Young & Beautiful

far too many assignments, Jesus Christ—what is this place?) before toeing off his shoes.
“Well, his father’s the Chancellor.”
“So I’ve heard.” Louis takes a seat next to Niall on the couch, plucks the cigar out from between
his fingers, and takes a drag. Then almost chokes to death.
“Easy there, sport,” Niall laughs, delighted as he claps his back, and makes no move to reclaim the
cigar as Louis tries again, eyes watering. “Yeah, his father’s the Chancellor, and you know how
that goes, so he’s the wealthiest fuckin’ guy I know—definitely the wealthiest goddamn bloke
here—and his mother is Mira fuckin’ Wills.”
Louis coughs up a fountain of smoke and possibly his lung.
“Mira Wills? The actress??” And he doesn’t know why he’s quite so shocked considering Niall’s
own prestigious lineage (the other day he offered to show Louis his family castle, for Christ’s
sake) but all the same, Louis stares, dumbfounded, and mentally envisions every movie he’s ever
seen with the lady in question and all the times he's insisted, through a face full of tears, that “That
woman better win every fucking award this country has to offer because she can act!”
He may be a slight fan.
“Are you fucking serious?” Louis splutters, and Niall laughs, grand and loud, before offering
Louis cheese as he flicks hair out of his eyes.
“It’s not that big of a deal, mate. Besides, he doesn’t live with her for the most part. Stays with his
father.”
“They’re divorced?”
“Oh yeah,” Niall says with a low whistle. “It was quite the scandal, ya know. You’re not
supposed to do that shite in this world. The fact that he married her at all was a bit of a
controversy.”
“’This world?’” Louis mocks, but Niall just shrugs and hops off the couch, going straight to the
fridge. The white of his Ralph Lauren polo almost shines in the soft afternoon light, prisms from
the chandeliers painting his back. Because yes—they have chandeliers. Louis will never get used
to any part of this life.
“It’s frowned upon. It’s fuckin’ stupid, yeah, but it’s still frowned upon. For his father’s status,
he’s expected to have a wholesome family and all that shite. Marrying an actress, who has no
family connections at that, is a bit of a smack in the face. So you can imagine the reaction when
they split.”
“Dear lord. I feel like I’m in The Princess Diaries.” Louis looks sharply up at Niall. “He’s not a
princess, right?”
Another barking laugh escapes Niall as he pours himself a glass of whiskey. “Not technically. But
he’s wealthy, fuckin’ powerful, a big name on the scene, and he throws a damn good party. Bit
quiet, though. Never actually spoken to him before.”
“Why doesn’t he live with him mum?” Louis inquires, and he really doesn’t want to be this
intrigued, but fuck it—this is juicy, juicy information. And it’s far more entertaining than reading
chapters 1-5 on "The History of the Stage.”
“He did for awhile, back when she was married to Des Styles. Then they got divorced and since