We laughed. I’d forgotten how lovely Jae’s laugh was. Or maybe I’d never really listened to it before. It was light and musical and reminded me of a stream babbling over stones. It was the sound of happiness and lazy summer days.
Whoa. Where were my thoughts going? Since Jae had got off the train the day before, it was like I was seeing him through new eyes.
“You’ll be a Londoner until you die, then?” Jae asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know about that. It doesn’t matter where I live as long as I have space to do my streams.” I paused as Jae’s cheeks became radioactive. Why was he blushing so fiercely? “Maybe I’ll move to New York. I quite fancy Hawaii. Or Sydney would be fun.”
“You could buy a private tropical island.”
I chuckled. “If only. That’s way out of my league.”
“For now.” Jae took a bite out of his sandwich.
“Probably forever.”
Jae shook his head and then polished off the sandwich. “Do you have a vision board?”
“A what?”
“A vision board. It’s a pictorial representation of what you want to achieve in your life. I have one.”
“Oh? What do you have on yours?”
“Front covers of magazines I want to be on one day. The McKay’s Models’ logo. Catwalk photos. The designers I want to model clothes for someday.” His eyes became unfocused and dreamy as he spoke. “Details of swanky apartments I’d like to own.”
“Penthouses?” I ventured.
“Yes!” he squeaked. “Countries I want to model in. Fashion shows I want to be part of. I look at it every morning when I wake up and tell myself I can do it. I can achieve all those things if I want it hard enough and don’t give up.” He smiled and dipped his chin. “You must think I’m silly.”
“Not at all.” My brain and hand disconnected long enough for me to reach out and cup his jaw. “I think you’re amazing.” My mouth disconnected from my brain too. What was I doing? His jaw was smooth, his skin soft, and the make-up he wore was flawless.
Jae’s fierce blush returned. “I’m not.” He huffed a sigh. “I’m just a guy with a dream.”
“A dream you’ll realise.”
Jae smiled coyly.
I slowly moved my hand away. My palm was still warm from touching his skin.
“Eat up,” he said, pushing the box of sandwiches towards me.
He leant back onto his hands as I chose a sandwich and ate it. They were so small that I could have eaten them in one bite, but I politely ate them in two.
“How are you feeling about tomorrow’s open call?” I asked once we’d finished the packed lunch between us.
“Nervous.”
“Is it the first one you’ll have been to?”
Jae shook his head. “I went to a couple while at university, much to my parents’ annoyance.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“They think I’m stupid to pursue a career in modelling.”
“Why?”
Jae gestured to me. “Because they think male models all look like you.”
