“Hmm?”
“You’ve been looking a bit off lately and I won’t ask the biggest question because I have a feeling, you’d smack me upside the head, so I’ll go on to the next subject…Penelope?”
“However, would you have guessed?” she drawled in a fake southern accent as she laughed. “The woman simply doesn’t get the hint. We had that business dinner last weekend with some investors, and she was draped all over him again. Touching his arm, standing too close, whispering in his ear…she’s lucky the only thing I did was get Ty to take me home early.”
“Do I get the feeling the claws are about to come out?”
“Very possibly and it’s not that I’m jealous because I know Ty, he would never sleep with her, but she just won’t give up. I don’t want my entire life story out there and she’s likely to uncover it if she doesn’t back off,” she sighed.
“What story would that be Bella?” he asked gently. “The one where your parents…your biological parents can’t stand what you do or that your sisters are bitches, or is it something else you’re hiding?”
“Why would you think that?” she asked shading her eyes as she peered at him over her teacup.
“Come on Bella, there’s a reason why you insist on visiting the clinic every week. Why you tensed the first time we tried to shoot the love scene. What’s the real story Bella?”
“Nothing that I’ll discuss around here, too many ears even if they aren’t really paying attention to us.”
“Then let’s take a walk,” he suggested holding out his hand to her.
She hesitated for a moment, should she tell him the truth or a version of it? The look in his eyes had her putting her hand in his as he helped her up and into her coat. They walked silently for a bit until they came to a place near Times Square where she could see her billboard, the new Christmas ad would be put up in its place in a few weeks and she stared at it. The differences in it and the first one she’d stood in this spot staring at for hours were noticeable, at least to her.
“Bella, what’s going through your head right now?”
“See that spot up there,” she said nodding towards her picture. “I was sixteen when the first one went up, Black Friday for the kickoff to the Christmas season. I’m the only person whose picture has ever been up there since.”
“Almost thirteen years, right?” he questioned.
“Yeah…I’ve been with the Angels brand since I was fourteen. I contracted with them just before my life went to hell. I’d barely been on the scene for a year, but I was in high demand. I had bookings all over the world and the Remsens…they were horrible. When I say they’re not my family I’m not kidding around, Quinn.”
“I’ve heard rumors that they don’t approve of your modeling.”
“The day I told them I’d landed a spot at the top modeling agency in the city they said if I walked out the door to live a life like that, I wasn’t welcome back under their roof. I spent two years living here and there while I worked, usually crashing with other models or at Mandy’s; I was independent by then…had control over my finances and asked Steven to look out for my money because what the hell did I know about it when I was thirteen?”
“You were smart enough to turn to someone who could help.”
“Steven was a bit hesitant to do it at first, but I think Ty is the one who really pushed for him to help. He was nineteen when I started out and he made sure that no one messed with me whenever I was out with him. We kept things quiet regarding our history because I was thirteen when I started modeling and he was nineteen and…”
“A thirteen-year-old hanging out with a nineteen-year-old seems a bit odd?” Quinn offered.
“Completely; I bought my apartment when I was fifteen, finished my high school equivalency when I was sixteen, college when I was nineteen and then settled down here for the two years while I did my masters.”
“I know all of that Bella, but why do you visit the clinic every week? I’ve seen you eat, there’s no way you can be anorexic.”
“I’m not. I’m not bulimic either and I’ve never been either. The clinic’s mine. I opened it after a friend of mine, Veronica, died of anorexia. She refused to admit she needed help and the reason I’ve been visiting it since this summer is because I’m trying to keep the same thing from happening to Rebecca. She can have an amazing career if she’d just listen to someone. She’s been in and out twice now and I’m afraid if she doesn’t listen this time, she won’t have another chance.”
“Wow…why not just tell the world that? Why keep it to yourself that you’re trying to help someone else?”
“Because then they’d be looking at the other things I donate to and wondering why I do it. Why I donated the second half of the money we got for the wedding photos to the New Hope Shelter,” she said hesitantly glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on the conversation.
“New Hope…that’s…a…”
“Rape and Abuse crisis center for teens; it’s also mine too,” she admitted glancing away.
“You were…”
“When I was fourteen,” she said quietly with a nod. “I’d come back from a shoot and the girls wanted me to join them at a club. I wasn’t drinking or doing drugs, but someone slipped a mixture of stuff into my water and…I blacked out. When I came to, I was in the hospital with Mandy.”
“Jesus Bella, did they find the guy?” he asked stepping closer towards her as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.