How To Become A Girl
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Dorota came in my room with a tray for some breakfast in bed.
"What's this?" I asked with a smile as I straightened my sitting position.
"Mr. Jasper mentioned that you have an interview later and I just wanted to make you feel relaxed in the morning." She placed the tray on the bed, right in front of me.
"Aw. Thank you, Dorota." I blushed.
She gave me a small smile before she turned to the door.
Wow. I've never been taken care of before and this, this is just really new to me, hence, the blush. So much is going to happen today and I'm quite nervous. Alice will be coming over soon, I bet. I'm scared about the interview. Hell! I'm scared about the boss. I hope Alice doesn't put me in anything that's too uncomfortable for me or else she'll get the Tanya treatment. Just kidding. I love Alice that I won't ever do that to her unless she turns into a Tanya, which I doubt she will...Okay. Enough. Damn! My heart's, like, pounding.
I looked at my breakfast, instead. I focused on the blueberry toppings with syrup that covered my pile of pancakes. The orange juice that begged me to drink it. I found myself drooling at the food. Thank god, Dorota's gone! She would've laughed at me if she was still watching me. I sighed, remembering how my father used to try doing this everytime. But he fails and I take care of it. We also like having pancakes a lot. Jazz and Em would know that. Thinking of. I haven't called my dad since last night. He must be worrying.
I rang him quickly. "Hey Dad."
"Hey buddy." He greeted back. "What's up?"
"Nothing, really. I have an interview later. You, dad? How have you been doing? I'm sorry I wasn't able to call last night." I was about to cry already but I forced them back.
"Fishing with the guys, as usual. You don't have to call me all the time. I'm quite surprised you actually made the effort to check up on me every night." I could hear the smile in his voice.
"I miss you, dad. So. Who's been taking care of you?" I asked him.
"Sue. Clearwater. She's pretty great, Bells." He said.
"Well, that's nice. I should thank her. But you should stay away from her daughter." I smiled glad that my father's keeping up the joy.
He laughed. "You should. And I shouldn't be keeping you from your interview. Heaven knows how much I miss you, buddy."
I felt like hugging him. "Okay. I love you, dad. You take care."
"Always am. Love you, too, Bella. Goodluck." And with that he hung up.
I focused on eating the food this time. I don't want to cry. Not now. Mmmm...I should ask Dorota for this every morning. It's perfect!
A knock came on my door.
"Come in." I said as I swallowed.
Alice trotted into my room with a large chestbox and a dressbag with another box in her other hand. "Finish eating your breakfast and we can start on you."
Wow.
I smiled at her. "Thanks, Al."
"Oh. It's nothing. I'll call Dorota." She skipped out and left me to finish my food.
Dorota was right on time. She picked up my clean tray. If the plate was edible, I might've just ate that, too. I headed for the bathroom and took my time as I took a bath. Cool, refreshing bath. There's no need to hurry. There's no need to hurry. As soon as I felt my heartrate go back to normal, I washed my face and brushed my teeth twice. I dried my hair with my towel and wrapped it around me.
Alice handed me a pair of black underwear and I looked at her with a strange look.
"It's for your benefit and confidence, trust me." She smiled.
Rose entered the room and helped Alice around.
I got back into the bathroom to put on the lacy black thing. This needs some getting used to. I'm pretty much comfortable with boxers. Hahaha. Just kidding.
When I got back, they made me put on a white 3/4 sleeved button down blouse. And then they were talking about pencils and skirts. I thought they were going to zip me up in a skirt that had pencils on and I thought, too, what a disaster that would be. That maybe letting them dress me up might be a bad idea after all. But again, I was wrong. I learned that the skirt is called a pencil skirt. It was short and pretty tight but comfortable. And then they put me in a pair of black shiny leather tall shoes that scared the hell out of me. I thought I would never stand up. But they helped me and taught me and so, I ended up just fine. But I still worried when the time would come and I'd fall flat on my face. The top buttons were left...unbuttoned. It wasn't too showy. It was just right. Besides, what do I have to show, really? Nothing.
They put me on a chair and I felt like they were going to lock me there. I followed their every instruction: Close your eyes, Open, Look up, Pout. Those stuff. Rosalie did my hair and Alice worked on my face. Thank god, Alice took it easy. My face didn't feel too heavy. I still looked the same, natural. Except my face looked a little defined and refined. My eyes were lined with black. And my eyelashes looked thick for once. My lips were pink and shiny. And my hair...I saw it as natural as it is. They didn't tie it up. Except they put an almost invisible headband and they let the curls fall, creating some kind of a bouffant beyond the headband. It's not that I hated my hair. I just wasn't used to having it down all the time.
"Au Natural." Alice grinned and then handed me a black leather purse.
"Your hair is gorgeous, Bella. Why have you been hiding it?" Rosalie asked me. She asked me to grab my hair while she put on a silver necklace with a diamond pendant around my neck. They found it in my bag and I remembered that my dad told me that it was my mother's once. I was hoping it might bring some sunshine and goodluck into my day. I need it so badly.
I shrugged then they pulled me off the chair and into the mirror. I thought I was seeing some other person. But when I smiled, she smiled, too and I know that I'll be alright.
"Thanks, guys." I hugged them each and we went downstairs. The couch was moving eerily if you looked at it from the back but I realized that Em and Jazz were playing with the Wii. And they were just really that roudy.
"Hey guys, we'll just bring Bella out to lunch and we'll drive her to the office." Alice shouted from the top of the stairs.
Both of them turned around to murmur 'okay'. But they stopped mid-word and their jaws dropped to the floor. And they were staring. And they were annoying.
"What?!" I asked, finally annoyed.
"Geez, Bella. Why have you kept yourself from the world?" Emmett shrugged and went back to the game.
"I love my baby." He winked at Alice and she blew back a kiss. "You look good, Bells. Goodluck."
"Yeah. Goodluck, Isobello." Emmett raised up a rocker sign.
They pulled me out of the house and, boy, is it hard to walk in these damned shoes. I almost tripped a couple of times but thanks to my friends, I haven't yet fallen flat on my face. The lunch we had was quiet. We had it in the same restaurant that Alice used to work for before. I met Laurent. He's Alice's gay friend. And he's so adorable and funny. He helps Alice in designing her clothes and Alice says he's so much better at everything than she was. He even told me goodluck before we left the building.
The drive to the office was pretty tense. Alice and Rosalie were reminding me to breath and relax. She turned her air-conditioner to its maximum level. I thought they might just laugh at me.
"Okay. Bella. We're here." Alice smiled sweetly.
"Call us after the interview. Don't worry, you'll do fine." Rose smiled, too. "Auditions are much worse."
I laughed shakily.
"Ready?" Alice looked at me then smiled.
"I guess so." I took one deep breath before getting off the car. "Thanks guys. Really. I'll call you, soon."
I entered the familiar building. It's soft white walls just as bright as before. The reception desk was just as modern. It was made with glass. I think the whole building was. There was a faint jazz number playing in the background. It was familiar, too. Hmmm...It sounded like Renee Olstead. My aunt sent me an e-mail about her. She was crazy about her. And then she sent me an album. I rolled my eyes at the package when it landed on my doormat last year. But I laughed anyways.
I approached the receptionist and her eyes bulged out of their sockets. She looked familiar, too. She was tall, too. Her black hair was tied into a neat bun. And her grey eyes were striking against her tan color. She looked like a model, if you asked me.
"Isabella Swan?" She asked me.
I nodded then smiled.
"Heidi Jones." She offered her hand for a handshake and I took it. "Well...Wow. You look so different."
I chuckled. "Thanks. My friend just took advantage of me this morning while I was groggy."
"You really prepared for this. Well, you shouldn't have to worry about anything. Esme's really wonderful and nice. Unless you infuriate her." She giggled.
I clutched my purse.
She took a folder from her desk and led me into a room with two couches facing each other.
"Please, take your seat. She'll be here in a few moments." She turned around and as soon as I was alone, I took a moment to smooth out my skirt and blouse.
The door closed and opened with a silent click. When I looked up, I saw the most beautiful woman in the entire world. Her curly reddish-brown hair was tied up into a pony tail. It was familiar. She was wearing a dark violet blouse and a black skirt. It was just slightly longer than mine. She wasn't that tall. Almost as tall as me. Probably, 5'3'' or 5'2''. Her smile was heartbreaking because it was the same smile that I imagined my mother would have if she was alive. And her eyes were green and familiar. I felt like I've seen them before but there is no way that I've met this woman before.
"Isabella Swan?" She asked me.
I nodded then smiled. I realized that I just repeated what I did to Heidi.
"Well, you're not how I imagined you to be. Please, have a seat." She motioned to the couch behind me.
It was so comfortable, I feel like I could sleep on this.
"It's really nice to meet you." I smiled.
"Call me, Esme." She said.
I nodded again.
"So, I read your resume and I couldn't have asked for a better assistant. You're perfect for the job. Your schedule meshes well with mine. By the time you're done with school, you still have extra time to prepare yourself for work. I'll have you here until 9 p.m. every weekday. Don't worry, I won't let you do so much. I understand you're a student. And I have a son who's a student as well...so, I understand the pressures that Dartmouth might give. And your pay, I believe, is $1000 per month." She smiled so sweetly.
"Thank you, Esme." I nodded. I couldn't have presumed that she has a son. She looks too young. And $1000?! Is she crazy?
"And I heard that you're taking interior designing for college. You'll enjoy this job then. I might just let you design some stuff for me. Oh and you don't need to change into work clothes. I'll take you as you are." She took a sip of her coffee that Heidi brought in.
"Thank you, really. I think I will like it here. And it helps me with my studies as well. There's an upside."
"I hope you do. Now, enough with the business talk. We've settled that down already." She giggled.
I couldn't help but giggle, too.
"I bet you've heard of my son. He's kind of famous out there. I don't know where he gets that fame. But he's smart and he studies and he's a good child so I guess he deserves it." She smiled.
"I've only been here for a month. I might not." I shook my head then smiled.
"Oh. Where are you from then?" She took another sip from her cup.
"Forks, Washington."
"Oh. Wow. I love the forests there. You're parents must be proud that you're here, now."
"Parent. My mother died when I was born." I corrected her.
"I'm so sorry, Isabella. I didn't mean to...bring it up." She whispered, obviously feeling guilty.
"No. It's alright. We all have to get past life's hurdles, one day. And please, call me Bella." I looked at her and then smiled.
She simply nodded.
A knock came on the door. Heidi poked her head in. "Esme. Your son's here."
"Oh, goodie. I can introduce you to him." She smiled and headed out the room. "Give us a minute."
I nodded and thought, was her son as beautiful as she is?
They both stepped in the room together and I swear my eyes widened and jaw dropped.
"Bella, I'd like you to meet my son. This is Edward. Edward, this is Bella." She motioned her hands between Edward and me.
You have got to be kidding me!
Hope Edwards requested for 3 in a day and voila! Here's your three chapters. :) In a day. :)) Review the story, okay? Thank you. :D
Thanks to Chatterbox1603 for taking notice. There was some typographical error in this chapter. Heights should be 5'2'' - 5'3''. That's for Esme. :) Bella is supposedly 5'4''. :)) Sorry. But there I changed it already.