New Life

"So?" Ben asked in an excited voice when he was finally left alone with Bella.

Their father had led Heather to the inner office to comfort her since she was still pretty much upset about Bella moving out, even though she had been acting like she wanted nothing to do with Bella the whole time. She was her mother, after all.

"So what?" Bella asked distractedly as she took out her phone to call Joan. She was very certain Joan would be dying to hear from her to know how it went.

Since the Chauffeur, Zach had been stubborn enough to want to wait for her; she was going to make him regret his decision so that the next time she told him to leave, he would do so without thinking twice.

"Come on, Bell, tell me how the interview went. What did seeing him in person feel like?" Ben asked, moving closer to Bella to snatch her phone from her grip since it was obvious she wasn't paying any attention to him but to her phone.

Bella glared at him irritably as she stretched out her hand to him, "Hand it over!" She said in a low voice.

"I will as soon as you tell me what I want to hear. You haven't even thanked me for helping you get the job yet," Ben complained as he slipped her phone into his pocket and stood in front of her with both hands folded across his chest.

Bella took a deep breath and mentally counted one to ten in an attempt to calm herself, knowing that if she didn't answer Ben calmly, he was likely going to hold on to her phone, and then they would probably have a fight over it.

"You know I'm grateful you helped me get the job. I only wanted to give Joan a call before leaving. The driver is still waiting for me around the corner," Bella explained in a somewhat impatient voice.

"Really? You have your own personal driver already?" Ben asked, looking outside the restaurant door to see if he could get a glimpse of the car while Bella simply rolled her eyes at his back.

"What? You suddenly decided you want the job for yourself?" She asked dryly, making him chuckle.

"Tell me about Dan Williams. How cool is he?" Ben asked, returning to place his hands over her shoulder while Bella shrugged it off and moved away from him.

"I don't think there is anything cool about that arrogant prick. I have no idea what you all see in him," Bella said, and her lips turned slightly downward to indicate her disapproval.

"You should watch what you say about him. He is your boss now, and you can't afford to bad-mouth him. Why do you feel that way about him anyway? Did he do something?" Ben asked, eyeing her with curiosity, but she simply shrugged.

"I don't just like him naturally," There was no way she was going to tell Ben that she had passed the night with him before, and there was absolutely no way she was going to admit to Joan that Dan was the guy she had told her about either.

"I'm sure by the time you work with him for a while and see some of his movies. You'll come back singing his praises," Ben assured her, but she simply snorted.

"I don't think so."

They both stood up quickly and turned to face their parents when they came out of the office, "I guess you're leaving soon?" Her mother asked without looking into her face.

Bella took one look at her mother's sad face and walked over to give her a hug, "Come on, mom; It's not like I'm relocating to a different country or suffering from a terminal disease of some sort. I'm above Twenty, and leaving the house was bound to happen sooner or later," Bella said in a soft voice. 

They all knew her mother loved her just as much as she loved Ben and that the only reason they were both always at loggerheads was because her mother wanted her to be more feminine.

"Promise me you won't go for that gender reassignment surgery before the next time I see you," Her mother said with teary eyes.

"I'm not sure I will have the time to go for it. So don't worry about that. You can relax for the time being," Bella said with a smile as she kissed her mother's forehead before pulling away.

"I guess we should see you off," Her mother said with a wobbly smile.

"Nah, you don't have to. I don't want to see you cry. I don't like seeing you this way," Bella said before turning to hug her dad.

"Be a good tomboy," Her father said with a chuckle, making her giggle as she turned to leave while her mother shot him a glare.

"You're the reason she turned out this way. You should be asking her to be a good girl," Heather scolded her husband as she walked over to hit his arm.

"Tell her that yourself," He told her with a grin as he pulled her in for a hug, "She will be fine. You really should relax," He told her quietly, holding her from behind as they watched her leave.

"Bye! I love you both," Bella said, blowing them a kiss as she walked through the door with Ben.

"Well, that went well, didn't it?" Bella asked with a grin, turning to look into Ben's face.

"Yeah, it sure did. All thanks to me for saving the day. Just remember that you owe me," Ben said with a grin.

"I should have known you don't do things for free. So what do you want me to get you? A girlfriend?"

"I'll think about it and let you know. You can't forget to call or text me if you have any problem, okay?" Ben asked, ruffling her hair.

"Quit doing that!" She said, punching his side, before stretching out her hand for her phone,

"You can leave now. I don't want the driver to see you with me," Bella said as she stopped by an alley to wear her wig.

"You'll be fine, right?" Ben asked with a concerned frown making her scowl at him.

"Don't go all brotherly on me right now. I'm okay. Just hand over my phone and leave," She told him impatiently.

Ben handed her the phone reluctantly and pulled her close for a hug. "I'll miss having your lazy ass around the house. Make sure you're fine and take care of yourself," Ben said and quickly turned to leave so she wouldn't see his teary eyes.

"You're such a crybaby!" She called after him and hurried out to meet Zach. She couldn't wait to start her new life.