A LIFE OUTSIDE OF MINE - On Hold

2

Trina

The next morning, my sleep was disturbed by an overly eager Francis. Turned out, he had always wanted to be a hotshot manager and now that he was living the dream, he was enjoying every bit of it. In betweennour social propriety lessons, he dragged me to every shopping mall within a three mile radius of the house for the next three days buying everything and anything that was affordable and classy at the same time ranging from underwear to beachwear, casuals and dinner wear. We always ordered pizza for dinner after our shopping spree everyday. Today was no different.
"So, are you ready for your big photo shoot tomorrow?" he asked between bites of pizza.

"Yup." I answered, trying to hide my nervousness.

"You're nervous." He studied me pensively, gauging my reaction.

"No. Pftt......." I huff. "What makes you think that?" I emphasised the 'that' and lowered my eyes so he wouldn't think I was lying. He didn't answer for some seconds so I raised my head to look at him and realised he was already staring at me. Actually, he was staring lower. I followed his gaze to my hands and realised that they were shaking. His gaze moved up to my eyes as he slowly picked up my two hands. At this point, my heart was beating an uneven tune I hoped he couldn't hear.

"You're lying. Your hands are shaking, kiddo." I hate it when he calls me that because I know he is attracted to me but fights it because he thinks I'm too young. He only calls me that because he is trying to give himself a reason to not like me.

"Just relax, okay? It's just a photo shoot. All you have to be is yourself. Define your own style."

I nodded because I couldn't 't answer even if I tried. He was so close that all I could think of was his scent and his breath on my face.My breath was caught in my throat because I'd been holding it for too long.

"Okay then. Let's have an early night so we can wake up early. We don't want you having eye bags at your first photo shoot." He smiled and let go of my hand, probably unaware of the effect he had on me.

"Sure." I finally found my voice and stood up, ready to leave. "Goodnight."

Suddenly, his hands came around my waist to stop me from going.

"Wait."

I turned around to look at him calmly even though my skin was burning where his hands were. "Yes?"

"The makeup artist will be here by five so be prepared for that too." I knew that already. He just wanted an excuse to touch me but I didn't mind. "Okay."

I nodded again and turned back around to walk towards my room and I could feel his eyes boring into my back. The moment I got to my room, I changed into my night wear and climbed into bed. My last thoughts before my eyes closed were that it was 09:30 and I was half hoping he had called me back because he had finally decided to stop fighting his feelings and kiss me already.

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Francis

I woke up to a loud knocking at the door. Turning to the side, I checked the time and saw that it was 05:02 on the dot. It had to be the makeup artist. She obviously took her job very seriously. Another loud knock at the door had me throwing on a shirt over my boxers and rushing to open the door. I remember when Kevin, my best friend helped me book the appointment with her. He had said in very plain terms that she was not a very patient person.

"Hi. Sorry for the delay. I'm so....um....um..." the words caught in my throat as I saw who it was. This wasn't the makeup artist. It was my next door neighbour, Rose. Why the fuck is she here so early in the morning? She was a nice sort of girl in her mid - twenties like me and we had an occasional beer and casual sex sometimes because neither of us had a stable relationship for more than a month. Lately however, she had been getting clingy.