TITLE: What You Want Part II
AUTHOR: Jessie, The Princess of Purple
RATING: PG
TIMELINE: Completely A/U. No Aaron and no Island.
SUMMARY: Charlie wants to be famous. How far will he go to make that happen?
DISCLAIMERS: Charlie, Claire and Liam all belong to the creators of ABC's LOST.
FEEDBACK: Yes please? I need it to live!
Charlie sat on his twin bed in the room that he shared with Liam. Liam had left the party with one of the girls he'd met. Charlie had just arrived home. Crumpled in his hand was a small piece of paper. He flattened it on his knee and stared at it again. Claire's pretty handwriting decorated the page. After
a lovely evening together, he had asked for her number which she had gladly given him. He smiled as he thought about it. His plan was working like a charm. She had eaten up all his compliments and romantic gestures with a pretty smile and blush in her cheeks. He had definately achieved the desired results.The media at the party had been buzzing. Claire had tried to pretend as though she never noticed, but every now and then she would glance over at the reporters and photographers nervously.
After they danced and Charlie had brought her a drink, they had sat on the edge of the huge fountain in the lobby of the hotel where the party was being held and talked well into the night. Mostly about things other than themselves. To top off the successful evening, Charlie had expressed thevehement desire to see her again and she had gladly given him her phone number saying that he could call her anytime.
Charlie continued smirking at his brilliance and laid the paper on the table next to his bed. He stared at it for another moment before rising to get ready for bed. As he went to his closet he began to sing.
Claire exhaled as she hung up her phone. She plunked down on her large four poster bed and sprawled out. It was mid-afternoon and she was already exhausted. She'd been to an interview, a photo shoot and had lunch with the director of her next video. When she'd finally gotten home for some quiet reflection and relaxation in the bathtub, her agent called with a dinner invitation. She just wanted to lay down and sleep for the next week. She was snapped out of her reverie by the phone ringing once again.
"Sawyer," she answered, annoyed,"I don't think I can take anything else today."
"Sawyer?" came the voice from the other end. She recognized it and it made her smile.
"Charlie. Sorry, I thought you might be my agent. He's driving me insane," she amended.
"Oh, the life of the rich and famous," Charlie teased.
"Tell me about it," Claire answered, rolling her eyes. She flopped on her lilac bedspread once again, relieved.
"Would that I could, but I am neither," Charlie replied, internally caustic, and then decided to change the subject,"I just called to ask if you'd like to do something this week?"
Claire smiled again,"Sure, I'd like that."
"Good," Charlie said putting on a happy tone,"So, what would you like to do?"
"Well," Claire replied,"I've always liked the beach..."
"The beach it is. I know just the place. It takes a while to get there though so you'd better schedule a day off," Charlie said.
"I'm long overdue," Claire answered.
"I can only imagine," Charlie said, half laughing,"How about this Saturday?"
"That should be fine," Claire replied unable to keep the excited edge out of her voice.
"Good," Charlie replied, and then hesitated before adding,"I'm really looking forward to seeing you again."
Claire blushed. "Me too... I mean seeing you." She shook her head, feeling like a stupid teenager.
"Well, I'll come pick you up, say, eleven?" Charlie said.
"Sure. 'Till Saturday then," Claire replied.
"Bye Claire," Charlie said and then with a click he hung up. Claire held the phone to her ear for a moment longer to retain the euphoria of the call and then replaced the phone on the hook. She stayed on her bed for another moment before jumping up and going to her closet to find something to wear to dinner that night, suddenly reenergized.
She started to sing her latest hit song "Cry" as she thumbed through her inordinate array of clothing. She was thinking about Charlie. She had really had a good time just talking at the party with him. For the first time in a really long time she had been able to have a normal conversation with someone, especially a boy. Most guys were very nervous around her and didn't look her in the eye or were really obnoxious. Charlie was neither and just treated her like a regular human being, just acting like her super-star status didn't matter to him. It made her really like him. She smiled to herself as she thought about spending more time with him. He was really nice and funny but not overly so. She'd also enjoyed the serious parts of their conversation immensely. She felt like this could be the beginning of something very good.
Charlie drove up to Claire's house. He had called her that morning to get her address. He glanced down to where he had quickly scrawled it on the paper. This was definitely the place. It was pretty extravagant, but no more than he had expected. It was a gated house, large enough to be considered a mansion. It sat on about seven thousand square feet of land and was surrounded on all sides by big trees. He drove up to a small cubicle with a bored looking security guard and gave him his name. The guard picked up the phone and had a short conversation before buzzing open the gate. It wasn't a modern looking structure, although it looked new and was obviously well kempt. It was a sunny yellow color with white trim and large multi-paned windows. It had white double front doors and a castle like tower with a small balcony. There was a two-door garage at the end of the long drive from the gate. A man on a lawn mower could be seen at the far left of the property.
Charlie left the car he had rented for the occasion parked in the drive and walked up the wide marble stairs to the doors and rang the bell. Almost immediately, a middle-aged woman in a maid's outfit opened the door. She bowed and gestured for Charlie to enter. He thanked her quietly and stepped inside. His mouth dropped open. The entryway of the house had a large white spiral staircase, rich cream wallpaper, and shiny mahogany floors. There was an expensive looking painting of a young girl in a ballet costume on the wall and a lush cream rug. He had prepared himself for a beautiful home but the reality was much more luxurious than he could have imagined. Large arched openings the left and right revealed a very large and fancy living room and dining room. There was a set of shiny doors to the right of the staircase that were open just enough to reveal a huge kitchen.
Being in her huge house with all her expensive things just made him more bitter and sure of his plan to use her to get what he wanted. His jealousy hit him full force and burned away his reservations about using the poor innocent pop star.
Then, the sound of footsteps on the stairs drew his attention. Gracefully ascending down the staircase was Claire, who looked extremely pretty. His mouth dropped even more at the sight of her. She was dressed casually enough for the beach in a light blue silk skirt and a navy blue ribbed tank top with blue flip-flops. Her hair was down and wavy and she wore black sunglasses and carried a beige crochet bag. She smiled warmly at him. He cleared his throat and regained his composure. He'd forgotten how amazing looking she was.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," her sweet voice answered.
"You ready to go?" he asked politely.
"When you are," she replied. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, he lowered his head and gestured towards the door in a way that said 'ladies first'. She giggled and led the way out of her house.
To Be Continued...
To find out what happens on their first date, you'll have to wait for the next part:P For all those who are worried about Claire, don't be. I love Charlie too much to make him the villain, it'll get better. Please comment. I need feedback people! Especially on my characterization as this is my first LOST fic...Fanks for taking the time to read and the next part will be up in a few days!
PS- As a disclaimer, "Cry" is in fact a Mandy Moore song. I've decided to make all of Claire's music be by Mandy Moore because I love her and I have fic-related ideas for Mandy songs.
PSS- Remind me to stop typing these up on my own computer and sending them through email! I'm gonna hulk out!
