Chapter 21: Malu and Lulu.

February 5, 9:00 PM. Château des Rêves, Alex and Kate’s room.
Back in their room after leaving Madi’s, Alex stands in front of the table and stares at the pink folder Malu Vásquez handed him earlier today at Sogni Nudi. He still wears his white T-shirt and black shorts. Lila, already back from the Blue Room, stands beside him in her high-waisted black T-shirt and gray shorts.
“So?” Alex smirks as he picks up the folder. “You, Becky, and Jocelyn have already finished the full plan to plot against Marisol?”
Lila’s face shifts, but her tone stays light. “It’s not plotting, babe. It’s just business. And yeah, we’re done. It’s a good plan.”
Alex turns to her, folder in hand. “So… what do you think about this thing Malu slipped us today?”
Alex looks at Lila and waits. She exhales slowly and tilts her head. “Hmm… I don’t know. Malu doesn’t usually mess around with contracts unless it’s big.” She taps her chin and shrugs. “But it could be anything—an endorsement, a photoshoot, some publicity stunt. You know how they love surprises.”
She takes the folder from him, turns it over, and inspects it. “If it’s important, the details are inside.” Her eyes narrow slightly. “Or maybe it’s… something else.” Her voice takes on a teasing lilt. “Maybe Malu’s setting you up with someone special?”
Alex rolls his eyes. “Fuck, Lila… I get it’s some bullshit, but after Aria’s proposal and all the crap with Erodreamarts, I’ve gotten paranoid. The second we got back from Dana’s I dumped this folder on the table, then the security system attack hit. The day’s already too fucked for mysterious offers from Dana’s secretary. Fine, open it. Might be something critical.”
Lila raises an eyebrow, opens the folder, and smirks as she flips through the pages. “Mmm… This is an invitation to a private party. Just for you. From a friend of Malu’s named Lulu. She wants to meet you personally. Looks like you have a fan club, Alex.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
Alex rolls his eyes again. “Fuck… Did Malu tell her who I am? Maybe even which pseudonyms I write under? Malu knows damn well that’s a corporate secret at Sogni Nudi. That’s why they’re shipping me off to Cambria during the whole Erodreamarts mess. And what kind of name is Lulu? Malu and Lulu… Sounds like a sitcom.”
Lila grins wider and taps the paper against her palm. “Relax, drama boy. It’s just a party invitation. Private, yeah. But Malu wouldn’t risk your cover. And Lulu… who knows? Maybe it’s short for something. Or maybe she’s Asian.” She pauses. “Though I get your paranoia. Revealing that you’re the author of all those sexual masterpieces won’t do anyone any good.”
Alex lets out a satisfied moan. “Finally, you’re talking seriously and not like a porn actress at a casting call.” He takes the invitation and reads it.
”Dear Alexander, I would like to invite you to a private dinner party in my home in the Residential District of Dreamside. I’m the new girl in town, and my bestie Malu has told me a lot about you. I apologize if a paper letter seems too old-fashioned—Malu insisted. It’s an intimate gathering of about twenty people. Dress code is comfortable but elegant. I would be honored if you join us and meet some of my close friends and business associates. The party starts at 8 PM on 9 February. Below is my exact address. I look forward to seeing you there. Lulu.”
Alex silently hands the invitation to Lila. She rereads it with a happy smile. He stares out the window and speaks thoughtfully. “It actually sounds pretty cool… I need a distraction right now more than ever. I just hope this Lulu won’t start hitting on me like your friend Sarah did during those English grammar lessons you organized, Lila. You didn’t actually organize all that just because you’re tired of editing my non-native English—you’re just trying to hook me up with your bestie. Right, you sly little ass?”
Lila doesn’t flinch. She just grins wider and folds the invitation with slow, deliberate movements. “Bingo.” She tosses the paper onto the table. “Sarah’s been wanting to get closer to you for a long time. I felt it. And in our Skype call the day before yesterday, she confirmed it. You’ve been so wrapped up in your romantic crisis that you haven’t even noticed how cute she is. You should thank me. I’m building you a safety net.”
Alex mocks her tone as he picks up the invitation and folder, then steps away to place them in the drawer next to the sexodrome. “Oh, here we go again… Look, I get that you freaked out over my breakdowns after I found out about Aria’s proposal the day before yesterday morning. But betting that Kate would leave me for Brian and already lining up a new girlfriend? I told Amy and Madi about it an hour ago and they were stunned. They think this kind of interference in my personal life is way over the line. I get that after four years of living and working together in this mansion you’ve become like a sister to me, but…”
Lila interrupts him. “Sister? Oh, come on, Alex! I’m more than that. I help you with your writing for four years, manage your schedule, and handle your panic attacks in the first two years when they hit. Well, Madi and Kate mostly handle them… But still. Don’t I deserve a little return on my investment?” She steps closer, her gaze intense. “And let’s be real—Kate might leave you for Brian soon. It’s not certain, but it’s possible. You need to prepare yourself for that reality.”
Alex chuckles and crosses his arms. “Ha… Exactly—my panic attacks stop thanks to Kate and Madi. You’re not sleeping with Kate, Lila. Kate and I have… a special background. Kate doesn’t grow cold toward me when Aria pitches her that whole Brian idea… For Kate, it’s just a creative-psychological experiment, nothing more. Yeah, at first I don’t handle it too well, thinking the worst—that’s why I freak out all Saturday and part of Sunday. Madi and Amy don’t think Kate’s leaving me either. But your position is pretty interesting: you spend almost all of Saturday calming me down, saying Kate isn’t going anywhere. Yet after that Saturday night call with Sarah on fucking Skype—you suddenly get fired up about setting me up with Sarah! Like, ‘what’s the difference, nothing’s changing, just swap the girl,’ right? Maybe Sarah will even dye her hair blonde and start painting to make the ‘transition’ easier for me? And yeah—Sarah’s a really cute girl, which is exactly why I don’t like you dragging her into this. You’re playing with your bestie’s feelings, Lila!”
Lila leans back against the countertop, folding her arms. Her face remains neutral, but her eyes narrow slightly. “Wow, Alex. You really got me all figured out, huh? So what if I did think that? I’m your friend. I want what’s best for you. If Kate leaves you, you need to be ready. And maybe Sarah is the kind of person who can handle you better than Kate can. You’ve got a lot going on—your writing, your anxiety, your fear of crowds. Kate might not be the right person to deal with all that. Maybe Sarah is.” She pushes off the table and steps closer. “Look, I get it. You love Kate. I do too.”
Lila pauses, then continues. “And I wouldn’t push you toward Sarah if I didn’t think she’d make you happy. But Kate… she’s not like you, Alex. She’s had other boyfriends before you. But you’re her first. You know that. You’ve known it for a long time. I’m not some devil, Alex. I’m just… afraid this thing with Brian is the tip of the iceberg.”
Alex stays silent for a few seconds, then slowly claps his hands. “Bravo, Lila. Just bravo. You’ve really outdone yourself with that fucking speech… I didn’t expect this from you. So let me get this straight—all that lying and pretending since Saturday morning… that’s finally over? Be honest—you decide from the very start that Kate will dump me. Right after you kick Aria out of my office and I tell you everything. Even before Kate gets back from Swag&Pop that day… you already make up your mind. Right? And you just keep fucking lying to me, pretending to calm me down. Right? Listen—maybe I should get a new personal assistant, huh? Just… for a while. Until you chill out.”
He sighs and rests his hands on his hips. “You know what the real reason for all this shitstorm is? It’s that almost everyone is just fucking jealous of my relationship with Kate. Almost—except Amy and Madi. Yeah—people envy me and Kate. They envy what we have. Starting with Aria, who sets up that whole Brian thing on purpose—and ending with you. Maybe for once we should talk about your love life, Ms. Chen? Who you’re dating, whose dick you’re sucking… Because I sure as hell don’t know. And now I’m actually curious. Go on, tell me.”
Alex crosses his arms again. “I’m just sick and tired of my personal life being treated like some kind of fucking reality show.”
Lila doesn’t flinch. She gives a short, humorless laugh and shakes her head. “Oh, Alex. You always do this. You get defensive when someone actually sees the truth about your relationship. It’s not about me being jealous. It’s about you being scared.”
She steps closer and tilts her head. “Kate is amazing. I’m not denying that. But you? You’re in love with the idea of Kate, not with the actual person. That’s your pet name for her—Goddess… I’ve heard you call her that many times. Yeah, I’m your personal assistant because I’m closest to you, Alex. Even closer than Madi and Amy. I’ve heard it. You’ve built Kate up so high in your head that anyone who tries to see her as she really is—“
“As she really is?” Alex cuts in sharply. “You mean the way you see her?”
Lila doesn’t blink. She speaks calmly, each word deliberate. “I mean as someone who doesn’t love you back the way you want her to. Kate cares about you. She adores you. But she’s not in love with you, Alex. And that’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’re worthless. It just means you’re seeing what you want to see.”
Alex smiles darkly. “Cares and adores, but doesn’t love? Explain that, ‘Lila the philosopher.’”
Lila folds her arms and leans against the kitchen counter. “You love her so much it hurts. You call her ‘Goddess Kate’ like she’s this untouchable saint.” She speaks steadily. “But you’re not a kid anymore, Alex. She’s not a fantasy. She’s a person.”
“And you know her so well,” Alex mutters, biting back sarcasm. He paces the kitchen, restless energy coiling through him. “You’re the one who tells me to talk to Brian. You’re the one who makes me meet him. Why? Because you know she wants someone else?”
Lila exhales sharply and shakes her head. “You ever think about why she won’t marry you?” Her words are soft but cutting. “She’s been with you four years. You live together. She takes care of you. But you aren’t married. You know why, Alex.”
Alex crosses his arms again. “Yeah, I know why. Because neither of us wants to get married. Not me, not her. We’re not ready. I’m 29, she’s 27. We’re zoomers—well, she is… I’m probably a bit of a millennial… Fuck, Lila!”
Alex paces slowly back and forth in front of Lila, arms still crossed, staring at her. “We’re all a young creative generation here in fucking Californian Dreamside. It’s 2024. A lot of us just don’t believe in marriage on principle. Stop acting like some old-fashioned grandma, Lila.”
He sighs and keeps talking. “Marriage is a hassle. And it’s psychological pressure. Kate and I recently think about registering a civil partnership. Like what gay couples do. Not a marriage—but with a few legal perks. And we are basically ready to go for it—until Aria shows up with her whole Brian proposal. So I really don’t get why you decide marriage is your trump card in this argument, Lila.”
Lila sighs. She stands between Alex and the table. Her brown eyes stay locked on him as he paces. “Alex,” she says, measured and deliberate, “it’s not about marriage. It’s about why she won’t commit. And you won’t see it because you’re too deep in the fantasy.”
Silence fills Alex and Kate’s room for a few seconds.
Then Alex stops, arms crossed over his chest. “And what about why?”
Lila exhales sharply through her nose and tilts her head as she watches him. “Because you’re not seeing what’s right in front of you,” she says, measured and firm. “Kate doesn’t want to marry you. She doesn’t even want to register that civil partnership you guys talked about.” She shifts her stance. “And I think she’s waiting for something else—someone else—to decide for her.”
Alex freezes for a couple of seconds, then bursts out laughing. He walks over to the giant fold-out couch-bed he and Kate call the sexodrome, sits on the very edge, and adjusts his white T-shirt and black shorts. He looks at Lila. She stands by the table in a high-waisted black T-shirt and gray shorts, arms folded across her chest.
Alex sighs. The room sits in bright but comfortable light. From the mansion’s lower floors comes the constant bubble of life in the Château des Rêves, even this late.
He speaks slowly, gesturing in loose, abstract motions. “Lila… I get that you’re a model who advertises lingerie and shoots innocent-but-hot thirst traps. You think in templates. I’ll explain what you’re doing right now.” He leans forward. “With your soft voice and that sly, sweet Chinese-Malay-Irish-Scottish face, you’re trying to sell me the idea that Kate Claire Norwin—the same Kate who starred in The Cathedral and Anomaly Zone, who turned her acting career into a successful art career, who fell in love with me, fought my panic attacks with me, defended me to Dana alongside Chase Runker, and helped build this mansion for all of you—is just going to trade me for a smug guy with a big black cock. Because I’m not a ‘real man’ who can drag her to the altar, but he can. You’re trying to sell me that bullshit right now?”
Lila doesn’t flinch. She watches him with that calm, knowing expression, arms still folded. The light catches her dark hair and the pleasant roundness of her face.
When she speaks, each word comes out precise. “First of all, Alex, I never said Brian is some magical negro dick fairy. You’re the one who brought up the size of his dick.” She steps closer. “Second, why do you think Kate agreed to Aria’s proposal? She’s curious. She wants to know. And frankly, she’s bored with you.” Her gaze sharpens. “You’ve been together four years. That’s a long time. You’re not the perfect gentleman, perfect lover, perfect everything. No one is. And third—unlike introverted you with your panic-attack history—Brian, Kate, and Aria are three. They do things in threes. They party in threes. They talk in threes. They laugh in threes. They hang out in threes. And you… you’re just one. One person who doesn’t show up at his girlfriend’s parties in their own home.”
Alex sighs. “Like it’s my fault I have panic attacks and I’m an introvert? Kate loved me the way I am. Stop gaslighting me. You need a psychiatrist.” He leans forward, voice quiet but firm. “When Kate and I got together, you weren’t here. No one else was. We saw each other’s pros and cons perfectly. Now get out of our room. Conversation over.”
Lila realizes she went too far. Her words were too harsh. She has never spoken to him like that before. Her hands twitch at her sides, fingers curling and uncurling.
Alex watches her, arms crossed, waiting for her to leave. The air between them feels thick and dangerous.
“I’m sorry,” she says softly, her throat tight. “I didn’t mean to be cruel.” She meets his gaze. “But you’re not seeing things clearly. You’re wrapped up in this fantasy of what you and Kate are supposed to be.”
Alex lowers his arms. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said that.” His voice turns tired. “Can you maybe not try so hard to set me up with Sarah? Or does your bestie really need to fuck me as soon as possible?” He gives a nervous chuckle and nods toward the drawer with the pink folder. “And now this Lulu chick shows up. Guess I’m not that much of an introverted loser if girls keep hitting on me.”
Lila exhales slowly and rubs her temple. She sits on the edge of the bed, close but giving him space. “I’m not trying to set you up with Sarah. I’m trying to give you options.”
Alex falls onto his back, then rolls onto his side and pulls his legs in. “What about you? Aren’t you interested in me as a man?” he asks playfully.
Lila laughs softly and shakes her head. She rests her hands on her knees. “I think you’re cute, Alex. Sweet and funny. And yeah, if I wanted a boyfriend, I’d probably want someone like you.” She meets his eyes with a small, knowing smile. “But I don’t want a boyfriend right now. I want to go to parties and hook up with whoever I want without explaining myself to someone who gets clingy.”
She leans back on her hands and stretches her legs. Alex chuckles.
“Even if I don’t go to parties, I know tons of people drop by to see Kate—folks from Dreamside and LA. Don’t tell me there isn’t a single decent guy among them. A writer, an artist, a composer. Or do cute Eurasian models like you just have insanely high standards?”
Lila laughs and shakes her head. “I have standards, but it’s not that complicated. I just don’t like explaining myself to someone who expects more than I’m willing to give.” She looks at him again, eyes narrowing with amusement. “And yeah, there are tons of cute guys who come through. But most of them are either too clingy or already in love with Kate.” She smirks. “Which brings us back to you, doesn’t it?”
Alex rolls onto his back again, hands behind his head. He stares up at the ceiling and says thoughtfully, “It’s amazing that here in the Château des Rêves there’s almost none of that romantic drama. You know—no ‘No, bitch, he’s my boyfriend, and you’re a fucking whore who only lives with Kate and Alex so you don’t have to pay for housing and staff yourself!’ followed by the hair-pulling catfight.”
He smirks. “Life is way too idealized. I’d even say flanderized.” He clearly references the Simpsons character Ned Flanders. “I think that’s the real reason behind all these experiments and boundary-pushing. It’s not about me—it’s about the atmosphere of this place. Sometimes it’s idealized to the point of nausea. Dreamside is basically one giant student district of Los Angeles with no paparazzi, right? Dynasty but done as Dawson’s Creek. Fuck, I think I’ve just grasped the essence of our existence!”
Alex bursts out laughing. Lila snorts and rolls onto her side to face him. “Oh my god, you are such a little shit.” She pokes him in the ribs, grinning. “But yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. It’s like the perfect storm of hedonism and mediocrity. Everyone’s always looking for the next big thing, but most of them don’t actually have anything to bring to the table.”
She shrugs. “You know what’s funny though? I think that’s exactly why people love it here. It’s safe. No one’s really expected to be great or have some deep purpose. They just exist and do whatever they want.”
Alex stays on his back, glancing sideways at Lila. “Well… that’s a matter of subjective perception, I suppose. Erotic fiction is kinda banal in terms of narrative—but someone reads it, right? And it just so happens that I’m a fucking great erotic writer. Every day—laptop, a new chapter of another book, and my assistant next to me in a bra and panties. Meaning you.”
He laughs. “Well yeah, there are no paparazzi breathing down our necks here and no constantly pissed-off producers. But they’re right next door in LA. So the setup is convenient. Dreamside is like one huge residential building, and LA is the main workplace. Some of us, like me, can just work from home.”
He pauses. “Yeah… out of all creative types, Dreamside is really only inconvenient for singers and partly for actors—because of the nonstop tours. Though Kate switched from acting to painting even before she met me, so I can’t even blame myself for that.”
He thinks for a moment. “By the way, why is your younger sister Mabel still based in New York? She’s a great model too. Usually everyone ends up flocking here like bees to honey.”
Lila exhales and rolls onto her back again. “Mabel’s different. She’s got her own thing going on. She’s been working with a photographer who’s obsessed with New York street style. The kind of stuff you don’t really see much of here.” She gestures vaguely at the ceiling. “Plus, she’s not into all this mansion life.”
She grins suddenly. “Though I do miss having her around. It’d be fun to have her here for a while. Maybe I’ll convince her to visit soon.”
Alex chuckles. “Just keep her the fuck away from Aria and Cheryl—those two raid this place from time to time, especially when there’s a party.” He pauses. “I still don’t get how Kate, Aria, Cheryl, and the other heads of these party mansions manage to coordinate who hosts which party and when. Feels like they’re some kind of party mafia or some shit.”
They both burst out laughing. No one else is in Alex and Kate’s room except them.
Alex continues. “Fuck, and Cheryl is sometimes just… you know… creepy as hell. She looks like some redheaded, refined, sexy chick with pale skin who poisoned her relatives to steal their maple syrup business. I hope that’s not true.”
Lila stretches out on the giant fold-out couch-bed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Cheryl’s got that whole Victorian seductress vibe going on. But she’s actually pretty sweet once you get to know her. Just has a weird sense of humor sometimes.” She pauses and adds, “And everything else too.”