WHITE MUSTANG / chapter ten
——— ₊ ⊹ just for attention 🪩

( 🏙️ ) manhattan, new york city

———— FOR ONCE, NICHOLAS listened to salem. the night before, right after she left, he contemplated whether to keep working or go home, like she said. and since he was way more tired than usual, he decided to just leave work behind and go home.

for the first time in months he had a full on 8 hours sleep, waking up the morning after feeling incredibly regenerated. and surprisingly, more cheerful than usual.

as soon as chandler saw him come into the office, a relaxed expression on his face, he forgot everything he was doing, stalking towards him and checking up on him, "alright, dude, what's up with you?"

at his worried expression, nicholas stopped in his tracks, shooting him a startled glare, "what? nothing, why—"

"is that a smile i see on your face?" chandler teased back, touching nicholas face as if he was ill. nicholas rolled his eyes, pushing his best friend's hands away from him, "god, chandler, quit it!"

"wait, he's happy?" wanda smiled from the other side of the room, catching nicholas' attention, her folder tightly held against her chest as usual as her thick black glasses covered half of her face. more than wanda, the object of his attention was the man she was with.

nicholas immediately forgot chandler and wanda's teasing as he approached the man with a big smile on his lips, "winston! it's been so long."

the man, who towered over wanda as she moved away to let nicholas greet him, smiled fondly at his friend as they shared a heart-warming hug.

"it has, chandler was just telling me of your next projects." he announced, his hand squeezing the graham boy's shoulder in a fatherly way, as if he wasn't just a few years older than them.

nicholas had the pleasure to meet winston dixon back when he and chandler were just young novices in the fashion world. by then, winston was already a promising name in the fashion industry.

his family had one of the biggest enterprises in the whole of new york, and his help had definitely contributed into launching the two younger boys in that intricate world, helping them to be where they were today.

even though they started off as mentor and apprentices, the three of them were now close friends, and occasionally colleagues if they had the occasion to work together.

"why are you here, winston? i'm sure you're hella busy with fashion week coming up in the next months," nicholas smiled, creeping up chandler and wanda, who exchanged a confused look that didn't go unnoticed by nicholas. truth was, that having slept so well for the first time in so long and having seen an old friend of his only made his mood even better.

and to think it was all because salem told him to go home and rest, for once.

"well, i'm glad you ask." winston began, unbuttoning his elegant suit and fixing the expensive watch around his wrist, "i did it, my father is retiring. the company is going to me."

nicholas and chandler widened their eyes in surprise. sure, they saw that moment coming, but none of them imagined their friend would become the ceo of his father's company so early on in his career, "oh my god, wins, seriously?" "already? man, you're the ceo now!"

wanda just stood behind, clapping her hands softly and maintaining her usual composure, although a small chuckle escaped her red-tinted lips.

both nicholas and chandler jumped on winston, hugging him tightly and laughing together, "yes, i did it! when i got the news, i was honestly about to pass out."

"why so early though? i thought you still had a few years ahead of you before becoming the ceo." chandler asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest, as wanda's eyes flickered between him and winston.

the latter shrugged, "well, my father is pretty old, and decided to retire sooner to focus on my mother's health and... yeah, well, his biggest dream was to travel the world with her, so i guess now he'll do that." he concluded with a charming laugh that exuded all his wealth and high status.

nicholas and chandler congratulated him once again on his big accomplishment, but before they could add anything else, he stopped them by raising his hand. the three of them, including wanda, listened to him carefully, "actually, i have another announcement."

they listened to him, encouraging him to continue, "because of my new position in the company, i am organizing a party. something big, lots of people are invited, and of course you too."

the three of them exchanged excited looks. the whole of manhattan knew that winston's parties were the best parties out there. notorious people from every industry were invited: models, designers, singers, actors, and so on and so forth.

he shrugged his shoulders, with a proud expression on his face, "but y'know, i should spread the word that i'm becoming the ceo, so there's a twist."

"everyone must come with a partner. it could be whoever you want, doesn't have to be someone famous."

chandler's eyes lightened up at his words, which didn't go unnoticed by the orwell girl, a spark of hope in her eyes.

nicholas, on the other hand, frowned. if he was well aware of the feelings of his assistant for his best friend, since she made it obvious anytime he'd enter the room she was in, he also knew that chandler was completely oblivious to all of it. sadly, it was like wanda was completely invisible to him in a romantic sense, so he didn't even want to intrude in it or confront wanda about it.

he would have just let them handle it themselves, provided that they'd even ever mention it.

before nicholas could reply, winston rubbed his hands together, "anyway, i should probably get going on. i have a meeting in 30 minutes."

nicholas could feel the radiance on winston face. he was an excellent entrepreneur, and he knew he would have been an even better ceo for his father's company. he was dedicated to his job just as much as nicholas was for his.

"of course, it was nice having you here, wins." chandler and nicholas shared a hug with him one at a time, before wanda shook his hand politely, with a little bow of her head.

"wanda, take him downstairs, please." the young woman listened to her boss' request, before leaving the studio along with winston after a last warm wave of his hand.

as soon as the pair left, chandler smacked nicholas' arm with all his strength, bringing nicholas back to reality, "nick, did you hear that?! winston is a ceo now!"

nicholas rolled his eyes, punching his friend's bicep just as hard, "yeah, smart ass, i was in the room too!"

chandler laughed, "and a free party for it! man, we won the day we met that man, i swear."

"relax, chan. it's just a party." "no, nick, it's not just a party. it's a winston dixon party!" he cheered, twisting the golden ring around his index finger, "who are you taking?" he asked, the subtle hint of a smirk on his lips.

"who are you taking?" nicholas asked back, not wanting to answer right away, and hoping he'd open up about his relationship with wanda. "well, i got a few ideas."

nicholas widened his eyes, "a few ideas? chan, i didn't know you were so popular with women." "well, of course you wouldn't know, nick. you're not a woman." he joked back, sending him a wide smile.

"jokes aside, i have one idea." nicholas was pretty sure that one idea was wanda, but again, he didn't want to interfere in their own business, so he would have just waited for things to unfold the way they were supposed to.

he knew wanda would have been happy about it, as long as she was the one he was talking about. chandler tilted his head, "anyway, more important thing. who are you bringing? seriously though."

nicholas shrugged, leaning back against his desk, knowing he couldn't avoid that question anymore "i... honestly don't know."

chandler looked at him with a 'are you deadass' look, waving a hand in front of his face, "hello? wake up man, salem reid!"

the chavez man's eyes widened at his words, watching him as if he had just insulted him, "what? why would i bring her out of all people?"

chandler deadpanned, staring at his friend, "you seriously don't get it? imagine how much people would talk about the two of you. it's a guaranteed success."

nicholas didn't need to think much about it to realize that chandler was right. for him, his beef with salem was long forgotten. she was nice to have around, and she would have probably agreed too to what chandler was saying.

nicholas nodded, "right. we do it just for attention." his eyes were stern and cold as he said it, more to convince himself than his friend.

chandler shrugged, hitting his friend's chest, "just for attention." he repeated, turning in his steps and going back to his work.

( 🏙️ ) manhattan, new york city

———— DESPITE BEING JUNE already, nicholas still found a certain comfort in wearing heavier pajamas in his luxurious apartment. he was slouched on the couch, a hot mug in one hand and his phone in the other, salem's calling id on the display as he contemplated whether to call her or not.

for the second day in a row, he ended work at a normal time, leaving at 5 pm along with chandler.

it was a rupture in what had become his daily routine that he couldn't imagine he'd ever be able to do. he had just got the hang of finishing so late that whenever the office started to empty he just didn't even consider leaving.

god, and it took a sassy girl for me to go back to my normal schedule, he thought, throwing his head back in exasperation.

his eyes were still fixed on his phone, like they had been for the last 10 minutes, before he ultimately mumbled a "screw it" and pressed the call button.

he brought the phone to his ear, listening to the beeping sound for a few seconds, before salem's cheerful voice answered his call, "nicholas! i wasn't expecting your call."

"well, yeah... i didn't think i'd call," he mumbled awkwardly. he blocked, suddenly forgetting the speech he had rehearsed in his mind. "uhm... salem, there's— something i need to ask you."

nicholas could hear the rustling sound of bedsheets being moved around, he realized that she was probably in her bed, "ask away, i'm all ears."

the man gulped heavily, the grip on his phone tightening as he felt himself starting to sweat. he was afraid she'd take this the wrong way, "so, a friend of mine is organizing a party. a big one, manhattan style." salem let out a chuckle at his words, "and, we must bring someone along, and talking to chandler about it, he said it would be a great idea to bring you so that people would, you know... talk."

salem listened carefully to his words, but nicholas felt incredibly stupid for rambling. salem nodded, agreeing, "i think you're right." she said, and nicholas could feel that she was smiling.

"he's right, it could be a great way to have people talk about... us." "right, about us. we should discuss this in person though" nicholas agreed, "anyway, i should probably let you sleep now."

salem automatically yawned when he spoke, stealing a small grin from him, "right. i'm exhausted. are you still at the studio?" she asked, worry evident in her voice.

nicholas smirked proudly even though she couldn't see it, "nope! i'm home, i listened to your advice." "we're making progress, i see."

they both laughed, as nicholas let out a small sigh of relief knowing she didn't take the invitation the wrong way, "yeah, i am. goodnight, salem."

she smiled, plopping herself down on the bed more comfortably, "goodnight, nicholas." she said gently before hanging up the call.

LOLA SPEAKS .ᐟ 𐙚
the next chapters are the reason why
i wrote this story in the first place.
I CAN'T WAIT TO WRITE THEMM

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