IVY

Prologue

Wining and dining
Drinking and driving
Excessive buying
Overdose and dying
Lana del Rey - National anthem

Wednesday June 14th, 1996

Los Angeles Times

In a shocking turn of events, superstar Taylor Swift has died at age 31. This comes following the news on monday morning that the singer was rushed to hospital in critical condition. At this time the cause of death is unknown as we await a statement from the star's team, however we do know that this follows the revelation from actress Eva Marlow regarding her---

Saturday April 7th, 1990

Eva Marlow stared down into the liquid of her old fashioned, watching as it swirled around the confines of the glass. She took a sip, enjoying the warmth it brought, trailing down her throat, and the buzz that settled in her stomach. She turned to look around at the crowd of celebrities that littered the floor of the Vanity Fair after party, feeling both the accomplishment of having established herself amongst them, and a giddy enthusiasm to converse with her idols.

Eva scanned the room, trying to find someone approachable, when her eyes landed on a man standing in the corner of the room, he was the only one of the sea of bodies that wasn't swaying in time with the music, a recent hit. She decided to make her way over, sliding down from the leather bar stool that stuck to the back of her thighs and smoothing out her mini dress, wiping the drops of condensation from her glass onto the silk in the process. She made her way across the room, sliding between groups of tipsy elites to reach the man who had drawn her attention, only realising once she reached him that she had not thought through what to say.

He caught her eye, raising one eyebrow and pursing his lips ever so slightly, as though gauging her intentions, or trying to put a name to her face. The actress began to flush under his gaze, feeling her cheeks heat up and turning to make a quick exit.

"Hold on." The man's voice seeped through the bass of the music. He sounded british, and even more self assured than he looked. Realising this guy is probably a prick, Eva cursed her misjudgement but turned back around.

"My name's Henry, I didn't mean to put you off, I just thought I recognised you from somewhere."

She was unsure how to feel, he seemed friendly enough, but there was something about him that intimidated her.

Unfazed by her lack of response, he continued. "I'm a producer. Where might I know you from?"

"Well theres just the one role so far, I'm here for my part in Alicante"

Henry's jaw opened slightly, as the realisation came over him. "I remember now, you played that girl, the one who's dad dies."

Eva smiled, excited to have left an impression on a producer. "You don't seem too impressed with the music." She pointed out.

"Don't I? Well-" At that moment he was cut off, as a blonde walked up to the couple, swooping in between them and placing her hand on Henry's shoulder.

Eva found her breath caught in her chest, jaw dropping at the sight of the beautifl woman. She must've been in her mid twenties, she was dressed perfectly from head to toe, in a floor length A-line silk dress, with slits that reached along her thighs and up to her hips and a plunging neckline that revealed the curve of her breasts. The woman wore a pair of silver stilletos, allowing her to stand nearly as tall as Eva herself, her golden hair ebbed and flowed past her shoulders, falling into place like dominos. She wore a smokey black eye that eccentuated the blue of her iris, and her lips were coated in a sheer red gloss, in the shape of a bow so perfect it must have been made by cupid himself.

"What's this about the music?", the woman inquired, a soft smile on her face.

"Eva here was suggesting that I didn't seem too enthusiastic about their song choice." Henry supplied, neglecting to introduce the bombshell blonde.

"I see. Well that is a shame, I had thought you would enjoy the refrences, especially my mention of that night in London." She replied with a tone of dry sarcasm. Eva was utterly confused, did the woman work for Vanity Fair? Was she responsible for curating the playlist? Her questions were swiftly answered as the woman continued.

"How rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Taylor, I'm Henry's wife, and this is my song." Somehow the woman managed to be so brazen and yet not come acros as rude. It was clear that she enjoyed the mild awkwardness of the situation, having caught Eva attempting to flirt with her husband. Yet she made no attempts to belittle or insult her, or Henry for that matter, if anything she appeared intrigued.

"I apologise if I intruded on anything, I hadn't realised Henry was married." Eva tried to cover herself, feeling a little blindsighted by the lack of mention of said wife earlier on.

Taylor laughed a little. "It seemed neither did he." She pulled a flask out from her purse and flicked off the lid before taking a sip.

Henry seemed to think it was time to stop the uncomfortable conversation and seized the oppurtunity. "Well it's been great meeting you Eva, but I think it's time for us to head home. It seems my wife may have had a little too much to drink." He placed a hand on Taylor's waist and rubbed his thumb across her hip bone.

It was clear to Eva that to at least some extent this was an excuse, however Henry genuinely seemed to care about Taylor, and so she accepted his reasoning.

This was followed by a curt "Have I now?" from taylor, who huffed slightly, but conceeded.

However, as Eva turned to go, she felt a hand brush her side. She looked back to see Taylor had hung behind, and was holding out a peice of paper for Eva to take, with an address scrawled on it. "Come by later, I'm hosting my own soiree this evening. There'll be food."

She placed the paper into Eva's hand with a soft touch that sent shivers up her spine and made the hairs on her arm stand on end, leaving one last glance into Eva's eyes and leaving to follow her husband.

The look had been warmer than she expected, and despite her best judgement, Eva knew she couldn't pass on the oppurtunity to get to know the blonde better.

Wining and dining
Drinking and driving
Excessive buying
Overdose and dying
Lana del Rey - National anthem