Chapter 3: How Attractive

                  As soon as the hand crept up her arm and rested on her shoulder, Melissa felt the irritating tingles circling down her spine and ending only when it reached her feet. “Christian Mitchell,” she grumbled. “Hands off before I file a lawsuit for sexual harassment.” She tilted her head to the side and watched him smirk at her before taking the bottle of water from her hand. His forehead was glinting with sweat from his nonstop two-hour photoshoot and Melissa could only glare at him angrily as she handed him a damp towel. Why was it that after an hour of morning jogging, she could come back looking like a complete disaster, but after spending two hours shuffling through clothes and standing under intense lighting, Christian’s sweat only looked like someone had sprinkled glitter all over him? Why was life so unfair?! What did this handsome man have that she didn’t?!

                  “We talked about this.” A bit of water dribbled out of the corner of his lips, and in quite the seductive slow motion, rolled down his neck as if he was taunting Melissa some more. Watch how beautiful I am even with water drooling down my face, he seemed to say. Melissa squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. Or maybe she was just imagining it. “Don’t you remember what I told you yesterday Melissa?” He said to her playfully. “I’m gay. Besides, even if I were to be completely straight, don’t you think I’d be more inclined to harassing the beautiful Miss Maria Sharpe?”

                  Melissa sighed. Maybe Christian Mitchell was a big, lying scumbag, but he was right about that one thing. Shifting her attention back to the photoshoot where Maria was doing solo shoots at the moment, Melissa sighed even deeper in her misery. Not that she thought she was anywhere near ugly herself, but if only she could look like that. If Adriana Lima could be called Victoria’s Secret’s biggest, most well known supermodel, Maria Sharpe could definitely be said the same for Flirtatious.

                  Not only was Maria stunning in looks, always beautiful with her deadly brown eyes and her bouncy shoulder-length, blonde ringlets, she also grew up in France bringing with her this classy French accent to New York. Melissa groaned when she saw Maria blowing a kiss Christian’s way. Apparently the blonde seductress, known as much for her obscene temper tantrums as her incomparable beauty, had taken a distinct liking for her fellow modeling companion.

                  Christian openly blew a kiss back her way, though downright shook in his pants when he felt Melissa’s narrowing gaze on him. “I uh… It’s for keeping up the image,” he said, smiling a little as he swallowed hard. “You know, as a playboy.”

                  Nodding, and trying her best to push down the sarcastic remark she felt like muttering, she sat down beside him on one of the chairs across from the tiny refreshment table. “So speaking of that,” she started. “What type of guys do you like anyways?”

                  He shrugged, his eyes still deadpan on the French supermodel as he waved Melissa off. “Oh you know,” he muttered nonchalantly. “This and that. Anything and everything.”

                  “Even that?” She asked, pointing to Mr. Goodling, the vice-director, who uncharacteristically had wandered down to check in on the photoshoot. If there were an award for the worst comb-over of the year, hands down Mr. Goodling would win. There was just something very disturbing about the three pieces of long hair that he combed to the left and gelled into the exact place everyday. Not even a tornado can blow that hair apart, Melissa thought glumly as she met Mr. Goodling’s eyes.

                  “Sure,” Christian answered with lazy boredom. “I love it. It drives me crazy.”

                  At once, Melissa burst into laughter and the giggles were so contagious that it brought Christian out of his reverie with the model, and settled his gaze on her. He grinned, a smirk that showed off half his pearly whites, before he asked her what was so funny.

                  “You have the hots for Mr. Goodling?” She teased, and watched in complete amusement as it dawned on Christian’s pretty face whom he’d just admitted drove him crazy.

                  “Well I…” He staggered, struggling for the right words, if there was in fact any at all. “I was just…”

                  “I’m going to tell him!” Melissa giggled at once. Normally, it would be out of character for her to tease someone so badly, but since she thought Christian highly deserved whatever ill fate came his way, she pivoted on her feet and flew towards the vice director. She could hardly contain all her excitement when she ran up to him with Christian speeding behind her. “Guess what Mr. Goodling?! Christian has the biggest crush on– ”

                  “Your hair!” He blurted. “I love your hair Mr. Vice-prez! It’s uh… It’s got wicked style!”

                  Melissa laughed while struggling to break free from Christian, who had at the last second, came up behind her and covered up her mouth. Their playful wrestling got them both a raised eyebrow from the vice director before he gently touched his fingers to his head. He was a susceptible man though, the kind of guy who didn’t have anything going on for him outside of work, so he welcomed the social interaction with thrill and a boost of self-esteem. “Why! That’s the first time anyone’s ever told me that,” he laughed. “I spend an hour on it every morning.”

                  Christian grimaced as he studied the three clustered locks of hair that bridged across the man’s shiny scalp. “That’s… nice,” he said.

                  The compliment, no matter how insincere, brought the fifty-year old gentleman into a deep reflection of his past. “This almost makes me glad that I went bald young,” he declared. “Getting a compliment from someone like you.”

                  By then, Melissa had broken free from Christian’s grasp and stood tautly beside him as her mind sparked up with another plan. “Oh I’m sure it must have been all the stress from when you were young,” she muttered thoughtfully. It was Mr. Goodling’s weakest aspect after all; anything to do with his youth sent the man mumbling on for hours on end, boring his guests to tears. Worse, he had the kind of presence that people couldn’t seem to walk away from without feeling immense amounts of guilt.

                  Right on cue, Mr. Goodling rubbed his chin with the pads of his forefinger and his thumb before issuing a soft nod. “Oh I remember those days,” he started. “We barely had enough to eat those days. Nobody did. It was very different from the days you youngsters grew up in. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.”

                  Melissa felt her own head spinning as she heard him speak, but when the right moment came, she quickly cut in with a smile. “Mr. Goodling,” she interrupted as politely as she could. “It’s actually getting close to lunchtime.”

                  “Yeah!” Christian shouted. His eyes, which had been dulled half to sleep, suddenly lit up in a soft array of greens. “It’s lunch and I’m uh… I’m kind of hungry if you don’t mind.”

                  “So why don’t you guys both go out for lunch,” Melissa suggested. “Have some nice male bonding time!”

                  The moment Christian realized what she had signed him up for, his expression drained of color. Mr. Goodling’s on the other hand, lit up, his cheeks flushed with livelihood. “That’s a great idea,” he bellowed, before turning to Christian. “I feel like we’re kindred spirits! How fun it is speaking to you!” He reached out and gave Christian a big pat on the shoulder and when Melissa saw, she couldn’t help but giggle weakly.

                  “Have fun then,” she said, bowing her head before taking her exit. “There’s a couple of errands I have to run so I’ll take my leave now.” Trying her best not to laugh before she made it to a safe place, Melissa picked up her feet only to discover someone had taken hold of her wrist right at the last moment. When she turned around, Christian had turned his back to Mr. Goodling and was forcefully smiling at her – a big smile filled with strain. A full set of white teeth shone at her, but they were clenched just as tight as he was holding her. “You’re coming too,” he gritted out when he got her full attention.

                  Melissa’s eyes flickered over and caught the confused expression of Mr. Goodling before turning back to her captor. “What are you talking about,” she muttered innocently. “There’s no way I can intrude on your male bonding time. I’m only a wee little secretary assistant after all. It wouldn’t be right for me to have lunch with the vice-director.”

                  Just as innocent – if not more – Christian threw a quick glance over his shoulder. “You don’t mind if Melissa joins us for lunch do you?” He asked.

                  Mr. Goodling laughed at the obscenity of his question. “Of course not! The more the merrier. I think you’re a very important asset to this company too Melissa. Do not act so bashful. Join us for lunch.”

                  “But… But…” Melissa bit her lip in agony and almost exploded when she saw the corner of Christian’s mouth lifting up into a smirk. “I can’t,” she flustered, turning back to the vice-director. “I have errands to do still. The… The dry cleaning! I have to get Christian’s dry cleaning before the shop closes! It’ll be closed by the time he finishes his work tonight so I have to do it now.”

                  “Oh that can wait,” Christian muttered, tugging her wrist slightly. “It would be rude to reject the vice-prez’s goodwill after he invited you to out for lunch Melissa. That’s more important, isn’t it?”

                  Adamant on not sitting through an hour of torture, Melissa ripped her hand out of Christian’s grasp, but managed a sweet composure rather than an irritated one. “But you didn’t really pack anything when you came,” she reasoned. “If I don’t get your dry cleaning today, you won’t have any clothes to wear!”

                  Christian smirked at her in reply. “Then I’ll just have to walk around naked,” he said.

                  Melissa cringed, but it was the ridiculously ridiculous wink he added at the end of his sentence that gave her that nails on a chalkboard feeling. “But I…”

                  “Oh enough,” Mr. Goodling grumbled. “Come now the both of you or else your lunch break will be over before you even know it!”

                  By the end of the day, Melissa was on the verge of strangling Christian. Lunch had bored her completely out of her mind, but the worst part was that Christian had found the whole thing highly entertaining. He even thrived on the fact that she had set herself up for failure and Melissa shuddered at the thought. What if Christian actually knew that she knew that he wasn’t actually gay? What would that mean? Would they still continue not to know each other’s secret?

                  Grumbling, she gently knocked her knuckles against the side of her head and cursed herself for not being born cunning and smart. She was way too naive and even-tempered that was for sure. Even if she wanted to straighten Christian out – pun completely intended – she would need a lot more than determination for that to succeed.

                  Heaving a sigh, she watched Christian walk back and forth across their flat in nothing but his beer logo boxers. His excuse? ‘Maybe you should have gone to get the dry cleaning instead…’ and of course, ‘at least I’m gay so it’s not that awkward’. Melissa couldn’t even believe she was being dragged around by his words even though she knew they were outright lies, and how many more days was this going to last? She was going to start drawing stick marks on her bedroom wall to count – like the people in jail did.

                  Around quarter to six, her luck finally seemed to change for the better when Christian stepped out of his room with clothes on despite his argument that he had none only an hour or two earlier. He was in a V-neck tee that stuck to his body slightly and a pair of faded jeans that lead her eyes straight to his butt… not that she was looking. It was just inevitable that he was so… airbrushed looking.

                  “Are you going out?” She asked from the living room couch where she had the T.V on and a book in one hand she was pretending to read. 

                  “Yeah.” Raising one eyebrow, he paused and stared at her thoughtfully. “Are you gunna be okay having dinner alone tonight? I have to run a couple of errands and then I’m meeting a friend after. He just flew in.”

                  “That’s fine,” she muttered. Actually, it was better than fine. Whoever this friend of his was, she was grateful for his appearance. At least it brought her a night of freedom and she didn’t have to make him dinner tonight. “Sounds a bit fishy that he just flew in and you’re rushing off to see him though,” she added playfully. “Is he really just a friend or is he a lover?”

                  Christian laughed at her remark, but made no further comments about the topic. “Can I have the car keys love? I want to take the car.”

                  “Sure. They’re just in the little glass bowl on the kitchen counter.”

                  “Sweet.”

                  Melissa watched him disappear into the kitchen and when he reappeared, Christian only stopped shortly to say goodbye before leaving her alone in the apartment. It was fine with her. After he left, Melissa finally felt at home enough to take off the multiple shirts and tank tops she had donned on as safety measurements. Not that it would have helped much realistically speaking, but it did offer her some peace of mind nonetheless.

                  She was midway through her instant noodles, watching The Vampire Dairies on T.V when Lacey called and begged for a favor. “I need you to go and buy me a box of tampons,” she cried.

                  “What?” Melissa laughed. “You’re kidding me right? Where are you right now?”

                  “On a date!” She shrieked. Melissa only laughed harder when she heard Lacey whimpering in the background. “I’m not kidding Melissa! I’m honestly sitting on top of the toilet in the lady’s room right now. Please help me out! It’s not far from your new place.”

                  “Alright. Alright.” She chuckled, quickly grabbing a cardigan and her bag as she headed towards the door. “Just tell me where.”

                  The destination was a little Italian restaurant not far from where Melissa worked. She remembered walking by it several times herself, but had never gone inside for lunch to try the place out. As soon as she walked in, a server greeted her warmly. “Hi there. For one?”

                  “Oh, I’m just looking for someone,” she mumbled and when the server allowed her through, Melissa headed straight towards the washroom. She managed a quick glance into the dining area to see if she could guess who Lacey’s Mr. Probably Not Right is, but didn’t get a chance to survey the whole area as she dashed by. Once she was inside the washroom, she headed to the third stall down and knocked on the door like Lacey had instructed her to earlier on the phone. “Lace? It’s me, Melissa.”

                  “Do you have the goods?” She hissed and Melissa had to roll her eyes as she dug into her bag for the box she had purchased outside.

                  “I brought you tampons Lacey, not drugs,” she muttered. She waited outside until she heard her friend flush and saw her exit the stall to wash her hands.

                  “God, I’m so thankful for you right now you have no idea,” Lacey blubbered. She dried her hands quickly before fixing her hair in front of the mirror. “I asked three different girls who walked in if they had any, but god, life is such a bitch to me sometimes. I swear to god they had some!”  

                  Melissa wanted to ask her a bazillion questions like how come she came to a date completely unprepared for one, but the thought of the poor guy waiting for Lacey outside stopped her on her tracks. Was he even still there? How long did he even wait? “Stop touching your hair,” she mumbled and gave the girl a push. “You should go and see if he’s still there. He probably thinks you took a big dump.”

                  “How attractive,” Lacey laughed. She threw her arms around Melissa and hugged her with all her might before she said her goodbyes and raced back to her date. Melissa stayed behind long enough to catch a glimpse, but unfortunately, he was sitting with his back facing her and she left after a moment of defeat. She knew Lacey would fill her in on it later if he was anything worthwhile – that, or if he turned out to be a complete loser. Otherwise, if Lacey were to report every date she had, it would get to be a bit too much considering the fact that she was a classic serial dater.

                  Since she didn’t exactly live too far away from the restaurant, Melissa decided to walk back instead of taking the cab. On one hand, she could save some money, and on the other she felt like a stroll to take in the scent the rain had left behind an hour ago. It didn’t even take her ten minutes before a cab pulled in beside the sidewalk a few meters from where she was walking. The back door swung opened and when he climbed out, her heart started fluttering at once. No, it might have been a lot less attractive than that. Not flutter, but flapping, like a fish fretting about on dry land when it couldn’t get enough oxygen; that was what Melissa felt like.

                  He took one look her way as she walked closer; jet-black hair with the kind of rare, mysteriously beautiful blue eyes most girls can only achieve with colored contacts. They were stunning, but they weren’t friendly looking eyes. Instead, his eyes were a color that reflected his demeanor well: ice cold and unforgiving. Strong, broad shoulders made him appear extremely masculine and proud. Dark stubbles lined his well-defined jaw line and he stood and carried himself like he was nothing short of royalty.

                  Maybe it was the fact that he was extremely attractive and totally her type, or maybe it was the fact that he was so dangerous looking – whatever it was, it made Melissa’s knees wobble when she walked and that was all it took for her to fall. Quite literally.

                  The good news? She didn’t break her ankle even though she was wearing three-inch wedges.

                  The bad news? She fell right into a puddle and splashed the muddy water all over his shoes… his very expensive looking shoes.