My Soul Will Find Yours : The Fulfillment of the Promise

I Could've Sworn He Was A Stranger

Brandon looked and sounded so sincere and true, I couldn't detect a single hint of sarcasm in what he said. Kaname looked at his proffered hand, smiled, then took it. As the two men shook hands with no sign of enmity between them, I inwardly breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm pleased to meet you as well," Kaname told Brandon before releasing his hand.

Brandon turned his attention to me and gave me a smile, "Hello, Hinata. Long time no see."

"Indeed," I replied as calmly as I could.

"How is tita[1]? Mom and I talked about coming over to visit some time this week. It's been a while and I also miss your cat."

"She's doing well, thanks for asking." With the intention of ignoring the fact that he wanted to drop by with aunt Susan, I asked, "How have you been?"

"As you can see, I've survived our last encounter without scars," he said meaningfully although his smile never faltered.

"Then I'm glad," I told him before flashing him the brightest smile I could show.

I was not going to let Brandon's words provoke and guilt-trip me into showing any signs of remorse or apology. Call me heartless but there is a time and place for what he was obviously intending to start. A confrontation was the last thing I want to happen on the first day of my husband's shoot. Besides, I believe I did the right thing when I chose to tell him the truth rather than continue seeing him and keep him in the dark about Kaname's reappearance in my life.

"You know each other?" Sabrina asked in surprise.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "It's a long story, we can talk about how we met next time."

"Of course," Sabrina nodded her head before introducing the rest of the people involved in the project. Thankfully she got the hint.

I sat on a furry red sofa while the hair and makeup artist worked on Kaname. Beside me were rack after rack of clothes, a bunch of shoes, and several accessories. A female staff member was adjusting the height of one the racks on my right while another one filled it with ankle-length dress coats. I put on my earphones and pretended to be busy with my phone when I saw that Sabrina and Brandon were walking to where I was. I was not in the mood to converse with them, not after Brandon's taunting remarks.

"Prior to hiring him, did you do test shoots?" I heard Brandon ask Sabrina.

"No," Sabrina replied. "We just signed him up."

"Just like that?" He sounded so surprised.

"Yes."

"You didn't even call for a go-see to check out other models who might fit the bill?"

"We didn't see the point. Kaname's background is his major selling point."

"Huh, that's interesting."

"You sound like we just did a major mistake," Sabrina told him worriedly.

"This isn't some smalltime project. I'm not saying he isn't qualified but as a company that's been in the industry for quite a long time now, this move is very newbie-ish."

"I beg to disagree," Sabrina defended. "We have all seen the video. I've studied and replayed it for probably a zillion times before I agreed in signing Kaname up. This may be his modeling debut but the man has a charisma that translates well on a moving photograph. If we could see this undeniable magnetism in the video, imagine how amazing it would be in print?"

My brows knitted at the flow of their conversation. I removed my earphones and intended to give Brandon a piece of my mind but learned that the clothes racks somehow hid me.

"We'll see about that," he told Sabrina with a hint of mockery and disbelief.

"You never mentioned this when we had dinner before," she complained although she didn't sound like she was regretting anything.

"I don't know, Sab. Maybe it's because my first impression of him is that he's just a pretty face?"

I gritted my teeth in anger. I couldn't help but feel offended for my husband! I wanted to confront Brandon but that will be going against my decision earlier. Instead, I took a deep breath, got up, and decided to check on how hair and makeup was going.

Kaname had his eyes closed as the woman in her fifties applied kohl on his upper lids. His fingers tapped the armrest as though he was playing piano.

"Hi, how's it going?" I asked the makeup artist.

"I'm afraid I'm really not needed here," she sighed. "He already has a wonderful canvass so I don't need to do much. Just a few teeny tiny dabs of concealer here and there as well as a bit of eyeliner are enough to make him ready."

"Really?"

"Yes, maybe he's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline," the woman joked.

I chuckled. When she finished, Kaname opened his eyes to smile at me. My heart started beating triple time when our eyes met. Damn, he looked extra sexy with lined eyes. As if he could read my mind, he gave me a smirk.

"Is makeup done?" the female who was arranging the clothes earlier asked. In her arms were a black shirt, a pair of black jeans, and old school Chuck Taylors in the same color. I assumed she's the stylist.

"Yes," the makeup artist said.

"Please change into these first before we proceed with hair," the stylist then pointed at the changing area. "You may do so there."

"Alright," Kaname took the clothes from her before going to the dressing room.

I followed Kaname and waited for him to finish outside. Roughly two minutes passed before the stylist joined me by the door with a box full of black and silver accessories.

She gave a knock on the door before saying, "Let me know once you're decent so I can help you put on your accessories."

A few moments later, Kaname let her in. When they emerged from the changing room, my jaw dropped. Clad in all black and accessorized in silver and leather, Kaname followed the stylist out. He was looking down as he was loosening the belt on his waist a bit, locks of hair that fell like a thin curtain covered his face. Once done, he brushed back his silky hair with his fingers. I gasped when I saw the fake crisscross lip ring near the left corner of his mouth. Before he went inside to change, he only looked like a more attractive version of himself. However, no matter how I looked at him now, I couldn't find my thirty-three year old husband. Standing before me was a tall boy in his late teens who appeared as though he was struggling to overcome his emotional problems. If it weren't for the eyes and the tattoo on his arm, I could've sworn he was a stranger!

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[1] Filipino for aunt.