Vogue | Tony Stark

THIRTY FOUR - HAPPY NEW YEAR

Despite wanting to dive headfirst back into a distraction of work the day after Christmas, Alicia and Katy practically held Estélla hostage in her Hamptons mansion, chaining her to the couch and forcing her to sit with her body and with her mind, persistent and agreeing that she needed to deal with her emotions rather than bury them beneath something artificial.

And that's exactly what together, they did. Estélla emptied every chamber of her heart and her soul to her best friends, talking for hours and hours about how she'd felt herself break bone by bone when she looked into Tony's eyes after finding out what he'd done, and how it felt like quite possibly the worst betrayal one person could do to another.

Men had been unfaithful to Esté before, but it was different when it was Tony. Esté had shared her life with him, they'd grown up together and shaped each other's minds. They shared core memories and learned about the world at the same pace, respected each other and loved each other since they were old enough to walk and talk, whatever love was, anyway.

And while it hurt Esté for be forced to think about her pain and anguish, and while her eyes stung from crying and crying until she had nothing left to give, she felt better for it.

There was an acceptance to swallow and Estélla was sure she perhaps never would've taken the pill had Katy and Alicia not forced her to. It was tough and bitter and the side effects left her weak for the following handful of days, but the clouds cleared one at a time.

The GQ Awards were being held in London on New Year's Eve and although almost everybody expected Estélla's name to be called out as winner of Model Of The Year, she was still in disbelief that she'd even been nominated at all.

The day she found out about her nomination had been stained with red, and although she desperately tried to enjoy herself that evening with the people who did care about her, she woke up the following morning feeling like the loneliest girl in the world despite being perhaps the most adored.

Alicia and Katy had insisted on coming to London to accompany Esté to the awards, though after they found out that The Avengers were due back from their mission at some time around the 31st, Esté told them to stay at home.

They'd already done so much for her over the Christmas period, never hesitating to wipe tears from her eyes of cuddle her while she eventually fell asleep by the fireplace. Esté knew if things had never gone south with Tony that she wouldn't have even bothered attending the awards if she knew he was coming home, and so she told her friends to wait for their other halves to come back to them, reassuring the girls that she would be absolutely fine in London by herself.

By herself didn't turn out to be totally true, however. Estélla might've walked the red carpet in an eye-wateringly expensive crystal slip dress that made her look like one of the stars in the sky all on her own, but she was never alone for more than a handful of seconds all evening.

Actors and actresses, singers and songwriters, directors and producers, footballers and Formula 1 drivers all flocked to her, desperate to introduce themselves if they'd never met, and embrace her tightly with a heart-warming hug if they were lucky enough to already be her friend.

And so Estélla never really was alone, and that night, she started to feel less and less like the shell of a woman Tony Stark had left behind, and more like the glittering star that she always had been.

To nobodies surprise, Estélla accepted the award for Model Of The Year from Lewis Hamilton, who was quick to ditch the podium and offer her his hand to guide her up the steps while she lifted her dress from the floor with her fingertips.

She didn't shed a tear while she stood on the stage despite feeling overcome with desperate emotions that tugged on every corner of the strings inside her heart. She thanked her family and friends, her manager and everybody that had shown her their love that year, everybody that had stood by her side.