Chapter Text
Louis watched as Tom flitted around the bar, offering up smiles to everyone but him. He tried to not let his disappointment show, but he caught Lily’s judgmental eyes staring him down from across the room. He broke eye contact but heard her high heels click loudly as she walked over to where he was perched at a high top table.
“Don’t tell me you got him a gift,” Lily drawled, knowing that Louis had done exactly that.
“We get each other gifts every year,” Louis lamely argued. This was only partially true– Louis would get Tom a gift and then two weeks later Tom would send him something in the mail, pretending that he had planned to get Louis a present as well the entire time.
Lily downed the drink she was holding and slumped forward. “Maybe your New Year’s resolution should be to stop being so pathetic,” she offered.
“Harsh,” Louis said. “But, fair.”
“Is he seeing someone?” Lily wondered.
“No,” Louis answered.
“What is the plan here?” Lily continued. “You think this gift will convince him to date you again? The man cheated on you on three separate occasions, Louis. I know the dick cannot be that good. I mean… look at him.”
“It’s more than that,” Louis mumbled.
“No, it’s not!” Lily exclaimed. “Not when he has absolutely nothing else to offer. I know he got you your first book deal, but that was, like, a million years ago. Wake up.”
Louis sipped his own drink, knowing that Lily was right. She was always right when it came to Tom. She had been trying to get Louis to let go of his pathetic obsession with the man for about five years now. It was not as if Louis was not attempting to do the same, it was simply that Tom would come crawling back to him and say just the right thing and suddenly Louis was following him around like a puppy once more. Tom was far from perfect, but he was also the last person Louis had been stupidly in love with, and that was hard to let go of, despite knowing that was probably for the best. Every new date he attempted to go on would end with Louis comparing the other man to Tom. “The devil you know,” his sister would always say to him, with a disgusted look on her face when Louis would tell her he was back with Tom again.
“I’m awake,” Louis lied.
“So, you’re aware of the panic he causes you on a weekly basis? And you just ignore it?” Lily guessed.
“Love is supposed to be messy, Lil. It’s supposed to make your heart beat erratically and your breath catch in your chest. It’s supposed to be hard.”
“Yeah, maybe if you were in Wuthering Heights or some sort of vampire romance novel,” Lily reasoned. “It’s not supposed to be this hard for us normal folk.”
Louis looked away from Lily’s pointed gaze and scanned the room for his assistant, Madeleine, finding her pressed up against the bar, talking to three different men who looked ready to get on their knees just to buy her another martini.
“What is she doing?” Louis groaned. Madeleine was known for causing a little bit of trouble at every single party Louis threw.
“Having fun,” Lily answered. “You should try it.”
Louis watched as Madeline took turns kissing all three of the men before turning her back on them and hitting on the bartender. Louis felt someone’s gaze on him and he glanced over to where Tom was smirking at him, raising a hand in a small beckoning gesture.
“I’ll see you later,” Louis said to Lily, quickly grabbing a gift out of his briefcase, and ignoring her face of displeasure.
He walked over to where Tom was leaning up against a table, scotch in hand.
“Louis DuLac,” Tom announced, reaching out his hand to pull Louis close to him in the most secretive way possible. “You looked so cute over there in the corner of the bar, staring me down.” Tom reached over to rest a hand on Louis’ ass– a display that was definitely far too comfortable for whatever the two of them were pretending to be in front of this crowd of people. Tom had told Louis time and time again that they were simply “friends” as of late. Louis knew that it was only a matter of time before Tom changed his mind, like he always did.
Louis felt the tips of his ears grow hot. “Careful,” he joked. “People might see.”
Tom’s eyes widened, as if he had not thought about that possibility at all. He removed his hand immediately, obviously missing Louis’ teasing tone.
Louis tried not to be too hurt by the gesture– they were in public, after all. He placed his gift on the table, in front of Tom. “Merry Christmas. I know it’s early, but I also know you’re going skiing with your family on the fifteenth, and I might not see you until the new year.”
Tom stared at the gift. “Oh, Louis. I… I didn’t get you anything… I mean I did, I just didn’t bring it here tonight.”
Louis felt like throwing up, hearing Tom stumble over his words, ultimately not shocked by the response at all. “Oh, no. That’s okay. You don’t need to get me anything–”
“No, but I did,” Tom lied once more. “I just… I’ll get it to you first thing in January, I promise.”
Louis gave a tight smile. Tom always made up for the present he would forget to give Louis, so he was willing to accept the explanation. He could practically feel Lily’s judgmental eyes glaring at the back of his head from. “All good,” he insisted.
Tom drunkenly reached for Louis’ gift, unwrapping it hastily, looking around the bar, as if to make sure that no one was watching the two of them. He pulled out the leather bound journal that Louis had bought for him, complete with his initials. Tom stared at it for what felt like twenty minutes.
“It’s a planner,” Louis said, wishing he had another drink in his hand. “I just… Well, you’re always missing our meetings. I thought that you could use this to keep track. But I realize it’s a bit archaic–”
“No, no,” Tom interrupted, grabbing Louis’ hand. He felt his heart betray him as it began to beat way too fast. “It’s perfect. Thank you… You know me so well. I don’t know what I would do without you, to be honest.”
Louis could not help it. He knew he was being sucked into something he should not be sucked into, but he did not stop the smile that reached his lips. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” Tom insisted, before one of his partners came up to the table they were standing at and dragged the man away. Louis watched as Tom tucked the journal into his suit pocket, on the left side, right where his heart was.
“Fucking hell,” Louis heard Madeleine say as she walked up behind Louis. “You know, he’s never going to marry you, right?”
Louis turned to face his assistant. “Are you and Lily in this together, or something?” he asked. “I’m in control of the situation. You don’t need to worry about me.”
The voice in Louis’ head told him to stop lying to his friends and to himself.
Madeleine laughed. “Oh, I’m not worried about you. I pity you…. You could get anyone you wanted and you’re wasting your time with that fucking closet case. Such a shame.”
Louis knew Madeleine meant well. Her delivery was always blunt, but she usually had Louis’ best interest at heart.
“You’re telling me,” Lily agreed, walking up to them. “That was hard to watch, by the way. He really didn’t get you anything again?”
Madeleine slapped Louis’ shoulder. “You bought him a gift? Are you stupid?”
Louis was quite unsure at this point. “No, I just… I thought it would be nice.”
Lily and Madeleine continued to look at him as if he had just told them that he had drowned a bunch of kittens in the Mississippi River. Lily shook her head while Madeleine began talking to herself in French under her breath.
Suddenly, someone was clinking a glass to get the attention of the whole bar. Louis looked towards the noise, and saw Tom standing towards the front door with a very attractive woman at his side.
“Who is that?” Louis wondered, turning towards his friends– they both had confused expressions on their faces.
Louis listened as one of his editors, Finn, thanked him for organizing another wonderful holiday party.
“And while we all are very excited for Louis and his new book, Sympathy for the Devil’s Assistant,” Finn continued, pausing for applause. “I would be remiss to not mention the other good news that has just occurred in Azalea Publishing family.”
Louis suddenly felt his stomach drop for a reason he could not identify.
Finn pointed to Tom and the mystery woman. “Everyone give a big round of applause for our favorite Editorial Director, Tom Anderson and his new fiancée, Mona Mayfair!”
The room erupted into cheers. Louis felt Lily and Madeleine’s comforting hands on his shoulders, but he could not care. He stared Tom down until the other man found him over the crowd, a slight expression of guilt on his face– Not enough to stop the smile that he had plastered on while everyone clapped for him, though. Louis watched as Tom broke their eye contact and kissed his fiancée on the lips.
“Lou…” Lily said miserably.
“Say the word and I’ll get my cousin to frame him for insurance fraud,” Madeleine added. “He did it once before for me with an ex, I’m sure he could do it again.”
“I’m fine,” Louis stated, feeling his whole body shake. “It’s fine… I’m going to go.”
“No,” Madeleine protested.
“Yeah,” Louis responded, hoping his voice was even. He downed his drink quickly and grabbed his coat, practically running outside into the winter air, which, for New Orleans, was not very cold at all.
When he got home, Louis immediately went upstairs and collapsed on his bed. For once, he was happy that he had seemingly lost the ability to cry over trivial matters. It would be too pathetic to cry over this. He simply laid on his back, looking up at the ceiling all night. He felt his phone vibrate over and over with calls from Lily, Madeleine, and even Tom.
Louis thought about love a lot. A lot. It was his job to do so. He was quite convinced he understood it completely- the joy of it, as well as the desperation it could cause. Louis knew the desperation well. He wondered if he would ever experience the joy.
He needed a change. And he needed it fucking fast.
Louis grabbed his laptop and immediately googled “How to Get Over Someone Who is Terrible for You” before adding in the word “Quickly” in the search bar.
When the results produced nothing other than “Accept Your Emotions” and “Find New Hobbies and Interests,” Louis gave up and called Madeleine.
“Oh, Louis, thank god,” she said as she answered the phone. “I’ve been calling you for an hour.”
Louis grimaced at the fact that his friend and his assistant had been worrying about him the entire time. “I’m fine,” he said once more. “I just realized… I need a change of scenery. I think I need to take a vacation. Now. Tell me where I should go.”
He heard Madeline sigh. “Louis, I can’t tell you what to do–”
“Madeleine,” Louis interjected. “As your boss, I’m telling you I need your advice.”
Madeleine groaned. “Not as my boss…”
“Yes.”
There was a pregnant pause. “Okay. This might seem crazy.”
“I’m willing to try anything at this point,” Louis told her, surprising himself at how much he meant it.
“I have a friend, Amanda,” Madeleine began. “She went through his nasty break up, and, well, she did this home exchange thing– in order to get away, to have a change in scenery.”
“Home exchange?” Louis asked.
“It’s kind of like an Airbnb,” Madeleine explained. “Except you both switch houses. So, you would stay at a random person’s house and they would stay in your townhouse. It’s a way to make the vacation seem a bit more lived in, if you will.”
“And… this worked for your friend Amanda?” Louis wondered, feeling extremely skeptical.
“She got her over her heartbreak and got a hot new husband in the process,” Madeleine said. “Not that that is always the case. But, it could be something really wonderful for you, Louis. All you have to do is put some pictures of your house up on this website and see if there are any takers.”
“And if said person steals all my belongings?” Louis questioned.
“Well, that’s always a possibility,” Madeleine argued. “But it’s completely insured and you would know the other person’s name and address, so it would be quite stupid for them to do that.”
Louis pondered this. He supposed Madeleine had a point there.
“If it makes you feel better,” she continued. “I can always stop by every other day. Make sure everything is going smoothly. I can just pretend to be dropping off manuscripts, or something.”
Louis suddenly realized how utterly ridiculous the whole situation was. “No… You know what, Madeleine? I think I’m just panicking. I’ll call you tomorrow–”
“Louis!” Madeleine shouted over the phone. “I think you should do this. Or, at least, take a vacation. It would be so good for you. Get out of town. Forget about whatshisface.”
“Tom?” Louis tried.
“Who?” Madeleine joked. “I’m serious, Louis… Do this for yourself. He’s a fucking asshole for leading you on for so many years. I’ll kill him if you want me to-”
“Madeleine-”
“Kidding! That was obviously a joke...”
Louis took a deep breath. He felt wild with rage. And his heart felt ripped in two. Over what? Some man who cared so little about Louis that he did not feel the need to tell him that he was getting married?
Louis knew exactly how the main character in one of his novels would act. It did not even matter if Louis himself would never behave in the same way. This was something he had to do, if only to prove to himself he was not utterly heartbroken and pathetic.
“Send me the website,” he told Madeleine. “I need a fucking holiday.”
Madeleine had stopped by Louis’ townhouse the next day to set up his profile on the home exchange website. Louis purposefully quieted his mind and ignored how crazy the whole situation was- Madeleine seemed to think it would be good for him, and Louis was in no position to argue with anyone else’s opinions on the matter.
“Lily says that you need to hook up with at least five men wherever you go,” Madeleine told him as she took pictures of Louis’ living room to upload to the website.
“I haven’t even hooked up with five men in my life,” Louis admitted, before realizing how lame that sounded.
Madeleine turned to look at him, more pity on her face than the night before. “Oh, Louis…”
Louis waved his hands in a dismissive manner. “Yes okay. I get it. I’m a loser.”
Madeleine’s face softened. “I know I risk getting fired for saying this, but Louis, you’re hot. You should be fucking five men a night.”
Louis laughed. “Thank you. Though, I do think that might be a bit excessive, don’t you?”
She shrugged, going back to taking photos.
Once Madeleine left and Louis’ profile had been set up, he paced around his living room, looking at the open laptop, waiting for any sort of response from one of the hundreds of profiles on the website. Louis poured himself a glass of wine, attempting to calm himself a bit, but it did not do much to help his nerves.
After he poured himself a second glass of wine, Louis was certain he should just delete the profile completely.
And then, suddenly, Louis had a message from someone named Claudia.
Hey, Louis. I’m sure I’m too late, but I’m interested in renting your house for about three weeks for the holidays.
Sorry, I know that’s kind of last minute.
But if your house is available, that would be SUCH a lifesaver.
I need an escape.
Desperately.
He could not help but smirk at Claudia’s messages. It seemed he was not the only one who was frantic to leave town.
Still, Louis took a minute to think things through. Taking off three weeks for the holidays seemed insane. But then he thought about the fact that the last time he had taken a vacation was before he started publishing any of his books. Over five years ago. Louis no longer knew how to relax, it seemed.
He was already so out of his comfort zone, he figured he should simply take the leap.
Louis began typing back to Claudia.
Hi. Yes, my house is available. Are you okay with this home exchange set up? Switching houses and cars and everything? I haven’t done it before, but my friend convinced me to try it out.
Claudia quickly responded.
Yes! Don’t worry, I’ve done it before and loved it.
Where are you?
L.A.
Louis could not help but smile to himself. He had only ever been to Los Angeles for stupid work conventions. He had never even been to the beach there.
I’ve only ever been for work, never for pleasure.
OMG, so it’s meant to be. And you're in New Orleans? Your townhouse is amazing.
Yep, New Orleans.
And, thank you. I really lucked out with the place.
That sounds perfect.
I was born in New Orleans, actually. But I’ve still never really been to New Orleans, you know?
My dad’s from there. He always talks about how much he misses it.
Maybe it’s fate.
Louis smiled. Suddenly, Madeleine’s plan seemed absolutely perfect.
Maybe it is.
I need to get away. I haven’t taken a vacation in years.
Then you deserve to get away.
We both do.
I just have one more question.
Shoot.
It was a full minute before Claudia wrote back.
Are there any men worth my time in New Orleans?
Louis stared at the question before taking a deep breath. He obviously had no clue what answer Claudia wanted– it was possible he was about to ruin his opportunity to get out of town.
Honestly? No.
This time, Claudia wrote back in less than ten seconds.
I’m booking my ticket now. Tomorrow too soon?
For once in his life, Louis did not overthink anything. He typed his response and pressed enter.
Tomorrow’s perfect.