~ * ~ A * S T O R Y * A B O U T * L O V E ~ * ~
by She's a Star
A/N: Ooooh, I had so much fun writing this. :) Christian, Satine, the Elephant Love Medley, and Wal*Mart...what more could you possibly need in life??
Chapter Four: Shopping Carts and Silly Love Songs
Three days passed, then slowly morphed into a week, which morphed into two. Slowly, Christian was beginning to doubt that fate would work its magic and bring them back together. It looked like he'd just have to return to L'amour Fou.
After all, a glimpse of 'Sparkling Diamond' Satine was better than no Satine at all.
These thoughts were running through his mind for the millionth time as he made his way down the snack foods aisle at Wal*Mart. He hated grocery shopping; every time he put something into the cart, he could practically hear a little cash register 'cha-ching!' go off inside his brain.
As if he needed to be reminded of his poverty.
Christian's father, who lived in a town called Paradise in Northern California, had strongly objected his coming to Los Angeles. After lots of fights that resulted in yelling and vases being broken, Mrs. Matthews had finally declared that Christian was going. His father had been furious, and swore that he'd never help his son out financially.
Which left him buying the Wal*Mart brand potato chips.
Idiotic as it was of him, he couldn't help but wonder what Satine would think about his financial state; true, she was a harlot at a sleazy nightclub, but she seemed the type who liked the finer things in life. Maybe, just maybe he could write that book...
STOP being an idiot! Christian silently commanded himself as he tossed a box of Wheat Thins into the shopping cart, only to put them back on the shelf after studying the price. Satine's barely even SPOKEN to you, and already you're planning for the future! In no time, you'll be naming the kids.
With a self-loathing groan that earned him a curious look from an elderly woman making her way down the aisle, Christian put a bag of generic chocolate chip cookies into his cart, then quickly began to make his way to the drinks section.
He just wanted to get out of here and go try to write something-ANYTHING that would save him from Wal*Mart brand cookies.
"Aaahhh!" a female voice shrieked a second before Christian felt his cart slam into another one.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" he apologized, feeling his cheeks redden as he picked up the package of bacon that had fallen from the woman's cart. He handed it to her, and, upon looking up, discovered it was Satine.
It took him a while to register it...she certainly looked nothing like she had at L'amour Fou when he'd first seen her. Her curls were pulled back in a messy ponytail, a few wisps of flaming red hair framing her face, and she was dressed simply in ratty jeans and an Adidas sweatshirt. Her face was devoid of the slightest trace of makeup, and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses covered her blue eyes.
"Satine!" he yelped, his face going even redder.
"Christian," she replied with a smile. "Hi."
She remembers me! he thought, giddy. She remembers me-she didn't remember Travis, but she
remembers me!
"So...er...how are you?" he asked awkwardly.
"Fine," Satine replied, looking a bit flustered herself. "Fine. Great. I'm great."
"Well...that's good," Christian said, grinning weakly. "Er...so, what are you doing?"
"Uh...grocery shopping," Satine said, raising an eyebrow at him questioningly.
Ugh! Christian thought angrily. You IDIOT. What ELSE do you do in a grocery store?
"Oh, yeah, well," Christian said, giving her another weak smile, "Sorry...should have known. I'm a little out of it today."
"I noticed," Satine said with an amused smile.
"So..." Christian said uncomfortably.
"So..." Satine repeated.
He studied her for a moment, causing her pale cheeks to flush and eyes to fly down to the shopping cart. It was hard to believe that THIS was the woman who'd belted out the most raunchy version of "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" he'd ever heard and then tried to seduce him repeatedly. She seemed so...innocent now.
"Er...it was really nice seeing you again-"
Christian cut her off. "It was really nice seeing you, too," he said shyly.
Satine smiled, a beautiful smile that was a mixture of embarrassment and flattery.
"But I really should be going," she continued reluctantly. "I have to pick up some rootbeer-"
"So was I," Christian said, working hard to keep the ecstacy out of his voice.
"Well, what a coincidence," Satine grinned.
"Shall I escort the fair lady to the beverages aisle?" Christian asked, pleased that he'd spoken a coherent sentence.
Satine looked incredibly torn for a moment, though Christian couldn't understand...it was just going to get soda!
Well...for her, anyway.
Finally, she shrugged and smiled at him. "Sure."
~*~
"I didn't know that GROCERY SHOPPING was supposed to be this FUN!" Satine laughed as she sipped the strawberry smoothie Christian had just purchased for her from the food court. He beamed at her in response, and Satine didn't even bother to try to get rid of the light, blissful feeling that immediately filled her.
She liked this guy.
A lot.
"Oh yes," Christian grinned. "It's just a whirlwind of excitement."
"Completely," Satine agreed as she pushed the cart across the parking lot. Her car, an ancient bright yellow VW Bug, was parked right in front of the Wal*Mart, but she hadn't been able to bear saying goodbye to him so soon.
"So..." Christian said, looking a bit nervous as he stopped in front of a beat-up, old blue station wagon that Satine assumed was his own.
Oh no, Satine thought. She knew what was coming. The 'will you go out with me?'...it was written all over his hopeful face. Naturally, she had to turn him down...having a boyfriend in her line of work was a definite no. It would never work out.
But she couldn't even imagine saying no to him. It seemed impossible.
"Er...maybe do you want to come over?" Christian asked, looking absolutely terrified. "Watch a movie or something?"
Oh, God, don't do this to me! Satine begged silently.
"Uh...I can't," she said apologetically.
"Oh."
Christian's face immediately fell, and he looked completely crestfallen, almost as if he was fighting back tears.
"I'm sorry," Satine apologized immediately, "I'm SO sorry...it's just that..."
"A guy like me isn't good enough for someone like you," Christian finished with a weak, lopsided smile. He didn't say it bitterly, or with the slightest trace of an angry emotion-just as though it was some sort of fact.
"No!" Satine exclaimed. "No, not at all...I'm trash."
"No you're not!" Christian cried, quick as lightning. "You're...amazing."
Satine felt a lump beginning to form in the back of her throat...why was he making this so freaking difficult?
"You don't want to get involved with me," she said softly, studying her beat up Sketchers.
"Yes I do," Christian replied earnestly.
"It'll end horribly," Satine said. "I mean, I'm a HOOKER, for Christ's sake!"
The words escaped her mouth louder than she'd wanted them to, and a middle-aged couple eyed her in disgust as they walked past.
"It just wouldn't work," Satine finished weakly, feeling her cheeks flush.
Great. More people to think she was some dirty slut. Sure, she'd never see them again, but...it hurt, to be thought of like that.
"We could make it work!" Christian exclaimed, determined.
"I can't fall in love," said Satine truthfully.
"But...but..." Christian stuttered. Finally, he declared, "Love is like oxygen!"
"What?!" Satine asked laughingly.
He didn't reply-just continued to spew out old song titles. "Love is a many splendored thing! Love lifts us up where we belong! All you need is love!"
"Don't," Satine begged. "Just don't!"
All he had to do was open his mouth, sing a note, and she'd be hooked. Gone. A lost cause.
"All you need is love!" Christian sang out. Practically everyone in the busy parking lot turned to look at them, and Satine felt her cheeks flush.
"A girl has got to eat!" she hissed.
"All you need is love!"
"She'll end up on the street!" protested Satine desperately.
"All you need is love!"
A few teenage girls that were passing them giggled and studied him for a moment, and Satine couldn't help but feel a twinge of 'back off, he's mine'-ness run through her.
"Love is just a game!" she sang back with a giggle.
"I was made for lovin' you baby, you were made for lovin' me!" Christian sang.
"Stop it!" Satine pleaded, sure she was fire-engine red as she felt everyone's eyes on them. Christian, however shook his head teasingly and was quiet.
He wants me to sing something back, Satine realized, feeling her stomach sink.
In front of all these people who are sure we're psycho escapees from a musical.
"The only way of lovin' me baby is to pay a lovely fee," Satine invented.
"Just one night, give me just one night!" Christian begged, his hair flopping in his face adorably.
"I'll give you one night," one of the girls watching them muttered to her friend.
Bitch, Satine thought angrily.
"There's no way, 'cause you can't pay!" she responded, giggling. Christian had made it pretty clear that the only way he'd stop this was if she played along for a while.
"In the name of love!" Christian proclaimed, "One night in the name of love!"
"You crazy fool!" Satine sang laughingly, "I won't give into you!"
Crossing her arms in front of her, she stomped a few feet away and stood, back towards him. She'd decided, seconds ago, that it would be the most fun if she dramatized it as much as possible...after all, she DID want to be an actress, and this WAS an audience.
"Don't leave me this way," Christian sang softly. "I can't survive without your sweet love, oh baby...don't leave me this way."
The two teenage girls burst into a round of sympathetic coos, and Satine rolled her eyes before turning around and, after racking her brain for a song for a moment, retorting, "You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs!"
Christian stared around the parking lot, where customers and employees from Wal*Mart had begun to step out of the building to see what had gathered the large crowd around them. Even the couple who had been glaring at her in disgust moments before both watched interestedly, small, fond smiles on their faces.
"I look around me and I see it isn't so!" Christian declared after studying their audience.
"Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs!" Satine sang. Christian took a few steps closer to her, then softly caressed her cheek with his hand. The touch filled her with a light, fuzzy happiness that diamonds, her red dress, and Breakfast at Tiffany's combined couldn't even begin to give her.
"Well, what's wrong with that," Christian's voice was soft as he leaned in closer and closer to her. "I'd like to know...'cause here I go."
Satine pulled away at the last moment. She was pretty damn sure that if she let herself kiss him, she'd never want to move, which would destroy everything.
Especially since she was supposed to have dinner with Murdock the next evening.
And plus, Satine thought as an audible "aw" of disappointment from the crowd filled her ears, if I kiss him, there's a good chance I'll pass out if I practically had a heart attack when he just touched my cheek.
To Satine's surprise, and everyone else's, at that moment Christian climbed up on top of his station wagon, spread his arms out like wings, and belted out, "Love lifts us up where we belong!"
"Get DOWN, you idiot!" Satine exclaimed, reaching out to grab one of his arms. "Your car's going to get dented, and you might BREAK YOUR NECK!"
He ignored her. "Where eagles fly on a mountain high!"
Satine finally succeeded in getting hold of one of his arms, and she pulled him from the top of the car.
"Love makes us act like we are fools!" she declared. "Throw our lives away for ONE happy day!"
Christian was silent for a moment, apparently trying to think of another song, then proclaimed, "We could be heroes just for one day!"
Satine retorted, "You...you will be mean. And I...I'll drink all the time!"
Well, that last part wasn't exactly true. Since one particularly bad run-in with too many beers in high school which resulted in puking her guts out the next day, Satine had sworn off alcohol.
"We should be lovers!" Christian announced. The crowd nodded and cheered in agreement.
"We can't do that," Satine protested, studying her Sketchers once more. She couldn't look at him any longer...she could feel herself giving up. Any second, any second now...
"We should be lovers," Christian continued, "And that's a fact!"
Oh, I GIVE up! Satine finally declared to herself. It wasn't as if she and Murdock had anything romantic going on between them, and she really, REALLY wanted to just give in to him. After all, what harm could come from watching one movie together?
"What a heartless bitch," she heard one of the teenagers mutter to the other.
That was it.
"Though nothing will keep us together," she sang, grinning as she stared up and took his hand in her own.
His expression was one of surprise and sheer and utter joy, and he finished, "We could steal time just for one day."
"We could be heroes," they sang together, Satine stepping closer to Christian and allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist, "Forever and ever...we could be heroes forever and ever...we could be heroes..."
"Just because I will always love you!" Christian sang happily.
Satine grinned-she'd sung the Whitney Houston ballad for her parents countless times when she was younger...and now here she was, singing it again in a Wal*Mart parking lot.
"I can't help loving you!"
Everyone watching them let out "oohs" and "ahhs" of happiness as Satine, remembering the night they'd first met, sang out, "How wonderful life is..."
Together, they finished, "Now you're in the world."
After a tantalizingly long moment of studying one another, Satine decided Christian was too timid to kiss her, so she leaned forward and firmly pressed her lips to his own. Immediately, the world around them seemed to dissolve, leaving only herself and Christian...
The people watching them burst into applause as the kiss deepened, but the sound barely registered in Satine's mind.
There was only Christian.
Christian Christian Christian Christian Christian Christian...
