Chapter 29
Evan Rosier was eight when he himself proposed a contract to stay away from cameras until he was sixteen.
Now, his father was coming for him like the money hungry shark he was.
Evan’s phone went to voicemail.
‘Good afternoon Evan. I know you’re listening. Pick up the phone and call me back.’
Evan’s head shot up and he stumbled over the couch to grab his phone which was in the kitchen, connected to the speakers and playing Conan Gray’s newest album. ‘The eye of the night’ started, just as he picked up the phone.
He looked at the name of the voicemail and winced. He dialled the number, and the woman instantly picked up her phone. ‘I knew you were listening.’
‘I swear I wasn’t ignoring you, Jodie. I was ignoring my phone altogether,’ Evan hurriedly explained, before grabbing a drink and sitting down on a sofa, legs over the armrest. ‘You sound just like your grandfather,’ she said, tutting softly. ‘You weren’t even alive when my grandfather died?’ Evan asked, frowning to himself. ‘No. But I have heard the stories,’ she answered, a simple tone to her voice that made Evan’s heartbeat slow down, though calming the woman never could be to Evan.
See, if Jodie called, nine out of ten times Evan was met with bad news.
Jodie always texted if it was good news. But if Jodie was so lighthearted and making jokes, it must be fine.
Right?
‘So why are you calling me? Did father ask you to check up on me?’ Evan asked while taking a sip of his drink. ‘Be real Evan. You and me both know he won’t do that unless you’re in the newspaper and he can yell at you,’ Jodie said, making Evan scoff. It was true of course, both of them know that.
‘Excuse you? You are talking to the son of the Jonah Rose. Watch your language,’ Evan scoffed again, but he was met with a small chuckle. ‘And you are talking to the assistant of the Jonah Rose,’ she answered. Evan heard some papers shuffle in the background.
‘Question. Do you prefer Vogue or Cosmo?’ Jodie asked him while Evan frowned. ‘Is that even a question? Vogue of course. Why? Because I’ve already read the latest edition so you don’t need to send me a copy, but thank you’ Evan asked, suddenly hearing the paper shuffling stop. He was distantly aware of ‘Fainted love’ playing in the background.
‘Evan, maybe you should sit down,’ Jodie’s careful voice came. It was soft, like an older sister drying her brother’s tears after he fell down the stairs. Or after he was hit by his father. It felt the same to Evan.
His heartbeat tumbled in his chest and started going faster and faster, his head growing dizzy.
‘I’m sitting. What is it?’ Evan asked, hearing Jodie sigh softly into the microphone. ‘Evan, dear. You’re sixteen now,’ Jodie started. Evan felt bile rise up in his throat. Tears sprung up in his eyes and he shook his head frantically. ‘No. No. I’m still on vacation, Jodie. Please tell me this is for after my vacation. Please, please,’ Evan begged her, but he knew she couldn’t change anything about it.
‘I’m sorry Evan. You have around 90 minutes until they’ll be at your door,’ Jodie told him, which made Evan shoot up. ‘WHAT?! Jodie, did you forget to tell me earlier?!’ Evan yelled in exasperation, jumping up to take a shower.
‘No, your father wanted it to be a surprise, but I couldn’t bear giving you no preparation time. So take a shower and make sure you look good for the cover of Vogue, dear.’
Fuck.
Fuck.
‘You’re… That’s why you asked Vogue or Cosmo… You can’t- Father’s crazy! Posting me as the cover of Vogue? Really? What’s the story?’ Evan asked, earning an awful silence instead of an answer. ‘Jodie?’ Evan asked again, stripping himself of his clothes while putting Jodie on speaker.
‘You’ll… You’ll know it when you see it. I can’t tell you Evan, sorry,’ Jodie apologised. Evan wanted to scream. He wanted to cuss her out and yell at her until she made sure no one would show up at his door to force him into a cover shoot.
It wasn’t Jodie’s fault though. It never was. ‘It’s okay, I get it. I’m showering now, though. Good luck with… life. I’ll hear from you whenever?’ Evan asked, waiting for Jodie to counter. ‘You’ll hear from me forever, Evan.’
Though it was a bitter moment, Evan smiled. He didn’t often speak with Jodie, but when he did, he always felt comfort in it. She was like the sibling Evan never really had. Like the awesome older sister who didn’t live at home anymore. Evan never called her, though, she always called him. So it was always a surprise if he was called.
‘I’ll hear from you whenever I guess…’
‘We both know you’ll hear from me forever until either one of us dies, right?’
Evan was eleven then.
‘So. Guess I’ll hear from you whenever?’
‘You’ll hear from me forever little Rose.’
Evan was fourteen then.
He sighed deeply and looked at himself in the mirror.
One phone call for his life.
How was that fair?
When he got out of the shower, he called Regulus with shaking hands, almost clicking Barty’s name which was saved right above it in his favourites.
‘What’s up, Ev? Me and Dor are just grabbing a bite while Marlene is surfing with the boys.’
‘My life is over, Regulus.’ Evan was shaking so bad. He put the phone on speaker and walked into Regulus’ bathroom to look for his curl mousse. Or gel. Anything.
‘Your life is over? That’s quite dramatic Evan. You know dramatics are-’ ‘He planned a shoot Regulus. I have 80 minutes.’
Silence.
‘I’m on my way.’
Within ten minutes, Regulus had arrived. He was red faced and angry, but he was there. He stared in silence at Evan, who had his head turned upside down, and was trying his best to scrunch out some product he found in Regulus’ cabinet.
Evan looked at him in confusion. ‘How do you do this? It’s insane!’ Evan said exasperated, ready to turn his head back side up, but Regulus stopped him. ‘Let me help you,’ Regulus said, gently brushing his hands through Evan’s hair to get the knots out.
‘So what happened?’
‘I was listening to music in the kitchen when Jodie called,’ Evan explained, earning a knowing hum from Regulus. Jodie’s calls were always bad news for Evan.
‘She asked me a stupid question about fashion magazines, and if I’d rather have cosmo or vogue,’ he went on, while Regulus grabbed something else and started scrunching that into his hair. ‘Everybody with a brain knows that Vogue is the way to go,’ Regulus said, to which Evan agreed.
‘So guess who’s coming for a shooting? Cover and all,’ Evan said, though no excitement was found in his entire body, nor voice. Regulus stopped scrunching. ‘Shut up. Vogue? Ev, that’s actually insane. What’s the story?’ Regulus asked, but Evan shrugged. ‘She didn’t tell me, so it must be nothing good,’ he huffed, after which Regulus shook his head.
‘It’s insane that he’s bringing them to you on your vacation, honestly,’ Regulus said, plugging in the diffuser. ‘I hate him. I hate this. I hate all of it,’ Evan said, just before Regulus muttered ‘I know’ and turned on the diffuser.
When Evan’s head was diffused and ready, his curls nearly blinked from perfection, and Regulus gave him a proud grin. ‘At least my curls will be flawless,’ Evan said, just before Regulus nodded and pulled his arm.
‘Oi! Where are you taking me?’ Evan asked, but he got no answer. ‘Put this on. I know it’s not your usual wear, but you need to look presentable, right?’ Regulus asked rhetorically.
Evan did as told, and looked at himself in the mirror. Nice, black dressing pants and a white blouse that was perfectly ironed. He looked like a blonde copycat Regulus. He scrunched up his nose. ‘I must look perfect, ‘cause I look like you at dinner with your lovely family,’ Evan said, just before Regulus huffed and the doorbell rang.
Evan’s eyes widened.
‘No. No, they’re way too early. Fuck!’ Evan said, reaching out to grab his hair, but Regulus swatted his hands away. ‘Calm down, you’ll be okay. I’m here, right? I’ll open the door, you create a playlist to listen to while shooting,’ Regulus said while walking towards the door.
While Evan was making a playlist as instructed, he could hear raised voices from the door. He frowned and stood up to walk into the hallway. ‘Reg, why are you scream-oh,’ Evan stopped mid-sentence when he saw James in front of the door with a big bouquet of flowers and a proud barty behind him.
‘How do you always choose the exact wrong time to fuck shit up, Barty! Jezus!’ Regulus yelled, ready to slam the door in their faces. ‘No! Wait. Regulus, don’t be mad. He didn’t know, I didn’t tell him,’ Evan said, putting his foot in the doorstep just in case Regulus was planning on closing the door anyways.
‘You… Didn’t tell him?’ Regulus asked, a frown appearing on his face. Evan shook his head and looked at James and Barty. ‘My lovely father, whom i love very much, has planned a Vogue cover shoot at my house in exactly fifteen minutes. So I’m sorry, James, but unless you’d like to see loads of people asking too much of me with Regulus here, you’re gonna have to reschedule.’
Regulus nodded in agreement. James frowned a little and looked at Barty, whose face was still stuck in shock. ‘Well I wouldn’t want to intrude on anything like that, I’m sorry. If you want, I’d be open to stay as support, but if you’d rather have me gone just say so,’ James said, smiling understandingly at Evan.
‘Of course he doesn’t want his ex to-’ ‘Actually, James, that is really kind of you. I’d like that, I think. Less pressure if there’s more people I’m familiar with and all,’ Evan said, returning James’ smile. Barty’s eyes widened in disbelief and he looked from Regulus, back to Evan. ‘In that case, I want to stay too,’ Barty said, crossing his arms.
Regulus raised an eyebrow, but Evan shrugged. ‘Whatever, Crouch.’
A stilted silence.
Evan walked back inside, with both James and Regulus following him.
‘Crouch? Stooping that low?’ Barty asked, also hurrying inside and closing the door after him, before reaching out to grab Evan’s arm. ‘It’s not like you treat me as if my worth is above that,’ Evan snapped, before pulling his arm out of Barty’s grasp and grabbing a drink for James.
‘That’s not- what? Where did you get that idea?’ Barty asked, baffled. ‘Oh, I don’t know! Must not be from you, seeing as you’re so fucking clueless!’ Evan yelled, just as the doorbell rang. He took a deep breath. ‘We’re continuing this later,’ Evan said, before he opened the door with a smile on his face.
His smile fell quickly though, because Jodie forgot to mention one critical point.
Evan’s father was here.
‘Now now, aren’t you happy to see me, Ethan?’ his father said, waltzing into the house without any regard for Evan. ‘It’s Evan, dad,’ Evan said softly, but he closed the door and followed his dad. ‘You have guests over? Wonderful! They can be a good add on for your shoot. Surprise! I booked a shoot for you,’ Evan’s father said with more enthusiasm Evan had ever heard his father use.
He wasn’t looking at Evan, didn’t notice the bruise he had yet to cover up for the photo on his jaw. Didn’t see the way his perfectly imperfect nose was now flawless.
Evan’s father didn’t see how tan Evan had gotten over the summer, he didn’t see the new curls, or the freckles on Evan’s face. He only saw a sixteen year old boy who could win him a fortune.
‘Wow, dad. I thought we had agreed to wait until after this summer?’ Evan asked, though he carefully filtered out the meanness and disappointment in his voice. ‘Yes, but Vogue was available now, and they needed a cover. I had the story ready, anyway,’ his father told him, sitting down on the couch.
It felt like his father was staining his house. Leaving big, ugly stains everywhere he touched.
But it wasn’t really his house. It was Jonah’s vacation mansion.
‘What’s the story?’ Evan asked, but he was interrupted by his dad holding up a finger in the air. It wasn’t even in Evan’s direction, but Evan was silenced regardless.
‘It’ll be a surprise when you see it,’ Jonathan said before kicking off his shoes and putting his legs on the rest of the white couch. ‘Enzo, fetch me a drink, I’m severely dehydrated,’ Evan’s father ordered. Evan was halfway to the kitchen when he heard a loud cough from Regulus. ‘His name is Evan, sir. And if you want something, it is common sense to use please and thank you.’
‘Excuse you?!’ Jonathan’s father looked at the three boys. ‘Reg, it’s okay,’ Evan said, before handing his father a drink and giving Regulus a stern look. Regulus raised a defiant eyebrow, but stayed silent.
‘Evan, after this shoot I am giving you one more week of your promised vacation. I need you back home earlier now that you’re up and coming,’ Evan’s father told him, much to the disappointment of Evan. ‘But, father, you promised me an entire vacation in France. I still have two weeks left,’ Evan said, but his dad wasn’t budging.
‘Was I not clear, Ezra?’
‘It’s still Evan,’ Barty snapped back at him, crossing his arms. Jonathan looked at him with his dark eyes. He seriously looked at someone who insulted him before he looked at his own son. ‘You’re the youngest Black, aren’t you? Regulus, the boy who had to throw up because he was seasick,’ Jonathan said in a diminishing tone. Barty huffed and shook his head, pointed towards Regulus.
Ah, so that’s how Barty and Regulus got away from their parents.
‘How do you have the brains to remember my name, but not your own son’s? It’s not like it’s such a hard name to remember,’ Regulus said, a sneer on his look that was rivalling Jonathan’s irritated attempt at indifference. ‘Listen you little shit, this is my house and if you think-’ the doorbell rang.
‘Ah, saved by the bell. This will be the last time you speak to me like that, understood?’ Evan’s father ordered Regulus, while he was standing up and walking towards the door. ‘This definitely won’t be the last time we speak to you like that, if you continue treating Evan like shit,’ Barty crossed his arms and Regulus hummed in approval.
‘Whatever. You’re just two silly little kids, why would I care about you?’ he huffed, before he planted a smile on his face and opened the door. ‘Good afternoon, ladies! Come in, come in!’ Evan heard his father say, after which he shared a look with Regulus.
Ladies meant his father wasn’t planning on Evan keeping on his clothes. Evan got the eerie feeling he got extra models for the shoot, too, but he hoped he was wrong.
Just let the story be about him following his birthright and becoming a Rose.
Just let the story be about him and his legacy.
Just let the story-
‘Evan, I want you to meet the wonderful team I’ve set up for you,’ Jonathan said, clasping his hands together and smiling brightly. Loads of hand shaking and ‘nice to meet you’’s followed, but his father didn’t seem content.
‘Where’s the makeup artist I hired?’ he asked, his mask almost slipping. He caught himself though, and smiled again when someone walked through the, still open, door. ‘She was sick, unfortunately. But I’m here to cover.’
Evan had honestly never expected Jonathan Rosier, or Jonah Rose, to hire someone from his favourite family, but here she was. And Evan knew how good she was. Maybe there was some saving to this day.
‘Cissa? Oh my god, what are you doing here?’ Regulus asked, trying to keep his smile from spreading, but seeming to fail. Her hair was dyed now, a blonde halo with black all over the top. It suited her incredibly well.
Narcissa ignored Regulus, and looked at Evan’s father. ‘I hope that’s okay with you, sir.’ She said it in the most derogatory way possible, though still smiling with her mouth, eyes icy. ‘It will have to do,’ he huffed, turning around and sitting back down in the living room.
See, not everyone sees the good side of Jonah Rose. Once his mask breaks, and people see him for who he really is, he vows to never work with those people again. Narcissa had seen it happen twice, and Jonathan had sworn her off, regardless of her talent, in fear of tarnishing his name.
‘Let’s start with makeup, then. Chop chop, we don’t have all day,’ Jonathan said, ushering Evan and Narcissa into the bathroom.
Narcissa huffed. ‘He’s not changed one bit, has he?’ she asked, raising one brow at Evan. ‘Nope,’ he said, pulling out the ‘p’.
Evan sat down in front of her and she smiled softly at him. ‘How are you holding up?’ she asked, while wetting a brush and starting to paint Evan’s face. ‘Not great, but I’m happy you’re here to do my makeup,’ he answered.
He could hear the smile in Narcissa’s voice when she said, ‘me too. And be extra happy, because your former makeup artist is one of Jonathan’s regulars for a reason. I paid quite a sum to take you off her hands,’ Narcissa said, wincing and motioning for Evan to move his head. ‘You paid money to take me? She wasn’t sick?’ Evan asked, surprised.
‘Of course she isn’t sick. Regardless, if she was sick, she would’ve showed up anyway. This shoot is huge to work on for your portfolio, image, socials, everything. It’s not everyday a multi-millionaire gets a son and introduces him into the modelling world with a cover shoot for a rival magazine,’ Narcissa told him airily, but Evan got the heavy message.
How much he’d like to step away from it all, it was impossible.
When makeup was done, he was shipped off to his bedroom, which was turned upside down into a hair salon. Two girls started pulling and shaping his hair while talking loudly and laughing loads. Not with Evan though, the two girls acted as if he wasn’t there at all. It was a painful hour to sit and hear them nearly scream and laugh.
When he was done, he looked in the mirror and frowned. ‘Hey, girls, as much as I appreciate the look, isn’t it kind of… messy?’ Evan asked, before carefully touching his messily brushed out curls and pulling a face in the mirror. ‘Well, is this a resemblance of how your hair looks after you’ve had sex? Because that is the look we were going for,’ one of the girls asked, right before both burst out in giggles again. ‘Oh my gawd, Becky, you can’t ask him that. That’s like, so rude,’ the other said, before laughing again.
‘I’m confused. Why would you guys go for such a look? That’s so out of… Oh,’ Evan muttered, slowly coming to the realisation. ‘Do you two know the story?’ Evan asked, which earned him two funny looks, and then more giggles. ‘Is that a no?’
The girls didn’t answer, so Evan groaned and stood up, walked promptly out of his room and only stopped when he was in front of Jonathan, who was scrolling on his phone.
‘What’s the story?’
Evan crossed his arms. His father finally looked at him, but he seemed bored. ‘Your hair and makeup is done? Great, then we can finally start photo’s,’ he said, completely ignoring Evan. He stood up and walked past Evan, expecting him to follow. ‘What’s the story, father?’ Evan repeated, now getting frustrated.
‘You’ll find out,’ his father said, waving his hand in the air dismissively. ‘No, I want to know now. Please? Then I’ll know what I can expect,’ Evan asked, careful not to get too angry or frustrated. ‘You’ll know it when you see it, Eric.’
Evan sighed and gave up, but he had a bad feeling about this. When he was asked to lay down on the floor, his feelings only grew.
No way back now, was there?