Mirrors

June 9th, Friday
Four Weeks Later

"Ave, I miss you so much. I wish I had the time to go out there." Amelia had frowned over my laptop screen. We had been video chatting over Skype for about an hour now. She looked different, she had bangs now. I leaned against the headboard of the bed, adjusting myself and getting comfortable. "I miss you too, babe. All of you. How's Gemma doing with the wedding plans? I talked to her the other day but you know Gem, she always understates everything."

Amelia had laughed and rolled her eyes, "Yes she does. The wedding is in like, two months now, but she's been freaking out over flowers and how the venue will be decorated and now she's been fussing about the seating plan. Leave it to Gem to overreact over the most mundane of things. Your wedding was a breeze." She giggled.

"Ha, yeah it was." I felt uncomfortable talking about the wedding.

It's been a month and Hudson has yet to tell me anything about his past with Nora, and if she weren't so bloody nice it would be easier to hate her. Since Huds has been spending a lot of his time at his successful restaurant, she's been popping in every now and then with baked goods or to just keep me company. I'm sure her intentions are good and that she genuinely wants to be my friend, and for now I'm content with that.

Blair has also been coming by often too, which I appreciate very much. I am not subjected to judgements or scrutiny by him, which is a huge relief. Over this month our friendship had rapidly developed over the fact that I have not much else to do around here other than write. We share similar interests in music and we are constantly introducing each other to new music, artists, writers. That one day we had even spent an afternoon here reading poetry. I've gotten to know him so much more.

Amelia had notice my faltering expression and became concerned, "Ave, what's up?"

I sighed deeply and looked uselessly at the doorway knowing that Hudson wouldn't come through it till 10 tonight. He's become so consumed with working that even when he does have a day off, he's either catching up on rest or calling and checking in on the restaurant.

I cleared my throat and rolled my eyes, "I just feel incredibly lonely here. Hudson is always working and other than writing, I have nothing else to do. My meals are made for me, the laundry is done, there's only so much British t.v I can watch, and I can't go anywhere without a driver. And listening to Ed Sheeran doesn't help the feels."

"Aside from the loneliness you're living my dream." She half-smiled, "I'm sorry you're lonely. Is there no one there you're friends with?"

"Well yeah, there's a frenemy of Hudson's, his name is Blair Comeau. We've become good friends which I am relieved by. Other than that, there's Huds ex-girlfriend that comes to visit from time to time."

Her mouth agape, she looked surprise, "Ex-girlfriend?"

I slowly nodded, annoyed that he hadn't personally told me about it. "Yeah, she's nice and I don't really wanna talk about it."

She nodded at me and looked like she had something on her mind, she opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it. She struggled within herself to find something to say. "So...have you heard from him at all?"

I watched her through the screen and didn't understand. "Hudson?"

Gnawing at her bottom lip, she slowly shook her head. "No, I'm talking about Christian."

I inhaled and for the first time, the name didn't strike my heart the way it used to. Sure, I thought about him pretty much everyday, but after a month the intensity of them had dwindled. The daydreams had subdued. I decided that after spending a month in another country with my husband, I needed to stop being juvenile about things. After all, I will be turning 23 in a month.

"No, I haven't." I simply replied.

"Are you alright?"

I laughed, "Amelia, I'm fine. That whole thing...it's in the past now." I gnawed at the inside of my cheek.

"Alright." She chuckled, "Oh, so how's work? I've read your articles in the magazine, they're really good."

"Thank you. Um, it's good. Though I'm not writing as much as I did with Rolling Stone, I like the freedom. I'm actually heading out to Koko tonight, I'm gonna do a piece on it along with watching the Arctic Monkeys."

"Nice." She was grinning, "And by the way, that Leonardo DiCaprio spread in Rolling Stone. It sucked. Whoever wrote it must have been high, it was awful. You would've done amazingly."

I just laughed.

"And I love the name of your column; An American Writer in London."

"My own little spin on an American Werewolf." I chuckled.

"So Koko huh? Are you going with Hudson?"

"No, I'm going with Blair." I replied.

"Who's this Blair? You've brought him up a few times, I'm intrigued." She smirked, leaning into the screen.

"He's actually pretty famous. He throws these insane parties, he's friends with Lady Gaga and has gone on these crazy excursions with Terry Richardson. He's got his own menswear line, and he's an interior decorator. Kind of a jack of all trades in my eyes."

"Wow, he sounds intense." She giggled.

"He is. He comes off as apathetic but he just doesn't show his emotions like everyone else. But once I got to know him, he's become a great friend and listener."

"Well I'm glad you have someone to talk to...is he cute?" She bit her lip and laughed. I lifted a hand, "Yeah, he's handsome."

She watched me for a moment and I knew exactly what she was thinking. I rolled my eyes, "Amelia please. I'm not interested in him. I've learned my lesson the hard way, I won't allow myself to be that stupid again."

"I meant for me!" She burst out into laughter and I laughed and buried my face in my hands, "Oh. Sorry."

"That's fine. I know you've leaned your lesson. I wouldn't ever think you'd do that again." She smiled thoughtfully. "It's still foreign to me to see my best friend in newspapers, or when I go online to British entertainment sites. Instead of you writing articles on celebrities, people are writing pieces on you!"

I gave a laugh, "I was told that I would adjust easily to this life. But that's not the case. I'm just not used to being followed around by photographers wherever I go."

"I guess that's what you get for marrying a famous person." She chuckled. I smiled, "Well I didn't know he was famous to begin with..."

"So does anyone know about the baby?"

I shook my head, "No, and at thirteen weeks it won't be long before I pop. I just hope I can hold out for a little while longer." I bit my lip.

"Thirteen weeks. Wow." She grinned.

"I know! It's the end of my first trimester." I beamed, "Like, it feels so crazy. I think it's finally sinking in now, I'm gonna be a mom."

"Mother Avery." She teased.

"And I go on this one website like, all the time. He's the size of a peach."

"He? You know what you're gonna have?" She sprung upright and gazed at me excitedly. Giving a small laugh, I shook my head. "No, for some reason I just feel as if it's gonna be a boy."

"Have you been thinking of names at all? Or is it too early?"

"Oh yes I've been brainstorming some names, but right now I'm just keeping everything on the down low." I smiled coyly.

There was a knock at my door and it was soon opened by Mrs. Davies. "Mr. Comeau is here to see you ma'am." She spoke in her gentle Manchester accent. She's an incredibly sweet older lady, sometimes I feel guilty with all that she does for me.

"Thank you Mrs. Davies." I replied. Blair had excused himself past her and greeted me while entering into my room. After Mrs. Davies disappeared, he gave a small smile and had come around the bed and sat on the end of it, "What are you doing?"

"Just skyping with a friend." I answered, turning my attention back to Amelia. "Babe, I gotta get ready to head out soon. But let's talk tomorrow, thank you for the call, I really needed it." I smiled.

"Anytime. Love you Ave, hi Comeau." She laughed, "'kay bye now."

She had ended the call and I closed my laptop. Blair had slightly laughed and made a face, "How did she know my name?"

"She must have heard Mrs. Davies. But I also mentioned you to her." I tucked a loose lock of hair behind my ear as I gave my attention to him.

"Hm. Anyways, I came early 'cause I thought it'd be nice to have something to eat before heading to Koko." He replied in his cool manner.

"Yes please." I chuckled, "I'm starved."

"Same here, are you ready or shall I wait?" He asked. He was so proper, despite his crude humour at times. Slowly getting up from the bed, I turned to him. "I'm ready."

"Good, I wasn't in the mood to wait." He smirked, teasing me. "But I am in the mood for fries."

"You read my mind." I replied as we had left the room.

Amelia's Life

The dial tone over my cell didn't ring long before Christian answered. With the time difference between New York and London, I had become very tired from my conversation with Avery as it was getting late in Manhattan. But I was ordered to call Christian any time after talking to Avery to report on how she was and all his questions. Though I did keep most things private, she is after all my best friend. I couldn't betray her like that.

"Hi." He eagerly answered.

I yawned and my eyes watered, "Hey Christian."

"Did you talk to her?"

"Yes." I laughed, shaking my head.

"Well?"

"Well?" I mocked him.

"Amelia. How is she?" He spoke in an exasperated tone.

I smiled, "Don't bark at me! She's okay."

"Just okay? Is she alright?" There was a note of concern in his tone.

"I don't know...she says she is, but Hudson is working all the time. She's bored I guess. Literally everything is done for her, so she doesn't have anything to do other than write. And there's only so much you can write about."

He sighed, "I can't believe him. He makes this big deal out leaving for London right away for his "marriage" and yet he abandons Avery like that."

I couldn't help but smile when I heard how sincere and thoughtful he was being, though he was always like this. Christian and I would talk at least twice a week and he would practically pour his heart and soul out to me about Avery. I don't think I ever realized just how in love he really is with her. All his frantic questions and eager need to hear anything and everything about Avery.

"Well, she does have a friend over there that she confides in, Blair."

"Blair?"

"Mhm." I assumed he had just been repeating the name.

"Blair who?" He spoke slowly.

"Uh, Comeau I believe." I listened more closely now, intrigued as to why he was asking.

I thought I had almost heard a small gasp from him, but I could have been wrong. "Blair Comeau...I know him." He spoke plainly.

My jaw dropped and I furrowed my brow, "You do?"

"Yes, yes I know him." He answered in a breathy voice, I think he was as shocked as I, "We're friends. We used to be roommates back in the day, in San Francisco. Blair Comeau, you're certain?"

"Positive. Avery said that he's a bit of a celebrity, he throws lavish parties and is close with Lady Gaga, Terry Richardson and people like that. And he's like an interior designer or something like that."

"Yeah that sounds like him, the apartment was always kept spotless and everything was well...decorated."

"This is crazy that you know him, or I guess that he's a mutual friend of both you and Avery."

"I know." He said in almost a whisper. For a while there he was very quiet, to the point where I actually had to ask if he was still there.

"What are you gonna do?" I asked eagerly, biting my lip in anticipation.

"I don't know..." He was dumbfounded and I grew impatient.

"Christian Reid. I'll tell you what you are going to do. You are going to book a flight from L.A to London. You are going to find her, pour out your heart to her, sweep her off her feet, and the two of you will fall madly and deeply back in love with each other."

"Amelia, I am rolling my eyes at you right now. You are living in a fantasy, I can't do that-"

"Yes you can! Christian, love is not something to be taken lightly. When you fall, you fall hard and you become someone you never knew existed. It's okay to become dramatic and poetic with it. Be extravagant, be crazy, be over the top. That's the best kind of love." I pounded my fist into the bed.

Again he was quiet and I had hoped he was thinking long and hard about this, considering it.

"I'll have to talk to Blair first...I need to make sure."

"Chris-"

"I'll consider it, okay?" He interrupted me.

I smiled, knowing that it would be exactly what he'd do. "Good. You know, I think it's incredibly sweet the way you talk about her."

He lightly laughed, "I tried for a long time to move on. I tried to stop thinking about her, loving her. But it's impossible. It hurts me in the worst ways. Amelia, she is my everything."

"I know she is, and when you see her you need to tell her what you told me that day." I pursed my lips.

"I just don't know how she'll react if I were to just show up."

For a moment there I thought about what Avery had said. With a straight face and not even blushing, she had told me that things were in the past now. For the sake of Christian's feelings I hope she was lying to me. "I'm not sure either...you never know with her." I shrugged my shoulders. "But I'm super tired and it's getting late, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight Christian."

He sighed and laughed lightly, "Okay, goodnight."