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The Moonstone Starlet

Chapter 22

Chapter 22?

The next time they met, the leaves had started to brown on the trees, and as they fell blew down the lonely streets, gathering in gutters and clogging drains. The breeze coming off the lake felt warm against the bite of the November air that came down across Chicago from the north. Less and less people ventured outdoors, hiding away in apartments and cabs, and seeking solace near tavern fireplaces. Throughout the summer and early fall Jon and Elia had kept in touch by email. She sent clips from the movie as she worked on them, and he sent pictures of his summer vacation. He hoped when he returned to the city in September they would pick up where they left off but Elia essentially never left her home office.

The summer for Elia had been non-stop filming. In order to make up for the pushed back schedule they were putting in almost sixteen hour days. Even when filming wrapped at the end of August, she still had an incredible amount of work to do for post production. Elia found it amusing how small a part actors actually played in making a film yet they received all the glory. Everything about a film could change in post production. The lower level of Elia’s house had been renovated into a mini production studio. There was a screening room, a sound proof recording studio, and an office set up for three computers. Elia was up and starting to work by seven each morning, and continued working until around two in the morning. Editing was not difficult in Elias opinion, but it was time consuming and required intensive attention to detail on a project this large. Her assistant editor Louise Kan had been renting an apartment just down the street but often the two ended sleeping in the recliners in the screening room. They sometimes went days forgetting to shower or change their clothes, or remembering what day it was. If it hadn’t been for Sam bringing them food they might not have remembered to eat.

One night in early November she walked into the United Center locker room without any warning. Everything looked the same as it always had, the grey carpet, the Blackhawks' emblem in the middle of the floor. The benches against the walls where everyone was getting dressed. The only thing different was the faces.
"Who the fuck are these guys?" She said, pointing to Marty Turco and Corey Crawford who were strapping into their pads.
"Elia!" Kane, Campbell and Bolland rushed in for a hug. “What are you doing here?!” They yelled. It was a small group hug with Versteeg, Buff and Niemi gone. Their mischief team had been greatly diminished.
"My doctor wouldn't give me any more Adderall unless I took a couple days off, so I came here" she said, laughing. Elia had to go to several doctors to find one unethical enough to prescribe her Adderall when she didn't have ADD, and suddenly he had grown a conscience and told her she needed a break. What was that about, Elia wondered.
The Coach came over next for a hug, examining her health and asking how she was.
“Coach, you’d be so proud of me, I haven’t been caught in public without my pants in like two months. I haven't even been drunk in forever! High five!”
Surprisingly, Q chuckled and obliged her high five. She chit chatted with Quennville for a few more minutes, catching up on family news before turning back to the new goalies.
"Let's get one thing straight, you don't like me and i don't like you. I cried for 40 days and 40 nights when Antti signed with San Jose, you have big shoes to fill." They stared back at her blankly.
“I like you just fine,” Corey replied.
“Up to this point I’m indifferent.” Turco added.
Elia was about to respond but was interrupted.
"Why are you always starting trouble as soon as you walk in the door?" Jonny said as he walked over to say hello.
"I feel like I don't even know anyone on this team anymore,”she said, giving Toews a hug, and looking up at him pouting, “You left me woefully unprepared for this salary cap debacle." Tazer had no sympathy for her. This was hockey, not a social club. They debated about it for several minutes, in their normal argumentative way, before Toews got back to getting ready.

Despite the time apart and new players, Elia fit back into the group again like she had never left. She couldn't stay in the locker room long, but told the team to stop by her house after the game if they wanted to hang out. Elia walked up to the Blackhawks suite to see if any of the WAGs were at the game. Since it was the last home game before a long road trip, many of the girlfriends had come to the game. Abby, Kelly and Elina were inside sitting on a couch, having a bite to eat and talking. They started screaming when they saw Elia walk in, yelling “Where have you been!” and “What are you doing here!”. The shouting drew a few girls in that had been standing outside on the balcony seating. Abby introduced Silvie and Amanda, who were dating Corey and Bryan Bickell. Elia was feeling overwhelmed about all the new people. She hadn't even left her house in over a month. Abby could see she was starting to stress and asked her if she could step outside and talk for a few minutes. The two of them stepped out onto the balcony where there were three rows of stadium seats. It was louder there, but somehow more private than the room of family members.
Over the summer Abby and Patrick had gotten married. Although Elia hadn't been officially invited because the invites had gone out before they were friends Abby and Pat had invited her. Unfortunately she wasn't able to make it. She showed Elia some pictures on her cell phone of the wedding ceremony.
“You looked so beautiful,” Elia said smiling warmly. She looked up at Abby, who was half smiling back.
“What's wrong?” She asked, concerned. She put her hand on Abby's knee, thinking back to that night four months ago, when Abby had called her panicking about the wedding. All of her other friends were too close to the situation to be any help. She asked Elia if she was making the right decision, had confessed to Elia that Patrick had cheated on her at least once, she didn't know how many times. It was a tough thing to hear, having been friends with both of them. Since then Abby and Elia had been even closer.
She told Elia that back in Thunder Bay everything was great, but now that they were back in Chicago her paranoia had only gotten worse. Patrick had told her once they were married he was done with that life, but she wasn't so sure. Elia didn't know what to say, so she put her arm around Abby and gave her a hug.
“You are an amazing woman. Sharpie loves you, but he is also a man and they are idiots. Right now you just need to trust him, if he told he he is done, then he has to be done. He wouldn't lie to you.”
He better not, or I'll have his ass kicked, Elia thought. Once Abby was certain she wouldn't cry she sat up straight in her chair. The game was about to start, and Sylvie and Amanda had come out to watch. These newbies, watching the game outside instead of inside on the tv like everyone else did.
“Enough about me El, what's going on with your love life?” Abby asked, cheering herself up.
“Oh jeez, non existent.” Elia replied. Sylvie and Amanda turned to look at them, curious.
“I heard you were dating Shia Labeouf,” Sylvie half asked, half stated.
“Really? No, no. I thought I was going to have a booty call all summer, but he apparently got back together with his girlfriend last spring. I didn't even hook up with any extras this summer it was terrible. One night I got really drunk and thought about hooking up with Renner but I called Kaner and made him talk me out of it.”
“What about your east coast lover?” Abby asked, smirking.
Elia sighed. That was the most frustrating thing at all.
“He...uhh...got a promotion at work? And so he's been really...busy. I've been busy. Just haven't been able to connect. December 29th, this movie will premiere, and then we have plans to hook up. But until then I am just in hell. Want to see some dirty pictures though?”
“Uh, yes. Obviously.” Abby replied.
Elia opened up her phone and found a pic of him taking a picture in a bathroom mirror without his shirt on, his pants very low around his waist. She passed it around to the girls. They hadn't seen much of each other since the hockey season had ended, but they had plans to spend more time together once Elia's schedule lightened up.
Throughout the game the girls talked non-stop. Sylvie and Amanda were very down to earth, and funny. Elia wondered where they had been all last season, because they were awesome to hang out with. The Blackhawks won in overtime against Anaheim, and instead of waiting for the guys the girls headed to the store to pick up a box of wine and head back to Elia's.
They were all pretty drunk by the time the players showed up, engrossed in an epic game of beer pong on the back deck played with wine. Elia had a fire pit going, and the girls were bundled up in winter coats but were still having too much fun to go inside. As soon as Kane arrived he started walking around complaining about things that had changed since the last time he was over. There were chickens living in the backyard, and a corgi was running around. Why? When? The in-counter kegerator was full of Four Loko instead of beer. Why? How? Kane felt there were too many life changes happening without him being told. Elia tried comforting him, trying to explain that nothing was really changed. She had however, gotten into an addiction of buying things on craigslist. During cigarette breaks she would browse the for sale section and then text things to Sam to get. Hence the dog, a pontoon boat that was in storage, the chickens,
Elia asked Kane and Toews to come up to her room for a minute. They made the trek up to the third floor where Elia's bedroom was. The room was a lot different than the room in her condo. Instead of mattresses on the floor there was a real bed, up against the left wall, which was painted with white board paint. It looked as though Elia had been using it to write poetry. The room was littered with dog toys, with a small Tempur-pedic dog bed in the corner. The back wall of the house was windows, and the wall to the right was decorated in framed photos. Elia with her brothers and mother. The Wags at a painting party they had last year. Elia with her horse, some pictures of Elia in the Congo. Some friends Pat and Jon recognized from movies and magazines but had never met. The largest picture in the center was of Jonny, Elia and Patrick on he ice in Philadelphia just after thy won the Stanley Cup. Elia stood in the middle with Toews and Kane wrapping their arms over her shoulders and the Cup standing in front of them. The three of them were making ridiculous faces for the camera. Below the pictures were a couple small book shelves. On the top were several potted plants, and a couple of Oscars.

The three of them sat on the floor, playing with the dog that had followed them upstairs and catching up. There wasn't much to catch up on Elia's part, all she did was work for he most part. Yesterday was her first day off and she spent it skyping with Niemi for five hours. All they had done was watch "Game of Thrones". They quickly became addicted and wanted to finish the season but Elia was hosting a fundraiser dinner for mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel that night, and Niemi had to play goal. Pat was upset he hadn't been invited to the dinner, but Elia assured him he didn't want to pay $5,000 to sit around with a bunch of political assholes. She didn't really want to either, but understood the importance of having political assholes owe you favors. Jon and Pat had been busy as well, obviously with hockey. Kaner complained clubhouse was a lot quieter this year. Tazer even confessed it was a little boring without Elia, although it meant everyone was more focused on hockey. Patrick thought that would be a great time to leave them alone and made an excuse to go downstairs. He picked up the dog and brought it with him.
Pat was disappointed when he saw them coming down the stairs only fifteen minutes later. He was briefly optimistic when they started going down to the basement together, but then Abby and Sylvie went too. They were just going to the screening room to watch the movie trailer.
Towards the end of the night, Elia invited everyone to the Chicago premiere of her movie on December 29th. She also announced she and Paul Bissonnette were renting a house boat on Lake Powell in July and if anyone wanted to come to contact Sam. If the rookies didn't feel comfortable spending the money yet they could earn their trip grilling food and cleaning up beer cans. Around 1:30 a.m. Elia kicked everyone out, telling them they didn't have to go home but they couldn't stay at her house. She had to get back to work in the morning. Pat and Jon were the last to go. They were about to leave when Jon stopped walking and stayed glued to where he was standing. Elia started pushing him and telling him to get out.
“I think I'm stuck, it's like I'm frozen in space.” He started saying. Elia screamed.
“Jonny get out of here I have so much to do tomorrow!”
“Oh, what? You have to work tomorrow, so I should leave and let you concentrate?” He started laughing, “Maybe I'll just stay here and drink with Pat and have a dance party while you are trying to focus. Maybe I'll just throw paintballs at you while you work.”
“Jon, stop trying to be me, you aren't cool enough!” Elia yelled, pushing. Jon stepped forward just as she was pushing him from behind and she stumbled forward. Standing up she stared at him, scrunching her face.
“I hate you.” She muttered.
“Ok, hug goodbye,” he said and she walked up to hug them both goodbye.

It was rare for movies to premiere in Chicago with red carpets and after parties, but Elia wouldn't have it any other way. The film was being shown at the Chicago theater, and State Street had been closed down between Lake and Randolph. A path led up to the large red and yellow marquee and into the theater with barricades on either side where fans and photographers had lined up early. Many of the Blackhawks had taken up Elia on her invitation and shown up with their wives or girlfriends. Patrick and Jon were flying solo and showed up together. As they walked down the red carpet they saw Elia ahead of them, posing and answering questions to reports on the edge of the crowd. She was wearing a long sleeved cream colored gown, with a sheer beaded bodice that tied behind her neck and was bare across her back. Her hair was pulled into a low bun. Cameras snapped all around them, and fans on the edge asked them for autographs and to pose for pictures. It took them several minutes to reach where Elia was standing, and they weren't sure what to do. Was it wrong to interrupt an interview? They stood to the side awkwardly and listened in to the interview.
“What was it like working with your ex Jeremy Renner, were you at all apprehensive about that decision?”
“I know Jeremy is a professional, and Jeremy knows I have a flagrant disregard for Chicago's concealed carry laws, so I was confident it would work itself out,” Elia said, not missing a beat and her smile never flinching. Just as Jon and Pat were going to greet her, Zac Efron ran up and put his arm around her waist. Now the two of them were answering questions. The guys saw Patrick Sharp and Abby across the path from them and walked over to greet them instead. They watched as Zac slid his hand down Elia's back and down onto her butt, resting there while he whispered in her ear. She turned to whisper back in his ear, and caught sight of Pat over her shoulder. Her green eyes glimmered in the flashes and lights, her smile bright and red with lipstick. She excused herself and walked gracefully up to the Hawks group.
“Thank you so much for coming! You guys have done this before right? For the NHL Awards?”
“Oh yeah, we're old pros, this is nothing.” Sharpie said, brushing it off. It was a little overwhelming though. Not just the crowds, but the celebrities that were there. The cast of the film itself, with Zac, Colin Farrell, Frida Pinto, Corey Beckford, Jeremy Renner, and America Ferrera. Bob and Harvey Weinstein were there, Kanye West who had been boldy chosen to do the soundtrack. Friends there to support Elia like Keira Knightley, Rashida, Natalie Portman and Jena Malone. To Elia the most important ones there were her brothers and Pat and Jon.
It took over an hour before they were able to go inside and find their seats. Elia had to sit with her cast and crew, but the hockey boys were in the row behind her. The theater was built in 1921, and was maintained it its original form with ornate painted ceilings and red velvet seats. Several of the cast members left once the lights went down. Elia looked back between her seat and the one next to her and whisper yelled for Pat and Jon to come down to her row and fill the seats. Even though Jonny had read the screenplay, it was incredibly different to see it come to life on the screen. Especially parts where he had suggested Elia change things, and then to see the characters say them. The movie seemed to fly by until the moment when Myrtle was hit by a car and everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. Patrick didn't really know much about movies and thought it seemed pretty good but couldn't be sure. At the end everyone started standing up and clapping so he assumed it was a good sign. What was left of the cast and crew had to go stand up on stage for pictures, which took about fifteen minutes. Afterwards the media was able to ask questions.
“Before we get started I want thank everyone for coming and point out that the after-party is just across the street at The Wit.” Elia said after being handed a microphone. A lot of the guests got up to leave. Journalists started asking questions.
“Elia, in the process of creating a modern adaptation, you seem to have changed many of the characters, can you explain your decision? And is it true you based Daisy Buchanan on Paris Hilton and Jordan Baker on Kim Kardashian? Thank you.”
“Obviously society has greatly changed since 1925 and yet there still exists this almost aristocratic culture of extreme extravagance. The characters, particularly Daisy and Jordan Baker are really an amalgamation of many different people I have met in my life since coming into wealth. They are the children of billionaires who live in vapid excess and struggle to find meaning in their truly purposeless lives. They act out this lack of fulfillment in...” Elia continued on for several minutes. Patrick leaned over to Jon, “Hey do you want to cut out and go to the party, this is kind of boring.”
“Elia, you've adapted the story of the Great Gatsby into the modern world, and yet you maintained the iconic line from Daisy 'the best thing a girl can be is a beautiful little fool', what was your thought process in that decision?”
“Fitzgerald published Great Gatsby only a few years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, which was a tremendous victory for women, yet they were still treated with significant inequality, both socially and in the workforce. What I find incredibly interesting is the degree with which that statement still resonates with women today. We still live in a very patriarchal, often misogynistic society. But what really fascinates me is that women willingly choose to put themselves in this position....”
Jonathan did think it was a little boring but he didn't want El to know he left early. He told Patrick to go on without him and sat to watch the rest of the interview process. Almost an hour later they were finally wrapping up the last question. Elia walked down off the stage slowly and carefully so as not to trip on her dress. Jonny and Abby were the only non-film people that remained, and Elia grabbed their hands as she walked past. Her publicist followed behind them as they walked out of the theater. They had to stop several times as Elia shook hands with various people, but finally made their way outside. Elia turned to face Jonathan.
“Okay, here it goes.” She took out a pack of cigarettes, and took out the last lonely cigarette. She lit it and took a short quick drag.
“Last cigarette!” She declared. Jonathan started smiling.
“We made a deal, if you won the Stanley Cup, I would quit, as soon as I finished this movie. Movies done. Here it is.”
“That's it? Do you need a patch or a gum or something?” Jon asked. Elia was closing her eyes, slowly inhaling smoke.
“Don't bother me right now Tazer, I'm enjoying my last moment with my sweet friend Nicotine.” She blew out smoke. “Ok, it's freezing outside let's get to the Wit.” The trio headed over the hotel. Jonathan waited for the right time to try and tell Elia how he felt, but it never came up. Patrick had been hitting the booze hard while they were still at the theater, and Elia ended up taking him home early in the night. She was exhausted from the whole ordeal and wanted to go to sleep too.
All over the country the weekend newspapers were declaring “The Advantages that You've Had,” a thrilling achievement in film making. Many wrote that Elia had cemented herself as one of the most brilliant writers of her generation. Meanwhile, Elia had flown first to New York for a couple days, then to Paris to start filming another movie.
Early one morning in the beginning of February Oscar nominations were released. Jonny was sitting in a hotel room in Columbus when he read the news online and called Elia immediately. Elia was thousands of miles away in Paris, sitting in her trailer having lunch.
“Tazer!”
“El, nine nominations that is so awesome, congratulations!”
“Thank you so much! I should have known you would call first because you are always up so early.”
“What are you up to today?”
“Oh, just hanging out with my movie husband Tom Hiddleston. I think it is so odd that I just finished a movie based on a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and now I'm playing Zelda Fitzgerald. What about you?”
“Playing the Blue Jackets tonight. Not much else, you know.”
“Hey, I'm probably going to be done here in a couple days, it was a small part, are you guys at home next week?”
“No, we won't be home until the 16th. Will you be around then?”
“No, I'll be at the island.”
There was an awkward pause. After that would be the Oscars, which Elia had hoped Jonathan would go to with her, but he had a game. He changed the subject.
Elia ended up going to the Oscars with Leonardo Dicaprio, as friends of course. The Blackhawks had played the Coyotes that night, but Jonny looked up the pictures of the awards show online. Elia had looked beautiful. The bodice of her dress was embellished with gold beads radiating out like a star, with sheer shoulder straps, and layers of silver fabric billowing out from the hips. According to his mom, Elia had made a special note of thanking Jonny during her acceptance for Best Adapted Screenplay. In total the movie earned five wins of nine nominations. She had called him and left him a voicemail, but it was difficult to make out what she was saying. Partially because of a bad signal, and partially because she was yelling and drunk.
In March Elia had stopped in for a few games, but mainly she had seemed to be out of town a lot. With Elia mostly out of the picture, Patrick had been drinking even more than he did before. The Blackhawks had made a trade with the Panthers, sending many of their veterans down to Florida in exchange for Michael Frolik and another goalie. All in all Jon had a lot to worry about as it was, and decided that during the off season he would get back on track with Elia.
The first round of the 2011 playoffs saw the Blackhawks facing the Vancouver Canucks. The two teams had become rivals after last season, and it was an intense battle. Elia came to all of their games, even flying to Vancouver with them. The Hawks lost the first three games before attempting a come back by winning three in a row. Both teams battled hard, bringing the final two games to over time, but in the end Vancouver won. It was a solemn plane ride back to Chicago.
Jonathan didn't get a chance to see Elia after the game. He texted her when he was back in Chicago a couple days later to see if she wanted to get together, but she was out of town again. The team cleaned out lockers shortly after they got back, and Jon flew to Winnepeg to spend some time with his friends and family. He was playing Call of Duty with his friend Dan when he got a call from Kane.
“Yo, playing Black Ops, do you want to sign in?” He asked as he put Pat on speaker phone.
“No. Well yeah, but that's not why I'm calling. Are you watching the Finals?”
The guys had the x-box set up to one television and a smaller tv with the Bruins/Canucks game four on in the corner. They hadn't really been paying attention. Jonny hated watching games he wasn't in.
“Not really, got it on though.”
Kane didn't respond for a moment.
“Dude, rewind that for a minute and take a look when they show the stands.”
He grabbed the remote and put the game back a couple minutes then pressed play. It was the second period, Patrice Bergeron passed to Brad Marchand who backhanded it into the goal. The lights went off as Marchand skated off to pound gloves with his teammates. The cameras panned to the crowd, showing a man, a woman, and three brunette young women. On the bottom of the screen was the caption “Brad Marchand's family”.
“What am I supposed to be looking for?” He asked. “Oh, wait.” He paused the game. Everyone was wearing Bruins clothing except one person. A petite brunette wearing a v-neck black t-shirt.
“Why is Elia sitting with Brad Marchand's family?” Jonny asked, in shock.
“I'm sorry man...” Kane continued, going on about how he should have been able to tell, but Jon wasn't listening. He stared at the television, transfixed. They watched the rest of the game, Jonathan barely saying a word. At the end of the game Marchand gave a brief interview on ice.
“Brad, you've been on fire this series,”
“Yeah, my family has been here, my girl's been here, I think she's giving me good luck.”

“Can you break down the game for us a--” Jonathan turned off the tv and put his face in his hands. Maybe it was a mistake, maybe that girl just looked like El. The fears were confirmed an hour later when Elia was photographed leaving the TD Garden with Marchand himself. He stared at the picture on his computer screen, those bright eyes and that gorgeous smile. Smiling up at Brad Marchand.

Notes

Sorry for any typos/errors, I have a lot of trouble editing on this screen without things randomly deleting.

Comments

Well. There goes my reason for coming to the site. Brava on being done! Hope you find inspiration to write another story.

DELETED DELETED
4/27/15

omg its done.... what am i gonna read now :( So good girl!

hockeygirl07 hockeygirl07
4/26/15

What an amazing story. I can't believe it is over.

runawaycherry93 runawaycherry93
4/26/15

aweeeeeeeee

hockeygirl07 hockeygirl07
4/26/15

That was beautiful!!! Made me teary. Is this the end?

KWeber8771 KWeber8771
4/26/15