Wolves

Chapter 4

“Mommy,” I hear someone whisper. “Mommy, wake up, wake up.” I open my eyes to see Leigh looking at me. I sit up and look at the time; we don’t have to get up for another hour or so. I started to panic a little move to wake Taylor, but he was already awake.

“What’s going on?” He asked, “Why are you girls up so early?”

“We made you breakfast,” said Melina.

“We both thought you would like to have some eggs and toast, with milk.” Says Melina

“We remember you guys telling us you don’t like orange juice either,” chimed in Leigh.

“Wow! When did you learn how to cook?" asked Taylor.

“Back at the orphanage, our headmaster taught us," Said Melina.

"Wow, that's...amazing," I said. "Give us a few moments, and we will be out to meet you both."

They smile at each other and hop gladly out of the room.

I look over at Taylor as he shakes his head. I smile and say, "Come on, we can't keep them waiting too long." I hop out of bed to get dressed.

Taylor and I met the girls in the dining area, where they were both waiting for us. Taylor and I both smiled at each other, then we sat down with the girls at the table. The meals were great; they both really knew how to cook.

"It's excellent, girls," I said.

"Yeah, you both did an excellent job," Said Taylor.

The girls were beaming with excitement as we told them we loved their meals. After we finished, we told them we had a shoot today and needed to get ready. The girls understood, as we all put the dishes away and started getting ready. After Taylor and I were ready, I went to go check on the girls.

“Girls.” I knock

“Come in,” Melina says.

I opened the door to see the girls on the bed playing a game on the TV.

“Are you girls ready?”

“Yep. Do you like my outfit, Mom? I tried to pick out the best one in the closet that you made for us.”

She had a white T-shirt with some black jeans.

“You look beautiful, dear.”

“What about me, Mom?” says Leigh

She had a black shirt tucked into some pink shorts.

“You both look beautiful,” I say.

“Alright!” we hear Taylor say. “Are we ready to go?” He walks into the room. “My goodness, look at my girls. You look beautiful; maybe one day you’ll be a model like Mom over here.”

I hush him and give him a look.

“I really hope I can,” says Leigh. “I want to be a model someday; I think it’s fun.”

“I want to be a good cook. I like cooking,” says Melina.

We smile

“I bet you’ll make a great chef, Melina, and Leigh. I could see you being a fabulous model,” I said.

They smile and rush up to hug me. I hug them back, and Taylor says

“We gotta get going, girls; Momma's going to be late.”

“We’ll be able to come?” Leigh asks.

“Of course, we wouldn’t want it any other way,” says Taylor.

They smile, and we start to walk towards the door. Before we leave, I remember my tea. I looked at Taylor and was about to tell him when he held up a canteen with the tea.

“I figured you might want this,” he said as he handed it to me.

“How do you always know?” I kissed him.

“Because I know you.” He smiles.

I laughed a little and continued to walk through the door and down to the car.

On the drive to the studio, the girls asked so many questions. I am so happy they like it here. I can’t wait to retire as a model and just live in a peaceful place with them.

Soon enough, we reach the studio; the girls are excited to be able to see the studio, and so am I.

Once we get out, I hear a familiar voice.

“Darling, there you are.” Jackie hollers.

“Jackie, you're here early again, I see.”

“Why do you act so surprised? You know we are on the same shoot?"

"I know, but you're usually late. So I'm happy that you are on time."

"Oh, you know, I have got to try and keep up with Danny; he’s quite the early bird. But who are these two peaches behind you? My, my, so the rumors were true. You got two little girls, my, my"

She bends down to their level and says, "Hello, girls.”

“Hello,” they both say.

“I’m your mom’s best friend, Jackie.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jackie,” says Melina. Leigh hides behind Melina.

“Oh, my, what beautiful girls. Amanda, you chose well.”

I smiled and thanked her. Thankfully, my husband came to get us.

“Come on, girls, we have to get in and ready for the shoot.”

The girls jumped up and down as we all followed Taylor to the trailer.

“Ah, goodness, there she is, my favorite girl,” exclaims Jinx. “Oh, and what do we have here? Do we have two little versions of my favorite girl? Well, hello, you two.” He bends down to greet them.

“Hello,” they both say

“Look at you two; you look exquisite, especially you little miss in pink.”

“Thank you,” says Leigh. “I want to be a model someday like Mom.”

“Oo you have come to the right place. I would definitely love to have you as a model one day.”

“Really!?” Leigh says excitedly.

“Yes, you have all the right features. The chin, the fashion, and the hair. Girl, you have it all. I could definitely see you as being a model and would love to have you. Of course, that would be up to your mom and dad.”

She looks up to us, and I say.

“We’ll talk about it one day.” I smile and wink.

“Good, now let’s get you,” he points to me, “Into your dress.”

I nod, and we walk towards the dressing room. As I started the process of getting ready, I noticed the girls sitting and watching the entire process. I smile and get through the process. As soon as I put the dress on, the girls are in awe of the dress: a beautiful maroon dress with an open front and a beautiful shine, and it looks perfect with my blond, wavy hair.

“What do you think?” I looked towards the girls.

“You look beautiful,” says Melina

“I love the dress; it looks so amazing on you. Is this what I get to look forward to one day?” says Leigh.

“Maybe,” I smile.

Soon we move to the van, and off we go to the next location. Again, Jinx didn’t tell us where; it was a surprise. He knows how much I love nature, so being surprised by a location is nothing new for me.

Soon we arrive at Dosan Park. It’s so much greener and so much more beautiful than I thought. I love it, being able to be in the grass and next to such beautiful trees. It just all looks so beautiful; I hope I get to do a run shoot.

Once we parked and got out, the girls were in awe; they loved the view just as much as I do. I’m so excited. I headed over to the stylist for them to finish some final touches and then headed to Jinx.

“Alright, my beauties, what do you think?”

“I think it’s lovely here, so fresh, so clean, and so peaceful. I love it,” I say.

“Yeah,” chimes Melina, “It’s so peaceful; I can play around here.”

“Yes, but Dad must be with you or one of the stylists; don’t go venturing off on your own, okay?”

They nod and go off towards Taylor. He looks over at me, and I nod. Then they go off to explore. I smile and breathe in the fresh air, so clean and so nice.

“Oh, Amanda darling.” I hear Jackie say.

“Oh, hello, Jackie, you look beautiful.”

“Thank you, darling. I know, Danny got me this dress.”

It was red with one sleeve.

“Of course, dear, your dress looks ravishing.”

“Thank you, Jackie, it really is…”

“Oh, by the way, darling, have you talked to Taylor about his mistress?”

“Oh, Jackie, I’m afraid you have been mistaken. Taylor isn’t like that; he loves our life and loves me. I’m not sure where you got that he is cheating, but I do believe you were wrong.”

She frowns a little. “Oh dear, men hide their other side very well. We both know I know this very well.”

“Yes, but...”

“Oh dear, you will open your eyes one day and see what I mean. I’m only trying to help, but suit yourself. One day you’ll see what I mean.”

She walks away, and I can’t help but think. "Since we’ve been friends, I’ve never really seen her happy. There were times when I thought that she was even cunning. She’s always shown her diva side, but I wonder if she even has her other side anymore.”

Clap clap,

“Alright, everyone!” Jinx announces. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

At his request, we all got into position, ready to start the shoot.

The shoot feels like it lasts only a few minutes, when it was really about three hours. As we got done with the last picture, I went to look for the girls and Taylor. I finally spotted Taylor leaning up against the van. He looked as though he was waiting for me.

“Where’s the girls?” I asked as I approached him.

“They’re asleep in the car. They wore themselves out; they really love this place.”

“I’m so glad they do.”

“Me too. It makes it a lot easier to make this place home.”

I looked at him and smiled real big. He smiled back. “I have been thinking the same thing.”

He smiled even bigger and kissed me.

“Come on, we better wake them up and get them in their seats.”

I nodded. We tried to wake them up, but in the end, we ended up carrying them to their seats and putting their seat belts on. We both hopped in and headed back to the hotel.

Once we got there, Melina woke up enough to get out on her own. Leigh still sounded asleep and had to be carried up the stairs. Thank goodness my fans don’t know anything about the girls yet. We were lucky enough to get them away from the hotel. Fans are great, but they can be a bit of a problem sometimes. Thankfully, our fans are respectful, and that’s something that is very rare.

We finally make it to the top and to our condo. As soon as we do, Melina and Leigh both put their PJs on, brush their teeth, and head to their bed.

“It is only eight, and these girls are already asleep,” I say as I’m in the bathroom.

“Well, they did have an eventful day,” says Taylor from the bedroom.

“They chased butterflies, counted at least one hundred ladybugs, ran back and forth between the trees, which, not to mention cheery blossoms are their favorite trees. They think they ran around the entire park, although I don’t know how big the park is. They ate lunch, then went running around again; they found the statue, then they pretended that the walkway was the yellow brick road.”

I laugh as I climb into bed.

“Oh man, sounds like I missed all the fun.”

“Yeah, next time you can be the tin man.” We both laugh.

“They love it here,” Taylor says.

“I know, I can’t wait to move here,” I say.

“Me neither. So when do you figure we can be done with modeling?” he asks.

“I think after this shoot and the next one, I think we should be done. What do you think?” I say.

“Mhm, maybe, maybe a year.”

“A year?!”

“Now hear me out, I think the girls would love to go and see the world just like us. Plus, we need the money to start the business."

I scuff.

"Amanda, come on, we can still live here. We just need to make sure we have enough to fall back on."

" I feel like we have enough to fall back on, and it's not like I can't start modeling locally."

"I know traveling makes us more. And the girls would love to see the world."

"What about school? I ask. "Mhm. They need education too, Taylor."

"Well, honey, to be honest, they don't know the language like you and me. So traveling would give them time to learn the language." I sigh, "Plus, it would give you a chance to draw."

I look at him. "Who knows? Maybe instead of a modeling business we do a fashion business. You love to draw, and your drawings have already been praised by some top fashion designers. You would make a great fashion designer."

“Mhm, very true, plus it would be nice to have our own fashion show.”

Taylor nods, "But it would also be nice to quit as soon as possible to be with the children more.”

“True, how are you going to tell Jinx?”

“Me?! You should; you’re my manager.”

“I am, but he is also your boss and friend.”

I let out a deep sigh as I sulked.

"A year is just..."

"I know. Why don't you think about it? Okay, we have time to decide."

I nod my head as we share a kiss before we fall asleep.