WHITE MUSTANG / chapter nine
——— ₊ ⊹ lingering touches 🪩

( 🏙️ ) manhattan, new york city

———— THE WEEKS AFTER had been tedious for nicholas. all he did was, surprisingly, work, eat, and — barely — sleep. he saw the days on the calendar go by extremely fast for his liking, watching fashion week approach more and more.

and all he had were works he was not satisfied with.

"you still have time," chandler would always repeat, but three months were basically nothing for nicholas.

as he watched the empty mannequin in front of him, the flowing sound of a curtain being pulled open caught his attention, his head turning around as he ran his fingers in his hair.

his eyes darted to the blonde girl and how she adjusted the dress wrapped around her body, "i don't think this fits me well."

"it does," he objected, checking the dress and seeing how unevenly she had put it on. the dress itself was beautiful: the main piece was a dark blue see-through fabric that remembered the night sky, covered by a lacy flower pattern that gave even more definition to the curves of the model. the long skirt faded towards a darker shade of blue, almost black, and was flowy and comfortable for salem. the dress was elegant but alluring at the same time.

he suppressed a sigh before adding, "it's your exact measurements, come here."

he pointed to a full-length mirror hanging on the wall, a squared pedestal in front of it. nicholas nodded to the pedestal, and salem held the long skirt of the dress to walk more easily. she looked up, watching his relaxed expression, which was unusual to her.

she suppressed a laugh before stepping on top of the pedestal like he said, dropping the dress skirt to the ground. he snorted, a small smile growing on his face, "look how badly you put it on."

she gasped, feigning offense, "excuse me? next time you put it on, yeah?" she laughed, realizing too late what she said. nicholas smirked, not saying anything before walking in front of her, covering her view of the mirror.

his hands reached for her hips, twisting the dress to make it sit more comfortably around her. his steady grip fixed the fabric around her body, barely touching her. her eyes fell on the mirror, or at least the small portion she could see, his broad back displayed in front of her as he towered over her figure, despite her standing on the pedestal.

salem was used to that kind of treatment since that was her job: for her trying on dresses and outfits was on the daily agenda, but somehow that felt different. the tension between them was palpable, but comforting at the same time.

she looked away, her cheeks growing hotter the more he stood in front of her. she hoped he wouldn't notice her agitated state, since she really wasn't one to get flustered so easily.

he didn't seem to notice at first, being too focused on the dress wrapped around her body. but once he spun around her, standing behind her to fix the back of the dress, his eyes landed on the mirror, checking if everything was alright, noticing the pink hue on her cheeks.

since she always loved teasing him when he was being grumpy, he decided to play her same game against her. he smirked, making sure she could see it, raising his chin as he looked straight at her through the mirror.

"you've been quiet." "and... what about it?" her eyes grew bigger, differently from her usual sharp gaze, "someone's flustered, huh?"

salem stopped in her tracks, stiffening, "i'm not! what... i mean—" nicholas's eyes traveled down her body, seeing if the dress was alright before going back in front of her, where he could see her agitated state even more.

he honestly wanted to laugh, but he kept his smug facade, "i was just fixing the dress." he teased, looking at her eyes. she shook her head, avoiding eye contact, "i— i'm alright, it's..." she was starting to stutter, and she felt extremely stupid for falling in his trap, "it's hot in here."

nicholas chuckled, crouching down in front of her, fixing the dress around her legs, "it's not, actually."

she watched him from the mirror, before looking down at her feet, where he was fixing the dress. her eyes pierced his head, the sudden desire to run her hands in his hair growing in her.

she sighed, stopping herself from doing something stupid, "listen, it's just—" "i'm joking." he said, standing up suddenly, the closeness between the two becoming almost intoxicating to salem.

before her mind could run to even more wild thoughts, nicholas stepped back, standing next to her, "what do you think of the dress?"

still with a faint blush on her cheeks, she shook her head, sending away any thought about him and focusing on the breathtaking piece of clothing on her, "well, it's beautiful, i think it fits the concept perfectly."

nicholas smiled, with all the time they had spent together in the past weeks, especially late at night when salem would visit him in his studio, they had grown closer, and despite nicholas still trying to keep the distances dictated by his professionalism, salem's flirty behavior always pushed the limits of their 'strictly professional' relationship.

she didn't do it to get something out of it, she was just like that. teasing like it was second nature.

"i'm proud of it." he confessed, standing behind her and fixing the straps of the dress, his soft touch lingering on her exposed skin.

"well, you should," she smiled back, her eyes softening and meeting his through the mirror. unexpectedly, he smiled back, offering a hand to salem to help her down the pedestal, which she accepted gladly not to trip on the dress.

"take it off, i need to adjust a stitch." he said, the teasing tone clear in his voice as he left her behind and went back to his desk, picking up a measuring tape and putting it on his shoulders, around his neck. he checked a sketch on his laptop before writing down something on a notebook.

she watched him intently, still feeling shivers run down her back from their previous interaction.

it wasn't unusual that salem would flirt and tease him for anything, it came natural to her, but he never responded. he'd just roll his eyes and go on with his day, doing his things. this time felt weird to salem, she never felt something like that for a man, let alone one she worked with.

she went back in the changing room, taking off the dress and wearing the comfortable flared pants and tank top she came with.

she went back to the main studio, handing him the folded dress, his fingers grazing her hands as she passed him the dress. this time, the shivers and her stiff posture didn't go unnoticed by him, but he decided not to add anything, smirking smugly.

oh, you're proud of yourself, she thought, narrowing her eyes at him. he was certainly doing that on purpose, he wasn't one to flirt like that.

she raised her chin, pretending to be unbothered by him, "well, i should leave you work then, it's getting pretty late." she said, grabbing her bag from chandler's desk. by now, the graphic designer's desk had become her favorite spot to put her things whenever he wasn't around, resulting in him complaining to nicholas in the morning because nothing was in its usual place.

"going already?" he asked, putting down the papers he was working on to put the dress back on the mannequin. salem went to the door, smiling back at him, "yeah, i'm pretty tired. you should go home and rest too."

nicholas nodded, "i need to wrap up the last few things and then i'll go."

"promise?" salem asked, she had grown concerned about his health since he seemed to barely sleep at night. she didn't like when he'd overwork himself, thinking it was unnecessary. she'd always force him to go home and rest properly, and the more she did it, the more he listened to her.

he smiled softly, the tired expression growing on his face as his features softened, "promise."

salem waved, leaving the studio as nicholas' softer gaze stayed fixed on her, until she disappeared behind the door.

LOLA SPEAKS .ᐟ 𐙚
some tension between them finally 👀
i'm so excited for the next few chapters

౨ৎ