Chapter 10
1229 Words
Iris
By 8 pm that same day, Emma and I were the only ones left in the office, putting together the mood boards for the shoot tomorrow. We had to keep track of each model for the shoot and the sample pieces they'll be wearing for each campaign material.
"Ah..." I groaned as I stood up from my desk finally, the last material filed with the rest for tomorrow. Emma glanced up from her desk. "You're done?"
I nodded. "Yes. You?"
"Almost. I still have one more email to schedule."
"Oh okay." I stood behind her awkwardly, unsure what to do and she glanced up at me again after just a few minutes.
"Can you stop hovering? You can go if you want."
"Oh." I sat down behind my desk, my eyes immediately searching for what I could busy myself with. "I'll just confirm the shoot schedule for tomorrow."
She didn't respond. She was already back to typing and oblivious to what I had said. All for the better. It's not like I had to confirm the shoot since I've done that already multiple times but it was also weird leaving her alone in the office when I'm the new face in the department.
Thankfully, she shot up from her desk a few minutes later. "You're still here?" She asked as she grabbed her bag.
"Y-yes. I was confirming the shoot for tomorrow."
"Well, are you done so we can take the elevator down together?"
"Of course. I mean yes." She headed straight for the elevator as I tried to grab my things and turn off the system simultaneously. It wasn't easy but I managed to pull that off right before hurrying into the elevator with her.
Ding. The doors started to close as she clicked on the ground-floor button.
"So..." I started after a few seconds of silence. "...You've been working here for a long time?"
She turned to glance at me. "Me?"
I furrowed my eyebrows. Uh... No, the ghost right beside us.
"Yes," I said politely instead.
"Oh, not really. I started working here two years ago."
"Two years ago?!" She jumped in surprise as I squeaked. "Yes. Why?"
"N-nothing. It's just... That is a pretty long time."
"Yeah..." she shrugged. "... but not that long in the fashion world. I'm still considered quite the rookie."
"Oh..." She took out her phone as the elevator continued its descent to the ground floor pretty fast. I should ask her my other question now, right? Or should I not?
I did anyway. "So about the director..." She glanced up at me. "Do you know much about him? I heard his real name is Julian Ashford."
She nodded. "Yes."
"Wait! So he's actually part of the Ashford family?"
She nodded again. "It's pretty common knowledge within the company."
What? What? Seriously? Not only was he my boss but he was also the heir of the Ashford family.
"Wow..." I gushed, unable to contain my surprise.
"Is his name by chance… Also Jaxon?" Maybe it was his middle name or a secret name? Maybe she wouldn't even know about it.
"No. That is his twin brother's name."
"His twin brother?" It took a moment before her sentence registered in my brain. "His twin brother?!"
She turned to me in surprise just as the elevator doors opened on the ground floor. "Jeez, can you stop screaming? It's late."
"S-sorry. I just..." I ran after her as she left the elevator. "You're saying he has a twin brother?"
"Which is also pretty common knowledge if you had done a little research before coming here. No one really talks about him though since he's quite the... bad egg."
"Wait..." Let me understand this. "You're saying Jaxon is a different person from Julian Ashford and Jaxon is also a part of the Ashford family?!"
She sighed exasperatedly and stopped when we got to the main entrance. "Yes, but is that what you should be concerned about right now? We have the campaign photoshoot tomorrow which is quite important for everyone. That is what you should be concerned about."
Right. I was concerned about that, but what? They're twins.
****
Serena was just as flabbergasted as I was but also amused when I finally got home and told her about my day.
"Wait, so not only did you have a fling with a hot guy who is also the successor of a multimillionaire company, but you also happened to confuse him for his hot twin brother who is your boss?" I rolled my eyes as she chuckled again for whatever reason. "Could your life get any more interesting?"
Interesting? Interesting? This wasn't interesting at all? I had confronted my boss, and for the wrong reasons. Now that I think about it and the validation of his response, I felt so embarrassed and stupid.
He must have thought I was just a crazy intern who was trying to shoot her shot on the very first day or a crazy b***h who had snuck into the company.
Ugh! I grabbed my hair with both hands, wishing I could start the day over with the information I had now.
****
The next day, I had to go in to work, unfortunately. I would have rather found a hole to bury myself in and never have to face the world again because, arghhh, but I couldn't exactly do that now. Today was the day of the shoot and I was already running late.
"Iris?" I turned around in the office lobby when I heard somebody call my name. Huh? It was Emma. "Hi... Good morning."
"You're just getting to work?!"
"Oh!" I hurried after her as she zoomed past me. "Yes." It's literally just a few minutes past seven.
"Hurry. We have to hand out the mood boards to the PR department and get the samples from design before we have to... Argh, please hold the... elevator."
"Ugh!" She groaned as the elevator doors closed right as we got to them.
"f**k?!" She added, making me glance at her in shock. Uhm... Let's just say she doesn't look like the type to curse.
"What do we do now? Should we use this one?" I asked as I turned to peer at the elevator right beside the one that just closed, which was looking empty but she shook her head.
"Nope. That's for executives only."
"Oh."
"If you're in a hurry, you can use it."
"Huh?" I turned to see who had said that and wished immediately that I hadn't the minute I came face to face with the one person I would rather have not seen so early in the morning.
"Good morning, sir," Emma said with a bright smile as she bowed slightly to greet Julian Ashford.
"Good morning, sir..." I said with a more awkward smile.
"Are you taking me up on my offer?" Emma glanced at me as if to take permission as he and another guy walked in, but before I could suggest otherwise, she hopped right into the elevator.
"Yes sir. Thank you."
Ugh f**k me. So much for avoiding him and staying invisible within the company.
"Well, are you getting in or not?" He asked as I locked eyes with him, and I felt my belly do that familiar flip-flop I now hated.
Wait. What?
That must be out of embarrassment, right?
- Writer
