Pretty Boy In Love

|9| Expect The Unexpected

"Would you stop panting?"

I nudge Noah on the side. My hand grips the metallic door nob of This Is Us's conference room, where I can already see te adults mingling, sort of. They hold glasses of wine and talk with their competitors so easily that it makes me jealous. To my side, Noah regulates his breathing. I never thought he'd be so tired after a race, which I obviously won... in my flats. I am never  letting go of this.

He glares at me subtly. "I wouldn't be if you hadn't made me sprint here."

"The single reason we were even late is because," I say, pausing for effect. "You just had to fall asleep with me. Now I'm going to have to receive the wrath of my mother."

Noah opens his mouth for a smart retort, but the door jerks open, scaring the hell out of me. A lanky ginger haired boy stands in the slightly ajar doorway, smiling at me. He sports a light gray polo shirt with a This Is Us logo on the breast pocket. His blue eyes run across my body, like he's checking me out right in front of me. I feel very uncomfortable, to say the least.

"You two must be Noah Woods and Juliet Merrill. Do come in."

British accent, ginger hair, blue eyes? He feels so familiar. The name tag strapped to his gray dress shirt says Jacob. The name feels familiar too. 

The room smells strongly of cologne and cheap perfume. The server carrying the tray of alcohol offers us drinks, which I reject because I refuse break the law in front of people who are mandatory to be impressed are here. The, the server explains(and laughs) that it's grape juice and forces glasses into our hands. Now I feel stupid because it would obviously not be alcohol, most of the people here aren't old enough to drink. However, the absolutely delectable looking refreshment table seems to be calling my name.

"Didn't I meet you in the library, the other day?" 

That's right. Jacob, better known as Mr. I-Hate-Movies. And I just forgot about him.

He's distracted me from the real problem here. The other photographers look at Noah and I skeptically. They probably think we're some stupid teenagers who just picked the right straw. No one even looks remotely friendly from where I am looking. Roughly, there are 5 men and 4 women, who are sipping down their drinks, only talking to each other when necessary. Most of them have cameras strapped to their necks, making them look 10 times as professional.

My gaze falls back on Jacob after slowly circulating the room and I almost groan. "Yeah, I remember you. Really hard to forget." 

Only when Noah reaches for my arm, do I realize that I may have sounded too bitter. He links his arm through mine and even though this sounds awful and too coincidental, I feel giggle-worthy shivers run up my arm. His blue eyes catch mine and ask if I'm okay. I nod in response and glance stupidly downward like I am embarrassed about something. 

So far, this mixer isn't exactly going great and I haven't even met my opponents yet, though I am sure that it will be just splendid.

"Everybody listen up!" Mr. Williams silenced everyone. He is the founder of This Is Us and one of those men who make your head turn when they enter the room. He'd not yelling at us, but instead projecting, not that he needed to yell into a room where the chatter was minimal.

From the corner of my eye, I catch Jacob scowling at the man. "My bloody stepfather is a pure shite."

Of course. His father(or stepfather in his case) is Jackson Williams, the richest man in our neighborhood. That explains the whole him being here situation. It's a bit hard to believe I was ever attracted to him, rich boys aren't ones to mess with. They wouldn't want to associate with my poor ass and divorced parents.