Chasing Her Discarded Ex-husband

UNBELIEVABLE!

ABEL BLACKWOOD'S POV

"I must warn you to stay away from your red haired friend, Sofia Letto. She might be sweet, but she's not who you think she is and I’d hate for you to find out the hard way, Abel."

I read my ex-wife's message for the fifth time since last night, trying to make sense of it. She attached a photo of Sofia and me at the grocery store.

How did she even know about Sofia? Unless she's having me followed around, which I had already suspected anyway.

I don't know what to think about her claim about Sofia either. Sure, Sofia has some moral flaws, but I didn’t see her as a bad person. She hasn't done anything to prove that yet.

I take a deep breath and type a response.

"I let you call the shots when we were together, but don’t try to dictate my life now."

Before I can second-guess myself, I hit send. I don't like provoking Vanessa, she's too arrogant and lacks the basic awareness to acknowledge her faults.

I hear heels clicking against the polished floor and Ms. Raven appears at the door.

Her gaze runs the length of me before she announces. "The artist is ready for you.”

She pauses, then adds, “She also wants you to do a fully naked portrait.”

"No way," I snap. "That wasn’t part of the arrangement. I only agreed to this under the terms that I will be at least half clothed.”

Her smile is calm “I know what we discussed, but the the artist is offering to pay a very big amount for such a session."

"Abel, you have to take up every chance you can get to stay in the spotlight," she urges. "You’ve got a glamorous body that everyone wants to see.”

"I don’t like being looked at even when I’m covered up, let alone undressed. My answer is still no." I’m certainly not a guy who strips to flaunt his body.

"Okay," I'm surprised she's not still going to try and persuade me.

I glace at my reflection on the mirror one last time before I exit to follow her to the elevator.

I hope whoever the artist is isn't going to be someone I know or met before because even if I'll be halfway clothed it gonna still be awkward as hell.

We enter a long narrow room with open doors on each end. A raised platform is in the middle and chairs scattered around.There are only three people in the room, two women and one middle aged man.

Ms. Raven introduces me to the artist, a stunning woman with a warm and friendly smile. “This is Sasha,” she says.

Sasha looks at me and smiles brightly. “You must be the model! You look so natural.”

“He’s quite the specimen,” Ms. Raven adds, speaking for me.

Feeling a mix of embarrassment and irritation, I step up onto the dais. The man who seems to be directing the session gestures for me to sit on a high stool, while the other woman, presumably his assistant drapes a white sheet over my lower half to my knees. She helps me disrobe, twisting and shaping the sheet in ways that convey a message.

Sasha appears professional enough and absorbed in her job as she settles into her work. She chats with me casually, making eye contact with me from time to time.

But the most difficult part is to stay still in a sometimes awkward pose she asks. I didn't think it will be very physically demanding to sit in the same exact position for up to fifty minutes without moving at all. But I’ve always been in good shape so I am abe able to get through it.

I'm glad when she says, "I think I am done now.” I get up and she walks up to me to show me her sketches. We stand there side by side and talk about them, me almost completely naked for several minutes. Very fun.

“That’s quite impressive,” I say, genuinely admiring her work.

"Yeah, you have a very finely toned physique. I would be honored if you would agree to let me do a full-body nude portrait.”

I shake my head. “I’ll have to decline that. I really wouldn’t be comfortable."

“Oh … well. Okay then." She looks pretty disappointed but smiles. "Thank you for taking the time to do this,”

“It’s a pleasure,” I reply and shake her hand.

Ms. Raven brings me my robe.

“You really let a big opportunity slip back there.” Ms Raven says as we walk out of the studio.

"Yeah, because it was really fun to be the only naked one in a room full of people. And it’s even more fun to talk to the artists while I’m still naked." I reply sarcastically.

"So, are you going to tell me how comes you and Vanessa Sterling are friends?" I ask as we step off the elevator. She glances at me, her expression unreadable.

"Why do you want to know about Vanessa so much?" she replies.

"I'm just curious," I say, there is no way I'm telling her Vanessa was my ex-wife.

"Okay." She gives a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes and walks toward her car, I follow behind.

"Vanessa and I go way back. We went to same high school and our families were close. We were Inseparable." she explains and I raise an eyebrow. Vanessa, inseparable? That’s hard to imagine.

"She started her brand while I was in college. She was my role model when I took over my father's company, and provided models for her brand for years. But eventually, I realized she wasn’t a good person."

"What do you mean by she wasn't a good person?" I ask.

"She used to sleep around to promote her brand and secure lucrative deals."

"What!" is she serious? No way that can be true. Vanessa wouldn't do something like that.

"I thought you two were friends," I say, surprised. Friends don’t usually speak that way about each other. I don't want to believe what she's saying but then she has no reason to lie to me . And I didn't think that Vanessa would be cheating on me with my own blood until she brought Cyrus to our home.

Ms. Raven opens the car door and gets on the driver’s side, I slide into the passenger seat. “We are friends. I’m not saying anything bad about her but that’s just how Vanessa is and always be, she has s*x with different influential men every weekend, sometimes more than one, even when she is married.”

Does that mean she was doing that while we were married?

My ears are buzzing and the interior of the car feels too hot. I get out before I realize what I am doing.

“Where are you going? What’s wrong?” Ms.Raven asks.

“Nothing, I just . . . I need uhh. To get fresh air,” I mumble. I know how stupid that sounds but I don’t care. “Be right back, I just need a second.” I march away quickly before she can follow me.

What is wrong with me? Ms.Raven is sweet and she actually likes me. She enjoys my company, and yet all it takes is a mention of Vanessa and I can’t stop thinking about her. I take a quick stroll around the parking lot taking a few deep breaths before walking back to the car.

“Sorry, it was . . . too hot in here,” I lie and sit back down.

Ms Raven has her phone out and turns the screen away from me as she slides it back into her purse. She tells me it’s fine and starts the car.

"My father is hosting a lavish fundraising dinner the day after tomorrow. I’d like you to be my date." she suddenly says her lips twitching up in a smile.

"Date?" I glance at her, taken aback. "I’m not sure that’s a good idea."

Hadn’t she mentioned that her father wants her to date Jonathan? And honestly, I still see her as my boss.

"If you’re uncomfortable being my date, you can come as my friend," she suggest.

"Yeah, as a friend sounds great," I replie.

"Is that a yes?" Her smile widens.

"Yeah," I confirm.