I don't own twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and plot of the story.
Author's Note at the end.
She walks slowly to the elevator. She does not know what to do with what he just offered her.
This is blasmaphy.
Because what you did to Charlie is the work of an angel.
But this is sneaky.
Personally, I think it's smart. If you want to get successful, you better get used to doing sneaky things.
She walks out of the elevator and out of the building then hails a cab and instead of telling him her address, she finds herself telling him Phil's.
"So what is going on?" Phil asks as he hands her a cup of tea and settles opposite her with his own.
"Have I ever told you that I like what you did with the living room?" She asks ignoring his question as she looks around.
"Bella," he tells her in a warning tone.
"What makes you think that something is going on?" she asks after she takes a sip from her tea.
He looks at her from under his eyebrows and replies, "You despise people who show up without permission or an invitation. I can't imagine you becoming one of those people which means that something happened suddenly that you didn't have time to call in advance."
She looks down at the cup in her hands for a minute before she raises her eyes to meet his and tells him, "You know me too well."
"Your my daughter, maybe not biologically, but biology means shit," he tells her shrugging at the end.
They are both silent for a moment before Bella takes her mobile phone out of her pocket and looks for the website. "So this happened today," she tells him then hands him her phone.
He silently reads the article then looks at the pictures and once done asks her, "And you are telling me because you think I will have a problem with you dating?"
For a second she was nervous about his reaction but then she remembered that this was Phil. "Of course not. This isn't even true," she tells him with a bored expression on her face.
"You can't tell me you are angry at people speculating Bella. You know the industry better than that. You know that these things happen to anyone that is famous."
"I know that," she whispers quietly.
"Then what is the issue?" Phil probs gently. She is exceptionally quiet and subdued which is nothing like her. What Phil doesn't know is that after years of living with Charlie, that is the only way she knows how to operate. Especially if she is feeling vulnerable. If you make yourself as small as possible, you won't be noticed, was a lesson she learned while living with Charlie.
"The issue is that I went to talk to Edward," she mutters then pauses which prompts Phill to ask, "And?"
She looks around as she whispers, "He suggested that we play along with the rumors for publicity."
Phil nods his head and is quiet for a second before he tells her, "Are you afraid that he will damage your reputation or be nasty if you don't go along with his plan?"
Bella snorts at that and instantly replies, "Oh no, I am not worried about that. Edward is the male equivalent of a golden retriever. He is benevolent by nature."
"Then where is the problem?" he questions.
She opens her mouth and closes it looking for the right words before she tells him, "I don't find the idea quite repulsive, does that make me a terrible person?"
Phil tilts his head to the side and thinks over her question for a minute before he answers her, "No. It makes you someone that takes advantage of an exploitative business and plays them at their own game."
"Do you don't think it's sneaky?" she asks placing her empty cup on the coffee table.
"No," he tells her and then after a moment of silence continues, "Honestly Bella, they were bound to start going after you. The fact that they have held off this long is surprising."
Bella's confused expression makes Phil answer her silent question. "You are the daughter of Renee Swan who had quite the tragic and sudden death, somehow made it alive out of it, disappeared to live with your dad away from the limelight, and then years later returned to the limelight with two kids in tow that no one knows who their father is. You are quite the fertile ground for reporters to write stories about except that there is nothing to write about as your image makes people ask more questions than have answers. It's only normal for them to go after you. It wouldn't surprise me if every month they connect you to a different guy. At least if you lead them to believe that you and Edward are dating, they will have fewer new things to talk about."
"I don't think I will do it. If feels a but too much," she tells him as he leads her to the door.
"Now Bella, don't say that. Your mum would never do something that is too much," he tells her shaking his head.
She freezes in her place and then turns to face him and asks, "You mean to tell me that you and mum,", "Don't be ridiculous," he interrupts her rolling his eyes.
"Then what do you mean?" she asks standing in the doorway.
He kisses her forehead and then tells her, "Google Renee Swan and Tyler Brown," then closes the door behind her.
Once she reaches her place, Bella gets rid of Alice by promising to tell her the details later and puts the boys to sleep then gets down to researching. She looks up her mum's name with the phrase PR relationship. She gets websites that list her mum's relationships. Finally, she comes across a forum that seems to discuss the public perception of her mum's relationship. She skims through the debates and arguments until one comment catches her eye and hits the nail in the coffin.
The biggest giveaway that this relationship was PR isn't the constant mentioning of the other, it's not them being at each other's events, them walking every single red carpet together, the paparazzi pictures in which they are all over each other, how fast they got over each other despite dating for a long period of time, or the fact that both of them had projects to promote; it's the fact that there isn't a single picture of him with her daughter. There are candid paparazzi pictures capturing her daughter hanging out with the three other men Renee Swan dated for longer than six months. There isn't a single picture of Bella hanging out with Tyler Brown even though they dated for two years. Given that this is her second longest relationship after the one she had with Phil Dewyer, that is surprising. In that context, it would make total sense for her to not bring around her daughter a man that she knows for a fact isn't going to be a permanent fixture in her life.
She ponders what she just read and tries to remember if she ever met Tyler Brown. In her defence, she was six when they started dating and eight by the time they broke up. She comes up empty. She never met him, not to her knowledge.
She googles their names and clicks on their images together. To a stranger, the pictures might look normal, but she is no stranger. She knows her mum. The photos she sees hold some of the most awkward times she has ever seen her mum. Both real moments and pictures. She can't tell you exactly what is wrong with those pictures. It's not something she can put her finger on, it's the vibe and feeling she gets from the photo. They scream I want to be anywhere but here.
She googles pictures of her mum with other men she dates, even ones she was with for a month or two. Nope, there is zero awkwardness. It vanishes. Her mum is back to being the carefree drop-dead gorgeous woman she is.
She put her phone down and leans back on the couch contemplating what she just found out. Even if she was to ignore her intuition and other people's analysis, she can't ignore what Phil told her. Phil isn't a liar. He doesn't play games with her. Her mum must have told him the truth.
PR relationships make no sense. Her mum choosing to have one isn't even a web that she will attempt to untangle. Why choose to be known by the people you date? Why choose to be known by people you aren't even attached to? Can you trust that that person won't behave in a terrible way down the line? What will you do when everyone wants to know what you think? What if they choose to go off script? How will you deal with the fall out? The entire thing seems to be booby-trapped. How can you trust that the person you are fake dating has common sense?
The entire thing seems too hazardous. Or maybe now with the presence of social media, it's too hazardous? Back when social media wasn't a thing, the instances in which fans interacted with a celebrity were few and far between. The option for fucking up was marginal. With social media, the possibility for fucking up is exponential.
Enough already, I am having a headache. Screw thinking. This whole thing is stupid. It's not like you would ever go forward with it. Let's just go to sleep.
She gets off the couch and goes to her bedroom and lays her head on the pillow once she is done with her night routine. She has a dreamless peaceful sleep for as long as her alarm would let her.
Cursing herself in her head, she gets up and goes straight to the bathroom in less than five minutes, she has done her business, washed her hands then face, and is waiting for her cup of green tea to get ready. One thing she learned over time is that her stomach doesn't like coffee first thing in the morning and so green tea is her alternative, as it has enough caffeine in it to wake her up and it's kind to her stomach.
She runs on the treadmill and occasionally sips on her coffee until the thirty minutes are up and Adam greets her in the doorway of the exercise room. She ushers him forward and starts stretching with him for a couple of minutes. Once done, she reminds him where his uniform is and starts on his breakfast. After that, she showers and gets ready while Adam finishes his breakfast. Leaving Adam with his favorite cartoon, she gets Peter ready, so she can take him with her to drop Adam at his school and then visit the park.
"Hello," she answers Seth who just called her while watching Peter running on the grass.
She hears huffs and puffs before a voice stutters, "Bella help, I need help."
"Seth what is going on?" she asks alarmed standing up.
"I think I think I saw something I wasn't supposed to see at Billy's house," he stutters out of breath.
"Seth, where are you?" she asks trying to figure out what is going on.
"I am in the forest of La Push," he tells her then some rustling happens before she hears his voice clearer say, "I think I am in the clear. I am safe now."
"Seth what happened sweetie," she tells him softly trying to get something, anything out of him.
After some stutters, he tells her, "I was at Billy's place trying to pry information out of him as you told me to, he got very drunk and started talking about a video that should have gotten him everything Charlie had. I told him that he is full of shit and salty over Charlie choosing his daughter over him and then he got up and came back with a DVD with a video on it and made me watch it. It, it was awful Bella. I shouldn't have seen it. He is going to kill me over it." His words are cut off by his sobbing.
What the fuck did he see?
Now is not the time, I need to help him leave.
"Seth calm down," she orders sternly.
"I I, I can't. I am going to die," he whispers as she hears his heavy breathing through the line.
"No he won't find you," she tells him patiently.
"How?" he asks his voice shaking.
"Do you have your wallet on you?" she asks.
"Why do you ask that?" he asks sounding calmer.
"Just answer me and I will tell you why," she replies as she starts walking up the stairs toward her computer.
She hears some rustling before his voice comes through and he tells her, "Yes, I do."
"Does it have cash and your driver's license in it," she continues as she turns on her computer.
"Yeah, yeah, it does."
As she clicks away with the mouse of the computer, she tells him, "Stop the first cab you come across and let him drive you to the Seattle airport. By the time you reach, I will have your ticket booked."
He is silent for a moment before he asks her, "Where will I go?"
"To New York of course," she replies instantly.
"But it's expensive and how will I get a job or find a place? Bella I don't think that's a good idea. I won't be able to afford it," he tells her anxiously.
"Yes you will. You will live with me and work for me," she replies stubbornly as she finds the website of the airplane.
"Of course, thank you."
"Dont thank me. Stay alive," she replies gruffly. She hates when Seth shows her emotions. She doesn't know what to do with them.
"Okay, I will," he tells her and right as she decides to hang up, he asks her, "Can you afford to hire me?"
His question makes her pause for a second before she catches herself and quickly replies, "Of course, I can," knowing that now she is out of options.
I guess the decision was made for you. You know who you have to call.
She picks her phone and dials a number then gets up and starts walking down the stair as the phone rings five times beforeI goes straight to voice mail. When her next call goes to voice mail too, she sends him a message.
Is your offer still on the table?
Hello lovely people,
Does the ending count as a cliffhanger? I hope that you are enjoying what you have read so far. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I love Seth's character and have been waiting for me to formally bring him into the events of the chapter.
Please leave a comment in the review section. It could be your favorite part, thoughts, feeling, or even criticism. Any and every comment you leave is read and taken into consideration. Your comments motivate me to update faster, and help me grow as a writer.
Until my next update,
Stay Safe