Guest: **Miriam Yeung – Lily Wong (Diana’s first cousin and the head of the Photography Department.
The group went out to a restaurant that they found was closest to the beach. Diana was in high spirits when she and the rest of her team entered the restaurants. As soon as they sat down and ordered drinks, Vincent’s cell phone disturbed their happy mood. He took one glance at the screen and got up to answer it. He returned within seconds and looked at them apologetically “Sorry everyone, I’ve got a little emergency.”
His announcement received ‘hisses and boos’ from the other guys. Diana didn’t seem to mind as she spoke up “Hey hey, leave the poor guy alone, he’s on a tight leash.” She gave him a wink while the other guys laughed at her comment.
Vincent smiled at Diana “Thanks…I think.” He quickly rushed out the door.
They ordered the food and as they waited everyone was busy talking each other except for Travis, who seemed more quiet than usual. “Anything wrong?” Diana asked with concern.
He smiled back at her “No. Just a little burned from the sun.” he pulled back the shoulder part of his t-shirt to show her the red toasted skin.
Her face fringed with pain for him “Wow, remind me to give you some of that aloe vera gel I have in my office. It’s used for sun burned skin.”
Travis nodded with appreciation “Thanks.”
Dave was watching the two people that seemed to be hitting it off. Suddenly, his body tensed up when he felt a soft feet graze his ankle. His expression froze as he looked up across the table. Lily was looking away and Jace was busy talking to the guys next to him. He guessed it wasn’t Jace that was playing footsies with him and wondered if it was Lily. The foot had long retrieved itself but he was curious to know who was messing with him. Taking off his sandals with his other foot as he reached over diagonally to Lily and grazed her leg, he went as high as her knee.
Lily’s face turned red as her eyes shot back to the person seated across from her. She clenched her teeth and put on a fake smile “Don’t touch me…” she threatened with her eyes yet her cute voice deceived her.
Dave quickly pulled back from her response “You started it…” he replied.
“I wouldn’t touch your dirty legs if you paid me!!” she screamed across the table.
Everyone immediately hushed from her loud outburst. Dave looked around, obviously embarrassed since she was yelling at him “Look, you don’t have to lie in front of everyone, it’s natural to be turned on by a good looking male.” He was teasing but she took it in total offense as she slammed her palm on the table.
“Look, you little chauvinistic pig, I do not get turned on from animals grazing my leg.” Her feisty tongue was as bad as her cousin.
The other guys looked at each other and burst out laughing at their quarrel. Diana narrowed her eyes as she shook her head at Jace “That wasn’t very nice.” She commented.
Dave looked over at Jace in disbelief “It was you!” he pointed at him.
Jace shrugged his shoulders as he nodded to Danny and Andy “They dared me…” was his response.
“Ahem!” Diana cleared her throat “I think some people owe others an apology, her eyes wandered from Jace to Dave and finally over to Lily.
Lily’s eyes burst open with a look of dismay “What? Why do I have to apologize, Biu Jei?? He was the one that played footsies with me without asking!!”
Diana let out a sigh “Come on guys…We’re not going to have a peaceful dinner…” she warned.
Jace eventually looked up coolly and said “Sorry Dave.”
Dave didn’t seem too made at Jace but he was still furious with Lily, yet he swallowed his pride and spoke up “Sorry…Miss Wong.”
“There’s two Miss Wong here!” Lily retorted.
Dave took a deep breath and gave her a stiff smile “Sorry, Lily…”
She smiled “That’s better.” Her face quickly fell when she saw Diana glaring at her “What?” Diana shook her head ready to lecture her little cousin “Oh alright! Sorry for yelling at you because you accidentally grazed my leg…Dave.”
Diana smiled at Dave “That’s the closest you’ll get to sincere.”
**********
Vincent drove to her house as he looked around to see if anyone followed him. Using his own copy of the key, he quickly opened it to find the apartment pitch black. “Pumpkin…” he whispered. It was a nickname that he made up for her. He walked towards the sofa where he saw a shadow was sitting, his knee bumped into something hard “Ow!” he cried as he rubbed the bruise.
“Ever heard of the lights?” her voice full of sarcasm.
“Well, I didn’t want to disturb you…” he said slowly.
Suddenly, the lamp by the shadow turned on and the person that sounded unhappy was now smiling as she jumped over the coffee table to hug her boyfriend. “I missed you!”
He chuckled as he hugged her back “It’s only been one day that I didn’t get to see you.”
“That’s why!” she pulled him over to the seat next to her “Did she suspect anything?”
“No…” Vincent said slowly. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to go behind her back like this.”
She leaned against his muscular chest as she stroked his arm slowly “I know, but it’s for her own good. She says she doesn’t worry but I know she’ll give us a hard time.” Suddenly her head popped up “We were so close that last time, I had to keep a straight face to lie to her. She’s my best friend you know…I don’t like it as much as you don’t”
“Well, when do you suppose we should tell her, Josie?”
She smiled “A wedding invitation is always good…” she hinted.
He laughed “That’ll give her a heart attack! Not to mention that she won’t ever speak to you again!!”
Josie looked concern as her eyes moved out to the window looking out into the city, a far away look in her eyes “I’ll tell her soon. I just hope she’ll forgive me.”
Vincent pushed her face back to look at him, taking a hold of her cheeks in his palm as he smiled “She will, trust me. If not, I’ll just quit.”
Josie pushed him harshly “You dare?! I’ll kill you!” she threatened.
“Wow, where did that burst of loyalty come from?”
“I’ve always been like that.” She said defensively.
He nodded slowly “Sure you have…” Vincent was teasing her again. He spread out his arms to hint that he wanted a hug. Josie giggled as she obliged to his orders and fell into his arms again “It’ll be okay. Don’t worry.” He whispered as he smoothed the back of her head.
***********
After dinner, everyone split up except for Travis who was sitting by the bus stop, waiting for his ride. Diana drove by and quickly caught sight of Travis, she figured he probably had a ride home. Pulling down her window as she yelled from her car “Need a ride, handsome?”
Travis smiled back as he jumped from his seat ready to take her offer “Always, from a pretty girl.” He got into the passenger seat and she sped off. After he fastened his seatbelt, he turned to her “You going to sleep early?”
She smiled “Nah, I was gonna take a little drive to the rural area, it’s Saturday tomorrow, I’ll just sleep extra late. So where do you live?”
“Uh…” he wasn’t ready to show her his little apartment. “I live down that street…but you can drop me off here, I’ll walk.”
“Wanna join me for the ride?” she offered.
He grinned “I was waiting for you to ask.”
“Not every girl will make the first move you know.” Her words had a double meaning that he didn’t seem to get.
“I didn’t want to bother your mood. I figured you wanted to be alone?”
“Alone with nature?” she giggled “It’s scarier than you think. Whenever I go there, I lock the doors.”
“Wow…that is scary.” He teased. They laughed comfortably with each other’s presence. When they finally reached their destination, Travis opened the door as he took in the mountain air. The night was a little warm, but still cool.
“At last, a man who enjoys nature. I thought you guys were extinct.” She joked as she too got out of her seat.
He smiled through the dim moonlight as he pushed his way on top of the hood of her car, turning back he reached out a hand to her “Come on, I bet you never did this before!”
She giggled like a girl as she let him pull her on the hood, she watched as he made himself comfortable lying on the roof of her car. His arms behind his head to support it from the metal car. She crossed her arms not willing to join him “Do you have any idea how long it’s been that my car had a full body wash?”
He shrugged his shoulders “Dirt is part of nature.” He patted the empty space next to him. “You’ll be amaze by the view.”
A slow smile swept across her face “Oh, what the heck!” she laid next to him on the hood and when she looked up at the endless sky full of stars, she couldn’t help but smiled to herself. “This is gorgeous…” she whispered.
He was busy looking at her as he agreed softly “It sure is…”
She continue to stare at the sky with a content smile on her face “I’ve never had such a relaxing time before. What’s your secret?” her head moved over to his in time to see his face moving to the sky. She smiled secretly knowing that he was gazing at her.
“Uh…well, just learn to appreciate things that are around you…I guess.” He fumbled with the words.
Diana smiled “That’s a good way of wording it. Tell me, Travis…what is your dream?”
His smile slowly faced as it was replaced with a more serious one “Dream? Accomplishing the most difficult task, to help make my parent’s dreams come true…and to find a person that will love me as much as I love her.”
“That’s a big dream.” She commented “But it’s not impossible. What are you parent’s dreams?” she knew they had passed away when he was young so she didn’t bother to mention that.
“For me to be successful in what I do…” he said slowly.
Diana smiled “If you don’t mind a helping hand, I’ll make them come true.” She offered. Unexpectedly, she leaned over and pulled off his thick frames. “Has anyone ever told you that you look better without glasses?” she brought them up to her face to examine it.
He laughed “One, if you count yourself. Too bad I can’t see anything without it.”
“You’re eyes that bad?” she asked. “Why don’t you get contacts?”
He wrinkled his nose “Hmm…no, I don’t like the idea of having something stuck on my eye.”
“I see…hmm…how about some nicer frames?” Suddenly she sat up and leaned on one side of her elbow. “Have you ever thought about modeling? I think you would be amazing.” She gushed.
He crossed his arms as he looked back at her “Of course not! I’m too goofy…Anyways, my dream was always in photography and layouts.”
Diana nodded as she eased herself back to the roof “I see, it’s such a waste of natural talent.” She sighed over-exaggerating her disappointment.
He smiled “Well, if that’s what you feel, how about I try it out for one day? If I don’t like it, I’ll go back to my work behind the camera?”
Diana sat upright “It’s a deal!” she put out her hand. “Come on, it’s getting late and I’m afraid I can’t stay up anymore.” She muffled a yawn as she prepared to jump off the roof of her car.
“Wait!!” Travis cried. He quickly jumped off the roof and jogged to the side where she was. He put up his arms “Okay, now jump.”
She laughed as she shook her head “Hey, I never told you I was a tomboy growing up. I’ve jumped from trees taller than the roof of my car.” She plopped herself over and landed in between his arms.
He opened the car door for her “It doesn’t mean that you’ll make it safely on every landing though.”
Diana shook her head “You got that right! I’ve got bruises to prove it too!!” they laughed together as she drove him home. She was enjoying his comfortable company for the first time in three years that he’s worked there.
Chapter 8
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
The next morning at Pose was more exciting then the time they first hired Vincent. This time, the news traveled fast about their little match with Blush Agency. How they beat them at a game of volleyball. Everyone seemed to be talking about it except for Josie, who was deep in her own work. After Travis moved to the other department, she realized how valuable he was to her. She had to do everything on her own. That late morning, she gathered her files to make some copies at once so she wouldn’t have to make too many trips. The copy room was quiet except for the sound of the buzzing when it made copies.
She never heard Vincent come in, he was close behind her as he slowly wrapped his arms around her hugging her from the back. Josie was startled but soon relaxed when she recognized his cologne. “Vince, don’t do that…” she whispered as she tried to pry his fingers off her.
He laughed “Who’s going to see? This room is sound proof and it has no windows.” His grip on her tightened.
“Anyone can walk in!” she whispered even louder.
“Good!” he replied.
At that same moment, the door swung open and Vincent pushed her away like she was a hot object in his hands. Shelly looked at them strangely when she saw Josie stumbling forward. “Hey guys.”
Vincent had a habit of rubbing his hair when he was nervous, luckily Shelly didn’t know that about him. “Hey…” he said with his face bright red.
“Wow, Vince…you’re face is really red, did you get sunburn yesterday?” Shelly asked nonchalantly.
“He’s always red.” Josie said sarcastically, trying to diverge Shelly’s attention away from Vincent.
“It is isn’t it?” Shelly smiled. “You done with that machine? I need to make a few copies for Diana.”
“Oh, in that case, go ahead and do it first.” Josie gathered her paper work and stood to the side for Shelly to use the copy machine. She turned to Vince and nodded her head towards the door, indicating for him to leave.
He nodded slowly as he cleared his throat “As fun as it is to talk to you girls, I have to get back to work.” He blew Josie a kiss before leaving the room.
**********
Diana was quiet most of the morning as she hid herself in her office. Close before lunch, she swung her door open and stomped over to the modeling department. She burst through the doors while the guys were practicing their walks “Danny! Get in my office right now!” her eyes were full of fire and anger.
Danny looked at the guys and then back at Diana “I’m working.” He said slowly.
She crossed her arms with a look of disbelief “I don’t care!” she shook her head. “This is more important!”
Jace noticed that she was in no mood for Danny’s attitude so he patted him on the shoulder “Danny, go on. It’s okay, we’ll catch you up on the next step later.”
Danny rolled his eyes “Fine!” he walked by her with obvious annoyance as he glared at her with his eyes even when she was behind him.
When they got inside her office, her face softened “Sorry, but this is really important. I don’t how else to get you out of practice to tell you.”
Danny smiled “Totally understood.” He put up his hand to stop her from apologizing any further. “Go on.”
“I just hung up with one of the reporters of Vogue magazine, it appears that Blush is releasing a quote that they do have a spy in Pose. It’s been confirmed and now we’re looking like idiots because we have no idea who it is.”
Danny listened intently as he slowly nodded “Wow, this is becoming bigger than I thought. When that rumor started one year ago, I figured that the rumor would eventually die down.”
“Instead it exploded.” Diana finished as she leaned back in her chair “Gosh, this company’s reputation is at stake. Its bad enough we are losing clients left and right to Blush and now the reporters are laughing at our ignorance.”
Danny smiled calmly “Di, don’t worry too much about it. Just do the best that you can, I’m sure we’ll beat them out of the market soon enough.”
“I’m not sure about that. Did you know that they have been in business as long as we have? Yet, I barely heard about them in the past year?” she couldn’t imagine her company ever losing it’s name.
“That’s because our competition for the modeling market grew larger this past year. If you ask me, we have a lot more potential, we’re more well known to the public. Just be strong, I’ll get that spy.” He said with full confidence.
Diana smiled graciously “What would I do without you? I still think it’s noble of you to give up on your own reputation to go undercover for me. I swear Danny, one day, I’ll pay you back for everything.”
Danny arched his eyebrow with interest “How about co-ownership to Pose when you become the President?” he was really teasing but she took him seriously.
Her face fell “If you find that spy, you will be helping Pose earn it’s respect back. You deserve the VP seat.”
Danny stopped smiling as he shook his head vehemently “I was just kidding, I couldn’t take half of the shares.”
“I don’t like my gifts to be rejected.” She said solemnly. “Anyways, you better get back to work…” the knock on the door disturbed their little meeting. She quickly quieted down “Who is it?!” she asked with exaggerated anger.
Travis peeked through the door “Di, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Diana’s moved to Danny as she nodded at him firmly “I’m done with you.” He gave her a wink and got off the chair to go back to work, his face changed to frustration to hide the fact that they were not in a heated argument. “Have a seat Travis.” She said softly.
Travis smiled as he took a seat “He didn’t look too happy.” He whispered to her as he spoke about Danny. He didn’t hear her outburst earlier.
“Well, that’s what you get for working under a woman.” She said casually “What did you need?”
“Remember what we talked about last night?” he asked feebly.
Diana nodded “Yeah.”
“Well, I don’t know if I can do it…modeling I mean.” He stuttered.
Diana tilted her head with a small smile “What are you afraid of?”
Travis shrugged his shoulders “Making a fool out of myself? I’m not a model type…”
Diana widened her eyes with surprise “Not the model type? Stand up..” she commanded. He gave her a strange look but did as she told. “Put your hands in your pockets.” Again he did as she told. “Tilt your head to one side and smile at me.” He tilted his head but smiled shyly at her instead “Uh…besides the goofy smile, you look like a model to me, Travis.” She nodded firmly.
He grin broadened “Really?” feeling a little more comfortable as he relaxed his pose.
“There!!” she put her hands up “Perfect! Now how can you stand there and tell me that you are not the model type? Unless you don’t trust my words?”
Travis shook his head quickly as he pulled his hands out of his pock and sat down “It’s not that…I just….well, I get nervous in front of the camera.”
“That’s understandable. Well, how can we help you to be more comfortable?”
A smile crossed his face “I’m comfortable with you?” he hinted.
“Well, I suppose I can leave ALL my work for one day and go to the shoot with you.” Diana teased. When he gave her an apologetic look, she smiled “I’m just kidding. One day will not make that big of a difference. I will be there, whenever you’re ready.”
“How about tomorrow?” he suggested.
She smiled as she opened her book of schedule “Sure…perfect.”
“Can I choose the scene?” he asked.
“Depends on what you have in mind?”
“Waterfall.” He said simply with a faraway look in his eyes.
Diana raised her eyebrows “Really? Well, I’m sure it can be arranged.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said excitedly before getting up quickly. He was rushing so fast that he tripped over the chair that he was sitting on, falling flat on his face. Diana gasp while he popped up like a daisy and smiled nervously “I’m okay…okay!” he said brightly.
She shook her head with a smile “Be careful…” he gave her a quick nod before leaving her alone in her office.
**********
Jace saw Danny walking back with the same look of frustration when he left “How was it?” he was talking about the meeting.
Danny shrugged carelessly “Same warnings…”
“Warnings? Is it me or is it because she’s always picking on you about something?”
Danny played dumb “I don’t know…I never noticed it. She’s always mean.”
Jace shook his head “No no…I see a total difference with you.” Suddenly his face moved into a knowing smile “If I didn’t know better, I think she has a crush on you!”
“No!!” Danny shook his head firmly.
“No, think about it Danny. She only picks on you…and every time she pulls you into the office, its for a long time. She’s naturally nice to everyone else, maybe she’s one of those people that picks on the person she likes? I knew a friend that was like that back in high school. He’d pick on her until she was so annoyed with him. In the end, he confessed that he really liked her.”
Danny cracked up at the ridiculous explanation “That’s crazy, no one’s like that!”
Jace nodded firmly, trying to convince his friend “I am so serious!”
“Well, even if she does….I can never like her.” Danny retorted.
“Why not?” Jace insisted.
“Because….” Danny whispered as his head moved from side to side to see if anyone was listening “She’s a witch…” his eyes wide with fear.
Jace laughed “She may be a little mean, but she’s no witch!”
Danny smiled “Her spells allow people to think that…” he said secretively.
“You’re too much!! I’m going to lunch…witch!…” he was still laughing even when he was in the elevator.
Chapter 9
A Born Natural
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 day, Diana headed out on a little trip with the whole Photo Dept. The van was stuffed with equipment and people. Travis was in a great mood with his smiling face shining throughout the trip. They headed towards the rural area, a place where Travis had recommended because he happened to be driving by one time and found the most beautiful waterfall.
After two hours of being in the cramped van, everyone seemed to explode as soon as the car opened and everyone jumped out. Diana stretched her arms as she smiled up at the sky. It was a bit on the hazy side, but the weather was a bit hot. Which made it perfect since Travis was to take off his shirt anyways.
The set up took another half an hour while the makeup artist prepared Travis for the shoot. He was fine up until Lily announced that everything was in place. His body was trembling inside the robe due to cold feet. Diana was chatting with Lily about the poses when he walked behind her and yanked lightly on her shirt. “What’s the matter Travis?” she instantly noticed his concern.
“Would it be horrible of me to call the shoot off? I’ve never done this before and to be honest, I’m about to pee in my pants!” it was a bit of an exaggeration but that’s exactly how he felt.
Diana gave him a soothing smile as she took his arm and led him over near the rocks of the waterfall. “A promise is a promise, Travis. Anyways, what happened to being comfortable around me?”
He gave her a weak smile “I meant just you and me…”
She giggled as her eyes wandered to the waterfall “Look behind you.” She nodded to the magnificent view. “Don’t tell me this scene doesn’t capture your heart?”
Travis took the view in as he took a deep breath, letting the fresh mountain air suffocate his lungs. “No matter how beautiful it is, I still can’t shake this nervous feeling away.” He said after a moment.
Diana smiled “You’ll be great. Relax.” She reached for his arms and gave them a slight squeeze. Even with the robe, she could feel his shoulders being tense. Suddenly, she thought of an idea “Travis?” he looked at her questioningly “Turn around.” Without further questioning he did as she asked “Sit down.” Again he did what she said “Close your eyes and imagine yourself being here by yourself. How would you feel like? The sound of the water cascading down the rocks…the birds chirping in the distance…their singing your favorite song…” at the same time as she spoke, she gave him a massage as it began to work it’s magic when she felt his tense muscle fully relaxed. “It’s just you and nature today. There’s no one else…” her hypnotic tone of voice got to him.
He opened his eyes slowly, feeling more relaxed than ever. “Thank you, I really needed that.”
“Ready??!” Lily called from a distance as she stood behind her camera that was set on a rock a few yards away.
Diana gave her cousin a little wave to tell her they were. When she turned back to Travis, she gave him a confident smile “Remember, relax.” She put out her hand.
He misunderstood her as he shook it. She smiled and shook her head, her eyes moved to his robe. “Oh…” he said softly, feeling embarrassed. He untied his robe and peeled it off his body. He handed her the robe with a warm smile “Thanks..”
Her eyes tried to move away from the obvious muscled body in front of her but it was hard. She turned around to leave when she couldn’t hold her blush much longer. She’s never seen him so bare before. He wore a simple beach shorts, the color of what the blue sky should have been. But the white clouds seemed to compliment the waterfall even more.
Travis stood there feeling the tension flow all over him again the minute she left his side. Lily smiled as she waved to him “Travis!!” his eyes were still following Diana’s figure from behind. He quickly smiled as he moved his attention back to the camera. The crew were all standing around with props and bottles of water to help him eventhough they barely even started.
At first, he gave a few poses but they all looked too tense. Lily looked at her cousin as she paused long enough to give her a look “He’s too nervous, Biu Jei.”
Diana wrinkled her forehead “I know…” she thought about what she could do to make him feel more comfortable. “How far could I stand where I won’t be in the shot?”
Lily stopped completely and gave her full attention to her cousin “Not that close, just four rocks down from him on either side.”
“That’s good enough.” She said as she began walking towards the rocks where Travis was. “Hey!” she yelled to him, which she didn’t have to since his eyes never left her body “I’ll be here okay?”
Travis smiled as he felt a little more comfortable with her around. Lily gave him the signal again to start doing his stuff. Diana’s closer presence seemed to do it as he began to pose with a more relaxed stature. “Well, I’ll be…” she muttered to herself when he began to let go of his tension and posed some outrageous poses.
“Yeah, do that again except face your front to the waterfall and turned your head back over your shoulder.” Diana suggested. He did everything that she told him to do, except it was even better than what she imagined. He was a complete natural at it. “Now this time, sit on one of the rocks, show half of your body and lean on your thigh.”
“That was great!!” Lily cried out. She loved that last pose. It wasn’t until the film ran out that she realized it was the work of her cousin who was telling him how to pose. “Hold on!” she yelled a she switched the roll of film.
Diana was a bit tired from the heat and trying to steady herself on the rocks so she sat down. Travis took his moment to rest as he ran over to her “Hey, thanks for the suggestions.”
She smiled in return “But you did most of the work. You’re a natural, you know that?”
“Thanks to you.” He smiled warmly at her.
Soon, it was back to work as he did about 30 more poses. By the time the shoot was done, it was over three hours. Travis was exhausted from the sun and posing on the rocks. But he felt giddy as he jumped across the rocks to her. “Be careful!” Diana cried out when she saw him jumping barefoot across the dangerous boulders. She took a step towards him to stop him but slipped on the wet surface as she felt her body falling faced down on the rocks. She let out a cry as she closed her eyes afraid to look at the fall. She felt a warm body blocking her fall after a moment and when she snapped her eyes open she saw Travis below her. His face showing complete pain and she realized that he was hurt. “Travis!” she tried to help him up but he shook his head in agonizing pain.
“No…my back…” he said slowly. The other people were quick to respond as some of the guys ran over to help him. They were able to move him to a more comfortable position.
“Should we take him to the hospital?” Lily asked with concern when she witnessed the whole scenario.
“No…actually, it doesn’t hurt as bad…” Travis explained. Although he wasn’t crying, Diana could tell he was in horrid pain.
“Why did you do that? You could have killed yourself!” she scolded.
He smiled at her through the pain “It was either you or me…I’d rather it be me.” He explained.
She shook her head slowly “I know your in pain, why didn’t you let us call the ambulance?”
Travis raised his head as he nodded to the empty fields “Look around you, there is not even a little farm let alone a hospital. I’ll be okay. Just need to sit for a bit.” He tried to move but the pain on his back was too excruciating. “I’ll just stay still for a few hours…” he joked.
“I’ll get you something to eat.” She came back a while later with a few sandwiches, chips and water as well as a robe since the night was coming and the weather was changing cooler. “Something for the stomach.” She smiled as she handed him the sandwich.
“Thanks.” He let her wrap the robe around his body and took the sandwich graciously. “I need this.” He pointed to the sandwich as he spoke with his mouth full.
Diana laughed “I see that.” She teased. Her face slowly changed solemn “I didn’t get a chance to thank you…”
“Thank me for what?” he was teasing her.
“Saving my life?”
He chuckled “Don’t be so exaggerating. I just helped you that’s all.” He took the last bite of the sandwich and she quickly handed him another one “You sure know the way to a man’s heart…” he joked. The sky was getting darker when he noticed the first star that showed through the navy colored sky. “That’s a planet you know.” He pointed to the obvious bright star.
She followed his finger as she nodded “Jupiter. It’s the brightest in the sky during the summer.”
He raised his eyebrows, impressed by her knowledge “Wow…a girl that knows her planets alignment, I like that.”
She looked away shyly “More like a nerd. I have nothing better to do at night then to study the planets and stars.”
“Join the club.” He joked. “Did you know that the stars are the brightest…”
“At midnight?” she nodded with a smile.
“I should stop embarrassing myself.” He muttered as he turned away.
Diana’s face fell as she turned to him and shook her head “No no…I shouldn’t have cut you off like that.”
He smiled “I was just teasing.”
She breathed a sigh of relief “Good…” her eyes moved away from the sparkles in his eyes and looked up to the sky “It takes your breath away doesn’t it?”
Travis nodded “Yeah…Di?”
“Yeah?” she answered without looking at him.
“What would a person have to do to lose your trust in them?” it was a random question that she didn’t seem to understand as she turned to him curiously “I mean…if a friend was to betray your trust, what would it be that they did?”
She tilted her head as she thought about his question “I don’t know…I’ve never had anyone betray me before. But I suppose it had to be something really bad. Maybe a lie or using me? I don’t know. Why do you ask?”
Travis smiled “Just curious, I’ll make sure it won’t ever happen between us.”
“You consider me a friend?” she asked.
His smile fell “Why? Don’t you? Am I just an employee?” he asked with obvious disappointment in his voice.
“I was just teasing. I was going to say a life saver.” She smiled comfortably. Her attention soon moved to the group that was falling asleep a few yards away. “Looks like we better start going.” She nodded to the people.
She was about to get up as she pushed herself from the rock when she noticed that Travis practically bounced from his seat. He put out a hand to her as he grinned like a monkey “Don’t give me that look.” He said softly when she took his hand and gave him a sly look. “I was hurt, but it went away about an hour ago. I didn’t want to disturb your love for stars so I allowed you to ramble on about the…you should really thank me.”
She shook her head “So that’s why you asked that question?”
He smiled sheepishly “Yeah…lame huh?”
They walked together back to the crew and van “Lame, no. Stupid, yes.” He let out a comfortable laugh at her reply. The trip back to the city was quiet as most people were sleeping, except for the two of them. Diana and Travis stayed awake the whole ride back as they chatted about everything.
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