.:Author's Note:.
Marilyn at the top
As an apology for yesterday, I've decided to update a day early. 😋💜 ENJOY!
***
Winston's POV:
Jonathan and I have been working together for about a week now.
The flyer advertisement I had made for the model castings had been a success, racking in a total number of fifty people. We were currently sorting through photos of everyone who applied, seeing that we only needed about twelve of that fifty.
"We need to find our Aphrodite first." Jonathan said as he splayed a bunch of headshots across the table between us. We were working in the conference room of Montego's building. The kooky old man informed us that he would prefer if his projects were taken care of right under his nose.
"Artists today normally portrayed her as having blonde hair and blueish-green eyes, but she was a Goddess and could take on any physical attributes that she chose." I explained, picking up a headshot to examine it. "So I think it's up to us to decide what physical characteristics we want our model to have."
I set the picture down before writing the model's name on a sheet of candidates for the shoot. When I didn't get a response from Jonathan, I looked up to find that he was staring at me. It wasn't the first time either, but it still made my face flush in embarrassment.
"Jonathan?" I questioned, which snapped him out of his stupor. He shook his head quickly before nodding.
"I agree with you." He replied while picking up a headshot to block his face. I chuckled silently. Jonathan just proved to be more interesting each and every day we worked together, which didn't help my infatuation with him to diminish.
We continued to sort through pictures of people who we each thought would work for the shoot. By the time we were done, there was still twenty people to choose our twelve from.
"I found our Aphrodite!" Jonathan cheered a moment later. He held up a picture of a beautiful brunette woman with gray eyes.
"Whoa..." I replied, making him laugh. Even as a gay man, I could admit that she was stunning. Jonathan turned the headshot around to read the information on the back.
"Her name is Marilyn Vasiliev. She's 5'9, naturally brunette, and she is a mesomorph. She's been modeling for ten years and is not unfamiliar in the fashion industry." He read aloud before handing the photo to me. "I think she's perfect."
There was a burst of jealousy that appeared in the pit of my stomach as he practically gloated about the Russian model. A part of me wanted to reject Marilyn and move on to find a different Aphrodite, but another part of me understood that that wouldn't be fair.
Jonathan was only speaking business, even if the way he spoke made it seem like he was a bit interested in the model. I pretended to read the back of the picture before nodding.
"Yeah, she's great." I stated halfheartedly.
"Really? Because you don't seem too thrilled about it." He countered with a raise of his eyebrow. I hummed lowly, not wanting him to know that I was slightly green with envy.
"Yes, really." I said while picking up a different picture. "Now we just need to find the other eleven people who will surround her."
"Come on, Winston. You know you can tell me if there's an issue. This isn't only my project, it's yours as well."
It was moments like this why I found it impossible to stay upset, even when I had no right to be. Jonathan was too sweet, and the few times I found myself pushing away from him, the more he drew me in. I was like Rumpelstiltskin, from Once Upon a Time, who couldn't stay away from dark magic no matter how hard he tried. It was fucking frustrating.
"Really, it's fine." I gave a small grin to make my statement more believable. "Marilyn is our ideal Aphrodite."
Jonathan stared at me for a few seconds, probably to see if I was lying. When he didn't find anything, since I was a pro at keeping a poker face, he nodded.
"Okay, it's settled then."
***
Half an hour later, Jonathan and I were finally done choosing our models. We decided to go with a diverse group since Montego's industry was designed around diversity. We chose models of different races (black, white, Asian) and different body types (athletic, plus size, slim); no two models looked alike. All in all, it was a broad bunch.
"Now we just need to contact the managers of every single one of these models. I'll take half and you take the other half. Fair enough?" Jonathan asked while splitting the pile.
"Yes, it's fair." I chuckled. "But I'm hungry. Can we do this after lunch?"
Before Jonathan could respond, his phone went off. He held up a finger for me to wait a moment while pulling the device from his pocket.
"This is Jonathan." He answered before going quiet, most likely waiting for a response. Moments later, he stood up abruptly, tipping over the conference room chair. "They did what?!"
I watched as he grabbed his things angrily, getting dressed while listening to whoever was on the other side of the phone.
"Yes, I'm on my way right now. I'll be there in twenty or thirty minutes." He said before hanging up.
"Everything alright?" I questioned since he seemed to be in his own world. Jonathan paused before facing me and sighing.
"My daughters got into a fight at school." He responded, making everything around me freeze. Daughters... He already has a family.
"Oh." I answered numbly. "Well, I guess we can finish this another time."
"No, it's okay. I'll be back in about an hour. We can finish contacting the agents today. I hope you don't mind that my girls will be here though. I have no one to watch them on such short notice."
"I don't mind. I love kids." I partially lied through my teeth. I didn't mind kids, but I didn't stay around them longer than necessary.
"That's great! I'll be back in an hour." Jonathan said quickly, and then he was gone.
***
I was just finishing a call with my last model's agent when Jonathan waltzed back into the conference room. Behind him, little twin girls were happily talking to each other. When they spotted me, they squealed.
"Hi!" One waved excitedly while rushing up to me. "My name is Alyssa!"
"And I'm April!" The other followed. My eyes widened at the little girls who had no problem invading my personal space. They oddly reminded me of Snowflake, which made me laugh.
"Hello, Alyssa and April. I'm Winston." I greeted, holding out my hands for both of them to shake. They did so giddily, making me laugh even more.
"Girls. I think Winston has had enough." Jonathan said with a smile and a shake of his head. It was only then that I noticed the large bag in his hand that smelt heavily of Chinese food. "I figured we could all eat lunch together, but I wasn't sure what you wanted so I got a bit of everything."
"A bit of everything works." I joked. Alyssa and April both let go of my hands before each taking a seat at the large table. I was surprised to see that they chose to sit at my sides instead of near their father. The simple action seemed to shock him too as he set down the bag.
"We can put the pictures to the side so that we don't get any grease on them." I stated in order to get everyone out of the sudden silence. After clearing part of the table to eat, we sanitized our hands before digging into the heavenly food.
"Winston, how old are you?" Alyssa questioned around a mouthful of lo mein.
"Chew and swallow your food first." Jonathan cut in, making Alyssa pout.
"I'm thirty-seven." I responded after she cleared her mouth and looked at me expectantly.
"Daddy is forty." April pointed out.
"That's cool." I smiled even though I wasn't sure why they were telling me that piece of information.
The questions continued on like that until we were done with lunch. They wanted to know everything about me, and honestly, I didn't mind telling them. Jonathan himself even seemed intrigued with the conversation. After I answered their question, the twins would tell me something about their father. Jonathan didn't like all his secrets being spilled so easily, which was pretty amusing.
"Okay, girls. Enough with the interrogation." Jonathan blurted, interrupting April's story about the one time he nearly ruined Thanksgiving. "How about we clean up?"
We all stood from the conference table in order to clear our mess. Alyssa and April put the trash in the bins while Jonathan wiped away the grease. I left the room to put the recyclables into the appropriate container that was placed in the hallway.
"My daddy is going to marry you one day." Alyssa said to me thoughtfully, standing in the doorway of the conference room. My eyes widened and my face flushed as she stared at me. I looked into the room to see that Jonathan was too busy with April to notice that I was being cornered, by his six-year-old no less.
"Don't be silly." I laughed nervously.
"I'm not being silly," she countered with an adorable grin. "You're my daddy's soulmate."
Alyssa headed back into the conference room before I could even think of a response. I stayed outside, too stunned to make a move. What the hell just happened?!
False hope was a bitch to hold onto, but I couldn't help the way Alyssa's conviction made me feel. She was pretty certain about Jonathan and I being together, but I knew the idea was more than far fetched. Still, I couldn't help the tiny sliver of hope that appeared in my emotional cavity.
"You okay, Winston? You look like you've seen a ghost." Jonathan came up to me since I had yet to move.
"I-Well, I just suddenly didn't feel so good." I said off the top of my head.
"Shit. Do you need to go home?" He asked in concern, reaching out to touch my head before realizing what he was doing and stopping. "Sorry, force of habit with my girls."
"It's okay." I laughed. "And no, I don't need to get home. I feel fine now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Okay. We should head back inside now."
"Yeah, we should."
Tension seemed to appear out of nowhere and was creeping to high levels as we spoke. Neither of us made a move to head back inside even though we both knew that there was work to be done. We just sort of awkwardly stared at each other until one of his twins cleared her throat.
"If you're not going to kiss him, Daddy, then you should stop staring." April said loudly, breaking whatever trance we were under and causing both of our faces to flush.
"April!" Jonathan snapped halfheartedly. He held the door open for me to get back into the room so that we could return to our seats.
"Yes, Daddy?" April replied innocently, making Alyssa giggle and Jonathan grumble.
"Nothing..." He sighed. I had yet to get over the bluntness of his twin girls, and despite living with them, I could tell that Jonathan hadn't gotten over it either. "I'm sorry about that." He whispered to me.
"Kids. You never know what will come out of their mouth next. It's okay." I teased.
"Well, stick around mine long enough, and you'll come to realize that it is more than a lack of filter."
***
"Winston, I made this for you." April said as I waited for Jonathan to finish contacting agents. While he did that, I was working on a list of clothing sizes that we would need for the shoot. But my work didn't seem to matter anymore as April held up a drawing for me to see.
"Aww, thank you, April." I said while taking in the details of the drawing. When I couldn't figure out exactly what it was, I frowned slightly. "What is it?"
"Can't you tell?" She giggled. "It's my mommy giving you to my daddy."