AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” I recognize that the person he’s arguing with is one of the models who participated in the shoot. My blood boils.
Get dressed?
What the hell is going on?
Before I reach them, she speaks. “If it’s a woman you want to vacation with, why not me? I’m younger and prettier.”
“Get out.”
“She’s crippled. Those scars on her feet, especially the one on the hand, are disgusting.”
For a moment, I’m shaken. I look at my feet. Yes, I still have burn scars because my skin is too thin, but the makeup artist managed to cover it all up. The hand one is a little worse, but not gross.
“Get out, for fucks’ sake! Didn’t you understand what I just said? You are fired!” Christos yells.
I go into the kitchen, and, at the same time, the girl puts on the top she had taken off, showing her breasts to my man.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask.
I see her bottom lip trembling.
“Get out!” My boyfriend orders again.
“Wait a moment. Let her answer me. What do you think you’re doing, Hanna? You said you’re younger than me, but you must be at least eighteen, or you wouldn’t be here. I’ll be twenty-one soon, but that’s not the point. I’ve lived a lifetime longer than you.”
“Zoe, I—” she starts, but I cut her off.
“Do you think offering to have sex, getting naked in front of a man, will make him appreciate you? In ten years, if not sooner, your ass and boobs will start to sag. Gravity, love. No one escapes that. At this rate, you will be known not for being photogenic but for having sex with your bosses. An easy fuck, as it’s called in our country.”
“I’m sorry,” the phony says.
“I’m not done.” I take two steps closer to her. “The one who spoke to you just now was the old Zoe. There’s still a little bit of her in me. She is kind and compassionate. She forgives easily, too. But unfortunately, that silly girl stayed behind. The one in charge now is the angry Zoe. You are disgusting, someone who uses the fact that I have scars to try to make me smaller.”
“You’re jealous because you know I’m right. He’ll get sick of you,” she growls, her face transfigured with hate.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m angry, yes, because he’smine, but Christos is a big boy and knows how to shoo women like you. The main reason I despise you is for talking about my scars.”
Yuri comes in, out of breath. “Hanna, what the hell are you doing here?
“Offering herself to my boyfriend, but she missed a trick. Bye, Yuri.” I turn around and run up the stairs. I’m really angry, maybe more at myself than her, for letting her make me lose control.
I barely reach the room, however, when Christos grabs my arm.
“Zoe.”
“I’m not upset with you. I’ve been modeling for almost two years now. I know how it goes in the industry. It’s not the first time I’ve seen a girl show her boobs to a guy as some sort of business card, but it’s the first time I’ve seen one do it formyman. I lied. I wanted to smack the living shit out of her.”
He approaches, like when someone does a wild animal; I don’t think he knows what my reaction will be.
“Are you jealous?”
“No. Jealousy doesn’t begin to define it. I want to kill her.”
“It wasn’t what it looked like,” he says, wrapping me around the waist. “I was worried when she talked about your hand. I don’t care. I?—”
I place my fingers over his lips. “I know. And neither do I. I could have lost my parents and my best friend, Christos. These scars are nothing. It wasn’t my self-esteem she hurt. It was jealousy at its worst, but I didn’t want to give in.”
He laughs, which makes me relax despite all the stress from a few moments ago. Seconds later, however, he gets serious, pressing our foreheads together. “I have a gift. I was going to wait until your twenty-first birthday, but I don’t want to leave anything else on hold when it comes to the two of us.” He gives me a light kiss on the lips and walks away. “Don’t leave.”
