WHITE MUSTANG / chapter one
——— ₊ ⊹ devil's advocate 🪩

( 🏙️ ) manhattan, new york city

————— AS ALREADY STATED, nicholas' ability to arrive on time was the same as a broken clock with no hands holding onto dear life. his narrow eyes darted every two seconds to the car's clock, speeding into the late morning traffic as he followed the gps with the address of the meeting place wanda had provided him with.

nicholas felt like he could have gone insane in a matter of seconds. "dear god, fucking move!" he shouted to the black car in front of him, zooming past it and sending a death glare to the relaxed driver, "who in the world gave you your permit?" he hissed angrily to himself.

as he halted at the umpteenth red light, hitting the steering wheel with a harsh smack, wanda's name popped on the display of his luxurious car, "jesus, not now..."

he accepted the call, wanda's high-pitched voice echoing in the car as she whispered-yelled at him, "where the hell are you, nicholas?"

"i'm stuck in the traffic!" he spat out, not caring that his voice echoed from the phone against wanda's ear, "god, you couldn't have picked a worse hour for an important meeting."

as soon as the traffic light turned green he speeded in the street: that day the last thing he cared about was getting a ticket. he had to move and arrive as soon as possible.

"well, i didn't get to pick the hour!" she talked back, agitation clear in her voice. she cleared her voice, composing herself. "sorry, didn't mean to scream at you," she said shaking her head softly.

"listen, i'm almost there, i'll be there in five," he said, his eyes darting on the streets. he was about to end the call, but before doing so, he added, "get me coffee, i had no time to get it this morning."

a loud sigh by wanda echoed in the car as she whispered, "i'll go insane one of these days." nicholas snorted amusedly, before hanging up the phone. he surpassed the vehicle in front of him, cursing the driver under his breath.

with an ungodly speed that could have caused him the withdrawal of his driver's license, nicholas managed to arrive at the building of the meeting.

he skillfully parked the car, collecting the papers scattered on the passenger seat and shoving them in his briefcase before exiting his luxurious vehicle. as he entered in the main hall, he was met with his secretary, her phone in one hand and a paper cup of coffee in the other one.

wanda handed him the cup before rushing him towards the elevator, "you'll make us look bad, you know that?" she said without thinking. she would have probably slapped herself if she realized what had just escaped her lips.

nicholas shrugged, a bold smirk adorning his face, "god, you sound like chandler. you should stop spending time with him." he sent her a side glance as they entered the elevator and wanda tapped a button, "i'm a rich and busy man, they'll understand."

he looked down the window that looked out in the grey sky. at that moment he wished to be everywhere but there, waiting for what was about to be the most useless meeting of his career. he had already pretty much decided on the outcome of the meeting, he was just waiting to deny any offer and go home, continuing with his free day.

a chime rang as the elevator doors opened, revealing a long elegant hallway. wanda's heels clacked on the marble floor as she handed nicholas a stack of papers that he was definitely going to read. she halted in front of a black double door, looking up at nicholas, "they're already inside, be professional."

"i'm always professional," he joked, a hint of an annoyed expression lingering on his face.

"you know what i mean," wanda tilted her head, gesturing towards the door handle, "don't be impulsive and don't throw hands."

nicholas let out a content sigh, remembering the extreme situation wanda was referring to. it's not like the person involved didn't deserve it. he sent wanda a reassuring smile before opening the door, "good morning, everyone. may you forgive me for my del—"

from the other side of the bright room, around a modern glass table, three people stared at nicholas. two of them were sitting, a man and a woman, while the last person was standing next to her. entering the room, he could have expected everyone but the throw-hands situation wanda mentioned to.

the sitting figures were the ones catching his attention: the girl fidgeted with the gold rings around her long fingers as a small enigmatic grin grew on her red lips. her hair was waving behind her shoulders in soft and beautiful waves, framing her round face perfectly. her feline-like eyes were definitely her best features, along with her plump lips. the deep colour of her pupils contrasted with the soft shimmers of her eyeshadow and her long natural lashes made her look like a panther about to jump on its prey.

by her side, the man rested his back on the office chair, his dark brown curls falling on his forehead while a mischievous smirk spread on his face, making the blood inside nicholas' veins boil in anger. out of all people he could have met, he was the last person he wanted to see that day.

not just that day, but more like for the rest of his life.

the standing man walked around the table, offering a warm hand for a handshake. nicholas couldn't even look at him as his deathly gaze pierced the man on the other side of the room, who was sending him the most annoying, punching-bag grin he could muster.

"good morning, my name is cameron warren, i'm miss reid's manager," he pointed to the girl, who sent nicholas a small wave with her slim hand as a seductive smile was plastered on her soft features. nicholas' impassive eyes switched for a mere second from the man to the girl, before going back to the man, "and that is—"

"i know who that is." his eyes were still piercing the man as he turned his head towards salem, whispering something inaudible in her ear. his god-awful smirk never left his face, making a vein on nicholas' neck start to pop in anger, "could you give wanda and me just a second?"

he smiled politely, clearly about to explode as he pushed his secretary out of the room, without waiting for a reply from cameron. the anger in nicholas' eyes was more than evident, "why in the fucking world didn't you tell me he was here?!" he snapped, trying not to scream at her.

"i had no idea! i found out when i arrived too!" she defended herself, "and if i told you on the phone you wouldn't be here now."

"of course i wouldn't!" he panicked, massaging his head with his hands, "that's logan lewis we're talking about." he let out a heavy sigh, trying to calm his nerves down.

"i know," wanda tried to calm him down, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it slightly, "and i know what you've been through with him, but please go back inside and listen to what they have to say. there must be a reason if he's here."

since running out of there and going back home wasn't an option for nicholas, he decided to take a deep breath before opening the door and going back in after wanda.

"it's a pleasure to see you too, nick." logan stared at him through his eyebrows, the usual shit-eating grin he was known for on his lips. he laughed mischievously, resting an arm around salem's chair, "didn't even say hi to me."

"you shut the hell up, logan spencer-lewis." he hissed angrily, placing his coffee cup and papers on the table, and a small droplet of coffee spilling out of it because of how firmly he had put it on the table. the anger in him made him feel like he could have smashed the glass table with just a fist, but he held back.

despite cameron offering him a chair in front of the pair, he decided against sitting down. you never know, i might have to jump at his throat, he thought.

logan snorted, "damn, the whole government name too," he looked down, snickering at himself.

"why in the world are you even here?" he burst out, unable to control himself. a sarcastic laugh left his lips as he crossed his muscular arms in front of his chest, "what is your deal this time? thought i was pretty clear back then."

"maybe if you shut up, cameron could speak," logan's smile faded away, glaring at nicholas with an annoyed expression. wanda had to place a hand on nicholas' shoulder to avoid him jumping right on him and remind him that they were at a formal meeting.

when nicholas' deathly gaze finally left logan moving it to cameron, the latter cleared his voice, "so, to start, i'd like to thank you for your time, mr chavez. i'm sure it must have been hard for you to find some time in your agenda." a soft smile spread on the manager's face, "we'd like to begin by—"

"if i'm gonna work with you, logan is joining," for the first time, a feminine voice echoed in the room, throwing nicholas off guard as everyone's eyes fell on her. she had a velvety and soft voice that matched perfectly with her face.

nicholas analyzes every one of her features silently, concluding that salem reid was, indeed, one of a kind. he had never seen a beauty like hers, someone with that much charm exuding from them.

"pardon?"

"you heard that right," logan spat out, before being interrupted by the girl who straightened herself on the chair, "we work together now, i'm gonna model for your company under the condition that logan will be there too."

nicholas burst out in a sharp laugh, turning towards wanda to make sure he heard that right, and the girl could only fake an awkward chuckle as nicholas turned back towards the three, "you're joking, right?"

"she's not," logan firmly stated.

"well, then i'm sorry to disappoint you, honey," he grabbed his coffee, making sure he emphasized the last word, glaring right into her eyes, "but i only design women's clothing. if logan's going to join, what is he gonna wear? a gown? please..." he smirked, taking in a mouthful of coffee.

a nervous sensation grew inside of him, he still couldn't understand how he ended up in that situation. After everything logan and him had gone through, seeing him right in his face, blatantly ridiculing him, gave on his nerves more than his attitude ever did and he realized that denying their offer was going to be way easier than he had anticipated. Maybe throwing hands right now wouldn't be such a bad idea...

"that's why you're gonna design a whole new line for the fashion week." salem stated calmly, her feline-like eyes never leaving the man standing in front of her. nicholas, on the other hand, swore his heartbeat stopped for a moment and that he would have collapsed on his feet if it wasn't for wanda coming to the rescue once again, making sure to hold his coffee and calm him down.

"you must be joking!" he shouted, surely anyone on the floor had heard that, "do you think it's that easy to design a whole new line?! fashion week is in september. september! that's three months from now! does it sound like enough time to you?"

nicholas held onto the table with a menacing look in his eyes, towering over the girl sitting in front of him as he got close every passing second. she could feel his rage-filled heartbeat pumping in his chest, "i've been designing this collection for the past six months. sure, i may be slow, but the details and the perfection i put into my designs are what made my brand a success, and surely i don't need your approval for that."

"you can get lost if you think i'm gonna agree to this," he concluded straightening himself up, snatching the cup from wanda's hands as he stormed out the room, slamming the door behind him.

the room fell into a deafening silence as cameron and wanda glared at each other, still processing the scene that just unfolded in front of them. wanda held the papers tightly to her chest, fixing the thick glasses on her nose, "may you excuse me for a second?"

she left the room, chasing after her boss, who had already taken the elevator to leave. she grabbed her phone from her pocket, quickly dialing nicholas' number, "where the hell are you going?"

"did you fucking hear what she told me? were you in the room as well?" he yelled in her ear, so much that she had to take her phone away from herself. "did you hear the tone she spoke to me with?! who the hell does she think she is, dictating me what to do with my brand and my line."

"i know, she did wrong, but—" wanda tried to say, but was immediately interrupted.

"no, wanda." her name sounded like a threat coming out his mouth. "there are no buts. i'm going home, i don't wanna hear about her, and certainly not from logan, anymore." and with that, he hung up on her.

in the meeting room of the building, the three were still contemplating the awful meeting they had just gone through.

"don't worry, sal, he was always this rude." logan scoffed, squeezing salem's exposed shoulder with the hand he still had around her chair. he gazed at her blank expression as she stared at the door in front of him where the designer had stormed out just a few minutes prior. "don't worry about him, he's going to crawl back to you. he will never admit it, but he needs you."

"yeah..." she got up from the chair, letting logan's hand fall off from her shoulder. she brushed her lustrous hair with her slim hands as the three of them left the room, considering the meeting over.

salem couldn't deny how intrigued she was with the famous designer. he was way different from her expectations, starting from his appearance. the pictures she saw online didn't do him justice: his features were way stronger in person and his aura was more dominant and strong. she admired the fact that he didn't allow himself to be trampled over by anyone else, including her.

if she didn't know he was a designer, she would have assumed he'd be a model, considering his breathtaking visuals.

his persona was way more mysterious and fascinating in salem's eyes than what she would have liked to admit. she almost wished the boy next to her, hanging his arm around her shoulders, wasn't there. i guess i'll have to find another way to bring him back to me.

LOLA SPEAKS .ᐟ 𐙚
another long ass chapter 😆
but heyyy at least there's
drama right? 👀

let me know your thoughts <3

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