flashback!
— july 1995; van nuys, ca

as she wiped the small tears from her eyes, bella shakily reached to grab the pen to sign the divorce papers in front of her. after 5 years of marriage, she and johnny made the decision to separate and get a divorce. it was a hard and painful decision because they really tried to make this work, but just as things were looking better, it took a turn for the worst.

she hesitantly gripped the pen between her manicured fingertips. she took a deep breath as the pen slowly glided on the paper. once she placed the pen down, she looked down at her signature and felt her heart break into a million pieces. she then looked over to johnny who grabbed the pen and signed the papers as well.

this was her biggest fear; she feared this since the night she and johnny stayed up past midnight, yelling at each other in the kitchen. the couple had argued, every couple does, but these arguments seemed to be different; it had now gotten to the point where they were in each other's faces, screaming.

what broke her heart even more was knowing their daughter, stevie, was in the next room listening to everything they said to each other. bella had always been careful about how she and johnny spoke around her, but when their tempers took over, it was a different story. pet names such as 'princess' and 'darling' were quickly replaced by 'asshole' and 'bitch'.

once johnny finished signing the papers, the couple looked up at each other once more as their eyes filled with tears. "so, i guess this is it." johnny sighed as he looked at bella, who was torn.

"yeah." bella said as she grabbed her copy of the divorce papers and stood up. there was silence around the two ex-spouses as bella nervously ran her fingers through her hair.

"good luck." johnny sighed as she looked at the brunette, who was once his wife, walk to the door of the home they made.

"thank you." bella said, as she opened the door and took one last look at her now ex-husband. "you too, john."

⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

present day!
— twenty-three years later.

THE SOUND of the alarm on bella's phone went off as she swiftly turned around to turn it off. she let out a soft sigh as she sat up, yawning. running a hand through her long brown hair, she took a moment and looked around her bedroom in her new york city apartment. she stood up from bed and opened up her window, looking out into the city skyline.

wrapping a robe around her body, she walked into the kitchen and began to make herself a cup of chamomile tea. the apartment was cold with the small rays of sunshine coming in through the window of her manhattan apartment. her apartment had become her workplace, just like her apartment in burbank. bella was currently in new york, working on the final details on her new clothing line. her goal was to have it ready before she took a break and headed back to the valley to visit her mother, lisa.

bella walked over to her work area and began to flip through some designs she began working on. isabella smiled as she flipped through these pages, admiring her work and reflecting on how far she had come. surrounding her work area were some of her previous designs along with some material swatches pinned onto a board. bella also had small framed pictures of her magazine shoots, a photo with her parents, a high school graduation picture, and a small photo with her daughter, stevie.

she let out a small sigh as she took that photo in her hands and admired the black and white photograph that was taken when stevie was a baby. bella hadn't seen stevie in a couple of months as she was living in los angeles, working  with chrissy. stevie did always prefer california than new york because she was closer to her father.

her father.

johnny.

it had been 23 years since bella and johnny had separated. after the divorce, they cut off all contact but, from what bella heard, he was still in the valley, working. of course, he started dating again and found this girl whom later got pregnant. a lot of things happened around that same time; bella got engaged and pregnant, laura passed away, johnny's son was born and bella had lost her baby, that, coincidentally, was also a boy.

that's life, i guess. it kicks your ass.

isabella snapped out of her thoughts as she checked the time on her phone, realizing that she was running late. she finished drinking her tea and went into her bedroom to get dressed. she turned on the radio as she walked into the bathroom to freshen up and start her day.

⸻

back in the valley, the alarm clock on johnny's bedside table began to buzz as the blonde reached over and attempted to turn it off, until eventually slamming on the snooze button. he sat up, reached over to grab the coors banquet bottle that was nearly empty and took a sip, before spitting it out and rubbed his temple.

after getting dressed, he walked over to the kitchen and began to make breakfast, which consisted of fried bologna with ketchup. as he opened the fridge to put the bologna away, he looked at the small photos of both stevie and robby that adorned his fridge. he sat in his apartment, eating breakfast and watching iron eagle.

for johnny, it was the same routine every day; wake up, work from 9 to 5, come home, and drink until he passed out. this has been his routine for a while now but no matter how much he hated it, he had to make a living somehow. after the divorce, he moved around apartments until finally settling in a small complex in reseda.

he often found himself thinking about bella and what he could've done to save their marriage. it was difficult to forget about her because she seemed to be everywhere, on the cover of magazines and she even showed up on tv one day, arm in arm with her new fiancé and wearing an expensive diamond ring. although 23 years had passed since she left, he hasn't forgotten about bella.

but hey, as long as she's happy.

⸻

"it's backed up?" bella sighed. "what do you mean by backed up? i thought we had discussed this. i thought everything was okay."

"we just got the call this morning." lillian said as she handed bella a cup of coffee. "everything was fine, or so we thought."

bella nervously paced around the room as she drank her coffee. "i have a deadline to meet and i have to had met it before i left back to the valley."

"and it's gonna be okay." lillian said as she tried to calm bella down. "we're doing all we can–"

"lil, i can't have this happen." bella said as lillian sat her down. "i need it done by next week. i thought this was taken care of."

"so did i but some material was on back order and we didn't know." lillian sighed. "i know you need it and we're gonna try and get it to you as soon as we can."

bella nervously ran a hand through her hair as she sighed. "this cannot be happening." she sighed as she stood up, grabbing her cell phone. "give me the number."

"hon, you might wanna calm down first." lillian said as she stood up as well. "we'll take care of this, i promise you."

"you know what? screw california." bella said as she grabbed her purse and keys. "i'm gonna figure this out, even if this takes me weeks."

⸻

"i didn't call her a bitch, i said she was bitching at me." johnny argued. "there's a difference."

after arguing with a woman up around encino, the blond drove to the little secluded overlook around encino as he argued with his boss, which by the looks of, he was about to lose, yet, another job.

"you're firing me because of that bitch?" johnny said, raising his voice. "i hated this damn job anyway. you better pay me what you owe me, mike."

johnny shoved his phone in his pocket and got back into his red pontiac firebird. he leaned back into the seat and let out a frustrated sigh. this was the first job he's managed to keep for a while and now that he lost this job, he had no idea what to do next.

johnny took in his surroundings as the overlook reminded him of a certain brunette. this was their spot, where they often spent hours with each other, watching the sunset or simply spending some quiet time together. memories of bella's radiant smile and her emerald green eyes filled his head as he turned on the radio.

he was soon snapped out of his trance as soon as he heard daniel say banzai! over the radio. for the past couple of days, he's been seeing a lot of daniel's ads and commercials promoting his car dealership, which brought upon more memories for johnny, except these memories weren't so pleasant. johnny angrily switched the radio station and drove back to reseda.

⸻

bella sighed as she took a swig of what was her second beer. she ran a hand through her hair and sighed as she traced her fingers along the sides of the budweiser bottle in front of her.

"everything okay, ms. monroe?" the bartender asked, while she prepared a drink for another customer.

"yeah, i'm fine." bella softly smiled as she let out another frustrated sigh. "just some work issues."

"it's brutal out there, huh?" the bartender smiled.

"like you wouldn't believe." bella softly chuckled as she took a swig of her beer. as bella continued to drink, lillian walked into the little bar. she sat beside bella and ordered a beer.

"i knew i'd find you here." lillian smiled as she paid the bartender and turned to bella. "hon, you did what you could, but you didn't fail. c'mon, tell me, what's this really about?"

bella let out a loud sigh as she took one last swig of her beer. "i haven't been back home in months and when i left the valley, i thought i could take on the world by myself, but i also left feeling terrified, and that feeling is still with me."

"bella, you made it. everything you are and everything you did, you did it all while raising a kid on your own." lillian smiled as the bartender handed her a dos equis bottle. "the woman that i know now isn't the girl who arrived in miami back in '95; a runaway single mom–"

"i didn't run, lil." bella said as she ordered another beer. "i just couldn't stay in the valley after the divorce."

"isabella, i know you're still scared. between raising stevie alone and whatever happened between you and your ex-husband, i understand why you wouldn't wanna go back." lillian sighed. "but look at everything you've accomplished since then; you were on the cover of fuckin' vogue magazine at 28 and you designed your first collection by 30. go home and take a break, you deserve it. and as for that fear, let it go because you're not that girl anymore. you've changed and grown for the better."

bella ran her fingers down the droplets on the side of her beer bottle before taking a swig. "fine." she said. "i do need a break, but you have to help me back here. i need this thing ready by fashion week, i'm planning to be back by then. i really need all the help i can get."

"you've got yourself a deal." lillian smiled. "anything you need, i got you."

"looks like i'm heading back to the valley."