Muse [h.s.]

3. the full moon

Ella's POV
present day

"Oh, for fuck's sake," I grumble, trying to zip up my boots but the goddamn zipper is stuck. My phone suddenly rings just as I get it zipped up and I scramble to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, quick question, did you ever get that shipment I had sent over from last weekend?" Brad asks over the phone. I narrow my brows.

"Um, I'm not sure...I remember you telling me about it before you left. I'm headed to the club now, I'll ask the guys when I get there," I reply, zipping up the other boot. Keys, where are my keys? I look over to the island in the kitchen.

"Ah, that's right," Brad says over the phone. "Lydia and Jax are in town. Best friend meeting the boyfriend, huh? What's his name, Kol?"

"Kyle," I correct with a roll of my eyes. Kyle and I have been dating for a month now, and Lydia and Jax are finally here to meet him, which I'm pretty excited about. He's a lifeguard down at the beach.

"Same shit," Brad mumbles over the phone. "I guess I'm salty about it, being the ex-boyfriend and all."

I gasp. "Excuse me? Since when were you ever my boyfriend?" I laugh. I finally found the keys, grabbing my purse and locking up the apartment behind me. As I head outside, the cool sea breeze fans my face and I inhale the smell of sea salt.

"Ella, my tongue was down your throat, I'd say that is boyfriend behavior," Brad says over the phone matter-of-factly, and I make a gagging noise.

"Ew, Brad, stop!" I hop into my car, turning the ignition as Brad laughs over the bluetooth in the car. I decided to give Brad a chance a few months ago after we became closer. We went on a few dates before we finally had a drunken hookup, but we both realized it was way too weird at that moment, so we stuck to being friends.

"What, so the France guy had the boyfriend title? Lucas?" Brad scoffs and I roll my eyes again, turning down the street.

"Lucien," I correct and Brad laughs. I know he's butchering these names on purpose. "And he and I went on two dates and I just wasn't ready. It was too fresh, you know the real reason why I went to France..."

I went to France for a while before I moved from New York, all because I heard that he was there. He was in the country for an event, and I impulsively decided to hop on a flight. What sort of interaction was I seeking? I didn't know; all I knew was that I had to see him.

Can't blame me — we were only broken up for a few weeks at that time.

And see him I did, only in the tabloids, with him leaving a celebrity-infested party in the early hours with a woman.

You'd think I'd learn my lesson from reading those damn tabloids.

After that, I decided to go home when Elise heard I was in town and told me to stay over at her place. Lucien and I hung out a lot those two weeks I stayed in France and Elise and I's bond cemented, especially after the horrific incident with Henri last time I was in France. I didn't see him at all when I was there, thankfully.

Lucien showed me the gallery that Elise owns and I saw some of my mother's paintings — I remember feeling in awe looking at the brush strokes and the landscapes she painted. Elise gifted one that my mother painted of the moon to me, and it hangs in my apartment now.