Etoile (The Mannequin Series) (26 page)

Thirty-eight

“Well, aren't you just a sight for sore eyes.”

Elodie fought the urge to shudder at the cheesy line, plastering a fake smile on her face instead as she walked into Matt Twinings' loft-cum-photo studio in the East Village, the land of trust fund babies-cum-artists. A thick muslin backdrop had been permanently affixed to the brick wall on one side of the scantily furnished apartment, and Matt stood at the edge of it, adjusting the height of the camera tripod.

“Hello,” Elodie greeted him in a firm voice. She looked around and noticed that there was no other sign of life in the entire place. “I did not think I would see you again so soon. No assistants today?”

“Nope,” Matt said with a suggestive grin. “Just the two of us.”

“Oh.”

“Need photos for your book, huh?” he asked as he proceeded to mount his camera on the stand. The silence in the room was deafening.

“Yes, just a few,” Elodie replied as she nervously bit her lip.

“I can do that for you,” Matt said, turning towards her and walking closer. “Gladly.”

Shit, shit, shit, Elodie thought to herself as her eyes fell to the floor. Each of his footsteps echoed throughout the barren room as he neared where she stood. As she saw the toes of his battered Golden Goose sneakers enter her field of vision, she quickly dropped her purse and scurried over to the stool that sat in the middle of his makeshift set.

Matt gave an appreciative laugh and nodded his head. “Ready to get down to business, hm?” he asked with a grin as he walked over to his camera. “I like a girl who knows what she wants.”

Elodie gulped as she awkwardly perched herself at the edge of the stool. “What would you like me to do?” she asked, partially dreading his answer.

“Well, your agency said they wanted some natural shots,” he began, surveying her with narrowed eyes. “How about we take off that shirt and get some bare shots? What could be more natural than that?” He flashed her a smarmy grin, obviously proud of his twisted logic.

Giving him a tight smile, Elodie fought the urge to vomit all over herself. “No, I think I am okay with my shirt,” she replied firmly. “It is just a white tee shirt, so it is not distracting.”

“I've worked with a lot of big clients, you know. Vogue, Bazaar, Elle. I bet they'd all prefer that there wasn't a tee shirt in the shot of a girl they were considering,” he said with a pompous smile.

“I am okay,” Elodie repeated, trying not to roll her eyes at his blatant lies and name-dropping.

Matt shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to take some boring shots of her doing boring poses with facial expressions that emitted sheer and utter boredom. I am too hungover for this, Elodie thought to herself as she stood still and frowned at the camera.

As she let her mind go blank, the mortifying scenes from Tyler's apartment crept into her head. Even picturing the confused look on Tyler's face at her dramatic outburst made her want to crawl into a hole and die. She shuddered as she recalled how immaturely she had acted. What did Tyler think of her now?

“No, no,” Matt piped up as he abruptly stopped snapping frames. “That's not a pretty look. Do what you were doing before.”

Elodie grumbled an apology as she rid her face of any emotion once again, trying her best to look as indifferent as possible. Matt gave her a thumbs up and resumed shooting away.

But why had Caroline been calling him? Was everything that she said true? Tyler did seem to get especially bothered whenever she was around. Could it be that he still had feelings for her?

“How about we try this,” Matt began with a sigh, snapping Elodie out of her thoughts. Shit, she thought to herself as she gave him a nervous smile. Had she been making ugly faces again?

He set his camera down and walked towards where she stood, leering at her all the while. Elodie felt her body stiffen as he loomed dangerously close behind her.

“We can just take off your clothes,” Matt whispered in her ear as he ran his hands up and down her arms. “You can keep your underwear on. If you want.”

She could feel his dick pressed up against her bottom, and it took every ounce of restraint in her body not to turn around and slap him. Unable to contain her anger, however, she turned around and snapped, “Excuse me?”

“So cheeky all of a sudden,” he said with a smirk. “Just a few weeks ago, you were screaming my name.”

Elodie could feel her nostrils flare as she tried her best to calm herself. “Listen, I am having a really bad day...”

“I can get you into British Vogue, you know,” he said as he cut her off. “I always return the favor for my best girls.”

“I am not your girl,” Elodie replied back with a scoff as she began walking towards her bag. “And I do not need those kinds of favors. So, please, do not ever touch me again.”

“Playing hard to get?” Matt asked with a laugh as he grabbed her forcibly by the arm. “I do like a good chase.”

“Let go,” she tried to say as firmly as she could, though her voice shook as she spit the words out.

He yanked her closer against him, her skin burning under his forceful grip. "Are you going to make me?"

Elodie glared at him while spitting out, "I will scream at the top of my fucking lungs if you do not let me go right now."

Matt dropped her hand as he let out a bitter laugh. “You could have been one of my favorites, you know,” he told her as she turned on her heel. “Your loss.”

When she felt his hand slap her ass, she lost it.

“You are a fucking piece of garbage,” she yelled out. “Everyone hates you! You are a shitty photographer! All of your poses are shit! All of your photos are shit! Shit, shit, shit! You prey on girls who are stupid enough to allow it, you talentless load of scum! No one wants to be your favorite! No one!”

He watched her with a weird look on his face before he let out a snort of laughter.

“I am sick of all of this shit! All of it!”

With that, Elodie swiftly kicked him in his crown jewels in retribution for the foul mood he had put her in. Matt fell to the floor, keeled over in pain, as she marched out the door as quickly and fiercely as she could. And, ironically, the expression on
his
face was the furthest thing from boring.

Thirty-nine

When Elodie got back to their apartment, nobody was home. Jelena had been busy as of late, working full-time doing a month of showroom work for Karl Lagerfeld's eponymous line. Tatiana had gone out early, ditching her castings for the day in order to prepare for Daniel's birthday party that evening. And Heddi was off doing who knows what.

Walking into the empty flat made Elodie feel terribly lonely, especially after her second dramatic blow-up for the day. Exhausted, she climbed into bed and pulled the heavy blanket over her entire body. And, as she lay there, taking deep breaths that suffocated her underneath the thick comforter, she began to cry.

Tears blurred her eyes and streamed down the sides of her face, pooling uncomfortably in her ears, as she thought about her past mistakes. She regretted the countless nonchalant sexual adventures that had been driven by her unrelenting greed for fame and designer goods. So what if she had three Chanel bags, especially if she had seduced a dickish Italian socialite to buy them for her? Sure, she had thousands of dollars worth of fancy lingerie, but so did high-end hookers. And what good were her Van Cleef & Arpels earrings if she couldn't even bring herself to look at her reflection in the mirror?

As she recounted all of the times that she had fallen into bed with strangers or people she would have otherwise deplored had they not been disgustingly rich, she allowed herself to cry freely, her lungs burning as they gasped for air. Perhaps a part of her hoped that her tears would wash her past transgressions away, but she knew that they would haunt her forever. When she pulled up the memory of her time in the utility closet with Matt, her fists balled up angrily as a fresh wave of tears flowed out. How could she have been so foolish to have followed the advice of a model who was juggling multiple men at any given time? Who had she thought she was kidding? Even at 19-years old, she was still a child, not even capable of dating two men casually without having a nervous breakdown.

She was reduced to whimpers as Tyler came to mind, a sad smile appearing on her trembling lips as she turned onto her side. Her blotchy face welcomed the cool air that hit it when she pulled the blanket off of her head, tucking it in beneath her chin. Even thinking about Tyler made her chest tighten with sadness and fear, even more so now than ever after her bathroom confrontation with Caroline. Even though he had nothing to do with the matter, the arrogant supermodel's presumptuous words had instilled doubt in Elodie's fragile heart. And in that moment, as sleep crept up on her and caused her eyelids to grow heavy, she realized that she would never be able to fully trust Tyler, or herself, if she were to end up with him.

Elodie slept for a long time, her rest filled with blackness due to her fatigued state. When she finally stirred awake, she was met with a numb feeling on her face.

“Lo, you up!” Tatiana chirped as she sashayed into the room.

“I cannot feel my face!” Elodie yelled out worriedly, bolting upright as her head hit the top bunk's railing.

Tatiana beamed at her. “You so swollen when I check, so I put ice pack on your face. I did good, no?”

Elodie let out a sigh of relief as she rubbed the top of her head, making her way towards to mirror to inspect the damage. Thanks to Tatiana, any sign of swelling had resided, save for some redness around her eyes. “Huh,” she remarked with a laugh as she patted Tatiana on the back.

“You have get ready soon,” Tatiana told her as she pushed Elodie towards the bathroom. “We leave one hour.”

“I am not really in the mood. Yesterday, after you two left...”

“Tell after shower,” Tatiana interrupted with a dismissive wave of her hand as she headed over to the bed to wake Heddi, who had apparently also had the great idea to nap. “Heddi Jakobsen! Up! Now!”

Once Elodie had dried her hair and emerged from the steamy bathroom, she walked back into her room, where Heddi was already dressed in a plain black dress, waiting and ready to go. “She is like Stalin,” Heddi whispered with a shake of her head, combing out the knots in her wavy hair using her fingers.

Elodie's laugh dissolved into a frown as she opened the closet. She wasn't really in the mood to dress up and go out, but she also didn't want the resident tyrant to throw an earth-shattering tantrum. After much half-assed deliberation, she picked out a sleeveless silver embellished Parker mini dress and slipped on her black platform Alexander Wang booties. At least I'm dressed cute, Elodie thought with a sigh as she rimmed her eyes in thick black eyeliner to conceal the redness.

Tatiana walked into their room in a tight metallic beige Herve Leger dress and gold Brian Atwood platforms, her cheekbones highlighted to perfection. “You think my boyfriend like?” she asked them, already knowing the answer.

“Of course,” Elodie reassured her as they gathered their bags and keys. “He would be crazy not to.”

“Good,” Tatiana said as her face broke out into a big smile. “Jelena stuck at studio, so she meet us there. We go now, yes?”

On the 5-block walk over to the club, Elodie regaled her friends with the tale of the bathroom mirror.

“What the fuck,” Heddi said bitterly as she threw her hands up in annoyance. “Who the hell does she think she is?”

“Crazy bitch,” Tatiana commented with a shake of her head.

“Well, don't listen to her,” Heddi added with a shake of her finger. “Don't listen to the crazy.”

As they walked through the door and into the club, Elodie felt herself wanting to loosen up and forget about all of the annoying incidents that had plagued her until that moment. Before she could grab a drink, however, Tatiana had begun stomping around, barking about things that needed to be fixed before Daniel and his friends arrived.

Elodie fished her phone out of her Bottega Veneta clutch, finding two texts from James on her screen, with no sign of further contact from Tyler.

Didn't have time to go home and change. Don't be too embarrassed of me

On our way there. See you soon

Upon reading his first text, she couldn't help but laugh, finding it extra funny since she loved seeing him in a suit. She just hoped that he wouldn't be wearing his matching accessory of sleep-deprived sorrow.

“Here,” Heddi's sullen voice rang out as she extended a vodka soda to Elodie. “Cheers.”

Just as they had clinked their glasses, a gaggle of Eastern European teenagers waltzed into the room, each of them shrieking as they greeted Tatiana. All were decked out in figure-hugging dresses that barely covered their underaged asses as they stomped around in towering Jimmy Choos.

Heddi looked at Elodie with a deadpan expression as she raised her glass again and took a big gulp. Elodie nodded in acknowledgement and followed suit as another group of overly ecstatic models milled in. Daniel's friends' brains are going to explode, Elodie thought as she surveyed the crowd of tittering teens in amusement.

As she took another sip of her drink, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and turned to find James smiling at her. Heddi gave a throaty laugh as she excused herself and walked towards a group of their model friends. “Hey,” he greeted her as he hung his head to the side. “I'm sorry that I look like a giant dweeb. You look great.”

“I like you in a suit,” she told him as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Very handsome.”

“As long as you like it,” James said with a laugh as he grabbed her hand and led her to the bar. “But first thing's first, I really need a drink.”

Elodie could feel the envious eyes of two young girls on her as James put his arm around her shoulder while ordering himself a scotch. He passed her a new vodka soda and clinked his glass against hers. “To freedom,” he said with a sigh as she smiled brightly at him.

James put his hand on the small of her back as he led her to the booth at which Tatiana and Daniel were holding court. Daniel's dorky friends from work sat with their mouths agape as a group of already drunk 16-year olds dressed like baby escorts gyrated against each other nearby, despite the fact that the music was barely audible. Elodie shook her head slightly as she slid into the seat next to Tatiana, turning her attention to Daniel to wish him a happy birthday.

“Thanks!” Daniel replied excitedly, his arm draped around his pretty little girlfriend. “This is too much!”

“Never too much!” Tatiana cooed as she sipped from her glass of champagne.

“Who's coming?” James asked Daniel as they clinked their glasses together.

“Everyone!” the redhead replied. “I'm not even sure!”

The four of them made small talk as more people arrived and the room began to fill. A bit after nine, James' friends from work showed up, patting Daniel on the back as Tatiana batted her eyes prettily.

“Elodie, say hi to Abe, Mike, Ethan and Aaron,” James said as they got up from the booth and he introduced her to his friends, all of whom looked like typical frat boys in grown up garb. “Guys, this is my girlfriend, Elodie.”

Her heart thudded in her chest as she turned to look at him with wide eyes. Had he just called her his girlfriend? He smiled back at her with his beautiful smile as she felt her knees go weak. When he gestured to his friends again, she shook her head to snap herself out of her daze and shot them her best attempt at a charming smile.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” she said with all of the perkiness that she could muster. She recognized the one named Mike as Jelena's toothpaste commercial-worthy whooping partner from the first night that she had met James.

“Holy shit,” the one named Ethan said. “Nice to meet
you
. Bro, you weren't lying!”

James beamed with pride as he put his hand on Elodie's back again. “Yea, I'm lucky,” he said as he looked down at her in adoration. Elodie felt like she could explode from happiness if she weren't careful.

“Be careful, Jimmy,” Mike muttered close to James' ear, though Elodie could make out what he was saying. “I heard Sam and Jack might be heading over soon.”

James' smile faltered slightly before he shrugged it off. “It's fine,” he whispered back as Elodie strained to listen while pretending to be interested in whatever Aaron was talking about. “Let the past stay in the past.”

Curiosity killed the cat, Marais, she told herself. Don't do it. Don't even think about—

“Who are Sam and Jack?” she heard her voice innocently ask. What the fuck is wrong with you? Elodie screamed at herself inwardly as she batted her eyes at her boyfriend. Boyfriend!

“Nobody,” James said with a surprised cough as Mike burst out laughing. “Don't worry about it.”

Elodie shrugged it off as some frat boy rivalry, feeling bored with the topic already. As she finished off her drink, Tatiana came up and addressed the four single boys standing in front of her. “You boys want meet my friends?” she asked, to which each nodded hungrily. She beckoned for them to follow her before shooting Daniel a wink, causing him to let out a sigh of joy.

“We're the two luckiest bastards alive,” he said almost breathlessly as he slapped James on the back.

“Why?” a loud voice called out. “Because you two didn't turn out to be completely hopeless losers?”

A petite blonde had sauntered up to where they stood, clasping a Prada shopping bag in her perfectly manicured hand. She was wearing a pink Jason Wu lace top with black leather shorts and black platform Charlotte Olympia heels, which indicated that she probably worked in fashion marketing or at some sort of blog.

As she squealed out, “Happy birthday, Ginger Snap!” and enveloped Daniel in a hug, Elodie couldn't help but think that she had seen her somewhere before.

“You shouldn't have,” Daniel said with a goofy grin as he took the bag from her and put it next to his pile of gifts. “And stop it with the Ginger Snap. We're not twelve anymore.”

“Whatever, GS. And long time, no see, Mister Jameson,” she exclaimed as she turned to James, whose face had been drained of its color.

“Hi James,” a soft voice greeted as it approached them. Elodie watched James gulp and turned to find a very pretty girl smiling at him. She could tell that the brunette's blowout likely cost an arm and a leg, her demure red short-sleeved dress was this season's Valentino and that her shoes were Chanel. Shortly put, she oozed Old Money.