Chapter 114: Ken Doesn’t Need You
The sterile scent of the hospital waiting room did very little to soothe Bella’s frayed nerves. She had been in a meeting when she received the call, Ken had collapsed on the street.
The details were sketchy, but the urgency in the voice on the other end had sent a jolt of fear through her. She had immediately excused herself, her mind racing with worst-case scenarios and she had taken a two hour trip. Now, she paced the waiting room, her heels clicking against the linoleum floor, a knot of anxiety tightening in her chest.
Ken Stuart was not just her most lucrative and important client; he was also her very good friend, a confidante, someone she had known for years. They had both started their respective careers at the same, Bella who had been an assistant to a record label boss had been inspired to take a chance on Ken who had been an aspiring singer without a penny to his name.
While the label executives had not been very excited about Ken, Bella however had seen something that they had failed to see in him. The hunger to succeed and a talent unlike what everyone else had been peddling at the time. Bella had known that if he was given a chance, he was going to blow everyone’s mind, he just needed someone to believe in his vision. And she decided that that person was she.
She immediately quit her job and convinced him to let her take him on as a client, she had very little experience but she was earnest and she did not want to disappoint him. So she set about, finding a platform for him to grow.
Like a colt learning to walk, their start had been very shaky and marked by a ton of rejections but they had been relentless and plowed on, now they were both at the top of their prospective careers, she was an agent to the best, sought after by people who aspired to become stars, and Ken was one of the biggest ones in the sky.
Their professional relationship had blossomed into a genuine friendship, one that they both cherished deeply. So, the thought of him lying in a hospital bed, unwell, was unbearable to her.
As she rounded a corner, she slowed down when she saw her. It was Felicity Aves, one of the most beautiful actresses in the industry. She was sitting near a window, her posture stiff, her beautiful profile etched with worry. Bella rolled her eyes and wished that she would not have to deal with the uppity actress who thought that she was better than everyone and despised Bella for no good reason.
Bella had met Felicity a few times, at industry events and gatherings, then the next thing she knew, she and Ken were an item. She had been bothered by the relationship, but she was not one to meddle in Ken’s personal affairs so she steered away.