CHAPTER THIRTEEN

You would think I would want to go out and party after the show that night. I deserved to let my hair down and have a good time with all of my friends and family but I knew that I needed to be up extra early to follow through on another obligation.

It wasn't for a lack of trying on Embry's part either. He kept telling me that we deserved to party hard but I knew I needed to be responsible and I would party on Thanksgiving. My parents who had never been to a Hollywood party before were a tad bit disappointed that I didn't want to go but when Embry saw that I was resolved he agreed to take them and show them to a good time. I still laugh at the very image in my mind of my dad partying with rapper E.C. Crime but oddly enough they got along pretty well.

The girls were already in bed when Edward and I arrived home; we had a brief conversation with Rosalie and Emmett but I just wanted to get to bed. I wanted to get to bed because ever since I got the high from performing on stage all I could think about was getting Edward home and naked. Performing was some sort of aphrodisiac for Edward and I. He willingly let me pounce on him when we closed the door to our bedroom and the only pause between our pre-sex session was the twenty seconds it took for us to both shed our clothes.

We didn't make love that night, we fucked. Oh my did we fuck…twice.

The stress I had been under for the past few weeks was lifted. I had always heard that sex could do wonders for stress; however it was probably a good thing that I hadn't found this out sooner or else I probably would have killed Eddie Jr. with all the times I needed a good ride the past few weeks.

I showed up to set the next day with a bounce in my step. I was one major project down and one to go. By Thanksgiving I would be home free. That thought alone caused me to be extra peppy. People on set didn't know what to make of my positive Polly attitude.

"How are we doing this fine day?" I came to sit down next to Renesmee as she was getting her hair and makeup done.

"Great." She said overly peppy herself.

"Nervous, huh?"

She let out a breath, "Yeah…I just keep telling myself to focus and then every thought I have goes every which way. I feel like I have a giant sized piñata for a brain."

This was her first big break so I could relate to that feeling having my first break a couple of months earlier.

"I'm not going to tell you to relax, that always drives me crazy when people have told me that. I will say that I will be completely patient with you so please don't worry about having to get the shot in one or two takes. I know what you're going through and it does get easier the more we do it. Okay?"

She smiled and nodded her head.

"Okay, I will see you on set in a little while." I got up from the chair. "I gotta get back to work or else they won't pay me."

Emma informed me that the boys would be coming in around noon. They didn't need to be here since we had already filmed their portion but they wanted to come by for moral support. I was walking down to where we would begin our first scene which was going to be Renesmee running through the mirror maze.

As I got closer I saw Seth Clearwater and Stefan Vladic standing around chatting with one another. I almost wanted to walk in another direction but unfortunately they saw me and started on the approach. It's not that I didn't like them but I didn't know how they felt after last night and I didn't want to focus on the albums at this moment; I just wanted to get this filming done.

"Gentleman, did you not party hard enough last night? You're up a tad early this morning." I said as they came closer.

"No rest for the wicked, I'm afraid." Stefan replied. I was a tad bit surprised that he himself would come down here to talk to me. Stefan was a very powerful person with a lot more important people on his radar. I was sure that someone like me could easily be handled by Seth or Quil. I was suddenly very nervous about his visit.

"So what can I do for you?" I asked trying to remain strong and confident.

"Well, first off I know that you are in the middle of something so I will try to make our visit brief."

I nodded slightly looking around to see what was going on all around us.

"We have decided a release date for the Night and Day albums."

"Night and Day?" I asked.

"Yes, you stated once that the albums were night and day as far as music went and we liked that so we thought that Night and Day would be appropriate." Stefan continued.

"I like it." I concurred.

"We set the release date for January thirteenth."

"My mom's birthday. I think she'd like that." I replied quietly. "So fast though? It's going to be ready by then? I mean that's like less than two months away."

"We are working extra hard to get it out by then because we know that it's a usually a good season to premiere new artists." Seth stepped in.

"Okay. Um...sounds good. I know you know what you are doing." I smiled.

"I know that I said that we would not discuss album covers until after Thanksgiving but we really need to get on this as you can see." Seth pushed.

"I agree. I apologize for not being able to make time sooner. I promise after this week, I am all yours."

"Well, there is something else we would like to discuss with you. Something else that I would like you to keep an open mind of since I know that this is rather last minute but what we think could be a great opportunity for your career." Stefan looked slightly uncomfortable which made me uncomfortable since someone in his place should never feel uncomfortable talking to a peon like me.

Somehow I knew that this wasn't a simple house call. He was waiting to drop the other shoe. I didn't say anything; I just waited for him to continue.

"Every year the President of the United States hosts an award show for people in the performing arts he deems worthy of accepting this high honor."

"The Kennedy Center Honors. Yes, I know." I interrupted.

"Yes. This year one of our finest artists is being presented with the honor. Have you ever seen the show?" Stefan asked.

"Bits here and there." I answered.

"It is customary for a tribute to be made for the person being honored. Babette Brice is one of this year's honoree's and we were asked to produce a tribute for her."

I could feel the hair on my arms rise up. Babette Brice was one of the most influential and famous people of this era. She was not only an actor but a singer, producer, writer. If there was a job in Entertainment; she was sure to have conquered it and conquered it well. She got her start on Broadway and quickly succeeded in furthering her career to other areas. I could feel where this conversation was heading and I suddenly didn't feel too well myself.

"Tanya Denali was supposed to be part of the tribute we had put together but as you know…" Stefan didn't continue with that thought. Tanya Denali was an icon herself, at sixteen she landed on the music scene and was now one of the biggest stars on the planet and she was only twenty-four. However like many a cautionary tale she too fell into a world of drugs and alcohol and as of last week she was checked into a rehab facility.

"Babette Brice who was not too happy with our choice from the beginning called me last night and has requested you to continue on with her tribute." He said every word more unsure as the last one. I turned around and placed my head in my hands. I didn't want them to actually see my face turn green.

I took a few deep breaths and turned around to face them once more.

"You…" I shook my head. "I don't think this is a good idea. I…I…I…" I…. couldn't come up with words.

"Bella, this is a good thing. Not only will this be great promotion for your upcoming albums but when Babette Brice requests you personally, well that is a great thing." Seth tried to promote.

"I would be performing in front of the President." I paused. "The President!"

"Well, he is the outgoing President so you would have a different President come next month…if that helps." Seth jested.

"He's still the president!" I all but half screamed.

"Bella, I understand that this is a lot of pressure but like I said this is a great opportunity and I truly believe especially after last night's performance that you would be a perfect person for the job. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of time to decide. The show is taping on December seventh."

Once again I interrupted Stefan. "December seventh?!" I began pacing. "But that's like next week! I thought the show was like the last week of December?"

"No it airs the last week of December; it tapes the first week of December." Seth clarified.

Suddenly everything around me ceased to have any importance. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Edward had arrived. He came down every once in a while to support me and usually I didn't like having him on set with me because it would make me nervous but today I welcomed it.

"When's the latest you would need to know by?" I asked never taking my eyes off Edward approaching.

"Today. You would need to be in D.C. by next Wednesday. Ideally we would want you to start this Friday with learning the choreography. Since Babette did her fair share of Broadway, there is a lot of dancing involved." Stefan replied.

I sighed. "I'll give you my answer later today." I paused. "I really wish you would have waited to drop this bombshell on me after I got in a day of filming."

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Edward walked up and snaked an arm around my waist.

"Good Edward. Great performance last night. We were really impressed with Bella." Stefan said.

Edward laughed a little, "That's my girl."

"Well, we were just leaving. I know you have a lot to do today and a lot to think about. Bella, Edward." Stefan nodded to us and with Seth in tow they took leave.

I let off a big breath. Once again I had managed to find myself in a stressful situation but wasn't that something I expected when I decided to venture down this path. It was at that moment when I truly understood my life was changing drastically.

"What wrong? What did he mean a lot to think about?" Edward immediately started pushing.

"Edward, I need to get back to work. I can't focus on anything else right now or I may never finish this damn thing."

Edward pulled me back to him after I started to walk off.

"You can't take two minutes to tell me what's going on?"

"No. Because then you are going to want to sit here and dissect everything and I need to get to work." I said with a tad more authority. Edward looked down toward the ground. I think I may have hurt him with my brashness.

I sighed, "Edward, I'm sorry but it feels like I get one thing done and something else pops up. I know that this is a good thing but I'm kind of overwhelmed and unfortunately I don't know what to do. I know what I have to do and that is I need to start filming this video or else pretty soon we will be filming on Thanksgiving because I failed to get this show on the road. So can you please just hold off until we take break?"

"Okay." Edward nodded solemnly. "I'll see you on lunch break. Good luck today."

Edward turned around and walked away and I took a moment to watch his retreat. Part of me was already seeing what being a part of this industry did to relationships. We make fun of people's marriages or relationships breaking up in Hollywood but this was the first time I could see firsthand what the pressure did to cause it.

"Bella, everyone is ready for you." Emma broke me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head out of the fog I was in and smiled. "Well let's get this show on the road."

One thing I was starting to get really good at was being able to compartmentalize. As much as my mind wanted to redirect thoughts to the discussion earlier this morning, once I arrived on set and everyone was in place; I was able to shift all of my focus back to the task in front of me. I told myself that there would be plenty of time to worry about other things another time. I think it also helped to have the pressure of so many people relying on my direction that I couldn't allow anything else to take my attention away.

Renesmee was a little rocky at first; just like I was however I don't think she was as bad as I was in the beginning. I found that after a couple of takes it was good to play back what we shot already so she could evaluate her performance and it was amazing to see the dramatic change in her after that.

The boys arrived around noon and still looked a tad bit tired from the previous night's events.

"You boys look like you're auditioning for the new zombie movie." I laughed.

"Where the hell did you run off to last night? We went to the after party and Embry told us that you weren't coming." Scott said.

"Well some of us have responsibilities." I chided.

"Well some of you need to get a life." Aaron taunted back.

"Well some of us will stop everything they're doing this moment and go and find a life." I threatened.

"All right calm down. We were only joking." Scott put a cease to our talks.

"There's someone I would like to introduce you to. Renesmee." I called after my new little protégé.

She came bopping over with far too much energy. Awe I remember when I used to have energy when I was younger.

"Guys, I would like you to meet Renesmee. Renesmee these are the guys." I announced.

Renesmee's cheeks became a tad rosy as gave a shy hello. The boys welcomed her loudly and I excused myself to go and speak to Carl about the next scene.

"What are you so smiley for?" Carl asked when he saw me approach.

"Awe, young love." I looked back over to the boys and Renesmee. "I think I might just be a matchmaker."

"Don't go patting yourself on the back yet. It's a horrible thing to be involved in someone else's love life. What's gonna happen when your little ménage a six doesn't work out?" Carl asked.

I stood there for a moment and my face quickly turned to disgust, I slapped Carl in the arm.

"I'm not expecting all six of them to hook up. Geez, Carl. Where did that dirty mind of yours go right now?"

Carl started to bark out a laugh as I quickly tried to shake any incoming images from my head.

"You're a freak." I teased.

"You have no idea." He kept laughing.

"Okay, I'm gonna just go over there now." I pointed towards the craft service table and walked away disturbed.

When it was time for lunch I knew I needed to seek out Edward. The boys wanted me to eat with them and Renesmee but I told them I had some important business to attend to first.

Edward was on the phone when I arrived at my trailer. His hair was all disheveled from what I imagined was from his hands constantly running through it. I could tell that whomever he was talking to it seemed like he was not pleased. In fact the moment I arrived he growled out, "Just fix it."

I promptly turned right back around. Retreating seemed like a good idea but he called after me.

"Bella." I stopped and hugged the door frame.

"I gotta go." And he hung up without even a goodbye.

"If this is a bad time…I could come back." I cringed gauging his face.

Edward sighed and flopped down in the chair placing his head in his hands. "No. I'm not upset with you. I'm just stressed."

Edward was rarely one to talk about his stress; I was a little thrown off by this. I mean I knew I was stressed but Edward always seemed put together a lot more than me.

"What's wrong?" I asked cautiously.

Edward shook his head a little, "I'm just trying to tie up loose ends. Don't worry about it." He looked up to me. "So…what's going on?"

I followed Edward's lead and plopped down in the chair across from him.

"Stefan and Seth were here this morning to discuss some things. They choose a release date for the albums…January thirteenth. Which is kind of sooner than I had imagined but whatever. And then they asked me to take over Tanya Denali's place for the Babette Brice tribute for the Kennedy Center awards."

Edward's face dramatically changed slowly. The stress between the eyes faded out and his mouth opened a little like the thought magically appeared into his brain after a moment.

"Sweetheart, that's…incredible. Congratulations."

I started rubbing my arm and looked down, "Well, I haven't agreed to accept. I told them I would think about it and give them my answer by the end of the day."

Edward picked himself up and came to sit down next to me. "I…" he paused and like he literally changed directions he continued on down a different path. "Why don't you make a list of pro's and con's? It may help you make the decision. If there are overwhelming reasons why you should or shouldn't do this then that can help you with this decision."

I sat there for a moment starting a mental list of pro's and con's, "What were you going to say before?"

Edward furrowed his brow and started to shake his head.

"Edward, you said I. I what?" I pushed.

He sighed. "I…I was going to give you my opinion but then I realized that you don't need my opinion. I have pushed you enough into things you may not have wanted to do and I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to be the cause for your stress and I see that happening more and more."

"It's not your fault; lately I've just been biting off more than I can chew. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I never get to see anyone anymore unless its for professional reasons and also to be quite honest…I just miss sleep. I feel like I haven't had a day in so long to just sleep. I blame my lack of sleep for my over commitment issues." I laughed.

"Hmm maybe your boyfriend had a valid suggestion on that whole napping idea." I narrowed my eyes at his taunting.

Edward jumped up from the couch and slapped his hands together. "Okay, here's what we are going to do. I am going to start jotting down a list of reasons why you should do this and I want you to give me a reason why you shouldn't do this."

"Why not the other way around?" I asked.

"If you wanted to do this; you would have said yes instantly. Clearly you have thoughts against it."

He had a fair made point.

"Number one. This is a prime opportunity to further your career. You can reach a lot of people by doing this performance." Edward started to write down career advancement.

"However, maybe a more seasoned artist could better represent Babette Brice as well as Warner Bros since this will be a tribute as well as a performance for the President of the United States." I posed.

"Just last night you were on Embry's case about not doing more to help promote his album. This would be great promotion and it would obviously help out the label." Edward remarked.

"True but seeing how I would be not only performing once again if front of a potentially large audience, I would also have to perform in front of the President himself. I don't think it would do well for my career or my label to blow chunks all over the stage. Secret service may think I was carrying a potentially dangerous contagion and they could deem me a threat."

Edward gave me a look.

"What? It could happen." I defended.

"Let's move on. If you were to do this performance you would have the prospect to meet the President you most likely voted for." Edward rolled his eyes; always trying to get me to slip up on my voting practices.

"It wouldn't matter if I voted for him; its still an honor just to meet a President."

"Bella, is all of your reasons for you not doing this because of the President?" Edward paused his writing.

I looked toward the window; I hadn't thought of that.

"Yes. I think it is." I replied quietly.

"Hmm, well this is a pickle." Edward remarked.

"Yeah, no kidding." I rolled my eyes.

"Would it help if I told you he was the outgoing President?"

"Edward." I reprimanded him. "Besides Seth already tried that."

"Okay would it help if I told you that the President has been known to nod off at these things and he probably wouldn't be watching you anyway?"

"Great, now I'm so boring I put the leader of the free world asleep?" I jokingly replied.

"How about…it would make your parents really proud?" Edward tried.

I sat there for a moment thinking of my rather politically divided parents. One was blue the other red. Edward knew all about their political opinions when he was on his campaign for President. I guess I shouldn't be a surprise that my dad and Edward favored the same candidate. My mom however made a scene at dinner stating they were all sheep. I tried to steer clear of any conversations regarding politics since it seems nothing good ever comes from it.

"Well my mom might be proud. My dad voted for the other guy."

"Bella, it wouldn't matter what party they were partial of. Every parent is honored when they say their child performed for the President."

"I guess. So what should I do?" I asked.

"I'm not the one to tell you that. I will say that whatever you decide to do; I will be here. I will be here in whatever capacity you need me in. I just want you to really think about all sides of this and be sure you can live with whatever you choose. I would hate to see you regret something."

And there it was. Edward's advice. I loved Edward but even though he was all for this new kind of relationship; telling me that he wouldn't give his opinion on things he always managed to sneak in his true feelings. It's not like I didn't know what he wanted me to choose and it did help tilt the scale in his favor.

I went back to work hoping that our little talk would give Edward some peace of mind. He seemed a tad bit high-strung when I came into the trailer and I couldn't help but think it was because of me.

I was walking down to set and I saw Matthew sitting on some rocks away from his fellow band mates. They all seemed to be entertaining Renesmee.

"Hey, whatcha doin?" I asked.

"Hey Bella. Not much just drawing some things." He replied.

"You draw?"

"Well, I just like doing it in my spare time. It helps me relax." He noted.

"That's so cool. Can I see?" I asked.

"Um…well I guess." He nervously brought his notepad up to me.

"This is really good, Matthew. I mean that." I said amazed. He had managed to draw the scene before us of the other guys sitting around Renesmee entertaining her. But he did it in such a fashion that it looked kind of Van goghish.

"Thanks."

"I wish I had this talent. Drawing has never been a strong point for me." I admitted.

"Well, maybe you just need to work on it a little. Besides I think you have enough talent in other areas to carry you." He laughed.

"Hey, do you think you could draw something for me?" I asked suddenly inspired.

Matthew furrowed his brow, "Um…sure. What were you thinking?"

I took a seat down next to him upon a rock. "Seth has been on my case about coming up with a cover for the albums that are releasing. I was thinking since I don't relish the idea of having to do an awkward photo shoot maybe you could do some art work and that can be the albums covers. Do you think you'd be interested?"

"Bella, there are far more talented people who do that sort of thing. I don't know if I would be able to deliver something good enough."

"Matt, please will you think about it? I think you are very talented. You already know what the albums sound like. WMG is naming them Night and Day. You know me; who better then someone who knows me to create something like this?" I paused for a moment trying to gauge him. "Look, if you don't want to do it; I won't be upset but please just think about it."

I saw Emma approaching probably trying to get me back to work. I got up from the rock and dusted myself off.

"Everyone's ready." Emma said slightly out of breath.

"Just let me know." I said back to Matt before leaving. I never told him this but for some strange reason I decided to base my decision on the Kennedy Center Honors off of his decision on whether he would do my album covers. At the time I guess I just thought that if by some miracle Matt agreed to do the album covers and he were to tell me by seven o'clock that evening when I would make the deciding call; it was the universe's way of telling me to do the show.

The hours ticked by and as much as I was able to focus on the video a small part in the back of my mind still thought of the countdown to seven o'clock. I called wrap at 6:45 pm after thanking everyone for their hard work and telling them I would be seeing all their shining faces for the six am call time the next day.

Emma was standing on the side talking with Edward.

"Hey baby, how long do you need?" Edward asked.

"Um… a couple of minutes. I just need to make a phone call and then I'm ready to go." I pulled out my phone ready to call Seth and gracefully decline.

"Bella, Matt wanted me to give this to you." Emma said as she handed me a folder.

So close.

Tentatively I took the folder from her and started to open it.

"He said that it's just a start and then wanted me to tell you he was leaving to work on it." She explained.

Inside was the outline for two different covers and I was already falling in love with my decision to ask him for help.

"What is it?" Edward asked. I handed him the folder and shook my head. Edward looked confused as he looked down upon the sketch as my phone was dialing Seth Clearwater.

"Hello, this is Seth." He answered within two rings.

"I guess I'm your girl."

Edward looked up and after a moment his mouth spread to a proud smile.

AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I hope to update again later this week. Hope you enjoyed!