Etoile (The Mannequin Series) (19 page)

“Anyway, so does he have a girlfriend?” Lauren quipped again.

“I... I do not think so,” Elodie answered distractedly as her stomach fluttered again.

“I texted my friend that we ate dinner with him, and she did not believe me,” Klara said with a dreamy sigh. “Best dinner of my life.”

The two teens continued to ooh and aah over Tyler for the next hour or so, during which Elodie felt very odd and uncomfortable. The unpleasant phone call with James loomed over her heavily, as did the unsettling encounter with Tyler that morning. How would she get through the next two days?

A few minutes before 5 PM, she received a call from her driver, letting her know that he was rounding the corner. After hugging the two girls, Elodie made her way out the door with her suitcase in hand. As she turned to give them a final wave, Lauren dramatically cried out, “You better accept my friend request on Facebook!”

Twenty-five

Elodie slumped deeper into the plush leather sofa as the jet neared Marseille Provence Airport, attempting to pay attention to the French Vogue that she was flipping through. Across from her, Margot and one of her design assistants chatted monotonously about some fabric order as they gestured to the screen of the laptop that sat on the table between them. Mia was passed out next to her, thanks to the Ambien that she had guzzled down with two glasses of champagne at the beginning of the flight. Tyler, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight.

Upon boarding the jet, Hélène the intern, who was now accompanied by another intern whom Mia had lovingly dubbed “Intern #2”, had informed Elodie that Tyler would be taking the TGV down the following morning, as something had “come up”. At hearing this news, she had felt both relief and disappointment at the same time, confusing herself even more. What was her problem?

The cabin shook lightly as the plane began its descent, causing Elodie's ears to plug up. She stared out of the window and looked at the glittering lights and the darkness of the water, pursing her lips as she was reminded of how insignificant she was in respect to the size of the world below. With a small sigh, she turned back around and settled back into her seat, thanking the jet assistant as she handed her a hot towel.

After landing, Elodie turned over to shake Mia awake. “What the shit!” the crazed girl exclaimed as she woke with a start, her choppy bangs shaking as she shot up on the sofa. Margot looked over at the sudden outburst with a look of thinly veiled disdain.

The group disembarked the tiny jet and climbed into the two black SUVs that awaited them on the tarmac. Elodie ended up in the same car as Mia and the two interns, both of whom seemed less than thrilled to be alive.

“I had such a good sleep,” Mia began to prattle. “Did you guys have a good ride? How come Ty didn't come with us? Why is he taking the train? Why would someone take the train if they could fly private? What a silly boy. Anyway, do you guys have any gum? Ambien always makes my mouth
so
dry. I could really use a coconut water.”

The two sullen interns sat stone-faced as Elodie gave Mia a smile and shook her head. Mia shrugged her shoulders and began tapping away at her phone as the four rode in silence to the villa in Aix-en-Provence.

As the car passed through the wrought iron gates, Elodie looked up at the giant estate that lay before them. Ground lights lit up the exterior walls of the large white building that was typical of Provencal countryside architecture. In fact, if it weren't for the red Ferrari and black Hummer that were parked on the cobblestone driveway, it could have looked as if they had traveled back in time to the 17
th
century.

“Ooh, fancy!” Mia squeaked out as she hopped out of the giant car. Intern #2 grumbled something about murdering someone for a cigarette, to which Hélène rolled her eyes and nodded theatrically.

Elodie thanked the driver after he helped to carry their bags to the front porch, and Margot's assistant, Didier, opened the front door for them, as he had arrived earlier in the day to make arrangements for the shooting locations. He immediately rushed upon Margot with an iPad in hand, and the two walked off, discussing logistics in hushed French.

Once inside, the rest of the crew were greeted with the aroma of freshly baked bread and roasted chicken wafting out from the kitchen. Naturally, they all walked towards the expansive living room on the other side of the house, where they popped open two bottles of chilled champagne and ignored their grumbling stomachs.

“Didier told me that we're going to a real, live forest tomorrow! Isn't that so whimsical!” Mia cooed as she tossed back her fourth glass of bubbly that evening. “There's a monastery deep within and he somehow convinced them to let us shoot there! It's going to be
so
hot!”

Elodie smiled at Mia's ridiculous comment, though the two interns and production assistant who sat with them on the stiff, tufted couches did not find it amusing. The five of them were the only ones who remained in the airy living room, as all of the adults had left for an impromptu meeting in the dining suite.

“What time are we leaving?” Elodie asked the flighty girl, who was now pouring herself another glass.

“Um, I think they said five? Six? I'm not sure,” Mia replied distractedly as she set the bottle back down on the table.

“Should we not go to sleep now?” Hélène asked, glancing at the likely fake diamond-encrusted Rolex that adorned her thin wrist. “It is already midnight.”

“God, Hélène, you're such a Dominique Downer,” Mia proclaimed dramatically, turning to shoot the intern a disappointed look. Hélène scowled from her seat.

“Hélène is right,” Elodie began with a soft laugh. “We will probably have a long day tomorrow. I think I will head to bed also.”

“Oh, alright. But all of you suck,” Mia muttered as she grabbed the half-empty bottle and they all began the procession upstairs to the bedrooms. “I wish Ty were here.”

Deep down, Elodie couldn't help but realize that a part of her wished that too.

Twenty-six

“You should really look into getting your breathing checked,” a voice lectured Elodie the next morning. She groaned as she peeled her face off of her pillow. “You snore like a grizzly bear.”

Elodie opened her eyes to see Tyler standing across the room, leaning against the dresser and looking at her with a smirk on his face. She sat up self-consciously and smoothed her hair down, giving him a weak smile as she greeted him in a tiny voice. “Good morning.”

He cleared his throat as he handed her a cup of coffee. “Diddy wants to leave in an hour,” he told her as she thanked him. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, after which both turned away awkwardly.

“So, yea, just letting you know in case you wanted to get ready and stuff,” he trailed off as he scratched his head, his cheeks turning pink. “I guess I'll leave you to it, then.”

With that, he gave her a forced smile and quickly fled the room. Elodie sat there for a while, gripping the hot mug and gathering her thoughts. Why couldn't she have just played it cool?

Shaking her head, she took a sip of the scalding hot coffee and set it aside. Just act normal, she told herself as she kicked the heavy blanket off and headed for the bathroom to wash up. After fussing a bit too much over her hair and lip gloss, she slipped into a simple chambray sleeveless Joie dress and her flats. You look fine, she told herself as she studied her reflection in the mirror. Perfectly fine.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she grabbed her Céline bag and headed down to the living room. As she descended the stairs, she could see the back of Tyler's head from where he sat on the couch with Mia. The poster child for ADHD sat cross-legged next to him in a floral Edun romper and Marsèll booties with a black headwrap covering her bangs, her arms motioning rapidly as she frantically told him a story.

“Ooh, you're here!” Mia squeaked out as she noticed Elodie enter the room. “You look
so
cute. I love your dress! You look like Alice. Like from Wonderland!”

Tyler spun around to look at her, and Elodie tried her best not to break away from his gaze. Act normal, she willed herself as she smiled at him and walked around the edge of the couch. Taking a seat on the sofa next to them, she saw that his face relaxed at her breezy reaction.

“That was fast,” he commented nonchalantly, shooting her a friendly grin. Elodie felt her heart thump in her chest.

“Did anyone wake the twins from
The Shining
?” Mia asked as she puffed away at an electronic cigarette, inquiring about the two angsty interns. Elodie shrugged as Didier strolled into the room.

“Ah, Elodie, you look nice,” he told her pleasantly as he gave her a smile, tapping away at the iPad in his hand. He was a flamboyant young man who had a penchant for polo shirts and boat shoes. “I just wanted to make sure you were up. We are planning to leave within the hour, so help yourself to some coffee if you would like.”

“What about me, Diddy?” Tyler whined as he motioned at his wrinkled green Balmain tee shirt. “Do I look nice?”

“My name is not Diddy!” he hissed in response as he turned on his Thom Browne-adorned heel and stalked out of the room in a huff. Tyler shrugged his shoulders as Mia tittered with glee, as she was not the biggest fan of the moody assistant.

They sat and listened to Mia go on and on about her interpretations of her wild, Lexapro-induced dreams until Hélène and Intern #2 appeared, both shrouded in black outfits and frowns. Didier returned with a list of chores for them to complete, such as loading the rented van and steaming the dresses. The two trudged off to attend to their duties as Margot entered the room with Daishiro, their photographer for the campaign.

“Please, do continue to sit around idly when we are already behind schedule,” she said to them sarcastically as she waved her hand in the air. With a flash of her eyes, all three of them jumped up from their seats and shuffled towards the front door. Mia let out an audible squeal as she passed under Margot's nose, scampering towards the waiting van and hopping into it with her interns. Smith and Claudia, the hair stylist and makeup artist for the shoot, boarded after them. Margot, Daishiro and Didier hopped into one of the black SUVs from the previous night.

“I guess it's just you and me,” Tyler told her with an easygoing grin as they walked towards the empty van that remained. The back seats had been removed, and piles of photography equipment crammed the entire free space. He pulled open the door, climbing in after her as they took the two empty seats. Two of the photography assistants sat in the front, ignoring the two models and talking rapidly in Japanese as they set off for Sainte-Baume.

“Just forget what happened, okay?” Tyler said as they drove out of the villa's gates. Elodie turned to look at him and was greeted by his usual cocky smile. “I was really drunk. I'm not even sure that I knew what I was saying. Sorry about that. Let's just put that behind us.”

She felt uneasy as she slowly nodded and gave him a tight smile back. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure if she
wanted
to put it behind them.

“Anyway, it was stupid. I just don't want it to be awkward between us because of that, you know?” he looked at her earnestly, awaiting her response.

“Of course,” she told him. “I honestly though you were joking at first,” she couldn't help but add.

A pensive look crossed his face. “Yea, maybe I was. Anyway, here's to being friends,” he said as he held out his hand playfully.

Elodie shook it as a sinking feeling graced her stomach. “To being friends,” she agreed with a big smile, hoping that her eyes didn't reflect the disappointment that she couldn't help but feel.

Once parked at the edge of the forest, everyone indulged in cigarettes and light chatter before they were to embark on their trek through the woods. Two more vans full of assistants had arrived, and all of them got to work on carrying the equipment to the location that Didier and his crew had picked out.

After about an hour of waiting around, Intern #2 came to fetch Elodie and Tyler. “Follow me,” she grumbled with a thick French accent as she led them down a tree-lined path and into the forest. A gasp escaped Elodie's mouth as they entered a beautiful clearing that looked like it could have been plucked from a storybook, complete with dense foliage and moss-covered boulders. The leaves on the trees and bushes were a deep, vibrant green, and the trunks, branches and twigs were a rich chocolatey brown.

The photography crew was setting up the lighting and camera equipment while hair and makeup were parked at the edge of the clearing. Elodie and Tyler were ushered to get dolled up while Mia and Baptiste bossed the interns around and prepared the first looks. Margot and Didier sat in director's chairs behind Daishiro and his camera, tapping away on their phones and looking terribly out of place amongst the dirt and the trees.

Smith teased Elodie's hair into a wild mess, braiding tiny pieces that he pinned back lightly here and there to add texture. “You have great hair,” he told her as he pulled at her scalp with his Mason Pearson hairbrush. She closed her eyes tightly as she fought back tears and whimpered quietly in pain.

Once her hair was complete, she was pushed towards Claudia, who drew in Elodie's eyebrows flawlessly and expertly sculpted sexy smoky eyes. She then added two pounds of highlighter to the model's cheekbones and three pounds of fake eyelashes to her lids. Finishing off the look was a bubblegum pink lip that seemed to hint at the whimsical nature of the shoot.

“Wow,” she heard Tyler say as he turned to look at her. “You look good, friend.”

She couldn't help but laugh at his comment, but was annoyed at how they had basically done nothing to his face and hair. Apparently, Tyler was photo ready just as he was, while she required an entire can of hairspray and countless layers of makeup and adornments.

“Ooh, you look hot!” Mia told her when Elodie sauntered over to the makeshift dressing area. “This is your first look,” she explained as she held up a very short and stiff white dress with a structured bell skirt, thick with intricate beading and hand-sewn designs in a slightly darker ivory. “
So
hot, right?”

Elodie nodded with a big smile on her face as she stepped out of her own dress and Mia assisted her in slinking into the Ero creation. Though there were no mirrors around to take a look, she knew that it was breathtaking from just looking down at it.

Mia handed her a pair of custom-made matching ankle booties. “I love you right now,” she uttered as she surveyed her creation.

“Very nice,” Margot commented as she marched over. She picked a stray strand of hair out of Elodie's face and tucked it into wild loose curls. “Polaroid?” she asked Didier with a wave of her hand. He nodded eagerly and snapped a photo of the final look.

Daishiro's assistant came over and ushered Elodie over to the middle of the “set”, where Tyler was already waiting in a very sleek, very slim black suit and white tee shirt.

“Could you just stand still next to each other, legs apart? Hold hands,” Daishiro instructed them as he prepared to shoot. “No smiling.”

They did as he instructed, staring straight ahead with dead expressions on their faces, alternating between legs far apart or close together, hands held or fallen to their sides. As Daishiro and his crew checked images on their computer, Tyler whispered to Elodie without moving a muscle, “You're making it really hard for me to be your friend right now.”

She turned to look at him with a bewildered expression, at which Didier called out from his chair, “Ooh, that! Right there! Get that! Do not move, Elodie.”

Elodie held her gaze with wide eyes as Daishiro snapped more frames, encouraging Tyler to deliver his signature smirk. She saw his jaw clench tightly as she stared at him, her eyes shaking as she obeyed Didier's instructions. “That's hot!” Mia called out from the sidelines.

“Tyler, come forward towards the camera and stand sideways,” Daishiro instructed as he looked up at them. “Elodie, you retreat to the back and stare straight ahead at me.”

Margot nodded in approval at these shots. “Get the back of the dress,” she instructed as the camera clicked away.

Daishiro signaled to them to move closer together. “Tyler, stand straight. Elodie, turn and face him. Closer! Get closer. Just press up against each other.”

Elodie swallowed the lump in her throat as she shuffled closer to Tyler, who looked at her nervously. She got as close as she could, their bodies barely touching, holding her chin close to his broad shoulder. The scent of his cologne wafted into her nose and she thought that she might collapse from the dizziness that overcame her.

“Beautiful,” Margot commented. “Put your hand on the skirt, Tyler,” she instructed coolly.

As Tyler did as he was told, Elodie could hear him gulp as well. They were pushed so closely together that she could hear his every breath as air entered and escaped his nose. She closed her eyes, attempting to steady herself as blood rushed to her head.

“Smirk!” Didier ordered loudly, and Elodie couldn't help but snort. She heard Tyler let out a spurt of laughter as well, at which Didier chastised him harshly.

The photography crew stopped once again to check the proofs, but Elodie didn't tear herself away from him. Instead, they stood still, doting on the other's every breath.

“Next look!” Didier called out, breaking their thoughts. Elodie shook her head slightly as she pulled away from him, catching the confused expression in his eyes as Mia teetered over to lead her back to the dressing area.

“Fuck the woods!” the stylist whined loudly as she unzipped the back of the dress. “My shoes are covered in mud!”

“Put these on,” she ordered as she fetched the shorts and jacket from the lookbook shoot, but this time with no bra or shirt. Elodie did so obediently, being careful not to mess up her hair or makeup. After Mia adjusted this and that, she pushed the young model towards a giant fallen tree trunk around which everyone was now congregated.

They took a few shots with her laying on the tree trunk with Tyler standing stoically below, with Intern #2 standing on a ladder and constantly adjusting the edge of the jacket over Elodie's bare breasts so as to show just enough skin as would be allowed in national advertisements. Elodie couldn't help but shake with fear as she lay there, perched up ten feet high, fearing for her life as she tried her best to pose seductively while maintaining a pretty facial expression.