"Okay, the grey one or the black one?" Amelie asked, shaking two dresses in front of Spencer.
Spencer pretended to think for a moment before smirking. "Neither. I think you look fine with nothing on."
Amelie jokingly rolled her eyes and batted away his hand. "I'm not sure my gay boss would be too impressed."
Spencer slowly kissed her neck as she stared at herself in the mirror. "Trust me. He would."
Things had gone relatively back to normal. Amelie moved back in, Spencer had plunged himself into work again and neither of them dared to utter the M-word. Spencer constantly felt the elephant in the room but believed that by ignoring it, it would eventually prance away. Everything was fine. Just fine.
"Are you meeting anyone today?"
Spencer shrugged. "Just this producer I've worked with before. She's helping me plan a movie."
Spencer didn't miss how Amelie's face fell. That was another side effect of their argument. Whenever Spencer even mentioned other girls she would get suspicious. Ever since their fight, Amelie had definitely become less trusting. Of course Spencer had brought it on himself so he had no one to blame but himself.
"She?"
Spencer frowned. "Yes, I'm meeting a girl. Is that a problem?"
Amelie shrugged. "You tell me."
Spencer sighed and kissed her cheek before removing his arms from around her waist. "No. I'm meeting my old school friend Dolly. She's a producer and I'm hoping to get her to produce my new film. It's all purely platonic. I promise."
"It's not her I'm worried about. Is she friends with Madeline? What if Madeline walks in with her?"
Spencer rolled his eyes but instantly regretted it once he saw how Amelie's face twisted in anger.
"I'm serious, Kingsley! I don't mean to sound overbearing but it just feels like Madeline Lockhart is everywhere. On the tabloids sites and the magazines and social media.... she makes me nervous."
"I made it clear that I choose you, Amelie. You shouldn't be worried. I've cut out Madeline."
The final sentence stung to say out loud. Especially since Madeline and Spencer had finally been getting along. But Spencer had to make it work with Amelie. 'The things we do for love'. Of course that was what Jaime Lannister said before he pushed Bran Stark out the window in 'Game of Thrones'. Still, it was Spencer's new mantra. He had to make sacrifices in order to make things work with Amelie, even if it meant cutting out the most important person in his life.
"Okay... I'm sorry," She sighed.
Spencer placed his hands on her waist and turned her around to face him. He slowly leaned in to kiss her as her arms twisted around his torso.
"It's okay. You can trust me."
Amelie half-smiled and curled her hands around his neck. "I hope so."
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Spencer had to make one stop before meeting Dolly. The last time he visited Charlie, he had left his jacket in his apartment, a one-of-a-kind, vintage Versace overcoat. He had actually employed a stylist to hunt down the jacket for him as soon as he found out about its existence online. A few weeks later his stylist turned up with a package and a frown on his face, ranting about how he had to fly to Düsseldorf to obtain the jacket. Of course, François was tipped very generously and Spencer was left very satisfied. What Spencer wanted, Spencer got.
He could have asked Charlie to bring it to him but he didn't trust him to bring it in one piece. And after the difficulties he had while buying it, Spencer decided he had to get it himself. As he arrived at Charlie's condo he could hear shouting from inside as well as glass crashing. Jumping into protective brother mode, Spencer swung open the door ready to fight.
Inside, Oliver was thrashing around Charlie's living room, red in the face from sobbing.
"WHY IS EVERYONE SO AGAINST ME?!"
Charlie frowned and looked at Spencer. "Nora wants a divorce," He explained, shrugging as if Oliver's tantrums were something he was used to.
The shattered glass of what Spencer assumed was from a cup filled with whisky (judging from the smell) crunched underneath his feet as he walked over to Oliver.
"Oliver! Stop! What are you doing man?"
Oliver paused, only then registering that Spencer had entered the room. He glanced at Charlie before rubbing his head . "She left me. Nora left me! She called me narcissistic! And selfish! I'm not selfish!"
Spencer rolled his eyes. "You're currently wrecking my brother's apartment so yes I think you are selfish. Sit down. You need to calm down."
Oliver shook his head before bending down to pick up the glass. "It was an accident," He mumbled.
Charlie sighed and uncrossed his arms. "Oliver, stop. You're going to cut yourself."
"Oh, so you care now?"
Charlie kissed his teeth before bending down and taking the glass out of Oliver's hands. "You're such an asshole, Oliver. You come here, have your breakdowns and then leave. I'm sick of it Oliver! I keep trying to help you but you don't want to be helped! You just want people to tell you you're right!"
Oliver paused and looked up slowly at Charlie. "That's not true..."
"It is! I'm so tired of this, Oliver. I'm done. Please get out of my apartment."
Charlie picked up most of the glass shards before standing up and leaving to go to the kitchen.
"Charlie!" Oliver roared, standing up.
However, before he could drunkenly march to him, Spencer stopped him by placing his hand on his chest.
"Sit down."
"I have to-"
"SIT DOWN!"
Oliver raised his eyebrow. "Don't raise your voice at me."
Spencer pushed him. "You don't want to sit down? That's fine. My brother asked you to leave. So leave."
"I'm not leaving."
"Why are you even here? More cocaine? Is that it, hm?"
Oliver rolled his eyes. "No. What I wanted was support from a friend and instead I got hostility."
"You got hostility because you're acting like a child-"
"My wife wants a divorce! I have every right to be upset-"
"Yes but you're twenty-four and throwing a damn temper tantrum. God, you're such a mess! I'm sorry Nora left you but she shouldn't have married you in the first place! You treated her like shit!"
"I didn't-"
"Yes you fucking did! You need to start seeing yourself for what you truly are!"
"A victim!"
"A villain! You're the villain of this story, man!"
Oliver paused and cocked his jaw. He exhaled softly and looked around. He looked like he was about to apologise. But instead he shook his head and backed away, walking towards the door. As he opened it, he paused and looked back at Spencer.
"We used to be brothers, Spencer. I expected a little sympathy. But I'm the fucking bad guy, aren't I? So even when I'm heartbroken, I don't deserve any compassion or sympathy because I'm just purely, irredeemably evil. Is that it, huh?
"That's not-"
"You know nothing about me, Spencer. Nothing."
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Spencer gazed outside the window of the cab. The sun was beginning to set yet the city of Manhattan was still bustling. Busy businessmen trying to get home to their families. Wall Street accountants heading for late dinners. An exhausted boyfriend falling asleep in the back of a cab as he was driven home to his wonderful girlfriend.
Spencer yawned and answered his phone which he didn't even realise was ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hey! Spencer, it's Dolly."
"Oh hey! Did you get a chance to read the draft I gave you?"
Dolly sucked in air and was silent for a few seconds. "Yeah... So, listen, I respect you and your work so much-"
Spencer's heart fell. There was a 'but' coming.
"And I know you're very talented-"
He had spent so long on his new script.
"But I have to turn it down. I'm sorry, Spencer."
"Oh? Can I ask why?"
Dolly sighed. "I just expected something different. It's not bad, it's just not... you. You can try it with some other producers but honestly? I think you should consider a rewrite. That's just my opinion."
Spencer released a long, exasperated breath. "Okay. I appreciate your advice. I hope to work with you soon."
"Definitely. I loved Queenly. Usually working with my production company is a once in a lifetime offer but I really believe you got a gift and I'm open to anymore drafts you come up with. I don't think you really took advantage of your gifts in 'The Wonderful Miss Park'. We'll meet soon, okay? And I hope you'll have new work to show me by then."
"Yeah. I'll uh... yeah. Thank you again. Bye Dolly."
After hanging up, Spencer hit his head against the head rest. 'The Wonderful Ms Park' was going to be a surprise for Amelie. He promised her he would write her a movie and he did. But he didn't expect it to pan so badly. Of course, as he progressed through the script, life got in the way and instead of Amelie being in his mind, Madeline's influence crept in. Dolly was right. The script was just all wrong.
Still, he was looking forward to surprising Amelie. He would just give her the script. And she would love it because she was such a supportive person.
After paying the taxi driver, Spencer trudged into his apartment ready to collapse into bed and hug his girlfriend who he missed so dearly.
He walked into the living room where he found Amelie staring at her phone. Her mouth was open wide in shock.
"I have had the worst day, Amelie. I'm so ready for it to be over. Let's go out-"
"Kingsley.... that was Senator Orwell. She wanted to call me personally to tell me I got the Washington job."
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