Chapter 9 Race 9

"Nice! Beautiful! Good! " the photographer complimented me one after the other.

I've been here in the studio for a few hours and my shoot is about to end. And my stomach is churning. Justine and I are going to have lunch. I accepted his invitation.

After 10 shots, the director ended my shoot because the shots taken were good enough.

"Nice working for you, Miss Red," a staff member happily told me.

"Me too, I'm happy to work with you. " I said.

I headed to my own dressing room. The other staff helped me get dressed and arrange my things. It's bad luck, Danny isn't here now, he didn't come with me to my photoshoot. I got used to him taking care of me whenever I had to shoot.

I texted Justine where he was now and let him know that my shoot was over.

I was already outside the building where my photoshoot was held, so I decided to wait for him here.

Suddenly, a car stopped in front of me, opened its door and let out an unexpected person.

None other than Einah.

We both looked at each other,our long stare at each other was only interrupted when the windshield of the car suddenly lowered.

My chest heaved when I saw who was in the driver's seat of the car.

'Easton!' My mind whispered.

Our eyes met, the corner of his lips lifted. Before he turned his gaze to his sister, Einah.

"What time will your meeting for your photoshoot end? " he asked his sister.

"Pick me up at about 7." Einah answered him.

"Alright, just call me when you're done. To be sure." Einah nodded to him before turning her back and entering the building.

That girl didn't even look at me.

I don't care if she doesn't look at me.

"You, why are you standing outside here? " he asked me.

I raised my eyebrows at him and gave him a look that said "What do you care? ".

"If you don't mind, I'm just worried about you. If I leave now, you will be alone outside. " He said with a playful smile on his lips.

So I couldn't stop rolling my eyes at him.

"You can leave Mr. Torres, if you want, I would mind." I heard him chuckle.

"Why are you suddenly mean at me, Miss Domingo?"He said dramatically and seemed hurt by what I told him earlier.

And one more thing, didn't he remember what he did to me last time at his party? He acted and spoke as if nothing had happened to us.

"I'm not being mean to you, let's say I'm just showing that I don't like your presence."I told him directly.

"Ouch! That's another strike, Miss Dominggo. " He pretended that his chest hurt from what I told him.

I rolled my eyes at him again.

Suddenly, a car honked in front of his car. So the two of us stopped striving, because our attention was focused on that.

A gray Mercedes Benz parked in front of Easton. I frowned and looked at who was inside that car. In less than a second, the owner of that car came out.

He was wearing a white v-neck t-shirt, he covered it with a black coat and he was also wearing jeans and black sneakers.

It was Justine! He is dazzling with his new crew cut haircut. It is not obvious that he has Chinese blood.

"Red!" He called to me while closing the door of his car.

"Is there a problem? "He asked and he looked at Easton, who was now also staring at him seriously. I shook my head at him,

"Are you okay? "He asked me more.

"I'm okay, Justine. " He wrapped his hand around my waist. So I noticed Easton's stare there.

"So, do you have a date today? " he asked while not taking his eyes off Justine's hand on my waist.

"What do you care?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Just asking. " he said.

"By the way, I'm Justine Chua. " Justine groined at us. He extended his hand to Easton. Easton frowned as he stared at Justine's hand extended to him.

"Easton Torres. "He answered coldly. He didn't shake Justine's hand, so Justine just withdrew his hand and put it in his pocket.

Justine also thought a little as he stared at Easton.

"You are quite familiar with me, "he said.

He looked away and started the engine of his car.

And his car suddenly sped away. Justine and I were dumbfounded by what he did and his sudden mood swings.

"Is that Mr. Torres okay? " he asked, who also couldn't believe Easton's treatment of him.

"I-I don't know, " he sighed,

"Don't mind him, let's go! I'm starving." I heard his soft laugh,

"You still haven't changed, you're still the same as before." I snorted.

"You will pay for our lunch today. I take this thoroughly your treat today." I said as we both laughed.

We went to a restaurant near my condominium so that it would not be a hassle for him to take me home.

We enjoyed our lunch catching up on things. We hadn't seen each other in years.

After we had lunch, he immediately drove me home to the condo.

"See you around? In your company? " he asked.

"Maybe sometimes, if I don't have shoots or trainings it depends on my schedule." He chuckled and licked his lips.

"Just text me when you're free again. " I suspiciously grimmed at him.

"Are you asking me for a date?" He shyly looked away from me while his cheeks were red.

"It seems like that." He shyly smiled at me.

It's not bad if I go on a date with him, right? Maybe he wants to try to level up the relationship we have now.

Also, I don't have much experience of dating men yet. Other than being linked to me and having issues, issues that make them famous too.

Like then, a budding artist who met me in a club. Unbeknownst to me, when I woke up in the morning, there were headlines on the news.

That we are dating. Well, he only met each other that night and I didn't even entertain him. And boom! He became famous overnight.

So Randy and Danny immediately took action on that issue. He kept dragging my name without knowing that he was defaming me in public. Because I ignored him,maybe his ego couldn't handle it, so he did that.

I am very grateful that he suddenly fell into showbiz because of what he did. That fool doesn't even know how to act, it only knows how to be handsome.

"I'll just text you when I'm free, " I said while smiling at him.

"Okay, I will wait for your text. "

I said goodbye to him, he waited for me to get on the elevator before he left.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling while staring at my reflection in the elevator door. This was the first time a man seriously imitated me on a date.

My smile was suddenly interrupted when my phone rang. I first looked at the caller ID.

It was dad.

I immediately answered the call.

"Hello, dad? "

"Red, where are you? " he asked simply.

"In the elevator, going up to my condo. Why? "I heard his weak sigh.

"I just want to know how busy your schedule is for tomorrow. "

"It's not that busy dad, just training in the morning. Are you going to order or make me do something for you?"

He cleared his throat,

"There is an auction party tomorrow that your mommy and I should go to. I have a business trip tomorrow and your mommy is with me. And your grandfather is out of the country doing business with some investors. You know your brother can't either because he will be left here at the company. So you are the only one available to represent our family at that party, if that's okay with you. " I couldn't help but to give a sigh.

"What else can I do? I had no choice but to embarrass our family at that party?You might suddenly reject me as your daughter." I jokingly said, I heard his soft laugh.

"Thanks Red, I have to hang up because your mommy is already complaining, I haven't finished packing our things yet. " I laughed,

"Alright dad, just hang up the call. What else can mommy do to you? " He hung up. I heard mom's voice before he hung up. I couldn't help but shake my head, because the tenderness of those two is also different.

The elevator door opened, signaling that I was on the right floor where my condo was. I checked my wrist watch, it was three in the afternoon. I thought of doing yoga because it was still early.

When I entered the condo, I immediately called the banquet where I bought clothes the other day.

Fortunately, they gave me their business cards, so it was easy to contact them.

I have scheduled a fitting tomorrow. The party is in the evening, so maybe I can't be bothered to shop for clothes to wear tomorrow.

I also called Danny to clear my schedule in the morning because I had scheduled the banquet in the morning.

Then, I got dressed in my gym clothes and started my yoga sessions.