WHITE MUSTANG / chapter eleven
——— ₊ ⊹ between the lines 🪩

( 🏙️ )    manhattan,    new york city

———— THE DAYS PRIOR to the party, salem was spending more and more time with nicholas. whenever she wasn't busy with shootings or interviews, it was routine to spend the last hours of her working day at the studio with nicholas — and chandler and wanda whenever they were around, which was most times anyway.

but again, chandler never stayed for more than one minute after 5 pm. it was almost comical to salem how he always left right at closing time, while wanda always left when nicholas told her to, which was right at closing time, and to be honest, she didn't mind if that meant walking out the building with chandler — if it was for wanda, she'd follow her boss around all the time to make sure she was doing the best she could at her job.

after spending so much time with them, even salem realized the feelings of the redhead girl for chandler, she made it so obvious with the ways her eyes would light up when he cracked a joke or smiled at her.

"salem."

she sat on top of nicholas' desk, her arms crossed and completely lost in her head when she glanced away from the two of them, joking and laughing together, focusing on the man standing in front of her when he called her name, "did you hear what i said?"

she opened her mouth to speak, only to close it again before letting out a dry laugh, "caught me." she teased, her cheeks tinting a slight pink hue as nicholas furrowed his brows.

he rolled his eyes, the ghost of a faint smile on his face, "i just said..." he noticed where she was looking, turning his head to where wanda and chandler were working together, looking at chandler's digital sketches, "why are you looking at them?"

"she likes him, doesn't she?" she asked, whispering so that nicholas could be the only one to hear. he put down the measuring tape and fabrics he was holding before sitting down on top of his desk, next to salem, "she does, it's pretty obvious."

both of them looked at the pair on the other side of the room, salem smiling softly at them while nicholas frowned, "they're cute." "yeah, but chandler doesn't like her that way."

as nicholas looked back at her, their eyes locking for longer than intended, he noticed a light sparkle in her gaze, before she looked away, pointing at the dress hanging in front of her, "what— what were you saying about the dress?"

catching her small stutter made nicholas amusedly look back at her as he stood up, his thigh swiftly brushing against hers as he went to the dress wrapped around the mannequin, not mentioning her flustered state, "i said that this part," he started, motioning to the beginning of the skirt, "looked too tight on you. we either make this part also tight or we should loosen it up a bit."

truth was that he enjoyed when she'd become flustered, looking away as her cheeks flushed pink, her tongue getting tied and her words dying in her throat. he wasn't used to it, so he didn't understand whether he was the one to cause that effect on her or if she was just like that: extremely fierce on the outside, but tender on the inside.

he shook those thoughts away, god, i'm thinking too much about it anyway.

"i say you tighten that part too. i look better in tight dresses anyways." she said simply. as soon as he focused on his work, his mind fixed to the dress he was working on, salem let out a sigh of relief she didn't even know she was holding, her eyes fixed to the ground as she played with the gold rings around her fingers.

she focused back and forth on her hands and the man standing in front of her, his broad back covered by the black short-sleeved shirt he was wearing.

"can i ask you something?" she asked suddenly, catching his attention as he spun around to meet her eyes. he didn't say anything, but just waited for her to speak. she took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't notice her agitated state even more, "why did you invite me?"

"you're talking about... the party?" he asked, playing with a pen in his hands. she nodded, moving her hair away from her shoulder as it fell flowing on her back.

nicholas shrugged, "well, i told you. for the party we have to bring someone along." "but why me?" she asked again, marking the last word. nicholas stood there, not being able to respond, his eyes locked into hers as he contemplated what to say, his mouth slightly agape.

"because people should talk about us, i think it could help us to gain attention and..." he wanted to add more, be more honest with her about the reason why, but the words died in his mouth, "and i didn't know anyone else honestly."

she nodded, a veil of something similar to disappointment on her face, "yeah, you're right."

nicholas saw right through her, that uncertain feeling inside of her. something was up with her but the thought of asking her made him uncomfortable, so he simply shrugged with indifference, which was everything but his actual feeling towards her right now, "and also, you're gonna wear one of my designs."

as soon as she heard his words, her gaze lit up, surprise written all over her as she jumped down the desk, "really?!"

nicholas chuckled lightheartedly seeing her endearing reaction, "yes, it's from the beginning of the year. one of my best pieces, if i may add."

salem clapped softly, raising her chin to look up at him, "ah, i'm so excited! can i see it?" "no." "no?"

nicholas shook his head, walking away from her as he heard her soft steps following him into the other room, the storage room, "why not?! the party is in two days!"

"it's a surprise." he replied simply, but secretly amused by her excitement, "i can't show you yet. plus, it's not here with me." "and where the hell is it?" "at my place." he smirked, stopping suddenly in his track and making salem go straight against his back.

she backed off, composing herself and trying to calm herself down, "just show me a picture then, you said it's an old piece, you must have a picture of it on the runway." "it never went on a runway, no one ever saw it."

"oh, so i'm the first to wear it?" she asked, the red hue on her cheeks now impossible to hide. "exactly." he confirmed, looking down at her. now that she wasn't wearing her usual heels but a comfortable pair of chanel ballerinas, she barely reached his chin, "you're the first one, so i want it to be special."

she tilted her head, he had decided already and she understood he wouldn't change his mind about showing her the dress. she rolled her eyes since she couldn't get what she wanted, "fine."

nicholas scoffed, looking at her from above, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "what, you're offended now, cariña?"

salem knitted her brows, crossing her arms herself as she mirrored his same position, "what? what did you call me?"

nicholas feigned innocence, the smirk never fading from his face, "nothing, i said nothing." he raised his hands in defense before starting to walk away. before he could even make a step though, salem's cold hand reached for his wrist, making him stop as his eyes darted to their linked hands.

"no! you called me something, what is it?" she asked, feeling a warmer feeling on the hand wrapped around his wrist, watching as his other hand grabbed hers, pulling it away gently to go back to the main studio. she didn't get an answer to her question though, just an amused glance from him, "don't get worked up about it, salem, it's nothing."

"so, you won't show me the dress i have to wear in two days, and you call me things in other languages?" she asked, her lips pouting as he could read the effect he was having on her from how worked up she was getting over a simple nickname, "exactly." he said simply, catching the attention of wanda and chandler from across the room.

"since when do you speak another language, by the way?" she asked, rolling her eyes, "since i was born, cariña."

she widened her eyes, a flush of blush crawling on her cheeks again, "god, stop! are you insulting me?"

they were interrupted from two laughters melting together from the other pair in the room, "no, he isn't, salem." chandler simply smiled, before grabbing some folders and putting them to the side.

salem's gaze darted from chandler to nicholas again, "so, everyone knows but me?"

even though nicholas was enjoying her agitation, he calmed her down by placing a hand on her shoulder, "it's just a nickname, it means darling."

she felt a turmoil of emotions stir up inside of her as she heard what he actually called her, watching him with wide eyes, "oh..." she mumbled, her voice a bare whisper.

"told you, it's nothing." he said finally, turning around and going back to his work, leaving her watching him from afar, her body frozen and her head full of him.

LOLA SPEAKS .ᐟ 𐙚
erm so i love them 😇

thoughts? 👀

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