Eternal Eclipse

Chapter 16

I met the team that would be managing me during my time at work. Furthermore, I was introduced to several Creative talent who were also at the company. After getting to know each other and discussing our future work, Felix and I left the Creative building and met the designer that Felix had mentioned earlier. The building, with its many glass windows filled with displays of various beautiful clothing items, was the first sight I saw upon arrival.

"This designer has signed a contract with Creative to use you as her exclusive model, so you'll be coming here often. Her name is Gloria Jorgensen. It seems she's been eyeing you for a while and wanted you as her model, but because of your previous agency behaviour, she's only now been able to contact you," Felix explained, opening the door for me.

"Thank you," I said.

Felix and I were immediately directed by the staff to Gloria Jorgensen's office, and as soon as we both entered, I was greeted warmly. Mrs. Gloria looked so happy and greeted me with a hug, "Welcome, Orion. Here's the model I've been waiting for."

I couldn't help but return the hug from this woman who looked over 40. And I didn't mind, because her warm embrace didn't seem to be a problem for me too. It's been a long time since I became a model and received a warm welcome from the people I worked with. Usually, they always considered me a cheap model they only hired because they were forced to. Not only that, but I also experienced unpleasant treatment several times, such as harassment and even openly forcing me to sleep with them. Not just women but men too, and if I refused, they would be very cynical and look at me with disgust. After that, there was no more work for me.

"Oh, dear. Look at this body, perfectly sculpted, and I'm sure it would perfectly complement my work. So, Orion, do you have a lover now? Your aura is more pronounced, sexy and sweet at the same time. People enjoying their springtime are sure to be like this," said Mrs. Gloria with a smile on her face.

"Ah, hm, no," I said, confused.

"Is Eli my lover or maybe not?" I thought, still smiling at Mrs. Gloria.

"Okay, okay, if you don't want to say it, that's fine. The important thing is that you're in good shape. I'm having an exhibition in two weeks, and of all my models, I have a few outfits that I think would suit you, and you're the only one who fits this design. I've tried contacting your agency before, but they turned me down and offered me another model. Just a while ago, I heard that you've moved to Creative, and that's great news for me," said Mrs. Gloria, patting me gently on the shoulder.

I couldn't help but smile in response to Mrs. Gloria's words. She smiled again and said, "Okay, let's try on the outfits, and if they suit you, we'll schedule a photo shoot for my boutique magazine."

I smiled and followed Mrs. Gloria to try on the various outfits she gave me. After much trying on and chatting about clothes, time passed quickly, and we parted ways. We had already scheduled a time to meet again and do a photo shoot as well.

"Eli, tomorrow I'm going to be appearing at a fashion show for the first time since I've been an adult. Do you have time to come?" I asked softly to Eli, who was behind me, hugging me.

Eli rested his chin on my shoulder and said, "I can't promise anything, but I'll try to come. I've had a lot of work lately, so don't get your hopes up. Sorry."

I, holding Eli's hand, could only nod. I knew Eli was very busy and had a lot of work to do, so I knew from the start that I shouldn't expect him to come, but hearing it in person made me sad. I don't know why, but I wanted him to come to this important moment for me.

Eli kissed my cheek and said, "I'll try to come, even if it's just for a little while. Don't pout."

"I'm not pouting," I said, denying Eli's statement.

"Haha, okay, okay," Eli rubbed his cheek against mine, silencing me.

...

Eli's POV

Hearing Orion's request made me want to fulfill it. I wanted to promise to come. However, I knew I had a lot of work to do. Lately, there have been numerous cases of vampires injuring humans to death, and the sudden, significant increase in the number of new vampires is also very worrying. The Twilight must work harder to rebalance the vampire population to prevent it from becoming excessive. Vampires themselves can't die, but they can be controlled by putting them to sleep. This sudden increase in the number of vampires remains to be investigated. Whether a vampire is creating new vampires or whether the sleeping vampires are being resurrected.

I drove Orion to his workplace, the exhibition was to take place that evening. However, Orion had to be on site since morning for rehearsals. Since I wasn't sure if I would be able to come that night, I drove him to the site and stayed with him for a while. Felix was also there to accompany and look after Orion.

"Felix, did anything seem strange while you were with Orion?" I asked Felix, who was standing next to me.

"No, sir. There are vampires among the models, but they're old vampires already registered at The Twilight. Their record is clean, and they are also a regular customer at Wines Bar, so he likely hasn't drunk human blood directly. Furthermore, his political views are neutral," Felix said, reporting his report.

"What about the left wing? Have they sent anyone around Orion?" I asked again, sitting and watching Orion bustle around with the designer and his colleagues discussing the upcoming exhibition.

"Currently, I haven't found any left wing members around Mr. Orion. However, I've sent Claude to keep a watchful eye and look for left wing individuals around here," Felix replied calmly.

I glanced at Felix, not expecting him to finally speak to Claude again, even though two years ago they had a big argument that left Felix no longer willing to mention Claude's name. And I didn't choose Claude to be one of the people who would watch over Orion, everyone else tasked with protecting Orion was Felix's own handpicked people. So, I didn't expect Felix to choose Claude. I said casually, "Are you okay?"

Felix cleared his throat and replied, "He's the best at finding people and remote monitoring."

I simply nodded slightly and didn't ask any more questions. I looked at my watch and said, "Bring Orion here for a moment, I have to go."

"Okay, sir," Felix replied, then immediately walked away.

Not long after, Orion, who had been talking to Felix, turned to me, and I gave him a small smile. Orion then walked over to me, "Are you leaving now? Later... Forget it, you're busy."