Well hello, all! I know you've missed me. I've missed you too. But there's good news! Here's the little story I promised to do during the "hiatus" between Misery Loves Glamour (if you don't know what this is, that's okay. Check my profile :) ) and the sequel, which will be up when this one is done posting. This story will only be about 10 chapters, and I will try my best to post once or twice a week. Chapters are shorter than MLG chapters, but this isn't some huge epic story with a dramatic plotline. This is just kind of following the characters around as they go through day to day life. I promise it won't be boring, though :)
This will mainly focus on the relationship between Camille and Tessa (who was mentioned once or twice in MLG), and Will and Jem's relationship (they are an established couple for a couple of years before this story begins). There will also be occasional appearances by Simon and Isabelle (who works with Will, who is also a model) and possibly Clary and Jace. This story focuses mainly on the characters that are left in NYC.
I hope you guys enjoy it. I like exploring other characters, even if I do worship Malec and ship it to an insane degree. Other characters need love too!
One last thing: This story skips rapidly through time. If you can't infer it, it starts before MLG ended, namely, right after Camille comes back from visiting Magnus (remember Alec's Christmas present to him?). But it will skip through over the ten chapters to up until the beginning of AFILAG. :)
Everything belongs to Cassie, except the plot and stuff like that. You know what I mean. Onward!
Chapter Song: Pop Goes the World by Gossip (This is just a badass song/band. Beth Ditto is mah hero. If you don't jam the fuck out while listening to this song…*shrugs*)
Camille Belcourt pulled her immaculate white Range Rover into the spot that used to be reserved for her. Fuck whoever wanted to park here now. She was using it for one more god damn day. She was not about to walk a mile just to gather her left over shit from this hell hole. Honestly, she'd never understood what she saw in this sorry excuse for a Wall Street shark anyway. He was a flabby alcoholic whose dick certainly left a lot to be desired. She wasn't sorry at all that he'd told her to get the fuck out after she'd expressed it to his face. His name was Baker for crying out loud. What a pussy.
She whisked past the doorman who knew her by name, but who had come to learn her by her random calling hours. Baker liked to randomly call her up in the middle of the night for a bored fuck, and she'd always been dumb or horny enough to oblige. Really, the sex in the beginning had been alright, since he was just a new piece of raw steak thrown in her kitty dish. As always, though, she tired of him before the heat from his under-muscled body even faded. She'd only kept coming around because she significantly enjoyed the free sushi dinners and trips to the Hamptons.
She used her code in the elevator, and it took her to Baker's penthouse. He wouldn't be home at this time of day; he'd be screaming in the crowds at the New York Stock Exchange. She made quick work of her task, grabbing the teal lace teddy she'd worn three nights ago, trying to liven up his shriveling manhood. Really, she'd given it her best effort, but she wasn't Viagra. She spotted her studded Louboutins peeking out from under the bed, and whisked them up and into her half empty Juicy Couture tote bag. She went around gathering up other random things that had been lying around from their last attempted romp. It really was cathartic, distancing herself from this asshole. Really, she could do better than this. There was that guy from Cherry Bomb the other night. Katinka said he was supposedly a big time banker from Sweden. He had a sexy accent and drove a Maserati, and he spent most of the night shamelessly flirting with Camille. He was good to go as far as she was concerned. In her head, she'd already moved on from pussy-boy Baker.
When she left the garage and pulled back out onto Park Avenue, she rolled her windows down and turned up the volume. She could give less of a fuck who looked at her like she was a bratty teenager. She felt good today, and she was going to enjoy it while it lasted. She was desperately missing her best friend, though. She'd gotten back from LA about two weeks ago, and she was having trouble filling the void in her heart. It really didn't help that his face was popping up everywhere, including a nice big poster in the window at Barney's. They'd done the styling for his album cover and all the promo pictures, so they got dibs on a lot of the promotion. Magnus, of course, had been like a kid in a candy store with that one. The album was due out next week, and she could tell it was going to do well, judging by all the hype.
Camille was going uptown to meet Tessa for a quick brunch, then they were off to shop for a new wardrobe. Tessa didn't appreciate shopping as much as Magnus did, but Camille couldn't help but enjoy her company. She was a simple girl, choosing to remain aloof most of the time and let Camille be the one noticed by all the men. It seemed to suit her calm personality to always be on the periphery. Most of the time, she had her head stuck in a book, anyway. Camille never understood how someone could disappear so completely when they had the printed word in front of them. As Camille gave her keys to the valet and approached the little bistro, lo and behold she saw a familiar sight. Tessa Gray was sitting at a table on the patio; she'd managed to completely block out Manhattan traffic in favor of—Camille squinted to read the spine—Northanger Abbey. She sat quietly absorbed, not looking up even when Camille sat down and flung her Chanel purse on top of the linen tablecloth.
"Earth to Tess? Hello?" she tried.
At her voice, Tessa's kind eyes looked up from the page, and a smile dragged the corners of her mouth up. "Hey, love. Didn't hear you walk up. Henry just came back to Bath!" she exclaimed, sighing and marking her page with a blue gingham ribbon. "So, did you recover the goods?" she asked.
Camille sighed deeply. "Yes. I'm finally rid of that bastard. Ugh! Just thinking about his dick makes me cringe."
"Well, that makes two of us, so could you not bring it up when I'm looking forward to grilled shrimp salad?" Tessa countered.
"Done," Camille replied as the waitress came to take her order down. Since she already had a drink sitting in front of her, she simply ordered a southwest grilled chicken salad.
"I got you an Arnold Palmer," said Tessa as she sipped her water. "With a hint of citròn, of course."
"Sometimes, it creeps me out that you know me so well. So," Camille began, "there's this guy I met at the club the other night. He's Swedish and he looks absolutely delicious. I'm thinking I'll give his number a try tonight." She couldn't help but smile at hearing that sexy accent again. Tessa gave her a rather stern look. "What?"
"You justnow got back from getting your stuff at Baker's. And now you're already talking about going out with another guy? How much is this one worth?" Tess quipped, a little irritated but clearly trying to cover it up.
Just to spite her, Camille said, "About forty million." Tessa rolled her eyes. "What? It's not like he isn't cute or anything. I like him for more than his money."
"Camille, you've talked to him once. You don't have any idea if you like him or not." Her friend gave her an incredulous look. "Cam, I think you should just take it easy for a while. Hang out and have some fun without being constantly attached to a man."
"I am not constantly attached to a man! I was single for a whole month before Baker!" she protested.
"Yeah, and you were fused at the hip to Magnus the whole time," Tessa quipped. "Yet another loaded pocketbook with a peen."
"Oh, honey, you know that's not the same. It's not like he's chasin' my tail. Unless I happen to grow a dick and slap in some baby blue contacts, he's definitely not interested. I don't think he sees anything else anymore," she said. The statement had started out playful, but by the end it had morphed into a sentimental lament. She missed her friend, and he had changed since meeting Alec. It was for the better, really, but she couldn't help being a little jealous that she didn't haveall his attention anymore. While she was visiting over the holidays, she saw how domesticated and comfortable they were around each other. They were practically married half the time. She didn't hate on Alec, by any means, but she couldn't shake her unfounded envy of him. She truly loved him for bringing Magnus out of his shell, but she was used to having her best friend all to herself. She was steadily learning to give him up little by little, and it hurt.
She did have Tessa around a lot more lately, and she really was enjoying her company. Tessa was a pretty girl. She had long flowing chestnut brown hair with subtle natural highlights that sparkled in the sun. She very rarely wore make-up, her skin being generally flawless. She was fit and trim, but she did have meat on her bones. She had wider hips than was considered conventionally acceptable, and there was a bit of padding covering them. But Tess wasn't the type of girl to complain about her love handles. She was very, very comfortable in her body and herself. She was the most self-assured person Camille had ever met. It wasn't vanity, it was just pure confidence. She'd dated quite a few people in her life, but only admitted to loving two of them. She had an extremely defined view of love, and she didn't bestow the sentiment on just anyone. Camille respected her immensely for all her qualities, and also found herself considering that yes…Tessa was a very beautiful woman.
"So you want to hit Barney's? Cam?" she was trying to get her attention. Camille also happened to secretly like it when Tessa called her that. She couldn't help a small smile.
"Oh, sure. Sorry, just daydreaming."
"About forty million guy?" Tessa teased. Camille could tell she was irritated, but she covered it with a light tone.
Camille missed a beat before she answered. "Of course."
Be sure to tell me if you hate this story or not lol. I know some of you probably won't read it because there's not much Malec in it, but if you don't like femme slash, hold out for the next chapter: Will/Jem. I'll switch back and forth. There will be eventual lemons, I promise. It wouldn't be a story of mine if there weren't lol.
