cosmiafck

[cosmiafck]

hugo had gone from shock and desolation to feeling absolutely numb in a couple hours. it was like his body was rejecting any sensation and he just felt absolutely nothing. kaia had finally discovered he had been secretly seeing cosmia for quite a while now, she had walked away from him and taken with her any chance he had at building a happy life with her. but could he blame her? she was probably better off without him anyways. hugo tried to wrap his arms around coco as soon as she collapsed against him but the thoughts of kaia kept him from it, instead he instinctively pushed away, creating space between them. “there’s something i need to tell you,” he mumbled, looking down at his hands. 

her hands instinctively reached out towards hugo, grasping at thin air. “what’s wro-,” she began, confused, before halting as he spoke. her heart dropped at his words. coco knew it was bad by the expression etched into his features, but moreover because he’d never pushed her away before - not even when they had fought so terribly she thought they might never speak again. the only sound she heard was her heart beating, and then – “what’s happened, hugo? tell me.”

[cosmiafck]

he supposed he loved coco, in the most domestic sense of the word. after all, it was hard not to feel the slightest bit of affection towards the woman who had brought him his three children. «emergency business call,» he explained, bending down to lift zeph (who had been relentlessly tugging on the fabric of his suit) up. it wasn’t a new thing, that alistair would disappear mid-event to deal with a crisis in management, only to return two hours later. and even though technically, he was only working a little less than a hundred hours per week, he was always on the clock. «i’ll take the kids off your hands for a bit, how about that?»

“emergency business call,” she repeated monotonously. surprise surprise. she didn’t know how often alistair was actually dealing with work, although considering how wonderfully successful the company was it was probably more often than she gave him credit for. “is there anything i can do?” as tense as their relationship could be, her heart ached to see alistair so stressed about work, although she couldn’t remember the last time he wasn’t. “goodness, how generous of you, alistair.” she rolled her eyes, downing the rest of her champagne in order to free her hand to grab onto astra’s arm before she started to wander off again. “i’m not sure you’ll be able to manage them all.”

[cosmiafck]

“oh those aren’t much my type of thing, i tried them with blaze and didn’t feel much like myself. it was only marginally better than the herbal pregnancy i had with ophelia,” the smile bridget returned was only slightly more real than the one she was given by cosmia. blaze lifted his head a little when he noticed she was talking about him, though only his dark blond hair and bright blue eyes became visible. “he’s all his papa, besides my eyes. where are your young ones,” she fond of the children coco and alistair had, but she’d be the first to admit it was mostly out of pity for being born to such… interesting individuals.

“goodness. a herbal pregnancy. i didn’t realise anyone actually had one of those.” almost everyone had looked at cosmia and seen the perfect pregnancy, when in reality she struggled tremendously with the entire process. it was strange to coco that bridget had turned into such, well, a good mother. “he certainly does look like ollie,” coco agreed. “uh -,” she paused, glancing around in the way that mothers do without even thinking when the absence of their children is mentioned. “well, i would like to think alistair has them, but they’re probably with the nanny.” she didn’t like having a nanny for their children; but what with alistair working so much and her royal duties, it would be impossible not too. 

[cosmiafck]

it felt like she hadn’t had a chance to breathe all day, what with looking after the children and repeating the same spiel to each one of her former classmates. she felt like she constantatly had to be looking behind her back; which was paranoid even for coco. but as she approached their secret rendezvous point, coco could feel herself begin to relax. she hated sneaking around, but she also couldn’t bear the thought of being without hugo for longer than even a couple of days. “hugo,” she sighed in relief, dropping her handbag by the door and walking straight over to the boy, letting herself collapse against him. @grandets

[cosmiafck]

“where on earth have you been?” coco sighed, somewhere between relief and irritation, as she finally located her husband. “it’s been an absolute nightmare watching out for the children in this crowd, and you’ve been nowhere to be found.” but what else was new? coco thought to herself - she should’ve seen this coming a mile off. public events like this one were always especially strenuous on their ‘marriage’, which was evident in the fact that coco was holding onto her fourth flute of champagne. @bclfour

[cosmiafck]

tom secured stevie tightly around his waist, not wanting to go on a chase after her once again and his lips turned into a smile as he turned to look at the person his daughter had run to. “coco?!” he replied excitedly, as he took in the image of his old friend and her beautiful daughter in matching dresses. “how are you? how’s alistair?” he asked excitedly. “it’s so good to see you again, and your daughter, wow, she’s beautiful.”

“it’s so lovely to see you, really. it’s been far too long.” her words were entirely genuine, despite what had happened between them as kids. “um -,” she hesitated slightly, wishing she had prepared better for questions such as these. “i’m good, busy but good. and alistair is the same - he’s somewhere around here, with our other two.” coco added, smiling at thomas's kindness. “say thank you, astra.” she prompted, gently squeezing her daughter’s hand. the little girl dutifully complied, but the words were muffled due to the fact she was sucking her thumb. “and this little angel must be stephanie?”

[cosmiafck]

the event had been on for less than an hour, and already eleanor had found herself needing to sneak off for a breath of fresh air. the constant buzz of the same three questions being asked over and over again was still ringing in her ears: ‘when are you getting married?’, ‘what about children?’& ‘when do you reckon you’ll be crowned?’. three questions that could all be answered with a simple: ‘when the time is right.’ perhaps it was the constant repetition of the same answer that had left her so knackered, perhaps it was the child she was carrying - but she was practically in shambles. so much so, in fact, that it took her a whole second to realise someone had approached her. “do you need anything, darling?” 

why on earth she had agreed to come to this god-awful reunion, coco couldn’t recall - she had probably been in a prescription medication-induced stupor. and moreover, she had agreed to bring her three young children with her. god only knew where alistair was, even though he had agreed to watch out for them too. but his absence was as natural to coco as breathing. so when she caught sight of eleanor, coco immediately felt more at ease. she missed eleanor terribly, but their schedules left very little time for anything outside of royal duties. “just wanted to see how you were doing. you seem a little overwhelmed by all the questions.” she spoke softly, adjusting the little girl on her hip, another two lingering at her legs.

[cosmiafck]

Thomas walked around the school campus holding tightly on Stevie’s hand. At first, he didn’t think it was such a good idea to bring their children to an event like this but Eliza had insisted, saying some old friends were dying to meet their two babies and Tom could never say no to his wife. So here he was, showing Stevie around the place where her parents had first met, he wasn’t so sure if the 3-year-old could understand anything he was saying but she looked in awe of the tall old buildings as she escaped from his grip and into the nearest stranger. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered to the other person as he went to pick up Stevie in his arms. “The older she gets, the harder it is for me to keep up with her.”

“no need to apologise.” coco waved her hand dismissively, a smile on her face as she watched the little girl. “we’ve all been there after all.” she nodded slightly towards the little girl gripping onto her hand - the spitting image of her mother, especially since they were wearing in a perfectly coordinated dresses. finally focusing on the man before her, coco’s smile spread into a beam. “oh my goodness, tom?!” she exclaimed.

[cosmiafck]

bridget sighed loudly as she looked over at the bar longingly, of course the one time she needed alcohol more than anything she was knocked up, as if being around her crazy family wasn’t enough, she was being forced in interact with her former classmates also. she knew there was a person behind her before she even turned around since blaze buried his head into her neck to hide from whoever it was, never fond of anyone besides ollie or her, and a select few other people. “so, you wouldn’t happen to know of a way to get wasted while you’re pregnant? don’t tell my husband i asked that.”

“well, i took selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors when i was pregnant, if that’s any help.” coco replied, a wry smile on her face. “not exactly the same as being wasted, i’ve got to admit.” it hadn’t been so long since she had last seen bridget; they ran in similar circles, after all, but it still felt rather strange nonetheless. nodding towards the little boy in bridget’s arms, coco’s smile softened slightly. “he’s grown a lot since i last saw him. a real cutie.” there was no hint of malice in her voice - unusual considering who she was addressing. 

[cosmiafck]

there was a short moment of silence as he leant in to place a soft kiss on her forehead. perhaps the reason for the lack of communication between the two laid with him; his tendency to sweep anything even remotely emotional under the rug (as well as his … general absence) weren’t exactly good starting points for conversation. «i say there’s no point dwelling on that right now, love.»

“why do you never want to talk?” a frustrated sigh escaped her lips. sometimes she just wanted to reach out and shake alistair. she appreciated his ability to remain so composed when she couldn’t, but that didn’t make up for the fact that she never really knew what he was thinking, or how he was feeling. “i don’t know what i’m doing wrong, but you’re clearly absolutely miserable, and it won’t ever get any better if you won’t talk to me.”

[cosmiafck]

“you’ll never guess what – i’ve been invited to four different valentine days parties this year! how popular am i?” amara wasn't’ that exited as she faked to be.

“goodness me.” but coco wasn’t surprised - if anybody was going to be invited to four parties, it was amara. “how on earth will you decide which one to go to?” although it was clear that amara wasn’t thrilled to be going at all. 

[cosmiafck]

her features softened considerably as it dawned on her who exactly she was facing - relief washing over her face. if anyone were to accost her about the whole debacle, it might as well be the closest thing she had to an older sister. «i just need the media to let this die already,» she sighed, pulling her scarf tighter around her shoulders. «… sorry. i’m just — on edge, you know.»

“it will die. i know it doesn’t feel like that now, but something more interesting will come along. you’ve just got to hang in there.” coco reached out, squeezing the girls hand in her own. nora was so much confidence and bravado on the outside, it was easy to forget that she was also fragile. “don’t apologise.” she said firmly. “not to me, at least.” pulling her into a quick hug, coco quickly glanced around. “let’s get you inside, oui?”

[cosmiafck]

“m’not drunk. you’re just blurry…. and spinning a little bit. could you stop doing that? it’s making me dizzy.” 

“uh...” coco raised an eyebrow, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “i’m not moving, jakie. i think you’re just quite pissed.”

[cosmiafck]

“what’s the matter, darling? not up for french?” he questioned, brushing the last bit of white powder off the card before placing it back into his wallet. with that, he seated himself at the edge of their bed, reaching his hand out to stroke through her dark tousles. “just a figure of speech, lovely.”

“no, no, french is good.” she nodded to emphasise her approval. “it’s just, well, you took me by surprise. you’re never normally here, and when you are, you’re not really here.” she never had been good at articulating her feelings when it came to alistair, but she did let herself lean fractionally into his ever-gentle touch. 

[cosmiafck]

if there was a favourite past time of bridget’s, beyond sex, drugs & drinking, shopping would be it. while perusing through the racks of clothing stores relaxed her, there was nothing quite like the thrill of a lingerie boutique - imagining how it would fit on her body, who she’d wear it for. she was certainly in her happy place at that moment, until she looked up and came face to face with cosmia. a scowl graced her face before she could paint a convincing fake smile, sparing a glance towards the red bra and panties set she was planning specifically for coco’s fiancé. “hello love, of all people i didn’t expect to see you here.”

“bridget.” she replied curtly, silently cursing that her retail therapy had been interrupted by so unwelcome a guest. her gaze lingered on the lingerie set in bridget’s hands for a moment, before returning to the girl. she wrong-footed to say the least by the entire situation. “i’m not a complete nun, as i’m sure you very well remember.” she sighed, before raising her eyebrows slightly. “are those for anyone in particular?” she asked, nodding slightly towards the lingerie. 

[cosmiafck]

“4:30 - but we’ve got a reservation at sketch for 7, and judging by the state of your night stand (and my credit card statement), i imagine you need a little time to sort out your hangover before we show off in public,” he chuckled, leaning over to brush the powder into the bin. “so did i,” he replied then, followed by a short sigh. “but daddy dearest decided, after i had landed, to postpone the bloody merger. so i guess you’re stuck with me, unfortunately.”

“ah. sketch.” she repeated, her brain working extra hard to comprehend what was being said. “are you sure you want to go to dinner?” she asked slowly, gaze following alistair’s hands as he swept away the secrets of the previous evening. she couldn’t remember the last time alistair had even been around in the evening, let alone voluntarily asked her to dinner. “unfortunately for you, or for me?” she asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

[cosmiafck]

“that we did,” he nodded in agreement. whenever he was around coco, hugo’s mood always seemed to lighten up. “oh, don’t give me ideas. i’d happily steal you from that fiance of yours and take you to paris,” he stated with a smug smile. “just for a few days, though. don’t wanna get in trouble with the monarchs of monaco.”

“you don’t need to steal me; alistair doesn’t own me. not yet, anyway.” she rolled her eyes playfully. “just for a few days.” coco repeated, “we can stay at the four seasons, i rather miss hotels.” she said, as though she hadn’t returned from the islands of french polynesia just three weeks ago.