt the same way. Earlier on in the day she'd made a bargain to herself that if she managed to break four figures she would be ecstatic, but this was far beyond her expectations.
"Do you know who bid?" Bella asked a little breathlessly, wondering when her high would fade and leave the fear of actually living up to this exorbitant expectation.
"Not exactly, but you'll find out soon enough. Oh my god, what if you end up falling in love!" The girl gushed, her eyes taking on a slightly glazed look as she looked back over in the direction of the bidders. Romanticism didn't play highly on Bella's card so she simply indulged the girl with a light but heartless smile and edged her way back to her little dressing room, accepting a handful of expressive compliments and congratulations along the way. A couple of the other girls who'd been up for auction looked downright green, but Bella felt nothing but a smattering of pity that they would be so petty when the aim of the night was to do something selfless.
She had just stepped back into her jeans and was pushing her dress back inside her garment bag when the door swung open to her room, announcing Leah's arrival with a sufficient amount of bravado.
"Isabella Swan… you fucking rocked it out there!" Leah bounced, not able to stay still as she swept into the room and then bounced delightedly on the balls of her feet.
"So, what happens next?" Bella asked, her enthusiasm having waned a little since she stepped back into her everyday clothes.
"Well, that's where things get interesting. Your bidder wants to remain anonymous until the date, something which I wouldn't normally allow, but after what he forked over tonight, I agreed to make a little exception. I hope you don't mind." Leah pouted a little, trying to push her point.
Bella felt a little disappointed that she wasn't going to get the big reveal, but the anonymity only added to the excitement and mystery, something she couldn't deny was appealing. "It's fine Leah. Can you give me a hint though? I mean do I have to practice my pleasantly surprised face now?" Bella asked, imagining some archaic grey haired suit with more skin and wrinkles than face.
"I don't think you need to practise anything B." Leah smugly responded, her eyes taking on a pleased little glint. "But as for your date, is next weekend too soon?"
Bella groaned and wondered just what this meant. "Umm, I suppose that's fine, but what kind of date are we talking about here, I mean, I'm guessing it's not gonna be a jeans kinda night?"
Leah rolled her eyes and Bella felt like reciprocating, but she decided to wait patiently instead. "Likely!" Leah snorted, and then went on to tell her she would get back to her with more details midweek.
By Wednesday Bella had pushed the date to the very recesses of her mind because not only did she have a full week of meetings to attend and authors to appease, but she was trying to find time to see Jasper before he jetted off once again. They managed a brief phone call during the day, but it seemed this week just wasn't going to work for either of them, so they made plans to do something the following weekend. He'd teased her a little about her date, but she felt it lacked the full veracity she expected, but Seth had swept into her office announcing her next appointment had arrived and so she hadn't had the chance to fully explore his reaction.
The rest of the week flew by and though Leah had sent over a rail of clothes for her to peruse and borrow as she wished, Bella still was unsure what to wear. Thumbing through the rack which was still taking up a whole wall of her living space, Bella pulled out the little note Leah had attached to her delivery and scanned the words once again.
Take a few options – who knows where you might end up!
Useless, Bella thought as she tapped Leah's number into her cell phone.
"B, are you ready yet? His car will be there soon!" Bella eyed her watch and a little twist of panic spread through her gut.
"No! I have no idea what to wear and your note didn't help either. I need some clue Leah, or else I'm going in jeans and a t-shirt." Bella said, hearing her pout sound out clearly in her words. She heard Leah tut loudly, clearly unimpressed that she hadn't simply packed the whole rail no doubt.
"Bella, just throw on the red dress, the one second from the front, it's perfect for whatever happens."
Following her suggestion as she grabbed the hanger, Bella wondered why Leah couldn't have just sent the one dress, that way she would be ready by now. Saying a brief farewell, Bella hung up quickly knowing she had very little time to turn her office-self into something even remotely worthy of what this guy had paid. The pressure of the sum had weighed heavily on her all week and though her triumph hadn't managed to work its way through the office gossip steam just yet, she knew it would only be a matter of time.
It would have to do, she thought, as she stood back to assess the damage in her full length mirror. The dress was perfect, but her loose curls didn't look as she'd pictured them in her head and with little else to go on, she'd kept her make up fresh and not too dramatic. She didn't like the idea of a blind date anyway, but this one was so loaded with pressure that when the building concierge rang her apartment to say her limo was here, she felt fit to explode.
The walk down to the lobby was spent taking deep breaths and attempts to convince herself that whoever her date was, he was the one who was paying to see her, but it didn't work.
The driver opened the rear door as she approached and though she tried not to be obvious as she thanked him, she squinted into the darkness, hoping to see a friendly, if not familiar face.
The limo was empty though and her heart began its descent back into normality as she sat back into the leather seats, she felt the car pull away. Looking discretely around the lengthy interior, finally her eyes landed on an already poured glass of champagne, a neat little card sitting propped behind it. Shuffling to the edge of her seat she reached for both, taking a large drink from the glass before turning the card over. Both the front and back were blank, so she delicately ripped the envelope, freeing a small cream card from inside.
I'm sorry I couldn't be here to meet you in person.
Our night will begin shortly, until then….
Saul C. Potts
The name didn't ring any bells with her and the only accompanying face she could imagine was of an aged business man, perhaps someone Leah's husband would entertain with his expensive scotch and war stories from recessions gone by. Sipping pensively on her champagne, she watched the city draw by, looking for familiar landmarks in hopes of ascertaining her destination.
The route seemed familiar and when they passed a sign for DuPage Airport, she knew why. One of her more successful authors always chartered planes in and out of Chicago and insisted she meet him off the plane. Looking down at her little red dress, she wondered if Leah knew there was a possibility the date might be taking place somewhere other than Chicago and for the rest of the car ride she was buoyed on the possibility she did as she let her curiosity supersede all other emotions.
When the limo pulled in to a private entrance and then slowed to an idle, Bella circled the car with her eyes, searching for signs of her mystery man. Finding nothing but a milling group of workers, she was forced out of the safety of the car when the driver opened her door, alerting her presence to those surrounding.
No-one made their way forward and Bella wondered if this might be some sort of joke, or even worse, if her self-deprecation had come to fruition and her handsomely paying date had realised the error of his ways and fled when he realised the costly mistake he'd made.
"Bell?" He called, and she whipped her whole body around, her eyebrows drawing down in confusion as he strode purposefully to her.
"What're you doing here?" She asked and then immediately felt foolish, after all this was something of an office for Jasper.
"Waiting for a new client to arrive, he's a colleague of Paul's, but he's late. Anyway, what're you doing here?" Jasper looked around a little obviously and Bella couldn't help feeling that maybe there was a little more to this than a potential coincidence.
"Waiting for my date, remember that auction thing?" She asked, feeling more than a little pathetic when she realised she was now going to have to admit she'd been stood up.
"Mr. Whitlock?" A strong voice asked, and Bella felt a little relieve that she'd found a reprieve, even if it was only temporary.
"Yes." Jasper said and he excused himself politely as she strode away, taking the man's hand in a firm handshake before they embarked on a conversation that was too quiet for her own ears. When he turned to look at her a few minutes later she thought perhaps it would be to indicate he was leaving, but then suddenly the man was walking away and Jasper was coming towards her once again.
"What's the name of you date?" Jasper asked, his warm voice softening the amused glint in his sapphire eyes. Instead of answering she pressed the little white card into his palm and waited. He turned it over in his fingers twice before smiling mirthlessly while shaking his head.
"Come with me, I have something to show you." He didn't wait for her to agree; he simply intertwined her fingers with his and tugged. She followed his easy stride up to a large white aircraft, the kind she associated in her mind with money and power. He slowed slightly as he effortlessly took the thick steps and then finally they were inside. Her eyes roamed the shiny interior and it was all she had thought it would be. Thick, plush leather chairs obviously meant for business, a little sitting area for recreation. He stopped to introduce her to two people who she assumed were staff, dressed in matching black outfits, who gave her knowing grins and then they moved on. He led her back into the rear of the plane and she was in awe, because not only was there a bedroom, but it was beautiful and sleek, nothing she had expected at all.
Sitting down on the bed, he pulled her down with him and then held out the card she'd given him for her to take, followed by an invoice signed by Hale Yule.
"Look at the names and tell me what you think." He said and then patiently waited as she held the two side by side, her eyes trailing obediently from one name to the other.
Hale Yule and Saul Potts.
At first they meant nothing to her and then as the words began to morph into one she gasped, looking up at Jasper for confirmation.
"Did you know about this?" She asked, almost accusatory.
He didn't seem insulted by her assumption and his words immediately put her at ease. "I had no idea Bell, but whatever they're up to, they put a lot of thought into it."
"Are you going to lose out on this, I mean won't you have to pay your staff for being here?" Bella asked, concerned that whatever Leah and Paul were up to was going to end up costing Jasper a whole weekends worth of business and she was certain, judging by the bed she was currently sitting on, his business didn't come cheap.
"Don't worry about that Bell. I mean, it's already taken care of." Jasper said in an attempt to reassure, and while she didn't want to push it any further she didn't know what he meant, whether it was taken care of by 'Hale Yule' or if he was simply going to eat the costs and be done with it.
"I'm sorry Jasper; I don't even really know what to say about all this." She said, not sure what to do with herself after a whole week of building up to this moment.
"Are you kidding? I mean you look beautiful Bell and I can't help but think you must be disappointed after going to all this effort to impress your date." Jasper said and she couldn't help but feel it was more a question than a simple observation.
She shrugged her shoulders and let out a soft laugh of pure relief. "Actually, I'm really glad, I can't even tell you how crazy I've been about this whole thing and now that I don't have to worry about how a twenty six thousand dollar date should act, I feel pretty great." Her smile widened and he seemed to find something he liked in her answer as he watched her, an easy happiness finding its way to his eyes.
"So, what do you say we get out of here?" Jasper asked, standing and offering his hand once again. This time she didn't wait for him to grasp her as she moulded her palm to his, her fingers wrapping around his intrinsically.
"Where to?" She asked, following his broad shoulders all the way to the front of the aircraft.
"How about we let Hale Yule decide?" Jasper responded and it took her just a moment to process what he was suggesting. When her feet stopped moving, he turned his whole body and walked back into hers leaving just a small space between them.
"You mean?" She asked, already knowing exactly what he meant.
A/N: Even though I know ff is having 'issues' again, I'm going to take a chance and throw this out there...
As always a huge big sparkly thanks to my beta Twiticulate and pre-reader Liamsgurl33...
I know quite a few people have wondered about the Hale Yule and Saul C Potts thing (I recently corrected an error!)... they are anagrams for Leah Scott and Paul Uley (their names in this fic)...hope this helps any confusion. xx
I'm in the middle of doing something else so I'm posting this and running. x