Model Behavior

With her hair tucked safely behind her ear, Delaney slowly made her way over to Louis’s work room, her high heels clicking against the floor as she did. Models – or anyone, really – weren’t supposed to go into his private work room uninvited, but if there were ever reason to break the rules, Delaney thought that she had a good one.

Louis had been avoiding her more within the past few hours than he had in the entire time she had known him, and she took notice of it. Now that Harry had explained everything to her, it all seemed to make so much sense. The pieces all feel in to place, and Louis was no a clear picture for her to see, even if she didn’t know quite what that picture was.

She didn’t know what she was going to do with him, how she was going to do, or exactly what she expected the outcome to be, but she knew that she needed to talk to Louis, because even as pompous as he was, there was something about him that just continually drew her to him. He was like an awful train wreck, and she just couldn’t look away.

Tapping her hand gently on the wooden doorframe, she peeked her head through the open door, and found Louis in the corner, his back to her and his sewing machine running. He couldn’t see her and it was obvious he didn’t hear her, so she tapped again, more loudly this time.

Still, the knock couldn’t be heard over the roaring of the sewing machine, and Louis seemed so focused on his task that she wasn’t sure he’d ever look away.

With a deep breath, Delaney decided to break the rules – for good reason – and step into his workroom uninvited. As rude as Louis had been to her in the past, she had very good reason to believe she’d get fired for it, but the small bit of courage that she did have allowed her to walk through the doorframe and take slow, soft steps towards him.

Her breathing hitched, as she neared Louis and realized the disastrous scene she was landing herself in. He was going to yell at her – she knew that – but something inside her told her that it was worth it.

Moving her hand more slowly than the sinking tide, she reached for his shoulder, tapping against it twice. He whipped around immediately, his face both started and angered, and the glare he wore was nothing short of what Delaney had expected.

“What are you doing in here?” Louis pressed, his anger making his eyes glassy. “You know models aren’t allowed –”

“I knocked,” she said quickly, hoping to cut off his yelling somewhat before he went full force. “Twice. But you didn’t hear.”

Louis sighed, puffing out his lips as he held his jaw open. “Doesn’t it look like I’m busy?”

Every part of Delaney’s body wanted to reach over and slap him across the face for being so rude – he deserved that much, at least – but she held it back, and took a deep breath.

“Well, yes, but –”

“Did you need something?” He cut her off, his tone both annoyed and angry. His eyes moved away from hers and back to the sewing machine, and there was something about his stance that told her the answer needed to be no. She couldn’t walk away, though. Not after she’d spent an hour mustering up all her courage to walk into the room and talk to him.

Even if she couldn’t talk to him about him, she had to say something. She couldn’t come right out and say that she wanted to make him better, but she needed a start. She needed to try to get him to hate her less.

“I’m going out for dinner tonight and Harry said you know some of the best places in Paris,” Delaney said, trying to sound much more confident than she felt. “I was wondering if you could show me a few.”

She stood on her tiptoes, rocking back and forth as she waited for his answer. It was rare that she ever asked a guy out – usually, it was the other way around – so asking Louis made her more nervous than an audition.

After a few seconds, a wicked smirk fell to his face, and he nearly chuckled.

“Is this your attempt at asking me on a date?”

Her face flushed at his words, and she was sure she was three stages past being Twizzler red. She had to keep herself from hanging her mouth open, as she knew how stupid she looked when she did that, and she already looked stupid enough as it was.

“The answer is no, Delaney,” Louis said, as he turned away from her and back to the sewing machine. “If you’re looking for a quick fuck, there are plenty of male models out there who would be happy to take you up on the offer, but I’ll pass. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work I have to get back to.”

Louis’s eyes never left the machine when he spoke, and Delaney was thankful for that, because if he had been looking at her, he would have seen just how upset he had made her, and she didn’t want that.

Every time she thought that he had said the most hurtful thing possible, he smacked her with another over-the-top snarky comment that left her wounded. He was pompous, an ass, and everything Delaney hated in men, and she wanted to give up on ever talking to him again.

She wanted to dub him a lost cause and move on, but there was something about what Harry said that made her want to try harder. More importantly, there was something about Louis that made her never want to give up on him, even though he was the biggest asshat on the planet.