Lethal Desire (Fatal Pursuit Sequel)

eight

Abena and I are chatting while they're getting the set ready to shoot when Aslan saunters over.

He doesn't even make eye contact with me at first, "Miss Abdulai?" Abena turns to look at him and he puts out his hand for her to shake, "It's lovely meeting you. Everyone on the team is so excited to work with you, I don't know how you didn't occur to us sooner."

She smiles warmly, "Well thank you, I really appreciate that, Mr..." she trails off so he can fill in the blank.

"Just call me Aslan." he smiles back.

"Ooh, I love that name."

"I appreciate that. Some people still insist on giving me silly nicknames instead, though."

She chuckles, "Oh, yeah? I like Aslan. It's unique. Where is it from if you don't mind me asking?"

"Wanna take a guess?" he smirks.

Abena beams, "Ooh, I love guessing where people are from. Hmm, okay! Say something in your native language."

He thought to himself a little then said, "Çok güzel gözlerin var."

(Your eyes are so beautiful.)

I could almost see the lightbulb spark above Abena's head, "Oh, that's easy. You're from Türkiye."

Aslan looks taken aback, "Oh, shit. How did you know that?"

"I worked a couple modeling gigs in Ankara and I loved it there. Food is amazing, nightlife is lively, the men are toxic, but so hard to stay away from."

A cavalier smile spread across his face and his eyes flicked to me and then back to Abena, "Well, I'd be lying if I said that that wasn't true.

"Aslan, sir." the Big Boss's temp calls, "We got a call about the Kodak account and I need you to come verify some information."

"Alright, I'm right behind you." he turns back towards us, "I have to get back to work now, but I will see you around. I love your energy, by the way and I'm really looking forward to working with you. Again, lovely meeting you."

"Likewise." Abena replies softly.

Abena watches him as he walks off then turns to me once he's out of earshot, "He's fine as fuck! I was tryna keep it together but he was making me nervous lowkey."

"Yeah, uh...that was the guy I was telling you about."

She stops giggling immediately and her jaw drops, "No...no! Why did it have to be him? Oh! I see why you were ready to risk it all. He's so– ooh." she snaps herself out of it, "Sorry, sorry. But yeah, remember the mantra girl, 'no men from work'."

"I know, don't worry. Plus, the way he was lowkey flirting with you in front of my face is a total turn off. Like he was trying to get a rise out of me or something. What did he even say to you in Turkish?"

"I think I heard 'very beautiful'. I don't know, I barely know anything other than the basics but yeah, that was shady. If I had known I wouldn't have entertained it because that is weird as hell, considering the context. Maybe you should be glad you guys didn't hook up, he seems like he likes to play a lot of games."

I cross my arms, "I know, right?"

An intern with a headset clamped to the side of her head skips over to Abena, "Miss Abdulai, they're ready for you on set."

༄

The whole team from the project managers to the makeup department was dazzled by Abena's beauty and poise and the fact that she still managed to be so sweet despite these factors. Not to mention she was doing us an enormous favor by taking on our demanding workload and limited schedule so everyone was being extra nice, even Margie was playing kiss-ass.