1. The Magazine Model

Chapter 1: The Magazine Model

Clementine Hunter was sitting close to a desk filled with lots of worn-out books when her father, Matthew Hunter arrived.

 He was smiling as he got closer to her and touched her on her left shoulder to comment on how beautiful she looked at the moment. She smiled back, blinking her eyes sharply but carefully.

"How long are you going to be single?" Mr. Matthew asked.

Clementine stood up from the seat she was sitting on and laughed calmly. "Why are you concerned about my relationship status?" She asked.

"You are my daughter," Mr. Matthew replied, walking closer to a shelf that was a few meters away from him and pulling a romantic novel. "You still read this all the time?"

"I try not to, Dad," Clementine eyed her father playfully. “It is hard to not think about being with a man these days especially when you are thinking about working all the time.” 

Mr. Matthew paused and nodded in a way that made Clementine understand that he was following up with the conversation as she was.

"Why are you so concerned about building a career for yourself when I already have a business empire that you can take over from me whenever you are ready?"

Clementine did not think about what her father had said for a complete minute before she laughed a bit and stared at his smiling face.

 Since the beginning of understanding the concept of love, she had always wondered how her father, Matthew Hunter had managed to stay a good number of years with the absence of her mother who they rarely talked about in their large house. 

She gazed down at the magazine cradled in her palms.

The picture of a beautiful black model in the cover of the magazine was bold like a symbol for diversity, filled with cultural unity.

She is beautiful, she told herself. You have nothing to fear about when telling the whole world that you are beautiful.

"You are yet to answer my question, Clementine. You have kept your lips perfectly sealed as if you have got no words to say to the man that gave birth to you. Must I remind you how long it took for your mother and I to give birth to you?" Mr. Matthew asked.

"You don't have to tell me about the good old days, Dad. I am going to get bored when you start telling me your stories."

"They are not just stories," Mr. Matthew corrected. "They are sentences based on real life stories mixed together to give you a reason to appreciate my presence whenever you can."

"That is good. I am well aware of that," Clementine dropped the magazine on the desk as she sat down back, again. She was getting prepared for a long conversation since it was almost a month since she had last seen her father. Now, even though he looked so jovial as though he had just climbed a mountain while being chased by slow birds, he still had that silent worry in his face which still confused her the more she thought about it.

"How are you doing today?" Mr. Matthew finally asked, then continued before she could even answer. "I had a great time in Florida. The sun there has a certain likeness for my skin that I cannot use words to describe. I think you would love it there if you ever decide to visit. Now, back to my question. How are you doing today?"

"I am fine," Clementine replied. "I have been busy since morning, preparing a list of what I want to do this week.

Initially, I was preparing a list of what I hoped to achieve before I die. You will be surprised when you discover what is first on the list, Dad."

Mr. Matthew rubbed his chin, gently. "Now, I am curious! What do you have in mind? It seems you have been planning on surprising me with one of your brilliant ideas. I am so eager to listen now. You can go on!"

Clementine watched as her father grabbed one of the seats opposite her and pulled it towards his direction. He sat down and crossed his legs.

"Well," she started, trying to avoid a cough. "I know you are going to laugh but I don't want you to laugh in a way that will make me feel bad for coming up with this idea."

"I promise!" Mr. Matthew cut her sharply, before she could proceed. "I promise not to laugh at whatever idea you have come up with that is on your list. You have to trust me, Clementine. I am your father, and I have a right to tell you what I am going to say and what I am not going to say. I am one of the few honest people you will come across in your life. Trust me!"

"It is what you said the last time we had a conversation of this sort," Clementine reminded him.

"I ended up trusting you only to be disappointed by my choice."

"You can always try again no matter the number of times a human fails you. I guess that is the difference between us and monkeys."

Clementine laughed in a gentle manner as if she was prepared to make a bargain with her father, as if he clearly understood how monkeys worked. "What am I going to get in return if you fail to keep to your promise?"

Mr. Matthew thought for a while then smiled widely.

"You will get a big matured hug from your father. To me, that seems like a fair deal if you consider the quality of the information you are giving to me and how important my hugs are to people these days."

Clementine ignored his words and brought out a rumpled piece of paper where she had written a list of things. She passed it to Mr. Matthew who took it from her and stared at it for a good while, focusing on the first desire far at the top.

"You want a husband," Mr. Matthew laughed as he dropped the list on the desk.

"That is correct!" 

"I'd arrange an impromptu date for you and Noah Hudson, to meet and get along well with each other."

" What?" Clementine Hunter peered wildly at him. The night was swift, or maybe Clementine was happy, day appeared before she remembered sleeping. "Another day is Born" she say yawning and smiling. Happily, she dashed into the bathroom, grabbed her brush to brush her teeth. 

"Hello" a voice say from behind.

Clementine jerked a bit, grabbing her towel in a flash. She was on panties only.  

"How the hell did you get_" 

"Ssssshhhhhhhh" he shut her with his cold red lips pressing against her's. 

After what seemed like a minute, Clementine pushed him away. 

"How the hell did you get in here!" She yelled, but not taking her eyes from his lips. 

"Your butler let me in. I told her I was here to see your dad and_" 

Clementine didn't let him finish, she slapped him. 

Noah held his the part of his face, where she had just been slapped. 

"Am sorry, I shouldn't have done that." She apologized.