After about half an hour later, Travis noticed that Danny left Diana’s office looking so upset. She must have gave him a harsh warning. He felt so guilty for causing the problem even though Danny accused him of stealing the file. He was deep in thought when a figure from across the office waved at him. It was Diana, she gestured for him to come to her office.
“Yes, Miss Wong?” Travis asked when he entered her office.
“Close the door Travis.” She said quietly. He did as he was told and took a seat across from her “I’m sure you noticed the look on Danny’s face earlier. But what I wanted to tell you is that I don’t want any of this to happen again. That argument got out of hand and it shouldn’t have happened to begin with. Tell me, did you or did you not make a copy of the file for your own use?” her eyes tearing into his heart. He felt accused but also guilty at the same time because he did make the copy.
His eyes wandered to the floor “I did…” he quickly looked up, his eyes showing signs of tears as he explained “But I didn’t mean to use them for my own purposes. I was looking through them to find any mistakes or ways to help you out. I know they are the summer plans for shoots and magazines.”
Diana nodded slowly “Well, did you find any?”
Travis widened his eyes innocently “Find what?”
She smiled “Mistakes that you were looking for?”
“Oh…” he laughed “Yes, as a matter of fact I did. It has to do with the beach shot.” He pointed to the file that was on her desk “May I?” she nodded as he pulled it out from under her hands and opened it “See, it says here that the shot will be taken with the model inside the water. But my concern is that how will you be able to see the trunks if the model is half covered?”
Diana nodded in agreement “That’s very true. You know these files are looked over by so many people and yet we’ve missed this mistake. I’m glad you’re on our side. You do have an eye for fashion.” She smiled “How would you like to help out Josie?”
Travis beamed “I would love it!!” suddenly his face fell as he thought about leaving her “But I like being your assistant.”
Diana laughed “Now why would you want to work for a meanie like me?”
He looked serious as ever as he shook his head “You’re not mean, just a hard worker.”
“Thanks.” She looked at her hands shyly.
“But I do have a request.”
She tilted her head “Sure, anything you want. I’m glad I discovered your talent, I can’t believe I wasted you on three years of nonsense.” She shook her head sadly.
“No no, I love working for you.” He smiled “But I wanted to ask if I can work in the photography department. It’s always been my passion and dream to be one for Pose.”
“Really?” She arched her eyebrows in interest “And I never knew that? Do you have any work that I can see?”
He looked like a little kid that just ate a box of chocolates as he bounced from the seat “Let me get it for you…” he ran out the door before she could say anything further. By the time Travis returned he was out of breath “I…took these for fun…please be…honest.” He presented her with the portfolio of his work. She smiled, obviously impressed by his extracurricular activity that she had no idea about. She browsed through the pictures and gave them back to him without saying a word. She didn’t even spend a whole minute to look at it. He looked disappointed as he took the portfolio back from her. “Is it not worth your time?” he asked weakly.
She couldn’t hold the laugh as she burst out “It’s wonderful. To be honest, the first picture was amazing, I really didn’t need to look at the rest. The background, contrast and lighting couldn’t have been more perfect. Was that your puppy in the picture?”
He nodded quickly “Yes, her name is Didi…”
Diana smiled “She’s very adorable, but I’m sure you captured her in the most adoring light.”
“Thank you. Does that mean I can start working over there?” he couldn’t believe it was that easy for his dream to come true.
She nodded firmly “First thing tomorrow morning. Congratulations, Travis. You deserve it. I’ll send out an email to the office and let them know.”
He wanted to hug her so bad but had to contain himself as he nodded happily “Thank you so much, Miss Wong!”
“Now don’t be calling me that. It makes me sound so old…call me Diana or Di if you like.” She said with a smile, never in her life has she felt so good about giving someone a job.
“Okay, Di.” His face beamed in the light as he quickly got up “Well, I’ll go back to work now. You know I’ll be smiling all day.”
She nodded “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
By the end of the day, everyone received an email that read:
“Good Evening Everyone,
Just a quick announcement about a new talent that I just discovered within the office. Our very own Travis Wu is going to be helping out in the photography department. He has a quick eye for what looks good, young and hip. Please help me welcome him for he will probably be our next star photographer. His new job title will be Assistant Senior Photographer.
Aside from this new move of position. I would also like to announce that we will be getting a new model by the name of David Lung aka Dave. Please help me welcome him tomorrow on his first day working for Pose. I will trust that we will all be on our best behavior?
Regards,
Diana Wong
Vice President”
**********
That night Diana drove to the bar down the street from her work, the usual hangout that she use to go to all the time. She ordered a drink for herself at the bar as she looked around scooping for any new faces. She took a sip of her drink when she heard a familiar voice “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the queen bee herself?” Danny’s teasing voice sang out like a mockingbird.
Diana looked up and gave him a crooked smile “And if it isn’t the Stinker himself? What’s wrong? Trying to catch more flies?”
He shrugged his shoulder and ordered himself another drink “Haven’t caught any, you’ve killed them all with your looks.”
She didn’t seemed bothered by the vicious comment as she nodded “I wouldn’t have killed them if you weren’t after them.”
The bartender looked at them strangely, he had no idea what they were talking about. He guessed they were talking in code or something, so he walked away to aid another customer. “I thought he’d never leave.” Danny let out a sigh. He turned back to Diana and smiled seductively at her. Leaning his elbow on the counter as he moved in closer “You look absolutely beautiful today.”
She returned the flirtatious smile “Is that what you say to all the Queen Bees?”
He laughed comfortably “Only to the most beautiful of all.”
She sighed as she patted him on the leg “Calm yourself, we’re here to talk business.”
He nodded “Fair enough. What would you like to know?”
She glanced around at the dance floor “You haven’t uncovered anything special yet huh?’
Danny shook his head as he followed her gaze to the dance floor “Nope, the closest I got is Travis.”
Diana turned back to Danny abruptly “Leave him alone, he’s innocent. I know for a fact. He admitted that he took the file, but he only did it to help me.”
Danny smiled coolly “I never knew Diana Wong to be the naïve type. Haven’t you heard, the most innocent is usually the guilty one?”
She shrugged her shoulders and returned her eyes to the dance floor “I trust my instincts.”
“And so do I. But it doesn’t mean that they are always right, Di. You really need to be careful of everyone.” He said with a serious tone.
Diana smiled “Don’t tell me you are jealous of Travis….look, don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. I just don’t want a good hand put into waste. God knows I did it for three years without notice.”
Danny stood up as he put his hands in his pockets “Well, I hope you’re right. I’ll keep snooping and you keep trusting everyone.”
She also stood up “Well, just don’t snoop under ONE guy…look at the others. Anyone can be a prospect of a spy.”
He nodded, not looking at her “I know. Go do your business now…”
They crossed ways and smacked each other’s palm together on the side of their body as they walked by. It was their little signal to split. Diana headed to the dance floor while Danny left the club. He’s been her undercover spy for the longest time. He was to take on a position that no one else could do. Danny was to become the most obnoxious and mean person in the company. It was merely a disguise for the spy to not suspect him. But after that first year of rumors that caused a stir within the company, Diana couldn’t help but worry for Pose’s name.
As she got closer to the crowded dance floor, she instantly spotted Jace. From afar, she wasn’t certain that it was him but then realized that it was when she was practically face to face with him. He looked to be struggling with a girl that didn’t want to let go of him. Diana shook her head as she rolled her eyes ‘Men, they never know what to do.’ She said to herself. She pushed her way through the people that were dancing around Jace and the girl. When she was close enough, she tapped the girl on the shoulder. The girl only peeked her head up long enough to see the girl before her “What do you want?” she asked coldly.
Diana responded with the same cold tone “My boyfriend.”
The girl jumped away from Jace as she looked at Diana in shock “What?”
Diana smiled “Well isn’t that nice? You’re dancing so close to him and now your asking me? Isn’t it obvious you need to leave, third wheel?” she arched her famous eyebrows as she put her hands on her hips.
The girl glanced at Jace “You’re going to let her talk to me like that?”
Jace shrugged his shoulders “She’s right.”
“You jerk!” she pushed him harshly as he stumbled back unexpectedly.
Diana was quick to respond as she pushed the girl back “No ONE pushes him but me!” she pointed her herself as she squeezed between Jace and the girl. The crowd was getting wild when they began to circle around the three. Some people were chanting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Diana smiled as she looked around “Looks like we’re gonna put on a show?” she rolled up her sleeves as she began taking off her jewelry. “Just to let you know, five years of tae kwondo will do a lot of damage.”
The girl seemed to believe her as she slowly backed away “Hey, I don’t want to fight. He’s not all that anyways.” Her eyes darted evily to Jace before she pushed through the circular crowd and left the bar.
Diana burst into giggles as she looked up at Jace who was actually smiling for once “You can thank me later!” she yelled through the music and crowd as she pulled him to the quieter section of the bar.
“So, what makes you, Miss Wong come here in the middle of the night? Don’t tell me to pick fights with poor defenseless girls hitting on your models.” He teased.
She nodded “Wow, how did you know? I’m the patrol of all unworthy girls that surround my boys. I don’t any rumors to go bad and worse, any women to come up to the office demanding a check to have an abortion…” he gave her a strange look “Long story.” She mumbled.
“Thanks. I really appreciate the help. Even if you did threaten the poor girl to death.”
Diana smiled as she shrugged “What can I say? It’s a charm that not everyone is born with.”
“Well, I’m glad it was you.” Jace said. He took a glance at his watch “Hey, I’ve got to be going now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She nodded “Okay, hey, can I count on you to help me out with the new guy?” Jace smiled in return as he gave her a wink. “I guess that’s a yes?” she said to herself.
Chapter 5
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
Daniel Wu **David Lung aka Dave
Annie Man **Michelle Chiu aka Shelly
Nicky Wu **Andrew Lam aka Andy
Guest: **Miriam Yeung – Lily Wong (Diana’s first cousin and the head of the Photography Department.
The next morning Dave entered the building of his new job. He was admiring the design of the office since he didn’t have time the day before. His eyes traveled around the office and stopped upon a sweet looking girl. He quickly realized that there were not many women in the office. ‘What a shame..” he thought to himself. As he approached her slowly to make his move, he was surprised when she walked right by him. “Excuse me, Miss.” He spoke up in the nick of time because she was within ear shot.
Shelly turned around, her eyebrows raised “Yes?” she narrowed her eyes and her face quickly brightened as she realized this was the new guy “Dave right?”
He nodded with a winning smile “Yes. I see Miss Wong was quick to announce my arrival?”
Shelly laughed “She’s always on top of things. Come on, I think Jace was suppose to help you around.” She led him to Jace’s office, which was next to Vincent’s. She knocked lightly on the door, afraid that she might disturb him. When she heard the okay to come in, she opened the door “Jace? Hey, Dave’s here.”
Jace gave the new guy a friendly smile “Hi there, come on in. Thanks Shelly.”
Shelly nodded before leaving them alone. “So you are the guy that got stuck with me, huh?” Dave asked.
“Yeah. Let me remind you that this is NOT my choice.” He teased. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” He got up and gave Dave a tour around the entire office. “This is the model’s hang out…we call it the shark tank because it’s the biggest office/room in the suite.” It was the model’s lunch room and where most of them go there to relax. It was equipped with a television, vcr, dvd, stereo surround system and two leather couches.
Dave nodded in fascination “Wow, you guys really know how to live.”
Jace smiled “Not really, it was mostly Josie and Diana’s design and request from the big guy.”
“Hey, I have a quick question for you.” Jace nodded, indicating for him to ask “Diana doesn’t look too old. How did she become the VP of this huge corp?”
“This corp was actually owned by her great grandfather. So you could imagine this company has been here for ages. Two decades to be exact. Anyways, she ended up working here as an intern eventhough her background would have given her a much better position. She wanted to work her way up. And so she did, she eventually became the VP at the ripe age of 26. She’s close to 29 now.” Jace whispered the last sentence “She’s very sensitive about her age.”
“I see…so she doesn’t have a boyfriend?” Dave asked curiously.
Jace patted him on the shoulder “My friend, there is much to know about the woman we call boss. One, she’s not as sweet as she appears, two; she’ll bite your head off if you talk back to her, three; she doesn’t like to date men that works for her and lastly you’ll hear a lot of rumors running around that she dates all the models. You’ll be a part of that rumor for sure…its just what the employees do on their spare time.”
Dave laughed “I doubt that will happen. I’m not into women in higher positions than me.”
Jace smiled secretively “You don’t know how many men have said that and fell under her spell.” He gave a slight wink before walking ahead “Come on, I’ll show you your new home.” Meaning his office.
***********
Travis's desk was directed to the photography department. They didn’t have regular cubicles, instead it was filled with large drawing tables and stools. Apparently it was easier for the photographers to work on the layouts. He was excited as can be as he opened the first layout that he had to work on. His new upper management was named Lily Wong, who happened to be Diana’s cousin.
He was starting the practice layout when she happened to walk by “Hey Travis!” the voice called from behind him.
“Miss Wong.” He greeted her.
She smiled “It’s Lily.”
He nodded shyly “Sorry, I’m not use to first name basis with my bosses.”
She shrugged her shoulders “Totally understood. Okay, why don’t you do that practice layout and give it to me within….hmm…an hour sounds good?”
He smiled “How about half an hour?” he was quick to show off his work.
Her eyebrow raised “Wow, sure, if you can.” She smiled and walked back to her own office to work.
Travis worked hard for the next 30 minutes as he used his careful judgment on what might look good and what might not. He ended up doing two layouts, each with a different look. Lily wasn’t sure if he was serious about the 30 minutes deal but she soon found out that it was indeed his plan when he entered her office. “Here, I did two layouts. I’m not sure which one looks better, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
Lily smiled as she looked at the work, her eyes brightened when she looked up at him “You are incredible! I can’t believe you did this in 30 minutes. I love the way this picture corresponds to the next picture. Well, you have me hooked. Consider yourself up for the next pay raise!” she shook his hand firmly.
He was grinning from ear to ear “Thank you so much. I’m just glad you liked it. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll start the layout you put on my desk.”
“Actually that was for Sherry, the other assistant, but it looks like she might be in late, so why don’t you start on it?” Lily asked.
He nodded eagerly “Sure.”
*************
Diana did her usual routine to watch over the employees at 2pm. That was usually the ‘lazy’ hour where everyone begins to lag off because it’s close to getting off work and it’s after lunch. She started off in Josie’s office “Hey, you need me for anything?”
Josie looked up from her desk with a smile “Nope, nothing at all. But I have some news for you.”
Diana walked into the office and pushed the door shut “What is it?”
“You know the shoot we’re planning to do at the beach tomorrow?”
Diana was puzzled “Yeah, why?”
“Looks like we’re gonna have competition.” Josie leaned back on her chair “Blush Agency is having their summer shoot there too. And it’s going to be…”
“Tomorrow.” Diana said bluntly. She let out a sigh as she sank into one of Josie’s chairs “What am I going to do? They’re everywhere I turn! It’s like they know what we’re planning next. I swear, whoever that spy is, I’ll catch him or her!”
Josie smiled “Don’t stress over it. They still don’t have the faces that we have.” She said more confidently.
Diana nodded, “True true…” Not long, she had visited all the models beside Vincent. He was no where in sight. She figured he was out that day but soon realized she was wrong when she spotted him talking in a low tone with Andy. “Anything I need to know about?” Diana asked as she snuck up behind them.
The guys looked at each other “Uh…not really.” Andy muttered.
Diana narrowed her eyes suspiciously “You’ve never been a good liar Andy, now spill it.” She demanded.
Vincent looked behind her as he quickly pulled her into his office with Andy close behind “I heard that the shoot tomorrow is being cancelled because of Blush Agency?”
“Who told you that?” she wondered where rumors even started.
“Someone from the photography department told me.” Andy whispered eventhough he didn’t need to because they were behind closed doors.
Diana laughed “That’s ridiculous! It’s still on and I’m going to get to the bottom of all this!” with that she walked out of the office to the photo dpt.
When she got there, she noticed that it was as busy as ever with the employees running around like chickens without heads. Travis was at his desk working diligently when he noticed Diana was standing there observing everyone. “Di!” he waved her over and she smiled as she did “You look like you need help?”
She nodded “As a matter of fact I do, there’s seems to be a rumor going on about the beach shoot being cancelled. I need to find out who’s spreading it? Do you know anything about it?”
Travis looked as confused as she did when she first heard the news “No….but you know people don’t really tell me anything…why don’t you ask Lily?”
“That’s a good idea.” She walked off in a rush to her cousin’s office. “Lil!” she knocked on the door and swung it open.
Lily was asleep on her couch when she was startled awake. She popped up like a bagel in the toaster. “Oh my gosh, Biu Jei! You scared me…I thought it was someone important.” She said sarcastically as she covered a yawn. “What do you want?”
Diana gave her a stern look as she walked over to the couch and picked up Lily’s leg so she could sit on the couch. Lily understood as she rested her leg on Diana’s lap “Lil, I’m surprised you can sleep like this, knowing that rumors are starting from your department? How could you take care of the whole department when you are here sleeping while everyone else is working so hard?….” she asked her more questions until she was finally out of breath.
Lily rolled her eyes as she pretended to play dead, allowing her head to swing to one side. “I don’t know anything officer, I don’t know how she fell from the high rise building.”
Diana laughed “Well, I’ll push you myself if you don’t tell me!” she threatened.
Lily opened her eyes as she looked at her cousin guiltily “Okay, it was me…I started the rumor! I confess, don’t hurt me!” she begged.
Diana arched her eyebrows “You what?”
Lily looked at her weakly “It wasn’t on purpose, all I said to the girls was that Blush was having their shoot at the beach tomorrow. I’ve seen pictures of those guys, they’re all buff and gorgeous looking compared to our skimpy boys. I said ‘we might as well pack up and leave.’ I swear Biu Jei, that’s all I said!” she put up her hands in defense.
“Well, I believe you. Don’t say comments like that anymore, I don’t want my people to go over to Blush because they think we’re weak. Have a little more faith in the boys. I’m sure they won’t let us down.” She smiled as she patted Lily’s head like a puppy “Okay, tell me sweetie, how is Travis doing on his first day?”
Lily quickly sat upright as she swung her feet to the floor and got up to retrieve his layout from earlier that morning. “Look at this stuff! It’s amazing. You’re so lucky he didn’t quit and go over to Blush. He’s a star in the making. Not bad looking too…” she nudged Diana knowingly.
“Really? Well, I’ll be…” she nodded in approval as she looked at the layout. “It is very good. You keep training him and maybe one day, you’ll get to sleep a whole day!” she laughed when Lily tried unsuccessfully to hit her.
Chapter 6
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
Daniel Wu **David Lung aka Dave
Annie Man **Michelle Chiu aka Shelly
Nicky Wu **Andrew Lam aka Andy
Guest: **Miriam Yeung – Lily Wong (Diana’s first cousin and the head of the Photography Department.
**Louis, Leon, Julian, Steven and Andy
The Shoot was suppose to take place at around 12 noon where the sun is at it’s highest. According to Lily, it was the best time to take pictures due to the natural light exposure. She took Travis, Sherry and her other crew members along. The models awaited in their trailer until it was time to start the shoot.
Once everything was set up, one of the crew members called the models to come out. The whole area was restricted as a few people tried to enter to take a peek at the good looking men. Vincent was the first to recognize one of the models from Blush. He was a darker skinned guy with noticeably huge muscles. Dressed in a lighter shade of yellow and a black pair of sunglasses that gave him a mysterious aura. Some of the girls squealed when they noticed the models coming. One after one, they began to set up their own shoot right next to Pose’s.
Lily tried hard to keep her guys focused but once in a while their eyes would wander to the other men. All of them looked to be around 5’11 or maybe even 6 ft. “Come on guys, focus…” Lily tried again when their attention was easily diverged.
Vincent nodded behind his own sunglasses “Come on, they working just like us. Who cares what they think.” He coaxed the other guys.
Jace seemed the most bothered when he kept looking over at the other guys. Eventhough he was wearing sunglasses, Lily could still tell he wasn’t paying attention to her directions. “Jace…”
“They look so smug…” Jace said in a low and deep voice. He nodded to their direction. This time everyone turned around to look at their competition. The dark skin guy noticed that they were staring at them. He put two fingers at the edge of his lips and blew on it. The sharp sound was the hint for his guys to take off their shirts to begin their work. In unison, they began to strip down to their boxers/speedos. The guy that looked like he was out in the sun too long smiled at Pose through his confident face. He nodded their way as they began to work in the water.
Lily watched in horror as they did the poses that she was planning to, halfway in the water, which was the perfect shots. “God, I’m glad Diana isn’t here, she’ll have a heart attack.” She muttered under her breath.
Travis looked as much worried “What do you suppose we should do?”
“I don’t know…” she looked away, trying to think of a new plan. Suddenly her face lit up. Vince…go get the guys to spread around.”
Vince seem to know what she was up to as he called Danny, Jace, Andy and Dave over to do what Lily said. They huddled together like they were about to play football. This time, it was the other guy’s turn to stare as they wondered what Pose was up to. Soon they scattered. Lily had a bright idea of moving the guys around all in one shot, instead of one at a time. It gave it a ripple effect that she knew in her mind would look beautiful. Danny, who was the shortest was to pose on the ground closest to the camera, Andy was to kneel behind with his head faced to the ground while his eyes moved upwards sexily, Jace stood behind with his head facing the sky where his eyes would be shut, Dave stood further behind at the edge of the water, his body faced to the side and his head tilted and lastly Vince was thigh high in the water, his body facing the ocean while his head peeked behind his shoulders. The shot couldn’t have been more perfect.
“Wow…” Travis muttered. “You sure have a eye for perfection.” He complimented Lily.
She smiled brightly “Why thanks!” she turned back to the guys “Okay, hold that pose!” she stood behind the camera and did her magic. The shot would be amazing on the front cover of any magazine.
After a long day of shooting, it was close to 5pm, the sun was still high in the sky but it wasn’t beating down on them anymore. They were packing up and ready to go when the guy with the dark skin approached Vincent. “Hey…you guys didn’t look half bad out there.”
Vincent smiled “Was that a compliment because it sure didn’t sound like it.”
The other guys soon walked up behind the dark skin guy “I’m Daren (Louis), this is Jim (Leon), Danny (Julian), Gary (Andy) and Tony (Steven).” He pointed to the guys behind him who all looked as smug as Daren.
“We’ve got a Danny too.” Vincent said as he pointed to Danny who didn’t look at all please with the bullies.
“Don’t you mean ‘half’ a Danny?” their other Danny snickered while his guys laughed heartily.
Jace was about to pounce them but was stopped by Vincent “No, we don’t need the reporters to write anything.” He whispered.
“Aww…would you look at that, they want to fight.” Gary said sarcastically.
“Don’t you mean play?” Jim spoke up. The other guys burst out with laughter at his comment.
Lily noticed the heated argument as she quickly approached to stop it “Look guys, we’re all adults. We’re all in the same business, so why don’t you just leave my guys alone?” she asked them nicely.
“I think this is a man’s business…” Dave spoke up.
Lily turned around in shock, here she was defending them but he tells her to stay out of their business? She instantly recognized he was the new guy ‘No wonder he dares speaks to me like that.’ She thought to herself. But she had totally misunderstood his comment. He was hinting for her to move aside, he didn’t want her to get hurt since it looks like the other guys wanted a throw down.
“How about we play a man’s game?” Tony offered.
“Football?” Jace asked, his face as calm as ever.
“More like beach volleyball. Looks like you guys are done with the shoot, how about a match? Blush against Pose?”
Lily was about to speak up when a familiar voice disrupted her “We’re never afraid of a little competition…” It was Diana. “Especially if it’s an easy one.” Her feisty tongue was at it again.
“Hey Di..” the guys greeted her simultaneously.
She nodded in response, normally she would not show up at the shoots, but for some reason, she decided to come and watch over her boys. “What do you say, charcoal?” she asked Daren.
Some of the guys muffled a giggled at her sharp tongue. Daren didn’t looked bothered by the comment as he pushed his chin in the air and smiled “Sure, we needed a “little” exercise.”
Somehow they found a net to put up against the ready metal poles that stood between the area where they did the shoot earlier. Diana by one of the poles as she watched the guys get ready. She gulped her saliva down when she saw Blush’s models strip down to their shorts. All of them looked muscular while her boys looked tiny in comparison. Her mouth was dry because she was so worried about their own reputation.
The game was soon underway with Blush winning. Apparently Darren and Danny were ex-volleyball players in High School and College. Her boys were being beaten to the core. At one point the ball was spiked down so hard that it hit little Danny on the side of the face. Diana winced in pain for her friend as she ran over to him. He had fallen flat on his back “Danny, are you alright?” she asked with full concern as the other guys raced over to see him.
He shook his head “My phase is lumm…”
“What?” she asked, his words were a whole blur.
“I think he said his face is numb.” Dave offered.
They saw Danny nod his head. “Okay guys, take him off the court…” she said slowly. She was not ready to be embarrassed by their competition. She spotted Travis sitting with Lily on the side. ‘He’s my only hope now.’ She jogged her way over to him “Travis, can you do me a big favor?” she asked sweetly.
He couldn’t resist her charms as he smiled “Sure, whatever you want!”
She smiled “Good, take Danny’s place.”
Travis’s smile turned to a frown “I can’t play volleyball.”
Diana put on her puppy face “Please? I really would appreciate it! How about a big pay raise?” she turned back and saw the other guys from Blush laughing at poor Danny. “Come on, which team are you on?”
He looked at Lily, who nodded her head “Okay…” he said slowly.
“Thank you so much!!” Diana was so happy that she embraced him tightly.
Surprised by her sudden movement, he didn’t know what to do except squirm away shyly. He quickly ran over to meet up with the other guys. Lily smiled as she watch him join the team, she turned back to Diana who looked like she just saw a ghost “Biu Jei, what’s wrong??” she grabbed a hold of her shoulders and shook her violently.
Diana turned to her cousin with a look of array “He has muscles…” she muttered ever so softly.
Lily rolled her eyes “You mean you never saw it through his shirts?”
Diana wrinkled her eyebrows “You look?”
“Of course, who doesn’t?” Lily said exaggerating her surprise tone.
Diana burst into giggles “I don’t! I don’t know, he’s always been kind of goofy, don’t you agree?”
Lily smiled “No, not really, you’ve never seen him without his eye glasses huh?”
Diana shook her head “No..” Her cousin nodded towards the court and Diana let out a small gasp of surprise. She almost didn’t recognized him, he had changed his regular thick black frames to a pair of sunglasses that hugged the curve of his face to perfection, his t-shirt was taken off and it showed off his perfectly round biceps and triceps. Diana bit her bottom lip as she couldn’t help but stare at this new revealed hottie yet he was beside her all this time.
“Looks like you’re not the only one that puts spells on people.” Lily joked when she noticed her cousin still staring.
Diana looked away after that comment “I’m just a little more than shocked.”
The game became a full competition as the game was tied and it seemed that no one would win because the points was always even. Eventually, Travis finished off the game with his spike of the ball in Daren’s face. “That was for Danny!” he pointed at Daren’s red face, who took off his sunglasses roughly because they were damaged from the contact with the ball.
Danny burst out laughing from the side line “Way to go Travis!!” he screamed. He wanted to join the other guys who raised Travis on their shoulders singing ‘Hurray!’.
Diana glanced at the smiling Danny “Oh, now he’s your friend?” she asked sarcastically.
He flicked an eyebrow at her “Yeah, you got a problem woman?”
She shrugged her shoulders “Nope, but I told you so!” meaning that she was right about Travis.
Danny smiled “He aint that bad…”
The group watched Blush leave the court with bummed faces while Pose was laughing and enjoying their victory. Diana laughed as she watched the guys smiling happily “Dinner’s on me guys!” she announced. They cheered even louder as Jace and Vincent moved in to push Diana up on their shoulders. Dave and Andy soon pulled Danny on their shoulders too.
To be continued.....
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