Romantic Desire

6

Kailani takes a sip of her lemonade as Christopher sits across from her. He watched as she looked down at the menu, still deciding on what she was going to eat. Christopher glanced around at the restaurant, they were currently sitting in the booth near the glass window.

He usually only eats with business partners and his mother. He felt so weird being with someone he barely knew. He didn't know what to say to her.

"I think I will get the veggie burger," Kailani speaks catching his attention.

He turns to her to see her looking up at Christopher. She scoots closer to the table, a small smile on her lips.

"So, what's your skincare?" She asks placing her arms on the table.

Christopher is taken aback by her question. Mostly because of how random he thought it was. He continued staring at her, wondering why out of all things she would ask him that. But after a while, he realizes that she is very serious was still expecting an answer from her.

"Uh, nothing. Just warm water and a few face masks my mother gives me." He answers honestly.

He was once again taken aback when she started giggling. He feels a bit embarrassed, was he supposed to lie? The overwhelming and anxious thoughts were starting to become too much.

"Your mother gives you face masks?" She asks revealing her pearly white teeth. "That's so cute, my mom gives me jewelry most of the time. You must have a good relationship with your mom." She says grabbing her glass of lemonade.

Christopher nods running his fingers through his hair.

"Yes, I guess you can say we are close." He says before clearing his throat.

He wished he knew what was going through her head. He looks at her, watching her sip her lemonade. She was effortlessly pretty, he wondered if she spent time making herself so pretty. Or if she was just a natural beauty, who didn't have to do much.

"Mhm, so maintaining a few businesses seems hard. You don't ever get overwhelmed?" She asks tilting her head to the side.

Christopher shakes his head. The only thing he was good at, was waiting for this since he was in middle school. He always loved going with his mom to work and even helped out. He knew when he was young he always wanted to be like his mother.

Of course, it's much harder than it looks but he loves what he does. The only thing that makes sense to him. The only thing that ever mattered to him. It's been the only thing consistent in his life as well.

"That's good, I uh seen some of those magazines and headliners online. Yours, of course, you were on a few big ones. I'm surprised you're not a professional model." Kailani comments.

Christopher let out a scoff, rolling his eyes and catching her attention. Modeling was something he couldn't stand. He found none of it fun personally. It was just meant to draw attention to himself. The preparation, the ordering around, the poses, the long hours getting ready.

He dreaded shoots. Which is why he stopped doing a few photo shoots for a long time.

"I don't care for it. I think it's pointless to me." He tells her.

"Really? Well, what's pointless to you?"

He can give a whole list of things he thought were pointless of modeling but for her sake, he would just simplify it. And she seemed interested, he didn't want to complain like an old man.

"Honestly all of it. I don't care for it, I only do it for publicity." He responds while grabbing his glass of water.

Kailani chuckles softly. "Make sense. But I am a little sad about this." She says with a fake pout.

Christopher shrugs his shoulders.

"Why?" He asks.

"I have an extra ticket to a runway show. But you don't even like modeling so you won't like a runway show." She says before sighing quietly.

Christopher stares for a bit, unsure of what to say next. She wasn't wrong, runways weren't interesting to him. His mother was more into them. But he was curious about why she would give him a ticket.

"No friends?" Christopher asks her, genuinely curious.

Kailani smiles, "All my friends are going to be on the runway. I just had an extra ticket, thought it would be nice to bring a new friend."

Hearing this, Christopher nods. He makes an impulsive decision. One he knew he shouldn't do but the thought of her being alone when she invited him didn't sit right with him. Plus he didn't mind spending time with her.

She was so social, it was refreshing. And her smile, how could he refuse her invitation?

"I'll go." He tells her.

Kailani's smile widens causing his cheeks to turn a light shade of pink. "Really?"

He nods once again. Kailani's smile falters just a bit as she adjusts herself in her chair. Pushing a few strands behind her ear.

"You're not going to come and just complain or be bored?" She questions him in a lower voice.

Christopher chuckles softly, finding her adorable. He sat through many meetings that bored him, he was sure he could sit through a runway show.

"I'm sure I can find something on the runway amusing. You can drop off the ticket at my office." He assures her.

She leans back and nods. "Great. I'll drop it off tomorrow morning."