WHITE MUSTANG / chapter twelve
——— ₊ ⊹ unspoken tension 🪩

( 🏙️ ) manhattan, new york city

———— SALEM COULDN'T EVEN remember the last time she had been so excited about a party. sure, every time she hung out with her girls and got ready with them was thrilling, but somehow this felt different.

she couldn't wrap her head around what it was that felt so different. it was always the same after all, right? well, except it wasn't.

she would usually get ready with indiana and cleo, browsing through the infinite amount of dresses in her closet, sit down at her vanity for hours just to do her makeup, and then take a billion selfies with them just to have a good memory of the night.

this time it was all quite the opposite.

she sat in nicholas' studio loft on an armchair, staring at the garment bag hung in front of her. her chin rested on her knee, her eyes looking at the bag as it waited to be opened. she was only wearing a tank top and shorts, suddenly blocked by something inside of her.

"c'mon, sal, open it." the feminine voice made her spin her head back, meeting indie's sparkling eyes, "i wanna see the dress!" she encouraged her, but salem just looked away, indecisive on what to do.

"i also do." "then open it. nicholas must be waiting for you in the other room, you know how men are." indie rolled her eyes but laughed at the same time, the joking tone evident in her voice.

salem was glad that indie could make it and help her out, since cleo had just called to let them know she was busy. indie approached her, placing her hands on the reid girl's shoulders, "c'mon, sal, you've been waiting so long for this!"

salem took a deep breath before finally deciding to stand up and open the bag. her eyes grew wider and a distinct glow could be seen from them. she let out a soft gasp seeing how stunning the dress was. she had seen many pretty dresses in her career, but this one had no equals.

"oh my..." she said, taking the coat hanger and running her free hand through the black silk of the skirt. it was simple, yet very elegant. it was long but tight, with a strapless sweetheart neckline — salem's favorite — and a high slit. for the straps, it had thin off-the-shoulder straps that wrapped around the upper arms.

having it finally in her hands made her eager to wear it. and so, with indiana's help, she slipped into it, realizing it fit her like a glove only once she stood in front of the mirror. the fitted dress accentuated her waist, hugging her body perfectly and making her look elegant and feminine. the slit gave the dress a subtle touch of asymmetry and sophistication that only accentuated her even more.

"sal, it's beautiful!" indie cheered, admiring her friend through the mirror, running her hands down the blonde girl's shoulders, "cleo will wish she was here."

salem didn't even know what to say as she gasped at the stunning beauty of the dress she was wearing. she couldn't believe she was actually the first to wear that same exact design, she thought it was too beautiful to be kept hidden from people's eyes.

a subtle knock on the door made her snap out of her trance as her eyes darted to the closed door, "are you girls done? it's getting late."

a sudden flush grew on salem's cheeks as she became nervous again, her head spinning from her figure in the mirror to the door, "yeah, yeah, just a second."

indiana eyed her friend, a small smirk creeping up her face, "what's up with you? you've been acting weird." salem stopped, moving away from the mirror to go sit on the armchair, grabbing her bag and pulling out her favorite burgundy chanel lipstick and a matching lip liner, "nothing, i'm good." she shrugged.

"lying doesn't look good on you, sal." indiana approached her, standing in front of her as she dusted a light layer of setting powder on her face. indiana was always the best at doing makeup, so salem was glad her friend could be there and help her with everything.

"i'm not lying!" salem stammered, her eyes slightly wide as indiana read through her like an open book. salem feigned indifference, shrugging that feeling off her shoulders, "if we wanna talk about someone lying we should talk about cleo. she's the one that has been acting weird lately, not me."

indiana snorted, wiping the brush on her friend's face, "you're right, honestly. she's... absent lately. we should ask her."

salem nodded before looking away, not wanting her friend to understand more about her than what she already knew. "done!" indiana beamed, pulling salem to stand and pushing her towards the door.

her heels clacked sharply on the floor as she opened the door, taking a deep breath that didn't go unnoticed by indiana. she looked around the main room of the studio, noticing nicholas turned away from them as he adjusted the tie around his neck, as well as his cufflinks.

as soon as their eyes met through the mirror, his dark ones widened as he snap his head towards the two girls, admiring the dress on salem's body, his breath cutting short.

"oh, wow, you two both look amazing!" indiana cheered, unaware of the sudden tension in the room. salem turned to her friend, so that nicholas eyes on her would stop burning so much. she let out a small awkward chuckle, playing nervously with her fingers, "nicholas, i must say, this dress looks amazing. you did an amazing job with it."

he bowed softly, smiling gratefully at her, "thank you, indiana–" "just indie." she was fast at correcting his words, crossing her arms as she took another look at salem's dress, trying to see if anything was out of place.

nicholas walked towards them, the tension growing with each step he took. before he could say anything to salem, indiana clapped, satisfied with her work, "well, i should go now and let you guys finish your stuff. you two look amazing together!" she turned to salem, giving her a brief hug, "let me know how the evening goes, see you!" and with that she skipped down the stairs, disappearing from their sight.

"come here," nicholas said assertively as he headed back to the mirror, salem following right behind him. he stood in front of her, his breath short as his hands went to her hips, "uhm.. sorry."

she chuckled softly, trying to mask her nervousness with her usual sarcasm and charms, "don't worry, do your job." his hands adjusted the dress around her body, pulling it or straightening it in the right areas, before his hands went to her hair, touching up the pretty hairstyle indiana did.

his dedication to her, the one he always hid with his grumpy remarks and cold appearance, made something twirl inside of her as she looked at him with a new found confidence, "you're my hairstylist too now?"

"ah, ah," he laughed sarcastically, rolling his eyes with an amused grin, "i'm just making sure everything is perfect." she shrugged, "sometimes things don't have to be perfect." "but i like them perfect, salem."

she scoffed sarcastically, her sharp feline eyes going to his, "pfft, alright, boss."

he rolled his eyes again at her teasing nickname, before moving away from her, her body suddenly feeling colder as his hands left her, "don't call me that."

salem trailed closely behind him, "oh, so sorry i can't give you a cute nickname in another language." nicholas felt his cheeks burn suddenly at her statement, sending her a cold glance, "that was—" "no worries, i like it."

nicholas was forced to look away to avoid melting right at her feet. he hated whenever she was so flirty and confident, it made him feel small when he always wanted to be the one in control of the situation. he couldn't stand other people to have such an effect on him.

sensing the growing tension between them, salem just shrugged it off, grabbing her purse from the table she had abandoned it on, "so, chandler is coming too right?"

nicholas frowned at the sudden question, he didn't understand why she was bringing him up all of a sudden, "yeah, but we'll meet him there. he went to pick up his date."

salem nodded, "and do you know who she is? is she wanda?" she asked. her hopes for the two of them to be going to the party together fragmented as soon as nicholas shot her an apologetic look, "i don't think so. she would have freaked out to me already but, i haven't heard from her all day."

she shot him a confused glance, "you think she would have really freaked out to you, her superior, about going to a party with your best friend? boss, i think you're not as good at reading people as you think." she teased, a small smirk growing on her, "especially women."

"excuse you...?" his offended tone made salem laugh, covering her mouth with her hand, "i'm just messing with you." "yeah, you better." nicholas' grumpy remarks were back again, and salem could easily admit that she loved that part of him.

that part that was so different from her, but still fit with her confident personality so much. they were polar opposites, yet she found a sense of comfort at being around him.

"should we go?" she asked, her voice softer and her eyes more gentle. he offered her his arm, "let's go."

she accepted his gesture, wrapping her hands around his forearm as he helped her down the stairs, leading her to the limousine parked in front of the studio.

————————— ‧₊˚ 📸
INSTAGRAM : salemreid
⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .🐆𖥔˚ 𐙚

liked by cleo.miranda, indiegrimes & 838,739 others...
—— salemreid dress by utopiacouture ♡

COMMENTS

user YOU LOOK STUNNING SAL
⠀⠀⠀user she's beautiful fr

cleo.miranda OH MY GOD THE DRESS !!!!!
⠀⠀⠀salemreid girl i'm still mad at you 🙄 (ly)
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀indiegrimes WE*

user leave some beauty for the rest of us salem 😔
⠀⠀⠀salemreid ❤️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀user OH MY GOD SHE REPLIED TO YOU ??

user bring back salogan ‼️
⠀⠀⠀user for real, did they argue ??? ☹️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀user they didn't say nothing yet but it looks like it ...

user OH MY GOD THE DRESS ??? FROM UTOPIA ??? collab whennnn
⠀⠀⠀salemreid hehe.. <3
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀user i see you girl 😉

indiegrimes oh my makeup ATEEEE 😂
⠀⠀⠀salemreid girl when does it not
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀user future makeup artist right here !

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LOLA SPEAKS .ᐟ 𐙚
writing ! tension ! is ! the ! best ! part !
fight me on that.

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