BELLA'S POV
Oh shit! I'm late... it's passed 5pm and that's when Bruno expected me at work! He's going to kill me! I thought to myself.
I was panicking because the last time I showed up late for work, Bruno smashed my face into the door and the rest of that week I had to wear blue jewels on my face to disguise the bruise. I didn't want to worry Edward Cullen about the time because he's done so much for me. I know I should just pick up and leave but I have no where else to go. I ran away from home when I was 15 because I was unhappy and my dad left shortly after that. I heard around town that he left to try and find me, but he's had no luck. Even if I decided to go home, I don't have anyway to get a hold of him. I can't exactly show up at my mom's because she's hardly ever there. Her husband, my stepdad, Phil is a baseball player who travels a lot so I don't know where they are most of the time. And on Phil's breaks from baseball, they travel some more.
Two weeks after I left, Bruno found me. He told me I was beautiful and said that he'd help me get on my feet and stupid me, I fell for it. Except he pimped me out to his clients and made me work at his club. He changed my name to Jewels Ratliff or Rolands or something like that. I knew it starts with an "R" but I didn't care for it so I don't remember it. The girls at the club only know me as Jewels as well.
I tried to leave once but Bruno threatened to kill me and my parents. He would too, he has connections to all of the gangs and the mafia, and it wouldn't be the first time he's killed off someone's family member to send a message to one of the girls. Rainbow tried to leave and Bruno sent out a hit on her dad, and he showed up dead 3 days later. Instead of sending a hit out on my parents, he beat the crap out of me, he said, "You should think twice before you pull this shit on me." I was hoping this modeling thing would work out and help me gain the courage to leave and never look back. And then I could look for my parents and hire protection for them in case Bruno stays true to his word.
I was running as fast as I could down the street. I was around the corner from the club and it was almost 5:30pm. I finally reached the entrance to the club. I ran inside and towards the dressing rooms. That's until I felt a firm grip on my left arm. Then I was thrown down to the ground, hard. I landed on my side, curling up into a little ball, holding on tight to my side that I could already feel a brusie forming. I looked up to see a very angry Bruno just inches in front of me. "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?" Bruno screamed at me until he was red in the face.
"I'm sorry." I whispered through my sobs.
Bruno's hand was on my chin, squeezing my face until it hurt.
"WHERE WERE YOU?" He screamed.
"I went to Emerald City smoothie then I went to the library. I lost track of time." I whispered, barely audible.
"Don't let it happen again." Bruno said slowly but angrily before shoving me hard against the floor once again. Once Bruno left the room, I began to cry uncontrollably. Rainbow was sitting at the bar while Bruno was yelling at me. She immediately came to my side and tried to calm me down. She was trying to get me to my feet.
"Shh... Jewels, Calm down. Wait until we're in the dressing rooms. Please." Rainbow pleaded with me as she finally got me to my feet.
I walked with her into the dressing rooms where Starr, Lola, Passion, Sasha, Maribelle, Carla, Cher, Cami, Layla, Monique, and Shavon were getting ready in front of the mirrors. Rainbow gently sat me down on my chair in front of the mirror that was marked "Jewels" and began to wipe the tears off my face with a towel. The other girls immediately gathered around me, their faces were concerned.
"Aw Jewels, what happened baby?" Lola said, clearing upset. Out of all of the strippers here, I was the baby, the youngest, being only 18. So the others all acted like mothers toward me. As funny and creepy as it sounds, we were all like family.
"Just Bruno being Bruno. He got pissed because Jewels was late." Rainbow said as she tried to lift my shirt up to examine my side. Rainbow was the one who always did my make up and put the blue jewels on my body each night. Out of all of the girls here, I was closest with Rainbow. "Yup, there's a bruise on your side J. Were going to have to do a flower design on your side to disguise it." Rainbow said.
I nodded. I shrugged out of my clothes and let Rainbow put the jewels on my body. This was going to be a long night...
EDWARD'S POV
Bella's photos were better than I thought. Movement was exactly what they needed. The photos were of the dance moves she performed at the club. They were sexy, but classy at the same time. I grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Raymond Wallace Agency, the agency that I worked for.
"Hello, thank you for calling the Raymond Wallace Agency, this is Caroline. How can I help you." She said casually over the phone.
"Hello this is Edward Cullen. Can I please speak to Raymond Wallace?" I asked politely.
"Yes of course Edward. I'll put you through right now." Caroline said.
I waited about a minute before a man answered. "Hey Edward, how have you been?" He said delighted.
"I've been good Raymond, just shooting some photos which is why I called you."
"What can I do for you." Raymond said.
"Well, I have this girl who I have recently been working with and she takes the most amazing photos. And I was wondering if you can maybe shop them around to some people and help her get a few ad campaigns." I said.
"Well, e-mail me some of her best right now. I'm at the computer as we speak." Raymond said.
I rushed to my computer and scanned her photos to my computer. I sent 10 photos to him. "Okay, just sent them." I said, getting a little excited.
The line was quiet for a couple of minutes as we were waiting for Raymond to recieve the photos through e-mail."Okay, I just got them and I'm opening them now." Raymond said.
Again the line was quiet as Raymond examined the photos. "She's a beauty. What did you say her name was?" He asked.
"Her name is Bella Swan." I said.
"Wow, she definitely has potential. I'll see what I can do. But you still need to build up her portfolio so I can have other things to show companies." He said.
I smiled to myself. "That's no problem. I'll send them after I shoot them. Thanks so much Raymond." I said eagerly.
I heard him chuckle, "It's really no problem Edward, you being my best photographer. Have a nice day." He said before hanging up the phone.
Words couldn't explain how excited I was. I discovered this beautiful girl who could be a force to be reckoned with in the world of modeling. All I needed to do now was to wait for Bella to call.
I hoped you liked this chapter. You got a look into Bella's past and how she feels about everything. PLEASE let me know if I over did it. PLEASE REVIEW and let me know how I'm doing. I start school on the 1st so my updates might be a little scattered, especially since I'm starting my first year of college and don't know how hard my work load is yet. Hope you keep reading.
xoxo Soleil Blu Moon