The next morning Midnight walks down to have breakfast after freshening up and notices a distressed Sam sitting on the couch with his laptop. She walks over to the kitchen island where her mother, Amanda, was serving everyone a cup of coffee.
“Here you go sweetie,” Amanda says, handing her a cup. She notices Midnight throwing a worrying glance at Sam. “He has been trying to change the mind of your CEO since this morning but has been failing badly so far.”
“The CEO can be a prick at times. Did he eat anything?” Midnight asks.
“I don’t think so.” Amanda replies, “Go talk him out about this. I don’t think he slept much either.”
Midnight nods once and then walks over to Sam, slouching down next to him. He turns his head to look at her and scowls.
“What?” Midnight asks, touching her face, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
“Your dark circles.”
Midnight rolls her eyes at him. “Have you looked at yours? Your eyes are bloodshot red and you look like crap.”
Sam grins, “Geez, thank you. That’s the best compliment I have gotten from you.”
“You’re annoying!” Midnight exclaims but her tone was light.
“Oh please, you love me.”
“Get out.”
The conversation didn’t go unnoticed by Autumn who was also there in the kitchen. She clears her throat before also taking a seat on the couch.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Autumn asks, “Should I sue your agency?”
“Ugh, I would love to see that but you can’t. I will bear with them for a few months more until the time for the contract to be renewed shows up.” She says, playing with the corner of her phone. “Honestly, I thought the CEO would make a better decision than this, he had always been so protective of me- he wouldn’t even let me hang with my guy friends and co-stars too much and now when he should actually be denying this…he is just adding more fuel to the fire.”
“Why do you and Xavier dislike each other so much?” Autumn asks and Midnight stops playing with her phone, letting out a sigh before shrugging her shoulders in response. Closing her eyes, she remembers the first time she met Xavier Cavanaugh.
{A few years earlier}
Midnight had been modelling for a long time and had landed a number of sponsors along with advertisements offers. But she had always dreamed of attending a red carpet event and finally one day her wish came true. She had entered the carpet and was posing for the cameras with her usual charming smile on her face when suddenly the paparazzi’s attention turned to another person stepping in- it was him, Xavier Cavanaugh. Back then she had only heard his name a lot of times but never saw him in person until then. He was wearing a black fitted suit and his hair was styled back, his eyes, his body language every single move reflected nothing but confidence. He posed for the cameras as the paparazzi was going crazy asking him to look and pose for them. He was immaculate from head to toe and he turned his head around, his blue eyes landing on her black ones and the world stopped spinning.
His blue eyes held forbidden promises full of sin and dangerous lies which was very tempting. He would pull you into his dark world and once you step inside there is no going back- that’s what his gaze said in those few seconds of eye contact. It wasn’t until Sam came up to pull her away that Midnight realied she was under his spell. She wanted to talk to him, to see him once more, to unravel all his secrets, to make all those fantasies come true that he held in his eyes. She didn’t see him again until the award function when they were sitting right next to each other.
She tried to make polite conversation with him but he would just reply curtly and didn’t even try to hide his dislike for her. After a while, she even stopped trying and went to ignore him but feeling a bit shattered. She had never wanted someone’s attention so badly and the one guy who seemed to have caught her attention wasn’t even interested in making small talk with her.
She told her manager that she wanted to get some fresh air and walked outside towards the balcony, closing the door and shutting out all the chaos behind her. Her white gown that she was wearing shimmers under the moonlight as she stops near the rails looking at the sky. The cool breeze on her skin makes her eyes close as she feels wind touching her soul.
Midnight then takes off her clip that was holding her hair in a bun letting her hair fall freely down her waist before opening her eyes again, turning around only to stop when she sees a familiar pair of blue eyes staring at her. His eyes were conflicted and his expression stiff, making her frown in confusion.
“Middie, back to earth.” Sam says, shaking her as she opens her eyes. “This really is eating you up, don’t worry. I will try to talk to the CEO while you focus on relaxing.”
With that Sam takes his leave and Midnight lets out a frustrated groan. It’s annoying how he has been so constantly on her ever since this thing blew up. Autumn shakes her head before getting up and extending her hand towards Midnight motioning her to follow her.
Then they were lying on the bed with jazz music playing in the background and had their face masks on to hydrate their faces. Autumn suggested that it was a good idea since she had a photo shoot later that day.
Autumn closes her eyes before asking, “Midnight? Do you remember the time you told me you were attracted to Sam?”
Midnight snorts, “Please, don’t remind me of that phase of mine.”
“You don’t feel that way anymore?” Autumn asks, trying to keep a straight face.
“No, it was a teenage thing and was just infatuation. I wasn’t allowed to date and he was the only man who wasn’t family around me…later on I realised it wasn’t even infatuation, it was just admiration that I had for him. He had been so kind to me and would always protect me if I made a mistake; like an elder brother.”
“I see.” Autumn says with a secret smile on her face whereas Midnight was thinking whether she should tell her all about the both of them or not.
— — —
Xavier didn’t sleep too well either as he let out a yawn while making some pancakes and coffee for breakfast. This time instead of the pregnant woman lying in a pool of blood, he unexpectedly saw Midnight in his dreams.
Not just her- he saw her with him. They were running in the field and she was beaming at him- her eyes were filled with love for him. One minute they were running and the next her arms were around his neck…that’s when he knew it was a dream because it was too beautiful to be true.
Because no matter how badly he wants her…she would never be his. The more reason he was afraid to fall asleep again, what if she shows up in his dreams again? And what if that leads to him wanting her more? What if he ends up making a mistake again? He didn’t want to make another one- he doesn’t want her to steal away the light she carries and engulf her with his darkness.
But those eyes…those eyes that were looking at him with so much love, felt so real, almost too real. It made him hang on to that fragment of his dream for the rest of his life. That was until it turned scary enough to be a nightmare. At first she was running with him, holding his hand and the next she was lying on the floor, in a pool of blood. Even trying to remember that was scary for him. It made him even more adamant on trying to refuse the rumour but he knows how stubborn Midnight can be, from the very beginning.
He still remembers the very first time he saw her on the red carpet and when he saw her in person, he was stunned by her beauty. But what took him even more off guard was the way she was staring at him- it was an innocent stare full of curiosities until you stared deep enough to see the devils dancing in her eyes, promising him a world full of things he desires. She would fulfil those, all of those and more, she would care for him, caress his wounds. So he chose to ignore her because he didn’t want to give her false hope. He wasn’t the type of man who could give her a happy ending..he didn’t think himself capable of being loved.
He had a meeting today as he quickly brushes his hair, wears his watch and set out putting on his leather black jet on his way outside. He would refuse the rumours first with Amelia first but before he could do that, his phone pinged denying the rumours first on her own.
At least, someone is smart enough to stay away unlike this one girl. But now the focus has shifted on the two of them and he cannot risk that. He texts her on social media asking her to meet him in person. He wants to know how long he will have to keep up with this. She answers back immediately, saying she wouldn’t be free until later that night. He asks her to meet her at the office.
(Later that night)
Xavier was on his laptop coming up with an interesting plot for his next movie, sitting in his office when he hears a knock at the door and then he heard the door being opened making him frown since his secretary knew very well he didn’t like to be disturbed but looking up he wasn’t really surprised at the rude interruption.
It was her, Midnight. When her eyes land on the beautiful man, she couldn’t help but lose count of her thoughts. She has always seen him all tidy and neat but this was the first time she was seeing him in a casual outfit- black jeans and a turtleneck black sweatshirt with his sleeves pushed back till his elbows.
“You can go Miss Martha.” He says breaking Midnight out of her reverie as her eyes finally look into his icy blue ones, that froze in her place. Miss Martha closes the door behind her and he motions for her to take a seat. Seated across each other in an enclosed space made the air thick with ice-breaking tension. Sparks were flying visibly as they both tried to avoid too much eye contact.
“So,” Xavier begins, making sure to keep his tone indifferent, “how long will I have to keep my mouth shut?”
Midnight grits her teeth before replying, “My manager talked to my agency and they want to keep it till the movie releases in the theatre. Since it’s a low budget movie, most people think it wouldn’t even survive a week at the box office, especially because your movie is being launched around the same time.”
Xavier’s eyes grow darker as he silently stares at her for a minute, weighing his options on how to tell her the affect she holds on people…that she is America’s sweetheart and that was the reason why they casted her in this role. But he couldn’t say that- he couldn’t give away hints of what he really thinks of her so he chooses his usual tone. “Seriously, Miss Midnight do you really want to stay stuck with me that long? Is it really your agency that wants this or perhaps it’s you?”
Midnight scoffs at the audacity of him actually thinking something like that. “And why would I want to be stuck with someone like you?”
Xavier gets up and walk towards her chair towering over her as she leans back staring at him wide eyed. He was too close to her, once again making her lose her breath. “Exactly my point, Midnight.” He whispers making Midnight’s tummy do a flip-flop.
The way he called out her name, with such a longing ache, it’s heart wrenching and beautiful at the same time. And his eyes, they were reflecting those feelings making Midnight want to reach out to him so as to take away his pain.
“Why?” She breathes. “Why do you want me to hate you, Xavier?”
That question makes him waver as he stares at her, too stunned to speak. What was he supposed to say to that? How…what even planted that question in her mind?
His grip on the handle of the chair tightens before he closes his eyes for a few seconds but is distracted whe he feels a soft, warm hand resting on the side of his cheek. It takes him every single bit of his self-control to not give into her touch- he hasn’t felt that warmth in such a long time. It almost felt too foreign for him to even describe.
“You don’t always have to hold onto such a tough face, Xavier.” Midnight whispers and she had no idea why she was doing this. But for some reason she couldn’t help it but want to reach out to him, soothe him out, clear the blizzard that he always carries in those beautiful eyes of his. “You don’t have to wear a mask in front of me…”
He opens his eyes but refuse to look up at her because her words were taking a toll on him. He honestly wanted to let go of everything and break down in front of her- but the thought of stealing away the light she carried was far much scary to her. How could he do this to her? To her family that she loved so much?
So with utmost difficulty, he holds onto her wrist and jerks her hand off giving her a sharp stare. “Miss Midnight, I would very much appreciate if you try to keep your distance and I don’t pretend anything. I am what I am. You can take your leave now.”
Midnight wasn’t expecting this but at the same time a part of her knew that he didn't like her, so it wasn’t too surprising that he didn’t want to open up to someone- especially if that someone was her. What was she even thinking?
When she was near the door about to step outside Xavier says, “I know that you don’t like lying to your fans either, how long are you gonna pretend something that isn’t even there? That will never be there. You and I…we’re polar aparts, no one will believe this.”
Midnight doesn’t say a word and leaves quietly.
— — —
(A hidden library at the Maylyn Residence)
The moonlight falls over a room illuminating the dark room with her light. An older woman is standing behind a younger girl who is crouched on the chair, writing something with a golden pen on a black piece of paper while hearing the recent entertainment news playing in the background at a low volume.
“The rumours with Midnight might land him and her in trouble.” The older woman says. “Maybe our warning wasn’t clear enough.”
“I don’t think that’s the case.” The younger girl says. “It’s the entertainment industry, maybe they are forcing them to not deny it because of the movie release.”
The older woman shrugs. “Maybe, but we want them to believe that too.”
After the younger girl was done writing the message she put the piece of paper in a black envelope and sealed it.
“Done.”
She gets up putting on her black oversized hoodie along with a black cap and mask, making sure not to show any skin or her hair.
“Be careful.”
“Always.”
Then the younger girl walks off into the night, heading to send her letter to Xavier.