In this book within a book, plunge into the escapades of Satine Fontaine, who's on the run from her tumultuous past. The vibrant streets of New York beckon her, and fate conspires as she stumbles into Brooklyn's dingiest bar, encountering the enigma...
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STAR: LOVE, GREED & BETRAYAL
Grief comes in thunderous waves, and at first, they're so strong that they can sweep you away. They come at such random moments, replacing the feeling of normalcy with guilt that you're moving on and they're not. Yet in time those waves lessen, and the good memories are allowed to flow in, they allow for floods of smiles and warmth, those funny or sweet things that were once said. The wave must be ridden like an indestructible ship because your loved one is at peace now and you should be too.
Hoshi sat next to the window in his apartment, staring out over the city that was surprisingly sunny for an afternoon in mid-March. He hadn't moved for days, only periodically to grab another bottle of vodka from Wonwoo's endless supply. It wasn't like he needed it anymore.
The grief had eaten away at him, convincing him he wasn't allowed to leave, nor would be able to if he tried. A part of him was longing to see Mingyu; to ask how he was and if he was struggling just as much as him. But Wonwoo's voice was crawling through his mind, repeating on a constant loop that he wasn't allowed to start dealing with his loss. Pain demands to be felt and fuck was it unbearable.
Amidst the heartache, there was only one thing that Hoshi could think of to ease the type of agony caused by losing his best friend.
Satine.
Beautiful, kind and honest, Satine.
Sometimes he would hallucinate her. He would imagine her stumbling into his apartment with those bovver boots that she couldn't walk in without tripping up. He found her enchanting and so incredibly raw and real. How was someone so elegant and perfect, human enough to have faults?
An episode was coming on, he could feel it. Her little voice echoed through his apartment, instantly clinging to what was left of his consciousness. He tried banging his head against the windowpane to wake himself up, but it only sent him spiralling deeper into make-believe.
"Hoshi?"
The front door rattled. It wasn't locked, that much was obvious by Satine bouncing in with a basket of muffins. Her burgundy hair and ever so golden skin gleamed in the light bursting through the room. She looked happy, healthy, so alive and well in the apartment that their dead friend used to occupy. It was odd, but not entirely unexpected that she was able to bring life to a place tortured by death.
He wished her energy could have remained, but once she saw him leaning against the window with an empty bottle against his temple, so weary and broken, that gorgeous smile plummeted between the scuffed floorboards.
"You're not real," Hoshi's voice was barely there, but it was enough to have Satine running through the apartment to reach him.
"Oh, Hoshi..." she whispered.
"Please just leave me alone." He wasn't talking to her, he was talking to the little voice in his head, the one responsible for leading him astray.
"I will do no such thing, and if you really think I'm the type of person to leave you like this then you're sorely mistaken, mister."
