Page 115 of Plus Size Player
I opened my mouth to object, and she held up her hand.
“I don’t want to know what is or isn’t happening. I don’t care. What has happened in the past does not matter. I just want to let you both know that your chemistry is reading very well on camera. I don’t know what you have going on, but you need to make sure nothing”—she pointed her finger at us—“and I mean nothing, gets in the way of how the chemistry reads on camera. I don’t want any breakups or falling outs ruining the campaign. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes,” we answered in unison.
Jonah and I didn’t say a word to each other until we got into the changing room.
“What happened?” Jacqueline asked as soon as the door closed behind us.
“The executive team sees the sparks between me and Nina and wanted to know if we were dating,” Jonah told them with a cheesy grin. “Obviously, I told them yes.”
I rolled my eyes. “She said they wanted to remind us of the policy.”
“That makes sense,” Taisha mused. “I saw Mr. Long looking concerned during the second outfit changes, so that makes sense.”
Russ.
My stomach knotted as I went behind the partition to change.
“Boss Man do be staring and glaring, don’t he?” Jonah chuckled. “Him and Angelica are never happy to see my ass!”
He didn’t tell Remedy to remind us of the fraternization policy. He… wouldn’t have done that.
But I already knew he did.
Closing my eyes tight, I had conflicting feelings. I knew he thought something was going on between me and Jonah, but I told him it was nothing. So not only was I irritated that he didn’t believe me, I was also irritated that he would threaten my contract by even insinuating I was fraternizing. But the look of jealousy on his face, in his demeanor, and wafting off him was causing a pull deepwithin me that was hard to ignore. I squeezed my legs together and ignored it.
Just like he ignored the fuck out of me.
He didn’t speak to me during the shoot and kept an almost comical distance, but I kept catching him watching me. We were posing on the roof in our final outfits. There were only a handful of RLF people watching and one assistant with the photographer. The concepts were completely different than what we’d done on Friday. Because it was overcast, it gave a gritty backdrop to the streetwear we were modeling. We were directed to look fierce as a group, and then we were paired up to almost look as though we were ready to fight.
“Your fierce expression is looking less tough and more sexy,” the photographer told me. “I have an idea. We’re going to lean into the sexy.” He gestured to Jonah and Matias. “Get on either side of her.”
We did a series of poses that received catcalls and whistles while we executed them. As it started drizzling, all of the RLF team left, except for Russ and Remedy. Remedy stood close to the photographer while Russ hung back, observing from his perch near the ledge. He’d face the city and take calls, but at that moment, he was watching intently.
Correction, he was watchingmeintently.
My body was facing Jonah while Matias stood behind me with his hands on my hips. I stared at the camera while both men looked at me.
“Look beyond me,” he directed me. “Just above my head. And your leg. Jonah, grab her leg. Nina, lean back into Matias. Keep the lines clean. Perfect! Yes! Keep your eye line just above my head, Nina. Right there!”
Just above his head was in Russ’s direct line of sight. He’d taken off his jacket, but with his sky-blue shirt tucked into his navy pants, he still looked like Russell Long, CEO. With his sleeves pushed up, exposing his forearms and one of his expensive watches, he looked just casual enough to remind me of my Russ.
And both versions of him were sexy as hell.
There was a slight quiver in my belly, but I stayed focused. Hemet my gaze and locked in. I wanted to look away, but the photographer kept telling me to hold it right there. So, there I was, staring into Russ’s eyes, with Jonah in front and Matias in back.
The first half of August, Russ and I communicated every day. The last half of August, we saw each other more, but it was at a distance. The shift was so abrupt, and I never got over it. I never made peace with it. As I stared into his eyes, I couldn’t deny it. There was too much that existed between us for us to just end like that. But there was also no way for us to move forward because there was too much to lose.
The photographer had gotten some impressive shots before the sky opened up and there was an instant downpour. We’d worked through the overcast sky and then the drizzle. But it was an unpredictable summer storm at its finest. Big aggressive droplets hit us. The photographer took several more pictures before calling it.
“Go, go!” he yelled, gesturing for his assistant to grab his stuff.
Scrambling, we ran inside and took cover. Our clothes were dripping wet. The photographer said he wanted to get similar shots with Jacqueline and Taisha as well, but all of us were wet. I was able to change into something else completely. The others had to dry out before they could get changed for the day. Because of this, I grabbed a towel and headed to a changing area by myself. Seconds after I got behind the partition, the door opened again.
Pulling my damp shirt over my head, I put the garment on a hanger. “That was quick,” I yelled out as I wiggled out of the jeans.
My remark was met with silence.
