His Rotten Apple

48 ~ There's Only Room for One

"Ouch! Stop that!" Elizabeth slapped Gavin's hand that tried to push her head away.

    "You're blocking the view!" Gavin said.

    "You know, you can get a great view if you just walked into the fucking store!"

    "She can't know I'm here!"

    "And why not?"

    He changed positions, still trying to get a better view, "Just- Stay quiet!"

    "Listen, snoot, I may be your manager, but i have no problem managing your funeral if you dare boss me around like that again."

    He pressed his lips to a tight line as he backed away.

    "Good, now breathe and calm the hell down," She pushed him down. "I'll look."

    "Why do you get to look?"

    "Because, instead of a boyfriend that doesn't trust his girlfriend, you can call this a best friend looking out for her best friend."   

    Elizabeth separated the branches to look into Reverie. Searching for a sign of the two, her eyes landed on a couple making their way inside a fitting room. She squinted her eyes enabling her to make out Zailey and Connor's faces. Her stomach dropped as she quickly pulled herself out of the bushes, meeting Gavin's curious eyes.

Suspicions confirmed. By the look of it, the room only allows room for one... But the two of them were entering a fitting room. Why?

***

    Zailey's feet landed flat on the ground, as if she was pulled down by some invisible force. Caught off-guard, she turned around to discover it was actually her wrist under someone's tight grip.

She gathered her courage to look into Connor's emerald gaze... Or at least she thought they were still emerald. His eyes were foggy, somewhat resembling a chaotic jungle. A jungle that possessed every wild creature in existence, clawing to catch its prey. She felt herself go numb as she got lost in it.

    "Mr. Davis?" She managed to utter before her voice got stuck in her throat.

The sound of her voice whirled through his ears like an angel's harmony.

He had to fight to bring himself out of the trance, "I... Wanna show you something."

    He kept her hand in his, while his free hand pushed on the door of the fitting room. Zailey's jaw dropped as the door opened to reveal a lifesize print of one of her photoshoot pictures. She entered the fitting room with a huge grin on her face, looking at the poster, and then to the large mirror to her right.

    "I'll admit. Out of all my endorsements, Reverie's my favorite."

    "Great, that means we did our job," he said. "Now, we can start shifting our focus to the new clothing line."

    Zailey nodded, eyes still on the poster. She had never seen such a big image of herself. Never in her wildest dreams would she have ever imagined herself, who was such a flawed character, looking like that.

    "Is there a problem?" He asked her.

    "No, it's just... Sometimes, I just don't feel beautiful enough to deserve to be on there."

His heart clenched and everything in him wanted to scream in objection, "You're beautiful."

She chuckled at the statement.

"So beautiful," he leaned closer, looking into her eyes. "The most beautiful person I've ever met. Everything about you... Your mindset, the way you treat other people..."