Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Philippine Fashion Week, as I figured, is very different from New York Fashion Week.

People surrounding the area weren't all fashion-forward unlike in New York. This was all about showcasing the designers' talents: more like an exhibit of clothes.

Backstage was a nightmare and there weren't enough stylists to help with the clothes. So, for every time one of my models has a show, I had to help them dress.

Never in my wildest dreams had I thought I'd be in a room full of men dressing and undressing.

Gale and Theo were in the first show. It was hectic but manageable and I thought I'd get the hang of it, but when the time came for the second show, it was chaos.

You thought you knew hectic? Well, you've never been backstage at a show for fashion week.

If this experience ever taught me something, it was that this industry should not be taken lightly. My respect for assistants is now through the roof.

"Lauren, a little help please!" Chris called as I was lacing Peyton's shoe as the make-up team worked on him.

I turned my head to where the voice was and found Chris on one corner, struggling to get his tie right.

I pulled the strings to make a knot on Peyton's shoe and rushed to Chris.

"Here," I said, undoing his messed-up tie and adjusted it to proper length.

"How did you know how to do this?" He asked looking down at me. I bet he can see the top of my head.

"Well, my dad never knew how to. My mom always does his tie."

He chuckled, "Oh, same with mine."

"And one day, my mom was still at work and my dad planned a surprise anniversary dinner for her."

"Awe, that's so sweet."

I laughed, remembering how that day went. "Yeah, it was. And so, I had to look up how to tie a tie so my dad would look nice."

I finished off his tie and patted it down. "There," I swiped his collar, "that's how you tie a tie."

He smiled, "Thanks, Lauren."

"Yeah, well, you have to practice doing it on your own some time."

He chuckled, "Well, not knowing how to do it gets me to ask pretty girls for help."

I laughed forcefully.

He shrugged, "It has to be genuine; I don't want to pretend. I'm bad at lying, you know. So bad, I just don't do it."

I let out a real chuckle this time.

"So, yeah... Maybe next time, but I don't see myself doing it soon."

"Alright, Chris, I like your honesty."

He raised his head proudly, "I pride myself on my candor," his lips formed a boyish grin.

"Lauren?" A stern voice called out. Cold and icy. Unmistakably Axel James.

My eyes closed as I took deep breaths and forced a smile, "Duty calls."

"Thanks again, Lauren."

"No problem," I replied and made my way just three meters behind Chris.

"What do you need?"

"Dress me."

"You're already dressed."

"Yeah, but this isn't the collection." He pointed northeast where the racks of clothes were. "That is the collection."

"And you wouldn't bother getting it yourself?"

He just shrugged.

What a huge baby.

I stomped to the rack of clothes, "Which one is yours anyway?"

"I don't know. Check the tags."

"Insufferable motherf–"

"What?"

"Nothing." I browsed through the rack and found his clothes in the middle.

"Here," I handed him his clothes.

He looked at me like I was crazy, "What am I gonna do with that?"

"Oh, I don't know, change into it?"

"But I don't want to."

My head cocked to the side, "Are you kidding me?"

"Five minutes people!" the organizer yelled.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I said exasperated. "Go on now, dress. You heard what she said."

He shook his head, firm on his insolent decision, like a child not wanting to take a bath.

I exhaled a breath as my jaw clenched. "Oh, if I wasn't in enough trouble."

I unbuttoned his shirt one by one.

I tried to quicken my pace as I only have five minutes.

"Not quite the way I expected you to undress me, but okay."

I glared at him.

That shut him up.

I can't help but notice how chiseled his abs were as I reached the bottom half of his shirt. I shook any disturbing thought and tried to think of disgusting things.

The grey hairs sticking out of Mrs. Brown's nose.

Mold being scrubbed.

Maggots coming out of dead bodies.

"I knew you hate me but I never thought the sight of my body disgusts you."

"Three minutes!"

I unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down, making sure I look anywhere but there.

That seemed to affect him because I heard his sharp inhale.

I rose and met his face. His mouth was slightly open but I didn't waste any time and grabbed the garment bag and opened it carelessly.

I gave him the pants and he just looked at it as if it was a foreign object.

My mouth snarled. "You're infuriating."

I crouched and put him in the trousers. I stood as I clasped the lock and looked him directly in the eye as I zipped it up.

He gulped.

I turned to get the shirt and put it on him. I felt his shallow breaths on the top of my head as I fasten each button.

"Sixty seconds!"

I grabbed the suit and put it over him. The tie was next.

"Thirty seconds! Places!"

I wrapped it around his neck and tied it immediately, making sure it was extra tight.

"Ow, are you trying to kill me?" He said as he loosened the tie a bit.

"Maybe."

"Ten, Nine, Eight..."

I pressed his suit flat, checking if something was amiss.

"Seven, Six, Five, Four..."

I slapped his back to get to the line, "Off you go."

The organizer began counting with her fingers and mouthed, "Three, Two, One." And the show was on.

He looked back at me as he stood last in line.

I ignored him and went to the racks where his clothes were hanging on a chair. I picked up his shirt and pants.

"Lauren," he called.

"What?"

"Nothing," he grinned then winked.

I gagged, "I taste a little throw up in my mouth."

"You want me to lick it for you?"

"Oh!" I gagged, for real this time. "Unbelievable." I turned away from him and folded the clothes.

I heard him laugh through the beat of the runway music.

"Hi," a woman said as she sat next to me.

"Hey," I smiled.

"I'm sorry you had to do some stylist work. You've seen how crazy the backstage could be."

"Yeah, I know. It's alright."

"You know, plenty of us went to Axel earlier and asked him how we could help but he just sent us away."

I looked to where Axel was and he is almost next.

That son of a bitch.

"Anyway, you're his girlfriend, right?"

"What? No!" I said immediately. "I mean, no," I said calmly.

She scratched her head, "Huh, I swear I thought I've seen you on the news."

"News?" I said defensively. "What news?"

"Oh, nothing. Maybe you just look like her. I saw it on Facebook."

"Oh."

"Hoy, Marites, yari ka." Someone yelled.

"Ha?" she said defensively then turned to me, "Ay, I have to go, they're calling me."

"Oh, okay. Nice to meet you, Marites."

"You too. I'll see you at the afterparty later ha!" she patted my thigh lightly as she stood.

"Yeah, um, are we really invited to that?"

"Of course, silly! The show will never be a success if it wasn't for us! Don't discount yourself."

"Marites!"

"Okay, I really have to go now. See you soon!"

"Okay, okay."

"Marites!"

"Eto na!"

The screams got louder and the audience was chanting, "Axel! Axel!"

I peeked on the stage and saw people carrying banners on the further back rows. One banner has Axel's name sprawled above his pictures and another says 'We 🖤 Axel James'.

Axel kept a straight face, being the professional model that he is, and strutted his way down the runway.

He saw me and the corner of his lips twitched up ever so slightly.

I averted my gaze and ran back inside immediately.

*       *       *

"Come on, Lauren. We've never been to cool parties." Cass pleaded as she dropped face-first on my bed.

Dave stood next to the window, looking down at the pool, "Yeah, let's help Cass get a man."

Cassandra glared at him.

He put his hand near his mouth and whispered in gritted teeth, "Everyone knows she needs to get laid."

"What did you say?" Cass threatened with a pillow on her hand.

"Nothing!" he docked. "Sheesh. No need to get violent." He raised his brows at me, "See what I'm talking about?"

Cass smacked the pillow on his head, "Ow!"

"Drama Queen."

"Alright, stop it, you guys."

"He started it."

"She started it." They said in unison.

"Do you hear yourselves?"

"Oh, come on, Lauren. One party won't harm you."

I looked at her and raised a brow.

She sat straight, "You owe us one. You have to."

"Right, I forgot about that..." Dave sat on the couch.

"Are you really cashing that in just for this?"

She looked at Dave and they both seem to be thinking about it.

"I could do a weeks' worth of auditing for you, just saying. I could babysit your daughter, Dave."

Her eyes narrowed into slits then she looked at Dave and he nodded decisively.

"Yeah," she said finally. "We're gonna cash it in now."

"Seriously, Dave? You're giving up free babysitting for this?"

He just shrugged.

I groaned, "Alright. Get out then. I need to get ready if we need to go."

"Yes!" Cass said victoriously.

"Out now." I thwarted them off.

"Okay, we'll see you in ten!" she said as they got out the door.

"Fifteen!" I counter-offered.

"Okay." The door closed.

I exhaled loudly as my head rested on the door.

I just wanted to have a quiet night in. Is it too much to ask?

I rummaged through my stuff, thinking what I could wear to the party. All I have are corporate clothes. How can I make that work?

I mixed and matched and after a while, decided on a white button-down, some jeans, and pumps. I put on a pretty heavy eye make-up to compensate and went down to the lobby where Cass and Dave were waiting.

To my surprise, Harper and Mitchell were there too.

"There she is," Mitchell said.

"You're going too?"

"Of course. Come on, the car's waiting."

It took us a little over an hour to get to the location.

The Palace.

I felt my heart beat to the bass as we entered. The place was already packed, loud and raging.

The DJ was mixing up on the stage and people were drinking shots in the swimming pool.

"Alright," Harper started. "Go have fun. Mitchell and I will have to go to a different room to meet with the execs."

"Of course," Cass nodded.

"Don't have too much fun, okay? Keep your phones with you. We all still need to carpool back to the hotel. We don't want anyone getting lost," Mitchell reminded

"Got it, Mitchell, we'll keep that in mind," Dave answered.

"Mm-hm..." Mitchell nodded.

"Harper! Mitchell! We were waiting for you." A tall skinny Asian guy greeted them.

Harper waved bye as they were led someplace else.

"I feel overdressed," Cass whispered next to me.

"No, shit, they're all wearing bikinis."

"I didn't know this was a pool party," Dave said next to me.

"Me neither."

"Hey!" Marites greeted in a strappy bikini with gold chains, drink in hand. "You made it."

"Ha, yeah, that I did."

"Who are your friends?"

"Oh, this is Cassandra and this is Dave."

"Hey," Cassandra said.

Marites nodded as her lips formed a grin, "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Dave said with a smile.

"Let's go get some drinks?"

"Uh, sure."

We followed her to a booth and people hollered as she arrived. She did a little dance bit for them then said, "Okay, okay, guys, behave. I'm going to introduce you to some people." She motioned for us to come closer, "Come on!"

"Hey, don't be shy." a guy who was sitting said.

"This is Cassandra, Dave, and..." she looked at me, clueless.

"Lauren," I spoke.

She laughed, "Oh my God, I didn't even get your name. Sorry, Lauren."

I chuckled uneasily, "It's fine."

"Anyway, this is Carlo, Marga, Sean, JR, Patrick, and Meryl."

Hi's and hellos were exchanged and we sat with them to drink.

They weren't so bad. And if I'm being honest, it was just Marites who's a little bit phony.

"Oh my God, this is my song!" Marites squealed. "Come on, Lauren, let's dance."

Before I could say anything, she grabbed me to the dance floor.

My body was already hot from all the alcohol and it didn't help that sweaty bodies are dancing around me.

Everyone was suddenly jumping in slo-mo and the neon lights doubled.

"Shot!" Marites gave me a drink.

I took it but didn't drink it just yet. She nodded for me to go on and I felt eyes on me. Then I heard people shouting, "Shot! Shot! Shot! Shot!"

I looked around and saw that they were all waiting for me to drink.

"Shot! Shot! Shot! Shot!"

I downed the shot glass and people hyped up as the DJ dropped the beat.

"Whew!" I felt the alcohol pass through my esophagus.

"Damn, girl! Take another shot!" Marites handed me another.

"Shot! Shot! Shot! Shot!"

Alright, well, let's give them a show.

"Ayyyyyyy!"

The shots flowed and flowed, and the last thing I remember was seeing Marites' overjoyed face, handing me another shot.

*      *      *

I woke up with a pounding in my head. I groaned as I sat up.

Again, Lauren?

When will you ever learn?

I put my hand on my head and I tried to support it as much as I could.  But as my eyes fluttered open, the lightheadedness instantly disappeared and was replaced by fear.

My other hand instinctively held on to the sheets below and I looked around, trying to figure out what this place is.

Everything was white.

Where am I?

Am I dead?

Am I being kidnapped?

I heard a door creak and my breathing went fast.

I grabbed the pillow next to me for the lack of any other weapon.

A man walked out of the door, topless.

"Oh My God," I screamed and threw the pillow at him.

"Jesus. I still have a hangover."

"Axel?"

"Yes! Why did you throw a pillow at me?"

For the first time, I was relieved to see him.

"Where am I? What is this?"

"You're in my plane."

"Your what?"

"My plane! Airplane? Aeroplane?"

"Okay! I get it."

Of course, he wouldn't fly commercial.

He grabbed a towel from a dresser.

I looked down and my clothes are still intact. That's a good sign.

"Nothing happened, right?"

"You mean, you and I..." He scoffed, "No. If something happened, you'd know. I mean you'd feel it. Besides..." he dried his hair with a towel. "I'm not into necrophilia."

"Where's Cassandra? Dave? Where are the others?"

"I don't know. On their way to New York?"

"What?!" I stood and got a head rush from standing too fast.

I fell ass first on the floor.

Axel rushed to me, "Hey, are you okay?" He put his hand on my forehead.

"I'm fine." I swatted his hand away, "Get your hands off me."

He stood and whispered, "I was just trying to help."

I stood and sat back on the bed. "Why did they leave me?"

"They didn't leave you. You left them, remember?" he said as he put a shirt on.

"I left them?"

"Yeah. You said you wanted to go to Olongapo."

"Yeah, but, how? I mean, what?" I tried to remember the time I said that and how I even got here but none.

"Where are we anyway?"

"We're parked in Subic Bay." he put the comb down from his head.

"What? We're already here?"

"Yeah. And you might want to get ready."

"Why?"

"Well, your cousin may already be on the way."

"What?"

"You called her last night to pick us up."

"I did what?"

"We don't know anything about this place." He continued. "You know, for someone who suggested this, you have a lot of questions."

"I can't remember asking for any of this, okay? I can't even remember seeing you last night."

"Well, I'll have to explain later, but right now, get ready. You don't want your family to see you like that."

"Don't tell me what to do." I looked at clothes and smelled myself. I reek of alcohol. "But okay, I'll get ready."

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GLOSSARY:

Hoy, Marites, yari ka. – Hey, Marites, you're in trouble.

Eto na! – coming!