Chapter 5
Bella followed Keira, JC, and Chris out of the TRL studios and smiled when she thought about their success. Her idea had paid off, they were now in the company of JC and surprise guest Chris. They stopped at the elevator and waited for it to come.
"You guys are nuts." JC laughed.
"What?" Keira smiled.
"I can't believe you didn't just call me and let me know you wanted to come with me. Instead you dress up as crazy fans and freeze outside." JC shook his head. "It was a good idea though."
"And you missy, can't afford to get sick with your big performance coming up this weekend." Chris said shaking a finger at Bella.
"Yes Father, sorry sir." Bella said lowering her head.
"Here take this." Chris said taking off the sweatshirt he had under his coat.
Bella blushed when she saw his undershirt ride up revealing his stomach. She looked away and waited for him to finish.
"Here." he said handing her the shirt.
Bella held it in her hands for a few moments then slipped it on over her head and subconciously inhaled deeply his scent. It was warm and it could be described as nothing but pure masculine. She felt butterflies in her stomach when she thought about it, but quickly reprimanded herself.
"Cute," Keira commented who was wearing a sweatshirt of JC's.
"You too." Bella smiled. "So where are we going now ?"
They all stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close. They chose the lobby and JC turned to them.
"I have a few more stops, and dinner is at 7:30. I'd like to treat you ladies to a spa treatment if you'd let me. Since we're going out tonight, I figured you could go do fun things while we go do interviews. You can go shopping for an outfit, get your hair done all of that fun stuff." JC offered.
"Sounds fun." Keira smiled.
"I don't know--" Bella answered hesitantly.
"Come on Bella, it'll be fun." Keira nudged her friend.
"That's kind of expensive isn't it? I don't want to be a burdeon to anyone." Bella said.
"It's fine." JC assured her.
"I'll pay for you." Chris offered. "I'd love to."
Bella didnt know why it sounded so much more appealing when Chris offered, but she found herself accepting and then they were out the door back out into the cold.
"Are you cold?" Chris asked her.
Bella couldn't help but shiver, she was used to wearing a thick coat in the cold and this sweatshirt wasn't really doing much. She just shrugged and kept on walking.
"Come here." Chris said bringing her closer, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side.
Bella was instantly warmer. What was it that was making her warm, Chris's heat, or the mere fact that it was Chris holding her close.
They all got into the car and drove to a nearby spa and dropped the ladies off, where they would get facials, manicures, pedicures, and makeovers. They decided the easiest thing to do was to have dresses brought in, so they'd be getting their dresses there too. The guys would pick them up after they were all done and they'd go to they're dinner and a movie.
"This is too much." Bella said before Chris left.
"No it's not, come on Bella, you deserve it." Chris said looking her in the eyes.
"I--"
Chris stopped her from speaking by putting a finger on her mouth. "You're going to go with Keira and have a girly time and then we're going to go to a beautiful restaurant and then we're going to a wonderful broadway show. So smile, and go inside, and have fun."
"Thanks Chris." Bella smiled and relaxed.
"You're welcome." Chris said hugging her briefly and dropped a soft kiss on her cheek before pulling away. "See ya beautiful."
"Chris." Bella wrinkled her eyebrows at that nickname.
"Come on Bella." Keira called who was waiting for her by the door.
Bella had no choice but to go inside with Keira, so she turned and walked to the door.
"What's that about?" Keira asked holding the door open for her.
Bella just shrugged and walked in.
"You and Chris would do good together."
The next few hours went really fast for the two girls. They really enjoyed themselves, and the dresses that they picked suited them both perfectly. By the time all was said and done they were both tranformed.
Bella looked at herself in the mirror and gasped, she didn't look anything like herself. Her hair was curled and piled high onto her head with a few tendrils that remained down they had sprayed glitter all over her head so her hair literally sparkled. The dress she wore was a deep wine color that fell down to her knees working well with her height, and the color matched perfectly with her pale skin.
"You look beautiful," Keira gasped when she saw Bellas final results. "Chris is going to freak."
"You look gorgeous yourself, and if JC doesn't notice this, I will smack him upside the head." Bella smiled hugging her friend.
"You're not going to cry are you?" Keira asked knowing Bella was getting emotional.
"Not yet." Bella shook her head and laughed.
"Good. What time is it?" Keira asked.
Bella looked around for a clock and gasped when she saw the time. "It's 7:00."
"They should be here any minute, it takes at least twenty minutes to get there." Keira said.
Bella nodded and breathed in deeply trying to calm her nerves. She had no idea why she was so nervous. It was just Chris, they were only friends. She took one last look in the mirror and it was then that she heard their voices.
"They're here." Keira whispered.
Bella could only nod her head, this was it. What was his reaction going to be, why did she care about his reaction?
Keira was the first one to descend the steps and was met by JC at the bottom who looked very handsome in a tux.
"You look beautiful." JC said leaning in to kiss her cheek softly.
"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself." Keira blushed.
"Where's Bella?" Chris asked.
"She's a little nervous. She should be right down." Keira answered.
Chris felt his breath leave him when he saw Bella coming down the stairs toward him. She was the essence of beauty. His heart sped up as she neared the bottom of the stairs.
Bella was trying to remember to breathe when she walked out where she could be seen. She could see Chris looking up at her, him looking very handsome in his tux didn't help the situation any. She made it down to the last few stairs when one of her heels caught on the carpet. She saw the ground coming to meet her, but the ground never came. Instead a pair of strong arms were there to catch her fall.
Bella regained her balance and looked her rescuer in the eye and smiled. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. You look absolutely breathtaking." he whispered.
"You shine up pretty well yourself sir." she smiled at him.
"Are you two ready to go? We have reservations at 7:30." JC interrupted them.
"Yes, sorry." Bella nodded.
"Alright, let's go." JC said.
Bella took the elbow that Chris offered her and followed JC and Keira to the limo that was waiting for them.
The ride was really quiet as they all basically looked out the window and just enjoyed the presence of each other.
"So how did your day go?" Keira asked JC, breaking the silence.
"It was alright. It wasn't as good as TRL though. You guys really made it fun." JC smiled at Keira.
"It really was all Bella's idea. But I'm definatly glad we did it. Thanks for the pampering earlier, it was really nice." Keira smiled.
"You're welcome, you deserve a little pampering now and then." JC smiled down at her.
"Yes, thank you, it was very lovely." Bella looked over at Chris.
"You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed youreslf." Chris nodded.
"So have you guys ever been to Alasse before?" JC asked the two girls.
"Nope." Bella shook her head as did Keira.
"It's a really nice place. I was there once." Chris answered.
"We don't really get out much with school and work. Plus with my acting, it's really hard to have time to do anything." Bella sighed wistfully.
"But it's totally worth it." Keira added.
"Oh yeah. This has always been my dream." Bella nodded.
They paused they're conversation for a few minutes as they went inside.
Chris was right, the place was absolutely gorgeous, the waiter took them to their seats and Bella couldn't believe she was here. It reminded her of one of the rooms in the castle back at home. It was very elegant and had a deep rich spiritual feeling about it. The lights were dim and each table had its own set of candles making everything much more intimate.
"Can I get you folks anything to drink to start off?" their waiter asked.
They ordered a bottle of white wine at the suggestion of Jean, they're waiter. He came back shortly and they had a few more minutes to decide what to eat.
Bella had already decided she was going to get the broiled chicken and a salad. After they'd all decided what they wanted and ordered they picked up their conversation where it left off.
"So what were you saying was your dream Bella?" JC asked after the waiter had left.
"My dream was always to come to America and go to school for acting. It's been my dream since I was a little girl. After I graduate I hope to get a part on broadway. Even if it's a really small part I don't care, I just love being on stage." Bella explained with a sparkle in her eye that came only when she was talking about her acting.
"Why did you decide to get into acting?" Chris asked.
"It was something I could do where I didn't have to be myself. My parents never approved of it, thought I should stay in Kidron and get married and have kids. I haven't really talked to them in four years." Bella shrugged, feeling rather sad about her family.
"Sorry to hear." Chris said sympathetically.
"Oh well, my parents didnt understand me anyway." Bella shrugged trying to will away the tears.
"So how did you two end up roommates?" JC asked.
"We were first roomies in the dorms our freshman year and we liked each other and didn't want to have to worry about getting to know somebody else and trust them to live with and we got along good so we just moved into an apartment together. I've told you this story before." Keira poked him in the ribs.
"I know, I just wanted to hear it again." JC said looking at Bella who was smiling at him.
Bella knew JC had asked to change the subject so she could regain her composure and not start crying.
"Would you like to dance?" Chris asked Bella.
"Dance? where?" Bella asked.
"Over there." Chris pointed to the open space where the live orchestra was set up.
"Um, sure why not." Bella nodded standing up.
"All right." Chris said helping her.
"Care to join them?" JC asked Keira.
Keira wasnt about to say no so they all went onto the dance floor and danced.
"That's not somethin you see everyday." Keira nodded to Chris and Bella who were dancing.
"What do you mean?" JC asked looking at them.
"I don't mean anything bad or rude by this, but their height difference is funny. She's like alot taller than him."
"I see what you mean." JC nodded then turned his attention back to the beautiful woman in front of him.
"We're being stared at." Bella told Chris.
"So let them stare." Chris said not missing a beat.
Bella didn't say anything after that, she just lost hersel in Chris's eyes as he guided her around the dance floor. He was a really good dancer and she somewhere inside her she didnt want the dance to end, but to her dismay, it ended several minutes later.
"Come on, lets go back to our table." Chris said leading her back to their table.
Moments after they sat down their food came and they ate and talked a little more about life in general, then they were off to catch a Broadway play. The one they ended up going to was Phantom of the Opera. It was the only one that still had availability for the night and hadnt started yet.
Chris kept watching Bella throughout the whole thing and every time he looked at her, she was mouthing the words to the songs. She had a look of genuine happiness on her face. He felt himself falling and found himself surprised by it all, after all she was nearly ten years his junior.