Chapter 2: Dresses
1329 Words
Maria Blake POV
The first month of filming stretched so long that Maria checked the calendar daily, convinced the universe had somehow added a week.
The dress arrived that afternoon with a card that said compliments of the studio in a font that bordered on medieval.
Maria unzipped it carefully.
A bright yellow Valentino dress. She put it on and came out of the bedroom.
Raff was at the mirror adjusting his tie.
He looked at her. His eyes widened.
“Don’t,” she said.
“I haven’t even said anything.”
“It’s all over your face.”
“You look—”
“Raffie.”
“Incredible.” He crossed the room. Put his hands on her waist. “You belong on a runway.”
She laughed. “That’s the dress.”
“It’s not the dress.”
“It is, it even makes the apartment look better.”
Raff laughed.
She took in as much of him as she could. The past few weeks had been chaotic. These were the moments she held on to.
“Are you ready?”
She nodded.
Her stomach groaned. She wasn’t.
It was the industry showcase for Love or Loss, Darcy and Raff’s first public appearance as co-stars, as Chér and Sean. The characters were being presented to the entertainment world in real time.
Being his plus one and being sent the dress made her feel seen for the first time since Raff got the role.
Before today she had felt like an event crasher or a streaker.
But then the call came thirty minutes later.
She was doing her makeup when she heard his voice shift.
“You have to understand how that looks,” he was saying. “But she’s already—” A pause. “Right.”
He appeared in the doorway.
She looked at him in the mirror.
“What’s wrong?”
“They need Darcy on the carpet, beside me,” he said. “For the narrative.”
“Oh—Okay—That’s not a problem.”
He closed his eyes briefly. “Maria— They want the dress back.”
Maria felt heat rush into her face.
“It was always technically a studio loaner, it was never officially—” He continued. “The agency says Darcy should be wearing it tonight.”
Of course. Why did she believe she could have anything good when nothing had proved otherwise so far.
“You can still come,” he said quickly. “A car’s coming in twenty minutes, you’d just — we’d arrive separately and—”
“And what.”
He didn’t have an answer for that. He couldn’t look at her.
“It’s one event,” he said. “Just a photo op of me and Darcy arriving together, it’s just the studio—”
Yes. The studio.
She wasn’t cast but it was starting to feel like she was playing a lead role in a horror movie.
She bowed her head.
“Maria—”
“It’s ok, Raffie.”
“Are you sure?”
She smiled and nodded.
“It’s ok, it’s your night, I’ll change and meet you there.”
It definitely wasn’t ok.
She turned back to the mirror. Took the earring out. Put a different one in.
In the reflection she could see him standing in the doorway, conflicted. That was new. Rafferty Cole always knew what to do and believed it.
She didn’t know whether to stay mad or start to worry, she chose the latter.
“You don’t have to come,” he said quietly. “If it’s too much.”
Now he was indecisive. Nausea or not, watching him be all over the place was stomach turning.
“It’s fine babe, I’ll meet you there.” She controlled her voice. She handed him the dress.
She had another dress. Sky blue, she put it on and stood in front of the bathroom mirror.
You shouldn’t go.
The voice in her head was clear as day.
She knew she shouldn’t go.
She knew it the entire cab ride and went anyway.
The showcase was at the Château Marmont’s private wing — the kind of venue you brag about to people you just met..
Darcy arrived with Raff in the bright yellow dress, the dress now looked bolder. Even the dress was betraying her.
The cameras went insane.
Maria just stood at the carpet’s edge. Two people approached her with confused looks, one asked if she was catering.
“You cater.” She muttered.
She went inside and sat at the bar.
Darcy found her twenty minutes later.
“You came.”
She nodded.
Darcy smiled and touched Maria’s arm. “I want to be honest with you about the dress situation because I think you deserve that.”
Maria looked at her.
“It reads better on me for the image they’re building. You know? The Raff and Darcy ship.” She said ship like she just learned the word. “So I called the agency and made the switch.”
She said it lightly. Like that one decision didn’t ruin Maria’s whole night and steal the one moment of joy she had since the beginning.
“It wasn’t personal. I just needed it.”
Maria picked up a glass of water, held it and squeezed.
Don’t throw. She instructed herself.
She looked at Darcy and smiled. “I appreciate your honesty.”
Darcy eyed her, then eyed the glass of water in her hand, then eyed her again. “He talks about you, you know. It’s very sweet.”
She drifted back into the room.
Maria stood where she was.
At least she didn’t throw the glass, progress.
She found Raff near the far wall forty minutes later. He came over immediately, hand on her waist, low and familiar.
“Hey.” The guilt moving through briefly. “You okay?”
“I need to tell you something.” She kept her voice steady. “About tonight. About Darcy. About how I’ve actually been—” She took a breath. “Raffie, I’m—”
The waiter came from the left with the energy of a zombie. He tripped.
The tray went sideways.
The wine hit her dress first. Then glass hit her arm.
The tray crashed to the ground.
Apparently humiliation came with sound effects now.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry—”
“I’m fine.” Remarkable, how steady her voice was. “Completely fine.”
“Maria—” Raff reached for napkins.
“I’m fine, Raffie.” She pressed napkins to the spreading stain across the blue fabric. “Go back to—”
She glanced around. Big mistake. This wasn’t prom but everyone was staring like she’d just been named queen.
Queen of freak accidents at this point.
Her cheeks burned.
“I can’t leave Maria, you’re covered in—”
“Just go!.” She snapped.
Now there were whispers.
“I’m fine.” She smiled. “I just have to find the bathroom.”
He stayed stuck.
His name echoed from across the room, everyone applauded.
Then Darcy appeared.
“Oh my, you’re not going to the afterparty in that, are you?” She didn’t hide her disgust.
“Come on, Raff, we're on." Darcy didn't wait for him to object, she wrapped her hand around his forearm and pulled him into the crowd.
Maria found the bathroom moments later. Skin burning, head spinning.
She looked in the mirror and even in the bathroom there it was.
A poster of Raff’s face beside Darcy’s.
The past couple months had felt like a rollercoaster ride, if the excitement was excluded and dread remained.
The last few moments had somehow been worse.
She splashed water on her face as she held back vomit.
Her hand found the bottom of her bag. The test was still there.
She pulled it out, just as Bex Ashford walked in.
- Writer
