Fake It

22. Girls, Girls, Girls

"In my defense I don't want this either but life's not fair Ninn. We have to work together, your boyfriend pleaded me to do it and Lizzie... well, your mom agrees." Blondie explained closing up his jean jacket.

The words were stuck at the back of my throat, feelings were running over me and the unanswered questions kept begging me to notice them so I kept quiet.

At least for a minute.

"Sis?" Cass tapped my shoulder. "Mom agreed to this."

"No. I mean... No." I finally spoke. I wasn't going to let Levi be my bodyguard. I never needed one and I wasn't going to start now. If anything went wrong I could count with Gabe or Dimitri, period. "I don't want you or need you near me. The press will eat us up alive!" I added the last part looking at my sister who was biting her lip.

"We'll handle it, don't worry about that. Besides, I'm fucking done with paps, let them think whatever they want." She replied looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Yeah, right. Let them think whatever they want." I rolled my eyes. "You better than anyone knows the consequences, Cass. And Levi here can't even take care of himself, why should we trust him to keep us safe, huh?"

"Fuck it." He mumbled. "Can I have a minute alone with Amanda? Please." He spat the last word scrunching up his face, as if saying 'please' wasn't in his DNA.

Hailey linked her arm with my sister and entered the shop with a knowing smile. When they were out of sight, he leaned over Cassandra's black Aston Martin Vanquish V12. I straightened impatiently and looked around us in case anyone saw us together.

"Relax for a minute, will you?" He frowned and lighted up a cigarette, the smell hitting my nose and bringing me memories that I hoped to forget someday.

"Shut up Blondie," I muttered barely hesitating. "I don't need you and Dimitri knows better than to just ask you to be my bodyguard."

"Amanda, I know you aren't stupid, and you know that I'm the best option you have." Levi replied taking the cigarette out of his mouth and blowing the smoke in his lungs slightly at my direction. "Just because your dad never wanted you to have a chef, maids or a fucking driver like the spoiled little girl you should've been, that doesn't mean you don't need me right now. It'll be only for a few days."

"My dad only wanted the best for us!" I let out clenching my fists.

"Yet here we are!" He fired back pointing at the shop. "I'll fucking follow you around whether you like it or not until Dimitri comes back." Levi slowed down finishing the rest of his cigarette and throwing it to the ground. He stepped on it with the tip of his foot and his gaze met mine. Softening a bit his stormy eyes, he added "I don't need you to understand why I'm doing this. But I owe one to my friend, so we'll have to stick up together."

"Why, Levi?" I asked him running a hand through my brown curls. "Why do you keep pushing me? We were perfectly ignoring each other some month ago!"

I was tired of arguing and I was definitely tired of dealing with him; he went from hot to cold in less than 10 seconds. Everything got intense near Levi and I didn't want to be exposed to the type of attention I would get if paps saw us together.

How on earth did my mom agree to this?

"Do you actually think the world revolves around you, don't you?" He replied tugging at his blonde locks, when I didn't answer him he continued. "Look I'm freezing my ass out here. Can you yell at me inside?"

Levi shifted his weight from one foot to another trying to get warm. It was unusually cold today, even for the sunny-hell of Manhattan Beach and my sweater didn't help much.

I held back the urge to call Dimitri and ask him for an explanation or a solution to this mess. He was lucky enough to be far away from my reach and I didn't want to disturb him in his competition. But I knew I would have to talk this out with him and my mom or else, someone would be killed.

"Fine." I replied shaking my head and pressing my lips together. "But don't think this is over."

"We'll see Ninn. We'll see. Now open that bloody door."

Groaning, I pushed the door of Le Constantine hoping to find Gabe making us some coffee. I needed it in my bloodstream with maybe a dozen of nutella cupcakes.

What I didn't expect was a group of almost 25 girls in line with folders on their hands, chatting excitedly to one another. It was an incredibly heterogeneous group with girls from all sizes, skin types and backgrounds as I was going to find out in some more minutes.

Seated at the bar counter I found the three mischievous minds smiling back at me. Even Blondie had tried to compose a sly smirk.

"Sometimes it's better to just sit down, shut up, and nod like you know what's going on, all right Amanda?" Blondie said taking a seat next to Gabe.

Oh God, little did I know that my future would be in the hands of those girls.

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"I think that's all, so thanks for coming! It's been a pleasure to know your life stories and we'll be more than glad to work with you." Gabe started calling out the attention of the girls.

"But before you leave, Amanda will say a few words to you." My sister added with a smile on her face.

I stood up next to her and looked at the 18 girls we had selected after four hours of interviews and small talk. I was proud of the outcome and for the first time ever I thought that we were at the right place with the collection. Although I had tons of work left, my whole body was itching with excitement ready to show the rest of my family what I was made of.

"I- Um... Hello." I waved awkwardly at them. "I've never done this before so bear with me."

The group let a soft laugh out and looked at me waiting for me to say anything. Some of them were confidently staring at Gabe and Levi, whilst some others were shifting their weight from one foot to the other biting their nails or fixing their clothes.

"First of all, thanks for putting your trust in Ninn & Co, we'll make sure you don't regret it. Second of all, I know you may notice the physical differences between all of you and I want to thank you for giving this big step into the fashion industry. I know is a harsh and wild world out there yet here you are, ready to let everyone see you and watch in awe all this beauty and body positivity in its purest form." I continued bringing up courage I didn't know I had. "And I say beauty because I've seen it in you. From your tattoos to your scars, from your dark to golden skin, from your thigh gaps to your exclusive curves, from your pitch black hair to the most colorful one I've ever seen, you all glow with uniqueness and confidence. And it'll be our work to make you notice that in the brightest way." I let out making sure to look at everybody when I was speaking. "We are here to have fun; we are here to show the world real people with its flaws included. Nowadays, we try to achieve perfection. We try so hard to fit social standards, forgetting the fact that we are humans and we are already perfect in our own skin. We try and try when in reality, we just have to pay a little more attention to the magic we have inside."

When I finished talking, letting everything out and running a bit out of breath, I was welcomed by a static silence. And then Chloe, a petite girl with curly galaxy hair, started clapping with the rest of the group soon following her.

My sister and Hailey gave me a bear hug with tears in their eyes, Gabe ruffled my hair and even Levi padded my back with a proud smile on his face.

But all I could hear was my father's voice at the back of my head saying "Well done, AmAm. Well done."

a/n 

Hi cuties! 

First of all I'm sooooooorry for leaving you alone for so long. Life happened and also I had a terrible writer's block :(

Hope you liked the chapter! If you did, remember to vote, comment, share and fangirl with me. 

I LOVE YOU, THANKS FOR READING!