Ava
"Holy shit, now I wish this was our wedding," Lux said when I came out of her bathroom all made up and in the lavender dress we'd picked out the previous week. I smiled and pecked her lips—not wanting to mess up my very timely lipstick. Lux wore the bridesmaid's dress, a stunning, light blue, Alexander McQueen mermaid fit.
"You look beautiful," I said. She wrapped her hands around my waist and planted a few kisses on my neck. "Please don't get me horny. This dress requires a lot of effort to take off."
She pulled away and took my hand, leading me down the stairs like a prince in a white, heterosexual fairy tale.
"You might be the only non-famous person there."
I groaned and stopped in my tracks, causing her to do a one eighty. "Why don't we just stay here and cuddle all night? A pretentious party of self centered celebrities is my version of hell and you know that."
"It's my best friend's wedding."
"When you put it that way I actually feel special."
"You are."
"Shut up."
She took my other hand. "These are like our wedding vows."
"You're insanely high on wedding fever."
"Do you have any Tic Tacs in your purse?"
"Yes, I do."
Her grin widened. "Say that again."
I rolled my eyes. "I do."
She pulled me again toward the front door, and I said, again, more to myself than her, "I do."
We took her Bugatti. I was surprised she didn't hire a driver but then assumed she only did so to have more alone time with me. She even opened and closed the car door for me, which I found to be quite romantic. I felt like a teenager going to prom.
"Can I ask you to do me a huge favor?" she asked once we'd begun driving.
"Probably not."
"Try not to take away from Drew; it's her special day."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sure Drew looks beautiful and all, but I know she's nothing compared to you. So even though it's unintentional, just try not to make everyone in the room fall in love with you."
I turned my head toward the window in attempt to hide my blush. Lux had the tendency to catch me off guard with her blunt flattery, a quality I desperately loved about her. I reached across the console to hold her hand while she drove the rest of the way.
When we arrived, it was the late evening, around sunset. The place was outside at an old winery, decorated flowers in the same blue as Lux's dress. Chairs were set up to face the alter on the grass with strings of lights lighting the way.
"I told her to rent out the Buckingham Palace but she wanted something small and simple."
"I think it's wonderful." I gave her hand a kiss.
When we got out I recognized a few faces. Everyone was dressed in designer brands that had probably been in the latest edition of Vogue. I felt a bit out of place in my ninety dollar Macy's dress.
We stood in the grass, surrounded by groups of people probably chatting about how many millions they had in their bank accounts when Lux said, "I have to go see Drew and get ready for the ceremony. Are you okay with me leaving you until afterward? I know it's really fucked up to abandon you in the flaming pits of hell but I promise I'll make it up to you later."
"Go ahead."
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah, you're the bridesmaid." Then I added, "But just know that I wouldn't do this for anyone else."
She smiled and took my hand, pulling me over to the many rows of chairs. She stopped at a man seated toward the front. The guy—tall, chocolate brown hair, beard, dressed in a nicely tailored suit—stood up to give Lux a hug. The "buddy" kind where you pat each other's backs for a few seconds.
"Ted, this is my friend, Ava," she said, then turned to face me. "This is Ted Manning, an old friend of mine who costarred in my first big part."
The guy looked a bit older than Lux. In his early thirties I would guess. I shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you," he said.
"Likewise."
Lux gave me a little smile, which I returned, before leaving. I took the seat beside Ted.
"What's your last name?"
Odd question. "De La Cruz."
He made a humming sound for a moment before saying, "I don't think of heard of you before."
I chuckled. "That's because I'm not famous."
His eyebrows perked in interest. "Really? Lux knows someone who isn't famous?"
Clearly.
"How did you two meet?"
"Working on her most recent movie. I'm the hair and makeup artist," I said, knowing he was going to assume me to be a clout chaser.
There was a moment of silence, probably in which he assumed I would bombard him with questions about his movies, love life, scandals, etc. But once he realized I wasn't, he spoke, "What got you into hair and makeup?"
"Nothing. I'm just good at it and need a job to pay for graduate school."
His brows ruffled.
"How do you know the bride?" I asked.
"Lux introduced us actually, and we became fast friends. The three of us try to have dinner every once in a while."
The conversation was dry; borderline awkward but not quite there.
"You must be pretty close friends with Lux for her to invite you to her best friend's wedding."
I tried not to smile. "She does think I'm pretty incredible."
"Everyone else seems to as well." He did a quick look around the quickly filling chairs. "They're all staring."
"Probably because they're trying to figure out what movie they've seen me in."
"Or because you're the most beautiful one here."
Was he flirting? Was I some sort of celebrity magnet now? I might have read somewhere that "hard to get" is more enticing than actual admission of feelings due to the chase of it. Perhaps my disinterest and lack of knowledge was the main attraction that was seemingly causing a domino effect of celebrities to find interest in me.
"Thank you." But I already have an affair with a famous person, I almost said. But instead, "I have a boyfriend."
"Is he rich and on the posters of blockbuster movies too?"
Great. Another conceited hollywood airhead.
"No. And thank God for that." And thank God for the perfectly timed start of the ceremony, cued by the soft, romantic, and cliché music.
They played a song to quiet everyone and make them find seats. Meanwhile the groom and his groomsmen walked down the aisle relatively quickly and waited at the alter. After a few minutes a little girl in a cute white dress, floral crown atop her blonde head, came skipping down the aisle, throwing little blue flowers left and right out of a beautifully woven basket. Next came the bridesmaids. There was a woman I didn't recognize that came first. Next was Mikayla. She looked amazing, wearing the same dress as Lux, her hair long and wavy.
Then my heart sped up as I realized who was next. It was odd. Almost like I was in the position of the groom. And when I turned around to watch Lux waltz down the aisle I was struck with an indescribable emotion. I couldn't identify it. Only that it was associated by the sight of Lux looking beautiful all done up in her dress, bouquet in hand, gracefully walking down what was basically a catwalk, stealing everyone's attention and breath in an instant. She caught my stare and winked.
Once she was stationed beside the others at the alter, Drew came down along side, who I assumed to be, her father. She looked stunning. Her hair was up in a beautifully complicated way and her strapless dress hugged her waist before flowering down elegantly to her feet. It was white-white. Fresh, powdery snow white. Hurts your eyes to look at white.
Before the priest got started Lux looked directly at me. I held eye contact and she started to smile. I subtly made en expression to explain how she was meant to be focusing on her best friend and not me, but she didn't. I thought about flipping her off but knew it would draw to much attention. So instead, I blew her a small kiss and returned my focus to Drew and her soon-to-be husband.
It was slow, boring, and repetitive, like any other wedding in existence, so when the ceremony finished and they'd done their additional press and photos for the magazines and Instagram posts, all I could think about was getting drunk.
Ted offered me his gigantic hand, which I took, as we stood up—although I had to be the one to let go since he clearly wasn't going to. "Can I buy you a drink?" he offered as we began to walk to where the reception would be—in a large, fancy, former church.
"It's open bar."
"Then can I get a free drink for you?"
"It's not the eighteenth century; I don't need a man to order my alcohol. You'd probably get the wrong kind anyway: some sort of clear fruity shit."
He smirked. Was my rejection endearing to him? His testosterone levels—along with every other man's in the world—must have been a little high. Perhaps men did have periods.
"In case you didn't hear me over the constant self praise in your head, I said I have a boyfriend."
"Yes, I know. And I apologize for my ignorance. I realize now that I was out of line."
Unexpected. "Thank you."
Then Lux appeared beside me. I resisted the urge to kiss her face off, just to fuck over her stupid friend.
"You did great, Lux," Ted said, acting all innocent.
"Thank you."
"I'll catch up with you guys a little later," he said, walking over to a different group of people.
"We had sex thirty seven times during the filming of that movie," she said when he was out of earshot.
I made a gagging sound. "Well you've had almost twice as many orgasms with me in the past few weeks."
She smiled. "Are you jealous?"
"No. I'm disgusted. He wouldn't stop hitting on me even after I told him I had a boyfriend."
"I didn't either."
I hesitated to answer, thinking of some sort of justification. "It's different when it's girls."
"I want to kiss you right now."
"I want you to be inside of me right now."
"After dinner and a few drinks we'll sneak away for a little bit. Nobody will notice we're gone. Especially if they're drunk."
+++
There were about a hundred people. Probably more. Apparently, to a celebrity, one hundred people means small and low key.
The inside of the old church was exquisite. The stained glass windows rose up to the tall ceiling in colorful depictions of Jesus and Mary—who was impossibly not a virgin. The lighting was dim from the wall torches and fake-fire candles placed on the long, set tables. It looked like something out of Game of Thrones.
Dinner went by quickly. I talked to Mikayla and Drew, congratulated the newly married couple, drank down my champagne, listened to the speeches, etc. By the time the music and dancing started I was drunk and had no idea where Lux was.
Mikayla and I were leant against a wall not far from the dancing drunks. "So how is your love life?" she asked.
"Great. I have so much sex that I'm concerned of the condition of my vagina."
She chuckled.
"And how is yours?" I asked.
"Also great. I sleep with a different guy almost every night."
My eyebrow perked up. "Oh? So you're slut."
"Proudly so." She hesitated before continuing. "I have an idea. Why don't we each trade a secret."
The music was loud and my head was spinning, dizzy from the alcohol. I wasn't thinking straight. I took a few steps closer to her so she could hear me properly. "I'm having an affair with Lux. We fuck each other's brains out. But I also think, and don't tell her this, that I'm falling for her."
She smiled. She looked satisfied. I was almost offended that the news didn't cause more of a reaction out of her.
"And what's your secret?" I questioned.
She leaned in closer to me. We were so close I almost kissed her. "I'm having a wild sex affair with one of the members in my k-pop group. And if the public found out it would cause a revolution."
My eyes widened and jaw dropped. "That's so hot. Does anyone else in the group know?"
"No. You're the only one."
My eyebrows raised. "Oh my god. That means you're fucking a girl!"
She placed her finger to my mouth. "Yes. And please keep it down, this room is full of people who could destroy me with that information."
I smiled and pulled her in for a hug. "Look at us," I said into her shoulder, "a couple of straight girls falling for girls."
She chuckled and looked behind me. "Speaking of..." Then Lux appeared.
"Hey, baby," I said. "I think I drank too much." She frantically glanced in Mikayla's direction to which I reassured her, "It's okay, I just told Mikayla about our amazing sex. You were right though, she wasn't surprised about it."
Lux's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. It was adorable. "Why don't I take you to the bathroom?" she said, pulling me away from the party. When we got to the ancient-looking dungeon of a bathroom, she locked the door behind us and handed me a bottle of water. "This should help you sober up a little bit."
I chugged it took a moment to stare up at the ceiling in attempt to steady my dizziness. Afterward, I felt slightly better.
"Are you having fun?" she asked.
"I'd be having a lot more if your fingers were up my dress."
"I can't have sex with you when you're this drunk."
I groaned. "Your friend Mr. Teddy Bear would."
"Maybe we should leave. You're pretty fucked up."
"No, no. I'm fine."
"I thought this was hell for you."
I turned on the water to wash my hands. "It isn't when I'm drunk and having deep conversations with your best friend."
She wrapped her arms around me from behind and kissed the side of my head. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes."
She nuzzled her head into my neck and we stood there for a bit.
"You know, I think you should tell Daniel about us. Maybe he'd like the idea of you fucking a hot actress slash model and consider an open relationship."
"But I don't want that. I want you."
She looked shocked. "What?"
"You make me happier. You make me look forward my life." I turned around to face her. "You also make me cum."
"Then why haven't you broken up with him?"
"Because he's been there for me. He helped me when I needed it most... And he reads books."
"I read books now too, thanks to you."
I kissed her nose. "But what happens when I dump him? Where will I live? I don't have the money for a place of my own. Not to mention that you're a world famous celebrity. What will the press think if they ever find out you're dating another woman? And one that isn't remotely close to being famous in any way. I've thought about it. Trust me. It would just never work."
Before she could reply there was a knock at the door. "Just a minute!" Lux called out. "We can talk about this later, but I think we should leave."
I sighed. "Fine. But you owe me lots of cuddles tonight."
When I opened the door I was shocked to see Ted. It couldn't have looked good for us to have been in a bathroom together.
He smirked. "Fancy seeing you, ladies."
I pushed past him, Lux following behind me, and we returned to the reception to say our goodbyes. Afterward, in the car, I kissed her. I'd been waiting all night.
She smiled and pecked my forehead before pulling out of the parking lot, "Let's get you to bed."
+++
"Can we have morning sex tomorrow?" I asked, joining her under the covers.
"Sure."
"Did you have fun?"
"Yes." She wrapped an arm around me. "Did you?"
"Obviously. Bring drunk is almost always an automatic notion of fun." I paused. "Why didn't you drink?"
"Because I had to drive, and I don't want to fuck up the most expensive car I own."
"And you care about me enough not to kill the both of us in a drunken car accident."
"That too."
I looked up at her. "I think Ted knows about us."
"I doubt it. But even if he suspects it, I'm sure he wouldn't do anything. He's a friend after all."
"You're friends with a lot of dickheads."
"You mean men?"
I laughed. "Yeah. Fuck men."
"You're turning me gay."
I smiled and kissed her shoulder. "I think you are too."
"Would you say no if I proposed right now?"
"No."
"No, you wouldn't say no? Or no, as in you're saying no right now?"
I groaned. "I'm too sleep deprived and intoxicated to comprehend what you just said."
"You're going to be so hungover tomorrow."
"So give me head. It'll make me feel better."
"Anything for you."
"Sometimes I like it better when you're mean to me."
She perked an eyebrow. "Do you have a degradation kink?"
"Maybe."
"What else are you into?"
"You."
She turned off the lamp. "Get some sleep."
"Goodnight."
She kissed my forehead. "Goodnight."
A/N
Sorry for the late update. Since moving, I've been crazily busy. Updates will probably be a bit more spaced out from now on :(
But on another note, what's everyone's favorite book book?