The Model Father

Chapter 15

“Hi, I found my friend.” The voice of the girl they found lurking down the dance floor earlier came back. They all looked up, and for a moment, they were caught in surprised. Jun could hardly believe his eyes... her friend looked just like Mao, only her hair was flowing past her shoulders in wavy curls. She wasn't dressed in a formal suit fit for office attire, but in a mid-thigh dress that emphasized her womanly figure, matched with a cute pair of heeled sandals.

“I'm Gabriella, but my friends call me Gabi,” the other girl was saying. “And this is my friend-”

“Mao.” Jun seemed to breathe out her name, still slightly shock at her appearing before him. They other guys cleared their throats while Mao blushed, tucking imaginary strands of hair behind her ear. Gabi looked back and forth between the guys and Mao, confusion obviously written on her face.

“You know these guys?” she asked Mao. Mao nodded.

“We're all good friends, here, right, Mao,” Yamapi said, getting up to hug her.

Mao grinned at her friend. “This is Yamapi, the club owner. Babs' boss.” Her eyes twinkled, and Jun frowned, thinking about what Shun had said about Yamapi taking Mao from him. He glanced a look at Shun, but his friend had his gaze fixed on Gabi. Gabi must have recognized who Yamapi was since she grinned widely after the introduction.

Mao turned to the rest of the guys, introducing them one by one to her friend. “That's Shun, he's in 'One Life to Live', Toma, a Broadway actor, Nari, a model-slash-actor.” Mao looked at Jun. “And that's Jun. He's a model for D&G.”

“Oh, so you're Jun,” Gabi said knowingly. “You're the one with that kid, right? So that's how you know these guys.” She raised an eyebrow at her friend. Jun raised his eyebrow, wondering what that meant. Mao just shrugged. Toma invited them to sit down, and patted a space for Mao between him and Jun, ignoring a look from his friend. Gabi sat in between Shun and Nari, and the guys seemed to crowd around her, ignoring Mao and Jun by themselves.

“Um, I gotta go check up on my staff,” Yamapi said, excusing himself. He turned to leave. Gabi got up, saying she wanted to come along with him if he didn't mind. Apparently, Yamapi let her tag along. Shun frowned.

“I'm not letting Yamapi take another girl away from me,” he said, following them down the stairs.

“What are you talking about? She's mine,” Nari said, hurrying after Shun.

Seeing everyone ran off to follow the girl who was chasing Yamapi, Toma pursed his lips, leaning back nonchalantly into the couch. He looked at Mao and Jun and smiled. “Well, looks like it's just us three, then.”

“Awesome,” Mao said, trying to relax. She was gripping the glass her in hands tightly, though. Toma observed. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear again. Toma smiled to himself. Apparently seeing Jun again made her nervous.

“O...kay,” Toma said, spring to his feet. “I'm gonna go get me a girl. Laters,” He quickly left Mao and Jun alone. They needed time to talk alone.

They sat quietly for a moment, after everyone left. Jun racked his brain for something clever to say, but he couldn't think of anything. He glanced sideways at Mao, who scooted a bit to the empty space on the couch. Say something, you idiot, Jun scolded himself.

“Who’s your friend? She’s cute.” Jun inwardly cringed when Mao blinked at his statement. Great, now she thinks you might be interested in her friend, Jun scolded himself. “I mean, not as gorgeous as you, of course.”

Not wanting him to see her giddy about that compliment, she cleared her throat, shaking her hair to appear cool. Her blushing cheeks betrayed her, however. “She’s my friend from NYU,” she said, ignoring his last sentence. “And she’s Auntie Em’s daughter.”