The Golden Jaggers were the lasts ones to arrive at the party, following the advice of Laurence. He said that the best was if they made the last impression to everyone who was already in the party. He already knew that the main impression would not be the band itself, but Arabella.
Arabella was wearing her dark-red velvet dress and also dark-red high heels, although she hated the idea of wearing other type of shoes that weren't sneakers or boots, Laurence commanded her to do so. Her make-up was extremely simple but breathtaking at the same time; she wore a dark-red lipstick that matched with the dress, and her eyes were only covered with black mascara that made her pale blue eyes stand out completely. Her hair remained loose and was falling with perfect grace, covering her naked back.
As soon as they entered the party, they were amazed by the large group of people that were filling the space. Not only that, but the type of people that were in the party; most of all were famous people, from Julian Casablancas to The Black Keys. Truth was that neither one of The Golden Jaggers were used to see all of their idols in once single room. They had never been to such a fancier and luxurious party like that one before, back in Bristol this sort of parties never happened. So their faces practically fell down when they saw the environment in which they were. All of the boys were completely fantasizing and it was quiet notorious from miles away; all of them except Arabella, who controlled herself and stayed as serious and cool as always.
"There is my dream team!" said Laurence while approaching to them, showing that big and white smile of his, "Come to daddy!" he said and hugged all of the members in the band.
"Holy shit Laurence, this place looks amazing" said Dalton while looking at the ceiling, which was colored with violet shades due to the lights that were hanged in there.
The whole place had violet pale lights illuminating every single available space and every corner of the room. There were huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and there was this huge bar to one side that attracted Dalton instantly. Most of the people were standing and chatting with each other, but there were several little tables spread all around the room, with velvet coaches to sit on. There were some waiters handing drinks to everyone and even food.
"I know right? You guys will have to get used to this sort of life, since it's gonna be your future sooner or later!" he said while taking a long sip of his champagne.
"You have so much fate on us, don't you Laurence?" said Benjamin with a big smirk on his face.
"Believe me when I tell you that you're my best acquisition since the Monkeys, I'm telling ya'" he said while laying a hand on Benjamin's shoulder.
"But anyway, have you guys practiced that killer song of yours for tonight?" Laurence said.
"Our entire album has killer songs, Laurence" said Andrew while looking at his surroundings with an unexpressive face.
Laurence laughed extremely loud "You're right! Fucking hell I love these kids"
"Well, grab a drink and enjoy yourselves, the night is still young and so are you..." he said while walking towards the bar.
"He seriously is spooky sometimes" said Benjamin while looking at the rest of the guys.
"Hey it's the booze free here?" said Dalton.
"Why don't we go and find out..." said Arabella as she grabbed Andrew's arm.
She knew that the every single person that was in that party looked at her as she made her way through the crowded room onto the small bar. Everybody was looking at her from head to toe, asking themselves who this girl was; nobody really had the guts to even look at her straight in the eye. But the only person, who she cared about in that party, was not really looking at her.
"Fuck me gently with a chainsaw, who's that lovely bird?" said Miles while looking at Arabella as she passed by his side.
Alex was looking the other way, so he didn't instantly notice her.
"Who?" he said, trying to find the woman who Miles was looking at.
"The girl in the dark-red velvet dress" he said, smoothly pointing with his finger at the girl who has sitting in the bar.
Her face was facing the other way, so Alex could only see the naked back of that woman. But her hair, that was something that he would just recognize from a very long distance. Before he could completely notice who she truly was, Arabella turned around gently and faced him, looking at him straight into the eye. She looked at him for a couple of seconds that seemed to be eternal for Alex, and without making any change in her lost expression, she faced Andrew again and smoothly laughed at something he said.
"That's Arabella Jones, she's the singer of The Golden Jaggers" said Alex, still looking at her, hypnotized by her perfect beauty.
"Arabella?" said Miles as he looked at Alex with a frowning expression, "Well isn't that a unique name for a unique beauty"
Alex nodded silently and tried to stop looking at her; but he couldn't. Looking at her was both painfully and addictive at the same time, like a sort of drug that drive Alex mad to the bone.
"She's just eighteen, Miles. She could practically be your daughter" he said while taking a sip of his beer.
"Oi, I'm not that old! More like a lovely nephew, 'though" said Miles as Alex laughed uncontrollably, almost spitting his beer.
"You seriously are a sick bastard" said Alex as while trying to control his impulsive laugh.
"Can't believe she's eighteen 'though... What a waste..." he slowly said, "But you know, she's actually legal..." Alex laughed once again.
"Don't even think about that, you'll only get yourself into trouble" said Alex.
"Well you know, I bet that she's the type of girl that doesn't really bring you trouble, but actually personifies it" he said while lighting a cigarette, "A natural troublemaker. Too pretty for her own good"
Alex silently absorbed the words that Miles had used to describe her; he had never listened a more accurate description about her than the one his friend had jus said.
"Oh my fucking God, that's Julian Casablancas!" said Benjamin with wide eyes.
"Holy fuck mate, where?" said Dalton as he looked for Julian in the crowded room.
"There, next to the blonde girl with the really dark make-up" said Benjamin.
"You guys know that she's Taylor Momsen, right?" said Arabella as she took a sip of her margarita.
"Wow, she looks like an Angel of Death" said Dalton. He waited for a couple of seconds and then started walking straight to her.
"Where the fuck are you going?" said Andrew.
"To make a short visit to Hell" said Dalton with a big smile, "If I'm still alive don't you dare come and save me" and soon he disappeared in dark of the crowd.
All of them laughed and started to do some tequila shots, except for Arabella who was completely silent while drinking her margarita. She was actually analyzing the many faces that attended the party, searching for Alex's face, but she couldn't find him anywhere.
"Why am I even searching for him in the first place?" she thought to herself. But her thoughts were soon interrupted by Andrew's fingers, who were tapping Arabella in her shoulder.
"What do you think, Bella?" he said with a big grin in his face, he was previously laughing about something with Benjamin.
"About what?" she said confused.
"We were just saying with Benji that Dalton was gonna be completely rejected by that blonde chick. What do you say? Wanna bet?"
Arabella looked at both of her face with an unexpressive face; then straight towards Taylor and Dalton, who were both chatting in one of the black velvet couches. She smiled to herself and then with a cocky expression on her face looked straight to Andrew and Benjamin, giving her hand towards them.
"25 dollars that he makes out with her in the next half hour" said in a very serious tone.
"25 dollars?!" said Benji completely surprised, even laughing between words, "Don't you think you're aiming a little bit higher at Dalton's seductive skills?"
Arabella looked at Benjamin with the same expression that she had before, "Are you in or out, Benji?"
"I'll be a fool if a reject a way of making easy money!" said as he grabbed her hand and made the bet.
As soon as Benjamin finished saying those words, Taylor grabbed Dalton's hand and whispered something to his ear. Dalton smiled and nodded and they both stood up from the black velvet couch and walk straight towards one of the bathrooms, trying their best to cautiously pass between the people. On their way, Dalton looked at them and gave an invisible punch to the air, while silently screaming "victory" to the rest of the band who were looking at him with a wide expression on their faces, especially Benjamin.
"Well that escalated quickly, I seriously thought that she would make him sweat a little bit but, oh well –" said Arabella.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!" screamed Benji from the top of his lungs, causing everyone to turn around and look.
"I think that you just lost 25 dollars, but don't worry, you can pay me after" said Arabella with a wink and a small smile.
Andrew laughed and excused himself to the bathroom, meanwhile Benjamin said that he'll go and try to talk to Julian Casablancas, since he was practically his lifetime hero. Arabella was now left alone once again, but she actually enjoyed that little moment of tranquility and serene loneliness. That's what she enjoyed the most, her unique loneliness. But her moment of peace was soon to be interrupted by a mysterious English voice.
"Mind if I join you?" he said.
Arabella looked at him from the corner of her eye and then gently moved her face so that she could face his. The man was from a short height, only a little bit taller than Arabella. He had a weird haircut, his black curly long hair made him look as if he had just arrived from the 80's. He had a black blazer that matched with his pants, and a flowered patterned shirt in pink and red tones; the shirt was slightly unbuttoned, and Arabella could see on his chest one of the many tattoos that covered his body. But what impressed Arabella the most about this man was his indescribable gaze; his eyes fall from his face in a quiet melancholic way, as if they were tired from seeing so much sufferment. She didn't really know why but as the same way that his eyes expressed and extreme sadness, they also concealed an amazing warmness that made Arabella shiver, as if her cold heart wasn't really aware of the heat that could burn him to the ground.
"I suppose I don't" she said gently.
"I'm Matthew Healy, by the way" he said while giving his hand to her with a warm smile on his face, "But my friends call me Matty"
"Arabella Jones" she said shortly and without really looking at him or shaking his hand.
"Arabella? Well isn't that a strange name" he said as he slowly put his hand back to where it was before, "At least it's more unique than Matthew"
She simply nodded quietly, looking at him for only a couple of seconds before asking the bar tender for another margarita.
"So what are you doing here? Are you an actress or model?" said Matty while he ordered a glass of wine to the bar tender.
Arabella looked at him with a frowning expression, before taking a big breath and looking back at her empty glass of margarita.
"Well that Matthew, is something that I know and that you'll have to find out" she said while grabbing the new glass of margarita that the bar tender had just given to her. She slowly stood up from the tall chair and before turning back, she said:
"Thank you for the lovely chat but I gotta go" and with those last words she made her way through the crowd, disappearing in it. Matty looked at her with a tormented expression and buried his face in his hands, thinking about what sort of dickhead he could possibly be.
"I told you that she was out of your league, mate..." said a very tall man with another bizarre and strange haircut in a deep English voice.
"Shut the fuck up, George" said Matty while drinking his glass of wine.
Arabella avoided the many bodies that stepped in her way and after exiting the tumultuous crowd she lean against an empty wall that she had found, far away from the irritating people that composed this boring party. She drank her margarita silently as she looked at the ceiling; the jewelry that composed one of the many chandeliers fascinated her completely, certainly more than the party itself. Arabella was hypnotized by the little fake diamonds that were attached to the chandelier and shined in such a distinctive way thanks to the violet lights. She thought about the beauty in each and one single piece of jewelry that was hanging from there; how could something absolutely artificial portrait something so uniquely beautiful?
"Having fun?" a low and deep voice interrupted her thoughts, a voice that she knew very well.
She looked at him slowly and enjoyed every instant of it. There was Alex, leaning against the wall, only a few centimeters away from her, with his blue navy suit and his perfectly white shirt. His quiff fall perfectly in between his eyes and the golden necklace that he had shined more than ever under those violet lights. He was looking at her with pure desire in his eyes, and made Arabella hesitate a little bit before answering.
"As much as you are, apparently" she said while closing her eyes and moving her face towards him, still leaning her back at the wall. She gently opened her eyes and Alex slowly moved close to her.
Both of them were now practically touching each other's arm, and that rose of skin made Alex shiver a little bit and hold his breath, as if he was purely appreciating and embracing this moment that seemed completely surreal to him; as if his breath would make her evaporate and disappear once more. Arabella could feel his breath, which consisted primarily of cigarettes and whisky, and his sweet cologne that was invading her lungs completely. She didn't knew why, but his essence was even more addictive that the nicotine of her organic cigarettes. As they looked each other straight into the eyes, both of their hands that stood practically next to each other, were slowly caressing each other skins, discovering the unknown pleasures that gave to one another. Arabella started to draw invisible circles on Alex's hand, without taking her eyes off him. Alex now slowly grabbed Arabella by her hand, holding it inside of his. He perceived how cold and small her hand was, but how her long and skinny fingers interspersed perfectly between his, as if their hands were made to perfectly fit one another. Her skull silver ring almost made an inexistent quite noise when it touched Alex's Death Ramps ring. Both of them were now smiling at each other with an extreme tenderness, and without saying a word Alex put a hand on one of Arabella's pale and soft cheek, gently caressing her white skin.
"Arabella, you won't fuck believe what just happened –" interrupted Dalton, practically screaming due to his state of drunkenness. He then realized the situation that he had in front of his eyes.
"Holy shit..." he said now calmer than before and with his eyes wide opened.
Arabella and Alex violently broke their state of intimacy and frantically avoided looking at each other. Dalton could appreciate their irritation perfectly despite his drunkenness. Arabella, she had a really melancholic expression on her face, meanwhile Alex looked at the floor with an annoying appearance on his face.
"Have I interrupted something...?" he said finally, still looking at each other with his shocked expression.
"What are you talking about, Dalton? You're completely drunk! C'mon let's find Benji and Andrew" said Arabella while forcing a smile and even a small laugh to Dalton.
"But I thought you and Alex were about to –"
"Oh don't be silly, Dalton. He was just helping me put back my earring that I've lost in the floor a couple of minutes ago..." said Arabella now passing an arm by one of Dalton's shoulders and trying to make him walk straight. Dalton looked at Arabella's ear confused.
"But you don't have any earrings on your left ear –" said Dalton.
"So, what were you saying that happened to you? I saw you with Taylor back there..." she said trying to change the subject and even giving a little wink to Dalton.
"Oh yeah right, Taylor! You just won't believe what happened..." he said as they both disappeared into the crowded room once again and their voices started to evaporate and mix with the other voices of the people at the party.
Alex watched them disappear completely and waited a couple of seconds before actually punching the wall violently. "Fuck..." he whispered to himself.