𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒.

“It’s just been a while,” he admitted, attempting to slow his labored breathing. He wished that he ran into her a mile back before sweat began to dampen his forehead. He wiped it off with the back of his hand, cringing inwardly. When they’d parted ways, it wasn’t particularly bitter, but also wasn’t overly friendly. Cordial was a good word. He eyed the photographer, distracted by their incessant clicking. Photos of the two of them would be plastered on magazine stands tomorrow no doubt. He looked back at her, eyebrow-raising. “Do you need an escape plan?”

“It has,” she agreed, unable to tell if he thought that was a good thing or a bad one. It was hard to say where they’d be now if she hadn’t left the city, although she had a good feeling she’d still be either fighting with Serena for his attention or he’d just be dating her. She didn’t feel like spending her life in competition with her sister. She nodded when he suggested an escape, the presence of the photographer just making this reunion more awkward than it already was. “As long as you don’t make me run in these boots, sure.”

“Yeah,” he replied as he stepped back from the hug and smiled warmly at her, “I’m sure you’re used to much warmer climates.” When Eric had first found out that his cousin was actually his half-sister, he hadn’t really known what to do with that information. He’d mostly been thinking about what that implied - regarding his father, and he’d have preferred never to know that at all. But the fact was that he’d only felt closer to Lola ever since finding out, and so he’d made an effort to keep in touch. Sometimes, he even read the tabloids to stay up to date, though he’d never admit that to anyone out loud. 

“Well - there’s a new lunching restaurant I’ve had my eye on for weeks, do you want to try it out? I heard it serves the food on old records, which is .. interesting, more than anything, I guess,” he told her with a smirk. “Are you settling in well, by the way? Where are you staying? Not a hotel, I hope. You know you’re always welcome at my place if you need a place to stay, right?”

“Yeah, California doesn’t really get this cold, does it? This really isn’t something I missed about New York,” she said, pulling her coat tighter around herself. As much as she loved Eric, being with him was also a reminder of all the things she hated about the Upper East Side and a reminder of Serena and her mother. Two people who’d actively worked to ruin her life. She liked Eric the best out of all of them by far, but there was always that line she wouldn’t cross with him and topics she didn’t feel comfortable bringing up. She never wanted to put him in a position where he’d have to choose between his two sisters. Mostly because he knew who he would choose and it wasn’t her.

“Oh, that sounds really cool actually,” she said with a grin. New York definitely had a great food scene, something she felt LA lacked most of the time. Or maybe there were just as many good places in LA, but she couldn’t go anywhere without the paparazzi hounding her, so... “Yeah, I am. Getting used to the city again and everything. No hotel, I’m renting this place in the Upper West Side. Such a nice neighborhood. Where are you staying now?”

     If Lola hadn’t been quick to escort Maverick away from the photographer, things likely could have gotten ugly. If there was one thing he hated about being in the lime light, it was the paparazzi and their intense need to follow people around. He had enjoyed it when he’d first gotten his name out there with the band but after over a decade, his battle with sobriety and two kids later, his patience with them had been wearing thin. “This is on a smaller scale of things my publicist has had to deal with.” He was sure to get an earful, if not from his publicist, then certainly from his ex-wife. That was just a headache waiting to happen. Mav adjusted his coat before he stuck his hands into his pockets as he walked alongside the actress. “It’s all good, Lo. We’ve both been busy.”

Out of all the things she’d heard about Maverick, fighting a paparazzi was definitely on the tamer side of the list, but it still wasn’t great. Lola, on the other hand, was a well-trained client and never gave her agent or publicist much trouble. After working so hard to get where she was, she had no intention of losing it all over something as stupid as not behaving herself. “Yeah, well, let’s avoid giving her more work then, yeah?” She told him with a smile, patting his shoulder soothingly. “So we have. What have you been up to? Fill me in on everything.”

                     WAVING THE WOMAN’S thanks away, romee smiled and shook her head as if to say ‘ don’t mention it, it’s no big deal ‘. “ don’t take that personally, though – she i s royalty after all. “, romee replied, winking at the other before extending her hand to her. “ romee bass. it’s a pleasure to meet you, lola. i must say, i am a fan of your work. “, the woman introduced herself. romee may be a bass, but she wasn’t a liar – she genuinely had enjoyed seeing lola on the screen. she was talented, and therefore, romee believed they would get along just fine. 

Lola chuckled, making it clear she didn’t take offence to being ditched for Beyoncé at all. Hell, she wouldn’t care about being ditched for freaking Snooki if it got her out of being stalked in Central Park. “She absolutely is and I’m absolutely not insulted. You just saved my day,” she said gratefully, smiling at the blonde. Hearing compliments still wasn’t something she was used to and she couldn’t help but look down bashfully. “Thank you. I still can’t get used to people telling me they’ve seen my work. Mostly because it also mean they’ve seen me topless in that Netflix series I did.”

Talia had a natural competitive streak within her; she wasn’t sure why, but she always tried to be the best at anything she did no matter how low or high the stakes were. That’s exactly why she was trying to be at the front of any running pack in Central Park, throwing herself into a race with every other runner—whether they knew they were competing or not.  She was at a relatively quick but steady pace, running to the very loud beat of HIGHEST IN THE ROOM by Travis Scott, which was why she couldn’t hear the impending footsteps of the stranger that pushed her. 

“Cazzo!” Her fast movements couldn’t keep up with the force of the shove, which caused Talia to stumble in the middle of the park’s path.  Aside from the burning pain of her scraped knees through her now-ripped leggings, her ego took the biggest hit due to the embarrassment of the fall.  Lifting herself off the cold pavement, she quickly located her left AirPod which had flown out of her ear, and stormed her way to a blonde woman who seemed to already be confronting the man.

“What the fuck is the matter with you?”  Talia’s Italian accent only amplified with her anger, “You know, you really could’ve injured me.”  She broke her heated gaze away from the man to look at the blonde next to her, her words still sharp as she asked: “Do you know him?”

Lola took a step back when the stranger shouted at the photographer. He totally deserved it and screaming was what the blonde actually wanted to be doing, but it was still a bit shocking. Good shocking. “Shit,” she muttered as she saw the blood and the ripped leggings. This was turning out so, so terribly. “Look what you did! You need to be careful, we’re not the only two people in the park. You have your pictures and you’ve done quite enough damage, can you just go?” She knew already that her pleas would go unheard, but it was worth a try. Clearly, appealing to his humanity wouldn’t work out. “No, I don’t know him. He’s just some creep paparazzi trying to make a buck by following me around and taking unflattering pictures,” she said with a sigh, trying to ignore the man. “Can I buy you a coffee? To make up for all this.”

Lily had offhandedly revealed to Eric that his cousin-slash-sister was coming back to New York in between a dozen other things she’d been saying, and then pretended like he was acting stupid for making it a big deal, but family was a big deal for Eric. Even if the past hadn’t always been .. rose-colored with certain family members, he was still looking forward to catching up, and so he’d texted her as soon as he’d left the penthouse that day. Now, second thoughts crept up as he saw the intruding photographer and felt the cold hit his face. “Lola,” he exclaimed from a bench a good thirty feet away as he rose to his legs and walked over to her. The small altercation unfolded in front of him but luckily resolved itself when Lola’s comment made the man back off, and Eric simply smiled at the woman as he drew her in for a familial hug. “Hi,” he said as he breathed out, before releasing her from his arms. “How are you? Want to get away from the cold, by the way?”

All those years away from Manhattan and Lola still kept in touch with Eric van der Woodsen. She could say she hated that side of her family all she wanted, she’d be just as quick to add that her brother was one of the only good ones. He was the only one that made her feel like she belonged amongst them and the only one she was glad to see now that she was back. She grinned when he called her name, closing the gap between them by wrapping her arms around him. “Eric,” she said fondly, squeezing him tightly. “I’m good now that you’re here and I’d absolutely have to get somewhere a bit warmer. What do you have in mind?”

Most days, Devin loved her office, loved it even when she saw nothing but its four walls from dawn well past dusk. Today, though, wasn’t most days. Today was one of the rare days Devin had a hankering for nature, and Lola was one of the few clients she felt comfortable meeting in the park for a little walk and talk. Unfortunately, it seemed like this hadn’t been the right day for a field trip, as some idiot with a camera had been following Lola even before they stepped inside the park’s gates. Any chance of making any headway went up in an aggressive push, though Devin was quick to lay a hand on Lola’s arm. “I know you want to help, hun, but yelling after him? That’s only gonna give him something else to photograph. It might just be time to make you scarce.”

Lola’s shoulders dropped in discouragement, smiling weakly at the poor New Yorker who saw nothing coming. “I’m sorry,” she told him quietly as Devin led her away. The paparazzi wasting no time before following them, but she simply gritted her teeth and swallowed back the colorful insults that came to mind. “I thought New York was supposed to be heaven for anyone with a recognizable face. It’s part of why I took this job. For the anonymity.” She knew she had nothing to whine about, but everyday it felt like this wasn’t quite what she signed up for. She loved acting, just not everything that came along with it.

      New York was one of the few places that Maverick truly felt at home. He’d been born and raised in the city and it certainly was a nice reprieve from the demands and chaos of Los Angeles. For instance, taking leisurely strolls while in L.A had proven to be quite difficult. Paparazzi, fans. It was great in the beginning of his career but nearly two decades later, it was annoying. Back in the day, he had been prone to rage when it came to the paps following him around like they were waiting for the smallest thing to happen that could be the shot that ran headlines. Thankfully, he hadn’t had much of a problem with that since his return to the city a month ago. It became quite easy for him to blend into his surroundings in the mornings when he wanted to go for a stroll and clear out his thoughts or run over new ideas for the bands’ newest album that was slated to start writing for in a week or two. Maverick was pretty surprised that he’d managed to go so long that day without at least one person noticing while he walked through Central Park, but the moment he’d seen a paparazzi pushing passersby to follow a woman around, he started to get testy. He absolutely hated the creeps and he knew it wasn’t his battle. He’d manage to easily slip on by if he felt like minding his own business but before he knew it, his feet were carrying him toward the scene. The pap was clearly keen on keeping their attention solely on their victim, so it didn’t surprise him that they hadn’t paid much attention and collided with him. That didn’t bode well with his temper. His instant reaction was to shove the pap backwards, not hard enough to do any damage but enough to show that he meant business. “ Now, if you intend to keep your teeth, I’d suggest backin’ off and crawling back into whatever hole you came out of. ” It had come to mind that people might get the wrong idea about the pair of them being photographed together, but his main concern was getting the creep off her back. “ You okay? ”

Hollywood being the tight-knit community that it was, Lola had actually met Maverick on more than one occasion. The two of them couldn’t be more difference, despite both being well-known, but had still somehow found more than a few things they had in common. Their mutual hatred of the downsides of fame was one of those things. She’d heard to the grapevine that he was in town as well and had been for awhile, but hadn’t contacted him yet. She was still getting used to being back and trying to figure out how she wanted to play this, so she hadn’t had time for social outings yet. The blonde watched as the photographer hit Maverick’s chest, bouncing off of it like he was a brick wall. Her lips curled up slightly in amusement, despite growing worried about what exactly he’d do in retaliation. He didn’t have the whole America’s sweetheart imagine to protect. “Maverick,” she said under her breath, hoping he’d understand it’d be in everyone’s best interest not to cause a scene. “I’m fine, just annoyed. Let’s just go.” She put a hand on his arm, leading him away before things had a chance to escalate even further. The pap didn’t follow, so that was one win for the day. “If this gets out, both our publicists are going to kill us.” It would get out, they both knew that, but she deserved to live in denial for a few more minutes. “I heard you were in the city. Sorry I didn’t call.”

                  ROMEE LOVED BEING in central park. whether it was summer or winter, the beacon of serenity found in a park in the middle of a city that never sleeps was enough for the young bass to make her forget all about any possible worries that were on her minds, just for a little while. winters in new york city could get rough – especially the last couple of years – but today was a good day. cold, but the bright blue sky and sunshine made it impossible to stay inside. 

                  walking the same path she always followed when going for a walk in central park, romee couldn’t help but notice a familiar face in the distance, clearly being involved in some sort of a scene. romee wouldn’t be romee if her nosey-ness didn’t lure her right to it… once close enough, the young bass could finally put a name to the face – lola rhodes. of course, how could she not recognise the actress ? while acting was part of romee’s passion, she was happy to not be on the big screen. broadway offered the perfect combination of fame and privacy, simply because its public isn’t as broad as hollywood’s. placing a hand on the photographer’s shoulder, romee leaned in to say: “ i think i j u s t heard someone say they spotted beyoncé on 6th avenue – did you know she would be in town today ? “, frowning as she shook her head at the man, hoping he’d take the bait and leave.

It wasn’t often that people came to her defence. In fact, unless they worked for her, no one really did. Who in their right mind would get between the hunter and the hunted after all. The other blonde, however, did just that and Lola’s features flooded with gratitude. The girl’s plan worked the way she intended it to and after snapping a few more pictures, the photographer was off to a more worthy celebrity. The blonde made sure he was far enough away before smiling at the stranger. “That was genius. No one would pick me over Beyoncé,” she said with a grin. “Thank you so much. I’m Lola.”

“You’ve got your pictures, congratulations!” Vanessa snarled at the photographer, rubbing her arm where he’d collided with her. She hadn’t even seen him coming, but she saw him – and his camera – now. “That’s an EOS 90D, right?” Vanessa had one herself. “How about you pack that up and get the hell out of here before someone knocks it out of your hands? I know how expensive those are and sometimes I’m real clumsy.”

She turned her attention to the reluctant subject for the first time and realized.. “Oh my god.” She wrinkled her brow, staring at the girl she’d read about on Gossip Girl way before EW or People or the other trashy magazines Vanessa pretended she didn’t read. “You’re… Lola.”

Lola shut up when the woman showed she could stand up for herself just fine. Devin would probably be grateful she didn’t make more of a scene, she figured. The last thing she wanted was for her agent to be forced to clean up after her. “Sounds like you should go. The choice between being able to sell those pictures and having to replace that camera seems like an easy one to make,” she pointed out innocently, her facade going right back up. The guy hurried away and the bystanders eventually carried on with their business. People in New York truly didn’t give a shit who she was, which was definitely a pro. “Yeah, I am. Thanks for that and sorry about your shoulder. You okay?”

Lungs burning, feet pounding against the pavement, barren trees blurring in his peripheral. THIS was nostalgia, this was pressing pause on life to ground himself, to anchor his heart that so often floated out of reach. He could practically feel his father running next to him, could hear him yammering on about Yale and his future. The commotion and crowd directly in his path were just enough to draw him from his reverie. He paused momentarily, struck by the sight of HER. She was familiar, yet entirely different. He’d seen her in movies and plastered on social media of course, but this… this was different. A grin, large and unabashed spread across his lips. “Lola…? What are you doing here?”

Lola’s attention was pulled away from the paparazzi and the scene he’d caused when she heard a familiar voice that brought back all kinds of memories from her time here. Good memories, bad memories, memories she wished she could just forget about. Her breakup with Nate Archibald hadn’t been particularly awful and she believed he understood why she had to leave, but his presence also reminded her of everything she tried to escape. The Upper East Side, the money, the lies and Serena. “Nate,” she greeted, trying to ignore the clicking sounds that had started back up when she took her attention off the photographer. “I’m here for a new project. You can’t be that surprised to see me, New York is a pretty popular filming location.”