Chapter 9
2862 Words
Rachel
“So, you haven’t found another object?” Dunn asked.
“No,” I ashamedly said. Well, I had to confess eventually. If I had the audacity to lie, my ass would be on the line here. Mackenzie had agreed to be my object, and she kindly would ask for her colleague’s help as long as they didn’t have any urgent work to do. I’d told her she didn’t need to do that far. I was already happy with her willingness to be my object. And I avoided Dunn’s suggestion to choose Cameron. I couldn’t bring myself to ask him, even though he had kindly picked me up every day. Even today. He managed to get rid of Jesse when he came the next day and told him to take Mackenzie instead of me. Maybe it’d be perfect because I knew both of my objects, but since I couldn’t get rid of my negative thoughts regarding Cameron, I was scared he would ask me to do what he wanted me to do. Nothing good came from Cameron Greene. At least in my experience.
“Well, I understand looking for objects has never been easy. I was in your shoes before. It’s okay if you still want to move on with one object, but it’ll be great—”
“If I have a comparison,” I added first. I knew. Actually, Professor Dunn’s idea was great. Heaving two objects to be compared with, especially when these two were from different fields, could help me heighten my hypothesis and the score I needed to graduate. Mackenzie from Hollywood’s world while Cameron from the business. Both of them stole the spotlight. Maybe I should put aside my ego for a few months – I prayed I could – and ask for his help. “To be honest, I was thinking to ask for Cameron’s help,” I confessed.
Professor Dunn nodded his head in agreement. “He’s quite famous these days,” he commented. He has been since the day he was born. “Well then, that’s that. I’d be glad to hear if you managed to convince Cameron Greene before Monday, Miss Williams.” I would tell him today, though.
“I’ll try.”
“I’m sure you can do it. Because if you’ve decided your objects, we can go on with the content.”
“Right.”
“Well then, that will be all for today,” he ended our session. I grabbed my stuff, avoiding knocking on his stationaries just so I wouldn’t make a fool of myself. “Are you alright after the incident last Monday?” he asked. He still remembered, huh?
“Yeah, I’m fine. I, uh, had a bad trauma around scissors, and that made me aichmophobia. I freaked out whenever I saw them.”
“Now that you mention it. Uh,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but do you really like fashion, Miss Williams?” he asked. His question was a shot direct through my heart. It was not the fashion I loved; it was hairstyling. Hadn’t Cameron destroyed me before, I might be pursuing my dream now, getting into the school and learning a lot of stuff, gaining more knowledge so I could open my salon with Mackenzie’s store.
So, I told him, “I promised Mackenzie I would help her boutique. I’m not a fashion maniac like her, but I like to style people’s clothes according to their hair arrangement.”
Dunn silently gasped. “You wanted to be a hairstylist,” he stated. I nodded, and he looked at me with pity and comfort. A dream I couldn’t continue because I was scared of the one thing a hairstylist should have. I liked arranging people’s hair. I felt joy when I managed to do so and saw their smiles. I made that.
“Mackenzie and I had this idea before. But we couldn’t execute it the same way anymore. But I still want to be around fashion, so I took this major. I need it and I have to have the degree. It sucks that I can’t do it anymore. I tried therapies before but they didn’t work,” I explained.
“I see. Well, I wanted to be a designer before,” he said.
“A designer?”
“Yeah. It might be silly. I had a lot of ideas I wanted to show, but I couldn’t draw very well. But just like you, this major gives me comfort around something I love. I could teach my students what it would take to be in this industry. And lucky for me, I met my lovely woman.”
I smiled.
“Is she a fashion designer?”
“No, she’s an interior designer.”
“Wow. That’s awesome!”
“Yeah, she can draw for me.” Laughs passed my lips. “Always follow what your heart tells you to do, Miss Williams. If you think by joining this major to help your friend comes out straight from your heart, then you have nothing to be afraid of. You are on the right path. And if one day you can cure your phobia, consider it as a green light to pursue your dream again,” he encouraged me.
“Wouldn’t that be too late?”
“It’s never too late to reach your dream, no matter how old you are.” His words warmed my heart. Even my parents told me the same.
But I didn’t know.
I was scared Cameron would ruin everything again. He always did.
“Well then, I’ve said my part. I better get going,” he said.
“Do you have a plan after school?”
“Uh-uh, a dinner date with my wife. She just finished her project with her client. I want to celebrate in your father’s hotel.”
“That’s great!”
“Yeah, it was so hard to get a reservation there. Thank you for helping me before, Miss Williams.”
“That’s all right. I hope you will enjoy your dinner there with your wife.”
“Oh, I will. Besides,” He pulled out something from his pocket. A box with Swarovski’s emblem on it.
“Oh, my God.” Oh, he was so sweet I couldn’t help but be awed by it. Dunn opened it as the diamond necklace shone even without the lights around it.
“Will she like it?” he asked, unsure. Seriously?
“I’m sure she will. Only an i***t would hate that thing. All right, then.” I stood up. “I won’t take too much of your time. Thank God I’m the last today.”
“Thank you, Miss Williams,” he said, and his phone buzzed. Looking at the screen, his eyes beamed mimicking his lips. Definitely his wife.
“Pretend I’m not here, professor,” I told him.
“Thank you. Hello, sweetie?” As he was on the phone with his wife, I took this chance by getting my stuff. “What? You’ve finished already? Yeah, I can pick you up now. Could you spare me ten minutes? Sure. Thanks, honey. I love you.” s**t, I swooned. I prayed I would get that kind of a man after I graduated. “Miss Williams, I have to go now,” he said as he hurriedly collected his stuff. He bumped left and right I couldn’t help but giggle at him. “You think this is funny, huh?”
“Excuse me, but I never saw you like this. Here I thought you were so serious about everything. I never consider you as someone…clumsy.” He was so different with his wife. That was so cute.
“Very funny.” We got out of his office as he in fast paces heading toward the parking lot. Shaking my head, I headed to the lobby. I didn’t have my shift today, so I had nothing else to do. I looked at my phone, and it was still five. What should I do? Okay, maybe I should think of what I must say to Cameron so he could be my object without asking anything in return.
It seemed Cameron was…tamable now. Not quite, but he was trying to be reasonable.
My phone chimed, a message from Cameron.
Afternoon, Rachel.
Are you done for today? I’ll come pick you up.
I exhaled. This was my chance.
Until my Converse hit on something. I looked down and saw a dark blue box with Swarovski’s logo. Hold on, this was Dunn’s. I collected and opened it. It was the same necklace he showed me earlier. Oh no, he dropped it! I stood up and ran to the parking lot. I vividly recall his car was a Toyota, but I couldn’t make up the model. It was too hard for me to remember cars instead of fashion brands or hairstyles. He would have dinner with his wife in Dad’s hotel. I could catch him there. I walked out of the gate and ordered an Uber, heading to Dad’s hotel.
When I reached there, the manager, Stefan, recognized me. “Rachel?”
“Hi, Stefan. How are you?”
“Good, good. How about you?”
“I’m good as well.”
“So, what can I do for you today?”
“Oh, do you have a reservation under Dunn’s name?”
“Dunn… Let me check it first.” He opened his guest list. Stefan had been working here for six years now. I’d known him since the first time he joined. “Dunn. Dunn. Ah! Yes, he’s here. He’s supposed to be here at six. A table for two.”
“Great.” I pulled out the box from my purse and handed it to Stefan.
“Oh, Rach. It’s not my birthday. Swarovski is not my thing,” he cheekily said.
I rolled my eyes. Stefan loved to tease me. He was six years older than me and had a little sister younger than me. It was in his nature to spoil a woman younger than him like this. But, oh well. “The customer is my professor,” I told him.
“Oh? Do you want to bribe him with that to get a good score?”
“Stefan, do you love your job?”
Stefan laughed. “I’m joking, girl.”
“He’s going to have dinner here with his wife,” I explained.
“Oh, he’s married? That’s hot, you know? Aiming a married man,” he continued.
I glared at him. “Do you want me to call my daddy to fire you?”
“Oh, please don’t. I need this job. The money is great.”
“I thought so. Professor Dunn dropped this. I need you to give this to him. Don’t screw it. He wants to give this a present to his wife.”
“No problem. I can do that.” Stefan received the box. “Would you like to have dinner while you’re here?”
“No, thanks.”
“Why not?”
“Come on, Stefan, look at me.”
He looked at me from my head to my shoes. “What’s wrong with you?” he innocently asked, completely clueless.
I rolled my eyes again. “People here are wearing gowns and suits. Designers. I’m only wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and converse. They would puke before they could dig in.”
Stefan barked a laugh again. “I don’t think they would mind if they saw the owner's daughter had dinner here.”
“Maybe, but no. I’m not in the mood for fine dining.”
“Fair enough.”
“Just make sure he gets it, okay.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Thank you, Stefan.”
“Oh, Rachel, wait! At least let me call a taxi for you,” Stefan stopped me. What a gentleman. He guided me to the lobby, signaling a taxi to come over. “No worries, I will give this fancy rock to your professor.”
“Thanks.” I deposited myself into the taxi. Stefan closed the door and tapped the hood, signaling the driver to take off. I mentioned my address, and then my phone vibrated. Cameron’s name flashed on the screen. “Hello.”
“Where the hell are you?” he immediately asked.
“I’m on my way home.”
“Home? Woman, I’ve told you I would pick you up. You didn’t even reply to my text.” Oh, s**t. I completely forgot to text him back.
“Sorry, I was too tired I wanted to go home sooner.”
“Are you okay? Do you want me to buy you something?”
“No, I’m fine. I still have something to cook at home,” I said. There was an awkward silence happened between us.
Until I heard Cameron exhaling, and he asked, “Why do you keep lying to me, Rachel?” What?
“I’m not lying.”
“So, tell me what can I do for you,” he demanded. Stay away from me. But I swallowed that thought down before I could even speak.
As I rested my back on the leather, I told him, “My professor told me to choose my objects for my final project.”
“I would like to be your object,” he quickly said, without wasting time. In the darkest part of my mind, that was like Cameron offering himself to be treated like a doll to me. The thought piqued my interest, but I shook it away before I went insane.
“Would you like to? You’re not busy? I can ask Mackenzie’s help to choose someone else from her field,” I asked.
“No. I want to be your object. Is Mackenzie going to be one, too?”
“She is. She was my first choice.”
“I see.” There was a tone of defeat when he reacted to that. First, I never considered him to be my object, so none of this was my fault.
“So, what should I do?” he asked.
“Well, as long I have your yes first, I will let you know the next step.”
“I will clear my schedule for you.”
“Cameron, that’s too much.”
“Anything for my dolly,” he stated. Only this time, I let it slide for him to call me that.
“Thank you, Cameron.”
“My pleasure. I’ll see you soon, Rachel.”
“Yeah. Bye.” We parted ways. I looked at the screen before I exhaled. Ten minutes later, I arrived at my building. I paid and got out of the taxi when I saw the familiar Jesko – now I knew the name because Cameron told me – was waiting for me. His six-foot-three body jumped out.
“Evening, Rachel,” he greeted, smiling.
I moved forward. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you before I leave tonight,” he said. I stopped.
“You’re going somewhere?”
“I have to fly to San Francisco. I’ll be back on Monday, so I won’t be able to see you for three days.”
“Oh… You could’ve told me on the phone.”
“I want to see your face.” Oh, damn, that was sweet. Cameron in his sweet mode was rare. Usually, when he wanted something in return. Or maybe he was after I asked for his help. “Maybe it’ll be awkward, but can I ask for a hug?” he asked. Er, what?
“Why?”
“Because I won’t be seeing you for three days,” he deadpanned. “I need my three days-worth, dolly.” I couldn’t help but giggle. If he asked me four days ago, I would tell him to f**k off. Maybe I was too tired my brain didn’t function properly. I stepped closer.
“If you do something sneaky, I’ll break your balls.”
He chuckled. “I promise.” He opened his arms as I sank into his hold. Instantly, I felt relaxed and melted into his warm and broad chest. His masculine cologne wrapped around my body. He tightly hugged me like he refused to let go. Like he was scared if he did, I would bolt. “I’m going to miss you, Rachel.”
“It’s just three days. You could probably meet someone there and you won’t even remember me.”
“Stop saying that. I never wanted a woman since five years ago.”
“What?” I pushed myself out. Cameron looked away. “What do you mean by that?” He didn’t answer. “Cameron?” I demanded, but Cameron only kissed my temple.
“I’ll be back soon,” he hurriedly said and stomped toward his Jesko. He turned on the engine and roamed away like he was escaping me.
What the hell was that?
I never wanted a woman since five years ago.
“Why, Cameron?”
- Writer
