J'Adore Alexia

well it's time to post up my narrative for my Fictional
Writing class. a few notes before u continue to read my major project, the
dialogue bit is in french and as a "writer" i assume that people
reading it knows french, and btw it's quite badly translated (i'm still in the
process of learning!) so do not nitpick at this very grey area.



secondly the title actually means the 7 Deadly Sins in french, see if u can
actually spot the sins within my narrative.



thirdly, there are two parts to my narrative, i did not want the reader to
relate to the protagonist so i kept it cold and simple. everything is very
minimal, in contrast to the second part which is dark and dismal. i wanted to
portray the workings of a model, as in what we see on the exterior (photographs,
posters, etc) to what goes on in the inside. also names of brands, wines,
papers, etc do actually exist in this world. i did quite a bit of research and
poured out my heart and soul into this piece.



so i hope u guys who like reading enjoy it. any comments please feel free to
drop me a msg.

Les Sept Péchés Capitaux

Alexia opened the door with her keys and stepped into her apartment. She threw her keys into a glass bowl next to an array of neatly fanned out French Vogues, one of which had her posing on the front cover. Her skinny frame was dressed in agnès b. from top to toe, her long fiery red hair was tied back into a bun and she had pink Swarovski crystal studs glued to her smooth and fair face to contrast with her sapphire eyes. Next to her were the words "Alexia Cohen: la nouveau voix de la modèle".

She tip toed her way to her bedroom and remembered her former lover asking her, "Were you a ballerina? Or did you spend your lifetime walking on eggshells?".

She turned on the lights to find a picture lying on her 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. The picture was of a chubby and a thin girl, frozen in time laughing silently and their arms were around each other. She picked up the photo and stared at it, mesmerized by the uncanny similarity they had with each other. Her slender fingers slowly traced out the girl's face in the vintage photograph.

Celes…

She could still remember speaking to Celes like it was yesterday. Braiding each other's hair and talking about which guy in high school was cute, the fight they had over who Paul Vargen should take to the prom, the tears of happiness when Celes came out of the closet and introduced her girlfriend to Alexia. The last time they spoke to each other was when Celes got kicked out of rehab for doing crystal meth during one of her meetings.

Alexia walked over to her mahogany dressing table and set the photo down. She ignored the smudged Le Monde that had been there for a couple of days.

Model Hits Rock Bottom: Former top model, Celes Cohen, was diagnosed with having a mental breakdown after she was found naked on the streets of Charles-de-Gaulle Etoile. The photographer said she ran out on her last shot and witnesses saw her shrieking down the road of the café. Former co-worker and make-up artiste Jean Mallea revealed Cohen to have serious mental problems and had been consuming drugs during her previous shoots…

She moved to the kitchen with grace and agility, her stomach being abused from her starving it all day and demanding that she feed it immediately. A blast of cold air hit her as she opened the chrome refrigerator. Nothing. Her fridge was empty apart from a jar of pickles and a bottle of milk, both past its expiration date. Sighing to herself, Alexia picked up her phone and proceeded to dial La Favela Chic, the French version of HardRock Café. She straddled it with her neck and picked out a glass from the cabinet. Listening to the phone ring, Alexia watched the clear liquid flow straight into the glass as she turned on the tap. She took a gulp from it and left it at the basin.

"Alo, La Favela Chic, est-ce que je peux prendre votre ordre, sil vous plais?"

"Bonjour, c'est 18B Champ de Mars."

"Mademoiselle Cohen? Voulez-vous le même passer une?"

"Oui."

"La facture devoir…"

Alexia did not bother listening to the amount she needed to pay. She hung up and grabbed her handbag she threw on the white leather couch. She fished out 80,000 Francs and slipped it into one the many white envelopes she had lying on the round frosted glass coffee table. She slid the envelope gently underneath the door of her apartment; afraid that the delivery man will find out that the food is just for her. Trying to make it seem like she had a party going on, Alexia turned her Bang & Olufsen on and the apartment was filled with Camino Del Sol's haunting voice.

It was time to relax while her food was being delivered to her doorstep. She went through her mail that was sitting on her alabaster table next to her door and found the Hello! magazine delivered to her monthly from Leonard. Attached to the magazine was a note that said:

Hey sexy.

Saw your cover on Elle. Keep up the good work.

Miss that supple pink nipples of yours.

When will you come for me again?

Leo

Alexia thought about the men she had met up with and casually ended the night with their bodies entwined from heat and she giggled to herself. She tore the Post-It from the magazine and crumpled it up and tossed it aside. What’s the point in having a maid when the apartment is always clean? She ripped the plastic covering the magazine and flicked it nonchalantly. She sat down on her couch and started flipping through the magazine. There were pictures of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, Britney shaving her head and other celebrities in their get-ups for various award ceremonies. Her eyes were drawn to an article on a beautiful red-head with eyes of blue.

After former top model Celes Cohen was checked into Esquirol hospital, a mental institution in France, her twin sister Alexia took over the reign of her modeling career and stole the world by storm…

Alexia ignored the knocking on her door and her eyes continued darting across page 16 of the magazine.

Alexia weighed in at about 130lbs but soon after her sister left the modeling world, she dropped a shocking 35lbs within 2 months. Now weighing 95lbs, Alexia is even thinner than her sister and is speculated for having an…

Alexia threw the magazine across the room.

Fuck you.

She could feel her eyes starting moisten. Damn mother fuckers and their fucking lies. Alexia picked herself up and took a deep breath, straightening and fluffing her Carven couture babydoll dress. The knocking had stopped and she was ready to pick up her dinner sitting outside the front door. She unlocked the latch to the door and slowly opened it to take a peek outside. The delivery man along with the white envelope was gone. In its place were two brown paper bags. She quickly snatched the bags and closed the door silently.

Upon opening the first paper bag after setting it down on her glass dining table, she brought out two cheese steak burgers wrapped in aluminum foil, a Styrofoam box of onion blossoms and a bottle of Côtes du Jura to go with her 2 cream based pastas in the other brown bag. Grabbing a fork from her utensils drawer she sat down and started to inhale the cabonara pasta pancetta, occasionally digging her cream stained fork into the onion blossoms and stuffing it down her throat.

Alexia was halfway through her 2nd serving of spaghetti bolognese when she felt her stomach groan and expand. She took a large sip from her glass of wine and continued to eat, occasionally stopping to take a deep breath. Her stomach could not stand it anymore. She set her fork down and looked at the two cheese steak burgers, unwrapped and sitting there on top of the aluminum foil. She closed her eyes and thought of Celes, her bony structure, the sunken-in cheekbone, her perfect abs…

Alexia opened her eyes to find Belial standing in front of her. His demonic eyes fixated on hers. In his scaly inhuman hands was a mirror in which he extended his arms for her to take a look. The reflection showed a grotesquely huge woman, sitting in the same position she was sitting in, her face drooped like a bulldog, the neck bunched up in fats and her arms rolled in cellulite.

NO! That's not her! She watched in horror as the mirror reflection of herself pointed at her and laughed. Yet nothing could be heard apart from the music playing at the background. Each time she laughed, her flabby double chin would shake and flap around.

Like a droplet falling into still water, ripples took the image of the fat woman away and replaced her with Celes' zed card. Yes, Celes was perfect. Her eyes pierced through the glossy card and into Alexia's soul, her features sharp and fairy-like.

Belial set the oval mirror on the table and picked up one the cheese steak burgers. He held it out to Alexia, the burger dripping with jack cheese on his rough palms. He smiled at her, like a snake his tongue darted in and out of his sharpened blood stained teeth. He stretched out his arms even further, the tip of the burger touching her cabonara and bolognese covered lips. She slowly parted them and took a huge bite into the burger. She could taste the juicy grilled beef wrapped in the saltiness of cheese and sautéed mushrooms melting into her mouth. She grinded the remnants of her first bite and swallowed it down. More. She snatched the burger from Belial's palms and started to feed on it, each bite tasting even better than the last. Her eyes bulged out and she made her way through the last morsel, her hands were covered in oil and fluids from the beef patty.

Her stomach was reaching its limits, but she was still hungry. She greedily grabbed the second cheese steak burger and masticated on it. Upon devouring a quarter of the burger, she could feel it rise from her abdomen. She looked up and watched Belial point to the bathroom door with his long brown fingernails. It was coming, and it was coming fast. She threw the vestiges on the table and darted into the bathroom.

Alexia hunched over the toilet seat and felt it at the back of her throat. She unhinged her jaws and everything came spurting out; surge after surge of food that she consumed. As she grabbed on to the toilet seat, the force of it threw her head back slightly and it snapped back into place after each gush. Welts of tears formed at the corner of her eyes and rolled off her face like hot coals. It was the last stream of herself and she could now feel the acidic taste burning through her throat. Her limbs were limp from the whole ordeal and she struggled to peel her body from the bathroom floor.

With her left hand, Alexia reached out and turned the silver handle anti-clockwise. She watched the dark orange fluid with bits and pieces mix in with the water, making its way down the hole. The flushing sounds echoed through the hollow toilet bowl and into the tiny bathroom.

Alexia stepped in front of the sink and looked at herself in the cabinet mirror latched onto the wall. Her gorgeous red hair now had clumps of remnants in it, the eyeliner blended with her tears and was melting down on her face. She turned on the tap and the water gushed through the faucet. She bent down and washed the chunks away from her mouth and her hair. The water merged with her liquefied eyeliner and turned black as she softly scrubbed her eyes. She straightened her back and looked into the reflection again, her lips curled into a smile. She gazed into Belial's beady eyes.

"I'm perfect."