At the end of my first photoshoot, I earned three-hundred dollars total. I was a bit disappointed, since that would probably only just cover the hotel stays in LA. Really, three-hundred dollars and a pat on the back? This was far from what I was expecting when I signed up for this modeling thing.
But Chance seemed to really promote me, and I was getting gigs left and right since then. At first, they weren't big gigs, pretty much all just commercial gigs. I did a lot of shoots for stores, even landing continuous shoots for the flyers of Indie's Blue, which was a local clothing store that was known for basic budget clothes. I wasn't signed to their company or anything, but they seemed to like me and how I looked, which made them want to hire me again and again.
I got offered a promotion at the grocery to a manager—but I didn't go for it. I wasn't planning on seriously pursuing whatever this job was. I wanted to model more than anything.
I was spending quite a bit of time travelling to gigs as time went on, focusing entirely on myself and my newfound career. Before, I probably never would have even considered pursuing modeling, but it quickly became my passion.
Not only that, but I was also celibate. Or at least I was trying to be. I didn't want to focus too much on sex—so I directed all my energy into my work, being both my grocery job and modeling. I would even pay out of my own pocket sometimes to do shoots just for my own social media profiles.
Speaking of social media profiles, I got a lot of offers to do advertising on my own platform. I would simply just pose with the product and write whatever they wanted me to write for the caption. It was easy money.
I wouldn't necessarily call myself an influencer, but I did have quite a large following on social media. By the time 2019 came around, Flumblr had practically died out in favour of another social media platform, which was Posty, and everyone had an account. Of course, I had to make my own, too. And I quickly raked up eighty-thousand followers when all I'd post were selfies, photoshoots, and advertisements. I wasn't much of a fan of posting on the 'story' feature, where it seemed that people would post their candid daily shenanigans every day. I didn't necessarily want eighty-thousand people knowing what I was doing every minute of every day.
I was taking my modeling very seriously, and it seemed that Chance had a lot of faith in me, as well. Although I wasn't at all 'famous,' it wasn't like strangers were asking to take a picture with them in public or anything. I kept telling myself that maybe that would happen one day, as long as I kept working hard and just kept doing what I loved. I still didn't know much about Chance, but he got me the gigs that I needed, so I didn't feel the need to get involved in his personal life.
It was also about time that I would start looking for my own place to live. Being twenty-one, I was ready to head onto the road of independence, and I found myself researching for vacant properties in the city. Living in the metropolitan part of the city meant it was easier for me to get modeling opportunities in the city, and to commute to the airport or train station to get to gigs that were in other states.
I was going to need a roommate, though… Even with the money I had, I was going to need to split the rent with someone if I was going to live in the city. The rent was much more costly in the metropolitan area, of course.
But 'independence' wasn't just the only reason I wanted to move to my own place. I also wanted to bring men home from time to time, and to actually wear some cute clothes for my LiveDream viewers.
I was going to have to find someone to move in with, and soon. But it couldn't just be anyone. They had to be the perfect roommate.
Somebody like… Nia Fotia.
---
It was a sunny June afternoon when I was alone, and I decided to do some tanning in the backyard while blasting some upbeat jazz through my speaker. I didn't care if the neighbours would be bothered, no one should ever complain about jazz, in my opinion.
I was planning on getting a little bit darker so I could get a nice natural sun-kissed tan that I was planning on trying out for myself. I also was going to the gym on the weekends to start getting a bit more in shape. It could never hurt to try and exercise more, and to maintain a good figure.
I actually went to Kyle's gym, but it wasn't that awkward between us, surprisingly. He would still openly either insult me or flirt with me, and I'd laugh and innocently tease him back, but it didn't go any further than that. I was still trying to be celibate, and also looked into diets that other models claimed worked for them. Kyle gave good tips on my exercise and diet for the ideal plan of what I should follow, and I didn't expect him to be so knowledgeable on the subject. I always thought he was dumb, but he was pretty knowledgeable on all this workout and dieting stuff.
So I had watermelon slices cut up in a bowl beside me, snacking on the juicy fruit as I felt the juice dribble from my lips with each crunch. I savoured the watery taste and the soft crunchiness, watermelon was truly an ethereal fruit that the earth didn't deserve.
Soon, I got a text on my phone. I sat up and lifted my glasses before I checked it, seeing that it was from Nia.
'Hey Cody. You available rn? I could use someone to blow some steam off with.'
I unlocked my phone to message her back. 'I'm in my backyard. Come by and go straight to the back, I left the gate open.'
I put down my phone and sighed as I laid back down in my lounge chair and put my sunglasses back on, feeling the warmth bathe over me again. It was no beach, but when I was closing my eyes and lying in just shorts like this in the sun, just pretending in my mind that I was actually at the beach, then that was all that I needed to feel completely relaxed.
I began to see myself, a bit taller and leaner, sitting in the living room of the same kind I've seen in one of those TV shows I liked growing up. I'm looking at photos of myself, where I look absolutely gorgeous. It was a bit odd, but I saw myself wearing a women's set of clothing—but I surprisingly looked amazing in it. It suited me well. The skirt hugged my curvy waist as it flowed down to my mid-thighs, and the thigh-high socks I was wearing underneath made my legs look so dainty yet elegant.
Another photograph was black and white, and showed me dressed in a gorgeous suit with a silk shirt underneath that was half-buttoned. I was sitting on a stool with my legs spread as I ran a hand through my dishevelled hair.
"You're gorgeous then, and you're gorgeous now," a deep voice said to me, feeling someone hug me from behind. I smiled. "I didn't hear you come in," I said softly as I slightly tilted my head for the person to kiss me. I didn't know what they looked like, but their kiss was warm and sweet, giving me butterflies all in my stomach.
"I am beautiful, aren't I? That's why you love me, right?" I asked as my hand cupped their cheek, and they smiled at me. "You're beautiful, but that's not why I love you. Your soul is beyond more beautiful than your looks, and I want to spend the rest of my life learning everything about you, and loving you inside and out."
The person walked around the couch to sit beside me, moving my hair out of my face as they looked into my eyes. Although I couldn't recognize them, I knew that their eyes were gorgeous.
"You're my soulmate, Cody Vale. I want to love you until we grow old together," they whispered, holding my hand as our fingers laced together. "How about it? Will you be mine 'til the end of time?"
I giggled. "So dramatic. But yes, I will be. I love you, and I always will," I said softly with a soft smile before the two of us leaned in to engage in a kiss…
I awoke to the sounds of the gate creaking. I sat up and looked, seeing Nia dressed in a crop top and shorts, her hair tied up in two buns. She walked over to sit on the lounging chair next to mine, which was under the shade.
"Hey," she finally said with a sigh. "What's up?" I asked her, leaning back. "It feels like a while since we talked in person."
"Sorry, bud. I'll fill you in on all the details," she said before taking a deep breath. "Well, I got kicked out of school."
"Shit," I exclaimed. "That sucks. What happened?"
"I failed my classes. They weren't hard or anything, I just kind of forgot that I was actually supposed to go," she said with a laugh. "Like, 'shit! I'm in college for this!' I spend too much time gaming and partying."
I shook my head. "You had it coming."
"I know, I know. God, my dad is pissed! Oh, speaking of my dad being pissed, one of the reasons I couldn't hang out with you for a while is 'cause he found out about LA and grounded me."
"Damn, I told you that you should have at least asked him," I said, continuing to focus on getting my tan in. "So, how did he find out?"
"Well, our first night in LA, I withdrew money from our bank, we share the same bank, but I should get my own account soon," she said with an annoyed tone. "Anyway, when I got home from our trip, he was all like, 'why was there a withdrawal from LA!?' and I had to tell him the truth. He wasn't exactly pleased to hear I went to LA with a boy behind his back."
"Sorry," I apologized. "But I did tell you that you should have told him! That's all on you."
"Yeah, yeah… Now you know why I haven't seen you in a while," she said with another sigh. "I mean really, grounding me! I'm twenty-one, for fuck's sake! I should be living on my own already."
"Do you have the money for it?"
"Erm…" She scratched her head. "I mean, I'm working on finding a job!" She leaned back and sighed. "I dunno, I wonder what kind of job I should get."
"You like gaming, right? You could apply to work at the video games store at the mall in the city," I suggested. "Or you have experience in computer programming, right? I'm sure a lot of companies need people who specialize in that."
"Yeah, but they usually want people with degrees," she explained. "But I'll look into the video game store job. Oh yeah, how has the modeling thing been going?"
I smiled. "I'm really working hard. I'm trying to get as many gigs as I can, and Chance has been really getting me some good ones. I just really want to be up there, you know?"
"You never seemed to care about fame before. What up with the change?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, I guess modeling really kind of changed me. It's my newfound passion, and I'm really serious about it," I said. "I want other people to feel the emotions I try and portray or have them admire whatever I'm trying to present, say the product I'm advertising, or the clothes I'm trying to sell."
"Wow, I never thought you'd be into this. Go you, though! I don't know if I'd ever be able to model."
"Your photos on Posty are really nice, though."
"I guess. I like the ones of us, though," she said as she smiled at me. "But you're prettier than me."
"Don't say that. We're both beautiful," I joked, making her giggle. She reached over to take a slice of melon from my plate before eating it, looking at the speaker as she raised a brow. "Can I change whatever this music is? Who listens to jazz in the summer?"
My brows knitted in confusion. "What does that even mean? When was music genres associated with seasons? And also, no you can't change it."
She rolled her eyes. "You don't listen to rock at all?"
I shook my head. "I only listen to jazz."
"You're really different," she said as she chuckled.
We spent some time just relaxing side-by-side as we listened to the music and just chilled together. I always liked doing anything with Nia.
"Oh, you should come over to my house," she said suddenly. "I wanna show you my room."
"Sure, when?"
"How about after you're done with your tanning session?" She said and I sat up. "I mean, I've been out here for a while. I can go get changed and then we can go."
"Cool. I'll wait in my car," she said and I nodded.
I turned off my music and headed back inside the house, heading straight for my room to put a shirt on before leaving a note to my parents of my whereabouts in case they came home and wondered where I was. I headed out, stepping into my rubber slippers and heading to Nia's car to climb into the seat next to her.
Nia insisted on playing pop-rock music, which wasn't really my thing, but she was singing along and it seemed that she was having fun, so that was all that mattered to me.
Nia apparently lived another city away, so it took about half an hour to get to her place. Not that I complained, though. As I said, I always liked doing anything as long as I was with her.
We finally pulled up to a small suburban area that was within the city, just a little off ways after passing by a mall. Nia drove a bit around before parking in a red-bricked modest house that would belong to a middle-class family. An American flag hung proudly above the garage.
"We're here," she said with a sigh before smiling at me. "Come inside. My dad's probably home though, so… Don't worry about him."
I nodded before we climbed out of the car and Nia locked her car, and we walked up the porch and headed inside.
"I'm home, I brought a friend," Nia called out.
I was checking my phone to see if Nia's home had Wi-Fi, and if it would be impolite of me to ask her the password right as soon as we stepped foot in her home. I looked up and noticed her home seemed to be pretty tidy, and was decorated very simply. It was a cozy home that I liked.
Soon, someone walked into the foyer, and I widened my eyes seeing a tall, muscular man wearing a tight green T-shirt and camo cargo pants. He had deep brown hair that was much darker than Nia's, and a painter's brush mustache across his upper lip. It was clear he was probably in his early to mid-forties, but he was very, very handsome. I immediately felt my face become hot just being in his presence.
"Who's this boy?" He asked her in a gruff voice, eyeing me suspiciously. I gulped. He had such an intimidating presence, with an intimidating voice to match. I felt like I was shrinking into the floor.
"My friend Cody," she said with an eye roll.
"Your friend, huh?" He sized me up again, squinting at me as he bit the inside of his cheek. "You the one who took my daughter to LA?"
I immediately felt my heart rate pick up. I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to answer.
"Who cares? It's none of your business, he's just a friend I wanted to bring over," Nia interjected.
"I ain't ask you, Nia. I wanna hear from the boy himself," he said sternly, awaiting an answer from me. I twiddled my thumbs, feeling myself shrinking under his gaze. I decided to just be honest. Honesty is the best way to go, right?
"Y-yes, I am…" I said in a small voice. "I invited her, but I didn't know that she'd go behind your back."
"It's true, dad. He didn't encourage me to lie or anything. I was the one who made the choice to not tell you," Nia said, defending me. "So quit hounding him. We're gonna hang out in my room," she said. Nia took me by the arm to lead me up the stairs before her father could say anything else.
She took me up the stairs and down the hall to her room. I looked around, and Nia had the walls of her room painted red, with photos of her and her friends hanging from the walls, along with posters of different video game and anime characters. She had a desk that was cluttered with random things, and her fancy gaming chair was covered with clothes.
She sat on her bed. "Sorry about my dad. He's…" She just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So, what do you think of my room?"
"It's cool," I said, sticking my hands in my pockets. I scratched my head, still feeling a rush of adrenaline from interacting with Nia's hot but intimidating father. I was stuck between wanting to hide from him and kind of wanting to fuck him.
Okay… Bad joke. That's Nia's dad, I thought to myself, waving away any indecent thoughts.
"Your dad, he's always like that?"
"Well, he's just protective of me, I guess," she said, opening up her laptop. "He's very wary of boys when it comes to me. He's always got to give them an 'interrogation' as I'd put it."
I gulped. "Will I have to go through that?"
"Probably," she said as she fiddled around on her laptop as she talked to me. "You know, you should stay for dinner. I hate having dinner with my dad, it's so awkward. Maybe it'll be a lot better if you're with me. Then he won't have to lecture me in front of a guest."
I don't think so, I thought to myself, but I didn't want to reject Nia's invitation. But at the same time, it would be rude to turn that down. Maybe it will go okay, who knows.
"Okay," I said with a nod. I sat beside her on her bed. "What are you doing?"
"Looking up jobs for any game shops in the area," she said as she typed aggressively. "I'm sure there must be something at the mall nearby…"
I was still feeling really hot despite the air conditioner letting cool air in the room. It was summer, after all. "Do you have anything to drink, by the way?"
Nia looked up and nodded. "I'll get us something. What do you like? I can get us some soda or water, whatever you want."
Even though a cold cola sounded good, I remembered that I was following a diet. "I'll have water, thanks."
Nia got up and left the room to go downstairs and get us some drinks. I took an opportunity to take a look around her room, looking at the photos of her and her friends from when she was younger. She seemed to have a lot of friends throughout her childhood and teen years, but I wasn't surprised. She had an energy about her that drew people to her.
I went over to her dresser to see a framed photo of her when she was only a toddler, dressed in overalls and a bucket hat as she smiled and held her parents' hands in each of her hands in front of a rocky shore. Her father was wearing a loose white sleeveless shirt and beige cargo shorts as his hair fell in his face, and he seemed to be laughing with his eyes closed, and he actually had a beautiful smile. I never expected that stern and cold man I ran into downstairs could look so stunning when he smiled.
Nia's mother had a pleasant smile on her face as she was looking at Nia in the photo as the wind blew through her sky blue dress and her short, light brown hair. It was a heartwarming photo.
There was another framed photo beside it of Nia's mother smiling warmly at the camera as she held who I assumed to be a sleeping baby Nia in her arms.
Nia's mother was very pretty, just like her. But I also saw some of her father's features in her, as well. They were a very good-looking family.
"And don't go walking away when I'm still talkin' to you!" I overheard Nia's father yell as Nia was walking up the stairs.
"Yeah, whatever!" I heard Nia call back downstairs as she sighed and came back to her room, bottled waters in each hand. She closed the door with her foot before coming back over and handing me a bottle as I thanked her.
I opened it and took a long gulp. "You okay?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yeah. Just my dad being a prick about me having a boy in my room," she said in an irritated tone. "Well, I told him you're staying for dinner. And now he's all pissy because I didn't tell him beforehand."
"Sorry… I can just go home if it's an inconvenience," I said, feeling a bit guilty.
"No, you know what? I want you to stay. He's never had a problem with me bringing over girl friends." She shook her head. "Whenever I mention anything about friends I have who happen to be male, he goes right back into fucking 'captain Fotia' mode."
I guess she's referring to the way he would act with the enlists in the army… I thought to myself. I decided to change the subject. "Well, what's for dinner?"
"Spaghetti," she said. "That okay?"
"Sounds good to me," I said, the whole thing about my diet still in the back of my mind, but I suppressed it. "I can't wait."
Even though I said that, I couldn't help but feel a bit anxious about how dinner would go.
Because if I was being honest, I was a little bit terrified of Mr. Fotia.
---
Nia and I spent the rest of the afternoon together talking as I watched Nia play games as we'd occasionally give commentary at the same time. We both found each other so funny, and time always seemed to fly by whenever we hung out.
Then it was the dreaded dinner. I sat across from Nia at the table, with Mr. Fotia seated at the end of the table between us. It was a bit awkward when he served us, I felt as if I wasn't exactly welcome.
So we all ate in silence, but Nia kept looking at me as if she wanted me to say something. I wasn't exactly one to start a conversation, but the least I could do was try.
"This is really good," I said to Mr. Fotia. "What's your secret?"
Mr. Fotia stopped eating and looked at me as if I had another head growing out of me. "Ricci," is all he said with a straight face, referring to the brand of store-bought pasta sauce.
"Ah," is all I said with an awkward chuckle, going back to eating. I felt a bit embarrassed, as if I shouldn't have said anything at all.
We continued to eat before Mr. Fotia put down his cutlery and looked at me. "So, what are your intentions with my daughter?"
"Dad!" Nia sternly said, but Mr. Fotia held up a hand to stop her, looking back at me. "I wanna know how close y'all are for you to be taking her to LA with you."
I began to feel a bit of a panic inside. "Erm… We were roommates at school," I said, which made Mr. Fotia widen his eyes before he looked at Nia. "You're tellin' me they let male and females room together!?"
Nia rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's 2019. Don't men and women train and fight together in the army?"
"Yes, but they don't sleep in the same quarters," Mr. Fotia explained before turning back to me. "I hope you ain't lay a hand on her. Boys your age…"
I winced in my seat, feeling like I was really being interrogated. I reached for my water to have a drink.
"It's not like that, dad! I already told you, we're just friends," Nia said, but Mr. Fotia still looked at me, as if he wanted to hear my answer.
"I don't like Nia in that way," I quickly said. "I don't like girls in that way, I'm gay… But even if I wasn't, I would never do anything to Nia that you wouldn't want me to do," I explained, hopefully choosing the right words.
Mr. Fotia shifted his eyes from me to Nia and then back to me again before he cleared his throat. "I see. Cody, was it?"
I nodded. He seemed to lower his voice a bit and relax more. "You have to understand where I'm comin' from. I ain't exactly too fond of the idea of my little girl being so close with a boy I never met before, and runnin' off to LA with him."
"I'm not a little girl," Nia said.
"I get it," I said to Mr. Fotia with a nod. He sighed. "But I'm still keepin' my eye on you just in case you're one of those boys who lie about that kind of thing just to get into girls' pants."
"I'd never do that," I said. "I promise, Nia is nothing but a good friend to me."
Mr. Fotia nodded slowly before presenting his hand to me, and I shook it with a little smile. His calloused hand had a very strong grip, and my hand felt so dainty compared to his own.
"Now, I still ain't want ya hurting Nia even as a friend, alright?" He said to me as we took our hands back and I nodded.
"I'd never hurt her, sir," I said before I looked over at Nia and smiled. "She's a wonderful friend, and I love her very much."
Nia smiled back at me, brimming with happiness.
---
The rest of dinner went pretty well after I made my intentions with Nia clear with her father. He was a strict and protective father, but he wasn't evil or anything like that. He was an okay guy, just intimidating.
Nia seemed to be happy on the way driving me back home. I kept asking her what she was smiling about, but she would just say that she's 'thinking.'
We finally made it back to my home, and I took my seatbelt off and was about to leave, but Nia placed her hand on my arm. "Cody, wait."
I looked at her and raised my brow. "What is it?"
She smiled. "Thanks for having dinner at my place. Usually whenever my dad and I have dinner together, we just argue," she said with a sigh. "Tonight was a nice change."
I nodded. "Your dad is okay," I said. "He's just protective of you." And is still insanely intimidating…
She slowly nodded. "I've been thinking this whole ride back," she said. "I have a really great plan."
"Oh?"
She smiled. "I'm gonna land that job at the GameShoppe," she said as she snapped her fingers. "And I'll save enough until I'll be able to live on my own."
"Okay," I said, waiting for her to say more.
"I'm sure my dad won't agree with letting us live together in our own apartment," she said. "At least, not right now, but… He's been beginning to build a shed in our backyard. Maybe if you could help him build it and gain his approval…?"
I almost wanted to laugh. "How will me helping him build a shed make him let us move in together?"
"Trust me… My dad is like that," she said with a nod. "It's hard to get to know him unless he's doing something with someone else. Helping him build this shed is the perfect excuse to get him to think better of you. While I'm working, you two can work on it together and bond." She giggled. "Who knows, maybe you two might even become friends."
Friends with a man like Mr. Fotia? I doubt it… I can barely speak a sentence to him without shaking in my shoes. "I don't know about all that, Nia. That's a lot to ask for."
"Please, Cody? I'll do anything in return," she begged, folding her hands together. "I'm sure this plan will work out. That's all you need to do, build a shed and bond with my dad."
I sighed deeply. Nia has done a lot for me these past few years, this is the least I could do to help her out. "Okay, fine…"
She immediately wrapped her arms around me to hug me tightly as I gasped. "Thank you!" She said gratefully as I just hugged her back.
"I love you, Cody. Thank you for doing this for me. I'm so glad we're friends."
I smiled. "I am, too."
I didn't know it at all then, but soon I would be working my ass off to earn Mr. Fotia's favour… And much, much more from him.