Through the Lens

Chapter 1

"This is the last outfit for the shoot" Reuben says as Lydia returns the rest of her coffee to him. With her handkerchief, he dabs on a sway sweat on her forhead which was almost invincible.

"Thank goodness" Lydia says almost with a tired look. They had been on five different sets for three days in a roll. She enjoyed every bit of it, but at this point she's drained and just needs to burn off the stress. A step after another, she walks; catwalks towards the stage. Reuben gaze lingers on her as she does so, but recovers himself before others would notice and they make the news headlines the next morning.

"Strike your best pose Lydia!" Alex shouts from behind the camera, capturing Lydia who's in a mid thigh black leather gown. Following the instruction, she parts her lips a bit, crossed her arms and looks slightly away from the camera.

"Perfecto!!!!" Alex shouts, more like screams back happily at her with a thick Italian accent. Many photographers love working with Lydia because she somehow brings out the best on what she models for. Heaven knows she could model for a plastic bag company and it will get sold out almost immediately they release the pictures.

"That's the spirit!" Alex says motioning her to carry on with the change of poses. After millions of shots later, Lydia walks into her changing room and changes into a silver gown which brings out all her curves. As she dabs powder on her face; retouching her makeup,Reuben walks into the changing room after knocking to make sure that she's decent.

"Damn! You're killing me in that dress" he says moving close to her. Lydia who was originally facing the dressing mirror turns around in her chair to look at him with a smirk.

"I am?" She asked with a sarcastic tone and crossed her arms in a way that pushes her breasts up.

"Lydia, don't do this to me." He says in a dangerously low tone, with lust evident in his eyes.

"The things I could do to you right here and now Ly..." he says burying his head in the nape of her neck sniffing in her strawberry scent. This made goosebumps rise on his skin.

"Really?" Lydia continues teasing him, but knows how much she needs a man's touch that moment. Lydia had always known that Reuben has an attraction towards her but she never considered him that way. She knows having such relationship with her manager is unprofessional but she can't help herself. They had spoken about keeping things platonic several times, but they keep finding themselves in 'that' situation. The wisest thing to do right now is to cut it off before it starts but she needs a man's touch.

Having a serious relationship was the last thing on her mind and wasn't interested in commiting herself into any relationship after what happened with her ex, Abel. The last time she was in a proper relationship was in college, with her first and last boyfriend.

Wanting to clear her head of any thoughts of her ex creeping back into her memory, she digs her hand into Reuben's hair and pulls him gently, this earns a soft moan from him. He raises his head from her neck to stare into her eyes, Lydia stares deeply into his eyes needing to feel that spark again; the one she felt with Abel, but nothing of such happened. 

"Reuben this is just platonic, right?" She asks wanting to be sure they were both on the same page. In response, Reuben meets his lips with hers. The kiss starts softly and soon turns into a heated one. With her hands in his hair, his right hand grabs her breasts and the other under her butt, about to pull up her silver gown. 

He missed touching her and doing all he could to her. He missed being lost in the world of fantasy with her. He missed being the cause of her moans and shivers; he missed having her all. He knew Lydia had marked boundaries several times, she had told him it was just 'fun', and he knew it, but he can't resist her.

He had determined to make her fall for him; by all means. Working his charm on her is one way he feels he can get through to her. He knew she had issues with her ex, but he doesn't know what exactly. He wish he could see the man that did this to her and do the exact same thing to him.

As he reaches to pull up her gown, a knock on the door brings them back to reality. They give themselves distance and adjusted their clothes before they tell them to come in.

"Lydia!!" Alex shouts with laughter reaching to hug her. Lydia hugs him back perceiving his cologne which seem too strong for her.

"I enjoyed every bit of our sessions" Alex says with a smile after releasing her from the hug.

"I did too, thank you for making me comfortable." Lydia replies him with a genuine smile.

"It's a pleasure love!" Alex says with a short laughter.

"I have something for you if you don't mind, another project but it's with a friend of mine." 

" Oh really?" Lydia asks now fully interested in the conversation. Being an orphan has taught her a lot, and one of it is independence. She had moved from one foster house to another before she clocked eighteen and she promised herself to become an independent woman who doesn't have to depend on anyone.

"Yeah, I'll have my personal assistant drop the contract with Reuben so you can go through the details" he says conclusively with a smile.

" I can't thank you enough Alex" Lydia stands to give him a hug as he stands to take his leave.

"Anything for my star girl" he says with a short laughter at his nickname for her.

"You flatter me" Lydia reply with her own laughter.

"The car is parked out front already, so let's go?" Reuben who had excused himself earli to pick a call tells Lydia.

"Gracias Alex" Lydia hugs him goodbye

"De nada mi amigos" Alex replies hugging her back.

" Bye Alex" Reuben shakes his hand before picking up Lydia's jacket and walking out the door.

"We should celebrate" Lydia says out of nowhere to break the tension in the car.

"We should?" Reuben asks confused. She had said earlier she was stressed it was even evident on her face.

"You sure?" He asks as he looks at her through the rearview mirror.

" Sure!" She says quite enthusiastically.

" Okayy" he drags it as he was still quite unsure of her decision. He knows she's quite a social person.

"Starry club?" He asks already knowing she would choose the place, as it is closer to her place.

"Definitely" she says as she rolls down the window to feel the night breeze.

Getting to the club, Lydia alights from the car as Reuben finds space to park.

"I'll be at the bar" she texts him after waiting for a few minutes for him. She enters the club after greeting the bouncers at the entrance.

On getting to the bar, she finds a kind of secluded place for her to sit

The drive back to Lydia's apartment was a long one, as both of them hasn't successfully shake off the moment they shared in the dressing room before Alex's interruption. With Ed Sheeran playing softly in the background, they both wait patiently to complete what they had started.

Once they were in Lydia's driveway, with the windows still rolled up and the engine off, Reuben turned to face Lydia, lust evident in his eyes. As he couldn't bear the heat coming out of his body, he leans towards Lydia who was already staring at him too. Different things were running through their minds as they hesitated. Lydia feels somewhat unsettled, she knows it's unprofessional of her to do this, but she's conflicted. Reuben wonders if Lydia was still up for it.

As he moves closer to her, Lydia makes up her mind to deal with the regret later, and she meets him halfway. The kiss intensifies as Lydia moves to straddle Reuben in the driver's seat. This move earn a moan from Reuben, as he's as hard as rock already. They made out as much as they could and barely made their way to her room before they take themselves.