Falling Down
Chapter 35
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction from the mind of one twisted and sick individual. Please don't let the contents of this fictional story impact the way you see the real people behind the characters, as none of this actually happened in real life. I only own the OCs, of which there are a couple of in this chapter. But any recognizable names from the real world...I don't own them.
A/N: Hello my favorites! A huge thank you to: AnimalloversInc (They're both messes. They need to man up lol), Cougar3371 (Trust me, when it comes to the drama, I've got plenty of punches packed and ready to be unleashed :) I'm glad you're enjoying, love!), and DeeMarie426 (She needs to get on that ASAP). We're moving along here, and I promise the craziness will ensue shortly. In the meantime, please let me know what you think of this chapter, and I will work on getting the next one typed up :) Love you guys! XoXoXo
"You were amazing, Al," Kristina, the make-up artist, told her, as the Cosmopolitan photo shoot came to an end. Al had worked with Kristina earlier in her career, when she was more of a train wreck. She'd seen the model at her worst.
Al smiled. "Thanks, Kris. I'm just happy that I could finally work again. I don't wanna go off the deep end and screw it up," she replied.
"Seriously, you were so much different this time. You came off as more mature and professional…and clean. Honestly, I think you look better than you ever have. I'm so proud of you," she gushed.
"I'm trying to fix it, you know?"
Kristina nodded. "Well, I heard some rumblings around during the shoot. Everyone was really impressed with you and how much you've changed."
"I hope so. I want to keep working, you know? It gets boring when you're stuck in your apartment every single day."
"I'm sure you will."
"Sure you will what?" Corinne, the hair dresser, questioned, approaching the pair.
"Keep working," Al replied.
"Oh my God, yes. Seriously, everyone was wondering who you were because you were nothing like the Alessandra Kline they remember…in a really good way."
"The only thing is…you seem…I dunno…kind of sad," Kristina commented.
Al sighed. "I'm fine. I'm happy."
Kristina and Corinne looked at each other, clearly not believing a word that came out of the woman's mouth. "Okay, well, at this point, you would know that you can't get away with lying to us," Kristina pointed out. "So, let's fast forward through the back and forth of you denying that anything's wrong and us not believing you, and just come out with the truth already."
A smile crept onto Al's lips, knowing full well that it was true. They knew her too well to believe any lies she fed them. "It's just…guy problems, I guess. Kind of. I don't know. It's a whole mess," she finally admitted.
Both women raised their eyebrows. "Oh? Spill your guys, lady," Corinne spoke.
"I'll tell you about it at dinner," she replied, not wanting to talk about Jon at the moment. And seeing as the three women had planned on going out to dinner, she figured that she could tell them all about what was going on then.
"Ugh. No fun," Kristina protested. "Is this the guy who we saw you with when you were on the road?"
Al rolled her eyes but nodded a moment later. "Yeah."
"Oooh," Corinne teased, wiggling her eyebrows.
"It just…didn't work out," she spoke not wanting to talk about it, though she knew her friends were dying to know what had happened. Truth be told, seeing as Al had a reputation to repair, she didn't want to show any signs of being unprofessional on the set. "But we'll talk about it later," she insisted.
The two women nodded. "Alright," Kristina agreed. "We'll see you in what? An hour for dinner?"
Al nodded. "Yeah."
"Alright. See you in a bit," Corinne said, giving Al a kiss on her cheek.
"Bye."
"Bye, sweetheart. See you soon," Kristina said, also exchanging kisses and a hug with her friend.
"See you."
The three women split their small group up. Al walked over to her things and grabbed her bag. She turned to leave, so she could go to her apartment and change her clothes for dinner. She stopped in her tracks, seeing as she came face to face with Kathy, one of the executives as Cosmopolitan.
"Hi Alessandra," she greeted with a smile on her face.
"Oh hi Kathy," Al reciprocated the greeting.
"I just wanted to say…we believed we were taking a huge risk bringing you in for the shoot today. But…you were amazing. You were unlike any version of yourself that we've ever dealt with before. And professionally, we're very happy. Personally, we're so proud of all of the changes you've made," she told her.
Al smiled, genuinely appreciating what she had just been told. "Thank you. That really means a lot to me. I've been trying really hard to change the way I'm living my life. So, it's nice to hear that I'm doing something right," she graciously spoke.
Kathy smiled. "Well, I hope these changes are here to stay because if you stay this way, we would be more than happy to have you do some more shoots for us," Kathy said.
"Thank you. I would love that."
"We'll be in touch. Have a good night," she said.
"Sounds great. Goodnight," Al replied, before she finally left the studio. She immediately went out to the car that was out front waiting for her. She got inside, and the driver quickly headed to Al's apartment.
She took her cell phone out from her bag. She had a message from Phil. 'Good luck today. Let me know how it goes. I'm proud of you, Allie.'
Al smiled to herself and called Phil, who picked up after two rings. "Hey Princess. How'd it go?" he greeted.
"Hey Phil. It was great. They were really happy with me. One of the higher ups was there, and she told me that they were nervous about shooting with me, but I pleasantly surprised them. They would like to do this again in the future," she explained to him, feeling confident in herself.
"Really?! That's fucking awesome, Al. I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks. It's nice to feel like I can have a real life again. I definitely liked working, so hopefully, word will spread. If I can keep myself clean and not fuck up again, maybe I'll have a chance at having a halfway decent life."
"You will, and you're life will keep getting better. You're gonna be alright, kiddo."
"I hope so."
"What are you doing now?" he asked.
"Going home to change, then, going to dinner with two of the ladies from the shoot that I know."
"That should be fun."
"Part of me doesn't want to go. I'm exhausted and just not feeling like myself, you know?"
"Yeah. I mean, it is the first day you've worked in a while. Your body probably just needs some time to readjust to that life."
"Yeah. You're right," she agreed.
"Okay, well…have fun. Be good. I miss you, Al. But I'm so proud of you. Don't forget that," he said.
"Thanks, Philly. I miss you, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Alright. Bye."
"Bye."
Al ended the phone call and tossed the phone back in her bag. She wanted to be happy, and a part of her was happy. But at the same time, she was still feeling down about the whole situation with Jon. Whenever something good happened, she just wanted to call him and tell him about it. But she couldn't do that. It had been six weeks without Jon, and she was still feeling so down. She didn't know what to do, but she needed to figure something out because she couldn't go on like this for the rest of her life.
Al walked into the restaurant. The hostess led her back to the reserved table. She had changed into a pair of J Brand 811 Mid-Rise Skinny Jeans, her white T by Alexander Wang Single Pocket Short-Sleeved t-shirt, and a pair of black Christian Louboutin Very Prive patent pumps.
As she approached the table, her mouth fell open. Lizzy was there. Her close friend got up and pulled Al into a big hug. "Oh my God. I can't believe you're here," she spoke, still in complete shock.
"How could I miss this? I got a couple of days off and wanted to come see you," her friend told her.
"I can't believe it. I'm so happy. How'd you know that we'd be here?"
"I made a couple of calls and got the info from Phil."
Al smiled. "I had no idea that you'd be here."
"Surprise!"
"Best surprise ever."
"You look amazing. I heard the shoot went really well."
"It did. Thankfully."
"I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you."
"How're you feeling?"
"I'm okay. Tired," Al replied.
"Well, you're just starting to get back to work. That'll happen."
"Yeah."
The pair sat down. Al greeted her other friends and decided that she was going to enjoy her night out with these people, including Lizzy, who she was all too happy to finally see again.
Everyone had already eaten and were just hanging out, talking and enjoying themselves. Al was exhausted and wasn't feeling completely herself. She felt like she was getting sick or something, which was the last thing that she needed when she was just finally getting back into the swing of things when it came to work. She excused herself from the table and made her way to the bathroom. She headed into an empty stall, shutting and locking the door behind herself. She crouched down and released the contents of her stomach. She remained there for a couple of minutes, until she was sure that she wasn't going to throw up again. She used some toilet paper to wipe her mouth. She flushed the bowl and left the stall, grateful that there wasn't anyone in there with her. She put some water on her face and rinsed her mouth out. She used the paper towels to pat her face dry.
Al was still feeling off. She knew that it was the stress of everything that had been going on in her life in the last couple of months. She had been completely overwhelmed, beginning to work again, staying clean, and trying to deal with all of the Jon stuff. It was definitely a lot to deal with all at once. She looked at her reflection. She was a bit pale. She shook it off and left the bathroom, only to find Lizzy standing right outside of the door.
"Hey," Al spoke, surprised by her friend for the second time that evening.
"What's up with you?" she immediately replied.
Al sighed. "I dunno. I'm just tired. Not feeling great."
"You're pale. Let's go outside and get some air," Lizzy suggested.
"Okay."
The two walked outside and stood in the cool night air. "What's wrong? Why are you getting sick on me?"
"I think it's just a culmination of everything, you know? Working. Staying clean. This shit with…you know who."
"Jon," Lizzy finished for her.
"Yeah."
Her friend raised an eyebrow. "You have to figure this out. If you want to work things out with Jon, you should. It's been what? A month and a half? If you're still feeling this way about t, I think you need to see him and talk things out."
"I can't," Al refused, shaking her head slowly.
Lizzy rolled her eyes. "You're being ridiculous and stubborn. I mean, come on, if his friends came all the way to New York to try and talk some sense into you, then, obviously he's still upset over everything that happened between you two. He fucked up, Al. Yeah. But he's a human. Even more, he's a guy. And we both know guys make plenty of mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. You know that pretty well. So, I think you should suck it up and talk to him. This is obviously tearing you apart. I know you better than most. You might be able to fool everyone else in the world, but I know you a lot better than that."
Al's eyes fell to the ground. "I just…I dunno what to do. I really don't. He hurt me, you know? Badly. And if I can't trust him to be honest with me, then, I can't be with him."
"You're being really stubborn. You obviously miss him and want to work things out with him. So, just give him a chance to explain himself, at least. You're making yourself sick over this."
"I dunno."
"I just don't want you to be sad or suffering. You should be in the best place in your life right now. You're finally clean. You're sticking with it. You should be happy. And you're not. Because you miss him."
"I know…"
"So, maybe you should call him."
"I dunno."
Lizzy gave her a look. "Alright. Let's go back in. You don't want to have this conversation right now."
"Alright."
"But you're not off the hook for good."
Al chuckled. "Trust me, I know."