Claire Pettibone Heirloom Lingerie Collection…online store coming soon…
Photo; Elizabeth Messina
a/n: 100 words away from 4K words lol. hope you guys like. hope your readyyyy
warnings: alcohol mentioned (champagne)
Love and Other Things that Kill; Chapter 4: Escargots and Champagne Lies
Alexis huffed as she pulled the soft yellow suitcase out from the apartment kitchen. Roxanne ran behind her in muddied steps, hands holding a purse and lipstick. Alena and Margot followed behind, helping Alexis stagger into the elevator and out to the limousine. The chauffer grabbed her bags and flipped the back open as he sifted them into the trunk. Alexis huffed, hands combing through her hair as she turned around to look at her daughter and friends. Roxanne pushed her hands towards her mother, purse and lipstick sticking towards Alexis’s face.
“Thank you, baby,” Alexis sighed, hands coming to press to Roxanne’s cheeks, pulling the little girl in for a large kiss. Roxanne hugged her daughter, her realization that she had never left for this long, let along go across the world, from her daughter.
“Mama,” Roxanne said, frown on her lips. Alexis teared up, pressing a sweet kiss to her daughter’s forehead.
“You be good to Aunti Alena and Margot, you got that?” Alexis said, brows turning as she looked at her daughter. Roxanne nodded, big bouncy brunette curls jumbling atop her head. Alexis laughed lovingly, kissing her daughter again.
“You’ll be back before you even say bonjour,” Margot smiled, hugging her friend. Alexis laughed, nodding slightly.
“Yea, just wish you guys could come.”
“It’s okay,” Alena smiled, picking up Roxanne in her arms. “You’ll be back soon. You’ll have a great time!”
“Yeah,” Alexis huffed. “I’ll be completely alone, without anyone I know, surrounded by hundreds of people and celebrities, all eyes on me. So, fantastic.”
“You wanted to be an actress,” Margot added, giving a side eye. “This comes with the job.”
Alexis bit her lip, head turning to look at her phone as she unlocked it. “I’ve got to go. I love you girls.”
“Love you,” her friends smiled, moving backwards. Roxanne’s lip quivered as she waved softly to her mother. Alexis smiled at her daughter sympathetically, waving and getting into the vehicle, shutting the door as she pressed her hands to her eyes, slight tears peaking at the corners.
The airport was a rush of busyness. People moved in and out, all over and around as they tried to get to planes and cars. Alexis frowned as she moved around, eyes looking all over for her manager, Karenna. Suddenly, from the corner of Alexis’s eye, a bright snapping light caught her off guard.
“huh!” she yelped, eye blinking wide when two more snaps were shot in her face.
“Alexis! Look here!”
Her lips parted as she moved backwards, a hand firmly grabbing her wrist. She turned her head and looked at Karenna, the woman’s bright silver blonde bob shaking as she pulled Alexis away from the photographers.
“I thought I told you to meet me a gate check five,” Karenna snapped, eyes narrowing at Alexis.
“I know,” Alexis said, body caving inwards slightly. “I got lost.”
“Girl,” Karenna sighed with irritation, hand tugging Alexis and the other carrying her white leather purse. Alexis frowned.
“How was I supposed to know they would be there!” she yelped as Karenna pulled her down another hall, body sifting through the crowd. “I’ve only been on television once!”
“Once is enough,” Karenna bit, crystal blue eyes cutting through Alexis’s self-esteem. “You’re one of the biggest rising stars in Hollywood, don’t forget that. Paps will follow you around till you die, this is your life. Learn it.”
Alexis shut her mouth. She turned her head, face looking to the ground in shame. She really was an amateur, didn’t belong in this world, and that was all starting to smack her right in the face.
“The dress will be in the hotel when we get there, try it on one more time when we arrive to see if it fits,” Karenna noted as she pushed the red lipstick along her lips. Alexis nodded, mind somewhere else as they boarded the international plane. They had connections and long waits until Cannes, and Alexis quickly popped her earbuds in as she settled into the seat near the window, eyes closing slightly as the captain began to go over procedures.
Thirteen hours later and Alexis was quickly shaken awake, the darkness in the cabin causing her eyes to squint. She turned her head, Karenna’s hand pushing it back to the window, Alexis’s eyes widening as she realized what she was woken for. The Eifel Tower sparkled like golden glitter as they flew by, the effervesced glow of Paris Alexis’s lips to part, her heart surging at the beauty.
“Wow,” she whispered, eyes taken by the gorgeous image.
“Paris,” Karenna said blandly, finger going back to sliding along her phone. “It’s pretty.”
Just pretty?Alexis thought it was the most beautiful place she ever saw.
When they arrived at the airport, they hurried away from more paparazzi and to the hummer limousine awaiting them. Hues of flashing lights sparkled behind them and the chauffer quickly shut the door before they could get any real shots of Alexis in her grey sweats that Karenna had scorned multiple times already. They drove all the way to Cannes, the eight and a half hours slipping by quickly as Karenna educated Alexis on who was going to be attending the film festival, what she would have to say, and who she needed to be seen with.
“Try grabbing a drink with Leonardo,” Karenna advised, her hand flipping through magazines. “He’s gorgeous, and has a new movie coming up. Could score you a shot there.”
“What about Jack?” Alexis asked, brows pulled.
“What about Jack,” Karenna asked, eyes narrowed and glimmering in the faint light of the car, the darkness of the night draped in the outside world. “Honey, we all know you’re the one with talent. Jack will worry about himself. He’s already getting enough pub with his name behind yours.”
Alexis ticked her fingers together, the thought irking her slightly. She liked Jack, thought he was sweet and kind, and got her the movie in the first place. However, whether she likedJack was an entirely differently question.
When they arrived at the hotel, the doormen made quick work of gathering their bags. Karenna opened the car door, her eyes glistening at the tall and beautiful hotel. She licked her lips, helping Alexis out of her seat and onto the pavement as they made their way to the front desk.
“Maine,” Karenna said in a monotone voice, nails picking at her skin as she awaited the key. The receptionist smiled, a short merci leaving his lips as she snagged Alexis by the hand, Alexis waving to the short guy standing behind the desk.
“I got you a surprise,” Karenna said as they rose in the elevator. Alexis looked at her with raised brows.
“What?”
“Well, it’s not so much a surprise now since I told you, but I did.”
“For what, though.”
“The Vogue Parisafter party following the festival,” Karenna said, hand pulling her purse along as they exited the elevator, deep red velvet carpet and white to crème colored walls with gold mirrors welcomed them.
“I’m going to what?” Alexis said, eyes wide.
“Alexis, if you keep asking questions, people are going to think you’re, deaf or something,” Karenna gave her a look, fingers pushing the key card into the door. “Not that that’s a problem, of course. My brother is deaf in his right ear. It’s just you sound like a parrot so please try and keep up.”
Alexis shut her mouth at that, quietly following Karenna into the hotel room. She flipped on the light switch, audible gasp escaping her lips as the chandelier lit like a scatter of stars, illuminating the room in a sea of gold. Three French doors opened to the Golfe de la Napoule. Her bed was set elegantly against the wall, opposite of the large bathroom with windows all around the walls, deep soaking bath facing the gorgeous views. Alexis walked forward, lips parted permanently as she found two dresses situated in the center of the room on maniquines.
“Holy fuck,” she whispered, fingers touching the soft pink fabric of the first gown, the sewn intricate golden flowers scattered knowingly around the waist and skirt. The second dress, a deep wine-red silk gown with thin straps and a high slit that surely would come up to her lower hip. How would she wear underwear? And the fit, surely welcoming her curves in every way.
“It was a killer to snag,” Karenna said after a moment, small smile on her lips. “But I get what I want. You’ll look ravishing. He’ll love it.”
Alexis turned at that, brows and eyes in shock. “Wh-what?!”
“Oh, Alexis, don’t think I don’t know,” Karenna said in a drag, her long legs taking her to the windows to open the blinds.
“I-I don’t kn-know what you’re talking about!” Alexis stuttered nervously. “H-He can’t be coming!”
“Darling, he isn’t!” Karenna gave her a raised brow. “Jack. I know how much he’ll love the dress. Don’t think I don’t know how much you really like him.”
Alexis’s mouth dried, and at the same time, her heart slowed. Not Shawn.
“O-oh, yea, of course, really do, Jack,” she mumbled, hands pulling her suitcase. Karenna gave an odd, confused look her way, then moved to the door.
“Better be ready for tomorrow,” she said, giving Alexis one last look, before opening the door and leaving.
Alexis let out a deep breath, body falling back against the soft overly-fluffed hotel bed. She closed her eyes, heart and blood pumping at the thought of Shawn. Get over him and his stupid everything! She wanted to slap herself. Why was she still thinking about him! Maybe it was because he was the father of her child, her first love, the only man who made her completely weak in the knees? She rolled her eyes at her thoughts, quickly pushing the suitcase on the floor with her foot and raised to unzip, preparing herself for a much-needed sleep.
The next morning, Alexis woke to a room scattered with maids and fashion and makeup artists. Karenna walked in the room from the balcony, tea in hand and blonde hair in tight curls.
“Great you’re up. Come on, let’s get you primped.”
“But don’t we have time?” Alexis asked, body sifting out of the warm bed.
“Hardly. This is an all-day ordeal! You aren’t just some actress, you’re the actress, the new gem! We need to princess-ed up and ready to go,” Karenna commanded, body turning back to the gulf as she sipped her lukewarm light green tea.
Alexis let the artists and designers mess around her as they prepared her for the evening of festivities. They pulled at her hair, combed and brushed and softened her up. She took an hour-long bath as they scrubbed her feet and hands, painting her nails and lathering her in sweet peony scented lotion.
Alexis called the girls at home, talking to Roxanne with a smile on her face as she listed to her daughters broken baby talk as the designers began applying soft featured makeup on her.
“I want her natural and glowing, like a fucking star,” Karenna said, eyes on them as they continued Alexis’s image. They applied a sweet pink along her lips, soft golden sparkles and peach along her eyes and heavy false lashes that made her look like a Grecian goddess., a seductively innocent tempest.
“Does it fit?” Alexis questioned, eyes watching the team fix her floral dress. The young designer looked up, his smile bright.
“Très belle, mademoiselle,” he sang softly, hands zipping her up. She smiled softly, hands coming to her waist to spread down the flicker of peonies and gold accents. The sun softly set in the back of the windows, and Alexis sighed as the team backed away, admiring her.
“Now,” Karenna smiled, eyeing Alexis fully. “Now you’re a star my darling.”
When they arrived at Cannes, Alexis thought she would puke. Her breathing was sky high, blood coursing through like a race horse.
“Breath, honey,” Timothy, the fashion designer smiled, hand touching her shoulder. “Just breath.”
Alexis nodded, eyes closed and hands shaking. The lights flashing vividly from beyond the tinted window, and with a whoosh, Karenna opened the door with a prayer. Shattering or shouts and cries erupted as Alexis walked out the car, her dark chocolate curls falling down her back and along her shoulders. The paps flashed frantically, yelling her name like a prayer as she moved down towards the beginning of the red carpet. She smiled, sparkling eyes on bright alert as she looked at the clapping crowds, all begging like dogs for her attention. Karenna walked behind her, eyes on the girl, and hand pressing to her back when men looked Alexis up and down, their foreign lips turning to a smile.
“To the news channel we spoke about,” Karenna said in her ear, and Alexis nodded, smiling back at the screaming crowds.
Shawn heard the shouts, the bleak cries and screams and flashes of the cameras, and he cursed God when he turned around, his heart stopping at the angel down the red carpet.
“Holy,” he breathed. Alexis walked down the carpet, long pink floral train flared behind her, the soft golden crown situated pettily above her voluminous curls. Her dress fit perfectly, drawing his lip between his teeth as he looked at her sensual form, her everything shocking him completely. She didn’t even notice his staring, didn’t notice his shocked gaze or drooling mouth as she walked to the television stand, her smile widening as she talked to them.
He didn’t really know what to do, he was in a state of complete awe. God how she changed, and how he wanted to talk to her, at least ask her how she was, what she was doing at this crazed place. Then, her turned her head, sweet lips dancing in a large smile at something the host said, eyes falling on Shawn’s staring form from down the carpet. She stopped, visually stuttering. At that, Shawn did the same, his lips wet from his tongue, pink from him biting.
Alexis felt the air rush out of her system, completely taken by his suit clad form. But more of a shock, his complete stare on her form, the look in his eyes saying one thing.
You.
“Miss Maine?”
“Huh?” she asked, eyes wide. “Oh! Yes, Jack and I are totally happy, and so excited for the move.”
The host smiled and shook her hand, and she quickly made her way down the stairs and back to Karenna. She took a deep breath, eyes glancing up to see Shawn still staring at her. She didn’t know what to do, her heart was lapping to a hundred miles.
“Let’s go,” Karenna motioned, walking forward. Alexis nodded, silently following after as she felt her body burn. She moved forward, heel clad feel snapping along the carpet, Shawn’s form coming even closer to her as she moved to the entrance.
Now!Shawn yelled to himself, his hands shaking as she came closer, her head forward and not looking his way. She saw you, fucking talk to her! She walked next to him, body in arm length, and then into the banquet hall, slipping past him as he watched her walk away. His throat clenched, mouth dry as he sensed the waft of peony from her skin.
Alexis fought herself to move forward, hands clenched into themselves as she kept on after Karenna, knowing better than to turn towards Shawn and ruin everything she prepared herself for. They didn’t see each other till the end of the evening. The festival had gone as planned, film after film previewed again and again, and Alexis made sure to frequent the bar to collage with different actors and directors.
Karenna motioned Alexis out of the banquet early as many others did the same, stating that she needed time to prepare for the Vogue party. Shawn noticed her leaving form, heart spinning at her leaving image. God, she was so different, confident, beautiful, a woman, yes, that was what she really was, with those hips and legs and chest and eyes, fuck he realized how gorgeous her eyes were, how had he never seen before? He wanted to talk to her, fucking himself over the head for not doing it at the entrance.
The red dress fit Alexis like a glove, the red silk fitting formally along her hips and waist, the lowness and shallow cut on the sides of the dress making her nervous that her breasts would completely slip out. The slit of the dress came to her mid hip, her legs glowing from the soft shea butter the Timothy and Karenna agreed on, the soft glimmer of glitter flickering along her skin.
“I’m scared,” Alexis confided to Timothy, causing him to look up.
“My amour, why?” he asked, thick accent causing her to smile faintly.
“What if you…you saw someone, from your past. And you loved them, so, somuch, and still…well, you saw them again and they maybe forgot you, and now you think they remember but you are in a relationship, so you can’t feel anything for them, and they don’t know about a lot that has happened, and you still think they are the most absolute gorgeous human on the planet….” She paused, realizing how she sounded. Timothy looked up at her with a smirk, his fingers flicking the snap on the strappy gold shoes. “Fuck.”
“Fuck is right,” he said with a laugh, looking behind her quickly. “But I would say, of course this is just if this happened, but I’d say talk to them.”
“Even if they fucked up?” She asked, lip pulled to her teeth.
“Everyone deserves to be heard, my amour,” he smiled, finger pushing her brown curls behind her ear.
She sighed, palms sweating as she turned towards the door, trying to ready herself.
The after-party was busy, and to Alexis’s demise, Karenna left her at the bar to fend for herself. She called it, ‘Throwing her into the fire’ and Alexis didn’t that that was a totally great teaching idea.
“You gotta be in the fire to get out!” Karenna explained, leaving her.
“Damn it, Karenna,” Alexis muttered, body turning to the bar to order a drink. The music thumped loud and the room was a dark and deep color that seemed to dim well around the figures. Lights were soft and chandeliers were a beautiful crystal. Pure elegance emitted from the room.
“Alexis?” a soft voice preened in the music, hand coming to her exposed back and she shuttered, jumping slightly to see the person, immediately regretting the decision.
He was wearing a black blazer that fit too well, white shirt tight and showing the tan of his perfect glowing skin. His hair was soft, so curly and warm and goodthat she wanted to run her fingers through it. His cheeks were pink, lip between his teeth nervously.
“Shawn,” she breathed, voice foreign to her ears. It was soft, a slight airy seduction that caused his cheeks to brighten even more. His hand came forward, taking hers hesitantly on the bar, their fingers mixing softly. He felt the same, the coarse fingers and the soft touches. Their bodies tingled, both missing the feeling, Shawn realizing how much he missed her softness against his hardness.
“Holy fuck,” he laughed slightly, hand coming through his curls wickedly. She didn’t know what to say, she had been imagining this moment for three years, and never had it been this way.
“You’re different,” he breathed, looking at her entirely. “Wow.”
She gulped, eyes flicker to the table and head turning. “You look the same, only taller.”
He curved his brows, feeling slightly guilty. “Look, Alexis, I know we had a… difficult parting, but I want to let you know that I want us to be friends.”
Friends!Shawn almost slammed himself to the floor. She looked at him with wide eyes, lips parting. Fuck.
“Friends?” she asked shakily, hands clenching and ripping from his grasp. “You dump me because you got famous, left me to wallow in sadness while you got rich and slept with girls, and are asking to be friends?” She laughed, hand coming to the glass of champagne set for her. “Wow, you really are full of it.”
Shawn frowned deeply. “Alexis, I said I was sorry. What’s on with you?”
She clenched her jaw. “Me? Me!” she stared at him with pursed lips. “Are you serious?”
He raised his brow.
“Shawn, you fucking forgot me,” she hissed, eyes fiery red. He frowned at her.
“You look different Alexis, I’m sorry!”
“You just expect me to forgive you, just like that!” she took another swig of champagne. “Shawn, you fucked me over.”
“It’s been years, Alexis, can’t we move on?” He argued, hand grasping the bar thickly.
“Oh, like how you did when I slipped your mind completely?” she spat, eyes in a deep killing glare. “You know, you’ve changed too. But, I always remembered your smile, that never faltered in every image, every tabloid. Your breath-taking smile that always cured everything. You were still the man I knew, in those pictures at the store, following me around. Bur now, with you here, I realized what a lie that was.”
Shawn gaped at her, and he stumbled after as she walked away, quick after her. “What the fuck are you talking about!”
“You!” yelled, hands high and music loud thankfully. “You changed. The Shawn I knew would have never forgotten me, not once. This world, it changed you for the worst. I can’t believe I still loved you!”
He stilled, eyes wide. “You…you love me.” His heart raced, hands turning to jelly. She loves me.
“Lovedyou,” she hissed, eyes tearing up. “I had, some other time. But now…I don’t even know who you are. I have someone else.”
“What?” Shawn argued. “That plastic ken doll? You always liked the rough, real guys, Alexis, come on.”
“At least he doesn’t leave me when he gets big,” She spat. “He brought me up, not down.”
With that, she walked away, hips swaying in that silky red gown, leaving Shawn completely alone in the glimmering night. Shawn cursed into the night, body turning to the restroom as he pushed himself inside, fist slamming on the door.
“Fuck!” he yelled out, body shaking as an old man walked from the stall. He looked at Shawn, eyes raking the young heart throb from head to toe.
“You let her walk away?” he asked, hands pushing the water on. Shawn stared at him, lips parting as his heart break, realizing what he had done for the second time, and again what he did to her heart too many.
“I let her walk away,” he whispered. “And I broke her heart.”
“Why do you care,” the old man asked, hands coming to his spare hair. “You’re the one who did it.”
“I didn’t mean to!” he exclaimed, walking forward, hair frazzled. “She gets me crazy.”
“Crazy for her,” the man laughed. “Listen kid, you want a woman, you fight for her back.”
Shawn watched as the man walked away, patting Shawn on the back before leaving him with his thoughts, Shawn leaning against the counter as he looked down.
I’m still crazy for her and I let her walk away.
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