Chapter 55

After that utter failure of a meeting with Michael, James and I returned to the office where he, Daniel, and I continued to rack our brains over what we could possibly do. The three of us sat around James’ office in contemplative silence.

As soon as James got through explaining the situation with Rudolf at the Alpha Gathering to Daniel, his initial suggestion was that James begin working on some sort of statement to release to the press, explaining his side of the story.

“All the public has right are a bunch of photos with little to no context,” the beta said. “What’s important now is that, while the issue is still fresh in everyone’s mind, you be the one to tell exactly what was going on and what provoked you to act out.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “I think that’s a great idea, regardless of what becomes of it,” I stated. “I think staying quiet on the whole matter only makes you appear more at fault.”

James wasn’t difficult to convince and got straight to working on his statement.

Daniel nodded his head. “Alright, that’s a start.” he acknowledged. “But in the meantime, we’ve got to do something about the ongoing projects that keep dropping.”

It was true. Apart from trying to clean up James’ image to the public, we needed to find a way to save a majority of the projects that were currently on hold. Crescent Moon’s current numbers were taking a giant plummet and I was desperate to find a way to fix things.

Part of me was still somewhat surprised that I hadn’t heard from either Michael or David. Considering the meeting couldn’t have gone in any worse of a direction, I figured David, of all people, would have at least tried to cool things over. But no.

And for that, I was deeply thankful.

I was still so disturbed and bothered by what happened, I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to face Michael again should the need arise.

“Mia,” James called out quietly.

His rough voice rolled over me, causing goosebumps to rake across my arms. I turned my head to find his tentative gaze that spoke volumes. It was like he could sense my uneasiness from across the room. He extended his arm and I wordlessly got up and came over to where he sat.

James curled a strong arm around me and pulled me close. I hadn’t realized that Daniel was watching this whole scene unfold, but suddenly his erupted with eager excitement.

“Oh my God...I think I’ve got it. I think I’ve found a way to ease the problems for the time being.”

“What is it?”

“You two.” James and I shared a confused look. “Once James puts out his statement about the altercation with Lawrence, the two of you are the ones that should take over as the models for the photoshoots.”

“You can’t be serious,” James commented.

“Daniel, I don’t have that kind of experience or training,” I said. “I don’t know the first thing about modeling.”

He merely waved off my worries.

“Think about it. The products are already well into the development phase. Right now, we’re at the stage where our signed models would be posing either with the product or simply to put a face to the idea we are trying to sell. And right now, the idea we’re going for is ‘Eternal Love’. Once that statement is released, then we’ll let the advertisements start to roll out. It will not only enforce your side of the story, but it will hopefully make many of the clients we work with realize that they've made a mistake pulling out in the first place.”

James ruffled through some of the documents on his desk, trying to find the project Daniel was referring to.

“Wasn’t this the project that Michael Durant was supposed to be on?” he asked.

Daniel nodded his head. “Yes, sir. But since there’s been no immediate word from him or his team, we’re forced to find alternative options.”

I couldn’t entirely make out the thoughts that were running through James’ mind at that moment. But he seemed rather determined and slightly...smug.

After a short pause, James gradually nodded his head. “...I’m in. What do you say, sweetheart?”

I found myself blushing at the thought of being put on display for all the world to see. However, I didn’t want to let either James or the company down. I nodded my head and ended up agreeing.

Over the next two days, James and I worked out of a photo studio. At first, I was horribly shy being placed in nothing but skimpy lingerie while the camera kept flashing and snapping photos, whereas James appeared to be a total natural.

He prompted me to relax and took control of placing me however I should be for the next set of pictures. “You’re doing perfectly,” he assured. “Daniel said that we just need to get through a few more and then we’ll be able to move on.”

I nodded my head. “What’s after this?” I asked.

James leaned in to whisper into my ear. “It’s a surprise.”

...

And holy hell was I surprised!

When we finished up at the in-house studio, James and I were told to travel a little way out of the city. We arrived at a private beach where we met with a whole separate photography team as well as a few other props.

I was utterly elated. It had been years since I last visited the beach. Yet, the surprise factor just kept growing. When James and I finished our guided stroll along the shoreline, I saw a professional trainer bring out a pair of gorgeous horses.

“Oh my God,” I gasped.

James chuckled at my delight and helped me climb onto the saddle. Having overcome the initial fear of potentially falling off, I gained a bit of confidence in my riding. There came a point when I didn’t even notice the cameras going off anymore.

All my mind could care to focus on was James and the amazing time I was sharing with him.

“Mia?”

I turned my head to glance at James. His lips were parted as though he was contemplating telling me something.

“Yes?”

“I...You’re...You really look incredible,” he said.

Something told me that this wasn’t what he really wanted to say but I accepted the compliment nonetheless and smiled. After all that’s gone on between us, I was really hoping that James would have opened up about how he truly felt toward me.

His actions said one thing, but his literal words always told me something else.