|| 04. PAIZE 1 ♥ ||
“She’s talking to someone from the resort staff” Jojo discreetly pointed Leya in Mohana’s direction
Clutching on to the flowy dress, her golden hair flowing with the wind Mohana stood talking to the resort manager
“It’s time to move that ‘anything’ Peggy out of the focus” determinedly Leya assured Jojo
Glancing at the photography team in the distance, Leya waved at them. Gathering the signal, her manager Efe walked across the site to join Jojo and Leya
Secretively within the three of them, Leya whispered to him “Efe, let’s request Omar to take the spot. You are my prime lead, we’ll get some of his shots with these wisps of clouds for an accent”
“Yes Leya, on it, but am sending Bong-Cha, she knows the moraingy martial arts! That is one strange woman with Omar. She offered him ‘anything’ in such a weird whisper that it’s not a whisper at all. And then she decided she wanted to take my camera! My lens got so badly smudged” Efe’s face was horror stricken
Jojo and Leya exchanged a dismayed glance at the ‘anything’ whispering antics of Peggy
“Goodness! I will get her sorted..” Leya ran another assurance “..go ahead request Bong-Cha but send back up protection with her too”
“Yes boss” saying Efe made his way back to the crew
The bright weather, wisps of clouds spread lightly in the backdrop accompanied their December cover celebrity: Omar Shaan
Sporting the platinum jacket, over the now-buttoned blue shirt Omar stood at the marked spot, being guarded by Bong-Cha. On the other hand, much of the discussions and explanations turned into noise and grumblings with the intruding resort server. At the crux of it all, Sophista crew backed off and Peggy crudely remained on their site
Setting her glasses Leya shoved the digital pen in her glittery pink top knot
Looking thoughtfully at their cover model, Leya tentatively checked “Why is he uh looking like that?”
“Because he is such a handsome designer?” Jojo provided dreamily looking at Omar Shaan posing for his shots with Efe and their photography team
Leya shared her agreement “Handsome yes, and designer yes, of course. But. We don’t want him wearing ten layers of fabric, this is not going to work at all”
“We don’t!..” Jojo affirmed realizing his covered torso “..Because he needs to impress the right kind of people! Not that ‘anything’ Peggy. I will go get Miss Mohana”
“Exactly, we need to brainstorm with boss lady and that resort human with her is already making me anxious” Leya stated looking in the direction of Mohana
Regarding her boss thoughtfully, Jojo provided “Yes and Miss Mohana usually doesn’t talk to random people”
“I bet it’s all because of that ‘anything’ Peggy” Leya huffed with Jojo fuming alongside “I don’t think I will ever be able to like her”
“Nope, nothing to like at all” confirming with a growl, Leya signaled Efe to have their cover celebrity take a break
“I’ll get Miss Mohana” saying Jojo hurriedly made a dash to her boss
Standing with the resort manager, holding onto her flying dress, Mohana was listening to something the man was explaining
To break Mohana free from the company of the young man, Jojo landed ahead of her. Intentionally ignoring the man, Jojo alerted her boss “Ma’am, your presence is needed”
“Sure yeah” giving Jojo a smile, Mohana turned around to exchange a few words with the resort manager “Appreciate your looking into this, I’ll get back to my team”
The man’s eyes wandered over her slim neck, greedily staring at the thin straps on her shoulders then lowering to her dress bodice
With an overtly sweet smile he offered “I will wait here for you. I will see you after this. Then you and I can talk more”
“My boss will be heading back after this, but you can communicate with us and we will update her” Jojo intervened putting an abrupt halt to the resort managers attempts to engage further with Mohana
Turning away Jojo guided her boss “This way Ma’am..” then leaned into whisper “..their entire staff is very crazy”
Mohana sighed equally displeased “Very! Are we done with everything here?”
Escorting Mohana towards Leya, Jojo informed “Not at all Miss Mohana, we need to brainstorm, because Leya doesn’t think this is going to work at all!”
“Why? He’s looking..uh.. like what he does” Mohana offered shyly. She stole yet another glance in the distance where Omar Shaan stood surrounded by their photography team
With a hop in her step Jojo excitedly agreed “Yes, handsome and hot and so desirably sexy”
“Whatever. Ya. That whatever” Mohana mumbled looking away from the pillar of good looks
Jojo happily declared “Exactly! Whatever that makes all the hearts go crazy!”
“Right. Ya” diverting herself Mohana clenched harder on her dress fabric to prevent it from flying
Looking at Mohana then Omar, then back to Mohana and then Omar, Leya heaved a sigh. She felt frustrated at the drastic change in happenings. From breakfast where their boss and the cover celebrity seemed to have bonded fabulously, now to the photo shoot where they appeared extremely distant.
Springing from her beach lounger, she approached the oncoming figures of Mohana and Jojo meeting them half way. Leya declared “Mohana darling, this is not going to work!”
“What happened? The lighting? Background?” Mohana queried looking around at the setup, intentionally avoiding their chosen cover model
Leya considerately looked at Omar again, then back at Mohana. She spoke aloud the most relevant question on her mind “Why is he wearing all of that?!”
“Jeans? Shirt? Sport coat? Because people wear clothes? No? And it’s very cold. It’s November” Mohana rushed to declare her stance
Considering the certainty Leya gave her boss a nod “Yes, sure, but my darling jeans is the only December thing we want going on for the cover, he is at a beach and we discussed with him going on shirtless. Why are we hiding all those luring muscles? Those abs that he has worked so hard to make?”
Images of his glorious muscular body, having seen him, felt him, only mere minutes ago, sent jitters through Mohana. She gave an off handed nod to Leya “Jeans yes. Jeans. because December cover? uhm but we can’t just have him do that”
“But that is why we want him on the cover?” Leya shared the enlightening information with their leader
“Salm is already jealous, he told me he thinks your cover model is way too sexy and as your husband, Salm doesn’t want you looking at this celebrity superstar for far too long. So my suggestion is..uhm that we get it done. This whole thing. like that. because it’s cold! How long can it even take? Let’s take a shot and we confirm and I’ll sign off and Carter will drive me back” Mohana ran a breathless marathon of words
“Salm said that?” Leya asked her eyes wide with hope
Mohana gave her an encouraging smile “Yes, see he’s there grumbling, not liking the attention you are giving our guest, at all”
“He sure seems very upset Leya, I have never seen Salm like that” Jojo added looking at their in-house designer
With a wide smile Leya declared “Great! What magic Omar has! This is already a success and there will be a volcano when he goes shirtless”
“No!” Mohana blurted
Jojo and Leya both looked at Mohana in surprise, awaiting further exchange on the matter
Running her free hand nervously through her breezy hair Mohana offered “What if he’s not comfortable?”
“Yes, Leya, we have to keep in mind that this is his first cover photo, which is why Miss Mohana had to accompany him” Jojo factually provided, having expertly handled the entire agreement with Shaan Designs
Leya thoughtfully nodded “Very well. very well. We have something to go with. It’s a good thing..” pushing her slim pink framed glasses higher on the nose, she spoke to her boss “..so Mohana darling you’re the only one that can take charge here”
Mohana opened her mouth then closed it. Taking a picture could not be that difficult. She could definitely try taking a picture for the cover too but looking through the lens at that mass of good looks made her heart bounce
“Efe? He can press the click? Because it’s not like I can’t..but I have to think. Because Efe? Uhm he’s possessive of his camera, what if I ruin something?” Mohana suggestively offered
“Camera’s not a big deal, am anyways gifting my team new ones for Christmas, but you only have to convince Omar” Leya gave her a broad smile
Relief washed over Mohana, she happily reported “Oh! Sure ya! Finalize your cover picture, I’ll convince his team for a sign off. That’s not a problem at all”
“Awesome! But before his team you are the boss to convince Omar Shaan, the star himself” Leya dropped the words that raised panic in her heart
“Convince? Him? For what?” Mohana blinked wanting to avoid coming across his overwhelming presence. Her fingers curled remembering his burning touch getting that torso painstakingly covered in the executive suite
“We have to get those sexy muscles of his on the cover and you’re the only one who can convince him to go shirtless!” Leya explained looking proudly at her boss
“Yes Miss Mohana, you’re our boss lady! You can convince anyone with a snap of your finger” Jojo admiringly declared
“Shirt..less?” Mohana frowned
