Welcome everyone to my new fic, La Ville de Lumieres. It's been a long time coming, so thank you for being so patient while I sweated this whole thing out!

Rating: M15 There's some coarse language, some sexual references...nothing too naughty.

Disclaimer: I don't own, or am associated with, any of the celebrities mentioned in this fic. All the girls are kind people who signed up for my cast call and their likenesses are used with permission. The character of Genevieve Ashley Martin is fictional, I own her so please do not steal, because I love her! lol The families of the celebrities mentioned in here are used with absolute love and respect, especially Johnny Depp's family and Vanessa Paradis, whom I adore. The plotline(s) are all my own creation, please don't steal my work or I'll cry! lol Also, I've taken some liberty with a couple of the celebs' ages, just to make it fit better. No offence meant!

Special thanks to Mena for putting up with endless annoying PM's from me asking stupid questions about Paris! lol Her help has been invaluable!! Please keep in mind that I've never been to Paris, although I'd love to, and I'm only starting to learn French, so some of the translations in this fic are a little retarded! lol I apologise!

Anyway, without further ado, I present to you...

LA VILLE DE LUMIERES


PROLOGUE

Variety Magazine Paris, March 2004
PARIS: THE NEW HOLLYWOOD?
By Jessica Kleeman

Once upon a time you could drive through the streets of Beverly Hills and spot a heaven full of movie stars. These days if you drive through Beverly Hills you’re more likely to spot hoardes of tourists and Pamela Anderson wannabe’s – so what happened to all the celebrities? Where did they all go?

The answer: Paris, France. That’s right folks – strolling down the West Bank of the City of Lights, anyone with a sharp eye can find more famous faces than bohemian artists these days, as the celebs pack up and move on from the glaring spotlight of Hollywood. But are they escaping, or simply re-building their empire on different shores?

As I write this, there’s at least two different films being shot simultaneously in and around the stunning scenery of gay Paris, and the sprawling villa’s of St Tropez, in France’s south, are slowly being turned into another Hollywood Hills, with actors, musicians and heiresses becoming the new kids on the block.

Of course the biggest Paris-based film at the moment is the film adaption of ‘The Da Vinci Code’, the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, to be directed by Italian writer-director Michael Williams, which begins filming next week. Williams’ latest epic is to reunite ‘The Lord of the Rings’ co-stars Orlando Bloom and Billy Boyd, as well as introducing them to the likes of Jude Law in the coveted lead role of Robert Langdon, and Hollywood’s “It” girl, Jaime Evans. Coming in second place as the biggest Parisian film about to begin production is ‘Blood Red’, the directorial debut from yet another ‘Lord of the Rings’ prodigy, Sean Astin. The story of a group of Parisian vampire-worshippers, ‘Blood Red’ will star Mackenzie Wright, Jasmine Elphinstone, Ben Affleck and Hogwarts graduate Rupert Grint.

Want me to name-drop some more? Viggo Mortensen, Michael Williams’ long-time love, will also be spending the three-month production schedule in our fair city. Completely unrelated to the film, supermodel Andrea Coppola will be visiting our shores for at least two months while she works on her photo-biography, designs a shoe-range, attends Paris Fashion Week and films a new ad campaign for Chanel. ‘Spiderman’ star Tobey Maguire will also be around indefinitely – he’s been real-estate hunting for months now, and has finally settled in a penthouse apartment in the heart of Paris. The world’s most elusive bachelor, Johnny Depp, has made Paris his home base for almost eight years now.

So if you’re over the boredom and drudgery of Los Angeles, come visit gay Paris, where there’s a star on every corner.

Okay, I really should be sleeping right now...but I just had to check here before I headed off to the land of slumber. And boy oh boy am I ever glad that I did.

*insert crazy girlish screams here* Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! You posted. You posted. You finally posted it. It is like dream come true. *wipes tears of joy away*

Hahahahaa, over dramatic much? Me? Never. :lol:

Oh Jaime, I am in love with the story already and you only posted the prolouge. Ooooh..I love all the name dropping of all the rich and famous that have made their way to the lovely city of Paris.

And I am sorry it must be done...

:eeek: It's me. It's me. Meeeeeee! Me, me, me! I'm staring...oh excuse me, Mack is staring in Sean A's film about vampire worshippers. Tis so perfect.

Loved this line. Talk about a great lead into the story. Brilliance.

I definitely give it a thumbs up! In fact...here it is... :yay:

Smooches to you darling.

A super model :blink: Wow... I never expected me to be one, some day!

This is really cool! I've been once to St. Tropez... And Are you kidding? What magnifict place to film movies!!

I'm really liking this so much Jaime! Please post more soon!

Andie

That was awesome Jess!!

I pouted slightly when i saw you were Hollywood's 'IT' girl ;-) Can i be runner-up :P

I love it ^_^

Your Fan ;)

Jazz.
xxxxxxxx

LOVE IT HONEY! :kissi:

Can't wait for more. I wonder who's POV that chapter was.

It's being posted! Great! :wub:

Lovely prologue. Can't wait to see what's happening from here!

Great start, can't wait for more

Hee! Pardon my ego...

First thing up is a article written by ME! So wonderfully written at that. So they're all in Paris now? This should be interesting. Can't wait for more.

weee! It's up! I'm so happy you posted. And, i just love this little article opening. Very interesting to see what everyone is doing over in grand Paris. Now, really, I must have more! My interest is peaked! :yes:

YAY! IT'S UP!
WAHOOO!!!!!

I just love the start!
It grabbed me.
I can't wait for more!
:bloom:

~Stacy~

What a beautiful prologue, my dear. The imagery was amazing. You had me sucked in with that paragraph right there. I shall have to mark this down to check back and see how all these individual webs can weave themselves together.

Ally

Amazing prologue, dear! So friggin' excited to find out it is up!!! Now I do want to devour the rest!

:love:

To quote Ronda, pardon my ego, but...
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
first, you posted, second, this sounds like a damn hot family reunion, and third...

YOU made of ME
!) a movie director
2) Viggo's girlfriend
3) ork with Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd AND Jude Law? Like, I can tell them what to do, I mean, EVERYTHING they must do? :tsk: :mistress:

I love Paris.

:laugh: You guys make me smile!!

Alright, on with the show!! (I must warn you, some of the chapters are pretty long...this is one of them :blush: )


CHAPTER ONE

“Ciao, bella, it’s Miki – just wanted to call and make sure you landed safely, but you’re probably exhausted after the flight, so just give me a call back whenever. You know the number. Welcome to gay Paris, mon cherie!”

Jaime Evans had been woken by her alarm only minutes beforehand, and found the message on her voicemail. That was how much she hated jetlag, and the flight from London to Paris was a killer, she thought – she’d slept straight through her phone ringing. And now it was late afternoon and she’d accidentally slept most of the day so she was sure to be awake all night, and she probably had a hungry, grumpy, also jetlagged child to feed. Welcome to gay Paris, Jaime.

But to her surprise, two-year-old Alexis was quiet as a mouse when Jaime entered the hotel suite’s kitchen, sitting at the small table with her face a mess of spaghetti and the only indication of exhaustion being the slightly glazed look in her eye.

“Mornin’ sunshine,” chirped Jaime’s younger sister, Samantha, who looked as bad as Jaime felt. “Good nap?”

“Not quite. Made me feel even worse,” Jaime admitted, taking a seat and wiping sauce from her daughter’s grinning face. “Look at your mess,” she cooed. “At least you’re not screaming.”

“She’s been surprisingly good,” said Sam, who travelled with her movie-star sister as Alexis’ nanny. “Dude, we should take her everywhere with us!”

Jaime grinned at the wry joke, watching Alexis turn her attention back to her meal. “Oh, I have to call Miki,” she said, reminding herself before the thought slipped her mind completely. “She left a message on my phone, but I missed it. Didn’t even hear it ring.”

“Mac called too while you were asleep. She said she might drop by a bit later and say hello. And she also said that Andie will be in town soon too.”

“Cool.”

This whole trip was just going to be one big reunion party, Jaime thought with glee. As a teenager, Jaime had joined an Internet forum dedicated to budding young writers, and had found soul mates in four other girls. Michael Williams was Italian, and the most talented author Jaime knew. She’d submitted a short story to a magazine a few years ago, which by chance had been read by Francis Ford Copolla, who had decided to produce it as a feature film. Miki had signed on as director, and her Hollywood career was launched.

Mackenzie Wright was American, studying journalism but with a dream to act. One day she’d decided to give it all up and move to New York, and for about a year she’d worked the traps on Broadway, until she’d landed the female lead in Mel Brooks’ new musical ‘The Producers’ and her own career was launched.

Andrea Copolla had been studying business, when a photography student friend of hers asked her to pose for a shoot he was doing. When proposing this he’d neglected to mention that the pictures were being published in the US edition of Vogue, and all of a sudden fashion houses and makeup companies were banging on her door for her to model for them. So, she’d done what any self-respecting Spanish girl would have done – she’d hired an agent, sorted through the offers until she found the highest paying one, and accepted it. Now she was on par with Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss as one of the world’s hottest supermodels.

And then there was little Jaime Evans from Australia. Little Jaime who’d wanted to be famous since she knew what fame was, who starred in school plays and community productions, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her first film role ever, who was now known as the biggest young talent in Hollywood. Little Jaime who’d fallen pregnant at the age of twenty-one to the love of her life – who went on to break her heart – and caused the biggest scandal since Britney’s fake wedding.

Last but not least, there was Mone’ Devereaux, whom Jaime thought about often, and with a sense of sadness. Mone’ was the only one of the group who didn’t work in the industry now – in fact, no-one knew what she did. She’d been studying pharmacy in Louisiana, and after a near-nervous breakdown from the workload had decided to defer a semester and work as an au pair for a wealthy couple who travelled between France and the United States for a few months. The girls had all kept in contact no matter where they were working, but as Mone’ travelled her e-mails grew less frequent, until she stopped replying to them at all. Her cell phone answered with a recorded “I’m sorry, the number you have called has been disconnected...’ message, and without that, there was no way of getting in contact with her.

No time to think of that now, Jaime told herself as she picked up the phone with a hint of remorse. Mone’ made her decision to cut us out of her life. Just move on.

Pushing all thoughts of her former friend from her mind, Jaime headed for the phone and dialled Miki’s number.

“Hello?” came Miki’s heavily-accented voice on the other end.

“Hey darlin’,” Jaime responded in her broad Australian. “What’s goin’ on?”

“A lot,” Miki laughed. “Things are frantic right now.”

“Is everything settled with filming in the Louvre?”

“Just about. Just figuring out timings and stuff – good thing it’s not tourist season, or we’d have no chance.”

‘The Da Vinci Code’, the film the two were working on, was mainly set in Paris’ famous Musee du Louvre, and one of the selling points of the movie was that it was filmed in the actual museum. The problem with this feat though, was getting permission from the curators to set up their ‘studio’ inside – especially considering the film centered around two of the museum’s most prized displays – the ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘The Last Supper’. They’d just encountered the same problems with shooting in certain locations in London as well, and were getting increasingly frustrated.

“Just keep being persistant,” Jaime told her. “We’ll get it.”

“Eventually, no doubt. Anyway, how was your flight?”

“It was a flight.”

“Enough said. What are your plans for tomorrow?”

“Looks to be a busy day – all that sleeping and eating and TV-watching...”

Miki laughed again. “Think you could squeeze lunch with your director and co-stars into your hectic schedule? Say about twelve-thirty?”

“I might have an opening. I’ll have my secretary pencil you in.”

“Nice. Well, tell your secretary twelve-thirty on the dot at Ma Maison.”

The dark cloud of jetlag was beginning to lift from Jaime’s mind. “I’ll be there,” she promised. The two gossiped for a few more moments, then hung up. There would be plenty of opportunities to catch up on their gossip over the next few months, and for now they both had other things to attend to.

“I’m taking a nap,” announced Sam, heading for the room she’d taken as her bedroom. Jaime quickly cleaned up the remains of Alexis’ dinner and settled her in front of the television, then dialled another familiar number.

“Jaime!” exclaimed Mackenzie Wright as she recognised the voice on the other end. “How are you?”

“Jetlagged,” Jaime admitted, sinking onto the couch beside her daughter. “You?”

“Not bad. What are you doing right now?”

Jaime glanced at the television. “Umm...watching Spongebob Squarepants with Lexi.”

“How exciting.”

“Hey it’s dubbed in French, man. Entertainment andculture.”

“What more could you ask? Feel like a visitor?”

“Honey, if the visitor is you, definitely.”

“That’s what I like to hear. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“See you then.”

Alexis’ tiredness was showing now, and she stuck a thumb in her mouth and crawled onto Jaime’s lap. It had been so long since she’d seen most of the girls – her sisters, as they’d dubbed themselves. Sure, she’d just spent a month in London with Miki, but the workload had been so frantic they’d barely seen each other off-set. And she’d missed them. It seemed so long ago that they’d conversed purely by messages on the forum, and MSN chats – nothing more than words on a screen, that symbolised an entire person that existed in an entirely different world from the ones they all knew. Miki and Mone’ had been the first to meet in person – they’d been extremely close, and Mone’s sudden disappearance had affected Miki the most. Then Jaime had been doing her publicity stints for her first film, and run into Andie completely by chance in LA. On her way home, Jaime had deliberately made a detour to New York to catch up with Mac, her fellow actress, and from there they’d all made an effort to travel, and see each other regularly. Now of course they were all mainly based in Los Angeles, which made it easier, but their schedules still kept them apart, and it was nice to return to their roots with e-mails and MSN.

These guys really are my family, Jaime thought to herself. It was so much easier to bare your soul to another person when you couldn’t see their face – so much easier to get to know someone when you didn’t have aesthetics and stereotypes to judge them by in the first place. And the writing – well, hardly a soul in the ‘real word’ had ever read most of their stories and drabbles and poems – certainly no one had read any of Jaime’s. That was the window to your soul, Jaime thought, the words you chose to describe moods and feelings and people. Those four girls – three now, she reminded herself – knew her better than anyone in the ‘real world’ ever would, and she’d missed them terribly.

Eventually a knock sounded at the door, and her heart leapt. Even in this strange city, the city of her dreams, far away from home, as long as her girls were around she was home.

Good lord!
:cry2:

Jess, you moved me. beside the little trick of your main character having a daughter (it's one of my secret wishes, to write something similar), the whole part about online friends was so incredibly sweet..

Sometimes I am afraid i'm the one bearing my friends in mind this strong way, and that's why it feels so good to read such a thing.

I am desperately late here, but i need to quote a couple of things...

*whispers* I'm honestly glad there is no mention here about a 'pornstar voice', muoahahah!
*ends whisper*

SIGH!!!!

that was a stab to my heart, lady. How am I supposed to make it through, without my Mone'? :cry:

Awww....

and, again:

awwwwww!!!!

Jaime! My goodness girl...this is...well...for lack of a better word, I will use the word that I use all the damn time...amazing. And brilliant. And magnificent. And how about stunning. Or...or..captivating. :yes: Or a mixture of everything mentioned above.

Dang, seriously, I was so touched when reading this chapter. So heartfelt and emotional all jam packed into one chapter. I just have this feeling I will be crying at some point in this story.

Loved the background you gave about the girls, how they met (tee hee...online) and how they all grew to be such great friends despite the barriers of not being in the same town, or even the same country.

Few of my favorite quotes:

Talk about eloquently written and yet jam packed with emotion. I especially love the bit about how online a person is nothing more than words and those words are essentially how others become to know that one person. Really kind of crazy to think that we are being measured by just our words and words alone. But yet, also kind of reassuring, none of that stereotypical bullshit to cloud our thoughts or opinions of others. Okay...I'm stepping off my soapbox now. Tee hee

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself.

As a side thought...hm...wonder what happened with Mone. Now I'm all nervous just thinking about Mone pulling herself away from the group.

Seriously, Jaime, this is bloody brilliant. I'm so hooked already and it is just the beginning. You are a goddess. :bow:

God :cry:

I'm here, at my home, reading this and listening to christmas songs (have yourself a merry little christmas) and I swear I almost cry!

First, I love who you put our lives in those ways, to have, somehow, to fulfill those dreams we have into reality, it broke my heart. really.

Second, I'd love to meet you my darlin! and you're so true when you say that it's so easily to trust some people who'd not criticaze your person because they can't see you. You know me in my good and bad, without even knowing m physically. That gives you so much advance! *hugs*

I love this story babe, and I love it because of what you're trying to tell us and *cries*

I wanna go Australia!

:cry: Oh no! Why am I cutting everyone off? This is horribly sad. I don't want to be off my my lonesome. I better get with it and come back soon. So sad. *sniffles*

:cry: :cry2: God that chapter was moving! Very well written sweetie.

Darn, I read that fast. I like the longer chapters. :yes:

I'm quite speechless actualy. I have no idea idea what to say. <_<

All I can say sweetie is... Is... THAT WAS :ups: AWESOME!

Louise Ann
xx
:kissi:

Wonderful beginnings!

Keep 'em coming!

Happy Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza and everything else everyone!

~Luvn Elwood :love:

Teacher!! (lol)

let me tell you that is so sweat of you that you described your feelings

:bow:

keep posting!!!

Hugs

Marisol

What a great story!
I loved that chapter.

I'm curious to know about Mone'. Why is she ignoring everyone? I'm sure I'll get my answers soon enough.

Au revoir!!

~Stacy~

Wow, very moving chapter! I really like the way you describe things, emotionally and otherwise.
That's really sad about Mone' I hope she's alright and just can't get to a computer/phone or something... :unsure:

I'm looking forward to the next chapter :) Hope to see it soon :)

Squee! You girls give me a happy!! lol Oh, I apologise for the shitty translations...as I've said before, I'm not quite the expert on French...yet! :P

CHAPTER TWO

Dominic Monaghan was a regular visitor to Paris, and there was a cafe that he made a point of dropping into every time he went there. Cafe d’Rosa was run by an American named Stacy Zanavich who’d moved to France to study art history years ago, and never returned, and she and Dom had developed quite the amitie over the years.

“Bonjour, Mademoiselle Stacy,” he called as he stepped into the cafe the next morning. She was standing at the end of the counter, engaged in conversation with an old man, and looked up immediately.

“Ah, Bonjour, Monsier Dominic,” she replied in a perfect French accent, her warm dark eyes lighting up. “Que vous amène-t-il à Paris?”*

“Mon ami de dame travaille – je’m le considérant un petit vacances.”**

“Très le bon.”*** She switched back to English, knowing that Dom was hardly the best linguist in the world. “This lady friend – you mean Andrea Coppola?”

“Who else?” Dom slid into his usual booth with a grin, and she sat opposite.

“I’ve seen pictures of her – she’s tres assez.”****

“Tell me about it.”

Too much time spent in a foreign city with only the occasional English-speaking customer had stilted her native language, and Stacy now spoke with a pronounced French accent. “What news have you got for me? Tell me everything that’s happening back in Hollywood.”

“Well...” Dom thought for a moment. Not a lot had been happening lately – it seemed like everyone was in a bit of a rut. Sure, there were always scandals in Hollywood – real or otherwise – but none of them had related directly to him or his friends lately. “Well, Elijah and Caroline broke up a few weeks ago.”

“Caroline Shepherd, the pop singer?” Stacy shook her head. “She seemed like a chienne***** anyway.”

“She was,” Dom agreed. Caroline Shepherd was the nastiest piece of work ever to set foot inside the celebrity scene – and that was saying something. The relationship had been doomed from the beginning, but naturally Elijah was heartbroken and Dom felt sorry for the poor guy – sitting alone in LA while nearly all his friends were galivanting all over gay Paris. Too depressing for words. “Hey,” he said, changing the subject. “I’m having a little gathering this weekend – most of the gang is in town, with ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Blood Red’ being filmed, and I thought we’d have a little reunion. Why don’t you drop by?” Over the years he’d introduced Stacy to most of his friends, and whenever anyone from their exclusive little clique was in town they were sure to drop by Cafe d’Rosa. “That way you can catch up on the gossip – or lack thereof – yourself.”

Stacy smiled, tilting her head to the side the way she did when she was thinking. “Yes, that would be nice. I would like to see everyone again.”

“I’m sure everyone’ll be dropping by here for the next couple of months anyway, but I just thought a party might be nice. Nothing too formal, just a casual gathering in my suite.”

“Of course. Where are you staying?”

“The Ritz. Where else?”

“Where else indeed. Alright, Monsier Monaghan, I accept your invitation.”

“Great!” Dom grinned. “Friday night, at eight.”

Stacy grinned back. “Friday night. At eight.”

*

It was in the small hours of the morning that Mackenzie finally left Jaime’s hotel suite. They’d stayed up all night talking, the way they used to, with Lexi curled up asleep on the couch between them. In the old days they would have chain-smoked cigarettes the whole night – of course now, with Alexis, they couldn’t do that, but they satisfied themselves by heading out to the balcony every hour or so. Now she was exhausted, but a weight seemed to have lifted from her shoulders. A good ‘sit-down-and-chat’ session always had that affect.

She’d rented a small villa on the outskirts of Paris for the duration of her stay, and it seemed big and empty as she entered. The sun was beginning to rise and the airy house was already light, but it still seemed to sparse. Too much space for one person, she decided. Maybe she should try and find a roommate. There must have been someone in the cast of ‘Blood Red’ that was tired of hotel rooms.

She slept briefly – she’d never been able to sleep well during the day – then decided it was better to go through the day half-asleep, and sleep well that night, rather than pursue the quest of sweet unconsciousness at this hour. Coffee would see her through it. It always had.

Hmm...what to do now?

It was ten am, and it seemed that everyone was busy. She wasn’t required on set today – she’d filmed all her screen tests the day before, and now they were concentrating on her co-star, Jasmine Elphinstone, so Mac had the day off. But she didn’t know her male co-stars too well and Sean was busy, so she couldn’t call on them to entertain her. Jaime and Miki were both busy today with ‘The Da Vinci Code’, so they were out. Andie was still in London and wouldn’t arrive in Paris until Thursday night...but hey, Orlando was here, and he’d told her the day before that he had the afternoon free of Miki’s wrath. She could call him.

He was available, and as bored as she was, and they wandered the streets of Paris looking for something to do. They drank coffee in countless cafe’s, browsed through a museum or two, waited in line at the Louvre but after ten minutes decided to boycott and head somewhere else, all the while chatting and catching up.

“How’s Elijah holding up?” Mac asked at length, as they sat over their sixth cappacino for the day.

“He’s kinda down,” Orli admitted. “He was so in love with Caroline – God only knows why – and he took it all pretty bad.”

“I wish there was something we could do,” Mac said. “I hate the thought of him sitting alone, brooding, while we’re all over here.”

“Yeah, me too.” Suddenly, an idea dawned on Orlando, and he found himself wondering why he hadn’t thought of it before. “Hey, why don’t we call him and tell him to get his ass over here? That way he’s not alone, and we don’t have to feel so guilty about abandoning him.”

Mac raised her cup and clinked it against his. “What a novel idea,” she said. “And if he doesn’t agree, we’ll call Hannah and tell her to get him on the next flight to Paris by force.”

“Done and done.” They shook hands, pleased with the plan. “Well, dear Mackenzie,” he said. “I think we have a phone call to make. And then...” He paused to kiss her hand. “I believe it’s almost dinner time, and we seem to be in the city of romantic, candlelit dinners.”

“Ooh,” replied Mac, clapping her hands together in delight. “Let’s go get photographed together, and start some rumours that we’re having an affair.”

“It would be an honour to have a fake-affair with you. Let’s go.”

They paid for their coffee and left, looking for a quiet corner of the City of Lights in which to place a phone call.

*What brings you to Paris?
**My lady friend is working - I'm considering it a small vacation
***Very good
****Very pretty
*****Bitch

Ooh! Intriguing(sp? darn it's too early to spell)!

Loving it honey! Loving it! :woot:

Très le bien Jaime! I'm suposed to be able to speak french but I needed help on half of a sentence. Damn crappy french teachers I have. <_<

Louise
xx
:hug:

I agree with Louise, French is a tricky language. :wacko:
But I loved the chapter, too! The whole thing of Dom and Stacy being friends, and Elijah that got rid of an annoying girlfriend...

But most of all, I loved mac and Orlando's interactions! :lol:

*whispers*
I'd do it too! :tsk:

And the lil thing about 'Miki's wrath' made me giggle, because I guess it's true... I'd be a total pain in the ass, especially because I bet it bings a lot of satisfaction, to tell hot guys what to do. :mistress:

You're really putting into this story all of my wishes, you know, babe? career, a romance with Viggo, a blast of city and my precious friends...

wow.

Ohhh I love this so much!

And I'm with my lil' Dom... my lil' Dumbo ears' Dom... How can't I not love him?

I love this story! I love this so much!

Andie

*bounces* Wanna know what excites me the most?

I understood the French without looking!!! I guess years of listening to my family prattle on actually did make some sense. I definitely got chienne. ahahahahahahaha! I got my own little French phrase for a woman like that. I'll have to figure out how you actually spell it first. hahahaha! I usually just say it. So, anyway, I love this fic, cuz I love the French. It is great!

And, poor Lij. Yes, he needs to come to Paris and have his heart mended. Oh, and I love the thing at the end about Orlando and Mac starting a fake affair. ahahahahaha!

Love it!

I'm loving this whole french thing!
Usually people put Spanish in their fics and I don't know a lick of it!
This time I know what everything says cause I just LOVE the french language.

Tres bien mon amie!!!

~Stacy~

:kaboom: Finally!! I was just on my way to read this when the board crashed!!!!!! I've been held in suspense for too long!!!
But it was worth it! Even though it shouldn't've happened!!!

I loved that chapter!

I don't know why, but I found that part (and the fake affair bit) hilarious! I guess I just got this whole mental picture of Dom's face, you know, eyebrows raised... incredulous, sexy look kind of thing.

And the Ritz is just really fun to say/read.

Poor Elijah and his women troubles, although, I suspect that those may be over soon as he is going to the city of love/romance.
But perhaps we'll be seeing more of la chienne Caroline! Hopefully not.

:) Looking forward to the next bit!

Awwww...poor little Elijah. Seems to have horrid luck with the ladies. Always falling for ones that don't seem to love him back. *sigh* Yes, I think that a little trip to the city of love might be in order for him. :yes:

Tee hee! Must admit, I giggled like a school girl when I read this. Something about picturing Orlando looking handsome as ever with his deep chocolate eyes staring intently on Mac and inviting her to a candlelight dinner. Kinda made me swoon.

Fake affair?! Heck yes. I'm all for it. :kissi:

Muahahahahaha!!!! Enter the angst...

CHAPTER THREE

“Jack!” called Mone’ Devereaux, ducking to look beneath the sofa. “Jack, where are you?” From the next room she could hear Jack’s sister, Lily-Rose, calling in vain as well, but there was no sign of the boy. “He’s probably gone upstairs,” Mone’ told Lily-Rose with a sigh. Jack was three years old, a normal, healthy, boisterous little boy, with a great love for playing Hide and Seek. The problem was, Mone’ thought as she trudged up the staircase, that he had a habit of finding incredibly good hiding places then falling asleep, so that the Seeker spent hours searching every nook and cranny of the house for him.

Seven-year-old Lily-Rose was following her. “He might be in dad’s room,” she said in perfect, but heavily-accented, English. Mone’ often marvelled at the girl’s knack for languages – she was born and mostly raised in France, although her father was American, and being an actor travelled a lot, so at a very early age Lily-Rose had learned both languages fluently. Since their mother’s death nearly two years ago though, they’d hardly been back to the States, and Mone’ doubted that Jack would be so quick with languages as his sister was.

As for Mone’, well, she hardly spoke French at all – just barely enough to get by. She’d worked as the children’s nanny since just before Jack was born, and while she’d spent the majority of her time with the family in France, she made a habit of befriending English-speaking merchants and store-owners, and taking Lily-Rose with her to translate when she had to go someplace different. But she managed to get by, and she loved Paris. In some ways it reminded her of her native New Orleans, and yet it distanced herself a comfortable amount from it as well.

But musn’t think of that. It’s all behind you now. You have a new life.

Lily-Rose did a quick inspection of her father’s room, assessed that it was devoid of annoying little brothers, and moved on to the next. The next room happened to be Mone’s and sure enough, there he was – wedged into the tiny space between the wall and a great, overstuffed armchair. He was, of course, fast asleep.

Mone’ sighed, crouching to gently shake him awake. He blinked his eyes open, grinned up at her, and mumbled something in French. She looked to Lily-Rose, who rolled her eyes with all the impatience of an older sibling.

“He said it’s your turn to hide now.”

“Umm, no,” Mone’ told the boy, shaking her head. “How ‘bout we do something else. Your dad will be home soon anyway.”

Grudgingly, Jack obliged, and Mone’ managed to get him settled in front of the television. Lily-Rose disappeared to her room to read, and suddenly she had nothing to do. A few years ago, in quiet moments like these she would have been on the phone to Miki or Jaime or Mac or Andie, but not any more. She’d made a conscious decision to cut them out of her life, and she had to stick to it.

An hour later Johnny Depp returned home, exhausted after filling out mountains of paperwork for the nightclub he’d just bought in Paris. “Jacques and Lise have invited us for dinner,” he announced, referring to his ex-wife’s parents. “Mone’ you’re invited of course, unless you want to take a night off.”

“Let the kids see their grandparents in peace,” Mone’ replied. “A night off would be nice, actually.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. A night off to do what? She didn’t have any friends in this city – only aqquaintances whom she’d met through Johnny, and the only contact she ever had with them was to make playdates for the children. Well, she figured, she could always go see a movie.

Lily-Rose hurtled herself down the stairs to greet her father, and he managed to catch her before she collided with the front door. “Are we going to see Grandmere and Grandpere?” she asked in her accented English.

“Sure are,” Johnny replied in his cultivated American. “We’ll give Mone’ a break, shall we?” He gave the nanny a quick grin, one that was so full of sorrow and lonliness lately, and Mone’ could empathise. Losing Vanessa had been a blow to all of them – and not just the family. Vanessa and Mone’ had become friends – the kind of friends that you can’t fathom ever losing contact with, and Mone’ had felt her own grief after the car accident.

And now she would spend yet another free night alone. As usual.

*

Miki Williams was just about to sit down to dinner with her partner – for the first time in over a week – when her cell phone rang obnoxiously. She considered not answering it, but a glance at the caller ID told her it was Sarah Cohen, her producer, and she picked it up.

“Tell me you have good news,” she said bluntly.

“I have good news,” Sarah obeyed. “We’ve got the Louvre.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. “Oh my God, are you serious? That’s great!”

“Yep. Only problem is we can’t use the real Mona Lisa or Last Supper. But I was expecting that, and we had to use a replica Last Supper anyway, so I’ve just called up the same team that are reproducing that and asked them to do a Mona Lisa as well – they’ll have them both ready in three weeks.”

“Three weeks? But we start shooting on Tuesday. That’ll throw our whole production schedule out.”

“Don’t you worry about the production schedule – that’s what I’m here for. I’ve got my assistant shuffling some stuff around at the moment – there’s plenty of other scenes that don’t involve the Mona Lisa or The Last Supper that we can do first. I’m calling a production meeting for tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully she’ll have it by then.”

“Okay, Sarah. Thanks.”

“Have a good night.”

Miki hung up the phone and returned to the table, where Viggo had just poured a deep, red wine into two glasses. “I take it you’ve got the Louvre,” he said.

“Yep,” she replied, then promptly brushed aside all thoughts of The Da Vinci Code. “But let’s not talk shop tonight. I’m too tired.”

“Then what do you wanna talk about?” His question was innocent, almost playful, and she studied him for a moment with a slight smile.

“I dunno,” she said, tossing her dark red hair a little. “What do you wanna talk about?”

“I dunno.” Now he gave a broad grin. “Try the wine.” They both raised their glasses, in a toast that they had made tradition. “Creativity for the sake of being creative.”

Miki took a long sip. “Good wine.”

“Thought you’d like it.” There was a pause as two hungry people stopped to eat. “So Orli tells me that he and Mac are conspiring to get Elijah over here.”

“Oh, good idea,” Miki replied. “Poor guy, sitting at home, all alone. It’ll be better for him to be here with his friends.” She grinned again. “And it’ll be an even bigger reunion! Nearly the whole gang’ll be together.”

Viggo rolled his eyes, laughing. “Oh God, what a thought...”

Later that night, she lay in the warm comfort of his arms, staring into the darkness as she lost herself in thought. The whole gang back together – Jaime, Mac, Orlando, Billy, Dom, Sean...and of course, her and Viggo. And Andie – and hopefully Elijah would be here too. Then of course there were the others that Miki treasured – Sarah Cohen, her producer, whom she’d worked with for years; Jasmine Elphinstone, who was Mac’s co-star in Blood Red, who Miki had worked with before as well; Sam, Jaime’s little sister, who was one of the gang: they were all coming out.

She vaguely recalled Dom saying something about a party as she drifted off to sleep; a big reunion party once Andie and Elijah arrived.

She could hardly wait.

Aaaah, you little tease!!
Not ONLY your character has a child, but Johnny's....
:eek:

for a moment I just had an heart attack when I read. I was like: Mone'? And kids? Naaaaaaaahhh!
:lmao:

But I wonder: why, why did she cut us out? What happened? Although, I am happy to know she's fine.
(Yeah, I'm a sap, bite me!)
A few quotes:

Don't ask me why, but it sounds incredibly cool to get the dirty job done by someone else.
'My' producer! Another good thing to add to the pile.

And...

Eheheh, cheers!
I'll print this line on a t-shirt someday.

This is a nice constellation of stars, definitely!
But it bugs me, that I don't know what happened with my Queen of New Orleans.

Whatever... I'll pester you on MSN for this. :shine:

Mone, Mone, Mone. You're working for Johnny Depp, alone, kind of The Nanny... And you don't tell us? That's mean! You know what would happen to poor Jaime when she gets to know that you're working for The Johnny Depp...? She'll faint!

I must admit that I had a barely idea that maybe, just maybe because it's hard to imagine Mone and children in the same sentence, she'd be the nanny of them.

The gang together! I can't hardly wait.

I love Viggo's and Miki relationship! I don't know, drinking wine in Paris and talking about getting the Louvre for a movie with the Mona Lisa and all that. Sounds so glamours, elegant, romantic?

I love it! And I must say, as Mena said, I need to know why Amber cut us out! You know? I just need to! Deal?

Deal.

Andie

That was...was...freaking awesome! :faint:

I'm quite in awe... I dunno what to say. Maybe I could say it with smilies... :lol: :shine: :love: :cloud#9: :woot: :kissi:

Hmmm... They don't do it justice. Loving it sweetie! Loving it!

:cry: OH, the Angst!!!!! Why did I cut them out???? Why do I live lonely life taking care of flailing children??? ahhh! I am just dying to know. weeeeeeee!

That made me think of Titanic!!!!!

*Happy yet Sad thoughts ensue*

Well done Jaime Girl!

~Luvn

I :love: you guys!!! And thanks to Mena for help with this chap...


CHAPTER FOUR

If Elijah Wood was shitty when he got on the plane in Los Angeles, he was Pissed Off as he waited for three hours at Ciampino airport in Italy for a connecting flight to Paris. There had been technical problems or something and the plane had had to land, and Elijah was feeling rather impatient as he headed outside for a cigarette. He didn’t want to be in Rome, waiting for a flight to Paris, where he didn’t want to go. He wanted to be at home, sprawled on the couch wearing three-day-old underwear, watching Jerry Springer until his mind went numb and he couldn’t think any more. That would be bliss.

But no, Dom had to call and invite him to Paris, to “get away from LA, and the memories, AND Caroline, for awhile”. Elijah had politely refused, but Dom then went on to call his sister, who burst in on his umpteenth Springer marathon, threw some clothes into a bag, dragged him into her car, then pushed him onto a plane practically at knife-point.

“I will never forgive you for this,” Elijah had called as he ascended the stairs to board the plane. “Never ever!”

And Hannah had just grinned her obnoxious grin and waved cheekily as the plane taxi’d down the runway and finally took off.

How easy would it be to just refund my ticket, and buy another one back to LA? Elijah thought as he lit his cigarette. No-one would ever have to know – I could just go home and crawl into bed for a million years. Of course they’d all be worried when I didn’t show up in Paris, but who cares? Screw ‘em.

He’d almost made up his mind to do it, when a familiar voice penetrated his vengeful thoughts. “Elijah? Oh my goodness!”

Through the crowd a Spanish goddess was appearing, surrounded, as always, by an entourage of burly bouncers. “Andie?” he said, nearly dropping his cigarette as she rushed to embrace him. “This is a surprise.”

“What are you doing in Rome?” she asked, stepping back to take in his haggard features. “You look terrible.”

He shrugged off her last remark – he was beyond caring about his looks. “I’m, uh...” Tell her you’re on your way back to LA and be done with it! Screamed a voice in his head, but for once the angel on his left shoulder was the victor. Of all the people to bump into when he was about to do a runner, it had to be Andie. The one he couldn’t lie to to save himself. “I’m actually heading to Paris. There was some kind of technical problem, we had to stop over.”

“Paris?” Andie shreiked in delight. “That’s where I’m going! We can sit together!”

Inwardly, Elijah cringed. There goes that plan. At least now I’ll have someone to talk to.

She did indeed manage to change her seat so that she was next to him, but Elijah found that he wasn’t in the mood for talking, no matter how much she tried to cajole him. At last she gave up and left him to his discman, turning her attention to her itinerary.

It looked like she had a busy couple of months, Elijah noted from a quick glance at the pages she perused. He was suddenly envious of her – here she was, flying to the most romantic city in the world, with her boyfriend there to meet her and endless amounts of interesting work to keep her occupied. And there he was – flying to the most romantic city in the world with no-one to meet him except his guilt-ridden friends, and nothing to do except twiddle his thumbs while the others worked on what were going to be two huge movies when they were released.

“Elijah,” Andie said suddenly, turning to look at him. It was clear she’d been working up the nerve to speak for some time now. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m really sorry about Caroline. But Orli and Mac and Dom and everyone’s dragged you here because they care and they don’t want you to be alone, so just try to enjoy it, huh?”

He gaped at her for a moment, but before he could reply the announcement came to fasten their seatbelts. He’d forgotten how short the flight was from Rome to Paris.

They left the plane in tense silence, and were greeted by a noisy crowd at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. Dom, Billy, Sean, Orli and Mac had all turned up to greet them, and made quite a procession as they headed out to the rented limousine waiting for them.

“And the point of the red carpet treatment is...?” Elijah asked as they climbed into the car.

Andie slapped his arm. “Just relax and enjoy it,” she said, a slight trace of annoyance only just detectable beneath her laugh. The others exchanged a glance which he surrupticiously chose to ignore, and he sat back to watch the scenery of Paris roll by. This was going to be the longest vacation of his life.

Piffff, Lij! You know there are like 6 billions of people in this world, and they'd all kill to be in your shoes!

:love:

How sweet Andie is!

:wub:

:blush:


Poor Elijah, somehow I understand his need to be miserable. But Let's face it, in NY, with tons of famous friends, whom have tons of pretty friends... I bet he'll find the right girl for him. Not a airheaded Caroline.

:)

Andie