Somewhere in the deep sea of reality and lies is a word called trust. Funny thing, people want people to trust them but they never want to trust others. It can be scary to trust yourself with others, after all, sometimes, a simple naive trust in the wrong person could lead you to your demise.
Detective Marcel was an independent man. He had always known not to trust others and that morale only strengthed once he entered the police force. The world was filthy, who to trust, who to not?
But a man was allowed to have desires. The problem started only after the desires lost to sense.
"Thank you," Alex said politely to a waitress as she handed him a glass of champagne.
His dear friend had left him with the national goddess and the source of his unrequited desire in this dimly lit corner of the unnecessarily large room.
Alex had first seen Rose on TV when his son was skimming through movies to watch, that was a couple of years ago. He wouldn't call himself a fan. He was more like an admirer, who just really adored the piece of art that was Rose Veretta.
As of the current situation, sitting only a handspan away from her, he could fully enjoy her long silky black hair, the dip of her smooth neck, and the supple bosom beneath stretched temptingly in the equally beautiful silver fabric.
She was devastatingly gorgeous, on and off camera. Alex wondered if she was really a human or Aphrodite in disguise, venturing among mortals, enjoying their petty eyes fawning over her divineness. But maybe Psyche suited her more. She was delicate like butterfly wings and also an object of jealousy for many already successful people.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Rose's velvety voice pierced through everything else going on in his mind. Alex immediately looked up to meet her eyes which were scanning the crowd with a peaceful expression. He heaved a silent sigh of relief.
"I beg your pardon?" Alex wasn't an actor, but being in this profession, he had learned how to play innocent even if you weren't.
Rose smiled, pulling her eyes away from the people and meeting his. "This atmosphere can be overwhelming sometimes. But you kind of get used to it once you begin blending in. You might even like it at some point when it gets too loud inside your head."
Alex blinked and blinked again. Rose Veretta was talking to him! And she had said something nice. She was definitely not like these obnoxious people who only ever talked about their million-dollar pets and bitch about the shooting conditions.
"I-It's alright. At least I have the best company."
Now he had done it.
Contrary to all his thoughts, Rose laughed gently, "Careful detective, your little crush on me is visible."
Alex blushed and looked down, so she had noticed after all. Women were truly the best of detectives.
He gulped and looked up back to meet her midnight blue eyes, "I apo-"
"You don't need to." She smiled, closer to a slightly mischievous smirk.
Alex had watched Rose on the screen for a long time. He knew she was a different person underneath the halo of spotlight she was standing in but this side of her was far beyond his expectations. The actress always dressed in silver was not so shiny after all, she was so much more.
"Wanna get out of here?" Rose stood up, her flowy dress falling down her legs like a waterfall.
It took a total of five minutes to follow Rose out of the ballroom, at the same time keeping his distance to not start any unnecessary rumors about his beautiful idol.
"It's unimaginable," Alex muttered as they entered a quiet alley.
Rose was still ahead of him as she questioned back, "Why so?"
"You are just really something I can only dream of, so of course I can't believe it."
Rose's laughter was as melodious as the ringing of bells. Alex found himself captivated for a second before his stance was broken by the extremely soft touch of her fingers on his hand.
"Who knows though, we are alone here, what if I try to murder you? It's a bit of a trend these days." Her smile was similar to the one character she was currently playing in Butterflies. Alex knew because he had been smitten by the dangerous look in her eyes when he first saw the trailer.
"It would be my pleasure."
"Oh that it will be a detective."
Alex threaded his rough fingers through her long hair, marveling at the texture. His other hand found a place on her ass, enjoying the feel of the supple bottom. Rose pressed her lips to his, tasting the previously consumed champagne on his tongue. He bit lightly on his lower lip, savoring the sweet moan that left her mouth.
"Let's go somewhere more private."
They both entered Rose's car and the driver drove ahead. As silence and dark impregnated the air, Alex's fingers found their way up Rose's arm.
"So, detective." She spoke casually. "What do you have on Robin so far?"
Alex looked at her face, she didn't look like she was thinking anything in specific, just staring at the windshield. It seemed like she was just asking random questions.
"Nothing that I can tell you Miss Veretta, I'm afraid."
Rose finally looked his way, the side of her face was lit by the city lights flashing from the windows, "I'm not too interested, the only thing I am worried about is if I can be one of her targets."
"Robin is crazy, we can't know her next move. I do recommend not being alone in public, for someone like you. After all-"
The car screeched to a halt and Alex saw a familiar scene unfold on the road ahead. Blue and red lights flashed and sirens bellowed as a police car and an ambulance crowded the area in front of the infamous club Stardoom.
As if on cue, his phone rang. "I'll have to take this."
Rose was constantly looking out of the window with an unbreakable stare, the expressions on her face were uncharacteristically blank.
"Miss Rose?"
She blinked, as if breaking from a trace and looked at him with a small smile, "I think you'll be needed here."
"Um, yes, the input so far says the kid of the owner was found dead. Oliver Wood that is."
"You should hurry," she nodded and Alex mirrored her actions before leaving out of the car.
"To home ma'am?" The driver questioned politely.
"Yes please."
In the thin space between truth and lies was this world called belief. Your belief could shape your reality and even change it.
"What were you planning to do my darling?" A voice rang in Rose's ear. She flinched but dared not move.
"So that kid died hmm? I bet they'll blame me."
Did you not do it?
Rose wanted to ask, but she knew better. Robin wouldn't kill him. She had nothing against him except for the little conversation they had a week ago. Angering Robin was a stupid move.
"Were you trying to seduce the detective so he could protect you from me?"
"More like I was trying to protect you."
Rose immediately regretted the words. It wasn't important to let Robin know that.
The driver looked at her through the front mirror, "May I help you ma'am?"
Rose didn't break her view of the window and answered, "I am on a call, Bluetooth."
The driver nodded and kept quiet. A soft chuckle rang through her earpiece, almost a seductive sound. Tempting enough to make you hypnotized by the beauty and deadliness of it.
"My sweet Rose, you can't protect yourself, much less protect me."
Far off still on the sight, staring at the blood-stained room of the boy, Detective Marcel sighed. It was a suicide. The kid had even left a note saying he was exhausted of constant failures. It wasn't Alex's case.
Except one thing kept bothering him like a sore thumb. Vanessa Camlett, Lloid Sein, Yuri Mikaleason, Tessa, and Cynthia Reyes. These all were almost big faces, they had many connections to one another and to many people in the film industry. But Oliver was a mere kid, he was trying out auditions constantly. Additionally, nothing really suggested that this was a murder.
But then, who was the woman dressed in red, whose photo sat in his room drawer, with all the cutouts of newspapers attached to it that addressed none other than the current soul of crime, Robin Darling.
Word count: 1409