WHITE MUSTANG / chapter thirteen
——— ₊ ⊹ million dollar man 🪩

( 🏙️ )    manhattan,    new york city

———— FOR SALEM'S LIKING, the limousine was too quiet.

the soft hum of the music coming from the speakers did nothing to help the situation. she stared blankly out the window, not daring to move her eyes to the man sitting next to her.

for some reason, she couldn't look at him without feeling a weird feeling within her every time her eyes met his. so she just tried to ignore him as best as she could.

she crossed her legs to avoid their thighs touching, she held her arms close to her body and her eyes fixed out the window, the beautiful scenery of new york's skyline glowing under the moonlight.

on the other side, nicholas couldn't help but look at her. his gaze lingered on her with his dress on. he couldn't even deny how beautiful she looked, with her blonde hair contrasting her tanned skin and her rosy cheeks that looked so soft.

he could almost feel his hand itching to hold her, but he sent those thoughts away, sighing heavily and interrupting for a brief moment the commercial music from the speaker.

his sudden sigh made her turn her head almost automatically, her worried eyes going to him, "are you okay?" she asked, "yeah, why would i not be?" he answered, crossing his arms as he leaned back in the seat. she just shrugged, smiling at him.

"by the way," he said, composing himself and buttoning his elegant suit, "there will almost surely be paparazzi in front of the building. y'know, winston's parties tend to be a very big deal around here."

she turned her body to him, always trying to maintain a certain distance between them, "yeah, i imagined." she said, bringing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"well... i—" nicholas started, before clearing his throat, "i figured we should probably make a good impression on them. to make the project work, you know."

she tilted her head, confused by his words, "and.. how would we do that?" she asked, trying to read him, although it was very difficult for her. nicholas wasn't one to let people in his thoughts so easily, he was good at keeping things private, and that meant not everyone could easily understand him.

he suddenly went silent, the high-pitched voice of the singer and the upbeat music from the radio being the only sound in the rear seat of the car. he looked in front of him, the glass dividing them from the driver was shut, meaning they were the only two knowing about that conversation.

"we should, i mean... maybe seem close. make them think we're friends and... keep them on their toes for the collaboration." he said, an awkward expression tugging on his face as salem looked at him with her lips slightly parted, trying not to show how much his affirmation struck her.

she hid her real emotions behind her usual mask of confidence and smugness, "so you don't think we're friends?" she asked with a playful tone, her lips forming a subtle smirk.

nicholas rolled his eyes, hiding his shyness, "you know that's not what i meant, salem." his reaction got a light giggle out of her as she covered her mouth with her hand, "i'm joking, but.. i think you're right."

they exchanged looks for a few seconds, and salem thought she'd get lost in his dark eyes. this time, she didn't break the eye contact, feeling something inside of her pull towards him. he was amused by her reaction, smirking amusedly, "you're staring." "and..?" she asked, her eyes still locked in his. "nothing."

as the limousine came to a halt, the two spun their head towards the window on nicholas's side, noticing the entrance of the skyscraper blocked by the dozens of paparazzi in front of them, getting ready to take an infinite amount of pictures to the mysterious person behind the dark-tinted windows.

nicholas sent a gaze of reassurance, "you're ready?" he asked, as she looked at the bodyguards moving the paparazzi away from the car and creating a path for them to enter the building. she nodded, watching him open the car door before a shocking amount of camera flashes and screams struck them.

nicholas left the car with a composed posture, his expression stern and serious as he bent down to help salem out of the car, catching the paparazzi by surprise. no one was expecting to see the most influential young designer with the top model of the moment, so the flashes only increased at the sight of the two.

salem's demeanor was the opposite of nicholas's as she smiled and waved at the paparazzi, an innocent expression plastered on her angelic features, contrasting with nicholas' sharp eyes.

he made sure the dress was okay before he gently grabbed salem's arm without saying anything, moving her to his side and walking next to her. she held his arm with both her hands, according to the plan, to let the people fantasize about what was going on between the two.

nicholas sent her a comprehensive gaze, i see what you're doing, he thought. so he decided to play into the act, a hint of a smile popping up on his face as he let his hand fall from her arm to her waist, pushing her forward on the pathway to the entrance.

she felt his hand on her waist, a growing heat on her face as she felt him push her softly. she looked down, trying to hide her flustered state as they finally made it inside the building.

salem took a deep breath, "those were a lot of paparazzi." she smiled, looking back at the street, "we did great, nick!" she smiled, her sparkly eyes looking up at him.

he nodded, guiding her towards the elevator, following the signs in the decorated entrance, "we did."

somehow, neither of them noticed their hands still on each other. salem held his arm casually, and nicholas's hand still rested spontaneously on her waist, like it was designed to be there.

the doors to the elevator opened as they entered, and nicholas pressed one of the top buttons. salem was amazed at the sight of the clear elevator overlooking the lit-up street in manhattan.

"this place is amazing, your friend must have a pretty big empire." she said, her gaze lost in the ocean of cars zooming left and right in the main street. "well, he does. winston's a great guy, i think you'll like him."

she smiled, her eyes going to him as she squeezed his arm softly, "i can't wait to meet him then."

————————— ‧₊˚ 📰
PEOPLE : HOT . . .

LAST MINUTE!! Supermodel Salem Reid
and fashion designer Nicholas Chavez seen
together in front of Dixon Enterprise for an
exclusive party hosted by the new CEO,
Winston Dixon.

The two seemed very close on the red carpet,
stay connected for any further updates !

the elevator chimed, before the door opened in front of them, revealing a dim environment, full of notorious people that both nicholas and salem could recognize.

for nicholas, it was nothing new, he was used to winston's extravagant locations, but for salem it was the first time, and her mouth remained agape for a while as she took in the amount of silver and gold drapes adorning the walls, as well as the mirror ceiling and expensive decor.

"wow," was the only thing she was able to utter as nicholas laughed at her precious reaction. "let me introduce you to winston." he said, looking around the room as he finally spot his friend wearing what nicholas could recognize as a white gucci suit.

he waved to him, watching the spark in winston's eyes grow as he dismissed the people he was talking with before heading towards nicholas. "nick!!" he cheered, welcoming him in a heartfelt hug, salem moving to the side as she watched the men's hug.

she was sure she had never seen such a big smile on nicholas' face — not that he smiled much around her anyway.

"wins, let me introduce you to my partner for the night," nicholas started, gesturing towards salem. thinking about it, she was sure she actually had never seen him so happy since she got to know him, "this is salem reid, you must know her already. salem, this is winston dixon."

salem smiled softly, stretching her hand towards him, before winston held it and kissed the back of it in a gentlemanly kind of way. "it's a pleasure, miss reid."

"please, just salem." she rushed, a subtle red hue growing on her cheeks. "same for me, just winston."

as salem nodded, her eyes inevitably went to his back, where he caught sight of the last person she wanted to see for the night. her gentle smile fell, leaving its place to a frown as she grew nervous.

she rushed a polite nod to winston, "it was a pleasure meeting you, winston. nick..." she said frantically, tugging at his sleeve to get his attention, "i'm going to the bar, i'll be right back." "but sal, i—" "i'll be right back!"

she didn't let him finish as she stormed away in the crowd of people, heading towards the furthest bar, leaving nicholas in a puzzled expression as he lost sight of her in the crowd.

"sorry about her, i'm..." nicholas started, focusing back on his friend, "not sure what's up with her." winston shrugged, not giving much of a thought, "oh, don't worry. maybe she was just thirsty." he chuckled, nicholas thought that even his laugh sounded rich.

winston brought the glass of champagne he was holding to his lips, gesturing to a waiter to serve one to nicholas too, "i'm so happy you could make it, nick." "of course, you know i wouldn't miss one of your parties. by the way, did you see chandler around?"

winston thought for a second, "oh, yes, i did. i saw him just 10 minutes before you arrived. he came with a pretty girl." his comment made nicholas's curiosity increase, "a redhead perhaps?"

winston seemed to think about it too, "uhm, nope. not a redhead." "oh..." he said simply, taking a sip of his champagne. he low-key felt bad for wanda, he knew how much she liked him, but apparently, she wasn't the one to be there with his friend tonight. he made a mental note to ask chandler who the lucky girl was, later when he'd catch up with him.

"by the way, nick, i have some news for you." winston announced, a wave of pride washing over him. nicholas didn't say anything, letting him continue. "i got a partner. i know, i know, i always said i wouldn't. but you know what? this is a time for change, my friend!"

nicholas felt happy for him, wanting to congratulate him before the last person he could ever imagine popped up behind winston, "nick, this is logan."

his cheerful expression fell completely, his eyes turning into sharp daggers as the grip on the glass tightened, making veins pop up on his hand and arm.

"nicholas! it's an honor to meet you.." logan's fake nice tone hit straight through nicholas, but he wasn't about to ruin the party for his friend, so he pushed his pride aside, "pleasure is mine." he hissed, his lips barely moving.

"oh, may you excuse me. i have to go greet a few people." winston was unaware of the tension between the two as he patted both of them on the shoulders, "i'll be right back, gentlemen."

as soon as he left, logan's feigned nice act dropped, mirroring nicholas' harsh expression. "what the hell is your problem?" nicholas asked through gritted teeth, if he wasn't going to relax his grip on the glass it was surely going to shatter in his hands. "my problem?" logan barked back, his tone filled with venom, "i'll ask you something, chavez. what the fuck are you doing here with salem?"

"why? mad that she ain't your little puppy anymore?" nicholas hissed, a feigned innocent tone as he pretended to forget something, a mean grin on his face, "oh wait, i think you were her little dog, following her around like your whole career depended on her."

before logan could talk back, nicholas stopped him with his hand, "guess what, lewis. she opened her eyes about you. she knows what you did, and she dropped your ass."

logan didn't say anything, just sent him an arrogant smirk, "oh man, i think you're falling for her charms too. she's a player, chavez, wake up. she does not care about you, if that's what she made you believe."

a hint of uncertainty grew in him, but he surely wasn't going to trust logan now. especially, not on salem. "we're not together, dumbass. she just realized what kind of shitty person you are, and would rather work with me than with you." he flashed him a smile, "as simple as that."

"maybe i should ask her personally, if you called her back here." logan's words hit nicholas way more than they should have as he inflated his chest as he challenged him with deadly eyes, "leave her out of this." his tone was as cold as ice, he never thought he'd be this protective towards her. "this is between me and you, she's not involved in this."

"she is, since she betrayed me." logan pointed at him, anger filling his eyes.

he suddenly felt the need to punch, but he stopped himself before things went downhill. he grabbed his collar menacingly, his eyes were like two balls of flames, "leave her alone. don't look for her, don't text her. and don't reach out to her." "why would i do that?"

nicholas let go of him, making him stumble back slightly, "because she doesn't wanna see you, she is with me now. so get lost."

LOLA SPEAKS .ᐟ 𐙚
long ahh chapter 😜
i hate logan btw

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