Chapter 9: Faces
She didn't talk to him for two days. Two whole days. He didn't try to talk to her. Fucking hell if she wanted to act like a five-year-old, he was happy to play along.
He had no clue what she was still angry about. Maybe at his rather rude comment that night, but seriously, how long does it take to get over a couple of words?
Well, a couple of days, he supposed. She was a girl after all.
He knew she had forgiven him (or in the least, chosen to forget what he had said) when he came out of the shower on Saturday afternoon to find a letter on the coffee table.
It cordially invited him to attend the Central Saint Martins Freshers' Ball 1999, and also in the envelope was a business card. He flipped it over. Apparently, he had an appointment with Gucci in half an hour, and another at Selfridges Men's Salon three quarters of an hour after that, which would leave him fifteen minutes to get to the Ritz Hotel.
He got moving. Something told him that Miss Devereaux would not be very pleased if he was late.
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Alex slid out of the cab and smiled at the bellboy who had opened the door for her. She carefully made her way up to the Ritz's entrance, she didn't really want to fall flat on her face- she could tell she was about to do just that. Her brand new five-inch Christian Louboutin slingbacks were not exactly comfortable, or sturdy for that matter. But she lifted her chin up and smiled anyway, she felt beautiful tonight and fuck it, nothing could upset her.
She walked into the lobby and almost grimaced.
Except one thing.
Well, one person.
"Alexis," cooed the said person, making his way over to her.
She forced a smile and said, "Ben, what are you doing here?"
Benjamin Cooper flashed her his million dollar (literally) smile and replied, "I was invited to the Saint Martins ball."
Alex suppressed the urge to walk over to a wall and bang her head on it. She could not imagine being stuck in a ball with Ben Cooper for one whole night. She'd rather jump off a building. Or better yet, push him off one.
"Oh, I thought you're a lawyer though," she said.
"I still am, but they invited my dad to talk to the students, and he thought it's a good chance for us to bond," replied Ben, shrugging his broad shoulders encased by a finely cut suit. "Things haven't exactly been hunky-doory between us. Anyway, how is Mr Devereaux? I still owe him lots for making me the man I am today."
Alex rolled her eyes. "He's fine, I think. I last talked to him three months ago."
Ben grinned. Alex mused that quite a few girls would fall for that, but heck, not her, thank you very much.
"I've always liked how independent you are," he declared. "Anyway, what are you here for?"
"Same. I just started painting at Saint Martins."
Ben's eyebrows shot up. "Really? The last time I heard you were at Harvard reading law."
"I dropped out," she said curtly.
"What a shame, you've always been such an intelligent woman."
Alex looked around impatiently. Where the fuck was Archer when she needed him?
"So where do you live now?"
"It's none of your business," she snapped. The last thing she wanted was for him to know where she lived.
"Well, my flat's in Chelsea, if you need anything, you can always call me up," hinted Ben none too subtly, reaching into his wallet for a business card. "Here."
"Cool," she deadpanned, tucking the card into her clutch. "Well, it was nice talking to you Ben, but I must run."
Without waiting for him to answer, she spun around and walked away.
But she didn't get too far before she walked into something solid.
"What the fuck-" she looked up and one corner of her mouth tugged upwards without her noticing.
"Like what you see?" asked Archer, raising an eyebrow at her smile.
"You're late," she tossed back loftily.
He made a show of tugging up the sleeve of his black suit to look at his battered electronic watch. "I don't think so. Au contraire, I am five minutes early."
"And who is this friend of yours, Alexis?"
Alex made a face, and Archer grinned.
He stretched out his hand and said smoothly. "Daniel Hughes."
"Benjamin Cooper, a pleasure," replied Ben unperturbedly.
"Likewise," replied Archer coolly. "Shall we go, Alex? I thought you wanted to introduce me to your friends."
Alex grabbed his arms and would have sprinted away, if her shoes had allowed. "Definitely. See you around."
When they were out of earshot, Archer threw back his head and laughed.
Alex took the chance to appreciate how well the elegant black suit fit him, and how different he looked with his hair slicked back properly. And that laugh. She hadn't heard one from him like that for a while.
"Someone has a crush on you," he teased.
"Please, leave me alone," she groaned. "That excuse of a man has been trying to get into my pants since kindergarten." She dismissed the topic with a unconcerned wave. "So, Mr Hughes, do you have something to confess?"
He haughtily arched an eyebrow and pretended to think very hard. Then he goofily clicked his fingers and Alex could literally see the imaginary bulb light up. "I must confess that you look lovely tonight."
Alex rolled her eyes, trying to keep a straight face. "I always do."
He nodded solemnly. "True."
They had reached the ballroom, which was bustling with cocktails, a live band and hoards of Saint Martinians.
"I'm sorry."
She looked up. "What?"
"I said I'm sorry," repeated Archer, tucking his hands into his pants' pockets, looking at her seriously. "I'm sorry if I was rude. I didn't mean to."
Alex shrugged offhandedly. "That's okay."
Archer looked surprised. "That's okay? That's it?"
"Well, yeah."
"You didn't talk to me for two whole days," he pointed out.
Alex gave him a cheeky smile. "It should teach you to never offend me again."
Archer grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. "I've learnt my lesson, I'll have you know."
Alex felt a flush rising from her chest, but brushed it aside and snorted, wriggling out of his grasp. "Come on, let's find our table. I'm in the mood for some fine wine."
Her mood for some fine wine was totally spoilt and replaced with the urge to punch a certain bitch's face when they finally found their table somewhere in the middle of the ballroom.
Emma Mandelson squealed and leapt to her feet, rushing over to kiss Alex on both cheeks when she saw her. "Muah! Alex! I'm so glad you made it! Oh my, is that Valentino? I was going with Valentino too, you know, the black one?"
"There are about seventy black Valentino gowns," injected Alex tonelessly, grabbing two glasses and started filling them with red wine.
"Yeah, you know, that one," said Emma earnestly. "But I changed my mind just an hour ago, and I popped by Chanel and they picked out this for me!" She actually turned around to let Alex admire her dress, which was literally a wisp of pink tulle that barely covered her ass. "But I have to say you've always been the adventurous one, Alex. I would never have dared to wear that dress."
In other words, she thought her dress was ugly.
Alex took a sip from her glass and looked down at her one-shouldered Valentino number. It was divided along the waistline into two clashing blocks of chartreuse green and bold purple, ending at her knees. It looked amazing on her, thank you very much. She put a big fake smile on her face to match Emma's.
"Gee, thanks, Ems, you know me so well," she gushed with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.
In short, she could go fuck herself.
"Well, duh," she giggled. "So, have you finally found yourself a boyfriend, Alex?" she asked, giving Archer a flirty eye.
"Emma, this is my friend, Daniel," said Alex pointedly. "And Daniel, this is Emma, we used to go to boarding school together. We are very close, aren't we?"
Emma giggled. "I knew you two weren't dating. Alex can never seem to find anyone right for her, am I right?"
Archer arced an eyebrow, amused. "Is that true?"
"Oh yes!" cried Jemma excitedly. "For our graduation ball, Alex had to go with her gay friend from the boys' school next door because nobody else would take her!" She proceeded to laugh as if it were the funniest thing in the world.
"Good old memories," deadpanned Alex. Then she turned to the nerd in thick glasses who had been silent all through the conversation, offering a smile. "Hi there, I'm Alex. You must be Emma's boyfriend?"
His mouth literally hit the floor, and Emma shrieked in disgust. Archer gave her a sly grin which seemed to say "nice one".
She winked and swallowed the rest of her wine.
Two spots of red appeared on Emma's heavily powdered cheeks. "No! Ew! My boyfriend is over there."
Alex looked up and laughed to see Ben approaching.
"You and Ben Cooper?" she asked.
Emma blinked. "How do you know Ben?"
"Old friends," she said simply. "What a coincidence, Ben!"
He looked at her questioningly. "What is a coincidence?"
"Me and Emma went to boarding school together."
"Really? My two favourite girls already know each other?" he grinned.
Alex could have gagged, but restrained herself when she spotted someone familiar moving up to them.
Her face lit up. "Uncle Liam!"
Liam Cooper chuckled and hugged her. "Alexis! Fancy seeing you here!" She pulled back and grinned. "Still lovely as ever. How are you, my dear?"
"Good," she smiled genuinely. "How is Auntie Ellen? Is she well?"
"Very well, thank you," he replied in his booming voice. "I am sure she misses your company as much as I do. When will you come to visit us?"
"Well, I'm in London now, so I think I can always come down to Cornwall," she said thoughtfully.
"Excellent, excellent. How's old dad?"
"Oh, I haven't talked to him for a while, but I think he's okay."
Liam did not look surprised. "Is he still in New York?"
"Most of the time, but I think he flies between Australia and France quite often now."
He smiled. "Good, good. That old devil needs to be kept busy to keep out of trouble eh?"
Ben cleared his throat and cut in. "Dad, you remember Emma, my girlfriend. I told you about her on the phone."
Alex watched as Emma puffed up her chest like a pigeon, breathing, "It's a pleasure to meet you at last, sir."
"Emma, of course," said Liam warmly. Then he turned to Archer, who had been very quiet in the course of the last few minutes. "And you sir?"
"My friend, Daniel Hughes," answered Alex happily. "I met him on one of my trips this summer. You remember Dominic? He went with me."
Liam was strangely subdued when he shook Archer's hand. "Certainly, certainly. Mr Hughes, pleasure."
"Likewise, sir," answered Archer quietly. If Alex had been a bit less excited, she would have noticed his unease.
Just then, the lights dimmed and the music faded out to something classical, most likely Beethoven, and Liam smiled at them.
"My cue to leave, I think," he joked. "Have a nice time, children. And behave!"
"We will," chirped Alex cheerfully.
Alex downed a bit more wine as the Masters of Ceremony talked crap about welcoming everyone and some more shit like that. And when she thought they would finally shut up and announce that dinner was ready, one of the M.C.s said, "Tonight, we are deeply honoured to have four distinguished guests with us to give us a few words of wisdom for us to chew on throughout dinner. Please welcome Mr Jean Paul Gaultier, prominent fashion designer; Mr Avery Leaper, noted fashion photographer; Mr Liam Cooper, creative director of van de Kaap-"
Alex froze. Van de Kaap?
She looked sharply at Archer, who had gone as still as death.
"-and last but not least, award-winning journalist, Maddy Bowen."
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Archer stared at her. Her brown curls, her green eyes, her red lips.
Maddy.
He did not know whether to run to her or to run away. He couldn't move. He could feel Alex's eyes on him, but he couldn't look away.
It was her. There. Right there.
Slowly, he stood up.
And she saw him. Eye on eye.
And he saw him.
The old man in the park. Archer knew he remembered him.
So he turned and ran, out of the ballroom.
He heard high heels clicking behind him.
Alex.
Archer put his head down and walked quickly towards the lobby.
"Archer!"
"Archer?"
"Mr Hughes."
Archer stopped.
He turned around.
He saw Alex first, her face twisted in uncharacteristic nervousness.
Then Maddy, who looked as if she had seen a ghost.
He took a step towards her, then stopped.
"Archer? Danny?" she whispered.
Then he looked at Mr Cooper.
He stared back unsmilingly.
"I think we haven't been properly introduced, have we, Mr Archer?"
Fuck.
What a mess.
My favourite chapter thus far, the plot is definitely thickening. Thank you so much for the reviews guys! And all of you who put this story on alert, I'm flattered :]