𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 | 𝐒. 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐲

Chapter 18

ALANI CASTILLO
New York City, NY.
1 Month Later.

Buckle up, y'all. It's my favourite time of year. New York fashion Week. It's truly better than every national holiday and I was lucky enough to spend it with my best friends. The female kind only, of course.

Nothing really happened between Wardell and I after that night. I've spent the whole month nitpicking about the situation, questioning why he hasn't made a move yet. But I have my answer now. Silence is also a response. Wardell loves the attention he gets from both of us. I've just been offering myself on a silver platter to a man who never knows what he wants. I don't want to keep repeating this cycle. It's beyond embarrassing.

The best thing to do now is to move on, I guess.

Gia, Tiana and myself got all dressed up for the Marc Jacobs show tonight. It felt good to be a guest at NY Fashion Week instead of being the one running around like a headless chicken.

When we arrived, the security guard escorted us to our seats. I frowned when I saw Gia and Tiana were seated in the row behind me.

"Excuse me, sir. Is there any way we could have the seats rearranged?" I asked before he walked away.

The tall man spoke into his earpiece before giving me a smile. "Unfortunately, this is the final layout. A lot of thought went into arranging it and we can't change it now. I apologise for the inconvenience, ma'am."

I kindly thanked him before taking my seat. I glanced back at Gia and Tiana who looked very suspicious. Gia was struggling to hide the smile on her face. I was getting curious.

"Y'all gonna tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on." Tiana said quickly. "Just enjoy the show, okay. I heard Marc did his big one."

I brushed my concerns to the side and scrolled mindlessly on my phone until the show started. Moment later, multiple cameras were going off, almost blinding me.

"Right this way, Mr Munteanu." I heard the voice of the security guard from earlier. The man he was talking to was seated right next to me. The cameras felt like they were clicking extra fast so I put my hand up to cover my eyes.

"Sorry about that. New York paparazzi can be a real pain in the ass." The man says. He had a slight Russian accent but I could understand him clearly.

"It's okay. You'd think I'd be used to it by now." I said after the flashing stopped. I removed my hand from my face to get a good look at the man next to me and I was not disappointed.

Then I realised. "Wait, I know you." I blurted out.

"Oh yeah?" He raised a curious eyebrow.

"Yeah. You play Drago's son in Creed 2."

He smiled while shaking his hand. "I'm Florian." He held is right hand up for me to shake.

"I'm Ala-"

"Alani Castillo. Fashion designer. I'm a fan of your work." Florian says, catching me off guard. It's not really like me to be at a lost for words but the way he was looking at me had me in some kind of trance. "Audemars Piguet watch. Not only are you beautiful, but you have amazing taste as well."

I blushed as his large hand engulfed mine.

I was about to respond but the light dimmed, signaling the start of the show. I removed my hand from Florian's and placed them in my lap.

My leg was bouncing and my heart was racing. It felt weird to be getting attention from a man who isn't wearing a Golden State Warriors jersey but I'm not complaining. Now I'm starting to understand why Gia and Tiana were acting weird. Between me wiping my sweaty palms against my pants and looking up at the models, I sent a quick text to our group chat, letting them know I was onto their plan. Tiana responded with laughing emojis while Gia told me to 'get some'.