c h a p t e r | 28
CLOTHED INTERPRETATION
'Had I known you were this eager to undress me, I would have done it sooner.'
__________

TESSA FURIOUSLY PULLED THE SHIRT OVER HIS HEAD, "Will you hurry up!" She instructed Hale to get rid of his pants.

"If it wasn't because the situation called for it, I would have said you're sounding quite desperate," Hale chuckled, however it got cut off as Tessa flung a shirt at him, while trying to contain her annoyance.

"Come on Tessa, at least—" Once again he got interrupted, this time because Tessa had dropped to the floor, pushing at his leg for him to lift his foot so she could pull the boots off him.

"Really desperate," he commented as he put on the shirt while balancing on one foot. "Jeez, had I known you were this eager to undress me, I would have done it sooner."

"Will you just shut up," she gritted through clenched teeth, his smile turning lopsided for a brief while, before it suddenly faltered into a more serious expression.

"Tessa, about—"

"10 seconds on Westbrook!" Another voice called from the other end.

"Got it!" Tessa returned over her shoulder, already pushing Hale forward making him slightly stumble as he was still missing one shoe.

"Now if you actually focussed on the job instead of yapping, we wouldn't be in this much of a hurry," Tessa assessed, her expression unusually stoic and businesslike.

"Oh, so it has nothing to do with the fact that someone didn't show up for the rehearsal?" Hale commented lowly while putting on the last shoe, however Tessa had already left him to cue the assistant by the curtain.

"Just go," she urged him as he still didn't move, though the curtain was opened for him.

"We need to talk, Tessa," his voice slightly breathy by the repetitiously sentence he'd tried making her listen to for possibly the hundred time this evening. However he couldn't hold off his walk any longer and left behind the curtain.

Tessa, not wasting a minute, hurried back to their station, having to read off the next outfit as Hale so rightly had pointed out she didn't know due to her not being there for the rehearsals.

She muttered to herself as she flicked through the hangers more furiously than necessary, and some of the items annoyingly fluttered to the floor, "Had he just kept his damn mouth to himself—"

"Tessa."

"Hale," She breathed, trying to prevent herself from cracking a molar, by hearing his voice already this soon.

"Tessa, will you stop avoiding me for just one damn second?" He demanded while pulling at her wrist to stop her from pulling the pieces off the rag to look at him instead.

"I'm not avoiding you," she evaded, "I'm right here trying to dress you before your next cue, but here you are suddenly gun shy," she proclaimed, earning a snort from Hale.

"You're the one to talk."

"2 minutes on Westbrook," the other voiced called again to emphasize Tessa's words and she pursed her lips knowingly, while Hale's jaw tensed instead, and started to undress himself.

"You can't avoid me, Tessa," he stated again, and Tessa tried to contain a huff by throwing the tie around her neck as no one apparently had sought to it being tied before the runway.

"If you had just-"

"Shut up Hale!" she growled when she had to do the knot all over again.

"Admit you took a later flight just to avoid me."

"Did not," she spoke coldly however her words were clipped by the frustration of not being able to do a simple Windsor knot on the damn tie.

With a sigh Hale ripped the tie away from her to do it himself, "Really, had I known you would be this flustered around me, I could just as well have used some of the freelance stylists around here."

Tessa let out a snort accompanied by an eye roll, which had him look at her fleetingly, however it didn't seem like he actually needed to look at the tie to tie it perfectly.

He let out a sigh, shaking his hair out of his face, a reserved glint in his eyes, "About that—"

He got cut off as he nearly lost his balance by Tessa having dropped to the floor again and pushed at his leg for her to put on the new pair of shoes.

"In other situations this sudden fondness of your current position would have been highly amusing not to mention encouraged— Oww!" Hale exclaimed as she pulled back the elastic on his sock for him to shut up.

Stupid Hale Westbrook and his inappropriate mouth. He just couldn't keep it to himself.

"Westbrook ready?" The assistant called.

"No."

"Yes." They called in unison, however Tessa got one over on Hale by once again pushing him forward.

"You know, I sensed that bossy personality trait of yours in the bedroom the other day, and it's okay, no need to deny it. I don't have any objections to you being on top," Hale joked, obviously wanting to irk a response out of her as nothing else seemed to help, seeing as his own patience was wearing thin.

She glared at him, "Will you cut the crap and just go, you cue is coming up," she urged and gestured for assistant again, however Hale grabbed her hand before she could do so, glancing around to see if anyone was within earshot.

"Tessa honestly, about that—"

Tessa pursed her lips, her eyes lightening as she ripped her arm from his grasp, "Oh, you can rest assured, Hale. I got a boyfriend for christ sakes!" She spat at him. She couldn't care less about the fact that Hale was embarrassed about it and wanted it to keep it under wraps as it suited her perfectly. No, what bothered her was the fact that Hale thought it necessary to bring it up in the first place, and she would be damned if he spun it all out on her.

Like she actually wanted him to kiss her. That kiss was totally out of the blue, not to mention absolutely earthshakingly stupid.

"A boyfriend," Hale snorted with a laugh, however the usual glint in his eye seemed momentarily vanquished, "A boyfriend you have no trouble brushing off."

"If you actually had your life in order I wouldn't have to!" She shot back not caring that Hale's gaze turned even duller, "So get your head out of your ass and stop saying I'm leaving him behind for you, if anything I did it for Noah who deserves more than having you as a brother."

"Curtain on Westbrook!"

Hale on the verge of fuming grudgingly left down the runway, and she shot a look at the schedule manager who looked at her briefly with raised brows.

Tessa heave another heavy sigh, "Models, you know," she retorted to the schedule manager who quickly went back to her clipboard, busying herself by calling out the next model in the line up.

"We need to talk. No bullshit, just talk," Hale's voice once again peeped up in her ear and she flinched slightly as his hand rounded her arm, already pulling her after him.

"The last outfit—"

"Screw it," Hale persisted which had Tessa tug in her heels, pulling against him.

"You want to be serious? Well, then you better damn act like an adult and do your work which is to get ready for that damn runway!"

Hale exasperatedly ran his hands through his hair, as he slowly turned to watch a sour looking Tessa, "We both know when I step out on that runway again you'll be gone before the curtain drops."

"Please—" she snorted however it was Hale's time to cut her off for once.

"No, this is what you do. You act all tough and bossy through this obnoxious business attitude, but underneath there is nothing but that scared little girl, who runs whenever people try to get close to you."

"Close to me?" She chuckled without humor, "Yeah right, you want to be close to me? If anything you just want to be in me," she mocked disgustedly and trotted around him when he slackened his hold, "You just can't accept that your conceited flirty armor took a hit," she bit, already on her way back into his changing station, however she stopped and turned around, as she realized she wasn't done, "So before you accuse me of anything, you ought to notice, I'm not the one to go and shove my tongue down some innocent girl's throat, you are."

"Surely, you weren't that innocent when you kissed me back," Hale retorted his gaze darkening in tone with Tessa's.

"You hate this, don't you?" She questioned as she had a feeling what was bothering him, "That you can't manipulate me into doing what you want me to."

If his gaze was dark before it was nothing compared to the angry expression that fluttered into his features by that notion.

"Trust me, that kiss meant nothing," she continued making sure every syllable was palpable, "You just can't deal with the fact that I don't fall head over heels for you, and it's scares the shit out of you."

"I'm the one scared?" His tone was eerily cold and harsh. The seething sound hissing more prominent with every word, "You're the one hiding behind these obsessive monologues to gloss over the fact that you're the one scared out of your wits by someone possibly getting to know the real you. So don't get down on me. We both know that you working this hard and getting your degree early don't mean shit. After all you're still here stuck in the middle of it," he grabbed some clothes off the rack and threw it at her feet.

The assessment of his words had her boiling with anger and incapable of doing anything than just glare at him. Her hands clenched as if to hold onto her temper which Hale seemed to make a habit of testing beyond limits.

"Face it, at the end of the day you're still that 15 year old girl who got kicked out by her mother."

The reaction was legit as she instantly smacked her hand across his face by him sinking that low, and by how his eyes widened he realized it too. However she wasn't about to stay around for his excuses as she stormed out of the facility, not feeling she could get far enough away from him.

She ran down the streets not paying attention to exactly where she was going all she wanted was an inconspicuous crowd, she could submerge herself in, and one that wouldn't spare her glance and see just how much that hurt.

"Tessa!"

She forced her legs to take her farther into the thickening crowd, as his voice continued to call out at her from behind. Like she would just stay there while he insulted her some more. So maybe it wasn't right to hit him, but still he had no idea how much those words hit close to home.

"Tessa, I'm sorry."

"Go away Hale. I don't fucking want to talk to you," her voice growled as that was all she could muster without letting the tears fill it.

"I'm sorry that was way out of line, it's just... For fuck sakes, Tessa. I shouldn't have gone there. It wasn't fair to you," his voice pleaded.

She cursed the fact that his tall frame allowed him to keep up with her as she zigzagged through the happy crowd that cheerily indulged in a musical night out in town.

"It's just..."

"I don't need your fucking apology," she bit back over her shoulder seeing he was gaining on her too fast for her to push herself through the mass.

"I'm an asshole."

"No kidding," she couldn't help but concede, seeing he didn't need a handout.

"And you were right about those girls."

"Still not disagreeing."

"But I won't let you believe you're one of them," his voice turned softer and she froze when his hand once again rounded around her wrist. His hold wasn't demanding but just as apologizing as the sorrowful gaze that met her when she reluctantly turned around.

"Her name was Emily..."

Tessa started to shake her head, looking away from him, "I'm really not in the mood to hear about the one that got away."

Hale too shook his head, his mouth turning downwards, "She's not." Still with a hold on her wrist, he forced her with him out of the crowd so he didn't have to yell for her to hear him.

As he finally let go of her, she leaned up against the wall adamant on staring at the passing crowd instead of him.

"You know how I always say someone wants something from someone, right?" He started as a moment of deafening silence passed, a vulnerable atmosphere started rolling off him.

"And now you want me to save your ass again, huh? Or better yet forgive you for your filthy mouth 'accidentally' falling on mine." She air quoted with bitterness.

"No, I—" he started his voice rising slightly until he cut himself off to take a deep breath to calm himself. "The kiss—" his words got coughed out uncomfortably as if he was choking, his cheeks possibly flushed underneath the heavy runway foundation.

"I don't have time for this," Tessa kicked herself away from the wall, "And if you think I'm gonna help you explain things at the After Party you better think twice. I'm taking the first flight out of here, you can be sure of that," she proclaimed, however Hale quickly intercepted her escape by standing in front of her.

"Dammit, Tessa. it was true until I met you."

Slowly, she lifted her gaze from his broad chest to his awaiting angular face, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"I get what it's like to be taken advantage of."

The crinkle between her brows only deepened by his words, while his gaze turned more and more vulnerable.

"So yes, I became a dick, making sure no one would ever fool me again, I wasn't about to let another person into my life who would most likely take me for all I'm worth."

"She..." She trailed off not even knowing what she was trying to ask as she wasn't even sure she understood what he was saying.

"I loved her and I thought she loved me, but apparently she was only after what I could give and do for her. When she finally got a hand on the money she ditched me, and left me with nothing. Surely, I wouldn't allow for anyone to do that to me ever again. I wasn't about to get used again, and so I started using others instead."

"Hale, where are you going with this?" Tessa was afraid to ask.

"I know you're not like one of those vultures. You won't ever do something like that and I need you to understand that I won't ever do that to you. I don't expect anything from you."

She looked down swallowing the words, before nodding her head, "Okay."

"I never intended for that kiss to happen, Tessa. I don't know what came over me. It wasn't fair to you, but..." He placed his hand on the wall beside her head, causing her to lean backwards again and her gaze went to his.

"It doesn't mean that I don't want to kiss you again," he shot her a small smile as his gaze fluttered to her lips, his free hand placing a caressing tug to her chin, "Because I do."

_____*_____

A/N: Again this is way overdo - let's just accept that living with my parents and not having a real bed really don't help much on letting the creativity sparks fly? Ugh.

Enough about me whining because after all it is out and updated ! Wohoo ! So what did ya think? Hah.

I don't even have words here myself, I just feel like squealing as I still can't believe they're in this situation.