Chapter Three
He stalked into the room, straight up to the director, his arms moving angrily.
Edward Cullen hated to be late.
"It's fine, Edward, don't worry about it." Sam turned his gaze on Waylon. "It wasn't your fault. Let's just get a quick reading done and then we'll begin. Is that okay with you?"
"Fine," he replied tersely, ripping his script from Waylon's outstretched hands.
"Are you acquainted with Isabella Swan, your leading lady?" Sam waved his hand in Bella's direction, indicating that Edward should speak to her. He walked off, toward the lighting operative.
Edward looked up from his script and over at the petite brunette, standing off to the side, with Jacob Black hovering by her elbow, acting as her bodyguard. She looked nervous, terrified in fact. Edward felt his chest swell with pride. Women often lost themselves in his presence, no matter how professional they were.
He made his way toward her, stopping directly in front of her.
Bella looked up and smiled shyly before looking back down again, glancing to his script which had notations penciled in, in cursive. She looked to hers next, nothing but the printed words showing. She felt smaller than she had all day. Maybe she wasn't ready for this. She didn't have any idea what she was doing.
"So, have we met before? I'm not so good with faces." He shrugged like it didn't matter to him if he could put a face to a name.
"Actually, we have."
"Oh, yeah?" She had his interest now. "When and where?"
"At your premieres for Beneath my Wings and Framed."
His brow furrowed and he tilted his head to the side as if trying to place her.
"I don't remember you," he stated bluntly.
"Well, you wouldn't, I was on the other side of the barrier."
"Wait? You're a fan?" he scoffed, looking down at her with disdain. He was tall, towering over her and at least a head taller than Jacob too.
"Well, yes, I guess you could say that…" He cut her off before she could continue.
"A bloody fan? How the hell did you get this role? Did you win it in a contest?"
"Oh really?" She asked, voice rising slightly, to match his pitch. "Is it really that impossible that someone other than you could be talented enough to get a lucky break? I haven't forgotten where you came from Edward Cullen and neither has the rest of the world."
He took a step back from her, his jaw slack as he stared at her in disbelief, looking like she'd just slapped him. Hard.
It was no secret that Edward had come from a broken home, being passed from parent to parent until finally they decided they just didn't want him and he ended up in foster care. It was there that he found his love for acting, during the yearly performance the children's home put on. He got a part time job cleaning the stage at a local theater, finally plucking up the courage to audition. He'd been lucky. One of the city's top casting directors had been to one of his shows and had set him up with an agent and supporting actor in what turned out to be a smash hit and the start of his career.
It wasn't the fact that the girl had known that about him, that had him so shocked. As she'd stated, the whole world knew. What stunned him the most was that this meek and timid young woman had the balls to give as good as she got.
"It's all very well and good saying you've got talent but I'll believe it when I see it." He turned to walk away, calling over his shoulder.
"You'd better not ruin this movie. Yours isn't the only career at stake."
"Ass," she muttered under her breath, to his retreating form.