AMANDA'S POV
I tried my best to walk with ease and not mess up the white dress I was wearing. I felt grateful for not being on my periods as that could've spoiled such a lovely dress and my mood could go from 10 to 0 real quick. I always dreamed about uncertain things like what would happen if the penis spilled off blood monthly but my thoughts were irrelevant, of course.
I tussled up my gown and caught it firmly from my thighs pushing it a bit up so I could walk comfortably. I walked steadily towards Mr. Reynolds's cabin. It took me great efforts to walk in the long maxi dress. The lower material of the gown tangled up with my heels which caused my balance to shake every time I advanced my feet in the process of walking.
Finally, after reaching Mr. Reynolds's cabin, I asked for permission. "Can I, sir?" I had no power to go back again and re-ask for permission.
"Come in Miss Waters ", he was struggling with his tie too. I opened the door carefully and marched in, Mr. Reynolds looked more than perfect in his grey suit which he paired over a sky blue shirt. His dense dark blue eyes reflected the color of his shirt. His dark brown hair has partly highlighted a shade of blonde, precisely the upper part of his spikes.
He didn't look at me as he was busy wearing his tie. He went towards the mirror after a while and modeled for some tiny seconds and then unfolded the tie and threw it towards the chair. He opened the top buttons of his shirt and looked at himself for a while and smirked. He looked extremely sexy, and I couldn't control my amorousness which arose within me.
He turned around towards me and we had the strangest eye contact. Our gazes locked with each other and no one amongst us dared to look away. It felt like I was stargazing, in a night where only the best stars twinkled. I was the first one to look around after an awkward moment. Mr. Reynolds yet stared at me, his eyeballs twirled around my body from, head to toe. I felt uncomfortable because a part of my cleavage was visible.
"You -you look p-p-p ", he was stammering on the word p. My mind revolved around all the adjectives which could begin with the alphabet p, the first which came to my mind was pretty. He looked towards me again and continued "Different, you look very different Miss Waters". I knew that saying the word 'pretty' was something he'd never do plus all kind of amazing adjectives weren't a part of his dictionary.
"You look different too Mr. Reynolds ", I returned the compliment which was not even a compliment but maybe it was kind of some good word in our extremely formal world.
"Don't mess up", I knew it was coming.
"I know! I won't", I assured. "But since I have no idea about this modeling thing, it may take some time for me to register it in my mind", I continued after pulling my off shouldered dress up.
"Go with the flow ", he reassured. I nodded along and waited for him to come beside me or at least a bit close so that we could move on together towards the ground floor auditorium, when he was close enough I started walking along after catching my gown a bit upward again.
We were in the hallway walking towards the elevator silently. No one amongst us uttered any word. I was struggling with the dress and I knew that this problem could be only sorted if my balance was proper. When some baby hair rested on my temple, I let go of the grip of my hands over the dress and tried moving the unnecessary strands of it backward without spoiling the hairstyle much.
Suddenly, the extra-long gown rolled through my toes because of the flare, I couldn't balance myself because of which there was a sudden call of gravity flow from the floor to my body. I was about to fall and desolate everything but something good happened, I was sheltered from my stomach through Mr. Reynolds's hands, they had a firm grip over me. He twisted his hands and bounced me back through his right hand whilst catching from the left.
"I'm not a basketball", I was yet in his arms.
"But this dress and hairstyle sure cost a little more above your level ", he talked monetary stuff again.
"Pfft", I stood straight making that fussy noise.
"Let's move a bit faster", he caught me through my arms so that I could catch my gown properly and walk without creating any more scene.
"Thank you ", I looked towards him.
He didn't answer me and kept walking. We reached the auditorium within 10 minutes and I could already see a lot of shutterbugs. "Help her", Mr. Reynolds handed me over to a long skinny girl who immediately caught me after listening to his orders.
Mr. Reynolds went towards some people and greeted them politely. I was taken to the green room by the tall girl. "More makeup?" I was shocked.
"No, just some touch up", she puffed some amount of compact powder on my face making it look fresh.
"You look amazing ", she stared at me for a while "and this broach at your back looks exotic", she kept complimenting me.
"Thank you!" I smiled "this broach is supposed to correct the flaws of this dress but um I'm glad it looks attractive "
When she was signaled from outside, she told me to hurry up. I immediately got up from my place and prepared myself by doing some quick inhale-exhale yoga exercises.
"You okay?" she finally questioned.
"I will be", I started walking towards the crowd. Mr. Reynolds looked at me and made some kind of facial expression which meant that I should go towards him and stand along with him.
I kept quiet for a while and stood silent next to Mr. Reynolds without interrupting a word. Mr. Reynolds was busy talking with the people which belonged to the media. He was asked all sorts of questions, his answers were witty and on point. He was very careful with the selection of his words because he was well aware of the fact that Electronic media could have good as well as ugly consequences.
My throat was parched but I couldn't afford to move even a bit away from him, even for the purpose of drinking water, because I knew that my clumsiness and bad luck never left me alone and wherever I went, a wrong thing was sure to happen.
"So are you the new model of this company", a man came towards me and handed me the mike. Mr. Reynolds watched me through cornered eyes. I was confused by the question and I had no idea about the answer.
"I um " I cleared my throat and looked towards Mr. Reynolds. My facial expressions could be read easily, they were "HELP"
"Since me and my company truly believe in women empowerment and progress", Mr. Reynolds pulled the mike towards him" I wanted to be showcased in the cover -magazine with someone who had sheer knowledge about this company and not just some good-looking model", I sighed out of relief.
"So who is she?" the person questioned.
"Are you guys seeing each other", another person from the media questioned tending to make it breaking news.
"Never heard of her before", a girl looked at me whilst traveling her eyeballs through my dress.
"Can the questions come out in a systematic manner", Mr. Reynolds almost locked their mouth. I couldn't stop but stare at him, his half torso could be seen from the side as I was standing right next to him. It was strongly responsible for diverting my attention towards other people
"Point No 1 - she is my secretary, Point No 2- it was always professionalism what has impacted my growth so personal questions are subject to remain unanswered. Point No 3 - she just started working" he looked at everyone around.
"So how is it working with him?", a man questioned me with his eyes focused on my cleavage, I wanted to cut his eyeballs and feed them to the goats but I somehow controlled my discomfort and anger.
"Yes, it's a pleasure working with him. I have never seen a man so focused and motivated on his goals in my entire life ", I looked at him while answering, everything I said was true, I later continued "He not only leads us but also guides us in the humblest manner, he respects all of us, and never disrupts our personal life's space", I lied clearly with the latter line and gave a cute smile looking at Mr. Reynolds, he looked impressed.
He pulled me closer towards him asking for my hand, I did the same as soon as possible without any hesitation. "We are done for tonight ", it was a signal for them to pack up and leave.
I sighed because I cleared level one successfully and now I was admitted to Level 2. Level ups are meant to give us bipolar feelings. We become happy because we succeed and sad because another level turns out to be more difficult as compared to the initial one.
An entire stage was set up for us, there were lights focusing in the middle of the stage. The background was amazing enough to turn lunatic for. It had amazing paintings across it. Mr. Reynolds came close to me and his lips almost touched my ears. He whispered, "All the best ". Every time he came close to me, I felt something strange, I felt some creature tickling in my stomach and I refuse to take those creatures like butterflies.
There was a guide present there to help us with positioning in front of the camera. His extra colorful dressing was exotic, and he seemed gay, he was one too. I could figure that out because he was leaning on Mr. Reynolds's body more than me. He was getting extremely touchy with him
"Stand still ", he ordered me and I positioned myself that very moment. He placed a chair in the middle of the stage and told Mr. Reynolds to sit on it comfortably. Mr. Reynolds obeyed his directions precisely. He pulled me towards Mr. Reynolds and placed my right hand very gently on his shoulders and the left hand was occupied by the back portion of his hair.
I was scared, but I definitely tried to hide those facial expressions from my face, I acted calm and pleasant like I was chilling out in Hawaii. Hawaii was one of the favorite places I always longed to visit. My head was positioned just a few distances away from Mr. Reynolds's face, my nose almost touching his cheek.
"Don't move!" I heard the orders again so I even refused to do the breathing requirements aka inhale and exhale. I heard noises which obviously denoted snapping of pictures in all type of directions as I could see the cameraman circling around us. A media company briefly looked towards us and jotted down everything. They were the only ones who were allowed to stay among everyone.
"Wow, this picture's epic ", the camera person showed our picture to the one who was helping us with the positions.
He again came towards us and directed a boy to move the chair. Mr. Reynolds kept his hand on my waist and I had to do the sightseeing i.e. look at his alluring face. "Don't smile, girl", he warned me which was pretty embarrassing. I was not really good at making aggressive looks but I had to since the cover required passion.
"Perfect couple ", the photographer looked towards us and a blush escaped through my cheek. I mouthed a "no" and we all ended up laughing except Mr. Reynolds.
"Just end this shoot with some walking. Enlighten the ramp, hot personalities ", the photographer got demanding after every consequent minute.
We both went backward. Mr. Reynolds caught me tightly through my back, I just didn't understand why. "It's hurting me ", I tried moving his hand but it was very firm plus hard like a rock and he had this 'I don't care' type of expression.
We started walking through the ramp very straight and aired up our chin like the proudest kings, Mr. Reynolds's hand was firm on my back, it just didn't move from its place. I hated his guts. I hated the way he took advantage of me openly without even thinking about the mindset of other people. Different types of thoughts evolved in my mind like 'What if the people think that I satisfy him physically', 'what if they consider me his sex-slave'
I knew somewhere that there was no answer for my 'what if's', many questions were unanswerable for example my dad's name in Mr. Reynolds's telephone directory.
"Stop taking advantage of my body", I exhaled "and of my silence", I muttered in a slow voice while walking, clear enough for Mr. Reynolds to hear.
"I have no interest in you and your body", he replied harshly but refused to remove his hand from my back.
"Seems like the exact opposite from your statement ", I brought up the debate. He looked towards me and smirked and then started walking again. We both gave one last pose which was favorable because Mr. Reynolds's hands were still on my back and I couldn't shout or create a scene.
"This is epic ", the photographer took the last picture and looked towards us with a grin. I exactly knew what he meant, the person from the media looked at us, like a teenage girl looks, with all smiles and curiosity towards a pregnant woman, who isn't married, and is underage.
"Pack up", Mr. Reynolds looked around and said in a high-pitched voice. Within 5 minutes everyone moved away from the auditorium. The only people that were present were me and him.
"Stop playing the role of a man-whore", I tried moving his hand away but my strength was lesser than his.
He looked at me while raising his right brows and said "Oh really"
"Of course, actions speak", I tried adding proverbs.
"If that would be the case then my hands would be on your butt or your boobs, don't you yet get it ", he looked at me with a question mark on his face.
"Maybe you decided to start with my back", I was now annoyed "Just let go of your hands.
"Fine", he left the grip of his hand from my which made me feel something. I felt lighter. I felt the fresh air-conditioned air traveling through my skin. The dress was worn out of my body. It was more of a wardrobe malfunction. I was annoyed by the fact that Mr. Reynolds saw me half-naked and assured by the fact that Mr. Reynolds was the only person who saw me that way.
"Oops ", Mr. Reynolds said with a sigh paired with a smirk and he tried hard to move his eyesight away, away from my skin. I could see him struggling. My face was firing red through my cheeks and my eyeballs were truly focused on the floor out of the excessive amount of shame.
"Oh, my Lord" I lifted my dress with my hands and didn't make any eye contact with him.
"I did take great advantage of you" he taunted and started walking away. I could see his sight disappearing from my eyes. I was extremely guilty of ranting on someone who protected my image in front of so many people. I wanted to say sorry but I was too shy to face him after the awkward malfunction. Initially, he saw me in a bra at Pallapora town and now he saw me without it. Life was definitely playing some kind of dirty nude-game with me. I wished that dress came in along with a sleeveless bra.
"Mr. Reynoooooooolds", I ran towards him leaving my heels on the floor and catching my dress firmly. He turned around half and stopped walking.
"Th-Thank you so much" I stammered as I was breathing heavily. His face showed that he knew that an apology was coming.
"It was obvious that I was protecting the reputation of my company so don't mind", he turned me around and ran his hands through my naked back. I felt those creatures again in my stomach and I yet refused to accept that they were butterflies.
Mr. Reynolds's touch on my skin was gentle, his cologne was strong enough for me to wander and get lost in a dream world. He always smelled so good. He tightened up the dress from both of his hand, the grip definitely hurt me, but I decided to stay calm. I later heard a tuck type of noise. I knew that Mr. Reynolds had pinned up the loosened broach again so I let go of my hands from my chest.
I turned around, my eyes focused straight on his eyes. They say eye contact is the most intimidating of all. Well, it was true, it felt better, better than the kiss I shared with James.
"You always save me ", I so wanted to say these lines but I controlled, I didn't even utter a single word. This moment felt better in silence.
"Hey! Amanda you looked so gorgeous today, I mean you do look now too ", James interrupted the moment and pulled me towards him. We were alarmed by his voice, so we looked in every direction except each other.
"Oh, thanks a ton!" I fake smiled as I looked at him.
Mr. Reynolds looked towards us and then walked away after a while. No-one stopped him, I saw him disappearing away from my eyesight.
"So are you free tonight, after work?" James questioned pulling me closer through my back. Then something clicked me, I remembered everything that I had forgotten about. I knew that I had to pay a visit to his house to do further investigations but I wasn't ready for having a night-stand with him yet.
"MM- hmm ", I nodded.
"So dinner or movie ", he re-questioned.
"Maybe at your place ", I answered with a smirk and a seductive face.
"Someone's getting naughty! " James pecked me on my forehead. One thing was very sure that I will never sleep with him in any circumstance.
*****
STAY BEAUTIFUL.