My L490 - Part 1

Chapter 7 - The Lunch

We all left the conference room and walked outside, the sun was shining and the weather was amazing, I slid my jacket off for the first time that day, immediately I felt eyes on me, I knew it was him, just by the feeling of my skin tingling. I swung my jacket around and felt something tug, slowly turning I saw I had hooked the button on his jacket pocket, I looked up and felt myself melt into a warmth of caramel, he smirked and said "Guess you're hooked on me" as he loosened my jacket and it fell free, blushing furiously, I smiled and mumbled "uhm.. yea...". Turning away quickly I said goodbye to Em and Tom as they left for their meeting, as the car pulled away Jason said "Well, let's get something to eat, we need to chat and catch up details" his arm hooked around my neck he gave me a squeeze, looked down at me and smiled, it felt like my big brother giving me a hug, safe and calming.

I felt his presence on my left had side, he walked quietly next to me, carefully not touching, "Hey dude, we going to that place we had dinner the other night?" Jason asked him, "Yea" was the reply, man of many words, clearly. Jay's arm still around my neck he steered me along the sidewalk, and made his way to a vegan restaurant, on the main strip, we walked in and immediately the staff were at attention, clearly knowing who the guys I was with were. We got an amazing table with a view of the ocean, the place was quiet, strange for lunch time I thought. Jason pulled my chair out and I sat down close to the balcony, it really was a beautiful day. 

The waiter brought a bottle of water and three glasses and the menus were placed in front of us. The water was poured and the waiter disappeared again, he picked up his menu and I picked up mine, I could still feel his eyes on me and as I glanced up I knew it was a mistake, his smouldering brown eyes were looking directly at me, fire shot through my body and could feel my cheeks flush, he smirked, he really did love this didn't he?

The waiter took our order and disappeared again, "So, tell me about you Charley? Since you're going to be working for me I would like to know all about you", I looked directly into the ice blue eyes, his smile was bright and his dark brown hair was growing again, I remember the last time I saw it like that was round about 2006, he had it cut a while ago for a film he was doing and it had obviously been growing back. His blue eyes were piercing with the dark brown hair, I guess I could see how the girls had a fascination with him, especially my 'sister', she was crazy about him, I must remember to message her tonight and tell her the news.

"Well, I grew up here, I spent some time in the UK, and loved being in a different place, learning about the life and culture, and when I got back I found a job as a graphic designer and that's what I have been doing ever since, not really much else to tell. Nothing as exciting as travelling the world" I smiled at him, he took a sip of his water and I noticed the difference in their hands, sounds strange but I love hands, it tells a lot about a person, Jay's hands were soft, or they looked soft, lean fingers, an artists hands is what I would describe them as, caring and comforting. He replied looking at me "Well tell me why you got into design? Why art? What inspires you?" As he said that I looked across the table and saw those caramel eyes burning into me again, he had his head leaned to the side, like this is something he wanted to hear, like this was what he had been waiting for, what inspires me....

I thought for a second and turned towards Jay, "Well, I have always loved creating things, whether it was art, writing, drawing, painting, as for inspiration, well, that comes in many forms, sometimes it's something I read, something I saw on television or it could even be someone I met" I glanced to the side and looked directly at him, this is the first time I forced myself to look into those caramel eyes and I felt the fire, I felt it like I was about to burn up, I felt my skin tingle and I felt like I was about to faint, why did he has such an effect on me? Was I losing my mind? Those sharp eyebrows peaked when I said that and I saw the smirk become a straight line, I wanted to play a game too, let's see how he handles his own medicine!

Our lunch came and as he started eating, I discreetly watched his hands, strong and hard, nothing like Jay's, but an artist nevertheless, I watched his lips and I watched as he drank his cranberry juice, I was mesmerised, after about ten minutes I realised I hadn't touched my food, I kind of circled it around my plate and Jason noticed "Not hungry?", I looked down "Yes, I am, I think it's just been such an exciting day the nerves may be getting to me." I moved the food around on my plate and took a few bites of my salad, it was really good, I managed to finish half my lunch and couldn't stomach anymore, all I could feel were eyes on me. Once the plates were cleared I looked out over the ocean and it calmed me, the blue sea reminded me of Jay's eyes, ice blue, calming, yet something about them made me wonder, what lies beneath, because deep down there was a hidden pain he didn't let surface.

"Coffee?" I got pulled out of my reverie and look at the blue eyes, it matched the ocean, "Yes, please, black coffee, no sugar please?", "Just the way my brother likes it" he turned to look at his brother, I turned my head slowly waiting for the fire, yes, there it was, his eyes met mine and all I could feel was the heat rising in my stomach, my senses all on high alert, why on earth is this happening, he's just a guy, a guy I have seen so many times, why does he doe this to me?

"Right, so, we spoke about your inspiration, let's talk about when you get to LA, you will be working alongside me with a lot of the new material coming out, more album artwork and a lot of new content for the website. I want a fresh spin on the new album." As he said this, I looked down at my coffee, it smelled amazing, I nodded, but one thing caught my attention, he said "And you will be working closely with my brother on a brand he is wanting launched and marketed, you have amazing experience in marketing I could tell from your resume". With that I was stunned to attention, I looked up a little too quickly and felt dizzy, "Uhm... your... brother... yes... marketing", I glanced at the caramel eyes, and he looked angry? Or maybe stunned as well... "Dude, we can talk about this later" he glanced at me and I could see he wasn't happy, he was actually angry, "Later!" with that he got up and walked off. 

Jason looked at me "Sorry about that, my brother gets a little stressed about work talk, anyway... Let's go for a walk, I want to talk to you about something"... With that he got up grabbed my jacket and we walked out the restaurant, as we exited their were camera's everywhere, obviously the press had heard he was here, he signed a few autographs, questions were asked about who I was, but I hung back, trying to hide away, I hated cameras. When he finished signing the autographs, Jason grabbed my arm and we walked off in the opposite direction, "Don't worry about cameras, you will get used to it, one day you won't even notice they're there. And trust me you will need to get use to cameras soon" As he said the word I giggled, soon, the famous word, how could I not giggle.

As we got onto the beach, he stopped abruptly and looked at me, "Things will be fairly strained for a while when you get there, with my brother, but, just let him be, he will come around, he's..." he trailed off and then realise he hadn't finished what he was saying, "He tends to be fairly quiet about his life and his feelings, but trust me, you NEED to be there", he smiled at me and we started making our away down the beach, "Look Jay, I want to ask you, who do these belong to?" I felt I could trust him, and I pulled the sunglasses out of my bag, he looked down, not touching them "They're yours, just trust me, come on, we need to get to the hotel for the press conference, and meet my brother there, maybe he can tell you" and with that he made our way back to the hotel.