Ease [Cashton/Muke]

Chapter fifty

Ashton - Calum: I only just woke up

Calum's phone buzzes a few minutes after eight, he didn't have time to question Ashton being asleep earlier because he was in his meeting.

Calum - Ashton: That's okay xo when are you thinking you'll be in

Ashton - Calum: I'll be ready in half an hour but traffic will be bad

Calum - Ashton: Okay see you then I love you

Ashton - Calum: Love you too ❤️

Calum - Ashton: ❤️

Ashton ends up arriving just before 9, ready to start his day noticeably later than usual.
"Good to see you." Calum smiles, he was waiting just outside the elevator doors.
"Oh." Ashton blushes, taken aback by Calum waiting.
"I have a meeting in a few minutes but I wanted to see you before that starts and Alec let me know you were on your way up." The older explains.
"Oh." Ashton blushes even deeper. "I love you." He mumbles, leaning in for a kiss.
"I love you too Sweetheart." Calum grins as they make their way down the corridor to the conference rooms and Ashton's office.

"My last meeting finishes at 12:30 so we'll leave as soon as possible after that and have lunch in the car." Calum stops outside Ashton's office at the end of the hall.
"Okay, see you then." Ashton pecks his dom on the lips and steps into his office, watching his dom walk back down the hall to his office.

Ashton walks out of his office to wait by the lift at 12:15, not wanting to hold them up this afternoon at all.
"You're keen." Maggie snorts, looking hot from her desk ten minutes after Ashton sat on the ottoman by the lift.
"I didn't wanna hold us up, I know we're tight for time." Ashton mumbles.
"Ah. That's reasonable." Maggie concedes. "He's just saying farewells, he'll be out in a few minutes."

"Ready to go?" Calum asks rhetorically as he exits the conference room and ends up back in the foyer. Ashton just stands up wordlessly and presses the button on the lift, waiting for his dom to reach him. "If you haven't signed out by 1 you're banned half of tomorrow and if you're not out by 2 you're banned all of tomorrow. See you later Mags." Calum warns his assistant.
"Jesus fucking Christ, do me a favour and get the stick out of your arse." Maggie mutters.

"What are we doing for lunch?" Ashton furrows his eyebrows.
"There'll be some stuff in the car, something Maggie and/or Alec have organised." Calum replies. Ashton hums in acknowledgement but they stay in a comfortable silence, fingers linked, as the lift takes them down to the ground floor.

"Display Modelling headquarters?" Alec confirms as Calum and Ashton slip into the black town car.
"Yep." Calum nods, picking up two wraps left on the seats and handing one to Ashton. There's little time to chat between them eating their lunch and the car pulling up to the building at 12:53. "Thanks, we'll need a lift home if we're not up to going back to the office." Calum thanks as they get out of the car.
"No worries, just text me." Alec nods, the car doors falling shut after.

"I'm really nervous." Ashton grimaces as he grips Calum's hand and they approach the building.
"It's all gonna be okay Sweets, promise. Today is just an opportunity to better understand what you'd be doing." Calum reassures, squeezing his sub's hand a little tighter as a gesture of comfort.
"I know." Ashton takes a deep breath.

"Tell me," Calum starts as they step into a lift. "What are you thinking at the moment? Are you leaning more towards yes or no or still have no idea?"
"I think I'm leaning more toward yes. I like the idea of having something to do other than school and also, um," Ashton stops nervously, "having my own money. I'm super grateful for everything, I promise, but I just don't want to have to rely on you." He rushes it out, terrified he'll insult his dom.
"You want to be self sufficient, I get it. Don't worry." Calum says softly.

"Welcome!" Louis cries out, barely allowing the elevator doors to fully open.
"Oh, hi Louis." Calum chuckles as they step out of the lift. They are already right in the middle of the action, people moving around to get everything ready for the photo shoot.
"Hello, it's so great to see you both."
"Hi." Ashton waves shyly.

"Come in, come in." Louis insists. "Now today is a pretty typical photo shoot, Harry's doing some marketing material for a sportswear brand. He's in hair and makeup at the moment, we'll go see him soon. First, let me show you around."
"There's so many people." Ashton mumbles quietly but Louis picks it up.
"Yes," the oldest laughs. "That's very standard. Small crew is 10-20 people, standard is 40-60 and large is over 80. This is a photo shoot, we've covered that, but you can also specialise in runway modelling. That's up to what you feel comfortable with and what you're good at. All models do photo shoots but not all models do runway."

"The idea of runway sort of scares me." Ashton purses his lips.
"That's totally normal. You might grow to like it or you may never want anything to do with it. Runway is to shoots what Broadway is to movies and TV."

"How long does it all typically take?" Calum asks, looking around and analysing absolutely everything in the rooms.
"A photo shoot from start to finish can be anywhere from an hour and a half to the entire day, even multiple days. Most common is probably three to five hours." Louis explains.
"And you mentioned the frequency would be negotiable, how were you thinking of fitting it around his school work?"
"With Ashton doing school by distance, it allows more flexibility. If today isn't a special exception, he could do one or two half days a week. Or maybe a day on the weekend, cutting back his weekday work. He could do one Saturday a fortnight, I'm sure we'll be able to find work for him -how much he accepts is totally his decision." Louis reassures.

"I don't, at least for now, I don't want to be here without Calum." Ashton blushes, gripping his dom tighter.
"Well then I suppose we'll have to work around Calum's schedule." Louis agrees easily.
"That shouldn't be an issue. I'll need to speak with my assistant but I'm very willing to make this work. If Ashton wants this then I want this."

A/N: we meet Harry next chapter! Yay! I'm loving how this is coming along and I hope y'all are too. Lotsa love :)

-Grace Williams xo