The Unsaid Dreams . Truth . Desires

29

Alina was about to head out when Jeanne called her out. She was carrying an animal print overcoat.

'Here, take this with you.'

'Thanks, Jeanne, what would I do without you?'

'You look lovely, why didn't you tell me you are going out tonight? I would have helped you with your hairdo,' Jeanne was running her fingers through Alina's hair as if trying to adjust it.

Alina had long straight hair, running a couple of inches below her shoulders and she never tried any styling with them. She liked her hair this way, looking sleek without any effort and they go well with all looks.

'I like it this way,' she smiled with pride.

'Drive safe.'

Alina waved and left for the planned meet. She texted Rob once she reached Chateau Marmont and Rob asked her to go to the reception.

'Excuse me, I am Alina.'

'Good evening ma'am, I will escort you to your table.'

He led her to a luxurious hall and directed her towards a  table at the farther end. She could spot Rob there and could sense multiple gazes upon her, but business meetings were a usual affair for her. She walked confidently towards Rob and his team. She saw that Rob was casually dressed, white round-neck t-shirt, black jacket, jeans, and sneakers, his go-to look. He noticed and waved at her, she replied with a smile. There was an empty chair on Rob's opposite end, she introduced herself to other folks on the table before occupying her seat.

She saw two familiar faces, Aaron and Steph, but there were three other people out there.

'Everybody, Alina shared the idea about the project we were discussing earlier. She is one of my few friends outside the industry and she knows a lot of stuff trust me, a lot,' Rob continued looking at her the whole time. 

Everybody chuckled, while Alina blushed, her cheeks turned pink. 

'And Al, meet my team, I believe you know Aaron and Steph, meet Nick and Sarah, my agents and she is Debbie, my publicist.

Alina shook hands with everyone while they scanned her from head to toe, trying to figure out how could she be friends with Rob in the first place. Now a series of questions were being shot at her, almost like an interrogation. They asked her about her job, her day-to-day work, her big shift to the US. She replied gracefully to every question, with no hint of hesitation, and slowly, the pace of questions eased out and they seemed to be now involved with her.

Rob was noticing the whole scene in front of him with a cunning smile as if he already knows the outcome of the whole discussion. They continued chatting while having their meals and the conversation got merrier when they shared their anecdotes about their first consignment, their shift to this entertainment industry.

'I must say, Alina, I definitely see you in our industry, you look like a model yourself,' Sarah mentioned.

 Alina tried to brush it off calmly.

'Nah seriously, if you ever wanna explore this territory, I should be the first one to hear, okay?'

'Absolutely, but I don't think that will ever happen.'

'Will see about that.'

'You guys are obviously having so much fun,' Rob chipped in, 'Al, whatever ideas you have, any opinion, suggestions, you can keep pouring into these guys, they would be more than happy to hear your thoughts.'

'Not just business, we would be there for anything with which we can possibly help, consider us as your friends,' Debbie said with twinkling eyes.

'That's awesome, thank you! You guys are the best people anyone can have around,' Rob was beaming with pride.

Suddenly, Alina's phone started buzzing with an incoming call.

'Shoot, it's work, I need to take this, sorry. I will be back in a moment,' and she left to find a quiet spot.

'I love how she dresses, she carries herself gracefully,' Nick mentioned.

Rob gave an obvious od. 

'My phone is blowing with hundreds of texts. It seems some people here have noticed her and are asking for the fashion house she represents,' Nick could not hide his amusement.

'Wow, already? But she likes to keep it low, she hates attention.' Rob was worried this time.

'It's okay, I will get her before someone starts enquiring something from her personally,' Aaron rose from his chair but soon enough, Alina was back and none of the others mentioned anything that happened in her absence.

'Al, sweetie, thanks for meeting us tonight. I would be leaving for NYC tonight, see you soon. Take care,' his hands were over Alina's palm, gently squeezing it.

'Sure thing, and I will see you on television and the internet, as always.'

Rob smirked as if planning something else.

That night when Alina was about to sleep, her phone beeped, there was a message from Rob.

'You were amazing tonight,' and he also sent a picture of her, which she never knew was clicked.

'Thanks for having me.'

'About to take off. Don't hold yourself from calling me this time,' he replied with a wink emoji.

'Will sleep over it. Good night.'

'Will text you later.'

She kept her phone aside and started wondering what does this mean, what was Rob trying to do? She also realized that she was preoccupied with so many things lately, she wasn't considering her further plans, true she wanted to do something on her own which could earn her recognition, but what and how?

And everything going on here with Rob she had to get this straight as well. There was no denying the fact that they belonged to different worlds, was her work that was drawing him? Or something else? The more she thought, the more dizzy she felt, but these thoughts kept running in her mind until she dozed off.