Etoile (The Mannequin Series)

by Olivia Besse

  With a snort, Heddi shot her friend an incredulous stare. “Please,” she began in her faint Danish accent as she threw her scrawny arm around Elodie's shoulders. “I am not blind and I wasn't born yesterday. Tati and I always suspected something!”

  “Really, nothing,” Elodie said simply as they made their towards the door. “He is just like that.”

  “He is not,” Heddi insisted. “My friend, Malou, you remember her? She has been trying to snatch him since last year, and he never even gave her the time of day! But he even introduced himself to you, you remember? I think he likes you. He's definitely cuter than what's-his-name.”

  “They are different,” Elodie replied with a frown as the image of James popped up in her head. “Besides, I can tell that Tyler is trouble.”

  As they made their way back to their table, Heddi let go of Elodie's shoulders and grabbed her friend's hand. “I don't know,” she yelled over the loud techno music as Parisian men in too-tight Dior Homme suits watched them pass. “The other one sounds more like trouble to me. You can never trust the good guys!”

  James? Trouble? Elodie squinted at Heddi as she gave her a goofy smile and shook her head. No way. Heddi must be terribly drunk, she thought to herself as they stumbled back towards the table. Or she was just very, very bitter about having recently found out that her long-distance boyfriend had been cheating on her with a 16-year old bulimic ballerina for the past three months.

  As they approached their spot in the corner of a dimly lit faux tunnel, Elodie saw that a group of five snooty Parisian girls had parked their bony derrieres on the benches while Charlie talked animatedly to them. Tyler, on the other hand, was ignoring the thin blonde who was speaking to him, merely nodding his head distractedly as he checked something on his phone. Elodie couldn't help but cattily think that the girl desperately needed a nose job and a hair trim.

  Even after the two towering models arrived at the edge of the table, the girls didn't budge, though they did squirm. Tyler looked up at Elodie and gave her a pleading look before nodding in the direction of the oblivious girl next to him and rolling his eyes. Heddi poked Elodie's waist, as if she were silently declaring, “Told you so.” Elodie slapped her hand away.

  With a bored look on his face, Tyler balled up one of the black napkins on the table and threw it at Charlie. “Go get us drinks,” he grumbled loudly as Charlie looked up to where Heddi and Elodie were standing. Taking his cue, he gestured to the French girls. “Can I get you ladies something to drink?” he asked charmingly over the music as he signaled to the bar.

  The four girls rose up from the seats after giving the new arrivals the once-over, and followed the charismatic male model in the direction of the gold-plated bar. The blonde sitting next to Tyler, however, didn't budge, still regaling him with a story about Paris Fashion Week parties in a thick accent. “I think your friends went that way,” he said obnoxiously as he scooted her over and pulled Elodie down next to him.

  With a look of disbelief, the jilted girl rose up in a huff and walked away, trying to play off her embarrassment. Heddi shot Tyler a knowing look as she slowly got up as well. “I think I will go and make sure that Charlie makes it back,” she said in a singsong voice as she left the two alone.

  “I'm bored,” Tyler said as he played with a strand of Elodie's golden hair. She leaned back in the chair and let out a big sigh, as her tired body was currently overwhelmed by how much she had drunk and how little she had eaten. After tucking that stray piece of hair behind her ear, Tyler grabbed Elodie by the waist and pulled her closer. “Let's go home,” he whispered as he nuzzled into her neck.

  Goosebumps rose on her skin as she felt his warm breath on her collarbone, and she didn't have the energy to back away. He dropped his hand from her waist and onto her thigh, moving his thumb slowly back and forth over the thin fabric of her dress. “Come on,” he pleaded as he lifted his head to look at her with a mischievous smirk. “I'll play with you this time.”

  Elodie swallowed the lump in her throat as she pulled away from his hold. Heddi was right—he really was one of the cutest boys she had ever met. “Charlie and Heddi are coming back,” she used as an excuse, motioning in the direction of their approaching friends. Tyler wrinkled his nose at her as he sat up straight. “You're no fun,” he pouted as she straightened the hem of her dress and willed her cheeks to stop burning.

  “Here you go, your majesty,” Charlie announced theatrically as he shoved a whiskey cocktail towards Tyler, who grabbed it with a big grin. “Your highness,” Charlie said as he handed Elodie an identical drink. “Thanks,” she told him as he and Heddi plunked down across from them.

  Elodie looked wearily at the contents of the glass, unsure of if drinking it would be a good idea. Her friends, however, made that decision for her, as Charlie lifted his glass up and the others followed suit. With a hearty clink, they cheers-ed to their night out and each took a big gulp. Elodie couldn't help but wince as the cool liquid left a burning trail in her throat, the noxious fumes rising up from the glass and stinging her nose.

  “Charlie!” an American female's voice excitedly called out from a few yards away. Elodie turned from her glass and saw that it belonged to none other than Caroline Matheson, the current darling of the fashion world. She was the kind of girl for whom everything happened effortlessly, from booking every single high-profile campaign to walking in the best of shows, all the while serving as a muse to the most important designers. In fact, Olivier had originally wanted to cast her for the Ero campaign before Tyler had convinced him to pick Elodie for the job instead.

  The perky model came bouncing over, baring her pearly white teeth in a dazzling smile as her glossy chocolate brown hair bounced on her shoulders. Even when outfitted plainly in a tissue-thin white tee shirt and dark skinny jeans, she sparkled. Elodie looked over to Heddi and saw that she, too, was not amused.

  “I didn't know you were in Paris!” she exclaimed as she gave him a big hug. “I just came to take a break. Heading off to Saint-Tropez with the girls tomorrow!”

  Charlie gave the bubbly girl a friendly grin back. “Shit, you should all drink with us! The more the merrier!”

  Caroline nodded enthusiastically as she motioned her two friends over. Elodie recognized the pair of socialite it-girls from profiles in fashion magazines and articles on Page Six. As expected, all three of the newcomers didn't bother to acknowledge Elodie and Heddi as they exchanged air-kisses with Charlie.

  “Hi, Tyler,” Caroline cooed in a taunting voice as she plopped down on the other side of him. “Long time, no see!”

  “Hey,” he greeted her with a tight smile as her friends sat down on the bench that Charlie had dragged over. He barely glanced at her as he took a long sip from his glass.

  “Aw, you're not still mad at me, are you?” Caroline asked with big eyes as she punched him playfully on the arm. “You're cute when you pretend to be angry,” she added as she poked his cheek.

  "Not pretending!" he announced obnoxiously, which, for some odd reason, caused Caroline to burst into a fit of giggles. "You're so funny," she cried out as she continued to chortle like an insane hyena with flippy brown hair. Each laugh rang in Elodie's drunken ears, prompting her to ponder about how she had never heard such eardrum-piercing giggles before.

  Elodie downed the rest of her drink, as she suddenly felt extremely annoyed. Sensing this, Heddi jumped up from her seat and grabbed Elodie's hand. “We can go smoke, yea?” she suggested with a knowing smile as she lifted her friend up. Before anyone could notice or react, the Danish giant was leading them away from the awkward situation.

  “So nothing is going on, hm?” Heddi teased as they made their way towards the bar.

  Elodie felt the tips of her ears grow hot. “I do not know what you are talking about. It was just uncomfortable. Her laugh drives me crazy.”

  “Mm-hmm. This drink is on me,” she told Elodie as she patted her on the head and motioned to a bartender.

  But it wasn't, and n
either were the next few. A small group of American tourists insisted on buying the pair of pretty models multiple rounds of overpriced cocktails, and Elodie had no problem with it. For some reason, she wanted to flirt with as many cute boys as possible as her thoughts grew fuzzier and her lids even heavier.

  A cute screenwriter from Los Angeles, whose name was David, or Devon, or Dylan, had her cornered after one-too-many glasses of fruity cocktails, and Elodie humored him with lots of arm grazing and eyelash batting. Truth be told, he looked a bit like James, and Elodie was drunkenly using him as a sort of stand-in for the young banker, who she truly did miss. Meanwhile, Heddi had been holding court in the smoking room for the past hour, having captivated the attentions of his two friends.

  “So do you make it to New York a lot?” Elodie asked in a breathy voice as she gave her best attempt at a flirtatious smile. DavidDevonDylan was grinning from ear to ear as he shook his head no. “I definitely have a reason now, though,” he replied as he pulled out his phone to get her number.

  Before she could recite it for him, Elodie felt a tug on her arm. She spun around to face Tyler, who definitely did not look happy.

  “What are you doing?” he asked in an annoyed tone. “You two just disappeared and never came back.”

  Elodie squinted her eyes to focus on his furrowed brow. “You guys were busy. I am busy here with David.”

  “Dylan,” the tan blonde corrected her.

  “Yes, Dylan,” Elodie corrected with a dismissive wave. “It is okay, I am fine.”

  Tyler cocked his head to the side. “How much did you drink this time?”

  “Who is this guy?” Dylan interrupted, only to be ignored by both of them.

  “Do not worry about me. You can go back to the table. I am sure that you would love that,” she drawled out, trying her best not to slur her words. Why was the room spinning all of a sudden?

  With an exasperated sigh, Tyler turned to Elodie's new friend and said, “I'm sorry, but my wife is very drunk and I need to take her home now. Sorry for any trouble that she caused you.”

  Elodie was too dizzy to protest when Tyler grabbed her hand to drag her outside. As they were leaving, she heard pseudo-James call out in a confused tone, “Wait, you were married?”

  Twenty-two

  “What did I ever do to deserve this?” Tyler whined as he hitched the limp girl's body higher up on his back.

  Charlie laughed and took a photo of the humorous sight on his phone as they trudged along rue du Faubourg St. Honoré, slowly making their way back to Soren's studio. Heddi gripped her bottle of Voss water as if her life depended on it as she followed along, fretting noisily about her aching feet.

  Thanks to Tyler's lack of French skills compounded with his drunken state, he had told the taxi driver the wrong street name, and the four friends were now making the 7-block trek to the correct address on foot. Elodie had basically lost control of all motor skills while being allowed to seep in the backseat of the taxi, and Tyler was now tasked with carrying the girl on his back for the rest of the journey.

  “Why do bad things happen to good people?” he complained loudly to no one in particular as filled taxis zoomed past them in the opposite direction.

  “I think we have different ideas about what constitutes a good person, bro,” Charlie muttered jokingly as he passed Heddi a cigarette.

  Tyler stopped and spun around to glare at his friend, cocking his head towards Elodie's sleeping form. “Shh!” he hissed out as he began walking again.

  Heddi hiccuped loudly as she shot Tyler a teasing smile. “Tyler,” she began in what she believed to be a whisper. “Do you like my Elodie?”

  “Nope!” he declared as he continued to stare straight ahead.

  Charlie snorted loudly. “Uh-huh, okay.”

  “I don't like 300-pound gorillas,” Tyler said simply as he stopped to push her falling body higher up on his back. “I'm going to get scoliosis from this shit.”

  “Because I am on your side, you know,” Heddi told him as she exhaled a cloud of smoke.

  Tyler looked at her suspiciously as he asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Oh nothing,” Heddi replied in a playfully mocking tone. “It doesn't matter since, you know, you do not like gorillas anyway.”

  “Tell me,” Tyler said in a serious tone as Charlie instructed them to turn onto the next street.

  Heddi chose instead to give him a big smile and skipped faster to link arms with Charlie. Tyler grumbled something under his breath as they approached Soren's building.

  Once inside the elevator, Charlie's phone vibrated and a sneaky smile crept onto his face as he checked the screen. “Caroline keeps calling,” he sang out as he shook his phone in front of Tyler's face.

  Tyler ignored him and beckoned to his pocket instead. “Make yourself useful for once and get the keys out to open the door,” he instructed as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

  “So hurtful,” Charlie whimpered jokingly as he did as he was told. His phone continued to vibrate incessantly in his own pants pocket.

  “What is the deal with her?” Heddi asked in annoyance as they entered the apartment, which was simply an empty room equipped sparingly with a bed, a sofa, a table and a television. “Such a fucking bitch.”

  “I always liked you, Heddi,” Tyler told her as he backed up towards the bed and gently laid the lifeless girl down. At the sudden movement, Elodie moaned and squirmed before rolling over and sleeping again.

  “She broke baby Tyler's heart,” Charlie divulged with a laugh as he dug through Soren's liquor collection and carried a few bottles over to the coffee table. Tyler sneered at him as he took a seat on the couch.

  “Dude, what the fuck,” Tyler muttered with a peeved look on his face before quickly glancing over at Elodie on the bed. “It wasn't even anything.”

  “Whatever,” Charlie said with a shrug as he opened a bottle of Jameson and poured out the clear liquid into three glasses.

  Heddi plopped down on the other end of the couch and tilted her head inquisitively. “What happened?”

  “I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” Tyler offered with a grin.

  Before she could answer, the distinct buzzing noise came once again from deep within Charlie's pocket. “Dude, turn your phone off or something,” Tyler blurted out irritably.

  “Hello?” Charlie answered the call distractedly, resting the phone between his ear and shoulder as he poured the remnants of Tyler's melted ice coffee into each of the glasses. Heddi choked back a gag. “Uh-huh. No, we're just drinking. Dude, I don't know, I'm not a map. Where are you guys? Oh. No. Uh-huh. Well, I'm leaving in like three hours, so whatever. No, I don't think so. Whatever, stop calling. You're going to make my phone die. Bye.”

  “What did she want?” Heddi asked curiously as she lit a cigarette.

  Charlie grabbed it out of her hand as he cocked his head in Tyler's direction with a stupid smile. “Drunk as hell. 'Oh my God, where's Tyler, oh my God, oh my God',” he imitated in an offensive falsetto as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

  Heddi let out a big laugh and shook her head in disbelief. “Caroline Matheson? Really? I'm dying to know what happened.”

  “Whatever. That's old news. I hate girls like that,” Tyler muttered as he picked up one of the glasses. Heddi wrinkled her nose as Charlie passed her the other.

  “So you like kind-hearted French blondes?” she teased as she set the glass back down on the table and lit another cigarette.

  Tyler downed his drink and picked up the one that she had just discarded. “Shut your mouth, lady giant.”

  “I think she likes you too,” Heddi told him pointedly as she took a long drag. “I can just tell.”

  Though he didn't acknowledge her comment, the tips of Tyler's ears turned pink as he sipped from the drink in his hand.

  “Can we quit it with the sappy shit and just drink,” Charlie interrupted obnoxiously as he refilled the two empty glasses on the table. “I didn't drag my ass
all the way over here to have girl talk.”

  And so the three proceeded to finish the majority of the bottle's contents until the faintest of chirping could be heard through the open window, signaling morning's imminent arrival. The entire time, Elodie slept off her drunken haze as her friends chatted boisterously a few feet away, discussing everything from which spa gave the best facials to which of their model friends had slept with which celebrities.

  At half past six, Charlie got up from his spot on the floor and stretched his arms out dramatically, letting out a big yawn. “Come on, Heddi,” he called out as he offered her his hand. “We have to get to Gare du Nord by seven,” he told her, referring to the train station from which the Eurostar train would whisk them back to London.