by Olivia Besse
“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 fa
shion 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.
When the girl's hazel eyes wandered over to Elodie's face in a judgmental way, she was overcome with a feeling of déjà vu. Fuck. They were the Americans that she had met with Tyler in Paris.
Fourty
Shit, Elodie thought as her mind scrambled back to their encounter. What exactly had happened? As Elodie racked her brain for any type of substantial memory, she heard the girl add, “Long time, no see indeed.”
“Hey Jack,” Daniel greeted her, giving her a big hug as James stood dumbfounded. “Shit, I haven't seen you in so long. Paris treated you well, huh?”
“Not as well as New York,” she replied with a perfect smile. Elodie hated her already. “But I'm back where I belong. Enough about me, though. Happy birthday, Daniel.”
“Thanks,” he said with a grin. “Let me get you guys some drinks!”
As Daniel scuttled off to fetch them gin martinis, or whatever fancy cocktail these types of girls drank, the four of them stood alone in awkward silence.
“Hi, I'm Samantha,” the blonde said as she extended a hand to Elodie. “You are?”
Elodie looked over at James, who was distractedly looking off in another direction. “My name is Elodie,” she answered as she turned back to the girl with a smile.
“Elodie? That name is so pretty. You're so pretty!” the girl said with a big smile. Elodie liked her already. “This is Jacqueline,” Samantha added as she prodded her stoic friend to say hello.
“We've met before,” Jacqueline, or Jack or whatever her stupid name was, replied with a hint of a smirk. Elodie gulped as she felt a cold sweat form on her back.
“You have?” James suddenly asked as he turned to her with a weird look on his face.
“In Paris,” she continued as one corner of her lips ticked upward. Shit, my ass is sweating, Elodie thought frantically as she offered a nervous smile.
“Really?” Samantha asked with a confused expression. “When?”
“When we were at that bar one night,” Jacqueline said with a perfect little smile. “She was with your little friend. That model,” she added with a sniff.
“Oh yea!” Samantha cried out excitedly as she clapped her hands together. Her psychiatrist really needs to lower her antidepressant dosage, Elodie thought bitterly as she plastered a fake smile of recognition on her face. “You were with Tyler Peeters! You're his—”
“I remember!” Elodie squealed out loudly. James gave her a quizzical look as Jacqueline let out a tiny scoff. “Good to see you again!”
“Seriously, what are the chances!” Samantha said as she threw her hands up.
“Seriously,” James muttered under his breath.
Thankfully, Daniel returned right on time to save Elodie from having to make any more painful conversation. He handed the girls two martini glasses as Elodie pat herself on the back for guessing correctly.
“So, where's Tyler?” Samantha asked eagerly as she gulped down her drink.
“Er, I am not sure...” Elodie trailed off as she looked around the room, desperate to be anywhere but there. My ass is literally sweating, she thought as she tried to swish the skirt of her dress around without drawing attention.
“Well that sucks,” Samantha said with a shrug as she set down her empty glass on an adjacent table. “I need a cigarette,” she added as she began to scramble through her Chanel purse.
“You can't smoke in here, Sam,” Jacqueline scolded her lightly before turning to Elodie. “I would go with you outside, but I can't stand the smell. Elodie, why don't you go with her?”
“Er, um,” was all that came out of Elodie's mouth as she fanned the back of her skirt discreetly.
“Yea, come with me! I hate smoking alone. You can bum one of mine,” Samantha said with a friendly smile.
“Do you smoke?” James asked with a surprised expression on his face.
Literally. Sweating. My. Ass. Off.
“Sometimes when I drink,” Elodie squeaked out. “But just sometimes.”
“We're drinking now, aren't we?” Jacqueline asked with a tinkling laugh. “Go ahead. We'll be right here when you two come back.”
I fucking hate you and your stupid Valentino dress, Elodie thought as Samantha grabbed her by the hand and dragged her outside. Mortal enemy worthy hate, she silently whimpered as the heavy door closed behind them.
“God, this tastes so good,” Samantha gushed as she inhaled deeply after lighting one of her Parliament Lights. “Are you sure you don't want one?”
Elodie wanted to stuff three cigarettes into her mouth and smoke them all at once. “No thank you,” she replied with a small wave of her hand.
“Hm, okay!” the blonde chimney said with a nod as she puffed away. “So how do you know Daniel and James? Please don't tell me they hired all of you girls to come to his lame little birthday party.”
“Oh, um, just, you know...” Elodie said as she shrugged her shoulders. “How do you know them?”
Samantha waved her arms around as she began her storytelling. “We all grew up together! You know, me, Jack, James, Daniel, Mike. We all went to Dalton together since we were, like, toddlers. Jack and James dated for, like, eternity. That's probably why they're acting so weird.”
“They dated?” Elodie asked as she felt queasy at the thought.
“Oh yea,” Samantha continued, lighting another cigarette. “Since we were maybe 16? Then she went off to Princeton and he went to Penn, so they did long-distance or whatever for a semester before they broke up. Then when we all graduated and ended back up here, they started seeing each other again. But his schedule's, like, totally crazy! So then they broke up again and she went to Paris to study museum shit, so that was that. But all of us think they'll end up together. I bet that marriage would be boring as shit.”
“Oh,” Elodie replied, suddenly feeling very envious. What if she wanted that boring marriage with James?
“Who cares about them, anyway,” she continued while rolling her eyes. “Drama! So, tell me about Tyler! What's it like? He's so fucking hot. His face is, like, perfection.”
“I am actually not his girlfriend,” Elodie said as Samantha stamped out her cigarette and they headed back inside. “He just likes to joke around.”
“Really?” Samantha asked as she gave her a "tell me more" smile.
“Really what?” James asked as they came into earshot. When he protectively touched Elodie's arm and drew her closer, Samantha gave them a quizzical look. When the status of their relationship registered in her head, a look of "oh shit" filled her face. Maybe she shouldn't have told the French model about her best friend's history with the blonde banker?
“I was asking her about this guy,” she said slowly as she watched James' hand move onto Elodie's back.
“Her boyfriend?” Jacqueline interjected, not wasting a second.
“No,” Samantha said with a distracted shake of her head. “He's, like, this really hot model. He's everywhere.”
“Didn't he say he was your boyfriend last time?” Jacqueline asked in a sweet tone as she shot Elodie an innocuous smile.
“Er, no,” Elodie replied quickly as she tried to come up with a clever response while a frow
n formed on James' lips.
“No, that was a misunderstanding. I heard that he just likes to joke around,” Samantha offered with an innocent expression. I love you so much, Elodie thought as she gave her a smile of thanks.
“Anyway, models always hang out together. Trust me, I work in fashion. I've had, like, ten internships! You're a model too, right?” Samantha continued as she turned back to Elodie.
“Yup,” James butted in, grinning brightly as he turned to look at her. “She just booked two Ero campaigns.”
Elodie giggled nervously as Samantha flipped her shit. “Oh my God! I love their stuff. I would live and die in Ero if I could. Smell me! I'm wearing Chèvrefeuille.”