Nina looked sideways at her reflection in the mirror in her bedroom. She stroked her slim waist and turned to Selena who had her eyes glued to her phone and asked, "Lena, do you think my waist got thicker?"
Without even bothering to raise her head, Selena answered unhurriedly,
"It would be weird if it didn't get thicker, your appetite have been quite voracious in the past month. As a model, though you have a physique that doesn't allow you to get fat no matter what you eat, you should pay more attention to your figure or Charlie is gonna blame me for it!"
The Charlie that Selena is referring to is Nina's ace agent. He was the one who discovered Nina in the first place and later groomed her into who she was right now. Nina started out as a model in high school when she was 18 and to be honest, her journey as a model wasn't always this smooth, at least not until she met Justin.
Before she met Justin, she had experienced a lot of unspoken rules, both overt and covert in the industry and if it had not been for Charlie's protection, no matter how minimal it was, there was a possibility that Nina herself would have long fell into quagmire, no matter how unwilling she was.
It was only after Nina knew Justin that all those scheming against her finally stopped doing so after Justin's strong warning.
Nina, Charlie and Selena were the founders of Globe Entertainment where Nina also happened to be the biggest shareholder of the company alongside the two others and managed the company from behind the scenes.
A smile couldn't help but surface on Nina's face when she remembered the forty-something year old carefree guy who hadn't wanted to be the president of the company when they first started out three years ago.
"Why does it have to be me? Just get Selena to be the president or better still go hire the services of a professional manager!", He had screamed out in frustration.
"Selena is just an assistant and doesn't have any experience managing but you do. As for hiring, I don't trust anyone apart from you."
Charlie probably couldn't bear to see her in a dilemma and in the end, had no choice but to agree to her pleas.
"On one condition."
"What condition?"
"I still want to continue managing you. After all, how can I bear allow my masterpiece to be another's?"
"Okay! Deal. I was worried about finding someone I am not familiar to work with before. Fortunately, it seems that now I don't have to be worried about that scenario."
"What are you spacing out for?"
Nina got startled at Selena's voice and replied with a bit of silliness, "I was just thinking about Crazy Charlie."
Selena laughed out at the nickname and at the same time, began speaking with nostalgia,
"I still remember we gave him that nickname in high school? Acting crazy, he came up to us and asked you,"do you want to be popular?". Hahaha, who does that? We thought he must be a pervert and ran away but he still ran after us. Hahahaha. Everyday he would come at the closing hour to ask you if you wanted to be popular, hahaha. That was the time we also labeled him, Crazy Charlie." Selena said between sporadic laughs.
Nina also laughed fondly at the memory, "I thought he was a scammer or a kidnapper who wanted to lure us with the promise of fame. So we always avoided him and there was one time big brother almost beat him to death and threatened to call the police if he appeared around us again, yet he still came the other day!" Nina said while stifling a laugh when she remembered how silly Charlie had been back then.
"We finally believed him when he took us all to his little studio and showed us all his legal documents and only then agreed to sign the contract with him at the time. Who would have thought that my one careless decision turned out to be one of the best I ever made?"
Selena nodded her head like a little chicken and replied smilingly, "Hmm, he did keep his promise."
In the middle of them reminiscing, Nina abruptly remembered she had a photoshoot that morning and looked grudgingly at her little irresponsible assistant, "Lena, don't you remember I have a photoshoot later this morning?"
Selena looked puzzlingly at her and answered, "Of course I do remember but isn't it supposed to be at 10am?"
"You are really irresponsible, it is at 9am, not 10!"
Selena instantly jumped up from where she sat, "I am dead, I am so dead! Charlie is gonna kill me if he finds out I got the time wrong again!"
"Calm down, okay. It's only five minutes past eight. We can still make it if we go right now. I just don't want to have a reputation for being a diva."
"Yes yes, let's go quickly. I don't want to have a salary cut again. That capitalist is always looking for ways to save money." Selena said somewhat hatefully as she grabbed Nina and dragged her along.
-
Nina was shooting the cover for a fashion magazine, Orchid. After the shooting session, the photographer came up to her, "It was really nice working with you, Nina", He raised his hand for a handshake and continued, "Every angle was perfect and your expressions was on point. I have been working with other models for a very long time but you could be said to be the model I am most satisfied with. I really hope I could get the chance to work again with you."
Nina also raised her hand to shake his hands politely and withdrew hers speedily before it could make contact.
"You flatter me too much. It was also nice working with you. If there is a chance to work with you, I will gladly accept," She said coldly.
After that, she watched as the photographer went away.
Selena then walked over to her side and informed her that Charlie needs her presence at the company..
Globe Entertainment <President's office> Nina sat lazily on the sofa and observed as he Charlie worked She never really took a look at him before. She had to admit that Charlie was a very handsome man even though he was in his forties, he had the air of a matured man when working and his crooked tid added a bit of unruliness to his charm. He was like fine wine that had matured and gotten better with age. "Looked enough?" Nina didn't know when finished his work but he was now watching her with an amused tinkle in his charming grey eyes. Nina rolled her eyes at him and said mockingly,
The Walters' Mansion A maid rushed in towards the elegant woman who was sitting in the living room and said respectfully but excitedly "Madam, Miss Sophie is back!" The elegant woman blanked out for a while and looked lost. She turned and asked the maid again, "Sophie is back?" "Yes, madam! She is just outside and about to come in" The maid confirmed. The woman stood up agitatedly and rushed towards the door but before she got to the door, an excited and sweet looking girl ram towards her and screamed,
Nina's and Selena's apartment The abrupt ringing of a cell phone sounded in the living room. Selena who was busy watching a K-drama turned to check if it was her phone ringing. When she realised it was not hers but Nina's, she raised her voice towards the kitchen and called out, "Nina, you have a call!" Nina shouted from the kitchen asking who it was. Selena went to pick up the phone but paused when she saw the caller ID. Realising there was no response after a while, Nina walked out from the kitchen and looked towards Selena who was behaving weirdly
Nina and Selena were the one who arrived first at the Walters' mansion. The maid excitedly brought them inside the house. "Madam, miss Nina and miss Selena is here", She announced happily the moment they were at the door. "Nina is here?" Sophie's excited voice asked from the living room. Before Nina could even make sense if what is happening, she came barreling towards her and hugged her tightly. "I missed you so much!" Nina looked helplessly at Selena who also shrugged indifferently. Her expression which seemed to say, 'Its your problem, not mine' Nina turned to look at the woman in her arms who still can't stop acting like a child and said helpl
"Your sister?" Justin asked incredulously. "Yes, Nina and Selena are my sworn sisters. We came from the same orphanage but we are closer than real brothers and sisters anyway." Brian replied calmly. "Seems like she didn't tell you. You are not that close after all." He sounded happy at the end. Justin turned to look at Nina and asked incredulously, "You didn't cheat?" Selena rolled her eyes at him and said furiously, "Of course, little darling would never cheat. I was the one who came up with that plan to mislead you to think she cheated. She only agreed because of how much she was hurt. YOU are the one who cheated, not her!"
Three months had gone by in a blink of an eye since Nina started living with the Walters. She was now six months along, her stomach had swollen to a considerable size although she still looked almost the same. The difference was only in her bosom which were obviously fuller, swollen stomach and waist that had gotten thicker. After vomiting for the third time that morning, she weakly trudged to the living room and plopped down under the watchful eyes of Selena and Sophie. "How do you feel now?" Selena asked worriedly. "Terrible. There is nothing in my stomach so I have been vomiting bile. Ah! being pregnant is such a chore" "It must be the baby. Do
Walters Mansion It was already afternoon when the ringtone of a phone broke the peaceful atmosphere in the living room. "Nina, it seems like it's your phone ringing", Selena looked up from the TV series she was watching and pointed Nina's cell phone on the couch. Nina's head snapped up from the TV series, impatience clear on her face. She snatched up the phone and looked at the caller only to see it was an unsaved number. "Who is it?", Sophie asked curiously. "I don't know. It is an unsaved number." "Answer it, darling. It might be important", Mrs Walters pointed out. &nb
An hour later, a black Lamborghini made his way to the entrance of the mansion. Donning dark shades, a very handsome and gentle-looking man wearing a casual white shirt, dark pants, and leather shoes stepped elegantly out of the car. Nina, who had heard the sound and guessed who it was, came out with the other curious women just in time to see him close the door. Selena and Nina were beyond shocked to see the man in front of them, His jet black hair was cropped short exposing his seductive brown eyes, he had a friendly smile on his face as he looked towards them and opened his mouth, a mellow voice capable of seducing anyone with weak will flowed out. “Are you that shocked to see me, love?”, He chuckled good-natured as he admired the shocked look on their faces.