I don't own twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and plot of the story.
A huge thank you to my beta Madmooey18 for putting in the effort and helping me make this story what it is.
Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen attached at the hip as they attend the Off to the Races premiere.
Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen attended the Off to the Races premiere. Despite walking the red carpet separately, they sat beside each other in the theater and were attached at the hip in the after party as they mingled with everyone there. The couple sparked dating rumors only less than a month ago when Cullen was pictured helping Swan exit from a vehicle. A week before, close sources confirmed that Isabella visited Edward in his office of the Cullen Enterprises in downtown Manhattan. Despite reaching out to both camps, neither party confirmed or denied the news, but sources close to the couple assist to the fact that they are pretty close. That said, the sources aren't claiming that this relationship is serious. The source states, "Isabella's first priority is her children and any relationship comes secondary to that. Edward and her are getting to know each other and seeing where this goes."
Bella closes the tab she is reading the article in and throws her mobile phone on the couch before getting up and going to the kitchen to make coffee for herself. It has been two days since she went with Edward to the premiere, and so far, five gossip magazines have picked up the news. Surprisingly, she is okay with what they are doing. She has too much fun hanging out with Edward to feel like she is pretending to be interested in him. If she closes her eyes long enough, she can pretend that they are dating. She shakes her head as the thought enters her mind. She has no business pretending to be with him. She is better off single. She prefers being single. She is happier being single. As she repeats those thoughts in her head, she hears her phone ring. She leaves her coffee on the counter and goes to get it before it goes to voicemail.
She picks it up and looks at the caller ID and finds Tim's name which makes her roll her eyes and plaster a fake smile on her face before answering, "Hello Tim. How may I help you?"
"Hey Bella. How are you doing?" Tim greets her in a sweet voice that automatically puts her on edge.
"I'm doing good. Just like I was two days ago," she replies in a neutral tone.
"Oh yeah. It was nice running into you although we didn't get to talk," Tim replies. She frowns at that. They did talk and he was a total asshole to her.
Did he have amnesia?
"Well, we are talking now," Bella replies lamely when she finds herself at a loss of words.
"Yeah, about that. I am actually calling you for a reason," he tells her, sounding apprehensive and unsure.
"What is it?" Bella asks curiously as she picks up her coffee and goes to sit on one of the couches.
"Can you come to my studio?" he asks.
"What for?" Bella asks him. She isn't interested, but he is Edward's friend and she doesn't want to put him in a tough spot, so she asks nicely even though she has no intention of going.
"There is an offer I have for you that I think you will be interested in," he explains.
That piques Bella's interest and she asks him, "What is it?"
"Let's have coffee and I will tell you all about it," he tells her instead.
Bella isn't stupid to think that Tim is trustworthy, but Tim isn't stupid. He wouldn't cross the bro code which means that he would never flirt with his friend's girlfriend. Plus, she can send both Edward and Seth the location to stay on the safe side.
"Send me the studio's location," she tells him quietly.
She quickly changes into a short asymmetrical black leather skirt, black long sleeved blouse underneath, and black ankle length pointy boots before she tells Seth to take care of Peter and get Adam from the school. She also sends him the location. She shrugs into a white coat then leaves, and before she knows it she finds herself sending the location to Edward alongside a message asking him to come and get her in an hour, before she rings the bell.
After a minute, the door swings open and Tim greets her in the doorway, "Bella, please come in." She smiles at him then steps into the studio. The space is somewhat messy with filming equipment scattered around the space. She spots a leather couch in the middle of the open space and makes a b-line to it and then plops herself down before she leans back and stares at Tim in silence.
"What would you like? Tea? Coffee? Coke?" he asks her from the doorway of the small kitchenette. She notices then that Tim is wearing all black. It's almost like they match if not for the white coat she has on.
"What is your offer?" she asks instead.
"Tell me what you would like to have first and then we can get down to business," he probes, leaning against the frame of the door near the kitchenette.
She raises an eyebrow at him and he shrugs in return. "Tea," she finally answers after a moment.
"Green, black, peppermint, white?"
"Peppermint," she cuts him off.
He nods his head and gets to work.
"So, I'm drinking the tea. What is the offer?" she politely asks him, holding her mug of tea with both hands.
"I have a role for you," he tells her.
"I didn't know you were directing another music video?" she inquires. She isn't sure if she wants to do another music video. Although another one will give her cash and boost her image, but, will a second one make her too expensive for the people who hire her? She doesn't want to risk boosting her image without boosting her caliber
"No, it's a short," he replies.
"A short?" she asks him, not sure what he means.
"A short film, Bella. I am directing a short film and I want you to play one of the characters," he tells her then he bends sideways to pick a bag on the ground and takes a folder out of it and hands it to her.
"What's this?" she asks as she slowly takes the folder from him.
I am not an actress. Why does he want me to act?
Maybe it's a prank and he wants to humiliate you.
"It's the script of the short. Your character's name is Donna."
"But I am not an actress," she tells him slowly.
"Believe it or not, Bella, you are pretty good at acting for someone who isn't an actress," he tells her leaning back.
"I'm not an actress," she repeats pausing for a second before she continues, "I don't know how to act."
He leans forward and places his hand on her knees before he tells her, "Your high school teacher didn't just call me. She sent me tapes of your acting. If that was what your high school teacher could get you to do at 16, I can't imagine what you will do with daily training from an acting coach."
She glares at the hand he placed at her knee and he gets the message and removes it. She tries to make sense of what she is hearing. She doesn't want to act. She wants to model, and she doesn't care how good or bad she is at it, it's her only connection to her mum.
Tim claps his hands together and she remembers that she isn't alone before he tells her, "Why don't I tell you about the short," and then he launches into an explanation about it. He tells the story about two people who get stuck in an elevator together. Both of them are dealing with their own heartbreak, and both of them are trying to make life altering decisions. Their time in the elevator together leaves them as friends who have helped each other resolve their issues. She will be doing the role of Donna who is stuck in the elevator with Liam. The shooting will take place in three months. It will premiere three months after that at the Sundance film festival. He goes extensively about the location, and all of the other factors. His excitement is palatable, and by the end of it, Bella finds herself feeling as invested in the project as he is.
I still don't like him.
It's not a bad idea. The worst thing is failing. Would it really matter to you if acting doesn't work out?
I would be happy. I want to model. Acting isn't my thing.
With how things are, you won't be able to do modeling that much.
I don't trust him.
Neither do I, but I know that he won't be able to get away with anything. We are a low key psychopath after all.
"What makes you think that I am a right match for the role?" she finally asks him after a long period of silence.
"It's your vibe," he tells her, which prompts her to snort.
He is definitely on crack.
Tim continues, "Don't look at me like that, I know that what I said does not make much sense, but it was your vibe and energy during the shoot. I could tell throughout there were many moments that you wanted to scream cut and do your own thing. You like being in control and you have far more ideas about how a shoot should go than you give yourself credit for," he tells her then lights up a cigarette.
She raises one eyebrow before she sarcastically tells him, "Because as you know an actor does whatever comes to their mind."
He doesn't seem offended by her sarcasm as he replies, "Sure, you don't do whatever you want, but as an actor; you can approach the character however you like, you can make slight changes to the script, and how a character acts. A movie is a collaborative effort and an actor is one of the people collaborating, but as a model you are not. You are a glorified mannequin."
She quietly contemplated what he told her. A part of her agrees with him. She is a glorified mannequin and not one that is in much demand as it is. As an actress, she could yield some power and control that she doesn't have as a model which is the thing that bothers her the most about modeling. After the years she spent in Forks, she craves control and that is something modeling doesn't give her. On top of that, her career isn't in a great position to even control which campaigns she accepts and which ones she rejects.
"I can give you a week to think it through. I need to propose actors for the role by then to the producer," he tells her, cutting her inner turmoil.
"I can give you a decision in a week then I'll know," before she finishes speaking, she is cut off by the ringing of the door. She looks at the time on her mobile phone's lock screen.
Just in time.
Tim frowns as he speaks to himself out loud, "Did I have something I forgot?"
As he gets up to check the door, Bella stands up with him and tells him, "That is probably my ride. I asked Edward to come and get me in an hour, and as you know, your friend is punctual."
"Ohh," Tim mutters before he quietly walks to the door and opens it and then jovially greet Edward. "Edward, my friend. Bella was just telling me that you are giving her a ride. I would invite you inside but knowing you, you probably have more important things to do at one in the afternoon than to hang out with me."
Bella walks through the door and gives Edward a hug before she waves a goodbye at him and then hooks her elbow through Edward's and leads him to the elevator.
"What's that? I thought you don't like Tim?" he asks her in a low voice once Tim closes the door with the both of them facing the elevator and away from each other.
"I don't like him but he called to offer me a job that now I am not 100% sure I wanna say no to," she replies, her voice as low as his is.
"What is it?" he asks her.
"A role in a short film he is directing," she answers.
"I didn't know you were interested in acting," he whispered.
"I'm not," she whispers, using the same tone as his as she turns to face him while grinning.
"Then why are you considering it?"
"I figured if he is going to risk casting me then there might be something there worth exploring. I figured if I bomb, he won't get to direct a feature length anytime soon, and if I do well that will lead to a couple more paychecks down the line," she divulges.
He laughs at what she tells him and then lets her know, "You are evil. Now why don't you tell me why you asked me to come and get you?"
"I figured that you would want to know about the person who wants to get in my pants," she tells him shrugging.
He shakes his head then tells her, "Of course not. What are you talking about? He is a good friend."
She silently raises an eyebrow and watches as an internal monologue happens right in front of her. First it's disbelief, then it's denial. After that a moment of anger passes before it's back to denial.
"He wouldn't do that, he's a good friend," he finally tells her, shaking his head as if to rid it of impostering thoughts.
"Your innocence is adorable," she tells him while smirking as the elevator reaches their floor. She stands on her tip toes and kisses his cheek before she enters the elevator and leans back against the wall facing him. At the awestruck look on his face, Bella questions him, "Do you plan on coming in? I don't have all day," and then she winks at the end. Edward shakes his head before he quickly follows her.
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