Setting
Default Location for Her Missing Cause
Minimap
northwest |
north |
northeast |
west |
You are here. |
east |
southwest |
south |
southeast |
New York is a part of 
Her Missing Cause.
4 Characters Here
Jean-Louis Gage [11] "How do you go on knowing that you will never again - not ever, ever - see the person you have loved?"
Ashleigh Carey [6] The Singer
Brianna Carey [1] W.I.P
Wendy Collins [1] The Best Friend
Start Character Here »
~ 1 Month Before Murder~
Her life seemed it was just one plot twist after another, as Ashleigh Carey laid in her Queen-sized bed of luxury. She sat up, her hair a mess, but knew she'd say it was some 'style' to get out of her stylist's constant nagging at her. Ashleigh surveyed the room, sighing as she was alone.
As she wondered mentally for a moment where her lover was, she quickly got out of bed, and shut herself up in the bathroom as silently as she could, and stretched out a long, tight piece of fabric, tightly velcroing it across her stomach, which had grown slowly over the past eight months. She almost wished she could have the baby publicly, but, decided against it. Her agent said it could mean bad publicity, as Ashleigh was 20-something and having kids. She had to do nothing but agree, ignoring what her heart spoke.
Little did she know, she'd regret that decision.
Ashleigh then resumed her day in a baggy t-shirt, going from concert to concert as they were on tour currently. When the tour ended some days later, Ashleigh secretly went to the hospital, birthing the child of her's and her lover's secretly, and returning to her room that night, as if nothing had happened.
There was an odd feeling that came with ending a tour. It was an inevitability, something Louis had never been able to avoid in all of his years on tour with Ashleigh Carey. To go from running about the world at break-neck speed to having a free schedule was a harsh change that often took him by surprise. It was during these lulls, where his body almost felt like shutting down from pure exhaustion, that he turned to the bottle for some normalcy. Before Ashleigh's death, he certainly wasn't an alcoholic, but when he showed up at the hotel Ashleigh was staying at, it was easy to tell he had had a shot or two before calling a taxi.
The stench of whiskey laced his breath as he stood outside of her door, raping the knuckles of his left hand gently on the door. In his right hand, he clutched his electric guitar within its case. There was a chill about the hallway of the hotel at this time of night. Few sounds, save the excessive screaming of shit-faced vacationers, echoed through the building either.
"Ashleigh?" he said softly, feeling as though he was not allowed to speak above a whisper, lest he disrupt the relative peace and quiet. "Are you awake, ma chérie?" If the French he dropped did not allow her to recognize him, Louis still had his French accent with which he spoke to identify him. He smiled to himself and leaned against the door frame. A soft laugh passed through his parted lips as though he were amused by the not-so-subtle use of French. To himself, he hummed lightly. The tune was something he couldn't place, but it was a song he must have heard some years ago and was now recalling.
Ashleigh was glad for the recent lull, which happened after every concert. It meant she got Louis, and didn't have to worry about her dumb old singing career. Something about it made her loathe it. Maybe it was the way her mother just accepted her running away all those years ago.
"Ashleigh... Are you awake ma'cherie?"
Ashleigh giggled as she heard the faint familiar sound of Louis's rapping knuckles on her hotel door. She was pulled out of her thoughts, and went to the door, opening it slowly. "Mon cherie?" She giggled, having learned just enough French to be able to tease her love.
"Come in, why don't you?" She grinned, eyeing his guitar case, then meeting his eyes. Those bright, menacing blue eyes. She thought for a moment where she saw them yesterday, but that was impossible, as they were in concert mode. Ashleigh then mentally scolded herself. The baby's eyes were his. Her baby girl's.
"Are you hungry, love?" She asked sincerely, sitting on her couch in the room, looking at him as she stretched, looking at him upside down. She giggled at her tiresome efforts to make him come to her. Her arms went limp, flailing against the backside if the couch, upside down.
He could hear here soft giggle through the closed door. It was a sound he likened to the tinkling sound a glass made when tapped with a knife for a toast. At the same time, Louis was a romantic at heart and had a tendency to exaggerate things. Either way, it didn't matter. Ashleigh's laugh was reassuring to him. It was as much a part of her as the smile that tugged at her lips when she opened the door.
"Mon cherie?" she managed to ask between soft bursts of laughter. "Come in, why don't you?" Louis noticed her eyes flicker to his guitar case before she looked back at him. It certainly wasn't unusual for him to show up with the instrument. Even when a tour was done, when he wanted nothing to do with his guitar or music, he knew he had to hone his skills.
"Don't mind if I do," he replied, using the idiom with accuracy. It had been one of the many he learned from various roadies. Louis matched her smile with one of his own.
Louis took a single step in and bent to kiss Ashleigh on the top of her head before she retreated to the couch. He followed her for a bit and then stopped, drinking in the overwhelming sense of being home. Ashleigh seemed to have that effect on almost anywhere. In a way, she even seemed to do such a thing on stage.
He propped his guitar up against the wall, focusing on steadying it until Ashleigh spoke again. Again, he smiled, letting out a soft breath of laughter. Louis walked over and sat down on the floor against the couch. "Mm...a bit," he replied, running one hand's fingers along her jawline. His other arm wrapped around his knees, pulling them into his chest.
Ashleigh sighed as she watched Louis sit on the ground, tracing her jawline, making her skin tingle. She turned slightly, barely biting at his fingers as they swayed. His fingertips soft on her skin. Still upside down, she turned her head to face him, and kissed at his lips, tugging at his bottom lip as she pulled away.
"Good. Because I'm not, and I don't feel like making food." She smiled, and joined him on the floor, sitting to the side of him. Ashleigh smiled warmly at her lover, and gazed at his features. She rested her head on his shoulder, breathing him in. "Mmm... you smell... " She narrowed her eyes at him, as she sat up. "Like, whiskey. Again?" She sighed.
"You know I don't want you drinking so early, Louis." She smirked, and watched his face for a reaction. "How many times must I remind you? My father died of kidney failures, because of whiskey at 10 in the morning." Ashleigh murmured, running a hand through her hair.
"Just try for me." She said low, dropping the subject.
He smiled into her lips as they kissed. Louis's hand briefly paused and simply cupped her jaw lovingly as she lightly bit his bottom lip. He let out a light laugh at her response. He knew he should have expected such a response from her. It was typical of Ashleigh and certainly one of the reasons he so passionately loved her. Reluctantly, he removed his hand from her cheek to make it easier for her to get off the couch and sit beside him.
Louis met her gaze for a moment, smiling lovingly back at her. As she laid her head against his shoulder, he raised a hand and stroked her hair gently while looking about her apartment absentmindedly. He did not even realize anything had changed in the atmosphere until she sat up. "Like whiskey. Again?" Louis opened his mouth to speak as he looked to her, but the sigh she let out silenced him effectively and made him reconsider his response.
"Look, Ash..." he started, but he was silenced again as she spoke of her father. Oh yes, he'd heard about his kidney failure before. It certainly wasn't the first time she'd spoken of his drinking habits. Louis gave a slight nod, smiling as genuinely as he could. He had to admit, however, that the mood had sort of been killed. "I know." He spoke softly and slowly so that his words carried more weight in them. "A little drink every now and then never hurt anyone, right?" Louis tried to smile at this, but they both knew he wasn't simply doing a little bit of drinking. When he wasn't on tour, it was alcohol, and when he was, he was usually dabbling in some of the cocaine the roadies carried around.
Louis gave a soft sigh, frowning a bit. "I will try, alright? For you...for us." This promise, as empty as it might be, seemed to reassure him, and he moved to place an arm around Ashleigh's shoulders again, drawing her against him.
"I will try, alright? For you...for us."
She relaxed as Louis pulled her to him, in his loving arms. Ashleigh didn't fight him in the least, and instead, followed his pull, placing her own arms around his waist as best she could, burying her head into his chest.
Whether she wanted to admit it or not, he was her safe haven.
Honestly, he could do all the cocaine, drink up all the alcohol on this Earth, and Ashleigh would still be hugging him. She would lay awake at night sometimes because of his illegal habits, but she loved him nonetheless. "For us.." She repeated softly, pondering over a past night's events, which included her losing weight and a baby. Her baby was off in the world now, without her or Louis. She sighed tiredly, still weak from the whole night's events.
"Shall we have some wine?" She asked more to herself, and chuckled, after just negatively influencing alcohol. "Before you say anything.." She interrupted herself with a loving kiss to Louis's soft lips. "Wine is different. " She kissed him again, as if she was 'sugaring him up'. "It's rumored to be good for you, unlike the rum you waste." Ashleigh smirked, and found herself nowhere near getting up, but instead, just yawning, and having her hands flat on the ground, on either side of her lover.
He held her lightly against his side, letting her bury her head in his chest. Meanwhile, he brushed his lips against the top of her head, breathing in her scent this time which smelled much less like alcohol and more like scented shampoos. Louis pecked a few light kisses against her crown, too, smiling into each one.
Her offer of wine surprised him, to say the least, but he certainly wasn't going to refuse it. "Sure," he replied, giving a slight nod before she kissed him. Despite what she said, he found himself grinning. "Oh, really? How so?" His words were teasing, as could be seen from the smirk he wore. When she replied, he made a soft sound of approval. "I suppose I'll take your word for it."
Louis made a face at her. "I certainly would not consider it wasted..." he replied, not getting the movie reference at first. "It's an enjoyable experience." Still, he maintained his joking tone, simply playing along with her. When she stopped, obviously not going to get wine as she had said, he leaned forward and cupped her face in both of his hands. When she stopped yawning, he leaned forward and kissed her, pulling her face lightly and passionately into his. Finally, he pulled away, smiling wistfully.
"I could stay here forever and never tour again," he breathed, looking deeply into her eyes as he spoke. "What a life that would be..."
Ashleigh smiled into all of his kisses, watching him as he spoke again. "I could stay here forever and never tour again, What a life that would be..."
"Hmm.." She leaned more of her weight on her legs, which at the moment, she was on her knees, and her hands still flat on either side of Louis. "We stayed here forever, and... just like this?" She grinned, chuckling. "Wouldn't you get hungry?" Ashleigh teased, and leaned forward, pecking small dabs of kisses at his skin on his neck, before retreating to the kitchen to get the wine she so emptily promised them.
"One glass for me..." She spoke, as she walked back in, two glasses balanced in one hand, and the bottle of wine in the other. "And another glass for Ashleigh." Ashleigh giggled, pouring out appropriate amounts of wine for the both of them, then handing him one, as she held hers gracefully, resuming her spot in front of him on the floor.
"To us... always and forever, my sweet, sweet Jean-Louis." She smiled lovingly as she spoke his name in her 'French tone', and after clinking her glass to his, she brushed her lips on his wistfully.
"Mm...just like this," he confirmed. Louis grinned and then laughed softly. "I'd be content to just drink in your beauty." It was cheesy, and it caused him to chuckle, but he meant it, of course. At least he thought he did. In his mind, he was completely willing to forgo everything to remain in her company like this. He wasn't crazy though. Yes, he hated being on tour, but he wasn't a fool. The money he made playing his guitar was what allowed him to keep his addictions in check.
Ashleigh got up then, and he sprawled his arms across the couch's cushions again, making himself appear utterly resigned. He's be lying if he said he weren't still tired from the tour. Louis watched her as she poured out the wine, smiling lovingly up at her. "You tease," he scolded playfully as she handed him his glass. Louis folded his legs criss-crossed style as she sat before him again.
"Forever and always," he replied, seconding her words. He waited until they kissed gently before sipping the wine. Once he downed about half of the glass, he smirked at her. "Spoken like a true French woman." Louis laughed to himself and swirled the wine in his glass slowly while continuing to look up at her.
"Spoken like a true French woman."
Ashleigh smiled a smile that could only be true, and had to drink some of her wine to calm her nerves. She examined Louis, as his legs were criss-crossed, as now were hers, sitting in front of him. She watched her wine swirl around like a tornado in her cup, before looking into his eyes.
"Louis.." She started, then cleared her throat, her fingertip dancing around the edge of her wine glass. "What do you.." She stopped, and couldn't bring herself to look at him. "What.. I mean.. " She sighed, setting her wine glass next to the wine bottle on the coffee table next to her.
"I guess what I'm trying to say here, is.. what do you... you think of marriage?" She said softly, her eyes finally meeting his, and looked as if he stared to long they might burst.
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