On a bright and sunny late morning, someone was still sleeping off the pang in her chest from inside her room.
Curled under the sheets, Joan tried her best to think not of the sight of one Shantal Lin being kissed by Christopher.
From her bedside table, her phone had been ringing nonstop, buzzing while left on vibrate mode. She had clients today. She knew, but she was not in the mood.
Last night, she told her assistant to cancel all her appointments. She gave no valid excuse.
"Urrgghhh!" She got up in anger. Joan grabbed her phone and answered, "What is it, Gina? I told you to cancel my appointments today!"
"Miss Joan, I'm very sorry, but a rising singer came in the shot today asking if you can her official stylist! It would be a good chance for you to shine!" Suggested her assistant, Gina. "Not that... you are not shinning. You are already... somewhat famous."
After finishing college, Joan had pursued her greatest interest in fashion design. She worked hard and achieved her first line of clothes at the age of twenty-four. Now, at twenty-six years old, Joan had two boutiques in the city, selling her own brand of clothing.
In between, she modeled now and then. Her beauty was not to be missed as Joan's face was godly. However, she never accepted to contracts that would show off her body and skin.
Aside from modeling on her own clothing line, she accepted shoots for magazines, a make-up brand, her favorite shoe brand, and posed for free for charity organizations that she herself contributed to.
She wasn't as famous as Cole Adams for sure, but people knew her name, especially because her own clothing line was on the rise. Her number one customer was, after all, Meredith Hale and her girl best friend, Lina Clark.
"Miss Joan? Did you hear me? Shantal Lin is here and wants you to design clothes for her," repeated her assistant over the phone.
Joan was in a daze, shocked by Shantal's visit to her shop that she failed to acknowledge for seconds. She checked the time and realized it was already ten in the morning.
"Miss Joan? Are you there?" Gina asked again.
"Umm... Gina, sorry." Getting up from her bed, she said, "Please tell her, if she is willing to wait, I'll be there in an hour."
A big part of her hesitated, but it did not take long for Gina to come back to her with an answer. She said, "Miss Joan! Miss Shantal Lin said she only wants you to design her clothes! She is willing to wait for an hour."
Joan gulped at that. She pouted her lips before answering, "Very well. Why don't you have her settle at my office and give her some drinks and some snacks, Gina."
An hour later, Joan arrived at her first boutique.
In the middle of Los Angeles, California's fashion district, JB's Vogue, rested on the second floor of one of the most famous and exclusive malls in the city. Many of the city's starlets had an outlet at the same establishment.
After Joan's driver dropped her off at the front of the mall, she hurriedly made her way to JB's Vogue.
"Miss Joan, she is waiting at your office," said Gina right after she opened the glass doors of the boutique.
"Good Morning, Miss Joan," greeted her employees.
Some regular customers were also there, wishing her well.
The second she entered her office, she found Shantal Lin, sitting in front of her white desk, busy with her phone.
Upon the sight of her, Shantal smiled and said, "Ah, Joan. It's nice to see you. Sorry for coming on such short notice."
Shantal got up while clinging her shoulder bag in her arm. She extended her hand to Joan, offering a handshake.
"It's nice to see you again, too, Miss Lin," said Joan before forcing a smile. "I - I have to admit. I was - I was taken aback by your visit. Please take your seat."
"It was Christopher's suggestion for me to check out your shop. Of course, I have seen some of your collections in the magazines and I must say, they are impressive. Conservative, but the details to your dresses are interesting and well thought of," said Shantal.
Getting comfortable on her seat, Shantal said, "Chris, he." She paused and fluttered her eyes a few times, getting sentimental. "He cares for me that much that he only wants his... friends to look after my fashion style."
'Did she just highlight the word friends?' Joan asked herself without looking at Shantal. She was taking a seat when the singer spoke.
As soon as she got settled, Joan urged a smile and said, "I see. I have Christopher to thank then for referring you to my services."
"Yes. He also cares for you, Joan. I can tell. He repeatedly told me that he values... your friendship," added Shantal.
Joan's brows furrowed. It's not like Christopher at all to be expressive of his appreciation. He was always hard to read.
"Really?" She tilted her head and twitched her mouth before answering, "That's not like him at all. I've known the man for ten years, you know... Anyway, Miss Lin. That's not really important. Tell me about your style preference."
She wanted to shift away from talking about Christopher, but to her dismay; it did not seem like Shantal wanted to move away from the topic.
"Oh, it is important, Miss Joan Belle. You need to understand how Chris appreciates your friendship and that he looks after you like a younger sister," Shantal said. With a cunning smile, she added, "He will always look at you the same way, a friend... Just a friend."
Joan realized that this woman was not here to avail of her services. She thought, 'Why threaten me if she really was not a threat?'
Leaning back, Joan smiled. She said, "Are we done here, Miss Lin? Or do you want me to call Christopher and asked if he really referred you to me?"
She placed both her arms on the table and looked at the singer in the eye. She took a deep breath and said, "It's like what you said, he really values our friendship. I wonder what he would feel if he finds out you came looking for me, rubbing it in my face; my status in his life?"
Shantal became awkward for a second. She then smirked and said, "I just want to draw the line."
The singer got up from her seat before saying, "Excuse me. Chris and I have a lunch date together."
She failed not to show off the kiss marks on her chest, running her fingers through it. She beamed and said, "He is so good in bed, but I guess you'll never find out."
"Joan, are you feeling better?" Joan Belle heard Christopher's voice on the other line.Right after Shantal left, she called him immediately. She had to. She had six missed calls from him last night, and it was not like Christopher to call him so many times.Heck! He rarely called her."Yes, I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern," she said. "I'm sorry, I missed your party. I just - I just wanted to rest it out. Cole brought me home instead. I did not stay in his hotel room."'I could not stand the sight of you being with another woman. I just could not,' she spoke only in her mind while holding the phone up to her ears."I see. That's a relief," Christopher softly said. "I mean, that you are better."Her brows furrowed at his words, but just went on to ask, "Chris, you are dating Shantal Lin?"There was an odd silence on the other line before he said, "Yes. Yes, I am. In fact, I am meeting her today. Would you like to join us
Joan Belle's heart was racing. Again and again, she pursed her lips while sometimes taking deep breaths."This is it, Joan. No turning back," she muttered to herself, seeing the buildings past her line of sight.Following Lina's advice, Joan rushed to the Hale Industries office, wanting to finally let out all her feelings to Christopher.Lina was right. She repeatedly reminded herself.She had loved Christopher for so long, but she never really told him. Even if she was being obvious, she could at least confess to him and get an answer.Yes or No! That was all she had to find out.It was Lina's driver who brought her to Hale Industries and the second she arrived; she asked to speak to their new CEO.Being a family friend of the Hales has its advantages. Joan was immediately directed to the CEO's office.Christopher's assistant was not there, but one other secretary recognized Joan
"Coming to you live at Park Central Los Angeles, this is ANN Afternoon with Carie, and today, we have a special guest!" Announced the show's host, Carie Umber.The forty-year-old host pushed her hair back, giving a sly smile in front of the crowd. "Guess who it is?"Screams could be heard from the audience. They came for the special episode of the famous afternoon talk show."Ahhh! I love you, Cole!""Cole Adams!""Cole Adams!""Cole is the best!""Cole is so fucking sexy!""Calm down, girls! Calm down! Geez!" The host called the ladies' attention while grinning widely at the crowd. "I'll have him first before you do!""Ahhhh!""No! No, Carie! He is mine!"Clearly, the screams from the surrounding ladies outroared the teasing of Carie Umber. She could not help but chuckle at their reactions.It was challenging to tame the surrounding excitement, but with the help of the production c
"Come on, answer me! Cole! Where the heck are you?!" Joan was wailing from inside the taxi while holding up her phone. They had been going around in circles, without any specific direction.She had been texting and calling Cole for the past ten minutes, but to no avail."Miss? Where are we headed?" The driver asked, looking at her from the rearview mirror."Please, can you go around the block again? I'm still waiting for my friend to reply," she told with her eyes watering and her lips trembling."Are you okay, miss?" The driver asked, worried for her state.Joan had been weeping the second she got in the car. Her earlier plan to confess to Christopher was a total fail. Worst, she heard him doing it with Shantal Lin!"I'm fine. Thank you. Please, just - just go around the block a few more times. I'll pay for every minute that I use up, anyway," she pleaded.A minute later, she finally received a rep
"What did you just do?" Monica Wells, Cole's manager, asked. "You practically hinted that you have a woman on the side, carrying her like a princess! Couldn't you just have waited until the crowd had dispersed?"Cole massaged the bridge of his nose before shaking his head. He said, "I couldn't. She looked so sad and in despair - ""I get that, but you might ruin your career because of this and all for what?" Monica let out a heavy sigh and said, "Anyway, we'll stick to the story of your friend being in need of help. You just need to be consistent with the interviews, okay?"Cole nodded before running his hand against his hair."I'll have your car brought around the back of the tent for your convenience. Take her home and deal with whatever is her issue," said Monica before taking a leave.The two were in a serious conversation behind the show's temporary set. A tent was set up, meant as a changing area, and it was there where Cole hid J
"So what is this appointment you are going to?" Joan asked after hopping on to Cole's car."Meeting with the California Yacht Club president. They are planning to re-market the club and Monica wants me to be the next model for their upcoming ads," said Cole while turning on the ignition of his Jaguar."It's going to be a party that we will attend to so, get ready to flaunt your assets," he said with his usual killer grin.It was no wonder he had a stylist work on her attire. Joan was wearing new shoes, on top of her new dress, and had put on light makeup for his appointment. He was also dressed up for the part.Seeing the reluctancy on her face, Cole asked, "What? No backing out now. I just spent thousands of dollars on you today."She rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I don't want to go home, anyway."For a second, she took a peek inside her purse and saw that her phone's battery had died. She sighed, thinking it was
"Joan, dear. What are you thinking?" Her mother, Jessica Belle, asked as they were having lunch at the Cafe Teragram.After attending a morning service nearby, they went straight for lunch."Nothing, mom," Joan said and decided to start with her salad.She was still in deep thought about what Cole suggested. He told her that getting the contract with the Yacht Club would be a way for her to catch Christopher's attention, but right now, she wasn't sure what she wanted.Joan hasn't gotten back to Cole for two days.Just as she was in deep thought, another prominent family arrived at the Cafe and Alexander Belle, Joan's father, easily invited them to their table.They had used up an entire ten-seater long table, just the way her mother always liked it.When she looked up to find out who it was, she paled. It was the Hales. Worst, the singer starlet was with them!"Oh, Jessica, it's good to
Cole wrapped Joan in a towel after his security handed it to him.She was sitting on one bench, utterly soaked."What in the world were you thinking, Joan?" Cole Asked as he kneeled down to level with Joan, drying her hair.Joan was taken aback. He was treating her like a wet puppy. 'Or a girlfriend,' she thought.For seconds, Joan found herself distracted by his athletic frame. She could not help but appreciate how well molded his abdomen was. She had never seen a man who had such a slender waist!"Joan?" He asked again, quickly shifting her gaze to his small and manly face.Yes, Cole had a slender face, but they were well-shaped, perfectly athletic looking, and it went well with his military haircut."Are you... gawking at me?" He asked. At that point, she awoke from her stupefied moment."What?! Gawking?! No! I'm - I'm just hurt." She slightly shook before telling, "I met up with the Hales e