Chapter One
Marissa walked carelessly down the streets of New York, her designer bag clenched in her palm, and her briefcase in another. If someone had told her that she'd be working as a model a while ago, she would have laughed and waved them away. It was at times like these, when Marissa was heading to a big photo shoot, that she started to enjoy life in the Big Apple- it was times like these, where Marissa Cooper was glad that her mother had moved their family from the heart of Newport. A glimpse of her depression flashed through her mind- the first couple of months, and even years were stained with a dark shadow in her memory. As much as she wanted to forget everything she left behind, every once in a while, she couldn't help but think of her home, her friends, Ryan Atwood. She quickly shook her head, so that she could smother the thought of him at the site- besides, she had someone now, someone with whom she finally felt happy.
She continued to saunter over to the building, the one that seemed to hover among all the rest. She sighed jovially, as she entered, "Hello, Miss Cooper," she heard chimes of people, ringing in their friendly chorus. Marissa nodded with a very professional smile,
"Good morning," she said, "Where can I meet Derek?" she asked a particularly small girl, that continued to walk with her as she went along.
"Oh, Marissa- you know where you can meet the Executive Manager of the Company, which is also your groom-to-be," she giggled excitedly, as she poked at the rock that settled on Marissa's finger, "My oh my, does that thing just grow by the day?" she grinned widely, heaving a giant sigh, "You're looking quite gorgeous today; are you two doing anything special? Can I plan something?" she asked, flipping open Marissa's day planner, "I can get reserve a dinner at the A la carte, if you please," she smiled gently, barely waiting for her reply.
"It's alright Keely," Marissa finally replied, quietly, "You know what you can do, though?" she waited for the girl's eager nod, "Can you cancel all my meetings today? I'm not feeling very good," she looked over at her apologetically.
Keely Roberts, her assistant, gazed at her disbelievingly, "You have a Press meet today! And you have a meeting with Vogue! You can't just cancel," she said, continuing her fast-paced walk behind the lanky brunette.
"I can if my fiancé, is Derek thank you very much," Marissa said sternly, "Now don't make me do it myself, honey. You know how the Press is," she said lightly, approaching Derek's office, "Okay then, I'll see you later," she grinned lightly, speaking with a tinge of enthusiasm.
"Marissa," Keely hissed gently, "You're going to make those meetings, whether or not you like it, honey. Derek's behind is on the line too, you know." She said, before she made her way down the hall.
"I'm not going!" Marissa smiled gently, knocking on the door to his office, before walking in. She grinned deeply, "Hey baby," she said, making her way over to him. She seated herself on his lap, pulling him in for a deep kiss, "How's your day going?"
"All better now," The handsome brunette smiled at her, wrapping his arms around her waist, as he looked up at her, "How about you? Do you have a busy day ahead of you?" he asked empathetically, smiling up at her.
"Just cancelled everything off my schedule," she giggled, "How about you?"
"I guess I should call Keely then, and do the same," he chuckled, "Want to do something tonight? Something special? Something that Keely didn't plan?"
Marissa giggled, "I'd love to- what do you have in mind?"
"Well after you're done with your photo shoot for Vogue- you can miss the press meet, you can't miss the front cover, babe- I can take you out to lunch or something? And then, I kind of have a surprise for you," he grinned wildly, which made Marissa giggle.
"Should I be afraid, Derek?" she giggled lightly, pressing her forehead against his.
"That's for you to find out, hun," he grinned, glancing at his watch, "Your shoot is starting in an hour, don't you have to get ready?" He reminded her lightly. She replied with a light groan.
"I guess you're right," she sighed, "Can I meet you here at one o'clock?"
"Mhmm," he muttered, before giving her another kiss, "Don't be late, sweetie. I want to do something, before my evening meeting," he said, kissing her forehead, "Now off you go, babe- make me proud," he grinned, as he watched her leave the office. With quick and urgent steps, she made her way towards the shoot room, where a crowd of designers, and make-up artists welcomed her. All the cameras and lights were already set up, as she sat down on the stool, with a throng of busy people working to put on her face. Marissa let out a soft cough, as powder sprung through the air. Soon, she felt hands grabbing and nipping at her hair. She sighed- the life of a model, she thought dryly.
Within a matter of time, after posing for a couple of hours on an empty stomach, one o'clock approached. Marissa apologized for not being able to work any further, as she left the room swiftly. At the designated time, she promptly made her way to Derek's office, "Hey honey, I'm back," she smiled, sitting down in the chair opposite of him.
He chuckled, "You look a bit tired,"
"Well thanks, that's definitely what I wanted to hear," Marissa smiled, looking over at him.
"No, no. I just meant that it kind of looks like you wouldn't be in the mood for a lunch, or something," he started suggestively.
"I'm starving¸ what are you talking about?"
"Well then I'm just going to say it," Derek inhaled heavily, "I'm loaded with work. Rain check on the lunch?" Marissa squinted lightly, barely understanding his statement. She pressed her lips together, looking away.
"You know what? That's fine- I wasn't that hungry anyway," she said quietly, as she got up to leave, "I'll leave you alone with your work, Der'. See you later," she stomped out of the room. He was doing this frequently, nowadays. She barely saw him throughout the day- he was always busy, always too busy for his damned fiancé. She flipped open her cell phone, "Hey, Keel? Did you cancel all my meetings?" she paused, waiting for the answer, "Good, 'cause I'm feeling tons better," she said, making her way down to her assistant's office. She clicked her phone off, replying immediately to Keely's questioning stare, "Don't worry, I'm all good. I guess all this 'lights, camera and action' do feed the soul, if you love it," Marissa smiled, "So, when's my interview with Vogue? I am having the front page, right?" she asked, flipping through a few pages on Keely's desk, before replacing them sloppily.
"Your interview is in thirty-five minutes, M'rissa. And yes, of course- you're getting the cover!" she squealed excitedly, "Every sane person in America is going to see your face, doll," she grinned.
"I've been on the cover, before," Marissa said uninterestedly, as she rolled her eyes lightly, "Nothing new, Keels," she sighed heavily.
"It is for me," she replied, in an awed voice, "A little while ago, you were Miss Cooper-Roberts to me. You better not replace me anytime soon, M'rissa, because your next assistant is going to have to call you Miss Cooper-Roberts-Derek Loray," she giggled.
"Cooper-Nichol-Roberts-Derek Loray, if you count all the men that my mother's been with," they both seemed to cackle at the comment.
"Speaking of which, your mother called this morning. She says she hasn't seen you in a while?" Keely asked, organizing various papers on the desk, "I put her on hold, hoping you would come back- I don't think she was very pleased," she bit her lip lightly.
"Hm, to be honest, I really haven't seen my mother in a while," Marissa shrugged, "Oh well. That's the city-life for you. I've got to go to my interview now- bye, hun," she smiled, walking out of the office, with her heels rapping against the tile floor. Now she had to meet Vogue in the Conference Room- Marissa figured they were going to write a feature article about her, or something. She heard the chime of her ring tone, pulling her cell phone out, "Marissa Cooper," she said lightly into the phone, "Yes, I'm on my way. I'm actually in the building, coming from another important meeting. Mhmm, yes- five minutes tops, and I'll be there. The Conference Room is on the first floor, right?" Marissa walked a tinge faster, "Okay, give me five." She hung up deftly, making her way down as quickly as her heels would take her. When she finally reached the room, she took a deep breath, before entering.
"Marissa Cooper!" a voice quickly greeted her, with an extended hand, "I'm a representative from Vogue, and we're doing a special on the life of Marissa Cooper. Come on, we'll sit down, and I just have a few questions that I'd love to ask you," her grin seemed wide, and superficial. She sighed happily, folding her arms on her lap, "Well, Miss Cooper- rumour has it that you're a Mrs-to-be, can you give us the scoop?"
Marissa smiled politely, "Well," she paused lightly, evidently troubled by the situation, "If all goes well, Mrs-to-be it is," she smiled.
"And who's the lucky man?" she continued to press her.
"I'd prefer to keep my relationship on the 'down-low' for now," she looked over at her carefully, "What I can tell you though, is that I'm very happy with him- great man," Marissa nodded, seeing the satisfaction on the interviewer's face, as she scribbled down notes violently.
"So, Miss Cooper, I have a little question- it digs a lot deeper. Our readers want to know the secrets on their first love. Can you tell us how that turned out? What happened?"
Wow- Marissa sighed deeply, gazing at her in a wondering manner. She felt something lodge in her throat, and she couldn't quite distinguish what. First love? Her lips curled into a gentle frown, which she soon covered up with a laugh. She couldn't help but feel troubled inside. Her first real love, was Ryan Atwood. She'd never been asked to remember something so painful from her past, "My first love?"
"Yeah," she smiled sympathetically, "You look a little upset there, we can go on to another question if you'd like,"
"No, no- it's fine, I'm fine," Marissa said quickly, "Well my first love," she started, wondering how to outstretch the topic into the most vague snippets of information, "That guy- wow. From the moment I saw him, honestly, I just couldn't not love him,"
"So it was love?"
"Oh, definitely. Of course I still think about him and all, but I've moved on- I really have. Ever since I moved from Newport out to New York, life's been too fast to think about old boyfriends, you know? (Mhmm) It was tough at first, and I'm not afraid to admit ladies. Breaking up with my first love wasn't easy- sometimes I just wonder where he is, and what he's doing," she laughed lightly, "But I barely believe that he still remembers me," she shrugged, "So that's the gruesome tale of my first love. There you have it," Marissa smiled gently, awaiting the next question.
"What's the name of this lucky boy?"
Marissa bit her lip, "Mmm, his name was Ryan," Marissa nodded to herself, "Okay, next question?"
"Okay, so how did you do it? How did you get all the way to the top?"
Marissa laughed jovially, "Well, it was tough work. Honestly, I wouldn't have imagined that I would get picked out of a crowd, and told that I'm to be a model. It was luck- sheer luck."
"Can you tell our readers how they can start off?"
"Well, ladies- be persistent. If this is what you want to do, then go for it," Marissa smiled softly, "Don't give up on any of your dreams, and you should be okay,"
"Well then thank you, Marissa Cooper. It's been a great honour to be able to talk to you," the lady smiled, as she started to get up, "Stay tuned into the next issue of Vogue- you'll definitely find yourself in it."
"No,thank you- it's been a pleasure," Marissa smiled. Once the lady, along with her crew left, she let a deep, bothered sigh. She made her way back into Keely's office, "Damn those reporters are so nosy," she complained, "They asked me about my first love- like, what am I supposed to reply?"
"Oh God, and what did you say?" she looked over at her nervously, "Because you know that Derek will flip through the magazine once he sees you in it,"
"That's bull and you know it," she continued, "Derek doesn't pay any attention to me whatsoever. This afternoon was supposed to be romantic- amazing. Instead, he cancelled, and instead I had Vogue ask me about my first love. Honestly, do you really think he gives a rat's ass about me?" she questioned hoarsely.
"Of course he does," Keely squeaked, walking over to Marissa, ready to give her a pep talk, "Sweetie, do you see that ring?" she pressed her lips together finely, looking into her sharp eyes, "I definitely see it. And I think that man has the hots for you, honey,"
"That's the thing," Marissa frowned harder, "He has the hots for me, but does he love me?" she shook her head softly, "Don't even say he does," Marissa gulped softly, "I don't even think he'll last to our wedding day- anyway, I'm not in the mood to discuss my love life any further, thanks," she said coolly, "What do I have that's coming up?"
"You can grab a forty-minute lunch right now, if you want, because you have Teen People coming in about an hour. They also want to talk to you about, pish posh, you know the deal- right?" Keely said, slightly offended that Marissa didn't want to discuss the problem, "Anyway, I can get you a cab in about five minutes- yes, no?"
"No, it's alright. I need some fresh air," she smiled, "Thanks," she replied gratefully.