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.
"Don't worry. I know my daughter, and, I can assure you, even if she doesn't like this completely, then she will still be stubborn enough to give you another chance to get it right before taking any action. She doesn't like to be wrong about any decisions that she has taken the time to really consider."
CHAPTER 29: SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
The day started off rather strangely, so it seemed to Bella's way of thinking. She hadn't slept through the night as restfully as she had last night in a very long time. In fact, the last time had been before James had entered her life and remained. Last night there had been no nightmares, no rehashing events from her marriage with James and no rethinking some of her decisions she had made in regard to a certain actor that had erupted unexpectedly into her life. And, even stranger was the fact that she felt comfortable with her final decision concerning same said actor.
And with being totally honest with herself, she was looking forward to her time with him tonight. She was also curious about what he might be planning that would give them privacy and that would still keep them off of the media radar.
In this town, that was nearly impossible, especially, considering the popularity of the person of the hour. The personalities that were the 'one of the hour', the long established 'royalty' of the public and the beloved of long standing, were always the most sought after and was the object of the mainstream media circus. Unfortunately, Edward Cullen did fall into the latter of the three groups, just like James had fallen into the second group of the three.
So, therein laid the problem all the way around for Bella. She had been and now was the object of a person from the second and third group: James of established Hollywood royalty and Edward of the beloved long standing for the length of time he had provided outstanding acting in every one of his movies. She could probably drive herself around the bend and become totally loopy if she allowed herself to dwell upon what it was about her that drew both men to her. Bella was smart enough to know that was a road that she wasn't equipped to handle in her current mental state of upheaval.
Bella had to admit to herself, even if she didn't to anyone else, that the talk her dad had had with her was really starting to wake her up to how closed off she had allowed herself to become. True, she knew that letting go of her inhabitations wasn't going to be an overnight thing, but, she was beginning to wake up to what might be happening to her by her past choices. Also, she knew that she wasn't going to give into the Sleeping Beauty effect; instantly waking up to a miracle revelation and change with everything being all sunshine and sweetness with the birds chirping and her with a whole new attitude. No, it was going to take a lot of thinking, being honest with herself, and reevaluating her personal decisions and choices. Looking at everything from a totally different perspective.
It was as Bella reached this point in her thinking that she absentmindedly happened to glance at her wall clock and was jarred back to the realization that she had allowed time to slip back and that she was going to be late for her meeting. She needed to be at the airport to meet with Dolly Maddox, the young woman that she decided to take on as a client when she was in New York City for Alice's showing. So, without further ado, Bella rushed to finish getting ready and then out the door in a hurry.
Upon arrival at the airport she found out that the flight she was meeting had been delayed by an hour. So, with that information she took the time to get a bite to eat at one of the small eateries that was almost everywhere at airport. And, as she was approaching the one that carried a menu that she was wanting, it happened. Bella was approached by a sleazy, independent photographer that sold stories, mostly half-truths and at times all lies along with pictures, to the grocery store magazines.
"Hey, aren't you the woman that Edward Cullen knocked on your ass several days ago in this very airport?" He arrogantly asked in a demanding tone while the whole time snapping shot after shot of Bella.
She tried to ignore him, but, the man continued with his onslaught of questions which changed very quickly to abusive innuendos when he realized that Bella wasn't going to give him any answers. But, his next round of abuse brought Bella to a complete halt when he asked, "Aren't you that money grubbing, murdering whore that James Herndon married?"
At first, she was so caught by surprise that someone would even make such a remark, let alone accuse her of such things, that Bella didn't react. But, before she could respond to such trash, a man standing behind the reporter took matters into his own hands, he was airport security.
He politely told Bella to continue on her way, that he would deal with taking out the trash for her. Bella didn't hesitate to thank the man before she quickly retreated into the small coffee shop that had been her objective all along.
Then once inside and seated as far back in the corner, out of sight of anyone passing by out in the airport itself, Bella breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Everything that the man had said was outrageous and nowhere near the truth, but, she be damned if she would ever give anyone the inside knowledge of what her marriage had been like. That was something she constantly prayed to have wiped from her mind, so the nightmares would disappear. Only three other people knew the truth of the type of person James had been and what had transpired during her marriage to him.
Bella wasn't one to crave attention and she wasn't into the need to share her humiliation with the whole damn world. She preferred to let everyone on the outside of her small group, guess and come to their own conclusions as to what life with one of Hollywood's royalty was like. And, the act of closing herself off from people, men in particular, really began while James was still alive. Anyone that seemed to be like him, no matter how much or little, she withdrew from allowing them any sort of closeness in her life.
As she got to this point in her thoughts, Bella realized that a waitress had been patiently standing near her waiting to take her order. Once that order was given and the young woman had left, Bella happened to glance at the doorway and saw her rescuer standing there as he appeared to be looking for someone or something; she wasn't sure, at first, which. She wanted to take the opportunity to thank him once more for rescuing her from that unruly person that had been harassing her. So, she raised her hand to draw his attention to her location.
Seeing the hand raised, the guard looked a bit closer to see who might be the owner of said hand. Once he recognized Bella, he smiled and began to walk in her direction. Then, when he got to the table, Bella invited him to join her and they shared a meal and she was able to thank him again for his timely rescue from the sleazy freelancer that was verbally accosting her.
The security guard explained that it was time for him to return to work from his break, but, did mention to her that in the area where she had been approached it was considered acceptable for the media to hang out there as long as they didn't interfere with the coming and going of the passengers or airport staff. Once that happened more than once by any one media representative then they had to maintain their distance by staying outside.
"Well, thank you once more for your timely appearance. It was really appreciated." Bella told him as she held out her hand to shake the guard's hand.
"Ma'am, pardon my asking, but, was the man correct in stating that you are James Herndon's widow?
This question, coming out of the blue and being asked by the person that had come to her assistance earlier, managed to stun Bella for a moment or two. Then as she snapped out of her shock, instead of answering his question immediately, she asked, "Why do you want to know?"
"Because I met a man a few years ago with the last name of Herndon when he came by my family home one evening to drop my brother off. The way he was introduced to me was by his last name, but, I heard my brother refer to him, while they were talking quietly, as James.
"Then, unfortunately, about a month later my brother killed himself because of James Herndon. Or, at least, that's what the note he left behind said.
"So, that brings me back to my question about you being the widow of James Herndon. I'm curious if his lifestyle was enjoyed by you also, or, if you just tolerated it." The guard finished speaking and just stood there waiting for some kind of reply from Bella.
To say that Bella was rendered speechless by what had just been revealed would be an understatement. Once again it did take her a moment or so to be able to reply to the statements said and the question asked. She told him, "I don't normally speak about my marriage, but, do to the little you have told me and the question you asked I shall respond.
"In the beginning, no I had no idea about what James did privately. Once I did know, I stayed out of the limelight as much as possible until James would force me, by whatever means, to appear beside him socially. I didn't interfere with what James did since he wouldn't listen to me and I would pay a hefty price for even trying to change him.
"I'm sorry about your brother and I'm not trying to be insensitive, but, that has nothing to do with me. James made many lives a living hell without giving a damn. Thank you for your rescue earlier, but, I do have someone to meet." Bella had said all that she was needed and left the little café before the guard could react to her speech or to her leaving.
After meeting Dolly Maddox, Bella took her back to the office and they got down to business. Once everything was concluded with contracts being signed, Bella made sure that her new client was settled in at a hotel. It was at that time Bella realized that she had missed several calls and texts from Edward, but, decided to wait until she got home before returning his call. She did want to have a few minutes with her father before going out for the evening.
XXXXXX
When Bella walked into the foyer of her home, loud bouts of laughter could be heard coming from several different people, both female and male. She knew that she hadn't invited anyone over, and, she knew that her father didn't know anyone in this town, besides her, Alice and Rosalie. Of course, as she listened closer she could detect the tenor of those two as they laughed at whatever had been said or done. Also, she could detect Charlie's tone of laughter. So, who else was here that she wasn't able to identify?
She slowly walked into her living area and saw five people, three she had already identified before entering, but, she knew the other two once she saw them. The only reason she hadn't been able to tell who they were was because she hadn't spent much time around them. Both Jasper and Emmett were seated next to their heartthrobs and listening to Charlie as he related stories of Alice and Bella growing up. Everyone was enjoying themselves as they listened.
"Dad, don't you think that you can keep some information to yourself?" She questioned as her arrival was announced and with a slight smile appearing on her face.
"Hey, little lady, you ready to go?" Emmett asked Bella. Never stopping to think about the fact that she had just gotten home and might have more immediate plans before going back out to meet Edward.
"No. I'm not ready to go anywhere. Damn, I'm just getting in from work and need to have time to freshen up while relaxing as much as I can before going out tonight, but, it isn't going to be with you lot." Bella informed him as she turned to head upstairs.
"Well, hurry up since I'm your cover for tonight. In fact, we all are. We'll get you to the appointed destination and then we'll go on our way until you're ready to return home." Emmett further explained to Bella.
That bit of information halted Bella's movement and she turned back to look at everyone and asked, "Just how is this cover going to work?"
"Edward said he promised privacy and that's what you're going to get. We are going to take you to Edward and the two of you will begin your date for tonight. Then once you both are ready for it to end, we'll pick you up and your dad, here, will be driving you back here.
"By doing things this way no one will be any wiser to the fact of you and Edward spending your evening together. Oh, and before I forget it, I was told to tell you to dress casually without any help from Alice or Rosalie."
And, with that last bit of information, Bella looked over at her sister and friend who both had stunned looks on their faces, then the pouts began. It was evident that they really believed that they would be choosing what Bella would be wearing for tonight. Instead, they were forestalled. Bella laughed at them and left to go get ready since it seemed that it was necessary to leave shortly.
A/N: Looks like things had been well thought out to enable Edward and Bella to have their date without the media interfering. The only question left to be answered is where the date going to take place. And, the next chapter will give all of the information about the date. Any idea what Edward has planned?
Reviews and comments are always welcome and hope you'll take the time to let me know what you think.
