Sorry for the delay!
C. Clare owns TMI related names.
The days before Jonathon's departure went faster than Clary would have liked. Clary was secretly glad that Jonathon's boss had extended the departure date even if Jonathon wasn't. He had complained bitterly about the change saying that he was missing valuable time to make a good impression.
They had spent the weekend together like he had promised and Clary had suffered through the shopping just to be with him. As usual, Jonathon looked amazing in the business suits he picked out. Clary even went as far as secretly buying him a tie. To her disappointment though, Jonathon had made a face at it. He claimed yellow was not his colour. Clary didn't even bother to argue that it did not resemble yellow in anyway. Jonathon had never understood her love of art and colour.
She had asked him if he would come visit her, but he had told her that he would be too busy, even on the weekends to make the three hour trip to see her. She didn't hold that against him even though his curt words had upset her. She knew he was going to be busy with work and making a name for himself. She could have him back when he had finished the training program.
On Monday morning, Clary cooked him a farewell breakfast of bacon and egg. Jonathon admonished the amount of bacon on her plate and Clary reluctantly handed over two rashers.
"I don't want you to think that just because I'm gone, you can let yourself go Clary," he told her with a frown. "You're best when you're skinny and I love your body like it is. You know I don't like fat girls."
Clary kept her eyes on her plate and nodded. Jonathon had told her before they even got together that he didn't like girls with excessive curves. At the time though, she didn't know he would demand her keep herself so slim that she couldn't even eat four rashes of bacon.
The rest of the meal was sat in silence and by the time Jonathon walked out the door, Clary was blinking back tears. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with herself now. She spent most of her free time with Jonathon and now that he was leaving, it felt like half of who she was, was walking out the door with him.
Five minutes after sinking down into a chair, Clary wiped her eyes and told herself to grow up. Jonathon was only gone for a short while. She had lived without him before; she could do it again.
After a few minutes of aimlessly walking around her apartment and straightening things up, she decided on a course of action. She refused to wallow in self-pity. Despite Jonathon's request that she not spend time with Maia, Clary was going to see her. Even though her best friend worked most days, she would go mental without social interaction. It was still early in the morning yet Clary knew Maia would be awake by now. Her friend rose with the dawn and nothing short of an alcohol fuelled night could deter Maia from making the most of the daylight.
"He's left? Good. Get some clothes on and meet me at Taki's." Clary grinned as Maia's voice made its way down the telephone line. Maia had clearly been expecting her to call. "Be here in twenty, because I start at nine."
"I knew there was a reason I was friends with you!" Clary exclaimed as she hurried to her room to grab fresh clothes.
"Yes well, I have plans on keeping you busy while he's gone."
"Uh-oh. What kind of plans?" Plans made by Maia never boded well. Clary still remembered the time Maia had decided to get Clary drunk at her twenty-first. Jonathon had refused to talk to her for four months after that. He didn't like it when she was drunk. He said she was disgusting.
"Plans involving a certain douche-y actor by the name of Jordan Kyle."
"Are you still getting your knickers in a knot over him?"
"What? No. My knickers are staying on, thank you very much. But, I'll explain when you get here."
Clary hung up with a grin on her face. She ignored the twinge of guilt that bubbled in her stomach, but she knew she needed to defy Jonathon this one time. It was unreasonable of him to expect her to stay at home all the time. She was a young responsible adult and he needed to learn that.
It wasn't like she was going out and cheating on him behind his back.
"And get this; he said he wanted another cushion on his chair. He demanded I get up and give him my cushion! Can you believe that?" The look of outrage on Maia's face was clear. Her eyes were blazing and her cheeks were blushed. Clary tried to keep her face straight but failed spectacularly at Maia's next words. "And then to top it off, his annoying friend told him to man up and ask me out! Of all the nerve! How dare he!"
Biting her cheek to reign in her widely stretched lips, Clary tried to calm her friend down. "Well, maybe there's some repressed sexual tension between the two of you? This Jordan guy seems to target you the most, and isn't that what boys do when they like you?"
"Jordan isn't a boy Clary. He's a man and I have half a mind to complain about harassment. But he hasn't technically done anything but annoy me and order me around."
Clary looked at her fuming friend over the edge of her coffee cup. She could understand why this Jordan character was so interested in Maia. She wasn't particularly tall, but she had all the right curves and a smile that was as beautiful as it was wicked. She was all sass and didn't take shit from anyone.
Jordan Kyle had a losing battle on his hands. If he wanted Maia, he was going to have to try better than the juvenile tactics of annoying her.
"And I can't even put him in his place! I really want to get a permanent position when I've finished doing the work experience and I need to 'maintain professionalism' apparently."
Clary crinkled her nose in disgust. "Ew."
"Yea, tell me about it. Some days I really want to pour hot coffee over his messy sex hair."
"He has sex on set?!" Clary's mouth was agape and she looked at her friend in horror.
Maia let out a bark of laughter at the look on Clary's face. "Oh gosh no! I just meant that he must spend ages styling it like that. I would get a lot of satisfaction in messing it up. Besides, it's not Jordan who is involved in the sex scenes. Some prat from Hollywood I've never heard of before is the main guy."
"Aren't they all prats?" Clary asked with a grin on her face.
"Yea, good point. But apparently this one is up and coming. The other girls I work with constantly talk about him. Apparently he had an affair with Jennifer Lawrence."
"Who's she?"
Maia looked at Clary with an incredulous expression before shaking her head in disappointment. "You really need to pick up a magazine girl."
Clary shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "They're full of trash. I don't understand why people read them. Anyway. Now that Jonathon has left, what plans do you have for me?"
Maia gave Clary a wicked smile. A slight tug of unease passed through her stomach but she quickly shook it off. She didn't want to be the clingy girlfriend while her boyfriend was away. Maia was her solution to that.
"You and me. Next Tuesday night. There's a small party being held as a sort of 'welcome to the set'. You are going to be my date."
Clary narrowed her eyes slightly and gave Maia a scrutinising look. "Me? Am I even allowed?"
The wicked grin was once again back on Maia's face. "Yes, you are. I've got a proposition for you, so you have to come."
"What sort of proposition?" Now Clary was in full alert mode.
Maia's next words dropped the bombshell. "What do you say to work experience with the art and graphic department?"
Clary could only stare at her friend in shock before succumbing to a large smile. "Girl, you really are amazing!"
Maia had advised her that it was nothing fancy and to dress in a nice cocktail dress. Thanks to Jonathon's request that she buy new cocktail dresses frequently, Clary had an arsenal of dresses of all colours at her disposal. Choosing one to wear at the party wasn't hard, and Maia whistled appreciatively when Clary opened the door to let her in.
"You're definitely going to get this job girl! Sebastian loves a pretty girl."
Clary made a face. "Too much? I don't want to look out of place."
"Ha! Isabelle Lightwood is going to be there. Trust me; if anyone is going to look out of place, it's her."
"I'm not even going to ask who that is," Clary muttered as she grabbed her clutch purse and swooped down to pick her heels up. She was dressed in a figure hugging black dress with gold jewellery to match. Her outfit was completed by a pair of green sequined heels. Jonathon absolutely detested them, so Clary rarely had the opportunity to wear them. She smirked at the look of envy on Maia's face when she saw the shoes before hustling her best friend out the door.
Once they were settled into the cab, Maia held her hand out. "Do me a favour and turn your phone off tonight."
Clary looked at her with a curious expression. "Why?"
"Jonathon will call," was the deadpan reply.
Clary chewed her bottom lip in anxiety. He had told her he would call every evening to make sure she was at home. He had called her every night like he had promised to check that she was at home. "He won't like that," Clary admitted in a soft voice.
"Screw him! Tell him your phone went through the wash or something."
"He won't believe that."
Maia sighed in frustration. She really hated Jonathon's controlling nature. "He's your boyfriend Clary. Not your father. He doesn't need to know where you are every minute of the day. If he has a problem with you not answering your phone, that has to tell you something about him!"
"He just wants me to be safe!" Clary answered hotly in defence of her boyfriend. "He wouldn't like me going out tonight."
"Nothing bad is going to happen! We're going to this party, we're having a drink and then you are going to walk up to Sebastian Verlac and sweet talk him into giving you the work experience job."
Clary froze in the act of twisting her bracelet. "Wait… you never said anything about sweet talking. I thought you were just going to introduce me."
Maia turned in her seat and pinned Clary with a hard look. "You're a girl. You have boobs and an ass. Use them. This is the film industry and Sebastian is one of the easiest men out there."
"You want me to act like a slut?" Clary was beginning to regret this now. She knew Maia's plans were never any good for her.
"You're too good to be a slut Clary. No man could ever mistake you for one. You have all the prerequisites, so just talk to him about what he does and what you're interested in."
Clary thinned her lips but nodded. Getting experience would be good for her resume- there was no doubt about that. But was it worth risking Jonathon's wrath?
She wasn't so sure.
The small bar rented out for the occasion was filled to the brim with bodies. Some of Idris' most important people had been invited tonight, and mixed with the cast and crew of Valentine, this party was a loud affair. People of all ages and dressed in their best cocktail attire were chatting, laughing and flirting. The alcohol was flowing; waiters and waitresses dressed in black were constantly on the move navigating their way through the dense throng.
Jace- dressed in a black collared shirt and dark jeans- looked around the room in boredom. From his vantage point in a considerably less crowded corner he could see who was drunk, who was trying too hard and who was going to get laid that night. He normally avoided these things, but tonight Jordan had dragged him along. Jace knew his friend was only here for one reason. The two men had overheard the work experience girl saying she was going to be here. Sadly though, Jordan was already well on his way to being unconscious by the time the Roberts girl arrived.
It was liquid courage, but Jordan was going too far and he was going to make an utter fool of himself if he wasn't careful. Jace wasn't sure he wanted to watch the train wreck that was a drunken Jordan Kyle and a sober Maia Roberts going head to head.
Jace had been horrified the day he witnessed Jordan talking to Maia. The girl had been sitting in a chair minding her own business a short distance from where the two men had been talking. Jace had noticed his friend's distracted gaze landing on Maia too much to be accidental. At first he had been happy. Happy that Jordan had finally found himself someone new to be interested in. After the plane crash that was his last relationship, Jace had worried that his friend's ego had been too badly damaged to even contemplate dating again. The admiring glances Jordan was sending the brown haired girl had sparked his curiosity and Jace had questioned him about it.
Jordan had feigned ignorance at first, but the two men had been friends for too long for Jace to be fooled. Jordan had finally admitted that he found the girl attractive. He wasn't used to girls who didn't give him puppy dog eyes and Maia's indifference to his looks and fiery temper sparked his interest. Jace figured that this was the girl Jordan had been complaining about for the past two weeks- the two had worked together on an ad. It was good to finally put a name and a face to the girl Jordan described as a 'hot piece of ass, but that bitch drives me up the wall'.
When Jace had nudged his friend to talk to her, he had been appalled at the way the two had interacted. Jordan had quite successfully managed to insult the dress she was wearing and order her around. He had smacked Jordan across the head for his attitude towards the girl after. Yes, the boy had his heart broken, but that didn't mean he had to sabotage every interaction with a girl.
The next day, Jace had witnessed Jordan ordering Maia to give him a cushion. The two began bickering and in a huff of annoyance, he had told Jordan to man up and just ask her out. He was sure Maia had heard and the look on both their faces had been worth the bottle of water Jordan had thrown at him. He was no longer 14 years old; Maia was not an easy catch and Jordan did need to man up.
Just as Jace was about to do a walk around of the room, he spotted the very girl of his thoughts walk through the door. Jordan was still in the toilet, so he missed the quiet entrance she made. Jace knew now was the time to say his goodbyes and leg it out of there. He didn't want to witness the train crash that was inevitable- Jordan lacked even less tact drunk than he did sober.
He kicked off from the wall he had been leaning against and made his way over to Sebastian Verlac to impart his goodbyes. To his consternation though, Maia Roberts happened to beat him. Jace discreetly looked around to check that Jordan had not left the bathroom. He was hoping to be gone by that stage. As decent a friend he was, Jace knew there were some battles Jordan had to face on his own.
And getting owned by a woman half his size was one such battle.
Maia seemed to be hogging Sebastian's attention. This didn't surprise Jace and so he did one last slow circuit of the room. He bestowed dazzling smiles on the women and gave curt nods to the men. Many of the young female extras tried to engage him in conversation but none held his interest for long. By the time he had walked the room, Maia was still talking to Sebastian. Verlac's hand was on her arm. Jace raised an eyebrow at this. It was unusual for Sebastian to get so touchy-feely in public. After being catapulted into the spotlight last year for getting caught with his pants down –literally- Sebastian had been more cautious about his public interactions. Perhaps the man had indulged in too much champagne.
Itching to get out of the room before Jordan returned, Jace had every intention of walking up to Sebastian and interrupting his scintillating conversation with Maia just to say good bye. Four steps in and he pulled up suddenly. A young red headed woman was walking towards the talking duo.
Jace knew that hair. He knew that nose and he knew those eyes.
Clarissa Fray.
The sharp intake of air did little to quell his suddenly spinning head and Jace watched frozen as Maia introduced her to Sebastian.
He wasn't so keen to leave now. He didn't want Clarissa around Sebastian. That man spelt trouble, and even though Jace never took much of an interest in Sebastian's conquests, he didn't want Clarissa to be one.
She was too good for that man-whore.
Jace wasn't any better, but he knew that he would treat the red headed girl with more respect than the sleazy older man.
He sunk back into the crowd and watched as Clarissa, Sebastian and Maia talked. A young blonde tried to talk to him but Jace dismissed her with a flick of his hand.
"That wasn't very nice."
The voice behind him startled him and he swore softly. Turning his head, he notice Isabelle Lightwood leaning against the bar drinking a green cocktail. "Cheers," she said with a mock smile.
Despite Jace's original hopes that the two leading cast mates would get along, Jace quite simply could not stand Isabelle Lightwood. She was a good actress- that much he could not deny- but her personality was vile. She was high maintenance and often made the most absurd demands which had her personal assistants running around like chickens. Jace did his job because he loved it. Isabelle did her job for the money and for the fame. She did it for all the wrong reasons in Jace's opinion.
"Izzy, looking lovely as usual."
Isabelle gave Jace a vicious smirk. She knew Jace didn't believe his own words. She held her hands out and inspected her fingernails before slowly roving her eyes around the room. "Even you scrub up better than some of these imbeciles." Her voice matched the disgust in her eyes as she watched a young woman in an orange one-shouldered dress walk by.
"I'm glad you appreciate my effort," Jace replied drily. If Isabelle Lightwood was not such a monster, she would be on Jace's lists of conquests. She was tall and willowy with sleek black hair to the small of her back and full rep lips. Tonight she was dressed in a long silver dress that shimmered in the light. It was too much for the 'cocktail attire' theme of the night, but Isabelle Lightwood never did things like normal people.
There was nothing 'normal' about her.
"Filthy brownnosers," Isabelle muttered darkly as she trained her eyes on a young blonde who was laughing too hard at one of Luke Garroway's jokes. Jace recognised her as one of the extras who had tried to suck up to him in the hopes he could give her a recommendation.
Well, she had sucked something, he thought in glee as he remembered her following him back to his trailer just the other day. He wouldn't be giving her name as a recommendation; he didn't even remember it.
"They do what they have to do," he remarked. Isabelle had no right to be putting down other young women. She had only made it this far in her career because of her sex appeal. And because the men who cast her had a nasty habit of cheating on their wives. To say that Isabelle had slept her way to the top wouldn't be too far off the mark.
The two did not speak again much to Jace's pleasure. He was focussed on watching the young red head talk with Sebastian. Every so often Sebastian would reach out a tuck a strand of red hair behind Clarissa's ear. Jace clenched his jaw every time this happened. The girl did not look comfortable with it either. The Maia girl was smiling widely and gesturing between the two of them as she talked. Jace didn't know what they were talking about, but he had a feeling Maia was trying to sell Clarissa.
He hoped Sebastian didn't buy. She was much too innocent to work in this industry. He had never pictured her as the type to want to work as an actress. She didn't have much of an interest in drawing attention to herself judging by the few times he had seen her. He had thought her more interested in art, but then again acting was considered an art as well.
"If you stare any harder, her head will explode."
Jace turned to look at Isabelle. Her mouth was twisted into a sneer and she was sizing Clarissa up and down.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied flippantly before stalking away. He didn't want Isabelle to get involved. He didn't want Clarissa near Sebastian, but he definitely did not want her near Isabelle. He spotted Jordan coming out of the bathroom as he walked, and he made a beeline for his friend. He wanted to assess how drunk Jordan was before he allowed him to find Maia.
"You okay bro?" he asked when he reached Jordan. His friend was pale and smelt slightly stale, but other than that there were no other signs of his previous heavy drinking.
Jordan didn't respond. Instead, he asked "Is she here yet?"
Jace sighed. He couldn't exactly lie. "Yes she just arrived. But don't do anything stupid, please. She's with the red head I was telling you about."
"I didn't know they were friends," Jordan muttered distractedly as he craned his head around the heads surrounding them.
"Do you know anything about her other than the fact she's hot?" Jordan turned to face Jace with a frown. "You know nothing about her. Why? Because you haven't tried, that's why. You are such chicken shit." Jace knew his tone would piss Jordan off. He wasn't disappointed.
Jordan shoved him. Hard. "Fuck you man. You know why I have trouble talking to girls." Jace normally prided himself on his gracefulness, however with Jordan's unexpected shove, Jace was thrown off balance and clipped a table which his shoulder. In his need to gain balance, he reached out. The only thing he managed to do was graze his fingers along one of the round black trays used to serve drinks that had been lying on the edge.
He brought the tray down on top of him as he landed ass first on the dirty and wet floor.
He blinked in rapid succession trying to get his brain to catch up on the few seconds since being pushed. When he realised what had happened, he stood up and brushed himself down before glaring at Jordan. The tray was in his hand and he wasn't afraid to whack Jordan over the head – again – with it.
The consequences of Jordan's loss of control had drawn the attention of other party goers. Jace didn't pay them any attention.
"The least you can do is try be nice to them. They aren't all out to screw you over."
Jordan lowered his eyes. His next words were soft, but Jace still heard them. "You don't know what it's like. She destroyed me Jace. I can't forget that."
"Then don't. Learn to-" Jace cut himself off as he finally realised the consequences of the bar falling silent. People were watching the two of them, some whispering behind their hands. A camera went off. He knew there were members of the paparazzi amongst the crowd and he didn't want to give them a story. Not that the story would have been interesting anyway. Somehow "Jace Wayland comforts heartbroken best friend" didn't seem too snappy. Nor did "Jace Wayland gets into fight with heartbroken best friend'.
Unless the 'heartbroken best friend' was a female. Then that shit would explode.
Jordan also noticed the attention and threw his hands up. "Girls suck," he stated before stomping away with a dark scowl.
Jace was left to clean up the mess. Both their reputations were on the line here. With a sigh he ran a hand through his hair. "Heartbreak's a bitch," he said loud enough to be heard. He pasted his patented smirk on his face to squash the seriousness of the situation.
Naturally some smartass in the crowd decided to call out "Now you know what Aline felt like, jerk!" Jace didn't even bother trying to find the caller. He knew that was how most people saw his break up with his last girlfriend. It wasn't the truth, but the truth didn't interest them. Instead, he just shrugged.
"We've all experienced it. Get over it."
The room began to buzz with noise and he breathed a sigh of relief. He needed another drink. He also needed a good hard shag. While he would have preferred the red head, any other girl would have to do. He had his eye on the girl behind the bar earlier that night. She could be an easy catch. He pressed through the large number of bodies to get to the bar. To his dismay though, he saw Clarissa standing with her back to him talking to the very bar tender he wanted to seduce.
With a snort of annoyance he sauntered up to the bar and leant with his back against it next to the girl. She flicked her head towards him with a look of annoyance on her face, clearly wanting to know why he was standing so close to her when there were other good standing spots.
When she looked at him however, her eyes narrowed in recognition.
"You." She said.
"Me," he replied.
"I should have known you would be here."
Jace spread his hands in a 'well what do you know' manner.
"Quite the commotion you were involved in over there."
"Yes. Well, he had a right to be pissed off."
"What did you do? Spill a drink on him?" The girl's voice was cold.
"I insulted him," was his answer.
They were both ignoring the bar tender by this stage. She seemed to be watching their interaction with interest.
"It mustn't be hard to insult the rich and famous," Clarissa scoffed.
Jace shrugged his shoulders. "I called him 'chicken shit'."
"Well, that would do it," Clarissa replied drily.
She began to tap her fingernail against the surface of the bar and flicked her eyes to the crowd beyond Jace. A small crease formed between her eyebrows and her lips thinned in disapproval. Jace turned his head to see what she was looking at.
It seemed Jordan had finally found Maia and the two were facing each other. Maia had her hands on her hips. They seemed to be having a row judging by the look of fury on Maia's face. Neither were talking very loud – actually they seemed to be locked in a staring competition if anything – and Jace groaned. "Idiot," he muttered and banged the tray still in his hand on the wet bench in front of him. It smacked with a sickly squelching sound.
"You know that asshat?" Clarissa was eyeing Jordan with a speculative expression.
"Yea. That's Jordan Kyle. Asshat extraordinaire." Jace wasn't sure what an 'asshat' was, but it seemed fitting.
"Huh. So that's Maia's pretty boy." Jace looked at her incredulously. His silence drew her attention and she looked up at him with her eyebrows raised. "What?"
Jace quickly shook his head. Hearing Clarissa call Jordan a 'pretty boy' didn't sit well with him. He knew he shouldn't have cared, but he did.
He was prettier anyway if it was going to be a competition.
"Jordan has had some, er, difficulties with women in the past. His last girlfriend cheated on him and he hasn't been the same since." Jace felt like he needed to explain his friend's behaviour. If this girl knew Maia, then maybe he could get her to talk to Maia. Maybe the girl could soften her attitude around Jordan.
"That doesn't mean he needs to be an ass to the nice girls," Clarissa muttered darkly as she turned to look at Jordan again.
"And I've told him that too," Jace added. He didn't look at Jordan though. He'd had enough of his friend's ugly mug for one day. Instead, he was looking down at her. And boy, what a sight she was. She was simply stunning tonight. She was dressed in a black dress that clung to her body. A gold necklace shaped in a thick triangle ended in the valley of her cleavage. Her eyes were dark and mysterious and her skin smelt heavenly. No wonder Sebastian had been panting at her like a dog.
He really wanted this girl. He needed to have her. He needed to be smooth and reel her in delicately. She'd most likely stomp on his balls if he wasn't careful. He needed to warm her up to him. He needed to-
"Would you like a drink?" he suddenly blurted.
He needed to stop acting like an over eager teenager with no finesse.
Come on Jace. Snap out of it. You've won plenty of girls over.
Clarissa turned her head towards him with agonising slowness. The look in her eyes took him back to that fateful day at the coffee shop where she had stormed away from him in anger. He knew she was trying to work out his intentions.
Of course his intentions revolved around something like her legs – with their sparkly green heels – wrapped around his waist, but she didn't need to know that. Clarissa licked her lips and Jace unconsciously copied. He would do anything to have those lips on his own. Maybe he could get her extremely drunk. But then again having drunk sex wouldn't be satisfying. He wanted her awake and conscious that it was him giving her pleasure.
He watched as she bit her lip into her mouth in contemplation. Finally, before he snapped and shook the answer out of her, she opened her mouth.
Well, actually, she screamed.
"Oh hell no!"
Well, owch! Poor Jace...
I struggled to write this chapter- this is the 3rd rewrite. Clary and Jace meeting again is important to the story and so I needed it perfect. Big things here that will come into play in later chapters.
:)