ICE / QUEEN.

she has a mouth like unswept glass, when you least expect it she cuts you.

[adrianareinaldi]

she sat by herself at the music lounge & bar, wondering whatever the hell she was doing all alone. maybe it was the way the jazz music played, or maybe it was the way the whiskey ran down her throat icy & sour -- she had no time for pretty fruity drinks. whoever was it that sat beside her probably had no idea she was the adriana reinaldi, now so faded and so distraught. she merely wanted a companion, although adriana knew there was no better company than her own & the craving for an exchange of words left a roaring hole in her soul.

[tvgif]

[alfiraab]

[prettystuff]

[adrianareinaldi]

ABRAXAS.

he started to feel more like himself again — more like the person he envisioned himself to be, although the name ethan jarsdel induced a slight shake of his head as he crossed his arms. “no,” he said, but nearly immediately realized that this was not the time for personal vendettas. 

“i have no doubt in my mind ethan can do it,” he agreed with adriana, although there was not a hint of respect in his voice. “but is he necessary, adriana? the last thing i want is to give any indication that i in any way stand behind his previous actions.” he hadn’t actually shared much about his friendship with ethan with adriana, but ethan’s betrayal had been public enough that abraxas figured she would understand enough. “if we have any other options—”

just then, a knock on the door interrupted abraxas, but before he could allow the stranger in, the door opened and the server from before entered again, this time holding a tom ford bag. a bit more calm than before, abraxas thanked the young man generously, slipped him two $100 bills, but then quickly ushered him out. 

and then, as he took the suit out of the bag to make sure it was up to par ( simple, black, always a good choice ), but then hesitated once he’d taken off his suit vest. yesterday evening, he’d let adriana undress him all too eagerly, but after everything that had transpired in less than 24 hours, it almost felt wrong to change in front of her.

the hesitation only lasted a second, though, because there were more pressing matters at hand; they needed to bring down gossip girl, and they needed to salvage the pristine image of their relationship. he could worry about their privacy boundaries later. abraxas undressed in silence, folding the wet suit and putting on the table before changing into the new one, and then looked back at adriana while he was tying his tie.

“is this good?” he said, the question purely asked because he needed to look professional and ready. 

she would have gladly stared at her undressing husband-to-be, but given last night’s hot mess, adriana quietly allowed him to undress without her looking, feigning a certain nonchalant look to make herself seem more natural, although failing miserably at doing so -- she couldn’t just simply not care, and when it came to abraxas, she couldn’t simply not want him. 

and gossip girl knew it. whoever this person was and whatever they wanted, they were around to mess with adriana and her family. blood boiled into her veins as she thought long and hard about it, but the sound of abraxas’ voice was enough to soothe her down, even if she’d never admit to it. 

taking one long look at abraxas, she frowned, tilting her head to the side. “mhm-- your tie. . . it’s not quite right,” adriana took a few steps closer, enough to feel his hot breath against her cheek. she focused on doing his tie, albeit there were more interesting things she wanted to focus on -- like the way the light was reflected in his green eyes, the way the suit perfectly followed his silhouette and how she could see his chest through the shirt under his suit. but she pretended not to, and while she was a good pretender, it seemed she was no better than abraxas, whom had taken on a seemingly perfect iron facade.

“there you go,” an embarrassed smile took over her features as she stepped away, glancing at him one more time. “as good as new,” the embarrassment faded away as the sound of laughter outside interrupted the silence between them. “hopefully the media will notice our happy guests rather than my last mistake. i can distract them if you talk to ethan, but if it’s too personal to you, i’ll do it myself.”

[adrianareinaldi]

HEBE.

IN ADRIANA, HEBE ALWAYS GOT JUDGMENT IN SOME WAY but they pretended it was good natured as it was always guised under the notion of a pseudo-compliment. She didn’t seem to mind, instead glancing at her phone, then back up to Adriana long enough to lean in and press her lips near to her cheek.

   “You look lovely, of course. I didn’t have a ton of time to plan out and outfit what with having a job and responsibilities, but you really do look ravishing.” And the venom was already present in her tone, the anger she held deep within side barely restrained behind a sudden pleasant smile, “The place looks amazing, too. How long did it take you?”

“well, it took us long enough to ensure our guests would have a ball!” she said, adding further in a whisper, “but just between the two of us, darling, it was ALL my sister’s work. . i mustn’t take the credit for her deeds,” she tucked a hair behind her ear, resting one hand on hebe’s shoulder. “do tell me, are you enjoying yourself so far? i have someone to introduce you to,” excitement gleamed in her eyes, but she held a contained smile, “he’s desperate to know your name.”

[adrianareinaldi]

MELINDA.

     “everyone does it.” if she didn’t have to give them something to talk about but melinda was always the one that delivered and this was why she was such an easy target for the press. “small minds discuss people, right?” the news anchor was not oblivious to what adriana was implying but was too intoxicated to care or take her words in. “i look GREAT, don’t deny it.” the reference went straight over her head. “i must compliment you on this brunch. your efforts have been well and truly rewarded. 

“well, thank you,” she took a seat beside melinda. sighing, adriana let the words hang in the air before taking a sip of her own cup of tea. it was rather alarming for melinda to be causing so much embarrassment in this eventful morning, and adriana could only hope the media wouldn’t notice melinda was as wasted as adriana saw it. “if we go by your logic, everyone in the upper east side has a small minded mentality, then, i suppose,” she smiled, a sad, quiet smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. “you do look great, as always,” she rested one hand on melinda’s shoulder, as if to comfort the other. “i suppose we have much to catch up on, it feels like it has been ages since we properly talked.”

[adrianareinaldi]

FRANNY.

franny didn’t really want to attend the brunch but when your family was holding a brunch, you kinda had to attend it especially when you had a mother like franny and her sisters did. right after arriving in her families penthouse, franny walked around her frantic blue eyes searching for one of her sisters because at least she’d have someone to talk too. she spotted adriana across the room and started to walk across to her. she watched her sister look at her outfit before rolling her eyes. “shut up,” franny mumbled playfully of course. she didn’t make as much effort into her outfits now that she was pregnant but she still had a reputation to take care of. “you look nice though.”

“that’s a slim to none chance that i will shut my mouth closed,” she chuckled. “how’s the baby, darling?” adriana rested one hand on francesca’s shoulder, in a friendly manner. her habit of looking out for her sister had grown stronger now that there was a reinaldi heir on the way, and she wanted to make sure their reputation would not be tarnished or punished along with francesca’s reckless actions. “you should sit, i’ll get you something special from the chef,” she smiled.

[adrianareinaldi]

ABRAXAS.

he took the tissue from her, but it felt like much more than just that — a peace offer, even. at the very least, a temporary white flag to wave until their common enemy had been squashed. “thank you,” he said dryly, wrapping the tissue around his hand to stop the steady dripping of the blood on his knuckles. even with her, he’d built a careful version of himself over the months, and he knew it would take time to restore that image in her mind. but it didn’t matter how long it took - they had eternity ahead of them.

he never looked up while she spoke, pretending to be busy with the tissue, and even kept his eyes firmly on his hands while he spoke. “perhaps … we did,” he admitted, though that was as far as he was willing to go. last night, while a welcome break from being who he was, had been a mistake. she would know that was how he felt by now - and even if he hadn’t wanted to tell her so harshly, it was good that he had. he was not about to undo in a moment of exposure.

when she continued, however, he looked up again, forced her to look into his eyes with an intense stare as he frowned. “you’re wrong, adriana,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft. “there is. there will always be an us. maybe not in the way you— either of us, had ever imagined. but maybe that’s our fault. maybe that’s where we’re wrong. just because there’s no fairy tale us doesn’t mean there’s no us at all. it’s going to be us more and more with each passing day. and we have our own reasons for being in the situation we are in right now, but i knew very well what i got into when i agreed to this .. arrangement. your family, now, is my family. i hope this applies for you as well. i like to think it does. so, let’s bring down whoever is behind this. i’m with you because it makes me stronger - you’re with me for the same reason. let’s bring them down.” and in that moment, any doubts of their union were cast away effortlessly, abraxas being reminded that this was exactly why he’d agreed to marry her in the first place. no matter how the story’ spins, together, they were unstoppable. 

once he took the tissue from her fingers, she felt at peace knowing the blood would, at the very least, cease a little -- it felt like caring for him the way he should be cared for, the way she could never care for him. but oh, she did, how she did. he had his own reasoning to be so guarded, but last night he didn’t. and it kept her slightly puzzled as to which abraxas was the real one: the one who did behind formality or the one who placed soft kisses upon her cheeks. perhaps both were real, which made him all the more alluring to her, although she would have never admitted to it, of course.

she looked up at his gleaming, passionate eyes as he spoke. she was wrong? there was an us? and as he spoke, she quietly gave in to the thought of their maybes and what ifs. there could be an us. there could be a ‘we’ in their sentences. with a hopeful gleam in her eyes, she listened carefully, cautiously as not to miss any words. 

he was right. it hit her like lightning, like thunder.

he was right all along. there was an us, even if they hadn’t fully committed to it, even if they hadn’t fully wanted it before, now there was an us. and abraxas was just as family as celeste was. now he was her husband-to-be, and she didn’t quite know how to feel, but she knew how to do what she did best: conceal her feelings and keep everything under control. it was only a matter of time until gossip girl was found. 

“i have a plan,” she stated, sighing, “but we may need help from unexpected places, abraxas,” she stepped forward, “ethan jarsdel is one of the best private investigators in this city, we may have to put our feelings aside and give him a chance if we ever wish to find out gossip girl’s identity. i know he can do it. he’s just as smart and obnoxious as gossip girl herself.” a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, “his soul can be bought, like hers.”

[adrianareinaldi]

ABRAXAS.

as soon as he’d punched his way through the mirror, he regretted his actions. an outburst like this? that was hebe’s way of dealing with stress, not brax’s. he was the one who always kept himself composed, no matter what. now, the shards of glass and the blood on his hand were physical proof of his temper tantrum, and it was embarrassing. and of course, adriana had seen everything. in all honesty, he’d have preferred if it all other guests had seen, but not her. not like this … not weak.

ignoring the throbbing in his hand, he put both of them on the sink and breathed out, remembering an article about the importance of controlled breathing in situations of stress. inhale four, hold seven, exhale eight. repeat. in through his nose, out through his mouth. stand up straight; shoulders back, chest forward. be the man you want to see in control.

when adriana spoke up, it took him all of his newly regained self-control not to lash out at her, the condescension laced in her voice the way vulnerability had been last night. but, the technique he employed worked, and instead of losing control again, he listened carefully, only turning to face her when he heard the words ‘gossip girl’. it explained a lot. 

his suit, now sticking to his thigh, was starting to annoy him, and his bleeding hand was starting to hurt. the first, he’d have to deal with when the server returned with a new suit, but the second he could only ignore. ball his fist, and ignore it.

“that,” he started, weighing whether or not he should say what he wanted to, then going for it eventually. “that explains a lot. perhaps even more than just your actions.” he let the words hang in the air, hoping that she would understand — that she’d connect what he just said to the cold words he’d shared with her earlier. he wanted to keep the barrier up between them, but he didn’t want to cause her unnecessary hurt. not after the explanation of gossip girl, anyway. this way, she could decide for herself how much of his earlier words had been motivated by himself, and how many had been motivated by nothing else but sheer self-defense for the both of them.

then, more formal than necessary, and after swallowing hard, abraxas spoke up once more. “i  apologize for the outburst. it was unprofessional, and it will not happen again.” it was strange for him to talk to talk to her like that, even in private, but it was his default type of speech to fall back on if he felt cornered. “i will have to wait here for a new suit, and a bandage. but after that, i guarantee you that we will go out there, and we will make everyone forget what i just let happen.”

there was a silence between them that pleaded for vulnerability. yet, abraxas, so tall and so proud, remained formal and professional -- a juxtaposition to the moody, violent side she had seen of him. adriana was neither blind nor confused, she knew this was his way of protecting the last bits of his ego that had been left. she had seen the side of him that nobody else had seen -- the side that lost control, and for a single moment, for a fraction of a second she felt sorry for abraxas. for the trouble she had put him in.

slipping a small tissue she carried with her out of her pocket, she handed it over in a small act of kindness. “here-- it should help with the. . . with the blood,” she pretended not to see it, and in truth a part of her wanted to caress him and tend to his wounds, but she never would have allowed herself. maybe a part of her wanted to say i love you, to say i need you, but she didn’t. she held herself back and watched him as she handed the tissue over, fingers careful as not to touch his, for his touch would be poisonous to her well-being, and it would make her feel things she didn’t.

trying to make up for the awkwardness between them, she instantly touched on the subject of gossip girl. it was a good distraction and they both stood on the same page about it -- for a change. perhaps it would make for good conversation, albeit stressful to mention, considering it had been the cause of this entire mess they were in. “i beg your pardon for earlier, too,” she glanced down, and then regained composure, staring into his soul, “perhaps we both did and said things we had not meant to,” a sad smile curled at the corner of her lips, like a prayer, like an apology. 

“there is no us. there is no ‘we’ in this story, but perhaps you and i can find some peace if we manage to catch whoever is behind these little tricks they’re playing on us. it wasn’t just me. they’re messing with my sister, with my family,” then, she spoke with passion, and suddenly her blood boiled with rage. 

“nobody messes with my family.”

[nancy-wheleer]

[somerhalders]

[adrianareinaldi]

LEVI.

—- knocking back a glass of champagne, levi paused a passing waiter in his stride to help himself to another he was carrying. noticing a few lingering stares, he merely offered the masses a grin. “if it wasn’t already clear enough, i’m here to drink your champagne and ruin your afternoons– the most upsetting part, I imagine, is that I was actually invited.”

“well, levi,” she started, looking at him from head to toe, examining his features, his every move. “you may have been invited by my sister, but i will not make excuses for your behavior on her behalf,” adriana’s words were icy and sharp. “i do hope you hold yourself accountable for whatever consequences your actions may bring us,” she stepped back, as if to remove herself from the conversation. in adriana’s eyes, he was unkind and unpleasant, but she gave him another look, “celeste may see the good in people -- yet i see the truth.” 

[adrianareinaldi]

MELINDA.

       narrowing her eyes at the blonde, melinda’s stance shifted. the woman was one to become defensive and adriana’s actions couldn’t help but be determined as condescending. the supposed reassuring touch of her shoulder was enough to furrow her brow. “i’m fine, it’s all fine. you should know that gossip is just GOSSIP. the last thing i want is people to pretend to be concerned about me when they actually don’t give a damn.” it was out of order for her to be argumentative with the host but she hated the fact that she was older than most yet they looked down on her. “eccentric? that’s new.” raising her eyebrows, she took another sip of her drink.

“i see, i apologise for meddling in your affairs, melinda,” adriana added, tilting her head to the side. there was a kind of sharpness to those words, as if she didn’t really mean them. in truth, adriana did feel sorry for melinda, but the way the woman cut through adriana’s words was enough for her to step down from her role as a friend and take the role of the host, the ice queen, the master manipulator, the whatever-they-wanted-to-call-her. “perhaps you should be more careful with the drinking, it’s all i am suggesting. alcohol dries your face out, m’dear.”

[adrianareinaldi]

i tried to do right by you, no i did not mean to let things get so out of hand, but that's youth and nothing's never perfect, right?

[adrianareinaldi]

ABRAXAS.

truth be told, he wanted to tell her that the venom he’d spewed earlier were not his words — that it wasn’t how he felt. even though he couldn’t say that he loved adriana, after what had happened last night he also couldn’t honestly say that he never would. it was confusing, and he had ignored most of his thoughts about their moment of intimacy until that pesky gossip website had made him throw all caution to the wind. 

but, the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was better not to mention what he’d said anymore. true - they had not been his words. but they had built up a new wall between them, and perhaps that was for the best. at least for now. if they had grown closer to each other, their wedding might’ve just gotten even more complicated, and that was the last thing any of them needed. no, best was to have the wall between them: at least that made everything fairly black and white. act in love in public, live separate lives behind closed doors. he could do that.

all of that had been on his mind while they had walked back into the house after having what looked like 10 million pictures taken, and so, his mind had been too preoccupied to hear what she was saying until he felt a cold liquid hit the right side of his chest — an entire drink spilled on his brand new vest, the dark blue shirt and the grey pants that made up his ensemble. his right thigh had gotten the worst of it, and before he could even think about an appropriate reaction he turned around in fury as he was ready to curse whoever had spilled their drink to hell.

“what the f—” caught dead in his tracks when he saw adriana, his frenzied eyes picking up on something in adriana’s that registered only in the back of his mind. her words told the audience it had been an accident, but her eyes told a different story entirely. this had been deliberate. he didn’t know why she’d take such a risk, couldn’t possibly understand why she’d risk the fragile, but successful cover they’d managed to create over the months. but he knew, felt very well, that he needed to get away from the audience her actions had drawn if he wanted to prevent an outburst of his emotions.

without another word, he stomped away, too angry even to listen for her heels touching the floor to see if she’d follow suit, but he slammed the double doors shut anyway, hoping that they would smack her in the face. a poor server, who had just been rearranging some flutes of champagne on his tray, got the words of abraxas’ anger as he asked - no, demanded another suit between this and ten minutes, and when the young boy left in a hurry, abraxas let out the emotions of the day so far by smashing the reinaldi’s beautiful, antique mirror hanging on the perfectly painted wall, almost mocking him. he wasn’t usually this heated in his emotions, but in that moment, he hated the house, and all of its inhabitants.

she followed after his trail of destruction, hearing the glass shards hitting the floor as she stood on the halway, half there, half nonexistent. adriana wanted to cry, to be held and to be understood -- adriana wanted to be wanted. but he would never do that, he would never love her the way she needed to be loved. he would never love her, period.

but once silence fell between them, a quiet desperation pierced through her bones, almost like-- like a cry for help. like something she couldn’t exactly pinpoint. between the hasty kisses exchanged last night and the deep hatred for her family that he now harbored, her mind was messed up, exactly as gossip girl had wanted it to be. nothing was under control, and now she was another pawn in a game of secrets, lies and manipulation.

she could’ve begun to explain herself, she could, but it would’ve done nothing for the two of them. instead, adriana remained in silence for a minute or two, cautiously pondering on her next few words. she was calculated and icy once again, trying to regain her composure after the last few seconds of wreckage. adriana wanted to blame it all on gossip girl, but this was on her, too. this was on her -- the failure at keeping everything under control, the feelings she harbored towards abraxas, acceping the publicity stunt. . . this was her fault. 

mea culpa.

but she did not melt. she did not wither. she did not falter or waver. instead, she held her composure and saved the mental breakdown for later, when she’d be alone in celeste’s penthouse. she saved the emotional bullshit for when she’d have wine and her own company instead.

“are you done destroying my mother’s favorite french mirror? i need you to listen. gossip girl has got a hold on us, and if i hadn’t done that, our perfect little marriage would’ve gone up in flames. so instead of destroying every bit of my mother’s favorite room, you could come with me instead and fight through this. you’re no manchild, abraxas. this ordeal was hers, not mine.” she lied through gritted teeth. it was her fault, yes. for taking the dare. for everything.

[adrianareinaldi]

RENÉE.

renée spotted adriana and walked over to her. “so, who did you cheat on me with, for your hair?” she asked with a big grin and a wink. maybe it wasn’t the best choice of words after what she did but hey, with the mimosas she was drinking, she got a little less careful. she was barely tipsy though. she needed to watch out for melinda, who was… well on her way to needing someone to carry her out. “nice little brunch. i’ve never really done brunches like this… i just called brunch ‘save money by skipping a meal and eating breakfast late’ but hey, this is fancier.” she told her with a playful smile.

“myself, this time,” a quiet smirk painted on her features, adriana made herself comfortable, taking a seat beside renée. she was unsure of where this conversation should go -- there was something dangerous about mentioning melinda to renée, especially under such delicate circumstances. she didn’t want to make things worse than they already were, and with gossip girl roaming around, adriana would not risk renée’s privacy.

she settled for a more generic subject. “well, you’ve clearly never been to one of our parties, have you?” she said, pride oozing from her lips. “of course, i mustn’t take the credit for this, since it was my sister’s brilliance that brought this brunch to life.” she sipped from her cup of almost empty cup of tea, eyes wandering through the room as she scanned every person’s move. “i’m sure you’re here for more than brunch, aren’t you?” she gestured, looking at melinda, and then back at renée. adriana wanted to make things right between them if she could, although she was not one to meddle with other people’s affairs, she did have quite a fondness for melinda and renée, and was saddened that the tabloids broke them up. “why don’t you tell me everything?”