This Must be Fiction

"You need to get out more." Robert jumped onto my bed as I was on my laptop, making next months schedule. I waved him off and continued working.
"Seriously. All you do is sit around the house all day and clean. Or talk to people on the phone. You barely ever leave unless provoked. Let's go out." He was bouncing, making the entire bed shake.

"Well what the fuck did you have in mind?" I kept my attention of the screen in front of me so Robert wouldn't think I was actually interested in his idea.

"Going to a club! You haven't been to one in ages, and it's time to give the paparazzi some new shots of your drinking problem. And our sexual relationship. Let's give 'em something to talk about it." He winked at the last sentence. It would be nice to get out again. I had spent the last few weeks moping, it was one of those phases I went through often. Robert generally took it upon himself to pull me out of it.
I looked down at the gray over-sized hoodie and plaid boxers I was wearing.

"How long are you going to give me to get ready?" I asked.

"It's nine now... I'll give you two hours. We can just go the place on Robinson." Robert bounced off of the bed and walked towards the door.

"The Viper Room? We'll never get in." I shook my head as I shut the laptop.

"Well first of all I think you're underestimating the number of fans we have, so someone in that club is going to let one of us in. And second of all, let me worry about all of this. Just get your pretty little self ready and we'll talk later." He ran from the room and I could hear his feet landing loudly on the steps.

Two hours later I had slipped into a tiny red dress. I curled my hair and applied dark eye make-up with deep red lipstick. Robert knocked on my bedroom door and walked in whistling.

"Damn girl, you sure do clean up good." I smacked my bottom which caused me to scowl at him.

"God I swear if you were straight you'd be castrated. Can we just go please?" I grabbed my small silver clutch and started walking out the door.

"We've got to wait, I called some friends to go with us and their meeting us here. They said they'll drive."
Robert had planted himself on my rather large bed and was mindlessly ruffling through some old notes that lay on my night stand.

"Who? What? Who did you call?" I asked.

"You'll see soon enough."

"I could kill you!" I sat down next to him. I wasn't really mad at all, but Robert loved surprising me. His surprises never really ended up well. I flopped down so I was laying.

"Don't! You're going to mess up your hair."
Robert's hands fumbled with me as he took my back and lifted it from the bed.

"You're ridiculous."
Seconds later the door bell rang and he jumped up to answer it. I followed slowly behind, sure that I was not going to enjoy the night ahead of me. Why I always let Robert talk me into things like this, I'll never know. Maybe it was because I had a thing for handsome gay men.

I reached the last step and fought against the urge to look towards the door. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed my house key before turning around and coming face to face with Robert.

"You're stalling." He squeezed my hand and tugged me towards the door. I clicked the lights off before being rushed off.

"Molly, this is Benjamin, Sophia, and Marcus. Guys, this is Molly." I shook hands with the three people in front of me. They were all, clearly, some sort of celebrities.

"Hi. Nice to meet you." I said quietly. They smiled at me with their perfectly white teeth and their impeccable skin and hair.

"You too." The one I knew as Benjamin responded. I studied him briefly. He had dark black hair that stuck out in all directions. His eyes, a deep gray, looked me up and down as I did the same to him. He was toned, but not overly muscly. He stood taller than me by more than a few inches, but not too many. Robert obviously had plans for the two of us, considering that Marcus and Sophia seemed to be a couple. Marcus' muscled arm was wrapped securely around Sophia's barely visible waistline. She was clearly a model. She was taller than Robert and Benjamin.

"Well let's get out of here." Robert said, leading the group out the door.
The three friends bounced into a sleek black car while I held Robert back a second.

"You're not trying to set me up are you?" I whispered to make sure Benjamin couldn't hear.

"Yes, in fact I am." he said, slipping into the vehicle before I could yell at him. I thought about turning and running away before I reluctantly followed Robert. I was already dressed, I wouldn't waste this opportunity.

The drive to the club was awkward for me. Robert seemed to have just met these people and was still getting acquainted with them. It was also a little weird that everyone but me knew that I was being set up with Benjamin.

The man at the door of The Viper Room immediately led us in and we were led to a nearby table. It wasn't so unusual for me to be surrounded by famous people. Although years ago, being in a situation like this would have made me hyperventilate, now I was just wondering when I could leave.
A waitress came by to take our drink orders.

"Actually, I'm going to the bar." Robert stood and practically ran from the table in search of drink and an attractive man to buy it for him.

"We're going to dance, I'm not sure how long I have tonight." Sophia said already rising and taking Marcus with her. I sighed and fumbled with my hands.

"Vodka cranberry please."

"The same is good." Benjamin's cool voice said from beside me.

The waitress walked away to the bar, leaving Benjamin and I completely alone. Well, alone at the table anyway.
He ran a hand through his hair and laughed awkwardly.

"I guess you didn't know about this." He pointed to the two of us. I smiled at him and looked down at my nails.

"No, I didn't. Robert likes to surprise me."
The waitress came back with our drinks and I took mine thankfully.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew that he was trying to set us up. If I knew he was going to surprise you I would have said no." Realizing that he was making me uncomfortable he put his hands up in a defensive position. "Not that I'd say no to a date with you! I just... uh.. I didn't know that you would be uncomfortable.. and I uh.." He fumbled with the right words to say.

"It's fine." I put a hand on his knee to stop it from shaking. "I know what you meant. It's fine that I'm here. Maybe I'll have a good time." I shrugged. I checked my phone, pretending that someone would actually care about me enough to call or text me to see what I was doing.
Benjamin chugged his drink and asked for another one. I did the same.

"This is weird." I said. Benjamin laughed freely.

"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. How are we supposed to get to know each other in this ridiculous club?"
Benjamin laughed again and I saw for the first time how easy going he was. Any other model or actor that I knew was so superficial he probably would have ran after the first awkward moment.

"I agree. But here we are." He motioned to all of the people dancing. I chuckled again and took a sip of my second drink.

"So I know you don't want to be here.." He started. I shook my head and opened my mouth to respond. No matter how badly I didn't want to be in this awkward situation, I didn't want to make Benjamin feel badly. He didn't let me speak before he continued.

"...but do you want to dance? I feel like sitting here isn't going to accomplish anything."

"Sure." I said. We slid out of the booth and walked slowly onto the dance floor. We danced like friends should, not getting to close, but not being too far apart from each other either.
After a couple songs, I noticed Benjamin inching closer to me, practically begging to put his arms on my hips.

"Do you want to get another drink?" I asked before his hands could sneak their way onto my body.

"Sure."
We went to the bar and ordered a few shots.

"You really like to drink." He scoffed before taking a shot and sucking on a piece of lime.

"You've noticed." I said, eying him as I took my shot. I didn't follow it with the lime. I followed it with another shot.

"It's on the house guys, that guy down there says he knows you?" The bartender pointed to the other end of the bar where I saw Robert standing with a fruity beverage. He winked at me, and then turned to wink at the bartender.

"Of course." I rolled my eyes before letting the liquor hit my lips again.
Minutes later we were out on the dance floor, and this time I hesitantly let him put his hands on my hips. When it seemed like they were slowly getting lower, I looked at him, shook my head, and he knew that he was crossing a line.

After a few songs I checked the time on my cell phone. It was almost two.

"Do you want to get something to eat before you go home?" Benjamin asked, noticing my impatience.

"Why not." I half-smiled. I texted Robert quickly, telling him I was walking home. On the way out I thought feverishly about how I could get away from Benjamin before going out to eat.
We got outside and were hounded by hoards of photographers. Benjamin grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd until we had jogged a few blocks away. We knew none of them would follow us, they would wait at the door of the club for more celebrities to emerge.

"God I hate that." Benjamin said, looking back towards the club.

"Yeah, comes with the job though, right?" I asked. I still had no clue what exactly he did, as I was not a very pop-culture friendly type of person.

"It does indeed." He stopped and looked at his silver watch. "There's a pizza place open down the street. I've been there a few times, want to go there?" He asked me. I rattled my brain for some sort of excuse, but I couldn't think of one fast enough. There was too much vodka and tequila in my system to come up with a good explanation.

"Sounds good."

"So... want to tell me about yourself?"
No, I didn't. I wanted to get away from Benjamin. But something about him made me want to be nice, even though in any other situation I probably would have cursed at him and stormed away.

"Well, I'm from Buffalo. I have a brother Jason. Umm... my favorite color is purple... I model for a living. I live with Robert. I guess those are the basics. How about yourself?" I asked. We were strolling at a nice slow pace now. The streets were lined with people rushing to get into another club only blocks away.

"I grew up in Las Vegas. I have three sisters... I uhh... hmm.. live by myself with my dog Cotton.. I'm an actor slash model.. And I like the color black."

"Ha so we can officially report to Robert that we got to know each other." I said. He laughed with me.
I couldn't help but feel good around Benjamin. He was nice to me, he was someone who didn't really care that I wasn't interested in a relationship. As much as I wanted to dislike him and write him off as just some other guy, I couldn't.

"Robert's actually told me a lot about you. He said you didn't really want to be dating anyone."

"Ah," I let out a stifled laugh, "I suppose that's true. He never told me how you guys met."

"At a shoot a couple of weeks ago. It was the four of us actually. Robert, me, Sophia and Marcus. We hit it off immediately. He's got quite the uh... personality."

"That he does." I sniffed and looked down at my cell phone. It was nearing two thirty.

"How did you guys meet?" Benjamin asked.

"Well I was having a tough time lighting a cigarette and he happened to be standing by with a light. That's how we got talking at first, I guess. But then we just started texting more and going out to lunch a lot more. Eventually we thought it'd be good to move in together since we were both looking for a house but needed roommates." I spoke with my hands.

"How'd you end up in L.A. anyway? I mean you said you're from Buffalo, but why come all the way out here? Did you really want to be a model?"

Fuck. Now my mind would be flooded with endless thoughts of a trip with a certain vampire whos name I could barely stand to think of.

"I never wanted to be a model. I kind of just... traveled out here, not really knowing what I was getting myself into." That was all I was willing to say. Already I was wishing that it was Ville who was standing next to me instead of this guy who I had just met. Ugh, why did I let Robert make me do this? He was getting a mouthful later on.
We were now standing outside of Benjamin's choice of pizza place. We ordered and sat down at a table outside under the neon lights.

"I'm glad you let me pay." Benjamin said as he bit into his slice. I shrugged and took a small bite.

"Normally I wouldn't, but you looked eager."
Robert laughed at me.

"You're not like most models I've met." He took another bite and spoke with a mouthful.

"How so?" I set down my slice and looked at it. I wasn't hungry.

"Well, most models would try to... I guess just get with me at the first opportunity. I'm sorry for how stuck up that sounds but it's true. But you're just legitimately getting to know me. And, to add another thing, you've actually agreed to get pizza with me."

I felt obligated to take a few more bites despite the fact that my stomach was growling at me. Tequila was not mixing with the grease.

"Want a beer?" I asked. I didn't let Benjamin decide before I got up and paid for two beers.

"Thanks. Most models wouldn't do that either." He smiled at me. He did have a nice smile, but all it did was make me thing of another smile, one that was much more alluring.

"I think that's because I'm not a model. I never meant to be. It was completely an accident that I became one. I mean, come on, I'm five four. Who's going to look at a girl who's five feet four inches tall and say, 'yeah lets put her on the cover.'" I cracked my beer open and was chugging adamantly.

He finished his pizza and checked his watch again. I looked down at my slice and decided I could probably finish it, just to be nice.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Benjamin asked. I wondered if Robert was home yet.

"Yeah, that'd be great. I could drive you home when we get there, if you'd like."
He stood up and shook his head.

"No, that's fine. I don't live too far; I can walk. Besides, you've had a lot to drink tonight." He offered me his hand to help me stand.

"How chivalrous of you." I smirked at him. He kept a hold on my hand, but it was too much for me to handle. I couldn't hold hands with him. Not yet. I took it away and hoped I hadn't hurt his feelings.

We walked home and discussed some industry related topics. Once we reached my front steps he walked me to the door.

"You aren't going to ask to come inside are you?"
Benjamin's mouth dropped and his eyes opened wide.

"No! Did you think I was? I'm not--" I laughed and put a hand to his shoulder.

"I'm kidding, calm down." It was strange how easy it was to get along with him.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well it was nice meeting you Molly. Thanks for letting me take you out."

"Thanks for uh.. taking me out. I had fun."

He leaned in and I could tell he was coming in for just a kiss on the cheek, so I allowed it.
When he pulled back I blushed.

"I'll see you around." He said as he hoped off of my porch and took wide strides down the walk way. I watched him walk, in amazement that I had let myself be so open with him.
Robert was sitting on the couch when I walked in.

"Did you have sex with him?" He immediately asked before I had a chance to shut the door.

"Fuck you Robert. I should be furious. You set me up without even asking me? You're a real ass."

He rose from the couch and walked towards me with a cheesy grin plastered on his face.

"You had fun, I can tell you had fun because you stopped to talk to me instead of running upstairs with that stupid pout on your face to go cuddle with that t-shirt that you've fondled to death."

"Robert! That shirt has been under my bed for weeks, I only take it out when I'm sad. Fuck you. You're a bastard for even bringing that up." I started storming off into my room, but of course he was on my heels.

"I can also tell you had fun because you're not telling me how big of a jerk he is. Which he is isn't; I made sure of that before setting this up." Robert continued to follow me into my room, even when I threw my shoes at him and started to get undressed.

"You could have told me. You could have said 'hey Molly I'm bringing over this model guy that I want you to have sex with ok?' That would have been a nice intro for the night." I walked into his room and stole a clean shirt from his dresser. I put it on before walking back into my bedroom.

"Hey, that's the third one this week." He said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I've got to do laundry. Don't change the subject. I'm still pissed at you. How could you?" I slipped on a pair of boxers and sat down in a huff on my bed. He sat next to me and took my hand.

"I know what you've been through and that your heart is broken. But do you think Ville Valo is wandering out there, moping because you're not in his life anymore?" That was a huge hit, but I knew Robert was saying it because he cared, not because he wanted to see me hurt. "It's been years. And I know I've told you that I want you to move on, but I've come to the conclusion that you're not going to get over him until I help you out. So tonight was me helping you out. Give him a shot ok? I've scoped him out and he's perfect for you. You're both kind of weird and can be outrageously stubborn." Robert still held my hand.

"I know that you do these things because you love me, and I appreciate that. I thank you for trying to help. BUT, if you ever set me up again without telling me, I'll cut you." I pushed him jokingly. He fell back in fake hurt and crossed his arms.

"I thought you'd see it my way. Sleep well my dear." He kissed my cheek and ran off into his room, shutting off my lights as he went.

I cuddled into my bed and let the covers overwhelm me. Ville wasn't thinking about me anymore. He probably stopped thinking about me the moment I left him that day. What's stopping me from dating other people? What plausible reason do I have for not getting out more and not be more outgoing? Before everything happened with Ville I had been more than outgoing. But now I was practically a former version of myself.

But nothing I rationalized to myself was going to change what truly controlled me. I tossed and turned in my bed trying to take my mind of the emptiness that always contained me. I layed on my side, leaving room across from me. It hurt me to think it, but I knew I would have fallen asleep more easily if Ville was laying there.