Etoile (The Mannequin Series)

by Olivia Besse

  “No such thing too pretty,” Tatiana told her while rolling her eyes. “He like you, no?” she asked Elodie, who turned pink at the question.

  “Not really,” she answered. “But he really is cute.”

  “Male model bad news,” Jelena told her as she patted her hand. “Just go banker boys instead. We find you some today.”

  Elodie gave a little snort at the prospect, as Tatiana's idea of a “banker boy” was a 43-year old man with a penchant for Bottega Veneta and pinky nails full of cocaine.

  The three lolled around for the rest of the afternoon, snacking on kale chips, painting their nails and smoking up a storm. Heddi quietly came home around dusk, carrying her iPad and print portfolio.

  "Oh, everyone's home. Hello," Heddi said pleasantly as she went to go set her things down in our room.

  Tatiana eyed her enviously. "You had go-see today?"

  All of their perceptive antennae were finely tuned to catch if someone else had gotten work and they hadn't. Egos were constantly built up and knocked down in that apartment, and none of them could help it. While all of them had different enough looks so that they were rarely up for the same jobs, jealousy and competitive attitudes were inevitable.

  "More like a cattle call," Heddi said dejectedly as she slid onto the other end of the sofa. She curiously observed the different bottles of nail polish that were strewn across the table before lighting a cigarette.

  Tatiana replied back petulantly, "I did not even get call for cattle call."

  They all knew what frantic thoughts must have been flying around in Tatiana's head at that moment. It was the all too familiar feeling of unworthiness and frustration. Why hadn't she been considered? What was her booker's problem? How many girls were there that were better than her? Was she not part of the first line anymore?

  That's the thing with modelling. Even if a girl is beautiful and knows it, she might not always get the job, or even be considered for it. The industry was ruthless in that the players had no qualms about pointing out any miniscule details about the girls that were less than ideal. The standards for perfection were insane, and they all undoubtedly took a psychological hit because of them.

  Elodie could distinctly remember one of her first go-sees right after she had arrived in New York. The casting director had spoken to his assistant, verbally dissecting her thighs and how her gap was not straight enough. She had stood there, completely mortified, until he had looked at her with annoyance and said, "Uh, you can go now." Needless to say, she barely ate for the next two weeks until her gap had parallel sides.

  To cut the tension, Jelena began making wild hand gestures while speaking to them animatedly. "Okay, so just forget. Just ignore, yes? We go and everyone will have fun time today. We all get hot and go out, yes? Sean send Escalade at nine and we get dinner before club. Today he say we get table for sure, or I leave him. Tuesday is always best day, you know."

  Tatiana and Elodie smiled weakly at her in agreement. As expected, Heddi closed her eyes and shook her head no, to which Jelena pouted, "You are boring girl, Heddi Jakobsen. I starting to not love you."

  Six

  Attempting to collect her thoughts amidst the pounding electronic music, Elodie wasn't sure if she was at dinner or already at the club. They had managed to drag Heddi out against her will and the four of them were seated around a long table with three of Tatiana's other friends and the promoter, Sean.

  The trendy restaurant was very popular and the food was said to be the best in the neighborhood. Not that they had tried it, of course. Despite the lovely $50 displays of mouthwatering steaks, only a few side vegetables had been nibbled on, while magnums of champagne were continuously being cleared away and replaced.

  Unsurprisingly, they were all dressed in a rainbow spectrum of suffocating Herve Leger dresses and sky high Christian Louboutin or Dior heels. Everyone's hairstyle was a different shade of straightened, glossy perfection. Indeed, with the same expertly applied smoky eyes and baby pink lips, the models looked like different-hued variants of the same girl, sitting on display in a cloud of luxurious perfume.

  The girls attempted to make conversation over the blaring music and resorted to dancing in their seats when that failed. Before long, Sean was taking care of the cheque and the eight of them were piling into the Escalade limo again.

  SP was the hottest spot in the Meatpacking District for the moment, a true super club in the land of many imposters. The decor was dark and sexy with a close-to-impenetrable door.

  As they walked up to the entrance at a little past midnight, the bouncer happily let them in with not even a request for any type of identification. The crowd of people in line roared in anger as they complained about how that must be illegal, demanding to know why they weren't being allowed in. Sean talked business with the club director before escorting the fashionable gaggle of legs inside to show them to their table upstairs.

  The club was packed with either unbelievably attractive people or those with deep, deep pockets. Every single table was filled, while money and names were being thrown around haphazardly. Glitter confetti shot out of air cannons on the dance floor and girls pranced about with giant foam glow sticks and bottles of champagne grasped in their hands. Every few minutes, a group of rowdy partiers was getting extravagant bottles with flaming sparklers delivered to their table.

  Of course, this was just a typical Tuesday night.

  Once inside, the group had a staring contest with another group of pretty young things at the adjacent table, while the booths of suits and blazers across from them ogled blatantly. Sufficiently inebriated at that point, Tatiana and Jelena stood on the banquettes with Uli, one of their 17-year old South African accomplices, putting on a show for a table full of mid-aged businessmen that sat thirty feet away.

  Heddi was engrossed in whatever was popping up on her phone screen, which probably meant that she was messaging her boyfriend. Elodie sat back as a warm fuzziness took ahold of her brain and bottles of Dom Perignon and Belvedere were brought to their corner. Heddi was soon holding her phone to her ear, pathetically attempting to have an audible conversation. Eventually, she left to go outside, leaving Elodie sitting all by her lonesome.

  "Lodie, come with us. Very good, do not worry," Jelena reassured her as she came to the rescue. She aggressively grabbed ahold of Elodie's wrist and dragged her across the way to a table full of eager boys. Thankfully, they were young and still had all of their hair, which would make the coerced interactions much more bearable.

  They looked like they probably worked in finance, judging from the sheer number of bottles on their table and the bags under their eyes. Tatiana was sitting in between a brown haired boy with bright red cheeks and his chiseled ginger-haired friend, both of whom were vying for her attention. She was loving every minute of it.

  A fresh faced guy with a smile worthy of a toothpaste commercial handed Jelena and Elodie each a vodka soda. "What's your name!" he screamed out, trying to make his words heard over the booming dance music.

  "Elodie!" she screamed.

  "What?"

  "ELODIE!"

  He grinned and tried again, "Melanie?"

  There was no point in even trying to correct him, so Elodie shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. He nodded in agreement with a goofy smile before proceeding to put his arm around Jelena's bony shoulders as they whooped and writhed around.

  Since she had nothing better to do, Elodie decided to catch up on her email. When she pulled her phone out, she noticed that she had a text message.

  watcha doin? tyler btw

  It had come in about two hours earlier, so she assumed that it was acceptable to respond now. In her buzzed state, she didn't see the harm in having a bit of fun.

  sp with flatmates. u?

  And just then, as she was smirking mischievously at her bright screen, she felt an icy coldness dribble down her arms and legs. She looked up angrily above where she was sitting and was greeted by wide brown eyes in a state of shock.


  "Oh shit, I'm so sorry!" the culprit yelled out.

  Elodie abruptly stood up and felt the cold liquid seep through her dress and uncomfortably come in contact with the bare skin underneath.

  "Fuck!" she yelled out in annoyance as the stream continued to trickle down her legs. The boy rushed to hand her some napkins, which she snatched from him angrily to dab helplessly at her poor dress.

  "I'm so sorry," he continued to shout. "I was walking back and that girl was dancing and she knocked into me. Shit, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

  With flaring nostrils, Elodie looked past him to see who the stupid bitch was. It was none other than Uli, who was now drinking directly from the bottle at the prodding of the boys at the table next to them. Typical.

  She rolled her eyes and turned back to the boy who had ruined her mood, ready to give him a piece of her mind. Expecting to lock eyes with some sort of uncoordinated dweeb, she was shocked to find a handsome young man staring at her with a concerned expression.

  He gave her a small smile as their eyes locked. His perfectly shaped eyebrows unfurrowed as his big brown eyes relaxed. He leaned in close to her ear and introduced himself.

  "James. James Campbell. Again, I'm really sorry. Forgive me?" He gave her an adorable pleading pout. Elodie couldn't help but return his smile and nod in a surrendering fashion.

  "Elodie," she yelled back.

  He continued to grin at her until his obnoxious friend, who still had his arm wrapped around Jelena, came and grabbed him around the shoulders with his free hand.

  "Jimmy! Models and bottles, baby!" he exclaimed as he and Jelena continued with their whooping. They had acquired those garish light-up glasses from somewhere or another, and were having the time of their lives.

  James squinted one of his eyes at Elodie and crinkled his nose in embarrassment. God, his teeth were straight, Elodie couldn't help but think. Did all of these boys work on Colgate campaigns?

  He shook off his friend's grasp and yelled out again, "Really sorry about the dress. Let me pay for the dry cleaning at the very least!"

  She giggled and shook her head no, to which he boldly responded, "Then at least let me take you out to dinner!"

  Elodie took a good look at him before replying. He was strikingly good looking in a preppy way with tall blond hair that was perfectly coiffed. And he was definitely a lot cuter than most of the sullen male models that she worked with. Through his pale blue dress shirt, which had also fallen victim to the spill, she could see that he was slim yet muscular, which was just her type.

  Before she could agree to his proposition, she felt someone's arm firmly loop around her waist. "There's my girl!"

  Without even looking, Elodie knew who it was by the slight twang in his voice and the unforgettable scent of his cologne. Indeed, she spun around to find Tyler hanging onto her, with his friends Jay, Theo and Soren trailing behind.

  Tyler gave a cocky laugh as he nuzzled her cheek. She heard Tatiana screeching as she hugged Soren, blabbering about how they needed to have a drink together.

  Shit. Elodie turned back to James, whose smile had faltered a bit. He shrugged good-naturedly and gestured for her to go on ahead without him as Tyler pulled her away.

  Seven

  "I have my own place now, you know," Tyler said as he ran his finger up and down Elodie's bare arms. "Bought it a few months ago. You should come by and check it out. It's got a killer view." He smiled suggestively at her.

  The towering crew of beautiful people had moved the party over to the chic rooftop lounge of a nearby hotel after finishing the bottles at SP. After she had gone back to her table with Tyler and his gang, she found that could no longer spot James in the crowded club. So she had stopped trying eventually, and now she and Tyler were perched in a corner booth on the roof together.

  Oh well. She didn't even know why she cared. It wasn't like they would have gotten along anyway. He was probably just an overworked nerd, and she belonged with the other mannequins.

  "Maybe," she said coyly as she reached for her champagne flute.

  He grinned at the challenge and nuzzled at her face again. After seeing that Elodie wasn't going to fight his advances, he began to nibble her ear. She felt herself quiver ever so slightly.

  "Come on," he whispered ever so quietly. "I know you want to fuck me."

  She gave him a peeved look. Normally, comments like that wouldn't have bothered her. Hell, she might have even liked it a day ago. But now she was slightly bothered, though she couldn't put her finger on the reason. Why couldn't he just act like a gentleman?

  "Oh come on," he laughed. "Don't be a little baby. I was just joking. Do you want to get out of here or not?"

  Elodie looked around for her friends but only saw Tatiana making out with Soren on the other side of the roof. Jelena and the younger girls were nowhere to be found.

  Tyler continued to brush his face against hers and she succumbed to his persistent prodding. Even if she was still slightly upset about earlier, she couldn't help but give in to his charm. "Maybe for a drink," she said innocently. He grabbed her hand with a triumphant smirk on his face, and the two headed into the elevator to make their way back to his place.

  "I missed you, you know," Tyler murmured into her neck as the elevator began its descent towards the lobby.

  "You hardly know me," Elodie responded in a shaky voice, her shoulders trembling as his voice tickled the sensitive skin of her collarbone.

  "I think I know you pretty well," he said with a small laugh as he pulled away. The bell dinged and the doors opened to let them out, and Tyler slipped her hand into his as he led her through the busy lobby and out of the hotel's entrance.

  "Oh, do you?" she asked flirtatiously as he began leading her down 14th Street.

  Tyler wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as they continued to walk. "Your name is Melody with a silent M. You have a fake French accent. Your favorite word is 'maybe'. And you're relatively cute, I guess," he said as he stopped walking, turning to look at her with a smirk on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I'd say you're an... 8."

  She shook her head with a laugh and pulled away. "Why waste your time on an 8 when you can surround yourself with 10's?" she asked with a fake pout. God, she was drunk.

  "I only knocked off points because you're misbehaving," Tyler told her as he gently poked her nose. "If you stopped messing around, you'd be an 11."

  Elodie's heart began to thud as he grabbed for her hand and started walking again. “What am I?” he asked as he turned and gave her a typical male model stare. “A 20?”

  “More like a 6,” she pretended to grumble as he scrunched his nose up at her.

  “Don't they teach you how numbers work in France?”

  He squeezed her hand as she laughed and continued on in a softer voice, “I was waiting for your responses every time I contacted you, you know. I figured that you must've lost your phone or something. Someone up there must have really wanted us to have playtime again.”

  Elodie giggled nervously, racking her brain to come up with a way to change the subject. Clearing her throat, she looked around curiously. “Where is your place?”

  “Right here,” he told her as they walked up to a tall red brick building. “How did you know? You're like a wizard. Or a stalker.”

  She rolled her eyes at him and thanked the doorman as he held the door open for them, quickly scampering inside.

  “Can't wait to get upstairs, huh?” he asked, playfully wiggling his eyebrows at her as he pressed the elevator button.

  “Just for a drink,” she reminded him with a small smile. God, he really is cute, Elodie thought to herself as he squinted his eyes at her.

  “Just a drink,” he repeated as he gave her a mischievous smirk as they boarded the elevator. As the doors slid closed, he held her palm up to his face with a pensive expression.

  “What?” she asked curiously as her heart pounded in her chest.

  “Did you know
I can read palms?” he asked nonchalantly as he traced one of the deep grooves ever so gently.

  Elodie gulped and shook her head no. He gave her a teasing smile as he held her hand up. “This line,” he said as he dragged his fingertip across her skin, causing her to bite her bottom lip as it tickled. “Says that you're not even thirsty. And this one says,” he continued as he traced another fold and looked into her eyes. “You missed me too.”

  “Did you learn that from a drunk gypsy?” she joked as the elevator landed on his floor. She could feel her cheeks flushing as he watched her with amusement. He let out a snort as he grabbed her hand and led her to his door. Once he unlocked it, he motioned for her to enter.