Chapter 9
CPoV:
I wake up due to an incessant pounding in my skull. Cracking an eye open I look down to see a golden arm wrapped tightly around my waist. I start and hastily turn around meeting a pair of swirling golden eyes.
"Good morning, sunshine," Jace says sarcastically, and I wince.
"Not so loud," I whine. He chuckles and sits up looking down at me with an amused expression.
"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." He gives me a smirk and my insides squirm. I'm brought back to Earth by that pounding in my head again—right behind my eyes. How much did I drink last night? All I remember is watching a movie with Jace when we got home and—surprisingly—asking him to stay.
"Only because you took the right side," I retort halfheartedly, swinging my legs over the side of my bed and grabbing my phone. 11:30. I have to meet Hodge in an hour.
"You don't seem all that surprised to find me in your bed this morning, my dearest Clarissa," Jace muses behind me.
I hum in thought and turn to face him, my every move making it feel like someone is dragging a knife between my eyes. "Well, I remember everything from watching the movie to…" I trail off not wanting to admit out loud that I had asked Jace to sleep with me.
"From watching the movie to… what?" Jace repeats raising a solitary eyebrow, smirk firmly in place. My head is spinning and I'm not so sure it's entirely from the hangover. I mean here is Jace Wayland—the man I thought I hated, but am only now realizing how much I actually like—sitting half naked in my bed. Wait…HALF NAKED?! How did I not notice this before?
I look again and it's true. Jace is sitting in my bed, with the covers thrown back, in only his boxers, biceps flexing as he supports himself on his elbows, perfectly sculpted abs rippling… His underwear is a pair of pink Ralph Lauren's with a navy waistband. The color makes his tan skin appear even darker and the little trail of fine, golden hair going from his flat, toned stomach down beneath the band of his shorts more defined… I blush furiously, spluttering.
"I-it doesn't matter what I remember after that, the important thing is that I don't remember what I did before," I insist. "I don't even remember what I had to drink let alone remember if I did anything illegal or humiliating. And my head hurts and you're annoying and I'm not feeling so hot," I whine as I'm hit with a serious wave of nausea. He chuckles and swings his legs over the side of my bed.
"Funny, that's exactly what you said to me last night at the club, right before you threw up on my combat boots." I groan and bury my face in my hands, mortified.
"Oh, my God, I did?" I moan. "I'm so sorry. I can buy you a new pair of shoes. I know how much you loved those. God, Jace, I'm so embarrassed—"
"Clare-bear, come on, it's okay," he cuts me off. "I mean, don't get me wrong—a new pair of shoes would be greatly appreciated," he pauses to smirk, "But you don't have to be embarrassed. I've had my fair share of nausea when it comes to alcohol… although it takes a little bit more to get me that drunk," he finishes with a devilish glint in his eye. I cock my head to the side, causing a spike of pain to course through it.
"Are you calling me a lightweight, Wayland?" I ask in as menacing a voice I can muster with the degree of my hangover.
"Yes," Jace replies without missing a beat. "Now, what do you usually do for a hangover cure?" he asks, leading the way downstairs. I follow him to his guest room and watch as he slips on a pair of thick, grey sweatpants.
"Um, usually some pain killers and coffee," I say walking into the kitchen. The golden boy turns to me with a mock scolding expression.
"Tsk, tsk, Clarissa, everyone knows that you need electrolytes for a hangover," he informs me as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. Well, it obviously isn't, since I didn't know that. "Lucky for you, love, I do believe I saw some Gatorade in the fridge." He pulls open the stainless steel door and produces a small bottle of red Gatorade and grabs the bottle of pain killers from the cabinet.
"But my coffee," I whine indignantly. There is no way that boy is going to deprive me of my morning coffee. He slides two tablets into my palm and hands me the bottle, chuckling.
"You'll have you coffee in a second, first just drink this." I nod and follow his orders taking a few sips of the Gatorade and then rushing to fix my coffee. I take a Starbucks K-Cup (just regular, caffeinated coffee) from the rack on the counter and pop it into our sleek black Keurig. I slide my travel mug under the opening and press brew, rushing back upstairs to pick out an outfit leaving Jace to do… whatever it is that he does when no one's around.
I shower quickly and check the weather on my laptop. Since it's going to be a particularly cold April Saturday, I change into a pair of thick, black tights and pair of white lace shorts and a thick, black, oversized knit sweater and lace up my favorite pair of blood red, patent finish Dr. Marten's boots. I brush my teeth, swipe on some mascara and Chap Stick, and leave my still drying hair down so it falls over my shoulders. Finally I swipe my computer, phone and wallet into my trusty messenger bag and bound back into the main part of the apartment. I rush back into the kitchen, where everyone is now congregated, and Jace is… cooking pancakes? Huh… At the sight of him still shirtless I flush lightly.
"Morning, Clary," Izzy chirps. "Sleep well?" she asks, waggling her eyebrows with a smirk that Magnus mimics. She looks stunning as always—even after hours of partying. Simon, Alec and Mags all greet me with various forms of 'good morning'. I make a face at my best friend
"Ha ha, Izzy," I say dryly. I'm in too much of a rush to even acknowledge the fact that she just made an indirect remark about me falling asleep with Jace. How she even knows that—we may never know. "Morning, guys. Sorry, I have to run. I've got a meeting with my publicist, but I'll catch you later?" I ask, grabbing travel mug I left to fill up and twisting the top onto it, satisfied with how long I let it cool.
"It's totally fine, babe," my best friend says from across the island with a smile. "Tell Hodge I said 'hi'."
"Will do," I reply turning to leave.
"Um, Clare-bear?" Jace calls from the stove. I turn with questioning eyes.
"Yeah?"
"You forgot the cream and sugar, love. Are you sure you want your coffee just black?" I smirk and take a sip.
"I like my coffee black," I reply and, after a pause, add, "Like my soul," winking an emerald eye at him. Isabelle gives a chuckle, knowing full well of my obsession with black coffee.
"And apparently your clothes, too," Jace replies raking his eyes over my body. I shiver under his gaze and I hope to God nobody notices it. I roll my eyes at the man, thinking about his almost entirely black wardrobe.
"You're one to talk," I retort. "See you later, guys," I say to the rest of the group and with a salute, I walk out the kitchen door. I grab my keys from the bowl in the hall and make my way out of our building and to my car.
~~~LINE BREAK~~~
I arrive at the restaurant I'm supposed to be meeting Hodge at, a cute little diner called Taki's, and park my beloved BMW convertible in a space near the entrance. When I walk in, I find Hodge sitting at a booth in the corner, in all of his tweed glory. I smile at his antics and make my way over to the table.
We order lunch and make conversation about how absurd Imogen is and how I need to get the first chapter of my new book to my editor, Jia Penhallow. As the conversation goes on, I grow increasing restless to know what Hodge is hiding. He wouldn't plan a whole lunch meeting, just to catch up on my life—he wouldn't need to since he calls me every. Single. Day. No, it has to be something big. I can tell by the burning excitement in his brown eyes, no matter how hard he tries to contain it.
"Hodge, you know I love just talking to you," I say, interrupting a very interesting story about one of his meetings last week, "but I know you're hiding something. Just tell me what it is!" I say with a laugh. He smiles and holds his hands up in surrender.
"Alright, Clary, girl," he says chuckling, "You got me. I was going to wait until we finished our food, but I'll just tell you now. I'm dying to tell you anyway." He smiles wide. I look at him pointedly. I'm growing more and more anxious to know what his surprise is.
"I got a call from Carstairs Production Studios," he pauses for dramatic effect. Wait… Carstairs Production Studios? That sounds familiar. But it can't be… can it? Hodge is now buzzing with energy and give me the biggest smile I've ever seen. "They want to turn your book into A MOVIE, Clary!" He practically squeals. I stare wide eyed in shock for a moment until I find my voice.
"Oh, my God," I whisper still unable to process what my publicist just said. "OH. MY. GOD." I break into a smile so big, it's almost painful and jump out of the booth with tears of joy running down my face. Hodge springs up too and wraps me in a tight hug. "What book?"
"My One and Only," Hodge replies, referring to the title of my third published book. I'm so excited I can barely think straight. The next five minutes are filled with excited comments about casting and shooting scenes and which parts might have to be cut out and I'm elated on the ride back home.
When I get back I rush immediately to Maia and Jordan's apartment down the hall from mine, wanting to drag them over so I can tell everyone the news at the same time. I bang furiously on the door and Jordan throws it open worry in his hazel eyes. But when he sees my overly large smile the worry turns to confusion.
"Clary, what's up?" Before I can answer I hear Maia's voice somewhere within the apartment.
"Babe?" she calls. "Who's at the door? Why were they banging so loud—oh, hey, Clary," she says upon seeing me. "What's up?"
"Come with me, I have news!" I squeal dragging the now bewildered and laughing couple out the door. I run back toward my apartment door and shove it open hastily.
"Jace? Izzy?" I call loudly.
"Living room!" Iz calls back and I run into the living room with Jordan and Maia close behind. I come in to see that Magnus, Alec and Simon are still here, sprawled on our couches. I'm literally bouncing up and down like a little kid on a sugar high with excitement and everyone is giving me weird looks. I turn to Jordan and Maia.
"Sit," I command, pointing to the only empty section of sofa left. They comply and move to the middle of the room where everyone can see me clearly, still buzzing with energy.
"Clary?" Isabelle asks, cocking her head to the side, "What's going on?" I try my best to make a straight face, but ultimately fail as I realize that I will never be able to stop smiling after this.
"I have news," I say mysteriously, meaning to continue, but only to be cut off by Jace. Of course.
"We kind of figured Clary. Now will you just tell us what the hell it is?" he asks shaking his head and chuckling. I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath.
"Carstairs Production Studios is turning my book into a MOVIE!" My voice goes up about two octaves by the end of my statement. I throw my eyes open to find seven shocked faces staring back at me. And then, all at once, chaos ensues. Izzy, Maia, and Mags scream and spring up to tackle me in a hug, followed by Jace, Alec and Jordan, who are all laughing hysterically and smiling like crazy. Alec wraps me in a hug and Jordan grabs me underneath my arms and swings me around like a little child—you know because I'm so freakishly small— making me give a shout of surprise. When he stops he sets me on Jace's shoulders. We're all laughing and shouting and our neighbors probably think we're crazy.
~~~LINE BREAK~~~
We calmed down after a while—and a few glasses of celebratory champagne. I'm lying in bed now, trying desperately to fall asleep with the faint buzz of excitement still running through my veins. We're shooting the movie in Martha's Vineyard, where I had actually set the book, and I'm leaving in a week to oversee the production.
Apparently Hodge had been taking care of everything behind my back for the past few months so all of the planning was finished. Now all we have to do is hold auditions in Martha's Vineyard for the characters and then we start shooting. (A/N: I know this isn't really how making movies works, but it works better for the context of the story.) I'm broken out of my reverie by a soft knocking on the wall just to the left of the landing of the staircase that leads up here. I sleepily open my eyes and see Jace silhouetted against a faint light coming from downstairs.
"Jace?" He moves closer and perches himself on the edge of my bed looking at me apprehensively. I sit up, wanting to know what this is about.
"First off, Clare-bear, I just want to say that I'm really happy for you and extremely, extremely proud," he says with a slight smile. I smile back, his words melting my heart. "I'm going to audition, and it would mean a lot to me to get the male lead. This could be my first big time movie, Clary. Could you maybe… you know…" I already know what he's going to ask. I smile warmly.
"Of course I'll put in a good word with you to the producers," I insist. His smile grows wide; he looks like a kid on Christmas morning. "But to be honest, you're a great actor. There isn't a doubt in my mind that you would get that part even without my help." Jace looks incredulous.
"You really mean that?" he asks.
"Yeah," I reply simply. He just looks at me for a moment. And then he leans forward and kisses my cheek gently, but firmly. The effect is instantaneous. I shiver at the spark of electricity that his touch produces and feel myself blush as he pulls back. Thank the sweet baby Jesus that it's dark.
"Thank you, Clary," he says sincerely. And then gets up to leave. My stomach twists as he walks away, but then he turns back. "And I've read all your books. Got hell from my buddies back in L.A. for reading chick books, but they were exceptional," he says with a smirk, barely visible in the dim light. And then he disappears down the stairs.
I lie back down and I'm finally hit with drowsiness. As I'm falling asleep, despite the elation in my heart from the day's events, I can't help but feel a sort of sharp sadness at the thought of not falling asleep next to Jace again tonight.
A/N: And there's chapter nine! I hope you guys liked it! This one was updated so much faster than chapter eight so I know you'll all appreciate that. Clary's book is being turned into a MOVIE! Yay! That's the big surprise and I have big things planned for the filming (specifically the end) so I hope you all enjoy! Don't forget to review! It makes me very happy. See? :D :D :D
Disclaimer #1: The Mortal Instruments and all its characters belongs to the magnificent Cassandra Clare, I do not own anything.
Disclaimer #2: I do not own My One and Only. It is a fantastic book written by a woman named Kristan Higgins. No, she did not pay me or even ask me to say that, but she DOES happen to be a very close family friend and her son is one of my best friends. I've known her since birth and she is an amazing woman and author. If you like light-hearted, funny, witty romance novels, then you should check out some of her books!
Okay, I think that's all. Until next time, my lovelies!
~MG
