warning: strong language, hot people, chaos and exposure of numerous secrets
[ l i k e s h a t t e r e d c h a n d e l i e r s]
♥ gabriel ♥
"So, honey, why don't we talk about where your daddy got all his money from? I highly doubt his wallet is so big from trading alone."
Ash's looked as if she'd been slapped right across the face.
"What's that word? It begins with an 'L.' Is it laundering? Do you know what that means? It must be quite long for you."
"T-That's none of your business, you fat ugly whore-"
Prince managed to grab Lexi's hand and pull her away before she could lunge at Ashlei and probably claw her eye out. "Let me go!" she screeched in her nasal voice.
My eyes ticked towards Arlo who looked horrified when the Egyptian boy momentarily let go of a thrashing Lexi. The short woman was millimetres away from scratching Ashlei's flawless face, who let out a shrill scream when he managed to pull Lexi backwards again. She struggled against him but his grasp was firm.
My head moved to the audience's hungry eyes, excitedly watching the drama unfold with their cameras out. I wasn't surprised. People fed off the lives of those around them like termites.
"Prince, please control Lexi," Arlo interjected, his voice quiet but strong. "We can just talk things out calmly without any physical fight."
The man I didn't recognise took a heaving Lexi under his arm whilst Prince scoffed loudly, turning to look at the ceiling in incredulity. "Lexi? Why are you telling Lexi? Ashlei is the one who started it. Why should Lex be the one to stop?'
A deep crevice formed between Arlo's eyebrows as he looked at his friend in surprise. His navy blue suit was quite a few shades darker than his piercing eyes, "That's not what I meant-"
"Yeah, sure," Prince barked deeply, his voice reverberating through the still room. "I know just how nonjudgemental you are."
My full pinkish lips pressed together as somebody turned on their phone's flash even though the room was fully lit.
They're all making themselves look like damn fools.
Prince looked down, ignoring Arlo's gaze and continued muttering under his breath. "Acting all magnanimous but really..."
I didn't quite catch what he said.
A lifeless sound left the spindly man's mouth, his champagne white hair falling into a parting as he took two slow steps towards Prince. "What did you say?"
I noticed how the tall put-together brunette wrapped her hand around Prince's arm to stop him from aggravating things but he shrugged her away, too riled up with everything. He was still annoyed at how Talisa had spoken to him. Or maybe it was because she'd called him Parvais.
He hated that more than anything.
"Oh, just go back to swirling your black coffee Arlo," he bit out, fresh irritation revelling in his voice.
Arlo has had enough and looked at him in frustration. "What the hell is your problem? What are you trying to say?"
"I think you know what I'm saying."
The blonde-haired man tilted his head down before smiling darkly, "Prince, I'm not perfect but at least I have the self-respect and morality to know that it's wrong to tell someone you love them, make them think they mean something to you and then disappear."
My grey eyes narrowed as I looked between the pair of them, midway through a conversation that everyone was listening in on. The three gossip girls Sonia, Jeanette and another whispered something to each other and began recording the whole scene which was certainly going to be posted on social media.
"I knew you were going to bring Lucie into this. It's been a whole year for Christ's sake! She needs to get over herself. It's been so long," Prince exclaimed, stretched at the spine before shaking his head. He'd always been the tallest out of us all at 6ft 3 but seemed even more so.
"Prince, don't you dare tell her to get over herself," Arlo said severely, a threatening tone lingering in his voice. "You meant everything to her. I told you not to do it because I knew this would happen and you did it anyway."
"What do you mean 'everything to her?' She always was a drama queen. I never committed to anything."
"You never do."
Arlo didn't look happy at what Prince had said and it didn't take a split second for the golden eyes man to catch on to that. "Go on then, I've always wanted to know what you thought about everything that happened. Never had the balls to talk to me about it, did you?"
"Well then, I think it's about time."
"I'm waiting," he challenged.
There was a conflicting flame lurking in the cornflour depths in Arlo's eyes as if he wasn't sure if this was a good idea. It wasn't. He was the most reasonable out of them all but all sense had seemed to leave the room as soon as she stepped in.
The whole world was going to see this tomorrow and the sky seemed to be crashing down like shattered chandeliers.
"Alright then. You're a selfish bastard who's full of shit and thinks he can get anything with charm. Just because your fickle with feelings doesn't mean that you can-"
I zoned out, feet planted on the empty dance floor that felt like the lava of a volcano. My intense gaze was too absorbed on the girl in the gold dress to focus on everything else. There was still a tornado roaring in me and everyone else's problems seemed minuscule in comparison.
Before I knew it, there were loud shouts.
The pair were squaring up to each other and they were roughly shoving each other backwards in their suit blazers. Before beside me, I could see everyone's eyes widen, certainly not expecting it to get this bad.
A push from Prince sent Arlo stumbling backwards and crashing onto the table behind. He grasped onto the tablecloth for support, accidentally ripping it from the table. The expensive flower vase rolled off from it and hit against the floor with a thud. A second later the ceramic plates came crashing down too, eight thousand pounds going down the drain.
"You bastard," Arlo growled with a power that I didn't think he could muster. "You wanted the truth and now you can't face it."
Prince laughed, pent up feelings coming out. "Oh really? We'll see about that. Get up then. If you can manage that."
Only them did I notice that a trickle of blood was rolling down from Arlo's nose, the viper red standing out bluntly against his ice skin.
That's odd. Prince didn't even shove him that hard.
I hadn't been the only one to notice it.
"Get the fuck away from him, Parvais."
Within seconds, Talisa was in front of Arlo, protectively placing herself between the pair of them with a scowl on her face. There was no way she could calm down Prince but Lisa was never one to calm somebody down. No, that was it. She didn't intent on calming Prince down.
I watched in intrigue, wondering what she was doing. Evidently, one thing hadn't changed since I got here; not understanding what's going on.
At least this time around, someone's not making an idiot out of you.
She picked up a full bottle of red wine that had been left on the centre of the table, popped the cork and emptied the entire contents upon Prince's head.
His amber eyes looked stunned as the liquid trickled from his medium-tight curls and dripped down the side of his face, before falling onto his white dress shirt. It became stained a faint rouge and frankly, worked successfully at silencing Prince.
A smirk grew on her face before she opened her left hand to expose her palm. The Château Margaux went plummeting to the floor and rippled into thousands of fragments.
"How's that for 'managing' as you say?"
I could have sworn that a faint glimpse of a smile grew on Arlo's face, something that I hadn't seen in many long months.
"Talisa, when will you realise that breaking bottles of expensive champagne doesn't do anything?" Lexi cackled from beside the same man with the rectangular face, eyes searing into Talisa and running in disgust from the top of her bottle screen dress to her heels.
Talisa wasn't going to take that.
"Oh for God's sake. You're nobody, Lexi. Just sit yourself down or even better, find someone willing to let you shove your tongue down their throat." She glanced at Ashlei before continuing, "And apparently there's no need for an abortion anymore. All the better for you."
This time nobody was holding Lexi back, which was clearly a mistake. A second later, the two girls were on each other. "Shut your damn mouth! That has nothing to do with you! Nothing," Lexi screamed pouncing towards and digging her nails into Talisa's skull, fiercely tousling up her hair. It had taken less than an hour for the waves to been distorted into a mess.
"Dammit Talisa, if you only stopped taking so many drugs, your eyes would be clear and you'd realise how ridiculous you are acting!"
The seafoam eyed girl roared in response, both of them on the floor. "What I choose to do with my life has nothing to do with you, bimbo."
"I couldn't have said it any better myself," Lexi rasped out ferociously.
At once, Talisa has somehow pinned Lexi down with a mere arm and was looking down at her with a smug expression. My eyebrows creased as I noticed the unfamiliar man with tight black curls tentatively creep towards the two girls. He slowly removed Lexi from Lisa's grasp before she probably made her unconscious.
Talisa was certainly winning the fight.
"And who the hell are you?"
"U-Uh, Je m'appelle Pierre? I mean, my name is Pierre," he stuttered, sickening awe on his face as he looked at us all of us as if we were sacred figures that should be worshipped. Talisa didn't bother too much with him and he shuffled backwards gratefully.
"Get out of the way. Take it as a friendly warning before you get hurt, Pierce," Talisa snapped, looking like royal gone wrong after her tussle.
Ashlei let out another obnoxious giggle, this time at Prince who was peeling off his maroon blazer than was drenched in red alcohol. "Dry cleaning might help?"
"Shut up, Ash," he muttered, throwing the jacket over the back on an empty chair. "Although it's nice to hear something come out of your mouth that isn't a backhanded dig at Lexi. Makes a change."
"I must say you really have changed haven't you Prince. What about all those things you used to say about dear old Lexi?"
Ashlei jousters herself up and took a seat on the table, crossing her ballerina legs. All eyes of Forteaux turned to her, desperate to hear whatever the next revelation would be. "My, let me think. There's too many!"
"Oh yes, 'her inner whore is crawling out,' 'I wonder how many people she's slept with in a single night and of course, my favourite," her voice, began in a tattle tale tone. "'We can't invite Lexi, tomorrow she'll end up on the tabloid naked.'"
I certainly remembered at least one of them coming out of Prince's mouth in the past and judging by his expression, he did too. Once again, there was another thick silence. Lexi looked at him in question, hurt evident on her face. "Prince?"
He didn't know what to say and was at a shortage of words. "I-I- that was before I actually got to know you, Lexi. I didn't-"
Ashlei folded her arms smugly, reclining on the table before sighing. "As they say, excuses excuses. In comparison, at least Talisa's honest about what she thinks."
His mystical eyes searched the room to try and think straight but everything was moving too fast. "Arlo said stuff like that too!"
"I never."
"Yes, you did."
It was a weak justification but once again, true.
Talisa spoke loudly, with a raised eyebrow.
"Shifting the blame, am I right?"
"Be quiet, you two-faced liar," he yelled angrily.
Suddenly in roughly less than thirteen ticks of a clock, I saw a table go flying across the room and violently batter against the floor. It had been on the verge of taking out five bystanders who had scrambled out of the way.
The voice of each and every one of them screamed and screeched and shouted over each other and it was impossible to keep track of what was going on.
"You bitch. Why don't you put that money to use and actually get some lips?"
A wedged heel went soaring through the sky, knocking somebody in the crowd square on the forehead.
"At least I have money and my family's not on the verge of bankruptcy, douche."
Another smashed champagne flute, another secret, and another punch.
"You little-"
I heard an ear-splitting high pitched yell as Ashlei fell straight onto the floor in the chaos, dress ripped at the seam. People were ripping into each other like animals and their voices were now just an orb of jarring discordant sound.
"Enough!"
I boomed throughout the room, my voice rippling and echoing authoritatively. It resonated thunderously, vibrating on every object present and powerfully caging everybody down, muting the ballroom in an immediate deafening silence that was somehow louder than the earlier noise.
Every little thing froze as if time itself had been put on hold.
"What the fuck is wrong with you all?" I spoke deeply, emphasising every word with the tip of my tongue. "Get your God damn act together and have some self-respect."
My teeth gritted outlining the sharp clean contours of my jawline as I took three steps towards in my black suit and bow tie, observing the decay around me.
It was a total mess.
The sound of my shiny black shoes slapping against the ceramic floor was the only noise bouncing against the walls, an eery contrast to the shambolic disarray present sheer moments ago.
I glanced at the crowd and saw almost everybody looking down in fear and terror, unable to meet my eyes. After a few moments pause, I ordered curtly with an unquestionable severity and fury.
"Go home. Everyone. The ball's over."
Instantly, all attendees quickly began leaving, rapidly packing their things up and rushing out of the hall in fright.
This was apart from a few who deliberately took their time in hope of hearing some more scandals. Sonia and her two friends were included in that group. I slowly turned my head towards them and glared with a harshness that physically sent them shivering.
"Do you need me to fucking repeat myself?"
They shook their heads quickly.
"No?"
A scowl grew on my face.
"Then get the hell out of here before you regret coming in the first place. Now."
Within seconds they had vanished. That left seven people. All of them were begrudgingly lying about in the broken battlefield, replaying events in their head.
"That includes you all. Get out."
There was a dangerous edge in my voice that told everyone I wasn't in the mood to be dealing with any more of their shit and every breathing soul about noticed it.
Slowly, one by one they left, exiting the large oak door without a sound, having exhausted everything they had to say for the night, and without an inch of dignity.
Not everybody left. When I looked back up, the girl in the gold dress was still stood there, unable to meet my eye. I wondered why that was so. Regret? I would have laughed.
We were stood around five metres apart with a tossed tables, broken chairs and shattered expensive glass between us.
I walked straight towards the door as if she wasn't standing there and not giving her a second glance. My feet came to a still just as I was about to pass her. We were shoulder to shoulder, her facing the ruination of a hall and my head facing the exit.
"I didn't think you'd have the nerve to come back here."
Pausing, the precise words left my mouth slowly as if each letter wanted to ensure its presence was heard. "But then again, you never failed to surprise me."
In less than twenty steps, I was back in my matte black Aston Martin and put my head in my hands.
boom. oh my, how the tables have turned lol. the seemingly squeaky clean aren't clean and maybe those in the gutter aren't that bad? you'll have to see :)
anyway, hopefully an explosive chapter! feel free to write me an essay analysis ahaha, I won't complain! go go go!
♥ 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫! ♥