"Ashanti! I want to see you in my office now." Madeline's Vernon laced voice pierced through the air like a sharpened sword, bringing my fast moving feet to an abrupt halt just as I made it halfway to my desk.
I stood frozen in place as thoughts of whether I should call Erik or not evaporated right out of my mind like morning dew, leaving only about twenty pairs of eyes from ten other colleagues of mine staring up at me with looks that either pitied me, or were bottom line scared for me.
It was never a good thing to be summoned by Madeline Ford at whichever part of the day or for whatever reason. It was a horrible thing that every person who worked in our department thrived to avoid with everything they had. She was a bitter woman who for reasons only known to her, was always in bad mood.
Being called to her office was never for anything like a pat on the back for a job well done or for a nice conversation about the future projects assigned to us, it
The next morning, Charlie and his team of both professional photographers and impeccably slender women, showed up at my door step at exactly 5 o'clock. They came to pick me up from home for that much anticipated adventurous trip and even though I wasn't the most important of people to come pick up from their home, they still somehow showed up without even making a big deal out of it.Apparently, Charlie was every bit the cool guy he was rumored out to be. He was the type of guy who cared more about having a good time with his colleagues than actually caring much about ranks and all that nonsense like it was for Madeline and for that, I was indeed, very grateful.Our first destination was the Adirondack mountains which was about 225 miles from Manhattan. Here, the models were going to get a few great photos to showcase our latest outdoor clothing line against the backdrop of prestine forests and lakes and since I had never really been anywhere that wonderful, I wa
The dim lighting of the lodge's back garden illuminated his blue eyes to their deepest color, making them twinkle like precious stones of sorts underneath the golden sunset sky.The trees and endless stretches of beautiful vegetation had started to glow from the sunset too but somehow, my eyes found themselves transfixed on the man standing in front of me rather than actually enjoying the view of the nature around me."Well hello there miss Martin." He greeted me in his usual charming, yet ridiculously obnoxious voice of his that always came off to sound like, he was the most important person to have ever existed.He probably thought that of himself too because as it turns out, he was also quite full of himself. I hadn't met many people whose arrogance annoyed me enough to the point where I had to fight urges to just punch them in the face like he did. Well except for Madeline of course but still, Erik got all the cocky points as far as I was concern
I spent the better part of my night thinking about Erik and all the things he'd said to me from the very first day we ran into each other in that dark parking lot to about a few hours ago when he told me, in the most nonchalant way possible, that he liked me because I reminded him of some girl he clearly still had a thing for.It was all very confusing how things had turned out to be like that between us and even more so since I still had to make up my mind and call him with an answer about the whole business with his lunch plans.I couldn't make up my mind on whether or not I should go no matter how much twisting and turning I ended up doing on that tiny bed I was unlucky enough to end up with for the night.There were two other beds in the cabin of course, but unfortunately for me, the said beds were already chosen by the two girls I was to share that room with even though they clearly had no plans whatsoever on actually sleeping on them.Th
Erik stood up to leave the breakfast table just when I was about to start on my second burger. He said something about having to make a few important phone calls and also make certain arrangements regarding our prior engagement that afternoon.I personally suspected that he was probably just trying to run away from me and my super embarrassing heap of fries which apparently still looked as full as when they had just served them despite me having eaten half way through the plate, or maybe even make a dash after that giggling waitress from earlier and give her some proposition about a certain lunch with a few high society people because his earlier intended date, didn't eat like a lady at all.But then again, maybe I was totally just imagining things like I usually do and the man simply just needed to take those calls for the sake of his business. And its not like I knew anything about running companies anyway to really argue if there's actual need for one to
The one hour drive through the vastness of that endless forest was mostly silent with very little words spoken between us to eventually no words at all.This was because somewhere in between the time Erik asked me to join him for lunch and the time I was getting my face poked with different make-up brushes by a very determined June, I had turned into a sort of shy Cinderella and was now all too nervous to bring up any meaningful car ride conversations without fear of failing apart in a miserable wreck of nerves.But despite my insistent silence, Erik still noticed my sudden discomfort and tried all he could to get me to act like usual or at the very least, say something by complimenting my new chic look like a dozen times over, in a dozen different ways, but I still somehow failed to get past a simple thank you and a forced smile which mostly looked like I was told to smile at gunpoint.I know it's weird how the me from before, who hated this guy's guts to the p
The first time I ever caught a glimpse of that horrid Erik Graham was on the day before my first ever spring fashion show since I joined his company.He was sitting comfortably in the makeup room just as we were finishing up on the preparations for the big day and was successfully causing some kind of major uproar among all the stuff and models alike just by being in there with us. Apparently the jerk was handsome enough to make it to the top list of New York's super handsome men and even though I wasn't his biggest fun as of yet, I still had a heart to admit that he was indeed good-looking.His eyes were a striking blue, like an ocean or one of those polished blue rubbies you find decorated on Christmas trees. His perfectly sculpted jawline had a hint of an upcoming beard, well more like a stubble actually which made him look even more handsome. His hair that he'd allowed to grow to shoulder length level, was dark brown and curly and it fell all ov
The sun had long set and the sky was already dark and twinkling with a number of stars that had come out and attached themselves to it like tiny jewels by the time I slipped out of the office and started for my car which was parked a good ten minutes away from my office in the main parking lot.It was fairly dark out by the time I was cautiously making my way around multicolored lamp posts with golden lights shining out of them and onto the cold pavement. The air was silent and freezing outside with a light cover of frost hanging around everywhere, creating some sort of haze like appearance that enveloped every single flowery shrub and trash can into it's shadowy embrace. It was deserted out there too, empty like a graveyard or one of those scenes from a horror movie that gives you the creeps just by looking at it even without any ghosts or other supernatural creatures poking out of the shadows.It was unnerving in a way, but only slightly because I
The arrived at the Golden Plaza at least four hours before the event had started, but still found the entire square of it swarming with people as they got ready for the high and mighty society fashion show. There were people everywhere, from exhausted looking staff milling about with heaps of designer clothes slung over their shoulders to overexcited supermodels in short denim jeans that exposed their super tanned thighs and clad tops that barely covered much of anything.And then they were the photographers, swarming around everywhere and clicking away their cameras at everyone from some of the most famous people in their designer clothes and overpriced shoes to the said models as they showed off their endlessly long limbs clad in the skimpiest of outfits. They all appeared very posh, intimidating even as they floundered about in their expensive couture designs, making me feel so unworthy in my simple flowery dress I got off at a buy two get one free deal from a lo