Dagger Series #4: Unadorned

Synopsis

SYNOPSIS

Being on top is a second nature for me. Not just because I'm the renowned supermodel, Mireia Aguero, but because I literally need to be on top to be where I am now. On top of a bed? Sports car? Billiard table? Kitchen counter? Mini bar? Name it. Everyone can find hundreds of my photos with me clad on a skimpy bikini or lingerie while lounging on top of those.

Hindi ko pinagsisisihan ang mga panahon na iyon. My body is beautiful, bakit ko kailangan ikahiya? It also launched me to the life that I have now. Buhay na hindi ko kailangan isipin kung saan kami kukuha ng pera para sa susunod na araw.

My world expanded the same way that my wardrobe scaled up. There's still photos of me wearing itty-bitty clothes but this time I'm doing it on a runway, not just with one or two cameras pointed at me but maybe hundreds, not just for a men's magazine but rather for a prestigious fashion shows with high profile settings. I am not just a face on a magazine that people rarely try to know the name. Mireia Aguero became the name that anyone in the fashion industry recognizes

The fame could be a hassle and the dramas of the industry could be a lot but they're just trivialities. The cat fights, snark comments, and the hateful words doesn't matter in the end of the day. What doesn't kill me will just make me stronger right?

Right.

Except the fashion industry was suddenly rattled by the death of a famous model. Just a normal unfortunate day. But then it was followed by another... and another, and another. One by one the other models, specially the new ones, would either quit or will be too scared to work.

But not me. I mean, it's just a coincidence. Wala namang rason para maging target ang mga modelo. Isa pa ay iba-iba ang ikinamatay nila. Some are just really accidents, there's a suicide, and well, yes, there's one murder.

I can't just quit because people are dying. Wala namang rason para matakot ako dahil wala naman akong atraso sa kahit na sino. At least not enough for someone to want to kill me.

My best-friend however doesn't want to risk it. She wanted me to hire a bodyguard just to be safe. Wala naman sanang problema. Willing naman akong patulan ang trip niya. Iyon nga lang kilala ko ang taong gusto niyang kunin ko bilang bodyguard.

Axel Dawson.

The sweet boy I knew years ago that I met again as a drop dead gorgeous man. Despite the years that passed I know that he's still the same person inside. Iyong taong kapag inaasar ko ay nagkukulay kamatis ang mukha. He's adorable that way kaya nga kapag may pagkakataon na nagkikita kami ay hindi ko napipigilan ang sarili ko na magpapansin sa kaniya. Hindi naman imposible na magtagpo ang mga landas namin dahil sa mga koneksyon na nagtatali sa amin.

But that's the only connection I want to have with him. Dahil tama ako. Walang nagbago sa kaniya. Siya pa rin iyong Axel na nagagawa akong maintindihan sa paraan na hindi ako magawang makita ng iba. Taong bawat memorya ko na nakasama ko siya ay hindi nawaglit sa isip ko sa kabila ng mga taon na lumipas.

I could hear his whispered words, I can see his eyes that can see through my very soul, and I can feel his arms around me each time I lay awake at night.

Kaya hindi pwede. Hindi na pwede na maging parte siya ng kasalukuyan ko dahil iniwan ko na ang parte ng pagkatao ko na kasama siya nang araw na binatawan ko lahat ng parte ng nakaraan ko. It's the only way for me to protect myself and for him to have what he deserve.

There's no direction for me except to go forward. The spotlights are illuminating my path, the runway is my domain, the extravagant dresses are my armor, and with my face made up... I conquer the world. And if in the end of the day, I'll take down the shield, sheath away my protection... my war paint cleaned off me leaving me bared and unadorned... it won't be in a way that he would see.

Because he might be the same boy inside the man that he is now... but I'm no longer the girl that I once was.

Not anymore.