Goodnight Hollywood Boulevard

Charlotte loved how amazing Hollywood felt. In the months she had been in California, she hadn’t built up enough nerve to wander into Hollywood alone. The apartment was right in the middle of everything with its location on Hollywood Boulevard. All she had to do was look out of the window and she could practically touch the Hollywood sign.

She sat contently on the couch, painting her nails a shade of shimmering beige. Wyatt had ordered Chinese food earlier and he was currently having seconds in the kitchen. His phone had been going crazy with message alerts for the past five minutes.

“Hey,” he said, popping up from behind the counter. “There’s a party happening. Do you want to go?”

Charlotte blew on her nails to make them dry faster. She never was one for parties at home, and although she was in Hollywood she had a feeling she wouldn’t like these parties much either. “I dunno..” she mumbled.

“They’re not like the party you went to at my house,” Wyatt said as he closed the fridge. He walked into the room with the box of rice and a pair of chopsticks. “It’ll be worth going if you want to get your name out there.”

“How do you mean?” Charlotte asked warily.

Wyatt snorted. “You don’t have to sleep with anyone. There are designers all over the place at these things, all you have to do is strike up a conversation with the right one.”

She sighed. She did want to get her name out and circulating, working for Leslie would be fine for a while but it definitely wasn’t a job to keep for more than a year. “What do you wear to these things?” she asked and pushed herself up from the couch. Wyatt grinned.

45 minutes later, Charlotte was dressed in a one-shoulder red and black dress with black heels. She had masterfully reapplied her makeup, this time sporting a smokey eye with heavier eyeliner and mascara. She glossed her lips a soft shade of peach and misted on a little Vera Wang Glam Princess perfume. She found a black clutch on one of the dressers and looked to Wyatt.

“Do you think whoever this belongs to will mind if I borrow it?” she questioned.

Wyatt shrugged, too busy with his phone to look at what she was holding. “They left it behind. Their loss.”

Charlotte hummed in thought as she opened it and looked inside. There was nothing left behind in it but she ran her fingers along the inside just to make sure. She hit something cool and she cautiously took it out. It was an old ring, the gems so dirty she had a hard time telling what they were. There was a bigger gem in the middle surrounded by three smaller ones on each side. The band appeared to be real gold. Charlotte didn’t see anywhere to carefully store it so she slipped it onto her fingers until it fit snugly.

“Wow,” Wyatt said, his voice startling Charlotte.

“What?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” he said, biting his lip to hide his smile. “It’s just… You look good. I haven’t really been paying attention, I guess.”

Charlotte smiled, her shoulders relaxing as she dumped her makeup into the clutch in case she had to do a touch-up later. Wyatt offered his arm to her and she gladly took it.

“Hey, have you seen my phone?” she asked suddenly as he turned the lights off, one foot out the door. “I haven’t seen it all day.”

Wyatt shrugged, “I thought you had it?”

Charlotte pursed her lips as she thought of where it could be. She hadn’t seen it since that morning after her shower. She figured it was at the bottom of her duffle bag, buried under all of her clothes. She’d just have to dig it out later.

It only took a few minutes to get to the party. Not many people were there; the room was huge but the people in it filled the space nicely. It wasn’t too crowded but it wasn’t too empty, leaving plenty of space to walk around without bumping into anyone.

“I love that dress.”

Charlotte slowly turned her head, not quite sure if that was directed toward her or not. She noticed a man standing beside her. He was a little taller than she was, a round face with square glasses. He wore a black velvet jacket over a white shirt, a rather large golden bowtie at his collar. His pants were pleated and the color black didn’t match the black of his jacket. He wore a pair of gray Chuck Taylors. Charlotte nearly choked when she realized who he was.

“Th-thank you,” she stuttered out.

“Who are you, my dear?” he questioned and quirked an eyebrow.

“Charlotte,” she introduced herself. “Charlotte van Heusen.”

“Yes, very well. But who are you?” he pressed.

Wyatt cleared his throat. “I’m Wyatt Adams,” he said strongly, offering his hand. The designer gently shook it. “Fashion photographer. Charlotte is my main client, top designer of her age.”

Charlotte watched as the man’s eyes light up in delight. “Very nice to meet you, Charlotte van Heusen,” he said smoothly, and dug into his pocket. He produced a little white card and handed it to her. “I would love to compare design concepts sometime.”

Charlotte barely had the card in her hands before he walked away. “Oh my God, Wyatt,” she breathed.

“Who was that?” he questioned softly, leaning over her shoulder to read the business card.

“Alber Elbaz,” she said with a slight air to her voice. Wyatt could hear the wonder dripping from her tone. “He works for Lanvin, who has clients like Nicole Kidman and Kate Moss and Jennifer Aniston.”

“I told you it would be worth coming,” Wyatt said with a smirk. “Let’s see who else we can meet.”

Charlotte grabbed for his hand as he started to walk away. He turned questioningly. “You lied, though,” she whispered. “I’m not a top designer.”

“But you will be,” Wyatt said with a wink and tugged her farther into the party.

At some point, Charlotte was handed a glass of wine, followed by a flute of champagne. She handed off her empty glass, done for the night, when a bright orange-colored drink appeared in front of her. She cautiously took it and spun around to see who had offered it to her.

She wasn’t faced with Wyatt’s grinning face like she had thought she would be. Instead, she saw a boy a few years older than her. He had shaggy brown hair, a bright, white smile. The top buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned.

“I haven’t seen you around before,” he commented. Charlotte only raised an eyebrow in response. “I figured the polite thing to do would be to welcome you.”

“Welcome me?” she squeaked.

“To my party,” he continued with a slight nod. “I hadn’t seen you at any of the others I’ve hosted. And I know everyone who was invited. I don’t recognize you.”

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized quickly. “I came with a friend. He said it would be good for my name. I’m a fashion designer. Well, not yet. I aspire to be one.”

He laughed coolly. “It’s fine, beautiful. I’m not going to kick you out for not showing your invite.”

Charlotte blushed and dipped her head slightly. “I’m Charlotte, by the way.”

“Rocky,” he said. Someone called his name from another room. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you around? Sip the drink slowly, by the way. Powerful mix.”

Charlotte nodded dumbly and watched as he walked away. She took a gulp of the drink he had given her and instantly regretted it; it stung her throat horrendously and it tasted way too tropical for one small glass. She decided to just down the rest to get it over with and placed the empty glass on the bar. Wyatt swirled around her moments later.

“Ready to go? I think we’ve met just about everyone,” he said, an arm draping over her shoulders. She nodded slightly, her head spinning.

They walked back to the apartment, Wyatt’s arm still over Charlotte’s shoulders. Everything began to feel heavy, her legs losing strength with each step she took. Once in the elevator at the apartment building, she sighed deeply and leaned all of her weight against Wyatt.

“You okay?” he asked, helping her down the hall to the door.

“I just need my phone,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

“I don’t know where it is,” he groaned, practically dragging her into the apartment. He closed and locked the door then continued to drag her into the bedroom. When he let go of her, she fell onto the bed. She groggily kicked her shoes off as Wyatt disappeared into the bathroom to change. He had no idea what she had drank in his short absence but it kicked in rather quickly and it was strong, whatever it was.

“Wyatt,” Charlotte groaned, pulling the comforter over her. Her head was swimming and twirling, her fingers and lips were numb. She couldn’t feel her legs, either.

“Go to sleep, Charlotte,” he soothed. “I’m going to be right on the couch if you need me, okay?”

“I do need you,” she whimpered. “Don’t leave me alone.”

Wyatt paused in the doorway. She was under the influence of something, her mind was clouded and she’d most likely panic in the morning if she woke up and he was beside her. He sighed when she whined for him again. He climbed under the covers, keeping a good distance between them, and shushed her.

“Go to slee-”

He was cut off when her lips crashed against his, her hands tangled in his hair, her body pressed against his. He didn’t know where her sudden mobility came from but after a few seconds of laying in shock, he kissed her back. Her hands grazed his bare chest as he pulled her even closer to him, his hands strategically slipping to the zipper of her dress. He managed to tug it off, the fabric falling to the carpet, before she pulled away slightly and studied the situation. She was now half naked and he was only in a pair of shorts.

“Charlotte?” he questioned softly.

“’Member when you wanted to be my best friend?” she asked, resting her head on his chest.

“What?” he whispered.

“On New Year’s day, at FIDM, you said you wanted the best friend spot,” she reminded him, annoyance in her tone. He nodded, though he vaguely remembered what she was saying. “Well, you have it.”

“Do you kiss all of your best friends with that much lust on your lips?” he asked with a slight laugh. He received no answer, though. Charlotte had already passed out. He bit his lip and ran his fingers through her hair. He wasn’t sure why she had done that and he wasn’t sure why he had allowed her to. She was still hurt by what happened with Garrett and was acting out, rebounding. It almost hurt him that she had chosen him to be the rebound guy but she had just dubbed him the best friend, he had no choice but to accept it.

Luckily, she wouldn’t remember that kiss by the time she woke up in the morning.