Pixie & Phoenix
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- Jan 7, 2017
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Room Service
A Short Story
A Short Story
"Miss Lauren, please if you could-"
"Did your husband actually-"
"If you could stay for just one quick interview-"
Lauren Lim, New York's best selling author of the year, inattentively shielded her face from the dozens of cameras flashing blindingly in her face.
Trying her best to avoid the microphones and notepads being shoved forcefully in her face, she clambered into the dark limousine, her two bodyguards fending off the rest of the persistent paparazzi.
Lauren exhaled in immense infuriation before removing her inky sunglasses - which, frankly, didn't do a very good job in protecting her eyes from the repetitive silver flashes of light -.
"You've just got to get used to the fame." Lauren's limousine driver chuckled, amused by her frustration.
"Ahh, and I thought I wasn't going to fire anyone today." Lauren couldn't help that mocking, sheepish smirk from crawling across her face.
Her driver gasped jokingly "You wouldn't!"
"Oh, I would, Carl." Lauren replied, helping herself to an expensive bottle of champagne, her smirk never leaving her face.
"I'm offended." Carl ignited the engine and rolled down the isolated road, gradually picking up speed as they abandoned the noxious assemblage of cameras and journalists.
Lauren took a sip of her fizzing champagne, the bubbles tickling her chapped lips.
"You know, when we arrive at the hotel, I'm going to-"
"Let me guess, order room service?" Carl predicted with a laugh.
Lauren nodded while swirling her champagne in her glass thoughtfully, absorbing the mysterious, yet eloquent aura of the night.
"Room service."
* * *
The hotel was big. Well, not even big, it was huge. If you looked up, you could barely make out the top of the building.
And that's where Lauren was going.
Right to the top.
"If you'll excuse me for a quick second, ma'am, I'll call someone to escort you to your room."
The receptionist smiled, picked up the black phone on the broad, marble counter top and dialled a number.
Lauren inclined uncomfortably while awkwardly struggling to ignore the journalists that were 'in disguise'.
It may have seemed extraordinarily easy, but with at least two dozen eyes burning into your back and monitoring your every move, it felt quite trepidatious.
"I'm here--" A dark, unruly haired boy skidded across the tiles from the elevator, knocking over lugagge trollies and finally, smashing into Lauren.
Legs tangled, they crashed towards the ground in a cry.
'Bystanders' rushed over and snapped photos, while Lauren and the boy growled in pain, entangled with each other.
"Oh, Miss, allow me--" The uncoordinated boy - presumably staff - shot upright, pulling Lauren up with him a little too hard, resulting in cracking their heads together.
"Oww... what the hell is wrong with you? Are you actually that clumsy? Were you born with two left feet? For heck's sake, are you even listening to me? Why do you keep looking-"
"Lauren!?" The boy had seemed to instantly recognise her, as he was gaping in such an animated way.
Lauren paused abruptly, her words locked in her throat, her porcelain features discombobulated.
And then she knew.
The boy with the messy, dark hair and the icy blue eyes, was not any ordinary boy.
It was her ex. Well, "they only dated for like two seconds" is what Lauren had claimed in high school.
It was Ray Palmer.
You'd think bumping into an ex from over ten years ago would be fine. Humorous, even.
But, nope. Not in Lauren's case.
Indignation sparked deep inside Lauren. It's as if all her emotions over the past week had kicked into overdrive, and she was about to blow into a million pieces, splattering little laurensall over the stupid, shiny counter and the chandelier--
"I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, Miss Lim. You see, Mr Palmer here merely slipped across the freshly mopped tiles." The receptionist professed, showing exaggerated sympathy.
Lauren, speechless, marched towards the elevator, abandoning the receptionist and Jc in a bubble of mixed emotions.
Bashing the buttons in a storm of raging vexation, the silver doors leisurely united, disconnecting the unnerved faces of the bystanders, the receptionist and Ray.
At the last second, Lauren winced in confusion.
Jc was grinning.
* * *
It had been at least two hours.
Replaying the scene in her head for the hundredth time, she scowled at her reflection, splashing faucet water all over the mirror in another burst of resent.
Why was she so mad?
Toes to her fingers, she tingled all over with an inexplicable sensation. She felt the urge to smash something. Just to experience the thrill of rebellion before her book Meet&Greet. Rid her system of this strange feeling.
She gazed deep into the mirror, into her spicy eyes.
Maybe she'd find the answer locked away in her eyes, they are the windows to the soul, after all.
A knock at the door jolted her body, adding to the peculiar sensation.
She dried her hands on the fluffy towel, before racing to the penthouse door.
Opening the door, she revealed a smug, smirking Ray with a trolley of baked goods.
"Bye." Lauren slammed the door in his face, satisfaction flooding her face, forming a grin.
Lauren jumped on her bed, content as she heard Jc struggling with turning the door knob.
"Have fun. I locked-"
He walked in, pushing the trolley carelessly.
"-the door..."
Against Lauren's will, Ray reluctantly rolled the trolley up to her bed, that irritable sensation burying itself deep beneath Lauren's skin again.
A few seconds passed as Lauren contemplated what to do next.
She exchanged her poisonous glance to the trolley, to the annoyingly joyous Jc.
"H-how dare you!? I mean, you can't possibly enter without permission-"
"Permission granted."
"By who?" Lauren snarled venom, eying him dangerously.
Ray gestured to himself, smugness stapled into his smile. "Myself, obviously."
Incapable to find the words to threaten Ray with, Lauren found herself babbling utter nonsense.
"Calm down, Laurie. I brought you food." He plopped down next to Lauren, grabbing a shining platter of strawberries from the trolley.
"E-Excuse me, but I never asked for room service-" Lauren unsubtly moved herself a reasonable distance away from Ray.
"You called, did you not?" Ray taunted, biting into a rosy red berry.
"-from you. Wow, still don't let me finish my sentences?" Lauren growled, her face engulfed with supreme hatred, appall and distress.
He fidgeted his fingers through his chocolate spikes, a slither of bitterness swarming his face.
Lauren brightened inside.
"That's what this is about?" Ray resented, flinging the remains of his strawberry back onto the silver platter.
"You mean when I broke your heart, left you shattered inside, and cheated on you?" Lauren filled with cheer.
"Vice versa, but I never cheated on you." He emphasised the last words, his eyes spicy.
Silence protruded through the air like a dagger. The only noise audible was the heavy breathing of the two. For a minor second, Lauren felt her eyes burning.
"This was obviously a mistake." Lauren couldn't agree more. Ray jumped from where he was slouching and made his way to the door, his body rigid with regret.
As he attempted to tug the door wide, Lauren watched after him, examining his every move intensely.
"One problem..." He whispered.
"And what would that be?"
"We're stuck in here. Together."
As much as Lauren wanted to burst into a river of angry tears, a small smile spread across her lips.
* * *
Lauren closed her book, the fresh smell of paper wafting from the inky pages.
"Wait, so this is it? This exact room?!" Kendra's periwinkle eyes glittered with infatuation.
"This is where you and Dad met again?" Shielo, the eldest daughter, was just as in love with her parents story than Lauren was.
"The exact room." Lauren nuzzled into the sleeping Ray. He looked so peaceful. Lauren liked that.
Just before her daughters squealed in admiration, a boy with dark hair and ominous eyes pushed the door open with his room service trolley.
"Thank you, Silento." Lauren beamed gratefully.
He grinned sheepishly at Shielo and she returned the smile instinctively, her cheeks tainting with rose pink.
She looked away quickly as he laughed, secretly adoring her beauty.
A lot can happen with a little room service.
* * *
This isn't my best work because I only did this in a few minutes, but I ship Lauren x Ray.
- Phoenix.
* * *
@Ray_Palmer_Atom @KendraHawk @SaraLanceCanary @Little_ShieloWP @SpikeTheCook @Verified Fangirl @Laura_Aria @Rundas2001 @Little_DesireeWP
