chapter one
Autumn in the heart of New York city never felt sweeter for Bella Marshall. A frolicsome breeze sifted through but a slight crack in the limousine window sending Bella’s long auburn hair to sweep against her bare neck. With her eyelids closed, she could smell New York's street side vendors and listen to the sounds of locals and tourists bustling through the evening’s busy streets as the urgency of traffic provided quick pulls and abrupt stops. As comfortable as she was in the leather seat with her hand intertwined with the man of her dreams, a sense of anxiety danced within her stomach and chilled through the very tips of her naked fingers.
With a deep sigh Bella hushed her shoulders and opened her cobalt blue eyes. Twinkling city lights flickered brightly through the tinted windows and she turned her head to the man who made her heart skip a beat with just a glance, Dan Kelley. The faint glow of his cell phone cast a glow off his chiseled jawline. His intense brown eyes focused at whatever task may be at the hand of his office through the small device in his hand. Bella found it hard at times to compete with the electronic world when it came to Dan. There was always an email, Tweet, a client call, a Facebook post or an Insta-Whatever! But Bella had an understanding that this was part of Dan's package, and she would take all that he would give.
Dan was the epitome of Bella’s fantasy stemming from summer paperbacks and too many hopeless romantic movies. His height at 6’2” complimented Bella’s 5’7”. His structure claimed it's space with hours in the gym and his vocabulary struck rich with degrees and hard work from Yale. Yet with all of his accolades and future promise, he had chosen to spend three years simply with her.
Bella squeezed Dan's hand with the slightest of a guilty smile. He would be boarding yet another plane in eight hours headed thousands of miles away to China. He would be heading another pivotal meeting for his father's law firm, and all she could do was pray that the remaining hours they had together would take their time.
Dan’s father’s firm was the same firm that provided them the best of champagne selections during dinner at only the premier city spots, his posh apartment with only the most exquisite furnishings handmade on the East Coast and a life Bella had never imagined outside of her own. But with the perks came the weeks on end when Dan was away in another city or a country so far she wouldn't dare calculate the miles as it only tempted her current euphoria to entangle with sadness.
For now she would smile. For now she would cherish every breath, every glance and every touch she could steal. This evening would be in her thoughts to keep her warm during two weeks that the love of her life would be far away from her heart. Tonight she would mentally document all of his quirks in his laughs to reuse in the lonely moments ahead. He was all she could encumber and she was completely his.
The car service slowly came to a stop outside of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. The driver “Benton” as she had come to know him opened her door first before Dan followed. Finally closing whatever app he had been engrossed by, he smiled at Bella and extended his arm. “Shall we?”
Bella linked her arm in his as he guided them towards the entrance of the building. “What do you have up your sleeve Dan Kelley? I know of one restaurant in this building that I may have mentioned coming to, but I thought we were grabbing a quick bite tonight?”
Dan held the door open for Bella as her timeline for the evening in her mind was changing with each step.
“Well, I may have made a phone call here or there. I figured since this China trip was so unexpected and I just got back from a month in London, you deserve a little pampering.”
“You got us a reservation at Per Se?”
Dan nodded and Bella squeezed his arm as the two gathered inside the elevator and started towards the fourth floor. It was true, Per Se was on Bella’s bucket list of dining experiences as the reviews were outstanding, but there was a selfish nag inside her which wanted more alone time with Dan rather than the social theatrics of dining out at a fine restaurant. One thing Bella had learned being with Dan Kelley was that someone was always paying attention to even the little things.
Once outside of the elevator they were upon the grande blue doors of the restaurant. Dan held them open for Bella to enter and her eyes widened at the beautiful and precise decor.
“Wow, this is perfect Dan. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, you haven’t tried the wine.”
The hostess took their coats and led them to an intimate table with a stunning view of Central Park. Bella loved these embellished moments. She had always dreamed of falling in love with a handsome man who would take her on dates you only saw in movies. She felt like one of those starlets now. Gliding passed all of the women decked to the nines in their diamond studs as they drooled over Dan and scanned her with disapproving eyes. She didn’t care the slightest and instead beamed with pride.
As they sat Dan whispered something to the hostess and she glanced at Bella with a nod and swept herself away diligently. Dan reached across the table and took Bella’s hands in his. “Good?”
“Yes, amazing.” Bella smiled with what seemed like her whole body. Was this just another dinner? Why was she feeling funny. She couldn’t put her finger on it and she couldn’t tell if the bubble she was encompassed by was good or bad. She shook her head slightly and to no one but herself. She was here with him and this would be the perfect night.
The hostess returned to the table with the sommelier who introduced a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Bella’s jaw dropped. In the three years of dating Dan, she learned early on to study wine as most of the functions they attended were spent with the wives discussing grapes, regions, blends and pairings. This bottle was over the top in more ways than one.
The sommelier gracefully poured Dan a taste and with his approval poured Bella a glass. The red blend glided like a waterfall, deep and dark in color settling into its place. She swirled the air into the glass and pulled the liquid through her nose experiencing an aroma of fruits and flowers. With the tiniest sip, her taste buds exploded and she closed her eyes. She had never tasted a wine as rich and bountiful. She felt like a queen.
“What do you think?” Dan asked with a smile.
“Divine doesn’t come close.” The sommelier placed the wine bottle on the table with the cork and left them with a small bow. Bella had been to expensive fine dining restaurants, but this was a Thursday! She couldn’t help but let her mind wander. Three years was a long time and she wasn’t getting any younger. 25 was literally around the corner and that made her cringe thinking that 30 was just a hop, skip and a jump. She couldn’t imagine Dan would invest this much time with her if he hadn't been grooming her for more. These were only a few of the thoughts that kept Bellas’s mind running wild at night. She wanted it all.
Dan would eventually become a partner in his father’s law firm, she would head up the Women’s Division at the modeling agency she toiled for and they would settle into a nice brownstone and so on and so forth. A lavish wedding to make the front of social news and their kids, oh their kids would be to die for. As Bella took another sip of her wine, she was in a romantic daze only to be broken abruptly.
“Dan?” A tall almost Amazon looking woman stood at the side of their table with her arms crossed over her Prada dress. She was stunning and Bella’s eyes went wide as she almost choked on her wine.
“Molly!” Dan did choke on his wine and subsequently spit across the table and onto Bella’s dress. The cream colored fabric began to blush while Bella sat speechless. Okay, number one, this woman who was obviously a model knew Dan. No big deal. But the arms crossed, the scorned tone and the surprised look on Dan’s face was not the reaction of running into an old pal. And wait, yes, she was a model. Molly Jiles, Bella had tried to sign her agency, Skyline just two years ago before she blew up all over billboards and magazines across New York. This woman was a major player.
“Wha, what are you doing here?” Dan pushed back his chair and reached out but Molly pulled back automatically.
“I should ask you the same. Aren’t you supposed to be in Iceland?” With an award winning glare the room temperature dropped a seemingly twenty degrees.
“I am, I mean I was. I got back early. Wait, aren’t you supposed to be in Australia shooting?” Dan was confused all right.
“The shoot was moved to Monday. If you answered my calls, you would know that.” She shot Bella a look. No, it wasn’t a look. It was a death laser from an Amazonian vortex that made Bella shrivel into a spec of dirt under this woman’s exquisitely stunning four inch heels. What was happening?
The entire restaurant was intrigued. They were on display at one of New York’s prime restaurants. As if reality television wasn’t enough, this was real life. Wait. Real life. Bella’s head started to spin and not from the wine. She could hear snaps from camera apps taking off. She wanted to crawl under the table. These people may have money but it didn’t mean they had couth.
“Who is this Dan?” Molly’s perfectly manicured finger pointed at Bella.
Bella in turn blushed the color of her stained dress which she was dabbing with her napkin and stood putting out her hand, “I’m…”
“Sit.” Molly barked and Bella obeyed, plopping back into the chair.
The hostess approached the table trying to swoop in like the tooth fairy in the middle of the night. “Folks, if I may…” She couldn’t have been more than 19 years old and Molly had a good two feet on the poor girl.
“You may not.” Molly shot her down immediately and the hostess looked like she was about to let years of pent up aggression burst from behind her eyes. Maybe Bella should take her in the bathroom and they could cry together. But what about? Again, what was happening
“Let me guess. This is like fashion week in Japan? I work until I can’t stand and you go off with the housekeeper to keep you occupied?”
“No Molly! Can we just go somewhere and talk?” Dan’s head was spinning like a pig on a spit. He tried reaching for her again and this time Molly took a step back. Hold up. Japan? Fashion Week? Dan had told her there was a deal in Japan his father asked him to assist on. He didn’t answer her calls during that trip. Bad reception he had complained. But it was freaking Japan for goodness sake. He had given her a diamond necklace when he had returned from that trip with an apology. Bella touched the same necklace around her neck. It felt like a blood diamond. Could she have been so blind?
“Molly, let’s go.” Another equally stunning model approached the scene straight off the cover of last month’s vogue. As a matter of fact, Bella remembered the model had a five page spread. Just perfect, even the entourage was stunning.
Molly looked at her friend and then to Bella. She reached to her left hand and pulled a boulder in the shape of a ring from the one finger dedicated for one specific dedication. “You can have him.” She tossed the ring with a clunk into Bella’s wine glass sending a casualty splash to join the stains saturated in the fabric of her dress.
Molly turned on those four inch heels and strutted toward the exit with her friend in tow. As though the maitre’ d had hit unmute on the volume of the restaurant, whispers turned to vocal clatter and phones were being dialed to surely spread the news. And what was that news exactly. Dan turned to Bella, looked back at Molly closing in on the door and grabbed his coat. “Tell the hostess to bill my account.” He turned and practically sprinted after Molly.
Bella sat in her chair watching him leave. Watching him chase after another woman, leaving her alone. All it took was three minutes for Bella’s world to be turned upside down. Had she even taken a breath? She looked down at her glass and took a swig. The hostess was still standing at the table just looking at Bella. She could have played a deer in headlights perfectly.
“Ma’ame. Are you okay?” Her fingers were clasped in front of her to keep from trembling.
“Me? Oh yeah, sure, just perfect.” She took a healthy swig of the wine meant to be enjoyed and not drunk. “Can you package the bottle and call for a car please? Bill Dan Kelley’s account for both.”
“Right away.” She turned and left Bella at the table. Bella sighed and reached into her glass removing the engagement ring. It was beyond unbelievable. It was Dan’s great grandmother’s ring. She recognized it from pictures. A piece of jewelry that appeared in her deepest of dreams late at night. Her heart sank. A feeling of darkness and despair was beginning to brew in the pit of her stomach. There was someone else. Someone worthy of this ring and that someone was not her.
With a deep sigh Bella hushed her shoulders and opened her cobalt blue eyes. Twinkling city lights flickered brightly through the tinted windows and she turned her head to the man who made her heart skip a beat with just a glance, Dan Kelley. The faint glow of his cell phone cast a glow off his chiseled jawline. His intense brown eyes focused at whatever task may be at the hand of his office through the small device in his hand. Bella found it hard at times to compete with the electronic world when it came to Dan. There was always an email, Tweet, a client call, a Facebook post or an Insta-Whatever! But Bella had an understanding that this was part of Dan's package, and she would take all that he would give.
Dan was the epitome of Bella’s fantasy stemming from summer paperbacks and too many hopeless romantic movies. His height at 6’2” complimented Bella’s 5’7”. His structure claimed it's space with hours in the gym and his vocabulary struck rich with degrees and hard work from Yale. Yet with all of his accolades and future promise, he had chosen to spend three years simply with her.
Bella squeezed Dan's hand with the slightest of a guilty smile. He would be boarding yet another plane in eight hours headed thousands of miles away to China. He would be heading another pivotal meeting for his father's law firm, and all she could do was pray that the remaining hours they had together would take their time.
Dan’s father’s firm was the same firm that provided them the best of champagne selections during dinner at only the premier city spots, his posh apartment with only the most exquisite furnishings handmade on the East Coast and a life Bella had never imagined outside of her own. But with the perks came the weeks on end when Dan was away in another city or a country so far she wouldn't dare calculate the miles as it only tempted her current euphoria to entangle with sadness.
For now she would smile. For now she would cherish every breath, every glance and every touch she could steal. This evening would be in her thoughts to keep her warm during two weeks that the love of her life would be far away from her heart. Tonight she would mentally document all of his quirks in his laughs to reuse in the lonely moments ahead. He was all she could encumber and she was completely his.
The car service slowly came to a stop outside of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. The driver “Benton” as she had come to know him opened her door first before Dan followed. Finally closing whatever app he had been engrossed by, he smiled at Bella and extended his arm. “Shall we?”
Bella linked her arm in his as he guided them towards the entrance of the building. “What do you have up your sleeve Dan Kelley? I know of one restaurant in this building that I may have mentioned coming to, but I thought we were grabbing a quick bite tonight?”
Dan held the door open for Bella as her timeline for the evening in her mind was changing with each step.
“Well, I may have made a phone call here or there. I figured since this China trip was so unexpected and I just got back from a month in London, you deserve a little pampering.”
“You got us a reservation at Per Se?”
Dan nodded and Bella squeezed his arm as the two gathered inside the elevator and started towards the fourth floor. It was true, Per Se was on Bella’s bucket list of dining experiences as the reviews were outstanding, but there was a selfish nag inside her which wanted more alone time with Dan rather than the social theatrics of dining out at a fine restaurant. One thing Bella had learned being with Dan Kelley was that someone was always paying attention to even the little things.
Once outside of the elevator they were upon the grande blue doors of the restaurant. Dan held them open for Bella to enter and her eyes widened at the beautiful and precise decor.
“Wow, this is perfect Dan. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, you haven’t tried the wine.”
The hostess took their coats and led them to an intimate table with a stunning view of Central Park. Bella loved these embellished moments. She had always dreamed of falling in love with a handsome man who would take her on dates you only saw in movies. She felt like one of those starlets now. Gliding passed all of the women decked to the nines in their diamond studs as they drooled over Dan and scanned her with disapproving eyes. She didn’t care the slightest and instead beamed with pride.
As they sat Dan whispered something to the hostess and she glanced at Bella with a nod and swept herself away diligently. Dan reached across the table and took Bella’s hands in his. “Good?”
“Yes, amazing.” Bella smiled with what seemed like her whole body. Was this just another dinner? Why was she feeling funny. She couldn’t put her finger on it and she couldn’t tell if the bubble she was encompassed by was good or bad. She shook her head slightly and to no one but herself. She was here with him and this would be the perfect night.
The hostess returned to the table with the sommelier who introduced a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Bella’s jaw dropped. In the three years of dating Dan, she learned early on to study wine as most of the functions they attended were spent with the wives discussing grapes, regions, blends and pairings. This bottle was over the top in more ways than one.
The sommelier gracefully poured Dan a taste and with his approval poured Bella a glass. The red blend glided like a waterfall, deep and dark in color settling into its place. She swirled the air into the glass and pulled the liquid through her nose experiencing an aroma of fruits and flowers. With the tiniest sip, her taste buds exploded and she closed her eyes. She had never tasted a wine as rich and bountiful. She felt like a queen.
“What do you think?” Dan asked with a smile.
“Divine doesn’t come close.” The sommelier placed the wine bottle on the table with the cork and left them with a small bow. Bella had been to expensive fine dining restaurants, but this was a Thursday! She couldn’t help but let her mind wander. Three years was a long time and she wasn’t getting any younger. 25 was literally around the corner and that made her cringe thinking that 30 was just a hop, skip and a jump. She couldn’t imagine Dan would invest this much time with her if he hadn't been grooming her for more. These were only a few of the thoughts that kept Bellas’s mind running wild at night. She wanted it all.
Dan would eventually become a partner in his father’s law firm, she would head up the Women’s Division at the modeling agency she toiled for and they would settle into a nice brownstone and so on and so forth. A lavish wedding to make the front of social news and their kids, oh their kids would be to die for. As Bella took another sip of her wine, she was in a romantic daze only to be broken abruptly.
“Dan?” A tall almost Amazon looking woman stood at the side of their table with her arms crossed over her Prada dress. She was stunning and Bella’s eyes went wide as she almost choked on her wine.
“Molly!” Dan did choke on his wine and subsequently spit across the table and onto Bella’s dress. The cream colored fabric began to blush while Bella sat speechless. Okay, number one, this woman who was obviously a model knew Dan. No big deal. But the arms crossed, the scorned tone and the surprised look on Dan’s face was not the reaction of running into an old pal. And wait, yes, she was a model. Molly Jiles, Bella had tried to sign her agency, Skyline just two years ago before she blew up all over billboards and magazines across New York. This woman was a major player.
“Wha, what are you doing here?” Dan pushed back his chair and reached out but Molly pulled back automatically.
“I should ask you the same. Aren’t you supposed to be in Iceland?” With an award winning glare the room temperature dropped a seemingly twenty degrees.
“I am, I mean I was. I got back early. Wait, aren’t you supposed to be in Australia shooting?” Dan was confused all right.
“The shoot was moved to Monday. If you answered my calls, you would know that.” She shot Bella a look. No, it wasn’t a look. It was a death laser from an Amazonian vortex that made Bella shrivel into a spec of dirt under this woman’s exquisitely stunning four inch heels. What was happening?
The entire restaurant was intrigued. They were on display at one of New York’s prime restaurants. As if reality television wasn’t enough, this was real life. Wait. Real life. Bella’s head started to spin and not from the wine. She could hear snaps from camera apps taking off. She wanted to crawl under the table. These people may have money but it didn’t mean they had couth.
“Who is this Dan?” Molly’s perfectly manicured finger pointed at Bella.
Bella in turn blushed the color of her stained dress which she was dabbing with her napkin and stood putting out her hand, “I’m…”
“Sit.” Molly barked and Bella obeyed, plopping back into the chair.
The hostess approached the table trying to swoop in like the tooth fairy in the middle of the night. “Folks, if I may…” She couldn’t have been more than 19 years old and Molly had a good two feet on the poor girl.
“You may not.” Molly shot her down immediately and the hostess looked like she was about to let years of pent up aggression burst from behind her eyes. Maybe Bella should take her in the bathroom and they could cry together. But what about? Again, what was happening
“Let me guess. This is like fashion week in Japan? I work until I can’t stand and you go off with the housekeeper to keep you occupied?”
“No Molly! Can we just go somewhere and talk?” Dan’s head was spinning like a pig on a spit. He tried reaching for her again and this time Molly took a step back. Hold up. Japan? Fashion Week? Dan had told her there was a deal in Japan his father asked him to assist on. He didn’t answer her calls during that trip. Bad reception he had complained. But it was freaking Japan for goodness sake. He had given her a diamond necklace when he had returned from that trip with an apology. Bella touched the same necklace around her neck. It felt like a blood diamond. Could she have been so blind?
“Molly, let’s go.” Another equally stunning model approached the scene straight off the cover of last month’s vogue. As a matter of fact, Bella remembered the model had a five page spread. Just perfect, even the entourage was stunning.
Molly looked at her friend and then to Bella. She reached to her left hand and pulled a boulder in the shape of a ring from the one finger dedicated for one specific dedication. “You can have him.” She tossed the ring with a clunk into Bella’s wine glass sending a casualty splash to join the stains saturated in the fabric of her dress.
Molly turned on those four inch heels and strutted toward the exit with her friend in tow. As though the maitre’ d had hit unmute on the volume of the restaurant, whispers turned to vocal clatter and phones were being dialed to surely spread the news. And what was that news exactly. Dan turned to Bella, looked back at Molly closing in on the door and grabbed his coat. “Tell the hostess to bill my account.” He turned and practically sprinted after Molly.
Bella sat in her chair watching him leave. Watching him chase after another woman, leaving her alone. All it took was three minutes for Bella’s world to be turned upside down. Had she even taken a breath? She looked down at her glass and took a swig. The hostess was still standing at the table just looking at Bella. She could have played a deer in headlights perfectly.
“Ma’ame. Are you okay?” Her fingers were clasped in front of her to keep from trembling.
“Me? Oh yeah, sure, just perfect.” She took a healthy swig of the wine meant to be enjoyed and not drunk. “Can you package the bottle and call for a car please? Bill Dan Kelley’s account for both.”
“Right away.” She turned and left Bella at the table. Bella sighed and reached into her glass removing the engagement ring. It was beyond unbelievable. It was Dan’s great grandmother’s ring. She recognized it from pictures. A piece of jewelry that appeared in her deepest of dreams late at night. Her heart sank. A feeling of darkness and despair was beginning to brew in the pit of her stomach. There was someone else. Someone worthy of this ring and that someone was not her.