the winners fight for failure / x

[blaise romano .]

boy this is your grand finale

There was something strange about today, Blaise noticed it almost as soon as he woke up. The stench of perfume and smoke lingered in his room, though he'd grown so used to it by now that he barely noticed it anymore - today, however, it hit his nostrils full force causing him to wince in disgust. He let himself out of bed, dressed only in light blue silk bottoms, he padded barefoot over exposed floorboards to reach his large windows. The sun was sill close to the horizon; he liked to wake up early, usually so he could kick whatever unlucky lady out the house without so much as an arrivederci. Last night had been strange too though, for the first time since arriving here he had lay down on his bed, laptop perched on his stomach and spent the evening on aim. He spoke to old friends, and new ones but the one who stuck most in his mind was Ivanna; their conversation had started out playful, teasing as they always we with one another but it had taken a confusing turn for the boy and in the end he ended up hearing, and saying, some things he didn't really want to hear - or say, for that matter.

Rubbing his jawline as he stared absently out the window, Blaise considered phoning Ivanna, to clear the air as it were. He had no idea where he stood with her and such things quickly drove him towards insanity. He hated not knowing things, but it was often the case when Ivanna was concerned, you'd think he would be used to it by now. Having spent the night alone, Blaise felt out of sorts now - no doubt Cillian had gotten lucky more than a few times the night before, he had probably done more networking too. Blaise's father would love him for that, rolling his eyes Blaise walked out his room, the hallway was carpeted and it felt warm and inviting against his toes. He reached the end of the hall, following it around a corner and ending up in front of the bathroom. Pausing only to retrieve a towel from the linin closest situated just outside the bathroom door, Blaise pushed in and turned the lock behind him. His morning routine had been thrown out the window today - usually he would have kicked his girl out, had breakfast, picked out his outfit and then had his shower but Blaise decided to humour the strange air of today. He stepped into the shower, biting his lip as cold water hit warm skin, it took a few seconds to warm up and when it did a quiet, contented sigh could be heard under the drum of water on clouded shower-screen glass.

Ten minutes later and Blaise left the bathroom, hair combed, teeth brushed and antiperspirant applied, yet he felt dirtier than ever. Home truths bubbled and burst in his mind, causing him to doubt himself for the first time in...well, years really. He reached his bedroom and discarded the towel, his thin body practically dry already; he opened the doors to his closest and surveyed the contents. Nothing snapped out at him, he sighed and reached for a shirt - bright red on the outside and white on the inside, he slipped it on after a pair of white boxers and rolled the sleeves up; white stark against the red. The collar was white also, and there was decorative motifs at the shoulders, his selection of white trousers - not slacks but not dressy, neither were they jeans - was almost automatic. But hey, if you look good in something why not milk it for all it's worth? White socks were pulled on and large feet slipped into white boots that looked a lot like a cross between something a cowboy would wear, and something you might expect a motorcycle driver to chose. He stood up, strolling to his mirror and eyeing himself. He looked a mess, the thought shocked up because as you might expect it wasn't one he had often - if ever. He turned his back on his reflection, eyes landed on his cell phone perched on the edge of his bedside table. He reached it in three easy strides, snatching it up and moving across menus until it rang his mothers number.

This was the height of patheticness - if that was even a word or state of mind in the first place - but what sort of twenty year old calls his mother because some two-bit whore bitched him out. Blaise winced, he didn't think of Ivanna that way, she was so much more that a whore and if he had any ability to express his emotions he probably would have told her so. As it happened he was a closed off, self-absorbed little boy, one who was playing at life and Ivanna was right, who wanted to be in a relationship with that? Blaise grimaced and shoved his cell phone into the pocket of his trousers, striding from his room in a flurry of self-pity and frustration. His feet led him outdoors, out the estate he and Cillian shared a house on, the best in LA but of course - and into civilisation. There was a light wind in the air, a breeze more than anything, and it curled, twisted and turned Blaise's hair until it had dried; slight bangs curled into his line of vision from time to time but he ignored them, not in the mood to make a show of brushing them out of the way. His face was glum as he walked and he hated it, being miserable was not his thing, sure he was a bit of a cynic at heart but he smiled a lot - or smirked at least. This depressed thing was a facade and it did nothing for him, urgh.

Blaise headed for the only place he really knew off by heart here; Starbucks. Ironic given his nonchalant attitude towards coffee, nevertheless his feet took him to the front door and into the building. He joined the line, because there always was a line in Starbucks, and didn't even bother looking around the cafe, as was usually his habit. He kept his head down, eyes and the majority of his nose hidden by blonde hair, until he reached the head of the line. "Americano, black, thank you." He muttered to the server, handing over money before she even asked for it. "Sir...this is ten euros..." The server spoke, eyeing the note with an expression of mixed curiosity and delight. Blaise snatched it back, swapping it instead for an American bill, glaring at the euro note before shoving it into his back pocket. He could have sworn he'd exchanged all his euros for dollars before they left Italy. He shrugged it off when the server handed him his change, moments later his Americano was ready and he was seated by the window - but he wasn't looking outside, instead his eyes were fixed on the dark brown coffee on the table. He loathed how people called it black - even himself, when clearly coffee was a dark brown. But that was just him being the day to day pedantic his mother raised him to be.

notes closed for abby <3
words 1 , 219 words .
clothes red/white shit. white trousers & white boots. gold manbag? XD
credit vale for banner. ♥

[ellie gibson]

ellie gibson

When Ellie felt a hand suddenly down smack her on the stomach her eyes slowly opened and then she looked around the room. Her eyes first stopped on the clock saying it was eight in the morning and really she should have gotten atleast thirty more minutes of sleep, they then wandered alittle farther and stopped on the face of a three yearold little boy. Noel was laying right next to her, instead of in his bed. She was still half asleep so in her mind she tried to figure out how the little boy had gotten to sleep next to her the night before. She was sure she had layed him down in his bed around eight oclock and then she sat up to watch some tv and then went to bed around nine. It wasnt like she had been drinking or anything so she should remember how Noel had ended up getting to sleep with her that night, even though his new 'big boy' bed should have been perfectly fine for him to sleep in. She closed her eyes tightly and then opened them again hopeing to wake up alittle more and not be so ready to fall asleep so that she could remember why Noel had ended up sleeping in her room. Well that worked because she suddenly remembered the contense of late the night before.

The night before had been different, but it wasnt the first time it had happened. Noel had been dreaming about god knows what and when it got to be to scary he would wake up and then coming crying to mommy. It was something she used to do when she was little so she really couldnt say no when he was afraid that some monster waas gonna crawl out from under his bed and chase after him like it did in his dream. She hated to see Noel sad or scared, or anything other than happy so if that meant sharing her bed with a three yearold who didnt know how to sleep in one spot or how to share the covers than she would do it. Even if it meant waking up in the middle of the night once or twice to move Noel more to the other side of the bed so that she could actually get alittle bit of sleep it didnt matter, as long as he wasnt scared of the monsters anymore. She would probably have to check to see if the monsters were gone when she took him to get ready and then again when she would put him down for a nap or for bedtime. She really didnt care though, she liked looking under the bed for monsters, in some ways it almost reasured her that his room was safe for him to sleep in.

Her mind suddenly flashed back to reality when she felt the slobbery kiss that Noel had left on her cheek. She smiled at the little boy and then kissed him on the forhead. Her one arm moved out from under the covers and then pushed the sheets back, her other arm looped around Noel so that when she got off of the bed she would take him with her. She then stood up and the little boy hooked onto her arm so he wouldnt somehow be dropped. She pulled him up so he wasnt just hanging there anymore and now she had a tight grip on him making sure that he wouldnt fall, and she wouldnt drop him no matter what. She walked down the hall, past the bathroom and into Noel's room. It was the perfect room for the little boy, not to big not to small, just perfect. She set Noel down on his bed and then walked over to the little dresser that held most of his clothes in it. She grabbed a little pair of jeans, well not really little to Noel but they were to Ellie, and a solid blue shirt. When Noel saw her getting clothes for him he started to take his pajama's off, but he got his shirt stuck on his head. Noel let me help you. she said and then walked over to the bed, layed the clothes down and then grabbed the sides of the headhole that wouldnt pull over the little boys head and then stretched them out alittle bit so that Noel could pull his head out. She helped him but his shirt on and his jeans and then left him to play with his little cars so that she could go get ready.

Ellie left Noel's bedroom and walked down the hallway and turned before she got to her bedroom, into the bathroom. She flicked on the light and then looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like a mess. Whether it was because she didnt sleep much last night because she had Noel sleeping next to her or because she had been laying in bed thinking about things that stressed her out so she was still tired now, maybe it was just the fact that her life had been crazy and she didnt take the time to take care of herself. It didnt really matter the reason though, she still looked like a mess. She turned on the cold water and then splashed her face with it, that sure woke her up. She looked at the shower that was next to her, she had showered the night before and she gave Noel a bath the night before so neither of them had to bath that morning. She brushed her teeth and brushed threw her hair before leaving the bathroom to go change into something else. She walked into her room and then straight towards her closet. From her closet she grabbed a pair of jean shorts and a solid light pink t-shirt and then quickly changed before Noel decided his toy cars werent fun anymore and had to come find mommy. She grabbed a pair of flip flops from her closet and then left her room. Her purse, Noels bag and Noels shoes were in the living area and she would grab them right before they left. She dropped the flip flops on the floor and slipped them on before going to get Noel.

Ellie grabbed Noel off the floor and even though he was squirming she still managed to get a good hold on him and took him out to the livingarea. She quickly slipped his shoes on and then grabbed both her purse and the bag with his toys and some snacks for him and was out of the apartment. It didnt take her long to get him in his carseat and then drive to starbucks, and get him out. She was pretty much a master at this considering she did it alot back home. The line wasnt very long anymore since it was alittle bit later in the morning and people had started to clear out. It didnt take them long to get to the front of the line. Can i get an Americano with cream, and a water.

[/b] she said and then payed the person infront of her after being told how much to pay. She grabbed Noel's water and then waited for her coffee. She smiled at the barista and then took her coffee when it was set down on the counter. Ellie's eyes were wandering from people to people as she walked threw the coffee shop. She was just about to take a sip of her coffee before she saw someone ohh so familur, Blaise Romano. Instead of the coffee cup coming to her lips it fell out of her hand and the coffee went all over the floor.

notes she spilled her coffee all over the floor, how sad.
words 1287
clothes jean shorts, light pink t-shirt.
credit lacey for code,
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[blaise romano .]

boy this is your grand finale

Blaise sat in the same position long enough for his coffee to get cold, when he broke whatever daydream he was in to drink it all that came out of the action was a disgusted curl of his lips before he set it back down on the table. His head raised to look out the window, eyes following all the pretty girls in the street but not even this brought a smirk to his lips - the trademark Romano smirk, something he copied from his father rather than inherited. But that makes him sound awfully like Draco Malfoy doesn't hit? Constantly smirking, always with an undercurrent of malice to his words; but no, he was capable of being nice, sure he was - but his old man wasn't after a nice son. It was such desires openly expressed by his father, that made Blaise wonder what his mother saw in Aeneas in the first place - they were like ebony and ivory, so far apart they were almost close again. Perhaps he had weaved his web of seduction around Varanese just as Blaise did around the girls he knew.

But perhaps Aeneas Romano got more than he bargained for with the beautiful Varanese Lombardi. She was a strong woman, she had worked her way up to the a-list from the humble of beginnings whereas the Romano's were old money, Aeneas had nothing on Varanese, nothing at all. Blaise wouldn't have been in the least bit surprised if Varanese was the one who ended it, of course that couldn't be true because she was hopelessly in love with the Romano Senior, hopelessly. For some times, in Blaise's distant memory of an early childhood Aeneas had claimed the same, he'd seen the newspaper clippings his mother's drawers with headlines like 'ROMANO PLAYBOY TAMED?' and at the time it had angered him to see these. Aeneas was so clearly not in love with Varanese, he went out night after night to get drunk - do one or two lines and then fuck some idiotic nobody. Hell, Blaise wouldn't have been shocked to discover a half-sibling roaming around Italy somewhere. Aeneas disgusted the younger man, and yet here he was, twenty years old and the spitting image of his father at that age. Fuck, he even had a son he didn't see - and if he was being completely honest with himself, his behaviour made him ashamed of himself. But what could he do, refusing Aeneas wasn't something people did for a reason.

Blaise ran a hand through his hair, he had no idea where he stood anymore, but oh wasn't it easy to make him doubt the path he had chosen? He was so clearly looking for a way out, he hated this pressure to live up to such a stupid reputation. Even so, this was the easy option and Blaise always had been one for picking those - Ellie and Noel were a prize example of this, he'd left them with nothing but his money, just because he was so selfish and so scared; his thoughts hadn't been on Ellie once, it was always about him, or his father or the Romano name. Blaise frowned now, glaring down at his coffee as if it was the reason for all his problems, he pushed it away in annoyance trying to push the thoughts of his child from his head at the same time. He had, at one point, contemplated telling his father of Noel but he could see how that situation would go. "What's your point, Blaise? Throw money at the tart, that will shut her up!" And what had Blaise done but that very thing? The blonde lowered his head slightly, as if hanging it in shame and in a way he was. He had stopped paying attention to any of his surroundings long ago but now he looked back and around, desperate for something to distract his mind. His eyes fell on nothing of interest, disgruntled he looked out the window instead amusement seeping into his mind when a rather dignified looking gentleman tripped on the sidewalk.

Sadly his mind was not distracted for long before he started his musing once more, but we all know it's because I have nothing important to write here. His eyes were glassy as thoughts, flashbacks and quotes from his past danced a turbulent dance in his mind; he winced every so often clearly caught up in some humiliating memory. Like the moment he found out his father was being sent to prison for having sex with underage girls, that still made him cringe and he hoped desperately he never got to that stage, he knew with not an ounce of a lie that he would probably end up killing himself. A pampered princess of a boy like him wouldn't survive in prison, he'd drive himself insane, being stuck with the company of con-artists and rapists; the scum of the earth. Not to mention he'd probably mouth off to the wrong person and be murdered - he'd seen Shawshank Redemption, he knew how that shit worked. Squirming in his seat Blaise's attention was finally caught by a loud smashing sound, it cut over all the noise of the cafe and almost everyone fell silent and turned to look at the source. What he saw then made Blaise's blood run cold, pupils shrinking in shock and body ridged, his movements were awkward and forced but he was unable to stop himself from going to help the girl; perhaps just because he knew who she was, and who the little boy who accompanied her was.

Blaise's expression was pained as he picked up shards of the broken cup, he refused to meet her eye like the coward he was and didn't even look in Noel's direction. He didn't know what was coming over him, this wasn't how he should be acting towards his little boy, or the mother of his child for that matter. He motioned for one of the staff members to clean up the coffee, finally looking the woman in the eye. "Ellie," His tone was a strained one, too polite to actually be nice, his eyes moved to the child and for a fraction of a second he thought about taking a step back and acting like he had no idea who they were. But to so blatantly refuse the boy like that, in plain sight of everyone? Blaise wasn't that bad, not yet anyway. He folded his arms over his chest and glanced at his seat "You can...I mean..." He trailed off, awkward didn't even begin to cover this situation.

notes done .
clothes red/white shit. white trousers & white boots .
credit vale for banner . ♥

[ellie gibson]

ellie gibson

Ellie had only been in LA for like a week and she already missed being in London. She missed her friends, and her brothers most of all. Why she had come to LA of all places was a really a question to even her. She just wanted to get out of London, and away from everything that reminded her of her mom dad and sister. The fact that all three of them had died in a span of two years was really hard and on her and walking past her moms old bakery everyday on her way to work or seeing her sisters old boyfriend almost everyday was really hard on her. So she ran away from everything that reminded her of the family she had lost, she wasnt exactly happy that she left both of her brothers behind and didnt really tell them where she was going but it was what she did. She couldnt take it back. She was just happy to be away from all of the stuff that she would have to face everyday back home, and as long as she had Noel with her she would be happy. He was the most important thing in her life right now and as much as he needed her she needed him more.

Noel was the most important thing in her life and always would be, she never thought that he wouldnt be. She needed him more than anything in the world and she never regretted having him or anything. She looked at the little boy that she held in her arms. He looked as though he was ready to fall back asleep and he probably would in less then an hour because he didnt sleep much the night before. He was really good at going to bed when he was supposed to and he didnt wake up at like the crack of dawn which she liked. The night before he had been dreaming though so he didnt get as much sleep as he usually did. She smiled at him softly and he smiled back at her right before his eyes fluttered shut. She wished she could just go back to when she was little and everything seemed like it was alright even though it wasnt, back to the times when her family was still a family and her mom was there to tell her that everything would be alright when she work up in the morning. She held him close to her and watched as people flowed in and out of Starbucks. She wasnt paying much attention to anything anymore she was just focused on Noel and occasionaly her eyes would wander up to see the line infront of her and what was going on.

When she looked at him she saw Blaise in the little boy. The guy she had met at a club and partied with the whole time he was in London, the guy whos baby she ended up giving birth to nine months later, she barley even knew him. Sure she knew that his father was extremely rich, and she knew that he was from Italy. While he was in London they never really sat down and talked, at all. They partied and then the day he was leaving they got coffee and ended up having sex all day. The guy she saw in Noel's face and everything else that reminded Ellie about Blaise, was a guy that she didnt even really know. He didnt know her either. He knew she was poorer, and he knew that she liked to party and he knew that she had their son. But non of that really mattered, that was the problem. The guy who was now standing infront of her because he noticed her drop her coffee, she knew nothing about him and thats what bugged her. Somehow she felt as if she loved him, but she didnt even know him well enough to tell anyone his full name let alone tell anyone that she loved him and why. Everything was so confusing to her, she wished she could just figure things out and then move on with her life. But obviously that wouldnt be easy.

Her eyes wandered up from the spilt coffee to look at him. He didnt look any different than the last time she had saw him, almost a year ago. She bit her bottom lip and looked from him to Noel who's eyes were open again and looking around the coffee shop. Well this wasnt awkward at all, she didnt even know what to say to him. She watched as one of the workers came to clean up the spilled coffee. She could tell that the person wasnt to happy because it probably wasnt his job to be cleaning up spills, but what could you do when your manager told you to do something. Her eyes wandered off of the worker and back to Blaise. She watched as his eyes wandered to where he had been sitting but he didnt really say much. This was extremely awkward and weird, she didnt even know that Blaise was in LA let alone in Starbucks at the same time as her before right now. "Umm yeah can I uhh... I mean we sit with you" she managed to spit out and then looked down at the floor again. When Noel started squirming around in her arms she looked at him hoping that he would stop or atleast tell her what he wanted. When he didnt she set him down so he was standing on the floor, his little hand weaved into hers so that she didnt suddenly start walking away and leave him there. She watched him as he looked up at Blaise and then reached his hand towards his hands that were folded over his chest. He was only three and he didnt see Blaise alot, but he knew who he was. She wasnt exactly sure what to do she just stood there and watched.

notes done. sorry it sucks, my muse kinda died.
clothes jean shorts, light pink t-shirt.
credit lacey for code,