Posing for Life - written by Jenny Tran

Okay guys, I couldn't help it...another new story. Yes, somewhere out there, Odie is smiling really big...hahaa =) I couldn't stand to be off for a week!! hahahaa =) I'll try to make this a fun one...let me know what you guys think! Maybe I'll even changed some things?? lol...hahhaaa To Abby, I hope you'll like the cast....hehehee...=D

Okay guys, time to get to work!! Here are some backround info:

Aaron Kwok **Travis Wu - A 'waterboy' that works for the prestigious "POSE" modeling agency.

Vivian Leung **Diana Wong aka Di - VP of POSE, with a spicy attitude, she is often hard to get along with but is really soft at heart.

Jessica Hsuan **Josinica Cheung aka Josie - The fashion consultant/designer for POSE, she is friendly with everyone and is often the workaholic.

Takeshi Kaneshiro **Vincent To aka Vince - A model of the POSE, he is the nice guy type despite his popularity.

Dicky Cheung **Daniel Lau aka Danny - Often mistaken for the annoying and mean type. He just doesn't realize that people don't enjoy his jokes.

Nick Cheung **Jason Chan aka Jace - Another model of POSE, the cool and quiet type that all the girls seem to swoon over.

Daniel Wu **David Lung aka Dave - A model that will soon help Diana.

Annie Man **Michelle Chiu aka Shelly - One of Diana's assistant, she is sweet as candy and seems to have a huge crush on Jace.

Nicky Wu **Andrew Lam aka Andy - Often picked on by Diana due to his open and sometimes messy love life.

Guest appearance: Louis Koo, Leon Lai, Andy Lau, Julian Cheung and Steven Ma - All are Models to be.

O_O
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Chapter 1

Aaron Kwok **Travis Wu
Vivian Leung **Diana Wong aka Di
Jessica Hsuan **Josinica Cheung aka Josie
Takeshi Kaneshiro **Vincent To aka Vince
Dicky Cheung **Daniel Lau aka Danny
Nick Cheung **Jason Chan aka Jace
Annie Man **Michelle Chiu aka Shelly
Nicky Wu **Andrew Lam aka Andy

“I am the Vice President of the most promising industries in Hong Kong today. There is no company out there that doesn’t need my people. There is no company out there that doesn’t like my people. We have the best looking people and the most knowledgeable in their work. I have never seen such passion in this kind of work before. It bring tears to my eyes to see such hard workers and more proud to say that they work for me. So please join me and bringing a toast to these magnificent and beautiful 7 people behind me today. Cheers!” he raised the champagne glass up in the air and the people roared in agreement.

He took a sip as he smiled at his employees, but he preferred to call them associates because without them, he would not be where he is that day. They drank the entire cup filled with the champagne and clapped their hands for another speech. “And now, I would like to call Ms. Diana Wong to the front with me.” He turned as he waved her over. She looked shy as she bowed her head to hide her blushing face. “Come on, don’t be shy.” He coaxed.

When she stood near him, she whispered “Travis, what in the world are you doing?”

He smiled as his lips brushed her cheeks while he leaned towards her ears “Making my dream come true….” He was about to announce his marriage proposal to her in front of his entire company. She smiled sweetly as she turned away. He was about to announce when an annoying beeping sound disturbed him. Travis looked out in the crowd and yelled out “Who’s phone is that? Please turn it off.” He asked. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. No one wanted to claim the cell phone ring. “Look, if the person doesn’t turn it off right now, I will fire you all!!!” he cried.

The crowd gasp but the beeping sound got even louder until he could stand it no more. Travis popped himself out of bed when he realized his alarm clock was ringing off the hook. He wiped the perspiration off his forehead, that was the fifth time he dreamed about her in that whole week. He knew it was time to go to work when he glanced at the clock, but he wasn’t ready to move yet. He sat on his bed and looked around the tiny room. Reality seemed to hit him like a bullet. He was in his tiny apartment and not the luxurious home that he often dreamed about.

Travis pulled himself out of the bed as he got up and changed to go to work. Where does he work? Its embarrassing for him to tell people when they ask him. He was an administrative assistant, which was a professional way of saying secretary. It wouldn’t be as bad but he was more like a water boy for…well, you’ll know soon enough.

He got on the bus with the other 100 people that seemed to squeeze onto the seats and most were standing. He swore to himself that he would own a car one day or maybe just enough money to get a taxi cab ride once a week. He pushed the black plastic frame at the bridge closer to his nose. He touched his gelled down hair to make sure it was in place. But of course it was in place, its always in place because he practically filled his head with half a bottle of gel.

That’s what the models do at his company…oh yes, that’s right, you never knew. Travis worked at the most prestigious of all modeling agencies in Hong Kong. When he first got the job as the ‘administrative assistant’, he was overwhelmed by the company’s choice in hiring him. He knew how hard it was to get a job in there and not to mention to be able to work around models. Even though it was a male model agency, he was able to notice the beautiful women that worked there. It never occurred to him that maybe they were not beautiful but they had no comparison since everyone in there were mostly guys. Good looking guys.

He got off the bus and walked across the street to the high rise building. It was the same routine he went through everyday. He couldn’t imagine working anywhere else, but that’s just because of her…the girl of his dreams he’d like to say. Travis has been in love with her since the first day that he started working at ‘Pose’ three years ago. Despite the rumors that traveled among the co-workers indicating that she dated most of the models except for Jace because they all agreed he was too nice for her. Travis believed that she was a very nice person at heart and he wished so many times to just call her…Di, a nickname that everyone called her except for the employees that were under her.

“Ahem…excuse me waterboy.” Danny said rudely.

Travis lowered his head as he moved out of the way for Pose’s smallest and most petite model. It wasn’t a height problem for the company since Danny was known for his poses and not the runway model physique. “Sorry.” He mumbled.

Danny waved a hand as he walked by, his head in the air as he walked on. “Don’t pay any attention to him Travis. He’s just being a jerk.” The familiar voice of Shelly eased his ego.

“Oh no, I was in his way.” Travis explained. “Thanks Michelle.”

She smiled the most adorable smile “How many times must I tell you not to call me that. Everyone calls me Shelly.” She patted him on the shoulder before walking off.

“Waterboy!” the teasing voice of the ever so popular Vincent To sang out. Vince was the Asia International model of the company. Due to his mixed background, the company usually sent him on trips all over Asia. Travis barely recognized him. “My throat is feeling a little dry. Go get me some water, I prefer Avion not Sparkletts.”

Travis stared at him, not sure if he was serious “Uh…I don’t think we have Avion.” He stuttered. “I’ll go out and buy you one.”

Travis turned around and felt a strong hand on his shoulder “Hey, I was just teasin you. Don’t take it so seriously” Vincent said casually “Have you ever bought me water before?” Travis shook his head “Exactly. Don’t worry about it.” He smiled and left the guy staring after him wondering if he was really as nice as he appeared to be.

Travis smiled as he walked back to his desk, which was located in the corner of the office away from all the other desks. He was the lowest on the totem pole as most people like to say it. He wouldn’t give up his job for the world though. He was only there for 10 minutes and already his desk was filled with notes from the models. He dug through them and found her note stuck between the other 30. She needed some coffee mix for the kitchen. Everyone drank black coffee while Diana drank it with cream and two cubes of sugar. Within half an hour he had returned with her favorite coffee as he refilled it in the empty can in the kitchen.

**********

Diana was sitting in the company's coference room with the models. They were figuring out the summer fashion. The fashion consultant/designer of the company, Josie sitting beside her. They listened carefully to the guys requests. “I think we should go with the trunks this year. Something different from the speedos from last year.” Vincent suggested.

“I don’t know about you guys, but boy it made it hard to breath down there…” Danny joked.

Everyone grimaced at the response. He was well known for the crude humor that he always managed to crack at the wrong time. The only person that didn’t seem disturbed was Diana “How about I make sure Josie design an extra loose one for you since your package is probably smaller than everyone elses?” her eyebrow arched upwards at him threateningly.

The guys tried to muffle their giggles at the harsh comeback but it was hard. Even the usually quiet Jace had to laugh. Danny’s face turned a crimson red as he knew he was cornered. She had a feisty mouth and no one dared spoke back to her because they were afraid of what she might say. Diana was the type that didn’t take crap from anyone. Despite her size and height, which was no bigger than Danny, she was a tough girl. She expected the best from her boys and never liked the fact that Danny’s mouth was as dirty as the Vegas Strip. Josie nudged her friend lightly “What’s wrong with you? Did you have tacks for breakfast?”

Diana shook her head “Just broke up with him…”

Josie nodded slowly, finally understanding the quick outburst from her earlier. She cleared her throat to stop the guys from laughing “Well, why don’t you guys give me some feedback about what worked in the past for you guys?” she asked.

The conference room grew quiet as the guys thought about what to tell Josie. Being a model conference room, it was designed for the comfort of the guys. They agreed on beanbags as chairs and the table was lowered close to the ground, about two feet from the ground to be exact. They seemed to be deep in thought but Jace looked cool as ever as he leaned back on his own green beanbag, his choice of color of course. Diana seemed to notice to as she asked him “Jace, you ready?”

He smiled coolly “I was thinking of boxer like shorts that are not that loose nor that tight like back then two years ago. You remember?”

Diana nodded thoughtfully “Yeah, I do.” She turned to her friend “Josie, why don’t you write that down.”

“Already did.” Josie smiled, she was quick with her work and that’s what Diana loved about her.

“Andy, you’ve been quiet all morning. It doesn’t have to do anything with that actress girl you’re dating does it?” Diana’s question caught him off guard.

He looked up embarrassingly “I don’t know … what you’re talking about.” He fumbled with the words.

Diana hated liars more than anything “Oh really?” she asked as she got up from her purple beanbag and walked to the corner desk where she kept some of her work. Pulling out a magazine, she tossed it at him “I suppose the reporters got the wrong Andrew Lam then?”

Andy looked away shamelessly “I’m sorry.” He muttered.

“All I ask for you guys is to be honest with me.” She began her ‘honest’ speech that she often gave “How do you expect me to work with you guys if you keep on lying to me like this?…” she continued the speech.

On the other side of the room Danny muttered to Vincent “Here she goes again.”

Vincent smiled as he looked up trying to stay serious. He caught Josie’s eyes as she shook her head slightly indicating for them to be quiet. He took her advice carefully for he knew she was well aware of her friend’s personality. “So furthermore, I advise you to tell me everything before the reporters get the information. Andy, I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Girls are sneaky and actresses are even sneakier. They are our enemies and I hope you won’t forget it.”

Andy nodded solemnly “I understand. Sorry, Di.”

Diana let out a deep sigh “I hate to be so harsh on you guys, but I just don’t want our agency to have a bad name. Anyways, I have a meeting to go to early this morning, so why don’t you guys go back to your offices and write out a short report for Josie to work with on the new summer design?”

She didn’t wait for them to answer as she got up and began walking towards the door. “And don’t make the waterboy do your dirty work, he’s got enough crap to do.” The guys looked at her innocently while she rolled her eyes “Don’t give me that puppy eye deal, it only works with Josie.” Her eyes traveled to her friend’s face but she smiled weakly at Diana. “I saw all the notes on Travis’s desk. Stop swamping him.” She ordered as she walked out the door for her appointment.

“Not like she doesn’t order him around.” Andy muttered after she left.

Danny smiled “I’ll bet half of that was for her.” He laughed at his own joke. Vincent and Jace shrugged their shoulders in response.

Josie smiled as she was close enough to hear their conversation “I wouldn’t be smiling Danny, you just got nailed earlier.” Even though she disagreed with the way Diana treated the guys when she was mad, she still had the loyal heart to defend her friend.

Vincent laughed heartedly at her remark “She’s right, man. You got burned!!” he pointed to Danny who tried to stay cool but it was obvious he was bothered.

That afternoon, the guys did as they were told as they returned the info back to Josie. After Danny, who was the last to give her his review, left her office Josie sat back in her leather seat. Her brain was tired from thinking of the new line to design. She leaned her elbows on the desk as she closed her eyes to think of anything new. Although she loved her job, it often gave her so many headaches.

She heard a soft knock on her door “Come in.” she called out.

Travis balanced the scalding cup with the tiny dish in his hands as he walked it over to her “Hi Josie.” He said sweetly.

She looked up and a smile spread across her face “Travis, oh gosh, you don’t have to serve me, I’m sure the ‘Gods’ will punish me for this.” She teased.

He carefully put the hot cup of tea on her desk “I’m already done with the stuff they gave me. You didn’t look too well, so I decided to make you a cup of tea. It’s jasmine, I hear it’s suppose to help relax the mind.”

She smiled as she shook her head “ What would I do without you?”

Travis gave a slight shrug “Probably in daydream land somewhere.” He joked.

She laughed comfortably with him “Who said you don’t have a sense of humor?” she was asking herself more than for him.

“Well, let me know if you need something else.” He said before closing the door after him. He went back to work as he made sure the models were comfortable and had everything they needed. He was a little down that whole morning because he knew that Diana was not going to be back until later.




Chapter 2

Aaron Kwok **Travis Wu
Vivian Leung **Diana Wong aka Di
Jessica Hsuan **Josinica Cheung aka Josie
Dicky Cheung **Daniel Lau aka Danny
Daniel Wu **David Lung aka Dave
Annie Man **Michelle Chiu aka Shelly

Diana returned to the office around 3 pm feeling horrible from the lunch she just had. First she lost the client to another Modeling agency called ‘Blush’. It appears they had the new faces of the millennium. Not to mention the fact that the client even brought in pictures of the models for her to see, who all happened to be gorgeous. They were all around 5’11 or taller. Her face was red when she stormed out of the restaurant.

She walked by everyone without greeting them as she burst into her office and slammed the door harshly. Cursing as she slumped into her soft leather rolling chair. She heard the door knock “What is it?!” she cried out annoyingly.

Travis saw her looking very upset when she returned so he made her a cup of coffee but wasn’t sure if she would accept it. He turned the knob and peeked through the door “Miss Wong, uh…I got the coffee you asked for. Would you like a cup right now?” he showed her the steaming cup that he whipped up within a few seconds.

“It’s 3pm, do you THINK I would want coffee at this time?” she asked with frustration.

Travis looked away embarrassed, “I’m sorry, I should have known.” He was about to close the door when she stopped him.

“Wait.” Guilt taking over quickly as she put up her hand “I’m sorry, Travis. I didn’t mean to yell. I just had a bad meeting. Come on in. I’ll take the coffee.” She smiled showing him that she was apologizing sincerely.

He grinned at her like a goofball “It’s okay. I know your work is very important. But it’s not good for a girl to be so stressed out. I think you should get some more help.” He was hinting for the personal assistant position that she’s left available since he began to work there.

She wrinkled her forehead “What are you talking about? I already have you.”

He looked even more confused “But I thought I was a water boy.”

Diana laughed “I can’t believe you would refer yourself as that. Just because those egotistical male models call you that, doesn’t mean that you are. You are my personal assistant that everyone happens to use. I know I should be more strict with them but I figured I was out more often so I didn’t want you to sit around and be bored.”

He grinned from ear to ear, Travis was just happy knowing that he was her personal assistant. “It’s okay, I really don’t mind. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll leave now.”

She nodded “Thanks, Travis.” She smiled as she watched him leave. Taking a sip out of her coffee, she couldn’t help but wonder how he knew exactly what to put in there. She couldn’t have made it more perfect herself. Apparently, her personal assistant was better than she thought; she made a mental note to give him a raise that coming year.

***********

Travis was in a giddy mood as he walked back to his desk just to be stopped by Danny again. “Water boy, I saw you bringing the ‘queen bee’ her coffee, what are you trying to do? Kiss up?” he asked heatedly.

Travis tried to diverge his eyes away but it was hard because Danny followed his gaze everywhere. “Don’t call her that, she’s not that bad.” He said softly, trying to defend Diana.

Danny snickered “I guess you haven’t seen her sharpening her stinger lately huh? So, do you know why she’s so mad?”

He looked back at the petite guy with suspicion “Why are you asking? Are you a traitor? I’ve heard of rumors spreading that Blush Agency sent over some spies to see what our production is like….”

Danny cut him off “Of course not! I’m as loyal as anyone.” His face was getting red fast.

“I just hope you are.” Travis turned away as he returned to his work.

“Don’t be getting snippy with me!” Danny retorted.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Shelly’s curt voice said as she defended her friend. “But I guess that’s hard since the only people that is the same size as you are women.” She gave him the evil eye as she watched Danny finally leave. She turned back to Travis smiling “Next time he picks on you, just push him. I’m sure you could take him.” She dropped the files on his desk “Di wanted to know if you can type this up by the end of the day.”

“I’ll get it to her in one hour.” He said confidently.

Shelly shook her head sadly “You’ve got it bad, my friend.” She sighed as she walked away. Travis smiled to himself, Shelly was the only person that knew of his crush for Diana.

**********

Josie was designing some of the new trunks when her office door burst open. Her color pencil flew across the paper from the startling sound. She dropped it on her desk as she clutched her heart “Oh my gosh, are you trying to put me into an early grave?” she asked Diana.

Diana laughed as she shut the door behind her “That’s an idea, maybe you’ll leave me that adorable car of yours then.” She joked with her friend.

She narrowed her eyes “I’ll make a note to leave the car to the homeless guy down the street.” She sat back in her chair “What’s new?”

“Bad meeting. Lost client to Blush…that’s the fifth one this week, Josie. What am I going to do? I’m losing to this new agency.”

Josie looked thoughtful “Well, maybe because our look is getting too outdated?”

“Well, that’s your job, Fashion Consultant.” She mocked.

“Well, you’re the boss, tell me what to consult?” Josie retorted.

Diana shook her head helplessly “We need a new plan…maybe a new face? That’s it!” she clapped her hands loudly “We’ll hire some new faces?”

“What about our old faces?” Josie was careful to warn her friend “Most people are use to the model’s faces. They might not accept the newer ones that we have.”

Diana looked thoughtful as she took it into consideration “That’s very true.” She turned back and smiled at her friend “I’m glad I have you. Can you have Shelly put in the add?”

“Of course, boss.” Josie teased.

Diana’s smile fell when she thought about something “Josie, have you heard about the rumors lately?”

“About a spy in the office?” she asked.

“Yeah, I wonder if it’s true. Have we hired anyone without checking their background?”

Josie shook her head after a moment of searching her mind “No. I don’t think so. Don’t worry about it, you did say it was just a rumor. Someone probably started it.”

“Maybe…but I can’t help but wonder. Blush seems to know exactly what we’re going to do next.” Diana had pondered with that idea for a while but never told anyone yet.

“You know what I think?” Diana raised her eyebrows at Josie while she continued with the thought “I think it’s Danny. He’s always been the oddball. The one that no one seems to really get along with.”

Diana shook her head in disagreement “I don’t think so. He’s just a wannabe comedian, his jokes doesn’t come out right. I doubt he can be a spy.”

Josie smiled “You never know, the one you don’t suspect is usually the more suspicious one.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you’re the spy?” Diana asked suspiciously. Josie gave her the puppy-eyed look and it made her burst into giggles “I was just teasing! I believe you would never betray me. Well, get busy, we’ve got a lot of work this summer.”

Josie watched her leave as her face turned solemn and eventually she shook herself out of the daze and went back to work.

************

The next week Diana and Josie were extra busy from interview after interview for new models. Most of them were disappointing from their pictures that they sent in beforehand. After the 6th one on Thursday, Diana was exhausted “I can’t believe there are no new faces in Hong Kong? Where did they all go?”

Josie snickered “Probably over to Blush.”

Diana let out an over-exaggerated sigh “How many more today?”

“Just one more.” Josie passed over the head shot of the guy.

Diana tilted her head thoughtfully “Cute. But I’m going to bite my tongue for now because I said that about the other 10 and they looked horrible! When is he coming?”

“Shelly set him up for the next hour.” Josie advised.

“Good, I’ll have time to relax.”

***********

Diana didn’t really have time to relax, she had to run over to the runway department and check out the models to see how they were doing and the new trunks looked good. She was happy about that at least. When the hour past by quickly, she had to leave her guys and return to her office for that last interview. In her arms she was carrying about 10 different files, each of them were documents on the new plans. They were too heavy for her petite stature as she eventually dropped them. No one seemed to notice except for one hand that reached for the file that was the furthest from her. She looked up and noticed it was the interviewer. She smiled thankfully at him. He was cuter than the picture that he sent in. “Thank you.” She said kindly.

He returned the smile “This shouldn’t be your job. It’s too heavy for a small girl like you.”

“Well, someone’s got to do it.” She decided to keep her identity a secret in the meantime “Are you new? I’ve never seen you before.” By then he was carrying the files for her.

“No, I’m here for an interview. Wish me luck, maybe we’ll become co-workers.” He flashed her a dazzling smile that she knew in an instant that he would become the new face of Pose. “Can you tell me where Mr. Wong’s office is?”

Diana raised her eyebrows “Mr.?” she wondered if they didn’t tell him that the new boss would be a woman.

“Yeah, it said in the add, the interview will be with the VP, Mr. Wong?” he pulled out the piece of add that he ripped out from the newspaper. “See?” he pointed to it.

Diana had a sneaky look on her face, it couldn’t have been more perfect. She smiled in return “Oh, I know where his office is. Come with me.” She led him to Vincent’s office, which happened to be the biggest one out of all the male models due to his recent success in the Asia world. “Wait here, I’ll get him for you.” She said politely as she shut the door. When she turned around, she found Travis looking at her oddly. She quickly gestured him over “Travis, take these files to my office. I’ve got to look for Vincent.”

“Yes, Miss Wong.” He said respectfully as he returned the files to her office as she said. He was curious to know what was going on since she seemed extra nice to that guy.




Chapter 3

Aaron Kwok **Travis Wu
Vivian Leung **Diana Wong aka Di
Jessica Hsuan **Josinica Cheung aka Josie
Takeshi Kaneshiro **Vincent To aka Vince
Dicky Cheung **Daniel Lau aka Danny
Daniel Wu **David Lung aka Dave
Annie Man **Michelle Chiu aka Shelly

Diana rushed to the other department as she searched for Vincent. He was working with the walking instructor when she yanked him by the arm “Come on, I need your help.”

He had no control over it as he turned his head back and waved to the rest of the guys. “Duty calls!” he yelled before the two were out of sight.

“I wonder what that was all about?” Danny whispered.

Andy seemed to have heard it too “Who knows.” He shrugged “Diana’s always strange like that.”

*********

“Miss Wong, what are you doing?” Vincent asked over and over as he let her drag him back to the office.

She stopped a few feet away from his office “Look, I have an interview with a new guy, he looks good. But it seems that he’s miss understood that the VP is a male due to some idiot over there in the newspaper department. I need for you to act like the VP and ask him questions.”

“Ask him what? I don’t know what to do?” Vincent looked confused. “Why don’t you ask Jace to do it? He’s so much cooler.”

Diana wrinkled her nose “Nah, he’ll scare the poor guy away. Now go inside and introduce yourself. I’ll find Josie to come help us.” She practically pushed him inside.

Vincent tried to look calm but it was hard as he stumbled his way to his desk “Hi, you must be…” he held out a hand.

“David Lung, but everyone calls me Dave.” He shook Vincent’s hand firmly.

“Nice to meet you.” Vincent said calmly as he took his seat. He was so nervous that when he bent over to sit down, he completely missed his chair and fell flat on his butt. “Ow!” he cried a few cursing words as he stumbled to pull himself up.

“Are you okay, Mr. Wong?” Dave asked with genuine concern. He gave him a strange look “You seem a little nervous.”

Vincent’s face turned a beet red as he waved his hand nonchalantly “Nonsense! I’m fine, I just haven’t had my coffee yet.” He looked over at his phone and pressed on the intercom button “Di? Where’s my coffee?” he quickly let go of the button “Good help is so hard to find.” He chuckled nervously. “So, what do you do?”

Dave stared hard at the man behind the desk “Uh…well, I modeled since I was about 7 years old. I am currently working for a small modeling agency but they are not paying me very well…so I decided to leave. I’ve heard of your company for many years now and I must say, the work here is incredible. Actually, you look quite familiar if I might add…” he wrinkled his forehead wondering where he saw this guy from.

Vincent was wiping away his perspiration, “No no…people look like people. Why I’ve had comments that I look like that one Chinese/Japanese actor Takeshi Ka…Kaneshi… something like that…I can’t even say his name!” his eyes darted to the door now and then as he tried to come up with smart questions. When the room grew silent for a while longer, he held down the intercom button again “DI!!” he yelled into the speaker. Suddenly the door burst open and appeared a very exhausted Josie and Diana. They looked completely out of breath.

Dave began to wonder if it was a mistake to get an interview there. They looked so unorganized. But he quickly pushed the thought away when he saw Diana. It was the girl he recognized, he pointed to her with a smile “You….”

She smiled quickly as she put out a hand “I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself earlier. “My name is Diana, I am…uh…Josie’s personal assistant.”

Josie smiled as she brought out a hand to shake Dave’s “Hi, I’m the Fashion Consultant/Designer of Pose. Don’t stand now, have a seat.” She pointed to the chair.

Dave smiled “Wow, I finally get to meet the person behind the beautiful design of Pose’s modeling agency.”

Josie looked down shyly, after all these years of compliments, she was still shy about getting them. Vincent suddenly cleared his throat “Ahem…now, let’s get down to business.” His sudden strong voice surprised Dave. “Miss Cheung, I believe you wanted to ask some questions?” his eyebrow raised.

Josie’s face brightened “Oh yes, that’s right.” She pulled out a pad and pen. The pad had the questions that Diana wanted to ask, it was scribbled hastily earlier so she could barely read it. Her face looked red as she glanced from Vincent to Diana. “Why don’t you read it Diana?” she handed her the pad.

Diana gave her a stern look but Dave didn’t seem to notice “We want to know, where did you learn to model, how long did you do it and what was the most memorable place that you’ve been to? Because you know that if and when you get popular working here at Pose, it is mandatory for you to travel to certain areas.”

Dave nodded solemnly as he listened to her words, “Well, I studied modeling at the tiny agency called Hope Shots, it wasn’t anything special really. I grew up learning it on my own. The runway the shots, the poses. I just told Mr. Wong here that I’ve been modeling since I was seven years old. The most memorable place? I would say the backyard of my mother’s house.”

Diana smiled as she pulled a chair closest to her, she quickly sat down as she felt more at ease “Really? Why would you say that?”

Dave smiled and gave a slight shrug “Well, I guess its just more comfortable and I was relaxed completely eventhough my whole family was present at the shoot.”

“Why did your company decide on the backyard?” Diana asked showing more interest.

“Well, it was a shoot for teens summer clothes. They had the sprinklers on and little slides in the background. I thought it couldn’t have been more perfect.” He nodded firmly.

Diana smiled “Wow, that sounds very fun.” She suddenly realized that she was sitting, which meant she was even with Josie and Vincent, the ‘VP’. Diana quickly stood up “Well, I’m sure Mr. Wong here will hire you. You seem more than qualified.” She gave Vincent a large smile, hinting that he was perfect.

Vincent narrowed his eyes “Well, Mr. Lung, you know we have a lot of interviews coming in and out all day. We’re extremely busy, so how about we call you when we have decided?”

Diana’s face turned beet red as she glared at Vincent. Josie seemed to notice as she finally spoke up “Oh, I’m sure Di is right, he seems more than qualified, right Vincent?” her eyes opened wide.

Vincent knew he couldn’t control their decision “I guess.” He mumbled. “How about you start in a month?” he asked.

Dave was about to answer when Diana spoke up, interrupting him “We have an office available for him right now, Mr. Wong.” Her eyebrow arched upwards evily.

Vincent gave a fake smile “Well, I guess that settles it then. You can start tomorrow?”

Dave smiled and nodded eagerly “You won’t be disappointed. Thank you!!” he stood up and shook Vincent’s hand roughly. He turned to Josie “Thanks!” he shook her hand softly.

“Diana, why don’t you take Mr. Lung out?” Vincent said. “Josie, I need to talk to you.”

Josie was puzzled, but stayed behind anyways. Diana walked Dave out side as she shut the door behind her. “I guess we’ll be working together really soon, Mr. Lung.”

“Don’t call me that. Just call me Dave….Miss Wong.”

Diana’s face blushed profusely as she turned away with embarrassment. “So you knew all this time?”

Dave smiled “Not really, you had me going for a while until I recognized Vincent, he’s the international model. And when you started to ask questions, I realized that you seemed to know what you were asking while he fumbled just to sit on his chair.”

Diana looked down to the ground “Well, I figured you were misunderstood so I didn’t want you to think that we were unorganized…” she giggled “But I guess that’s too late then huh?”

He laughed comfortably “Well, I won’t bother you now. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, boss….”

She watched him leave as she turned back to return to her office. She saw Josie leaving Vincent’s office looking kind of upset. Her brows furrowed as she wondered if they were dating secretly. She’s always suspected it but had no proof. She followed Josie to her office “What’s with the angry eyes?” she walked inside and closed the door behind her.

“Nothing!” Josie cried angrily.

“You could have fooled me.” Diana sat down across from her friend “Josie, tell me the truth, are you two dating?”

Josie moved her eyes away from her friend “What makes you think that?”

“Oh…the little hints of jealousy that Vincent just gave out at that interview.” She smiled “Look, I don’t mind if you two date, but just don’t bring it to work.”

Josie looked up “We’re not dating, really. Di, you know I wouldn’t lie about that.”

Diana nodded slowly “Okay, can you tell me what that was all about?”

“He’s just being a guy…don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” She nodded and twitched a smile “See? All good as new.”

“That’s fine. Act like it never happened, that’ll make the problem go away.” She said sarcastically as she stood up and walked out of the office. “Hey, I’m here for you.” Diana said before she closed the door behind her. Josie smiled while she shook her head.

Diana was about to go to her office when she heard a commotion going on across the office. When she got closer she saw Travis, Shelly and Danny in a heated argument. “What proof do you have?” Shelly asked angrily.

“I saw him take a copy of that file back to his desk. Why would a waterboy need a file?” Danny pointed at Travis daring him.

“I didn’t take anything.” Travis said feebly.

Diana clapped her hands loudly. When she got their attention, she smiled at everyone “I didn’t know this was the supermarket? Sounds like you’re all fighting over some apples or something. What’s the matter?” they all began to talk at the same time and once again she held up her hands “One at a time. Shelly…”

Shelly gave Danny the evil eye as she began to explain “Well, Travis told me that he was taking files back to your office. When he got back to his desk, I saw Danny hiding behind the corner and jumped out. He accused Travis of making illegal copies of the file. But when I got over here, I didn’t see any?”

Diana nodded slowly “Danny?”

“Of course you didn’t see it. He threw them away before you got here.”

“Well, look in his trash can.” Shelly retorted.

Danny rolled his eyes “Look, you can’t just catch a cheater. He’s more sneaky than you think. See? He took the files and threw them in that trash can that belong to that cubical behind him. At the same time, the cleaning lady took the trash away.”

“Oh, that was such a good story.” Shelly said sarcastically as she clapped her hands “Bravo Bravo…”

Diana took a deep breath “Well, Travis?”

Travis looked like he was about to burst into tears “I didn’t do it, Miss Wong. I really didn’t.” he shook his head over and over.

She smiled “I know you wouldn’t.” she patted him on the shoulder “Come on Danny, we need to talk. I think you’ve been picking on Travis way too long.” She motioned for him to follow her and he obediently did.

“Good riddance!” Shelly said when she watched them leave.









To be continued.....




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