WHITE MUSTANG / chapter five
——— ₊ ⊹ seal the deal 🪩

( 🏙️ ) manhattan, new york city

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INSTAGRAM : salemreid
⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .🥂𖥔˚ 𐙚

liked by indiegrimes, loganspence_lewis & 1.793.004 others...
—— salemreid this event was chaotic but at least my dress looked cute ! (thanks cam for the last pic ❤️)

COMMENTS

indiegrimes DRINKING WITHOUT ME??
⠀⠀⠀salemreid sorry girly 😭

user pink looks so good on you 😍
[ liked by salemreid ]

user COME TO EUROPE PLEASE 😭😭😭
⠀⠀⠀user literally, when is she coming to paris fashion
⠀⠀⠀week?

loganspence_lewis you look good ❤️
⠀⠀⠀user i love salem and you so much 😭

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NEW NOTIFICATION : nicholasalexanderchavez started following salemreid

————— THE SUN WAS already setting, as nicholas was finishing off his work for the night. almost everyone had already gone home, calling it a day, but not nicholas. despite his third mannequin of the day being almost completed, he wasn't quite done with work that day.

he held a shiny but elegant piece of fabric in his hands, wrapping it around the mannequin's shoulders and pinning it on it. he stepped back, checking it out to make sure it was even. he nodded, content with his work before turning towards his desk to take a sip of water.

he had been working nonstop since 9 in the morning, and as he looked up at the clock on the wall, he was surprised to see how it still was only 7.49 pm. he sighed, massaging his temples with his hand, sitting down on the edge of the desk.

whenever it was fashion week season, life for him was always like that. stressful, packed, and tiring. he barely slept at night, always thinking about the appointments and tasks of the next day. he could only get a decent amount of sleep on the weekend — if he didn't decide to screw everything up and work in the weekends too.

but wince last night, something else hadn't left nicholas' mind. the unexpected meeting at the lounge he would always go to with chandler was still plastered in his mind. he replayed every second, wondering how in the world it was possible that out of all the people, he met salem.

he snorted at the thought, smirking at the idea that he was able to make her question the trust of the man he was once close to as well. she looked genuinely shocked hearing his words, and that only inflated nicholas' ego more.

he was the one in the right, he had always been. he wouldn't have wasted a single opportunity to prove that logan was not a good person. and with salem, it worked.  

a sudden knock from the door distracted nicholas from his thoughts and his growing headache. he wasn't sure whether said headache came from too much work or the three cups of coffee he had drunk that day not to fall asleep.

he raised his head, turning it towards the door, only to be met by a blonde head popping from the glass. he stood from the desk, straightening his back and looking at the girl with his signature stoic expression, "how did you come in?"

they weren't currently at the main building of his brand, but a way smaller one situated a few blocks away. a loft on a more quiet street, where he used to work whenever he didn't have to go to the office for bureaucratic crap, how he liked to call it.

"the door was open," she said simply, looking around the room. he nodded, as if he didn't leave the door open on purpose.

nicholas signaled her to come inside, and the girl slowly and hesitantly came in. he looked away, glancing outside the window of the second-floor loft.

salem was wearing a black long-sleeved sweater, white ribbons sewn on the sleeves, and flared denim jeans. she wasn't wearing makeup, but her skin was clearer than ever and her hair was neatly styled. she seemed like she was just in the office as well.

"ever since yesterday," she started, looking around the studio before looking at him, "i just— i couldn't stop thinking about what you told me. about logan, i mean."

nicholas nodded awkwardly, not sure what to say, "yeah, well... i told you, truth hurts." "i just can't believe he'd lie to me." she clarified, pointing at herself with her index, "if everything you said is true, then he's fucked up. and it blows my mind how i couldn't notice before."

"why would i lie about this?" he said, his brows furrowing before he scoffed, "i can't lie, he's a good actor for making you believe his shit. he'd do anything for a pretty girl to stand by his side, i swear."

salem stopped, raising her eyebrows at his words. she couldn't help but crack a small smile, "you think i'm pretty?" she asked, tilting her head. nicholas blocked in his tracks, realizing just now the words that came out his mouth, "that's not the point, i was just saying." he said embarrassed.

salem cracked a small laugh, not missing his agitated state,  "i'm just joking." she ran her hand on the sheets of paper on the work table, looking down at the sketches and models for his next designs. she moved her feline-like eyes on him, studying his expression, "i really wanna work with you, i think your designs are great." she confessed.

he didn't drop the stoic face, but he felt his inside relaxing. she believed him, "well, i'm glad you do." he said honestly, his voice sounding less harsh and more welcoming. he scratched his neck awkwardly, "well, shouldn't we... tell cameron or something? we should sign a contract."

"let's worry about that tomorrow," she smirked, linking her hands behind her back as she looked up at him, "why don't you show me something you've been working on?"

before nicholas could even reply, salem was already walking past him, the three mannequins next to the window calling for her. she stood in front of them. as nicholas approached her from behind, "uhm, well... these are nowhere near finished." he pointed at the mannequins.

the first one was almost bare, with just a straight and plain piece of black fabric wrapped around it; the second one was its opposite, almost completely clothed in a doll-like navy blue dress; the third was the one he was working on earlier, from which the piece of shiny fabric was about to fall.

"those are not for fashion week," he said simply, towering over her from behind, his black stone island shirt wrapping around his body like a second skin, "those... are the models." he said with a little proud smile, hesitantly holding her shoulders to move her in front of a corkboard, where beautifully drawn sketches hung.

her eyes widened seeing them: the cut of the dresses, the concept, everything was mind blowing to her. she couldn't help but let out a soft "wow". standing behind her, explaining the sketches, he was glad she couldn't see the growing grin on his face.

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( 📁) UTOPIA's FOLDER : NYFW23

chandler cursed himself mentally when, looking for his apartment keys in his bag, he couldn't feel them, remembering he had taken them out when nicholas asked for the spare key of his loft studio.

he rolled his eyes, went back in his car, and drove all the way back to the loft. he hated the evening traffic in the middle of manhattan, so for once he was glad the loft wasn't in the city center.

he parked the car in front of the main door, hoping that for the love of god a police patrol wouldn't pull up seeing his awful parking. he opened the door, which he weirdly found open. he shrugged it off, not minding it that much, until he heard voices coming from the upper floor.

he recognised nicholas's immediately, but he couldn't wrap his head around whose the feminine one was. he silently grabbed the keys from the table, as curiosity took the best of him.

he went up the first few steps, raising his head to look upstairs. fortunately, a low-volume jazz beat was playing, and so his steps were muffled by the rhythm of the saxophone playing. he was able to arrive midway on the stairs, when his eyes caught a glimpse of nicholas with the last person he imagined him with.

in front of him, there was none other than salem reid, the supermodel of the moment. she was standing in front of nicholas as the man pointed at the sketches they had been working on on the wall. they seemed... close somehow.

chandler was confused. very confused. he frowned as friendly laughs came from the two. chandler couldn't understand why nicholas didn't say anything about that, how he didn't even mention her at work that morning.

they were working together now, apparently.

chandler shook his head, reminding himself that he would have asked his friend the next day, in the office.

he sighed quietly before going down the stairs and closing the front door behind him, trying not to make a noise. he went down the porch stairs, looking around the street. as he went back to his car, a ticket between the windshield wipers and the glass.

he cursed under his breath, snatching the piece of paper as he read through the fine. he closed his eyes in exasperation before looking up at the window on the second floor of the building behind him, where the lights were turned on.

"nick, you're paying this."

LOLA SPEAKS .ᐟ 𐙚
chandler always on the crime scene ????
this chapter is kinda meh :// but i've been
so busy with uni work lately !! hopefully
i'll drop something better soon

thoughts ? <3

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