Unwritten

by Lauren Runow

  “Not at all. I have nothing to hide.”

  She blow-dries her hair while I finish my shower. I look at her any chance I get. I hate to see the sad look on her face. We catch eyes for a moment and I see it. Hope.

  We meet the rest of the crew in the lobby of the hotel. Allison introduces me to everyone, including Mr. Knowles. “Alex, this is,” she pauses and I hate that she’s not sure how to introduce me. “This is Charlie. Charlie, this is the lead photographer, Alex Knowles.”

  Ouch, that hurt.

  Alex holds out his hand to me and we shake hands. “Nice to meet you Charlie, did you just arrive?”

  “Nice to meet you, too. Yes, I got in last night.”

  “You look familiar,” he presses his lips together, squinting his eyes, thinking before he turns back to Allison asking, “Is this the same guy from your photos, the model?”

  I look to Allison lifting my eyebrows, mouthing model to her, confused.

  She lets out a small laugh, “Yes, this is him.”

  Alex nods his head, looking proud he remembered where he had seen me before, as he picks up his equipment and we all walk out of the hotel.

  Once we’re semi-alone, I lean over to whisper to Allison, “Model? What was that about?”

  Allison looks at me, “I have one of the pictures I took of you in Tahoe in my portfolio. It caught his eye during my interview, he actually asked for your number, I wasn’t talking to you then though.”

  She gives me a glare as the thought brought up everything that happened. I reach for her hand and she pulls it away from me, making me feel the shame all over again.

  The photo shoot is in the park in front of the Eiffel Tower. They’re set up at the edge of the park, far enough away from the tower so it is a small backdrop for the photos. It’s a miraculous view and I sit in awe of the massive structure before me. It’s much bigger in real life than I thought it would be. I sit to the side, on the grass as everyone sets up, trying to stay out of the way.

  Models walk up dressed in sensual lingerie, very 1920’s style with long silky robes, thigh high stockings and garter belts. There are three women and only two men.

  Alex starts to yell in a very demanding voice, “Am I the only one who’s paying attention around here? Are we missing something?” The crew starts to panic at his tone, looking around, trying to see what he’s talking about. “The models! We’re missing one!”

  His first assistant, John, runs to the models to see what’s going on. They all look around, not sure what to say. Alex yells out again, “Allison? Where’s Allison?”

  Allison runs to him and even though I can’t hear what’s being said, I know he’s making demands of her and she’s nodding her head yes. She looks completely in control around him, standing her own and I’m so proud just watching her since everyone else seems to cower around him.

  Allison runs toward me with a different look on her face and I can’t place what’s going on. “Uh oh, everything ok? Man, I can hear that guy yelling all the way over here.”

  “Yeah, he can be a little intense but his work is amazing so it’s all worth it,” she tries to blow his temper off. “Look, one of the male models didn’t show up. He thinks you’re a model.”

  I look at her confused.

  “He asked me who you were in my interview and I didn’t want to explain anything so I said you were just a model I used for the day.”

  I look up to her, hurt to hear her words as she goes on.

  “He’s asking you to step in and he’ll pay you accordingly. Will you please do it?” she’s begging and giving me a sweet, puppy dog look.

  “Allison, I’m not a model. I have no clue what to do…” I’m trying to be sincere but confused by her request.

  “It’s ok, he’ll direct you. Just do as your told and you’ll do fine,” she grabs my hand begging, “Please?”

  I’ll do anything to make her happy, so I smile as I get up, “Allison, I’d do anything for you.” I lean in to kiss her cheek and she doesn’t back away, allowing my affection.

  “Thank you,” she smiles sweetly as she pulls me over to Alex.

  “He said he’d do it. Where should he go to get dressed?”

  Someone from wardrobe grabs me from behind, swiftly dragging me over to the dressing area. I look back to Allison with my eyes wide making Allison giggle as I’m dragged away.

  A few minutes later I emerge wearing a vintage 1920’s maroon silk men’s robe with no shirt, white boxers underneath and black socks pulled up high with garters holding them up underneath my knees.

  Allison looks at me and I can tell she’s flustered because she drops a light as soon as she sees me. I laugh when our eyes meet, giving her a you-owe-me look.

  I set up with the other models in very provocative poses as Allison looks on. I see a look of pure lust in her eyes as she stares at me and it only fills me with hope.

  The photo shoot goes well and Alex is pleased with his photos. He walks up to shake my hand saying, “Thanks for stepping in. You can model for me anytime. How long are you in town?”

  I look to Allison for an answer and say, “Not sure yet, hopefully for awhile.”

  Allison smiles, shrugging her shoulders to my reply, and I’m left feeling optimistic about being here and about the two of us.

  Alex nods in acknowledgement and walks away leaving us alone. She mouths to me, “Thank you.”

  I wink back at her as I walk to wardrobe to change back into my clothes.

  “You really helped us out today, thank you,” I say to Charlie as we walk into our room.

  “I’m glad to help. It wasn’t too bad. And I got to look at you the whole time,” Charlie smiles, making me flush at the memory of his outfit.

  “Yeah, I was looking at you, too. You looked pretty hot in that outfit,” I lift my eyebrows to him.

  “Yeah, you liked that?” He grabs me, pulling me close to him, leaning into kiss me.

  I give him a small kiss then pull back. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” I look away, still wrapped in his arms.

  “Allison, talk to me. I want to make this better,” he pleads but lets me go.

  “I just can’t get past everything that happened. I watched you today and wanted nothing but to be with you, feel you against me again. And now, now that we’re here and I feel your touch, all I can think of is her and all of the other women I assume you’ve been with.”

  I’m surprised I was able to be so honest with him but that’s as far as that went. Now I can’t even bring myself to look at him.

  “Let me ask you one thing.” He takes a deep breath, leaning down to look at me. “Do you still love me?”

  I gasp; shocked he would ask such a blunt question. I can’t bring myself to say it but instead shyly look up to him nodding my head yes.

  He wraps his hands around my face, looking straight into my eyes, “Then we can do this. I want nothing more than to be with you.”

  “But how? I’m just… I still…” I stutter, not sure what to say.

  “As long as you remember this, right here. You and me. Everything else will take time. I hope one day you’ll look at me the same as you did before, because I am the same person. Nothing has changed with who I am. Just what I did for a living and I promise, I gave all of that up for you.” He speaks slowly to emphasize every word, looking straight into my eyes. “I only want to be with you.”

  My eyes swell up with tears that slowly start to trickle down my face. It’s exactly what I wanted to hear and I want so bad to believe it, but I just can’t get the image or thought out of my head.

  Charlie wipes my tears away and timidly moves in to kiss my lips softly. I don’t pull away and he leans in again, holding his kiss there before opening his mouth, inhaling deeply as he turns his head, slightly opening his mouth more and sliding his tongue gently across mine.

  God, it feels so amazing. Everything about him is amazing and I try to only focus on him.

  He pulls back, leaving me wanting more whic
h fills me with hope. Instead, he wraps his arms around me in a sweet embrace and kisses the top of my head, whispering, “I love you, Allison.”

  My heart is so full of love but my head is full of dismay. I need to find a way to get past everything and just follow my heart. I hold onto him tightly, not ready to let go but not ready to do anything else.

  I’m such a total mess.

  Charlie grabs me, pushing me away from his chest but holding my arms, smiling like he’s excited about what he just thought of. “Hey, would you be up for going to a club tonight?”

  I give him a questionable look, this is far from what I thought would come out of his mouth right now, especially after our last club experience. “Really? Where would we go?”

  “Some of the other models were talking about going out to a dance club tonight, a place called VIP Room. They invited us to go and said they would put us on the guest list. It’s supposed to be really exclusive, sounds like it could be fun though. Help get our minds off of everything and just have a good time.”

  I smile, shrugging my shoulders, “Why not, sounds like fun.”

  “Great! Let’s get something to eat and we can meet them afterward.”

  After dinner, we head back to the hotel to get ready for our night out. Charlie is sitting in the living room waiting for me to get ready. I love the fact that I literally watch his mouth drop open when I walk into the room. I’m wearing a tight, scoop neck, red dress with silver high heel shoes and I take it he approves.

  “You look amazing,” he says breathlessly.

  “Why thank you, Mr. Ashley,” I smirk and in an instance I watch his jaw clinch tightly.

  He shakes his head while standing up, “Please don’t call me that,” he looks away saying, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  I’m so confused by what just happened, and then it hits me. Is that what his clients called him? The thought makes my stomach turn.

  At the club entrance, we walk past a long line and are offered entrance since our names were put on the guest list.

  Charlie leans into me smirking, “So this model thing has its perks.”

  We enter a dark room with red and blue lights glowing all around the very high-end club. Everyone looks like a model or someone famous and we both laugh as we take it all in. There’s an upper level looking over the dance floor and a bottle of champagne at every table. The words VIP Room shine at the center of the stage with a large ornate design tangled around it. Music’s blaring over the speakers, playing a dance beat that’s making it hard to stand still.

  We walk onto the dance floor, starting to dance but when we try to get close there’s this oddness between us that’s never been there before. He goes to move to the right and I move to the left. He tries to turn me around and I just step all over his toes.

  We’re a mess and every second that goes by the feeling gets worse and worse. Everyone around us is dancing seductively against each other and when Charlie tries to pull me in close, placing his leg between my thighs, I literally lose my balance and almost go toppling over.

  He pulls on my arm, motioning to go get a drink and I sigh a sigh of relief nodding yes.

  We walk to the bar and before we order, I watch Charlie’s eyes light up as he leans into me and asks, “Are you up to try something?”

  I look at him confused.

  “Have you ever tried molly?”

  I step back, tilting my head, surprised again at the suggestion coming out of his mouth. “You’re kidding right?”

  He looks more convincingly into my eyes, “Have you ever tried it?” he tilts one eyebrow up.

  I just laugh, “Um, no, I haven’t.”

  “I think it’s what we need. Do you trust me?”

  I look into his eyes, searching for an answer and slowly nod my head up and down telling him yes. I do trust him and after that disaster on the dance floor, I’m willing to try anything just to have a better night.

  He kisses me softly and whispers, “Wait here. Just order us water, please.”

  Charlie walks over to a guy standing against the wall wearing bright colors. He’s back quickly and lifts his eyebrows to me, lighting up his face but doesn’t say a word. I hand him our waters as he looks at me, giving me an are-you-sure look and I just smile shyly. He slips something into both of our waters and stirs it around.

  Handing it back to me, he whispers in my ear, “Don’t worry, I split it between us so it won’t be too intense.”

  I grab the water and quickly drink it all the way down. I don’t want to second-guess anything right now. I’m desperate for anything that will help my head listen more to my heart and from what I have heard about molly, I think it will do the trick.

  Charlie drinks his water and we hang out at a table, waiting for it to take effect. Keeping our distance at first, we try to enjoy the scenery, nodding our heads to the music. Slowly, the discomfort between us loosens and our disconnection dissolves.

  Charlie reaches for my hand, slowly pulling it closer to him, wrapping his fingers through mine, tangling them together. I feel his touch from my fingertips to my toes, making every nerve stand on end in pure pleasure. My face lights up as I engulf myself in his touch and we rub our hands together.

  He pulls me in so we’re standing so close that I can feel his heartbeat. Looking deep into my eyes, he starts at my shoulders, slowly moving his hands down my arms, to my hands and gripping them, entangling them in his again as he slowly starts to sway to the music.

  Leaning down, he kisses me making every muscle in my body tighten then loosening to a point I’ve never felt before, making all the tension from the last couple of weeks melt away just by his touch.

  He takes my hands, swinging me around, wrapping my arms around me, his arms intertwined with mine and my back to him as we slowly start to move to the music, feeling every beat deep within my soul. His face is nestled against me, breathing against my neck, sending tingles down my body and tightening all the muscles between my legs. We begin to move as one, lost in the moment of each other.

  The feeling intensifies between us as we continue to dance, rubbing up against each other to the point where we can’t get enough. All I want to do is touch him, feel him, have him. He swings me back around so we’re face to face. I begin to rub my hands through his hair, pulling lightly, forcing his head back, making him moan in pleasure.

  He looks back to me, his face full of intense need and his eyes burning as he stares at me and I know he’s as lost in me as I am in him. He slowly starts bending down to kiss me, and it feels like it takes an eternity for his lips to reach mine.

  Just like before everything happened back at home, we’re alone in our own world of love for one another. The music’s blearing all around us but I don’t even hear it. Only our lips, tongues and hands matter to me right now. Nothing else in the world does.

  Nothing.

  He stops kissing me, trying to catch his breath and rubbing his hands down my arms, leaving me wanting so much more.

  Grabbing me, he says, “We need water. Come,” and pulls me off the dance floor.

  At the bar he hands me a glass of water and I chug it like it’s the best tasting thing I’ve ever had, making him laugh. “Yeah, you like it? Do you want more?” his question lingers in the air.

  Yes, I want more. More of you. More of this. My head’s spinning in euphoria with a big grin on my face.

  Charlie grins pulling me closer, giving me a kiss on my cheek asking, “More water I mean?”

  I flush and shake my head, “Yes, please,” as I sway to the music, finding it hard to sit still.

  Charlie hands me another glass and I drink it down again. I can’t help the urge to dance, so I grab Charlie’s hand, dragging him back on the dance floor where I begin to dance like no one’s watching, with all the joy in the world radiating through my eyes staring directly back at Charlie.

  Charlie can’t help but laugh as he joins my intensity, and we dance to the beat without a care in the world. Wr
apping ourselves in each other any chance we get, loving the feeling. We dance the night away, drinking more water and kissing so much our mouths are turning raw.

  The club announces last call and Charlie grabs my hand, motioning for us to leave. I’m still lost in euphoria and frown at the thought of it ending.

  Charlie leans into me, “Trust me, you don’t want to be here when they turn on the lights, totally ruins it.”

  I listen to Charlie and we leave hand in hand, holding each other as close as we can. We hop into a taxi and caress each other’s legs and hands trying to hide just how crazy we are for each other.

  After we walk into our hotel room, I close the door, falling against it, yearning for him to take control over my entire body. I know he can see it in my eyes, shit, I see the same look in his.

  He reaches for his phone hooking it up to the iHome playing Jason Aldean Burnin’ It Down. The guitar strings dance introducing the song as the lyrics start its seductive romantic game and I’m totally done for. I need him to touch me, hold me close and fill this void in my body before I explode.

  He slowly struts his way to me, still up against the door. I’m barely able to breathe from anticipation. Leaning his body against me, he runs his finger down the side of my face, down my breast and all the way down my thigh. His touch sends chills throughout me and I push my body harder against his as my appetite for him grows completely out of control.

  He kisses me softly, driving me insane as my breathing grows harder and deeper. I run my fingers through his hair, sending chills deep into my soul as I wrap my leg around his waist, pulling him in as tightly as I can.

  Charlie swiftly picks me up so both of my legs are wrapped around his waist and pushes me hard against the wall as he moves to kissing my neck, starting at the top of my jaw and moving around to my ear. I moan at his touch, grinding my hips down, trying to feel his hard cock through his jeans.

  Charlie turns, holding me tightly and while kissing me, he walks to the bedroom, laying me down on the bed. “Lay down on your stomach,” he demands, his voice full of hunger, making my heart beat faster as the ache between my legs tightens even more.