The Protector 2

Chapter Two-2

The girl with the exotic features caught my eye when I first saw her in one of the lecture halls. A well-known foreign lecturer was speaking about Ultraviolet, an international organization which was fighting for the rights of women, and by the time I arrived, the room was already full of students; there were only a few seats left in the front row. As I sized up my possibilities, I opted for the free seat next to the Arabian princess. I gave her that name the moment I saw her, because she reminded me of the Thousand and One Nights, and Princess Jasmine from Aladdin. It’s not that I was attracted to women, but even with the eyes of a female, I had to admit that the girl looked very special. Her Arabian features mingled in the most ideal way with her European look. A goldish shade was mixed into her grey eyes, with masterly precision. Her thick, dark eyelashes and the beautiful curve of her eyebrows were nature’s masterpiece. When she smiled at me, adorable dimples appeared on her cheeks. Her hair colour wasn’t natural, that was obvious. I assumed her original hair colour was darker, and the hair made to look lighter was the only artificial thing about her. Otherwise, she was a mysterious oriental beauty.

Amina was drinking in every word of the lecturer, sometimes she even took notes, which made me smile. I thought she must have been some feminist activist. In any case, at the end of the lecture we introduced ourselves, and as we began to talk, I noticed that although her English was impeccable, there was a hint of an accent.

I didn’t consider myself an extrovert who makes friends everywhere she goes and loves to be in the centre of attention, although you could say that I had changed quite a bit. I became more open and relaxed compared to my former self. Amina, however, was even more reserved and cautious. She even uttered her family name in such a strange way as if she had just invented it, because she didn’t want to give away the real one. When we talked, I always had the uncanny feeling that Amina had processed every single answer before saying them out loud. She seemed extremely cautious and considerate before she gave any information about herself. She reminded me of who I was at St. Thomas when I also did everything to keep my relationship with the Bertone clan unrevealed. When I randomly asked which country she was from, she almost drowned into her coffee. After she managed to compose herself, she made big eyes at me and asked why I wanted to know. I lifted up my hands in defence, and tried to assure her that I had no second thoughts, only wanted to keep the conversation going. Amina looked ashamed, and mumbled something about Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which I didn’t quite get, but I didn’t want to pursue the matter any further. The lunch ended with some awkward formalities, and I didn’t have the feeling that the Arabian girl had found me likeable.

I was all the more surprised when one day Amina caught me at the university café and invited me for a coffee. I was slightly insecure, and didn’t want to seem impolite, but had found her earlier behaviour so bizarre that I wasn’t sure I wanted to befriend someone who displayed such neurotic symptoms. I was going through a lot myself, didn’t need any more drama. Finally, I accepted her invitation, and as it turned out later, it was a great decision. A few weeks after we first met, Amina moved into my apartment, and we became close and confidential friends. What I found out about her later, was beyond my imagination. I lived in the faith that my own story about the mafia family was a big deal. Whoah! I had to admit that Amina’s life was no less than a captivating bestseller.

“Please, Raven. Do it for me.” Amina hugged my waist from behind, and resting her chin on my shoulder, she urged me teasingly. “It won’t be so bad, I promise. And Chad is so great. I mean,” she winked significantly, “really great.”

I laughed with my head knocked back. I was unable to say no when Amina turned on her charm and began to plead.

“Or is it because of Sven that you don’t want to do it?” she asked, and planting a kiss on my face, she came up from behind my back and pulled herself onto the kitchen counter.

“Oh, come off it. Sven hasn’t been a topic for a while,” I shrugged my shoulders.

It was true. We broke up a week before, and I hadn’t seen him since. Sven wanted more: more time, more commitment, simply more of me, and I couldn’t fulfil his wish. I thought he was also satisfied with the “friendship with extras” kind of relationship which I had considered us to be, but as it turned out, I was wrong. I offered that we remain friends, but Sven wasn’t willing to accept that either. I’m afraid I may have broken his heart a little, but I just couldn’t give him what he desired, so our relationship was over.

“I’m sorry, Raven. I didn’t know it was so final.”

“Well, there you go,” I breathed out loudly, and pulled a bittersweet smile. “It’s better this way. Lately we were only arguing, and the whole issue wore me out.”

Amina studied my face, tilting her head.

“You don’t look so devastated,” she remarked pensively. “Or am I mistaken?”

I burst into laughter. What could I have said to that? I wasn’t happy about this development between us, but I hadn’t hit rock bottom either. I knew from personal experience what real pain is like: that it’s gnawing at your soul, it even hurts to breathe, and all you want to do is die. Breaking up with Sven wasn’t even nearly like what I once felt.

“What should I say?” I shrugged my shoulders, taking the orange juice out of the fridge. “I won’t say that I’m not sad about it, but I won’t throw myself in front of a train either, if that’s what you mean.”

“Okay, I get you,” Amina scratched her forehead. “In that case, a photo shot with Chad will downright do you good.”

“You think so?” I looked at her conspiratorially.

“Absolutely. Plus, you’d do a great favour with it. You are practically a professional. A pro supermodel.”

“Okay, cut it out, woman,” I waved her off.

“But really. A photo shot like that is a piece of cake for you, and it won’t be Chad’s first either. You both… it will be a bombastic series. I’m sure about it.”

“Bombastic? Good God, Mina, what are planning to do?”

“You’ll soon see. I need this for the exams, Raven. And there’ll even be an exhibition of the best photos at the university gallery.”

“Okay,” I lifted my hands with submission. “You win. I just don’t know how we will do it all in time. With the lectures and my work, it won’t be easy. And then, there’s your work too, and the exam period. And, I take it, this Chad of yours doesn’t always have time for the photos either.”

“First of all, he’s not my Chad,” she said, drawing quotation marks in the air. “Secondly, after showing him your photos, he went nuts about them. I have the feeling he will jump for it, I just have to whistle.”

We both laughed.

“You are one dangerous lady, Princess Amina,” I said, giggling, at which she froze, and the smile left her face at once. She blushed to her ears, and jumped off the counter immediately, turning her back on me. At this point, I didn’t know what I had said to cause this, but I learned it a little later.

With amazement, I studied the snow-white, see-through angel costume and the matching wings. In the dressing room, a pair of ultra-mini shorts, a white, tufted top and a pile of sexy clothing waited for me, all in white. Amina apparently had great plans with us. All I knew was that our photography student was following some kind of an angel-devil, white-black, temptation-protection theme, but what it entailed in reality, I had no idea. The clothes which had been prepared, or, to be accurate, the textile pieces, hardly covered any parts of my body. I had presented swimsuits on the catwalk, and I was modeling in a bikini when I promoted the newly opened wellness section of a luxury hotel. This wasn’t the first time I was showing more skin, it was only Amina’s sexy choice for a costume that surprised me.

My second shock came when Amina introduced me to Chad. Lately I had been accustomed to handsome, sexy men, but this one was beyond all my expectations. Chad was a specimen who radiated sheer erotica. A work out body, blondish-brown hair down to the shoulders, warm brown eyes, a snow-white smile. He was overwhelming, almost too perfect. As we got out of earshot, I grabbed Amina’s elbow.

“Holy guacamole! Where the hell did you find this guy?” I whispered into her ear with amazement.

“See?” she nodded omnisciently.

“Is he even real?”

“Of course he is. I saw that you lost your balance for a moment just before,” she giggled.

“Are you kidding me? I kind of wet myself at the sight,” I grinned, and Amina playfully gave me a nudge.

“Pull yourself together, Raven. I need you in the following few hours, right? Concentrate.”

“I’ll do what I can, but don’t be surprised if you finally have to wash me up from the floor.”

“Finally we all will need some washing up from the floor, but who cares?” joined Gina, another photography student from the university, who was helping Amina with the lighting. We analysed Chad’s anatomical gifts a bit longer, before launching the photo shot marathon.

It was damn hard to remain cool and professional while Chad held me on his lap, groped my hair with one hand and held my waist with the other, and his hot breath was burning up my neck. The guy was too gorgeous with his muscles worked out to perfection. I tried to follow Anima’s instructions with my best knowledge, and endured with patience as she arranged Chad’s hand on my body. She pushed us closer to one another, or adjusted our limbs into the best positions. Amina fully immersed herself in the role of photographer, and with much pleasure, she tried to bring to life the scenes from her imagination. I tried to remain relaxed as we were pressed against one another intimately in front of the camera, but the situation wasn’t made easier by the fact that our poses very obviously didn’t leave Chad cold, either. As he held me in his lap while pressing me against the wall, and, according to the photographer’s instruction, rubbed his nose against my neck, I could have sworn I heard a lustful sigh break from him. When he stood behind me with his legs apart, and pressed me against him with his hand on my belly, I no longer doubted that I had at least as much an erotic effect on him as he had on me. I just couldn’t figure myself out. It wasn’t typical of me not be able to keep my libido under control. To say the least, I didn’t want to rip Sven’s underwear off every time we met. But there was something about Chad that knocked over my bastions of decent behaviour. With small interruptions, we were shooting for six hours, in various constumes, and in several poses. The girls giggled gently when, in one of the breaks, Chad made a quick exit for his dressing room in his boxer shorts noticably bulging at the front.

“What have you done to the poor boy?” asked Amina with pretended resentment.