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DAVID

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“SHOW ME A MORE LIBERATED FEELING! Guys, it’s not just having fun… I need unrestrained. Out of your elements! Now!”

We’d been doing this commercial shoot for hours now. I don't know what they really wanted us to do… The director kept on shouting the same demand over and over again. And I started wondering what more was there to the word ‘liberated’. I was getting sweaty and my make-up kept on running down.

I was just really exhausted.

I even lost count of how many people I’d kissed already in this shoot. Women, men… There were ten of us and I no longer knew what were and who was. I just really wanted this to be over.

I have big dreams…

I smiled with no trace of my uneasiness as I kept a watch on the director from where he sat behind the camera, beside his assistant and some crew. He looked really annoyed and unsatisfied. And I suddenly felt like I’m not doing my best because he kept frowning and shaking his head at us. A moment after, he motioned for the talent producer to come to him and I saw them talking in a very serious manner.

I have big dreams…

If I don’t do better on this, I might lose my chance to make it really big there. I tried thinking of something. Anything... Just something I could show off.

My brain finally started turning as I tried to desperately think of a way to work something out. And like a lightning bulb, I smirked and quickly stepped away from the set, approaching one of the makeup artists.

“Retouch?” she asked me. I heard the director trying to call me out because of my sudden exit. But I ignored his angry voice and shook my head at the makeup artist.

“Lipstick,” I told her. And she looked confused as she handed me one.

“It’s matte-red,” she said, still anxious about my sudden request. But it didn't even matter anyway. I quickly returned back to the flock of my co-models on the set, as if nothing had happened.

“What was that?!” I heard the director shouting at me.

I looked at him, shaking my head while saying, “Nothing. I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong with these people?” I heard him saying in the background but I was too invested in the plan I had in the back of my mind to even care how angry he was. Just wait for it.

“What did you do?” I heard my co-model asking me from my left. I turned to him and just showed him a smug smile, not saying anything.

“You’re planning something, huh?” he said as if reading my mind. I laughed at his question, still not trying to answer. And a moment later, we finally heard the shouting cue of the director.

“Do you want this to end?” I quickly asked the model beside me as I prepared myself for what I was about to do. He turned to me with a frown, but he still nodded back. I grinned at him as we heard the director spouting his repetitive commands from where he sat from a distance.

“Then just do what I make you do,” I said, turning to face the model. He looked at me with an anxious face as he waited for my signal.

As soon as I heard the slate clicking, I quickly pulled his face down and kissed him hard. He tensed for a second but still went with it. And we eventually let the passion drive us into oblivion. I didn’t care about the rest of them anymore, I no longer hear the noises in the background. As we pulled apart, I raised the lipstick between us and opened it.

The red color somehow ignited a contumacious fire in me, and I quickly dabbed a line on the model’s cheek in front of me. He laughed at my gesture and leaned again for a kiss. While doing it, I continued to draw a trail of red on his bare arms up to the side of his neck. It was like doing art and this guy was my canvas.

“Do it to me,” I commanded to him when he pulled away and I handed him the lipstick.

He hesitated for a second, still finding it funny as he chuckled. But as he put a smudge over my lips, I felt myself losing into the complete pleasure of the moment.

“Put some more,” I whispered. And for some reason, his eyes darkened at me and he let the stick move down to my jaw in a firm trail. He leaned down again but just before our lips reunite, another model appeared between us. She stole the lipstick from him and turned to me as she played on the color, drawing swirls on my chest. She kissed me with lusty affection and eventually joined us in the scene. As we got lost in the heat of the seduction, the three of us soon become a circle of ten engaging into a wild raunchy rendition of some kind of a lipstick fest.

It was a riot.

“Cut!” The moment the director’s voice boomed into the atmosphere, the entire heat of the scene instantly stopped and we all looked at him expectantly.

“That’s a wrap! Yes! That’s what I was looking for! Excellent work, guys! You all did a magnificent job!”

Seeing the ecstatic smile on the director’s face had me mentally patting myself on the shoulder.

I have big dreams…

I thanked my co-models afterward. Some of them even offered their numbers to me… And as I crumpled every piece of paper that had been tucked in my pocket, I suddenly remembered what Colin just told me about the business cards in the modeling industry. Ha.

But then, professionalism had always been my bible. And every indecent offer and sexual invitation I got until now has been formally rejected because I don’t really need them. I don’t think I’d ever gonna need them. I’ll always have COLIN.

And just the thought of him, singing and strumming that fine guitar, instantly brought a heightened longing inside my chest. Yet I still took some pictures with the people with me in the dressing room to send to Colin, just to let him know what I was doing. Though I admit, it was just a deliberate move to make him jealous again. The very idea of his face forming into that obsessive scowl, already made me want to see him so bad now.

I soon excused myself for a smoke after I cleaned up the lipstick off of my body, just to release the strains of exhaustion. It took us four hours to finish off a two-minute commercial shoot. I’m not even sure if the two minutes will be released as a full clip in the final promotion. Anyway, it’s not like it would actually be a very big deal. I just have to get more projects and bigger ones soon. I have big dreams...

I savored the silence, while I leaned on the wall at the back exit of the photoshoot building, and slowly took a smooth drag from my cigarette. I have big dreams...

“Can I bum for a smoke?”

I froze.

For a split second, the instant I met his face and the silky sound of his low silvery voice that faintly disappeared into a smile, I became a goner.

A sleek, luxurious looking man in a signature mermaid-print cotton-twill Gucci jacket looked at me with those sage green eyes that radiated an extremely striking impression to my average wits. He is tall, even past my six feet and four inches. I strained my neck just to look up to him, entranced by the intimidating cast of his face and that clean-shaven jaw.

“Do you mind?” he asked again, and I partly noticed an intricate foreign accent from the way he spoke to me. And as he continued to stare with that patient expression, I soon realized that he was actually asking something.

“No. N-not at all,” I replied in a rush, stuttering. I quickly straightened up, discreetly hiding my embarrassment from staring so hard at his face and reached for a stick of cigarette in my pocket. I handed him one and offered my lighter to which he just politely declined.

He moved to lean against the opposite wall in front of me and simply picked out a golden-covered S.T. Dupont lighter from the front pocket of his suit. It deemed me speechless for a moment.

This guy must be insanely opulent.

“You were great back there,” he said so casually after a moment of silence. And it took me a few seconds to finally understand what he meant. He must be talking about the photoshoot.

So, he was there? Who is he?

“Thanks…” I reluctantly said back, feeling unsure of why he would even think that way.

“You do know you’re great, right?” he told me and I looked back at him, frowning.

“Me?”

“Yeah. I know you are. You’re way better than the flimsy models back there. I know this because you’re really… very... Beautiful.”

The last three words were uttered in a slow rhythmical passion. And he took a step closer to me at every word he let out into the air. I didn’t stray my eyes away from those green orbs, even when I knew I was slowly leading myself to a sea of danger.

I have big dreams…

“Wanna know what’s even greater?” He then asked me, and his voice had gone huskier.

“What?” I asked back. And I realized that we’ve been standing now toe-to-toe.

“You…” he uttered back, prolonging the vowel. I held my breath for a moment, not sure if I really heard it right. Then after letting that word sink into the air between us, he spoke again.

“In my pictures,” A grin slowly formed on his lips, as he raised his hand to cup my cheek. “You'll be the most beautiful in them.”

So, he's a photographer?

“Really?” I dared back, earning a sexy chuckle from him.

“I believe so,” he just shrugged, not missing a beat. And as we kept our eyes locked together, I soon found myself leaning forward to his face. But before I could even close my eyes, he suddenly pulled away. But his eyes didn’t leave me.

He only showed his thumb to me, “Still got some there.”

He was referring to the smudge of red he wiped on the side of my lips.

“Make sure to wipe it all off,” he told me as he took another long drag from his cigarette before throwing it down to the ground. He stepped on it and looked at me again, “Your lover might misunderstand it.”

Colin...

Like a bucket of ice, I was back to my senses the instant I was reminded of Colin. What am I doing?

“Thanks for the smoke, babe. Guess, I'll see you around.” I heard the mysterious man said to me. I remained unmoved as I felt him turning to walk away, his leather shoes clicking against the tiled floor.

I have big dreams…

I could still feel my heart pounding from that simple touch he gave me. And before I knew it, I was calling him out again.

“Wait!” I shouted and his tall figure stopped mid-step. He took his time, slowly turning around, to look at me.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The man just chuckled at me, a smirk drawn on his lips. And before he turned to walk away again, he answered in a very lazy tone. “It’s Leo… Leo Lumiere.”

Leo… I let the name echo inside my head. Then I tested it again with my lips. Leo...

“What a strange strong name,” I thought to myself. “For a boundless-looking man like him.”

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