AN: Thanks for all your lovely reviews and to Eternally Edward's Girl and Chocaholic123 for their help. This chapter comes with an extra special hug for Judy because she deserves all the love in the world. ILYJ
I messed a lot with that chapter and added bits, so all mistakes are mine.
SM owns Twilight.
~o~o~0~ Adagio ~0~o~o~
Chapter 51
Bella woke with Edwards name like a wish on her tongue, her pulse racing to a memory of his hands. Letting her eyes fall closed against the flimsy white light of the winter morning, she could feel the places he'd touched as if his fingers still danced there. She could hear his words, enough to flush lust across her whole body with one whisper, as if his lips still hovered by her ear.
Bella reluctantly dragged herself from bed, preparing for the final rehearsal at the hall, unable to focus on anything other than Edward's promise to meet her afterwards, and she was running late before she knew it. She raced down the stairs, her footsteps loud in the cavernous hallway.
Her hand was closing around the cold brass doorknob when her father's voice came from behind the closed door of his study. "Isabella, can you come here please?"
Shocked that he was recognizing her presence, she hesitated, the icy morning offering a more enticing prospect than the cold front that continuously surrounded her father. Their time in each other's presence had become less and less frequent, even more so since she'd spent as much time out of the house as she could.
Trepidation worried at her as she pushed open the heavy oak door, to see him sat behind his desk, a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose.
"Morning, Isabella. Please take a seat."
His treating her like a business associate rankled, and she twisted her mouth to hold back the snarky remark well aware that she needed her father on her side. She sat in the dark green chair, leather creaking under her as she settled.
"I wanted to discuss the next step after the performance. Irina has worked extremely hard to secure this opportunity - a future for you." He peered over the black rims as if he was daring her to respond. She bristled at the mention of Irina; if Charles thought that using her as a softener would work he would be sorely disappointed.
"What do you mean a future?" Bella's finger tapped out a nervous rhythm on her knee while she waited for him to respond. He took his time, scanning over a piece of paper in his hand. His face once so handsome was craggy and time swept as if the years had jumped ahead of him.
"We've organized for you to tour with the Sacre D'or Orchestra. They will be expecting you to join them at the end of the month."
Bella tamped down the anger that flared in her stomach, but allowed it to flicker, using it to light her courage. "And this tour would be where?"
She fought the urge to lower her head knowing a panoply of emotions would play out on her face.
"It's in Europe, and it's an honor to be accepted. The whole tour will last a year. It will be good for you to get away and experience something other than this." He waved his hand around the room. His understatement drew a snort from Bella and she rose to her feet, holding her head up high.
"No." She responded keeping her voice as firm as possible, a shade away from brusque.
His attention snapped to his daughter who glared down at him, her usually passive face was filled with determination and certainty. "I'm sorry?"
"I said no. Thank you for arranging the opportunity, but I won't be joining them on tour. I have other plans." Bella took two steps towards the door before his booming voice halted her in place.
"Isabella, Irina has put a lot of hard work hard in this deal. Are you going to throw it back in our faces?" He stood himself, revealing a shirt that was crumpled as if he'd spent the night in it. An image of him sleeping in his towering glass office in the city flashed through her mind.
She sucked in a breath to slow the anger racing through her veins and the hammering of her heart. "I'm not throwing it back in your faces. If you'd involved me in your discussion—in anything—I would've explained I've already made a decision about what I want to do next. I'm sorry if that doesn't fit into your plans."
Charles' brows pulled down into a frown. He'd thought she'd be happy to get away from the shell of a life she lived here. Irina had reassured him it would be something she'd look forward too. So she could live a little. "What exactly is it you've planned to do?"
If she hasn't smelt the cloying tang of Irina's perfume before she spoke, she would have jumped at the clipped response from over her shoulder. "She's planning to run away with her piano teacher. Isn't that right, Isabella?"
She moved to her position by Charlie, perching on the edge of the desk, lazily folding one arm over the other. The motion was a ruse belied by the spitting fire swirling in her eyes.
Irina was a cobra, coiling tighter and tighter, and her presence set Isabella shoulders taut, the burn of tension travelling up the back of her neck like setting concrete. Irina knew.
Charles looked between his wife and daughter, back and forth, feeling the pause heaving like storm clouds before the skies split open. Lightening anger flew through his veins. Edward Cullen and Isabella. "Is this true?"
"Yes it is ... I have to go." Isabella's voice wavered, but she turned away before they could say another word. The desire to see Edward overflowed through every pore of her body.
She raced into the hall, ignoring the harsh words falling from her father's mouth, each one like huge book dropped onto the floor with a resounding crack. Threats. Lies. Curses. Panic.
Her trembling hands, struggled with the locks, and again she felt the presence of Irina behind her. Her words quiet like pinpricks of ice into Bella's skin. "Before you leave to run away with your beloved Edward, you'll need to call them about the contract."
She flicked a cream business card in her hand, an insipid smile on her face, as she slipped it into the neckline of Bella's top.
"There's no contract."
"Oh, but there is, and it has your signature scrawled at the bottom. So, as you insist on reminding us, you're eighteen, an adult and therefore it's a binding contract."
"I've never signed anything." The protest died on her lips as she saw the memory playing out before her eyes. Paperwork sprawled out across the table. Too detailed. Too much. She'd raced through it to get to meet Edward at the music shop.
Irina's shark smile grew as she watched the cogs turn and the pieces of Bella's trap slot into place around her with clangs and locks. "Yes. You remember now? Good. You can stop being so ridiculous and start being grateful you have people who care about you enough to help."
The lies dripped off her tongue like battery acid, but to Irina, they tasted like honey and victory. She'd be rid of Isabella. Charles would ruin Edward. Irina would win.
"I'll deny ever signing the contract. I had no idea what it was about. I'm sure they'll understand it's all a mistake." Bella's mind raced through the information that filled her brain which only hours earlier had been filled with love.
"I don't think so. You see, I was there when you signed it. You were so excited to be given the opportunity. It's unfortunate that you've lost your head in the clouds with this silly crush. I'm not sure they'd understand that. They've spent a lot of money on you. Advertising. Sponsorship. And think of their reputation if they had to withdraw the promises they've already made to venues all around Europe."
"I'll seek legal advice and break the contract."
Irina smoothed her hands over her hair, settling flyaway hairs back into a perfect sheen of ice blonde. "You do that. There is a clause you may be able to break. It might be feasible, but it will cost you, and I'm afraid your father and I won't be putting any of our money toward it."
She turned to walk away, leaving a parting shot over her silk clad shoulder. "I think you'll be able to cover some of the cost with the money your darling mother left for you."
Bella silently seethed as she was left alone. Anger and hurt settling into her bones, sinking deep and permanent. Where was Charlie to stop this? The man yelling down the phone in his office, trying to track down Edward, he was a stranger. A cold, brutal, and cruel stranger who she had no desire to ever see again. The final strings of love, loyalty, and concern that had tied her to her father snapped—one by one—until she'd severed herself in her heart and in her mind.
She stepped into the cold morning, blinking back tears she would not let fall. Her knees were unsteady but she would not let them falter. She turned the opposite direction to the Hall and called Edward.
~o~o~0~o~o~
AN: Thank you for reading. A little bit of self promotion. I posted the last chapter of my full length fic Mud, Sweat and Beers yesterday! There is just a future take Epi to go. Have a lovely weekend xoxox
