Isabella 'Bella' Marie Rickman: This is Me

Part Four

The evening was going smoothly. They were all enjoying the meal that Gordon Ramsay was personally cooking for them all.

It was now finally time for the dessert. The waitress had finished clearing the table of their mains and then arrived moments later with a bottle of the finest champagne and three flutes.

"So, Bella, why have you actually dragged us here to the Savoy to dine at Gordon's Chefs Table?" Alan asked of his daughter.

"I have been given some good news. I had an audition the other day to star in a professional pantomime. Miss Sampson gave me her backing and told me that I was ready to take the next big step. I have been cast in Cinderella." Bella told them both.

"Congratulations Bella. Where are you going to be based? London, I hope." Tom asked.

"That's the problem. I'm not going to be home for Christmas or the New Year." Bella looked down at her plate.

"So where are you going to be performing then?" Alan asked worried about the answer.

"South Yorkshire."

Tom and Alan both looked at her with blank faces.

"You're going up North? I had a massive Christmas dinner planned with both your aunt and Uncles and Tom's family to celebrate with us and the same for the New Year. And now you are telling me that you aren't even going to be here at all!"  Alan wasn't best impressed at all.

Tom kept quiet as he didn't know what to say about the situation.

"No Bella, I'm not letting you go up North just to perform in a pantomime for a few weeks. It's out of the question." Alan put his glass down.

"It's too late, I have accepted the contract. I leave at the end of the week. I must go up to Sheffield and rehearse. The main lead had dropped out when they were telling me that I had a part as a dancer. They then called me up later asking me to attend rehearsals as soon as possible as they had then offered me the main lead of Cinderella. It's a good cast Daddy. I would love for you to attend one night if you could. It's my dream role to have Daddy. You have your career, and yet you don't want me to have mine. Yeah, I love my dancing and singing, but stage acting is what I want to do when I'm older. This is just a step in the right direction for me." Bella told them.

"But you aren't even 18 yet. So how could you have signed a contract without me knowing about it?"

"You never took back your rights back when you let Michael and Sophie adopted me after the accident. They both signed the contract. Even though I kept the family name, the adoption was never rescinded. So that's why you were never told about the contract." Bella told him bluntly.

"But Bella, when will you be coming back home?" Tom finally asked.

"It will be just after the New Year. There is only a couple of shows to do after the New Year as it runs until the end of that week." Bella told them.

Tom wasn't happy with the answer.

"I don't want you to go Bella." Tom mentioned.

"Oh Tom, this is my dream. It's all going to be ok. I will be back before you know it."