Show Me A Smile chapter eight by blackdragonflower
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"Mattie!" A little girl wailed pulling him towards a table. "Come see what I did!"
The redhead smiled widely picking the little girl up and balancing her weight on his hip carried her over to the table she pointed at. "What did you do Anna Marie?"
The raven-haired girl squirmed from his grasp and grabbed up a picture a large crooked grin on her face. "I drew a pretty picture!"
"Aw. That's really nice Anna Marie. I love your color choices."
"Mattie! Call me Anna! Not Anna Marie! That makes me sound old like mommy!" The gamer chuckled pinching the little nose.
"Alright. I'll try my best to remember Anna... but your mommy's pretty... not old at all..."
"Do you think I'm pretty?" The girl asked innocently, eyes large.
"I think you are very pretty Anna. You'll make a nice guy really happy when you're older."
"Ew..." Anna's nose crinkled. "boys have cooties!"
"I'm a boy..."
"But you're special!" She laughed. "You don't throw mud, or pick your nose like they do."
"I threw a good amount of mud back in my day..." The gamer grinned.
"...Is it really fun?"
"I thought so... but I got in trouble..."
"Ooo! Mattie got in trouble!" The girl singsonged.
"Oh...? And what did Mattie do?" Matt looked up his emerald eyes widening in surprise. Anna looked over her shoulder and squealed.
"You're so pretty lady!"
Matt turned a faint pink. He was after all surrounded by small children of various ages from two to six. "Hey Misa."
Misa got to her knees joining Matt and Anna on the floor beside the low table. "Hello Mattie. Who's your cute friend?"
"My name's Anna! I'm gonna marry Matt!" The bright eyed child glowed hugging Matt tight around his neck. The game obsessed young man turned pink and gently pried himself away from the little girl.
"Now Anna... you're a pretty young lady but I already have a special woman in my life okay?" The girl pouted. "But you'll always be a close second alright?"
"Okay... Can I be your pretty princess?!"
"You can always be my pretty princess Anna."
"Promise?" She held out her little hand, pinky extended outwards.
Matt smiled curling his pinky around the cute toddler's. "Promise."
The little girl gave another look at Misa, then pointed, "Is she your queen?"
Misa giggled. "You could say I am."
Anna Marie's eyes got big and she jumped up and down squealing in delight. "Our royal family is so prettifuls~! I got to go tell Jessica!!!" The girl scrambled off leaving the two college students alone.
"She's cute."
"Yeah... um..."
"No... you're not weaseling your way out of explaining this one Mattie!" The attractive blond winked. "I already clocked you out of work so you can leave with me." She got up brushing 'dust' from her skirt. Matt scrambled up his face pink.
"You didn't have to do that..."
"I wanted to!" Misa clung to Matt's arm, "Cuz I love my Mattie!" A couple boys who were playing with blocks looked at them with disgusted looks on their small faces.
"Ew!!! Girls have cooties!!!"
"Don't forget to get your cootie shot Matt or we can't play with you anymore!" The other called.
"Don't worry guys I won't!" The redhead chuckled escorting his girlfriend out by the arm.
"You never told me you worked at a daycare part-time Mattie~!" Misa cooed, a large grin on her face.
"It's embarrassing..." Matt pursed his lips together, staring at the ground from the corner of his eyes.
"I think it's adorable..." The girl nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder. "Sooooo cute!"
"So... Misa... you have that modeling tryout today right?" Matt questioned trying to get the topic off his part-time job at a daycare facility.
The usually spunky girl nodded biting her lower lip. "I'm really nervous... what if they don't like Misa." Matt stopped walking with the girl and wrapped his arms around her waist. He then picked her up in a hug and twirled around in a circle.
"They'll love you just like I do! It'll be just fine..." Then the redhead tenderly kissed her lips. When he pulled away Misa giggled and swiped her thumb over his lips.
"You stole some of my red lipstick..." Using the inside of his striped collar Matt wiped away the red she'd missed. "There... better." She winked blowing him a kiss, and walked off leaving him there.
"H-hey wait up!" Matt called stumbling after her and taking her hand when he caught up.
"Where's your car at Mattie? I don't see it..."
The redhead chuckled. "It's over there. You weren't even heading in the right direction..."
"Not my fault."
"Yes it is."
"No it isn't." The blond stomped her foot. Matt smiled nuzzling his face into her hair, whispering into her ear,
"I love it when you do that."
"Mattie!!!" She whined. "Don't do that to Misa!!!"
He pretended he didn't know what she was talking about while leading her towards the bright red Camero. "Honestly! I have no idea what you're going on about~!"
"Matt-kun's mean..."
The redhead opened the passenger side door, "After you." The blond climbed in, still pouting. "Don't be like that Misa... I was just playing..." While sitting at a stoplight Matt leaned over and nipped at her ear. "Love ya. You'll do wonderful today... whether you're angry at me or not."
She pouted a little while longer, trying to keep up the act, but was having difficulty. With a dramatic sigh the blond let her hand fall on Matt's. Her slender fingers curled around his. "Thank you Mattie..."
When they came to the location of the shoot Misa took a deep breath. "Ready?"
"Ready!" She stepped from the car keeping a confident look on her face. A man in his mid-thirties greeted them.
"Hello Miss Amane I presume?"
"Yes that's me!"
"Did you go over the brief summary of the shoot I had sent?"
"Yes Levi-san! It's a shoot about dark passion and affair."
"Good good! I'm glad to see you went over it. Who's this?"
The photographer's eye turned to the redheaded gamer. The man studied Matt with a critical eye. "This is my assistant Matt! He'll be helping Misa change."
"Alright then Misa. Your outfits are on the rack with your name on them. Please put on the one labeled shoot 1-A."
"Yes Levi-san." Misa quickly bowed at a thirty-five degree angle and took Matt's hand. "Come on assistant!!!"
"I'm coming Misa..." Matt smiled weakly. He'd honestly not expected her to remain so composed. He was proud of her for keeping her cool.
Once they got the outfit and were in the dressing area with the door closed Misa began to strip away her clothes. Matt pursed his lips. "Did you really need me in here right now?"
"I... suppose not... but you've already seen me naked Mattie..."
"Well..." the gamer blushed, "that's true... do you need help?"
"Can you unhook my bra?"
With a fumbling hand the redhead was finally able to get the hooks from the small metal loops. He gently rubbed his fingers over where the bra had just been nestled snug against the blond's back. She turned, and before he could stop himself he pressed his lips to hers, pinning her against the wall of the stall. Her eyes widened in brief surprise, before sliding shut, answering his call. He pulled her earlier top from her hands and dropped it to the floor, the bra following soon after. With a grunt he forced himself away. "Sorry... I'm suppose to be helping you get changed... and I'm being... distracting..."
The young woman giggled and took her short dress from the hanger. "Don't worry... it gave me a... boost of confidence!" Matt smiled bashfully taking the dress from his girlfriend and untied the frustrating knots that tightened the back of the corset. He handed it back over and watched as she gracefully slid in. The way she did things, even everyday things like putting on a pair of jeans, made his heart skip. So you could only imagine how fast his heart was racing with her there in only her thin panties until the dress covered her. "Wow... this dress fits so perfectly!"
"Hold on... don't go dancing around yet... I got to tie the back..." Misa did her best to stand still so Matt could tie the scarlet ribbon that laced up in the back. With agile fingers he also fixed the sash so it looped into an elegant bow. He took a step back, but wasn't allowed to fully examine the work because there was a rapid knocking at the door.
"Are you almost done! Time is money!"
"All finished Levi-san!!! Be right out!"
The blond looked at the door then to Matt. Her teeth were clenched and she was obviously trying not to nibble on her tongue in her anxiety. She hugged Matt quickly and tightly whispering into his stripes, "Love you Mattie."
She opened the door forcing a sunny smile onto her face. Matt followed behind her, feeling as if he was getting left behind somehow, or at least having the impending vibe he would be left very alone in the future. He didn't like it, not at all. Misa walked with a skip to her step, her excitement finally beginning to slip back in as she neared the set. To her dismay they steered her to a chair where they washed off her previous makeup and redid her face. Levi gently placed a hand on Matt's shoulder.
"If you wouldn't mind standing over there. Misa will be fine."
"Yeah... thanks..." Matt obeyed the order. He wasn't going to screw up Misa's chances. She'd been looking forward to this shoot for the past month, and he'd hate to mess up her chance to become a model as she'd always dreamed.
The redhead planted himself on the floor, nerves itching for a cigarette, but he ignored it. He didn't want to miss Misa by going outside for a quick smoke. On the set was man dressed very gothic. His black hair was spiked, and his eyes were accented with eyeliner, which only made their bright color green stand out more. A trench coat with trips and multiple rows of silver rings fell to just above the floor brushing against steel-toed boots with scarlet laces. Form fitting shadowy jeans were tucked into the male model's boots. One of his feet tapped impatiently on the floor. Matt just ignored the model and pulled his psp from his pocket.
"Mattie!" The gamer looked up from his game to see Misa bounding over to the set in her dolly shoes. To say his mouth hit the floor would be an understatement. The dress molded to Misa's form perfectly, like a second skin. The snowy white fabric of the dress looked soft to the touch, the skirt flaring out from her thighs in rippling ruffles with bloody red netting underneath. The hairdresser had curled Misa's hair into silken ringlets pulled into pigtails tied up with cherry ribbons. On the blond's slender hands were a pair of white gloves that made her fingers look daintier than usual.
Before he could say anything the girl glomped Matt nearly sending them flying to the floor. He staggered back a step, but caught himself. "M-Misa... you look so... wow..."
"Aw thank you Mattie~!" The girl pinched Matt's cheek, then ruffled his hair affectionately.
"Misa! I'd like you to come meet your partner for today's shoot! You can bring your dresser if you wish." Misa took Matt's hand dragging him off before he could protest.
"Hello Misa. I hope our shoot goes well. I'm Darian."
"Hi Darian! It's nice to meet you. As you know I'm Misa, and this is my trusty companion Matt!" The cute girl clung to Matt's arm as she said this.
Darian held out his hand and Matt took it as best he could, exchanging a handshake. "Nice to meet you too Matt."
"Yeah. Same here."
God he hated these kind of formalities.
"Well we should begin the shoot... Misa... Darian... as you both know this is a shoot about the darker side of romance, or a more twisted sense of it. Darian, you are the so called bad boy of the scene while Misa is the innocent angel. It's a shoot of passion and forbidden intrigue between two separate social standings."
"Alright. Got it."
"Misa's ready!"
Matt wanted to hug her, give her a kiss good luck, anything, but he was afraid he'd ruin what the designers had done. With a squeeze to her hand he winked and trotted off set, where he wouldn't be in the way.
It was a rather straightforward shoot, but nonetheless some of it had Matt's blood simmering with jealousy. He didn't exactly like how Darian got to hold his girlfriend, or how their lips were so close in one shot.
A crooked smile.
A backwards glance.
A shy wave goodbye.
Snap.
Snap.
Snap.
It seemed to go on forever, but finally it drew to the last picture of the evening. Matt was insanely happy it was almost over.
"Okay last shot you two, and that's all I'll need for today." Levi instructed them on their poses then adjusted little things of their bodies when he felt they couldn't do it themselves.
Matt's face turned almost as red as his hair.
Misa was pressed against a wall, hands on Darian's shoulders, the look on her face utter surprise as if someone had walked in on the two just before they were about to do something naughty. Darian was just about to bite the young model-to-be's neck and looked smugly amused to be "caught". His knee was wedged between Misa's slender legs, and the picture was scandalous without being so. It portrayed the theme of the shoot well.
Maybe a little too well in Matt's opinion.
The last click of the shutter could faintly be heard and the redhead tilted his head to one side, causing a little popping noise.
"That's a wrap! I'll call you both if you make it. If you could rehang the outfits back on the hangers you got them from. Thanks for coming Misa, Darian!"
"No problem."
"Thanks Levi-san!"
After Matt assisted Misa into changing back into her other clothes he escorted her outside the place towards the car. Getting a smart ass idea he pressed her against the nearest wall as Darian had her pinned earlier. The blond squeaked in surprise. "So... do you like it when I do this or when he did it better?"
Misa's fingers tightened into the striped cloth of Matt's shirt. The fact that his nose was skimming over her neck and sending shivers down her spine wasn't helping her think up a rational response. "Mattie's... much better."
The gamer pressed a ginger kiss to the flesh of her neck before pulling away a foolish grin on his face. "Well as long as you like me better no harm done! We should go out and celebrate your shoot babe."
Misa giggled. "How so?"
"Wanna go out to eat? You must be starving."
"Okay, but remember I've got to watch my weight!"
Emerald eyes rolled and Matt shook his head, "Nope. You're perfect just how you are. Don't you dare loose any weight! I will not let you starve yourself."
"Aw. Thank you Mattie. I love you too."
The blond slid into the Camero, Matt following shortly after. Both leaned over and shared a quick kiss, not caring if anyone saw. "Congrats babe. You pick where you want to go."