Mastering Bella Ch. 10

Bella's eyes slowly fluttered open, "Come on baby rise and shine." Her mother said as she sat on the bed beside her. "You have slept half the day away and we want to spend some time together before you have to head back to the city."

"Just five more minutes," Bella murmured before rolling back over. A small stream of water hit her cheek. "I'm awake! I'm awake!" She sat up she scowled at the water pistol in her mother's hand and looked at the clock beside her bed. "Mum, it's not even seven o'clock." Another stream of water hit her and she squealed, "Okay okay I am getting up."

"Good, now have a proper shower and come down stairs for breakfast," Rosie smiled at her daughter still covered in golden glitter and looking like an angel, "It so good to have you home baby, let's enjoy it. Up, up, up."

Half an hour later Bella descended the stairs looking fresh and brighter than she felt. She held her hands held behind her back hiding her weapons. She walked into the back yard surprised that so little was left from the party the night before, only a few tables remained for those that had stayed and a large barbeque sizzled and popped as the catering staff cooked bacon, hash browns, eggs, pancakes and all the good things that made breakfast her favourite meal of the day.

Bella walked slowly toward her parents saying good morning to everyone as she went. Pulling her water pistols from behind her back she looked at them both and aimed her water pistols at them. Smiling sweetly she said, "That's a horrible way to wake someone up, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I am a grown woman." Her father pleaded innocence but Bella would have none of it. "I know it was your idea Dad." She grinned and pulled the triggers showing that the pistols were empty. "Next time you won't be so lucky," she smirked.

To much laughter she lowered the weapons and went to grab some food and juice. The morning seemed to go by quickly as people emerged from tents drawn by the smell of food and locals who had gone home the night before returned for breakfast. There was no sign of Mel, Kurt or Dianne yet and she tried not to be anxious about it as she joined the relaxed easy conversation at the table. Her Aunt and Uncle were staying a week and invited her to go back to Italy with them for a holiday when they returned. Her parents were enthusiastic but she only smiled "I don't know, I would have to discuss it with Mel," she paused before adding, "I do have a job now."

"Oh your father can speak to him, can't you Joe." Rosie said and a look of panic filled Bella's face.

"Rosie stop. It's Bella's decision. If she didn't work for a friend of ours she would have to discuss it with her boss on her own. It shows she is responsible. She is all grown up now as she keeps reminding us. Let her make her own decisions."

Rosie started to protest, but Joe ended the conversation with "Now, now my love..." and Rosie acquiesced.

The conversation ebbed and flowed around her and her thoughts turned inward focusing on Mel and what he might say to the request. She wished he was here to talk to. He had filled her world with his presence over the last few days and she felt strangely cast adrift without him close by. She chewed her lip once again becoming anxious about his absence until her mother interrupted thoughts by asking for help in the kitchen.

The kitchen benches were lined with almond biscotti and strawberry macaroons and on the table were cardboard sleeves that would fold into little boxes. Bella began making up small boxes and handed them to the other women to fill with treats to give the guests. Her mother and Aunt chattered around her as they worked, "You're such a good girl Bella. Your cousins never help their Mama," her Aunt lamented.

Bella laughed, "I just do what I am told because it saves the time I would spend arguing and giving in eventually anyway. It's very hard to say no to my mum... and get away with it."

"When she was a teenager, she argued all the time," Rosie nudged Lucia, "She wore all those black clothes and black make up. But I told her, 'What you do at home no one cares about, but what you do in public is something to be judged'." The women went off on another tangent about what young people thought was acceptable behaviour these days, while Bella fell silent thinking about what her mother said. Most people had a public and a private persona, why should she be any different.

Bella's constant daydreams of her Master were interrupted again as her Aunt spoke of Jim putting her arm around Bella's shoulder, "...like that silly boy last night drinking too much and saying bad things about our beautiful Bella. What you need is a nice man who will treat you like a princess not some silly boy who has learned no manners."

"Yes," Bella agreed, "but Jim was sweet to me in the beginning really. We have been together so long and I guess it was just easier to ignore his temper most of the time. I was never much of a party girl and he goes out drinking with his mates a lot so we didn't see each other so much since we graduated." She chewed her lip and thought of the man who wanted to spend his nights with her and her lips quirked in a half smile.

"What are you smiling at Bella?" her mother asked curiously.

"Just thinking about older men, some are very handsome don't you think? Like Daddy."

"You don't want someone old like your father. You are young and beautiful."

"Oh don't say that," her Aunt Lucia spoke up to Bella's surprise, "There is something to be said for age and experience. Lots of girls go for older men. All the better if he is rich too." Then she let out a peal of laughter.

The women were laughing listing off handsome movie stars who were their age and some of whom had young beautiful girlfriends or wives, Antonio Banderes, George Clooney, Andy Garcia and the list went on and on until Joe walked into the kitchen. "What are the three most beautiful women in the world doing in here?" he asked suspiciously as they fell silent.

"They are deciding on a sugar daddy for me, I think they have it narrowed down to John Cusack or Nicholas Cage, both of whom are married already or so I thought." Bella said with a giggle.

"A sugardaddy huh?" He winked at her. "I have heard worse ideas. It's definitely over with Jim then?" Bella nodded and her father smiled and put his arm around her shoulder, "Good."

"Come on ladies. Everyone is starting to leave. Lets get you back out there," Joe herded them out of the kitchen carrying the small pink boxes in arm loads.

Dianne and Kurt were sitting and laughing with the group as Bella walked back around the house and she smiled as she saw them looking around eagerly for her Master. He was sitting to the side of the group holding her phone. She had an overwhelming urge to go and kneel before him but instead she said to her mother, "Mel found my phone, I bet I left it in his car yesterday." Then she hurried over to him letting her mother play hostess again and sat on the edge of the seat beside him. "Good morning Mm... Mel." She said cheerfully, happy to see him.

Handing her the phone he said darkly, "You need to end it," and got up and walked away from her. She froze. He was mad at her and she felt her chest tighten in anxiety as she looked at her phone. There were so many messages and texts all from Jim.

She went through the texts first. Jim was apologetic in the earlier ones, then angry about the way she was treating him and how she had made him look like an arsehole. "You did that to yourself," she muttered under her breath. Chewing her lip, she dialled into her message bank and listened to similar messages of attrition followed by a rain of abuse as he received no answer from her during the early morning.

Her eyes filled with tears. She had always known he had had a temper but she had learned how to placate him throughout their relationship and she rarely saw it anymore. It was his own fault that he was asked to leave last night but she felt guilty over being aloof and ignoring his messages yesterday. She needed to tell him it was over, not because of Mel but because they had been growing slowly apart since graduating and entering the work force. She was never much of a party girl even at university and he was still went out every night almost with his mates, they hardly saw each other anymore. This was just the catalyst to end it once and for all.

She walked away from the group to call him and end it. She realised it was a mistake as soon as he picked up the phone on the first ring and she continued to walk around to the front of the house as his tirade started.

"It's about time," he snarled. "I came all the way back from the bay for you and you shove me down the back out of sight at your precious party and then complain when I drink a little. You think I am not good enough for your family. Don't you? You've always been a stuck up bitch."

He paused to take a breath, "No," she said quietly, "It's not like that at all."

"Tell me how it is then. Tell me why I should forgive you and take you back."

She was surprised by his question, and in the past would have immediately taken his cue and apologised. But she knew after this week, even if she chose not stay with Mel that Jim wasn't the one for her. "You shouldn't," Bella said. She could feel tears forming in her eyes while trying to make her voice sound confident.

Jim was silent he had expected her to beg him to take her back, not this. Bella spoke again, into the awful silence. "It's over Jim," she sounded stronger than she felt and she was glad he couldn't see her.

"You don't mean that. I know you, Bella. You will come crawling back. Who else would want you? No one wants a freaky little troll following them around like a stupid bitch," his voice hissed, "What would your uptight family think if they knew you begged me for sex, the rougher the better? What would they say if I told them you wanted me to spank you?"

"Leave me alone. I mean it, Jim." Her voice seemed shaky in her own ears as her confidence began to fail her, "It's over, we're done. Leave me and my family alone now, please." She hung up not wanting to hear his nastiness anymore.

Her phone buzzed in her hand ringing silently, she looked at it until it stopped ringing, she remembered that she had asked him to spank her once, and he gave it a half hearted attempt before telling her it did nothing for him and they went back to the regular blow job and quick fuck. That was hardly freaky. The phone buzzed again and again as she walked aimlessly, she blinked teary eyes trying to hold back the distress she felt when the buzzing stopped making her look down at the phone in her hand. A text message sprang up on the screen, "It's over when I say it's over, bitch. I will be there when you get home tonight, you stupid little cunt. You will regret this."

Taking a deep shuddering breath, she knew she was in trouble. She had seen him this angry on a couple of occasions and it had scared her. She had always gone out of her way to avoid his temper in the past by giving in to his demands and now he was beyond angry at her and she dissolved into tears. She knew she should tell Mel but she didn't want to face him right then. He seemed so distant and angry this morning so she went and sat in her favourite tree to decide what to do.

Jim was mad at her she understood that, but Mel was mad at her too and she did not know why. He had not even said hello to her. She could tell her parents she wanted to come home, find a job closer, start her post university grown up life all over again. 'What would they do if she told them she was scared to go back to her apartment, to the city and her job, to Jim and to Mel,' she thought grimly. 'She would be stuck back here in the middle of nowhere again. That's what would happen.' Bella grimaced. The trip to Italy with her Aunt and Uncle was looking like her only good option right then. She leaned back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes, wiping her tears on the hem of her dress. 'She could just fly off to Italy and start a whole new life there and forget all of this mess she had created.'

Her father appeared below the tree, "Come down Ellie. You're too old to be hiding in that old tree."

"I don't want to," she called back petulantly.

"Bella Rosaria! You come down right now. We were worried and people are looking for you." Her father voice was stern brooking no argument. "If you act like a child, I will treat you like one."

She began to climb down slowly and saw Mel appear beside her father as she hung from a low branch making her freeze, miss her footing and unceremoniously drop to the ground in a heap. "Now what's this about then?" He father helped her up noticing the red swollen red eyes and puffy face immediately.

Holding out the phone to him she showed the message. "I am worried about going back to my apartment tonight," as if needing more explanation for being in the tree she added quickly, "He has a key."

"We will get the locks changed then. You can organise that in the city can't you, Mel." Her father soothed as he wrapped her in a hug. "You can stay here tonight. I will drive you back tomorrow or the next day once this is sorted out."

"No," Mel said too quickly. "I don't think that is the answer," he continued as they turned to look at him. He considered them both with dark eyes before finally speaking, "Maybe we should just move her into one of the company apartments for a little while. Just to be safe. There is more security there and it will save any scenes if he seeks her out, later on."

"That's very generous of you Mel, but we couldn't ask you to do that," Joe began slowly, "It's probably best she stay home for a while out of his reach. You can spare her from work a few days surely."

"We have a lot on at the office this week Joe. I am not sure I can survive without her, she has made herself indispensable. There is an apartment in my building free at the moment. We usually only use it for out of town clients, so it's no imposition. We could have her moved in tonight. Just let me make a few phone calls and you won't have to do a thing."

"I don't know Mel. I would feel better if I could keep an eye on her myself. That would ease my mind a little. What do you think Ellie?" She nodded dumbly, shocked by the turn of events. Not giving Joe another chance to decline, Mel picked up his phone and walked away from them as he spoke.

"Everything will be fine Elliebellie. You don't have to go back today, and maybe its better you stay here at least one more night." He hugged her again and walked her back around the house to her mother, saying, "I will fill you in a moment, my love," before following Mel to discuss the situation further.

"I'm fine, Mum. Say bye to your friends properly. I am just going to go see Kurt and Dianne before they leave," Bella pulled from her mothers look of concern and vice like grip , wandering over to sit with her friends.

Kurt held his hand out for the phone, "May I? Mel has been brooding over you and this phone all morning. I don't think I have never seen him so obviously irritated."

Bella glanced up at her mother who having seen her sit and start chatting turn back to her own friends. "Mel seems really angry with me." Bella said quietly. Kurt took the phone and began to scroll through the texts.

"We stayed at Mel's place last night," Dianne cut into her thoughts, "He's been grumpy all morning, I don't think it's what you expect, sweetie. He has been talking with Jenny to settle things for the divorce."

Kurt chuckled as he handed her phone back, "That's one hell of a tantrum Jim's throwing, and how old did you say he was?" Bella blushed, "Your better off now believe me. Let Mel take care of it and you. What's he up to over there?"

"He is turning my world upside down again. I am a bit worried about going back to my apartment tonight. Jim has a key, so I think Mel is moving all my stuff to a new place. Just like that, like it's something you do every day. I think I will have to stay here tonight and come back to the city tomorrow."

Kurt was suddenly serious. "Best to take no chances with an ego like Jim's. They don't bruise well. Moving is a good idea, you should probably get a new phone too. I will just go see if I can help Mel out. We don't want anything happening to our little Bella."

Dianne smirked and added, "No we don't," as Kurt moved away. Looking at Bella Dianne lowered her voice, "And I don't think you will be allowed to stay here again tonight. Mel's been like a caged bear all morning while he and Jenny ironed out a few things for the divorce so he could have the papers drawn up straight away," she saw the surprise on Bella's face, and paused.

"It's just that he seems so mad at me this morning, and I don't know what I did so I can make it better." Bella whispered.

"Silly, I keep telling you none of us have ever seen him act this way. He adores you. Everyone can see it. Having you here where he can't show you how he feels or treat you the way he wants is killing him." She grinned, "I have known him a long time and I have never seen him concede so much to a girls needs. I doubt you will make it half an hour of the drive home before he reminds you who serves who." Dianne giggled as Bella blushed, the thought of him using her again without restraint made her squirm in both fear and anticipation. Then in a whisper Dianne murmured, "It nice to see him on the other side of the fence, wanting something he can't just take." Dianne let out a peal of laughter lifting Bella's mood.

Bella looked over to where the three men were talking and making calls. A smile played on her lips, and she knew each of them loved her in their own way and just wanted to keep her safe. Just sitting idly by worrying over what they were doing was only making her more anxious but she didn't know what to do. "I can't just sit here watching them totally upend my life." Bella looked sadly at Dianne.

"How about that tour you promised me last night?" Dianne suggested. "You need to go pack your things anyway."

"Okay," Bella looked over at the small group of men again, "but I still think my Dad will want me stay home tonight."

"Want to bet." Dianne grinned, "Just let me go tell the overlords so they don't worry again and you can show me around."

They finished the tour in Bella's bedroom so she could repack her costume and bag, Dianne hugged her. "Everything will be alright you know. Mel wouldn't let any harm come to you," laughing merrily she added, "that he didn't design himself of course. I am so glad Mel brought you into our world. It's like having the cool little sister I always wanted."

Bella hugged her back, "I think that is what Mel had in mind all along. I have begun to realise that everything this week was done for a reason, even the way I became his slave," her mind dwelt on the game for a moment before she let go of the hug and continued, "and he couldn't have picked a better friend for me. You are amazing in how you help me," Bella chewed her lip and murmured, "I don't think he planned on Jim happening this weekend, though."

"I doubt it and that probably explains his mood earlier. He's dealt with arseholes like Jim before though. He's helped a few girls I know out of bad relationships. There are rules in our world about being safe and sane, but you will learn about that soon enough. It won't change how he feels about you though sweetie and I doubt very highly he will leave you here with your parents tonight. "

"He wants answers tomorrow." Bella sighed heavily.

Dianne looked at her concerned, "Answers about what?"

"Whether I will stay with Mel as his slave or leave him and all he has given me," Bella paused. "The company, my new friends... I would be walking away from everything and everybody, not just him."