PAINTER'S MODEL

04: TREAT

CHAPTER 4: TREAT

You tried to stop your eyes from blinking too much. You really tried to stop the sweat from falling from your forehead. Luckily, an air conditioner made the room cold, but the two snakes slithering all over you made a sweat drop from your forehead. Not only does that make you nervous, but the presence of the world's respected artist is sitting right in front of you. Gazing and glaring at your form. You must not mess this up.

You took slow breaths in and out as the snakes hissed around you. You continued to look up at the ceiling, pulling on a look of anguish. Earlier, the people added fake tears on you, which helped exaggerate your facial features. His eyes never left your form. It seems as if there's not a single area on you that he has not memorized.

You have been in this position for hours. You could feel your body tilting a bit to the side but you tried your best for that to not happen. You've had experiences of different objects being placed on you for this sort of thing, but you have never experienced a living creature, not to mention, a creature that's dangerous, to be placed on you. What makes it worse is that there are two of them, and they're huge as hell. 

Fortunately, these things are not venomous. And you're pretty sure that these won't bite you unless you do something bad to them. They're definitely domesticated, right? 

You snapped out of your thoughts when the painter before you stood up. He let out a sigh as he runs his hands through his platinum blonde hair, untangling some knots. "Finished." He muttered. "Remove the snakes,"

After he said those words, the people from earlier automatically went over to you, remove the snakes, and placed them back in a box. You let out a big sigh, which didn't go unnoticed by Calvin.

"Come here," His eyes darted towards your own. You immediately stood up and walked over to him in a hurry. "You did well." He hesitantly patted your back. "I'll treat you something," He flashed you a smile of his, which is again, a very rare thing to see. You've never seen this man smile in interviews. But just as people say, celebrities are different off-camera.

You honestly find this awkward. You've noticed some mistakes, such as almost falling over from the weight of the snakes, but you get past it. But still, this is quite odd for you to experience, especially an offer like this coming from him. You rubbed the back of your neck, "Hehe, thank you! But I think I may need to pas–" 

"No buts, you're eating dinner with me." He glared. Sheesh, this man sure does seem like a baby throwing a tantrum. 

You took a look at the watch on your wrist, 7:00 pm, it read. Your stomach releases a small growl, which ended up being audible by the man in front of you. He smirked as you looked at the side to hide the blush of embarrassment on your cheeks. 

"Sounds like that's a yes then," He went back to that stern face of his. "Go change." He pointed at the attire you were wearing. You realized that all the accessories are removed, and what's left is the white robe-like dress on you. You nodded and headed towards the same area where you changed earlier.

Once you came back with the clothes you wore earlier, Calvin's eyes scanned you up & down, judging you. He nodded, "Let's go." 

The car that you were in earlier was already there, with the same driver hours ago. Similar to what Calvin did before, he made sure to open the door for you and let you in first before entering himself.

The driver stepped on the gas pedal without any detectable demand from Calvin. This driver sure does know where to go. However, you would really like to know where you're going to eat for dinner.

After some minutes, you arrived at some fancy building. It does not look like a restaurant at all–it looks like a giant modern house. 

Calvin went out first, runs over to the other side, and opens the door for you. You stepped out and he starts to walk to the entrance of this home. This is definitely his house. You did not expect to eat in a place like this, his own place. 

When he opened the door, the whole interior left you amazed. It feels like you're in some sort of castle. Everything screams royalty. You noticed Calvin walking towards a long table. It already seems very prepared, with different foods, drinks, utensils, and decor such as the candles. You could see some maids scurrying away as the both of you came closer, giving you both space.

Calvin made sure to pull the chair for you before he pulled a chair of his own and sat on it. There was an awkward silence, but it didn't feel that suffocating, once a bird came and stands on the shoulder of Calvin. 

"Knock, knock!" The bird spoke. What the fuck?

As you took a closer look at it, it seems to be a white-colored Cockatoo. You've heard of these birds before, they seem quite hilarious. You didn't expect Calvin to own one. He never mentioned owning any pet in his interviews, or perhaps, was he lying?

"Now, now, Loro, have some respect for our guest." Calvin cooed. The bird spread out its wings as it looks to the ceiling, is this bird trying to demand respect instead of giving respect? Loro seems to act mighty. You honestly don't know what's going on. 

Loro suddenly flew and landed on your shoulder, leaning down to look at your face. What a pretty yet scary bird, indeed. "Please don't mind him." Calvin sweatdropped. 

You gulped and nodded, looking at the table, scanning the food placed on top of it. You don't think the both of you could finish all of this, judging by the amount and the size of each food. 

You noticed that this is a bit too much. I mean, you're basically being treated for dinner: a dinner that looks like a whole buffet. You should definitely do something in return. 

You grabbed out your wallet from your bag. Opening it to view its contents, you noticed that a picture of yourself that is usually kept in the transparent pocket is gone. You furrowed your eyebrows, but you didn't mind it that much. 

Pulling out some cash, you held it out for Calvin to grab. "Please, accept this." You implored, "This dinner is too much for me. I think it's best for me to do something in return." You reasoned.

Calvin gave you a blank stare. Everything was silent, even the bird who sat on your shoulder.

After some seconds, he said, "No need. Your performance earlier was enough. That's why I'm here to treat you for dinner for doing a job well done." He replied. You hesitantly brought back the money, placing it back in your wallet. You cleared your throat, "Alright."