Etoile (The Mannequin Series) (20 page)

Margot's face lit up in excitement as she suddenly came up with a seemingly brilliant idea. “Tyler, lay down on that branch,” she ordered, motioning to a wide, sloped branch that connected the fallen tree trunk with the dirty ground. A grimace flashed across his face as he did what she told him to do. “Get Elodie down, please,” she ordered to one of the production assistants, who carried the ladder over to retrieve the frightened girl.

Margot then ordered Elodie to sidle up next to Tyler and perch with him on that same branch, leaning into him with one leg over his and her ass perked up in the air. “Lay your arm on his chest,” Margot instructed as she observed her handiwork. “Lift your chin up slightly, my girl, and stare at his lips. Tyler, you just stare at her nose.”

As Elodie followed the woman's directions, she felt her heart beating like a drum. She felt Tyler's heavy breath on the tip of her nose as they tried their best to stay still.

“Elodie, raise your leg higher so we can see the shoe!” Margot called out in an annoyed voice. Hélène rushed over with a damp napkin to wipe the dirt off of the creamy leather, after which she ran back to her post behind Didier's chair. “Arch your back more,” Margot barked out as she circled the two. “Tyler, straighten your neck and clench your jaw more tightly.”

The two mannequins did as they were instructed, trembling ever so slightly as they tried to steady themselves on the flimsy branch together. Daishiro snapped away, moving his camera tripod to and fro as he tried to capture different angles. “Now look at each other,” he suggested innocently.

Elodie raised her eyes and felt her stomach drop as she looked into his. His eyes shook ever so lightly, looking almost clear as they caught the sunlight that shone on them through the trees. She could see the edges of his nostrils flare with every breath, his jaw tightening as he stared directly at her. “Ooh, sexy,” she could hear Mia murmur from behind the camera crew.

“I think we have enough,” Didier whispered to Margot as Daishiro checked the shots on the computer. “What do you think?”

Margot smiled victoriously as she gave him a small nod. “That was the easiest shoot we've ever done.”

“We are good!” Didier called out to everyone, who all cheered that the day was over so early. “We do not need to hike to the summit! We can spend the leftover production costs on champagne!”

“Oh, fuck!” Mia cried out bitterly. “No sexy monastery time?”

Twenty-seven

Elodie and Tyler listened to the assistants chatter in Japanese as they rode back to the villa in tense silence. Neither wanted to address what had happened in the woods, and Elodie knew for a fact that they definitely could not be “just friends”.

“So,” Tyler broke the silence, clearing his throat loudly. “The pictures look really good.”

Elodie nodded. “Yes, very good.”

Silence.

“Do you think we will head back to Paris tomorrow morning, then?” she attempted.

“I'm thinking yes,” he replied.

Silence.

“Are you heading back to New York straightaway?” she inquired. She prayed to the gods that he wouldn't be on the same flight back as her.

He gave a shrug. “I have nothing better to do.”

“Oh.”

“Yup,” he said with a forced smile.

She gave him a small smile in return as she fidgeted with her hands. They didn't even bother to attempt a conversation as they stared out of their respective windows, both waiting desperately for the villa's iron gates to appear.

As the van pulled onto the driveway, Elodie let out a small sigh of relief. The assistant parked the car and turned around to give both of the models a big smile. “Great job today!” he told them with a thumbs up before clambering out.

Tyler opened the sliding door and jumped out first, with Elodie following suit. “I'm going to head in first and wash up,” he told her before bolting for the front door. She frowned as she watched him run up the stairs, seemingly unable to hide the fact that he wanted to get away from her as quickly as possible.

The SUV pulled up and Didier stopped the engine, climbing out of the driver's seat and smiling at Elodie. “Good job today!” he told her as he walked over to open Margot's door. As the frosty woman stepped out, she smiled at Elodie and gestured to the girl. “Come with me?” she requested, motioning for Elodie to follow her into the house.

Elodie gulped in fear as she shuffled after her. Margot and Didier led her to the grandiose dining room, where they pointed to the heavy chair across from them for her to sit down in. Elodie obeyed and looked at them nervously. Had she done something wrong?

“I sent Clément and Olivier the proofs,” Margot began as Didier asked the housekeeper to brew up a pot of coffee. “They were delighted.”

“Oh,” Elodie managed to say, unsure of how to react.

Margot let out a tinkling laugh as she smiled warmly. “Olivier likes your look. And another thing that Olivier really likes is consistency,” she began. “He would like to book you for a beauty exclusive. Ero cosmetics and fragrances. What do you think?”

Elodie sat frozen, her mouth slowly sliding open. Trying not to gape, she nodded her head slightly and squeaked out, “That sounds lovely.”

“Adorable,” Margot commented with another laugh and a wave of her hand. This was the most emotion that Elodie had ever seen cross the apathetic woman's face. “We are prepared to offer you $250,000 USD for a one-year contract, if that sounds fair to you. We have discussed it with your agency, and they are on board. What is your opinion?”

Play it cool, Marais, she told herself as she tried to keep her eyeballs in their sockets. “That sounds fair,” she repeated with a slight nod.

“Excellent,” Margot said as she accepted a cup of coffee from Didier, who was nodding at Elodie enthusiastically. “Olivier would like to start right away. Since we ended this shoot early, we were thinking that we could get some photos for the Ero
Petit Lavande
fragrance ads tomorrow. Does that sound good to you?”

Elodie nodded absentmindedly as her head spun, inundated with hundreds of screaming thoughts and emotions. “Excellent,” Margot repeated as she took a sip of her coffee.

After signing the contracts that her agency had faxed over, Elodie numbly ascended the stairs and headed straight into the bathroom. She stared at her shocked expression in the mirror as she turned on the shower and a light fog steamed up the glass. Was this all really happening?

She took a quick shower and dried her hair, pattering towards the bed happily while donning the plushy robe that had been hanging on the bathroom door. With a tiny feeling of hopefulness, she pulled her phone out of her bag and checked the screen. Nothing but a text from Heddi that she had returned home safely. That is, there hadn't been a peep from James.

A numbness overcame her as she frowned slightly. Was it over? He had sounded so annoyed with her on the phone. Maybe that would be for the best, Elodie thought with a shaky breath. Maybe their lives
were
too different.

Elodie let out a long sigh as she sat down on the floor in front of her suitcase. She shook the sad thoughts out of her head as she got to distracting herself from the matter. The entire crew was planning to head to town for a celebratory dinner, so she needed to decide on an outfit quickly. She pulled on a fitted white tee and a structured Balenciaga skirt that she had borrowed from Tatiana, pairing them with a dramatic black ribbon Marni necklace and her black Alexander Wang platform ankle booties. At least you look cute, she told her reflection sadly as she thought of her ruined chances with James.

A soft knock could be heard from the hallway, and Elodie spun around to look at the door quizzically. “Hello?” she called out as she tied the necklace around her neck.

The door opened and Tyler stood at the entrance, a sheepish grin on his handsome face. Elodie tried to remain calm as a force came and knocked the wind out of her lungs, as well as the thought of James from her head. “Hey,” he said softly as he walked in and gently closed the door behind him.

“Hi,” she replied with a nervous laugh. Why are you laughing, Elodie berated her mouth. Stop beating so loudly or I'll rip you out too, she then threatened her heart angrily.

“You look nice,” he said as he took a seat on the edge of her bed.

“You do too,” she told him back. And he did, in his black cashmere sweater and slim blue pants. He was even wearing Paul Smith driving loafers for once, in place of his usual choice of sneakers.

“They wanted me to tell you that they want to leave in an hour,” he began, staring off in the other direction. “I don't know why I'm always their messenger, or whatever.”

“I see,” was all that she could come up with.

Tyler swiftly turned to look at her, his brow furrowed and mouth turned upward at one corner. She stared back at him with big eyes as he blurted out, “Okay, today was fucking weird and we need to stop acting like this.”

“Like what?” she asked cluelessly, all the while knowing very well exactly what he was talking about.

She was fooling nobody. “Oh please,” he said as he shook his head. “You're all tense, and I'm all tense. You're acting like I have cooties, and I can't stop wanting to be near you.”

“Cooties...?” she asked curiously. What were cooties?

“Forget that part. Didn't you hear what I just said?”

Elodie dropped her eyes to the floor as the silence rang in her ears. “I did,” she finally said.

“And?”

“I think,” she started in a trembling voice before looking up at him. He was looking at her with expectant eyes as she sharply drew in her breath. “I think that sometimes I want to be near you too,” she finally allowed herself to admit.

Tyler's face broke into a relieved smile as he got up and made his way over. The world seemed to move in slow motion as she watched him approach where she stood. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he pulled her close and held the side of her face gently with his other hand. “I fucking knew it,” he said quietly with a mischievous glint in his eye. The smell of his cologne was overwhelming as she allowed her shoulders to finally relax.

“Shutup,” she whispered back almost inaudibly as he leaned down and slowly approached her lips with his.

Twenty-eight

“Do you think it's time?” Tyler asked lazily as he lifted his head up from where it had been buried in the crook of Elodie's neck.

She let out a happy sigh as he massaged the edge of her hand with his thumb, the fingers of his left hand intertwined tightly with those of her own. “Probably.”

“I don't want to get up,” he croaked out as he rolled over onto his back, pulling the girl across his chest and wrapping his free arm around her.

“We have to,” she murmured, listening to his heartbeat with blissfully closed eyes.

“I don't think they'll miss us,” he countered as he smoothed her long hair.

Elodie sat up and let go of his hand, patting him playfully on the stomach. “Come on, we should go downstairs. They are all probably wondering what we are doing.”

The two had made out like teenagers on the brink of puberty for the past hour, eventually stopping due to lack of air and pure exhaustion, at which point Tyler had announced, “I'm going to cuddle the fuck out of you.” Which he did, to be fair.

“We didn't even get to the fun part yet,” Tyler pouted as he pushed himself up.

Elodie shot him a playful glare as he scrunched his nose at her. “Fine,” he agreed as he got out of the bed. “But let's get you really drunk so you can say all the shit that you wouldn't say when you're sober.”

“What about you?” she asked with a laugh.

“
I
have no problem expressing my feelings,” he told her as he grabbed for her hand. She slinked away with a flirtatious grin, squealing as she bolted out the door and down the staircase.

“There you are!” Mia called out as she threw her hands in the air, sauntering out of the living room. “Do you have Ty with you?” she added with a knowing wink.

Before Elodie could respond, the interns appeared from out of nowhere as Tyler hurdled down the stairs. They really were like the twins in
The Shining
.

Didier also arrived in the giant entryway at that time, tapping at his watch as he cried out, “Why are we still here? We rented out the room at Le Bistro starting one
hour
ago! Move, move, move!”

Everyone obediently piled into the waiting cars and were taken to the quaint little restaurant, where a lovely feast awaited them. Now, all of the diners barely partook, but it really was a feast for the eyes. Bottles of wine were constantly being cleared from the table and everyone enjoyed themselves. Elodie even thought that she saw Intern #2 crack a smile at one point.

“I heard about your deal, Elodie,” Mia sang out. “Congratulations!”

Elodie thanked her as Tyler looked around with widened eyes. “What deal?”

“Olivier booked her for a beauty exclusive, silly!” Mia cried out, causing her heavy Fallon earrings to shake violently from her lobes.

“Really?” he asked with a proud smile. Elodie felt his warm hand on her knee as he added, “How come you didn't tell me? That's really big.”

“I don't know,” she replied, suddenly embarrassed at all of the attention. Not knowing what else to say, she chose to finish her glass of chilled rosé instead.

“Our little Elodie's going to be big!” Mia continued excitedly, refilling both of their glasses. “Remember the little people when you're all crazy famous, okay?”

“Hardly,” Elodie said with a nervous laugh as she took another sip.

“Do not be so modest,” Didier chimed in, leaning over and patting her on the hand. The two photography assistants nodded in agreement.

With pink cheeks, Elodie gave them a weak smile and finished her glass yet again. Tyler sensed her discomfort and piped up obnoxiously to change the subject. “So what's the deal with getting back to Paris?” he asked as he leaned back in his chair.

“You all go back tomorrow on the jet, and only Margot, Elodie, Daishiro and I stay for the perfume shoot,” Didier replied matter-of-factly.

Tyler sat up with a frown on his face. “Can I stay too?”

“No,” Didier told him firmly. “Clément wants you back tomorrow for a pre-season fitting.”

Like a little kid, Tyler sulked in his chair and mumbled something about “Diddy”, at which Didier glared at him and turned huffily away.

Mia looked over at Tyler with a taunting smile. “Aw, is little old Tyler going to miss his pretty little playmate?”

“Yup,” he answered plainly as he turned to look at her.

Elodie felt the tips of her ears redden as Mia burst out about how she was going to just die from “cute overload”.

“You're blushing,” he teased as she choked down another glassful of wine.

“Maybe
you
need to blush,” was all that she could come up with.

“Huh?” he asked, trying to decipher what she meant.

Shit, Elodie thought to herself as her head went fuzzy. She had definitely had one glass too many.

As dinner ended and they all rose up from their seats, Elodie could feel herself sway slightly. Get ahold of yourself, she thought inwardly as she tried to steady her footwork on the way to the car. Tyler offered his arm to her, but she shook her head dismissively as she tried to play it cool.

“It's like watching a baby giraffe learn to walk,” Tyler muttered to Mia, who nodded in agreement as they watched Elodie stumble around drunkenly in her towering heels.

“The rest of us are going out if you guys wanted to join,” Mia said as she elbowed him suggestively in the arm. “But I'm guessing that you two will probably just head back? Hm? Hmmm?”

Tyler let out a laugh as he watched Elodie attempt to open the locked car door a few yards away, repeatedly grabbing at the handle with a flustered look on her face. “Yea, I'm thinking so,” he replied as he waved goodbye to Mia and walked towards the car.

“The door hates me,” Elodie muttered to him as he approached where she stood.

“Yea, doors are real snotty bitches,” he agreed with an amused look on his face, motioning to the driver to unlock the car for them.

After they climbed in, Elodie let out a big sigh and collapsed into Tyler's arms. “I am so tired,” she complained as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Then sleep,” he told her quietly as he played with one of her lifeless hands. “You don't want to look like shit tomorrow.”

She must have dozed off on the ride back to the house because, before she knew it, she was stirring awake in the comfort of the plush bed.

“How did we get here?” she asked groggily as she turned over to face him.

“I dragged you by your hair up the stairs,” he joked as he stopped whatever he was doing on his phone to give her a smile. “I even took your shoes off for you, Cinderella.”

Elodie groaned into the pillow at his comment.

“Go back to sleep,” Tyler instructed as he plugged his charger into his phone and turned off the bedside lamp. She looked up at him with half-closed lids as he slipped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. Elodie tucked herself into the crevice of his arm and laid her hand across his chest, taking comfort in the warmth of his body.

“I am not so sleepy anymore,” she said while taking a deep breath. “I am nervous for tomorrow also.”

“How come you didn't tell me about your deal, anyway?” he asked her as they lay together, shrouded in the darkness. “I'm really happy for you.”

“I was scared to say it out loud,” she whispered truthfully. “What if I told everyone and then they changed their minds?”

Tyler let out a small snort. “Why are you always so scared? You shouldn't doubt yourself so much.”

“I cannot help it,” she admitted, feeling very vulnerable as she told him these intimate thoughts.

“I know,” he began. “That's why I like you.”

Elodie looked up at him, staring at the outline of his chiseled face in the dim moonlight. She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What do you mean?”

He gently traced light circles on the soft skin of her shoulder before responding in a shaky voice. “You're different. You're not self-absorbed or conceited like the other girls. I've never seen you do anything selfish. You care too much about what other people think, and I can tell that you're always worried and insecure. Even though you pretend to be strong, I know that you're delicate and scared as hell. You're pure. It makes me want to protect you or something, even though you don't need me to.”

Elodie felt ashamed as she heard him compliment her so fondly. Could he not see how everything she did was for her own gain? And was he blind? She was the farthest thing from pure. The alcohol in her system did not help in that moment, as it allowed for the floodgates of guilt to open and fill her mind. Thinking back on her reckless mistakes caused her to involuntarily shudder. Who had she been kidding by blatantly stating that she hadn't cared when making those foolish choices? Of course she had.

“I am terribly selfish,” she muttered.

Tyler gave a quiet laugh as he rubbed her arm. “Yea right. You're always trying to take care of anyone and everyone, from crazy Tatiana to that herd of teenagers in Paris. You have a good heart,” he said with a slight tremble to his voice. “I like myself a little bit better when I'm with you.”

Letting out a long sigh, she groaned and buried her head in his chest. “You do not know anything,” she told him, her voice muffled by his tee shirt. “You would hate me if you did.”

“I could never hate you, unless you did something really, really, really bad,” he said after a slight pause. “Even then, I'd probably stop hating you if I saw your smile.”

Where had this side of Tyler come from? Elodie looked up at him with a sad smile.  “Like that one,” he whispered before leaning his head closer to hers. The silence rang in her ears and she felt like she was going to have a heart attack as he drew closer.

Elodie shut her eyes as she felt his lips grace hers gently. The faint scent of cigarettes and mouthwash remained on his tongue as she took in a deep breath, her stomach dropping as she also caught leftover hints of the masculine, citrusy cologne that he wore so well.

Tyler wrapped his right arm more tightly around her shoulders, pulling her closer as she ran her hand across his chest. His free hand grabbed at the side of her face as he kissed her again with a bit more force. Each one of his touches left a light buzzing in its wake, the undeniable electricity between them intensifying as he delved deeper and deeper into her mouth with his tongue.

The heat radiated from his body as they grew more passionate in their embrace, each moaning quietly every time the other pulled away for even a second. She struggled to pull his shirt up as he unzipped her skirt, neither wanting to pull their lips away from each other's. Elodie kicked the skirt down her legs as they inched upright together, she in his lap as he helped to slowly pull her shirt off.

With a shaky breath, Tyler stared silently at her face as he drew his hands over to her waist. Elodie could see the sides of his jaw tighten every time he clenched, placing her hands on them as he let out a deep sigh and began to plant small kisses on her neck. She tilted her head back as she succumbed to his touch, his warm hands running up and down her sides as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

She could feel his throbbing cock harden in his Dolce & Gabbana boxer briefs just beneath herself and let out a soft whimper as his kisses moved up her neck. He hugged her as tightly as he could and she felt that her lungs might collapse in the heat of the moment, her chest feverishly imprisoned by his hold. Her hands clawed at the cool skin of his back as he led his firm lips to that sensitive region just below her ear, causing goosebumps to form down the entirety of her body.