Smile for the Cameras

Half of the World

It's been a month and she was still hoping.

Sasha bit her lip as she looked into the mirror of the trailer she was occupying. She was on her second contract, the first having ended promptly two weeks after she arrived in Singapore, and now she was in Indonesia, participating in a modelling gig the goals of which were to promote the protection of the environment. It was all very artsy and it was something that caught Sasha's eye immediately when she got the offer.

That and because at the time, it seemed like a really good idea to get as far away from a certain brunette as possible.

There was no doubt that no matter how much she believed in the cause that this gig was representing, Sasha had not regretted a decision more.

There was no doubt where Sasha would rather be.

But, really, if Shay had expressed that she remotely wanted Sasha around, Sasha would have probably paid off to get out of the contracts. It would have been a ridiculously hefty amount, but she was honestly prepared to do it if Shay had asked her.

But Shay didn't ask.

The now familiar twinge in her chest made itself know, yet again, as it did several times a day. Every time Sasha's thoughts even drifted towards the direction of the girl she'd left at the other side of the world. She shook her head, earning the clicking of the tongue of her hairstylist who just so happened to enter at that moment.

"Don't mess up my blonde curls, S," Felix admonished, as if the hair sat atop his own head and not Sasha's.

Sasha shook her head again. "If they're that easy to dislodge..." She laughed when her arm was slapped.

"I'm shaving off your head if I have to redo that. Don't think I won't."

Sasha believed him. Felix would cut off her fingers so Sasha would stop that nervous habit of running her hands through her hair if given the chance. As long as Sasha didn't mess up her hair. He was professional like that. Or so Sasha tried to convince herself.

"I see you're still pining, though."

The smile on Sasha's lips slipped a bit, but she tried to keep it there. "Pining never hurt anyone."

Felix tilted his head to the side and managed a sympathetic look, as much as he could with his fierce eyebrows that always made him look intimidating. Sasha believed he did it to terrify people. And to look fabulous. "No, but it doesn't do anyone any good, either. And if it's useless to you, honey, you let it go."

The smile slid off her face altogether as she ducked her head, earning her a swift flick to her chin, Felix wanting her to keep her head up because of her hair. Not that Sasha cared much for how she looked when she only wanted to look pretty for one girl. "Sometimes, the waiting is worth it."

"And sometimes, you just get more wrinkles for it."

With those last words of wisdom Felix shot her a warning look to stop moving until her hair was completely set and he was moving briskly out of her trailer.

Sasha didn't really care about her hair.

She forced herself not to obsess over that day again, because she'd spent entirely too much time thinking about it already. But sometimes, there was no way around it.

She still remembered feeling her heart drop when Shay moved away. She'd been hoping for that movie-esque ending and it was supposed to be the part where the couple finally let's go of all inhibitions and finally, finally decides to be together. But Shay's eyes were guarded instead of shining like all the other times they had been together before things went downhill. Sasha had figured out what was going to happen before it did.