"Oh my god, what happened to your face?" Theodor exclaimed when we gathered to the rented jeep wrangler dahil medyo malayo ang susunod na lugar for the next set of photoshoot.
"Nothing, got smacked by cinderella while I'm sleeping," and her eyes landed on me na agad ko naman iniwasan.
Serves her right.
"That is not just nothing, sinong gumawa niyan?" but her manager is now getting hysterical dahil na galusan ang pinakamamahal nitong reyna.
"Chill, Theo. There's nothing a make up can cover."
"No, Calli we need to..."
"One more word coming from that mouth of yours and you'll be flying back to manila right now, Theodor. I said I'm okay," and that made the man to shut up at humalikipkip sa gilid.
Rude, concern lang naman yung manager nito sa kanya.
"Ilang minuto nga byahe?" Maam Lenora asked Jules who's driving the car right now.
"Fifteen to twenty five minutes. We also need to go hiking pa for another thirty for us to reach the nag kalit - kalit waterfalls."
Nakabuntot ang dalawa pang jeep wrangler sa likod namin. Ayaw ko sana sumabay kasama yung modelo but Jules was the one who insisted Callista na sa amin nang sumabay. Bakit hindi nalang palakarin iyan at matuto ng mga bagay bagay sa buhay.
Dumako ang tingin ko sa babae kung saan humurma ang palad ko sa pisngi nito. She doesn't even bother to cover it up. She's wearing it as a symbol. How she stroked her fingertips against the swelling area. Like a mark.
Like I had branded her.
And upon catching me staring ay siyang ipinatong niya ang namamagang pisnge sa palad nito ang nginitian ako.
She's crazy, I knew it!
"Are you okay back there, Elise?" Jules asked dahil naramdaman niyang bigla akong nanahimik.
"I - I'm good don't worry."
A scoffing can be heard not so far away from me at hindi ko na kailangan tingnan kung sino iyon. Maya't maya pa ay tumunog ang phone nito kaya't pinilit ko nalang pumikit at matulog but her voice is filling the closed space.
"Hey there baby," and I rolled my eyes. "Yup, we are currently on our way there right now."
"Oh really? So thoughtful of you but I gotta go okay? I'll see you very soon," she hummed after ending the call and passing her phone towards her manager. "Reject all of the calls."
"But why?" Tanong ng lalaki while shoving the model's phone inside his front pocket.
"Because I told you? And that is your job?"
"Bitch," I muttered pero hindi ko alam na rinig pala ng iba dahil biglang nanlisik ang mata ni Jules when he glances back on my direction.
Ganun din ang pagkabigla ni maam Lorena. My bad, tanging kami lang pala ni Jules ang may alam tungkol sa namamagitang gyera sa amin ng modelo.
"Oh, I - I was commenting on the movie that I am watching," I tried to reason out but the model just merely raises an eyebrow and stared at me amusedly.
Did she think this is funny?
Because it is not.
The journey continues, with only the sound from Jules' Spotify connected to the car's bluetooth keeping the atmosphere alive inside the vehicle. I checked my phone for a signal, but there was none. I hate that I can't even send Ashleigh updates.
YOU ARE READING
Portrait Of Desire
Roman d'amourElise, a photographer renowned for catching unfiltered emotions, finds herself at a crossroads in a busy city. Years after concentrating on her work, she unintentionally runs across the model, Callista, who deceived her by snatching the man she love...
