2. Oscar
Chapter 2
Oscar
“Nadia…” I breathe.
Nadia was my best friend all the way from kindergarten to high school, and one stupid comment was all it took for our friendship to end. Her beauty was so captivating that I couldn’t help but feel insecure, knowing it would inevitably pull her away from me.
I’ve given considerable thought to that remark, wishing that I wasn’t so emotionally vulnerable when I was younger ... However; I was.
“Maybe you and Nadia should catch up,” Mom says. I know she’s always loved Nadia, and she hoped one we would get together someday. We did... once. And that’s when I couldn’t hold my obsession with her back any longer. The moment I opened my mouth and the stupid words came rushing out.
“Modeling is a joke. Why would you want to do it? You’ve got a brain in your head.”
Rightly so, she took offense.
She went from being my everything to nothing at all. Overnight I lost her friendship. My entire world collapsed. It felt like a nightmare.
I tried reaching out to her, but all I received in return was an echoing silence.
Nadia didn’t speak to me for weeks. It turned into months. I remember the silence between us was suffocating. It was seeing her every day at school.
It’s clear to me now that our relationship ended because of my jealousy and lack of maturity.
The thought of someone getting to know her on a deeper level than I did and possibly stealing her away from me once she embarked on her modeling career heightened my jealously.
Immature because I never trusted that our love would be enough that my girl would never want anyone else.
And then we graduated high school and went our separate ways, but now and then, I found myself curious about her, like an unfinished story waiting to be told.
I knew she had continued modeling, and I avidly followed her on all her social media accounts, quietly observing her life from a distance.
“Should I call Nadia to check on her?” As I opened my mouth to speak, I could hear the slight quiver in my voice betraying my nervousness.
“She’s just gotten back, but I know she’s staying with her parents for the weekend. Her mother said she’s signed up for a charity modeling event in New York next week, so you could call her and catch up while she’s in New York.”
“She’s working in New York?”
“Yeah. Her management asked her to do it and Nadia felt she had to give them something back considering she pulled out of the rest of Paris Fashion Week and she might not make Milan.”
My heart drops knowing as soon as her grandfather is better, she’ll be making her way back to Europe. I’m not sure my heart will be able to take it.
“Why don’t I let you go and you can call her?” She disconnects and within seconds, a text comes through.
Mom: This is her number.
I smile. Mom is being her typical self where Nadia is concerned. I’m sure she would’ve arranged our marriage if she could.
Me: Thanks.
I spin the phone in my hand, nervously wondering if she’ll speak to me or hang up without a second thought.
Or is it possible she’s wondered about me all these years?
With a deep breath to calm my nerves, I press the call button, the sound of the ringing phone echoing in the silence.
Each passing moment feels like a never-ending eternity, intensifying my anxiety.
Finally, on the fifth ring, a soft voice answers, “Hello?”
I gather my thoughts and summon the courage to respond. “Hi, it’s me...”
“Who’s me?”
It’s as if my voice has become completely foreign to her, and she can’t even place where it’s coming from. That hurts.
“Oscar.” I hesitate as I take a deep breath. “It’s been a long time.”
There is a brief pause on the other end of the line, filled only with the faint sound of her breathing, before she speaks again. “Oscar... Is this really you? I can hardly believe it.” Her tone is friendly and a wave of relief washes over me.
My lips curl up into a grin, unable to be contained.
“Yeah, it’s me,” I reply. “I’ve thought about you often over the years, wondering how you were.”
“That’s nice.”
“I’m sorry about your grandpa. I heard he’s in the hospital.”
“Thanks. He’s perked up since I got back. Mom thought he was gonna die. She’s convinced that hearing my voice turned him around. I know she’s just trying to get me to stay here, though.”
“And are you?” I murmur. “Staying, I mean?”
“For now. I’m booked to walk the runway for the Milan and London Fashion Weeks. So we’ll see how he goes.”
“Wow. You made it.”
“Yeah...” She hesitates. “And how are you? I heard you broke your leg last year.”
“You did?”
“I think our moms have nothing better to do than talk to each other about our lives.”
I laugh. “Talking about our mothers. Mine told me you’re in New York next week for a charity event. And I was wondering…” I swallow, just knowing she’ll reject me. But I’ll never know if I don’t ask. “Can I take you for a drink, or dinner afterwards?”
She pauses as she considers it for a moment. “Only if you do me a huge favor.”
“Go on.”
“The charity event booked ten football players from Connecticut to walk the show, but they’ve pulled out.”
“That’s shitty.”
“Tell me about it. Now the organizers need ten men who’ll give their time for free.”
A laugh rumbles in my stomach. “So you want to replace the football players with hockey players and in return I get to take you for dinner and drinks.”
“I thought it was one or the other?” She laughs.
It’s so pure and sweet, echoes through the phone, stirring a longing in my heart, and unfortunately my cock. I readjust myself as I say, “Ten hockey players. Admit it, that is a really big favor.”
“Okay. If you can get the hockey players. Dinner and drinks it is. I’ll even pay.”
“No need. I’m looking forward to catching up with you.” I smile as I stare ahead. “Don’t worry about the hockey players. I’ll make it happen,” I confidently assure her. “Consider it a done deal.”
The line remains quiet for a moment before she eventually breaks the silence. “You always had a way of making things happen. I guess some things never change.”
After hockey training, I decide to check her Instagram account and find myself captivated by the beauty of her face. Most models, I expect, have cheekbones that jut out like hangers, giving them a striking appearance. What sets her apart from most other models is the captivating sparkle in her pale green eyes, which beautifully contrast with her dark brown hair. It’s hard to believe now, but she never thought of herself as stunning before.
It took some convincing for her to believe that she was anything other than plain. Nadia was never plain. Only a lack of confidence held her back. Witnessing her transformation into the unstoppable force she became. She went from unsure and lacking confidence, but with my help, found it in her to get her portfolio done.
For five years, I wished I never played a part in it.
“You stalking her again?” Connor asks, sneaking up on me as I sit on the bench in the locker room.
“She’s my former best friend,” I reply. “I don’t stalk her. I like to know what she’s doing.”
“Mm.” Connor strolls away.
As I scroll through her carefully curated feed, I feel a pang of guilt wash over me. The memories of those days when Nadia doubted her own beauty flood back, only to knock her down with my insecurity.
Connor turns back and says, “That’s it? No history other than friends and being her stalker.” He takes my cell, scrolling through her many pictures. “She is gorgeous.”
I nod. “She is, and she was my girlfriend once, but I—” Ruined it. I can’t say it.
Nadia had always been delicate, trapped in the shadows of self-doubt. She’d shy away from compliments, dismissing them with an awkward glance at the floor rather than holding your gaze and taking it with a smile.
It bothered me to see her so oblivious to her allure, so it became my mission to help her see what everyone else saw. I became her confidant, her cheerleader, and, inadvertently, the architect of her newfound confidence.
“Does she know you’re stalking her?” he asks.
I laugh. “No.” Okay, maybe I am stalking her. “I’ve followed her for five years, while she’s traveled around the world.”
“Since you left college?”
“Yep.”
“Is she the one that got away?” he asks, dragging his sweater over his head.
Somewhere along the way, my intentions and our friendship became blurred. The line between encouragement of her future and manipulation because I wanted her for myself became blurred.
I sigh. “In the beginning, we were best friends. But my feelings for her changed in high school, but she was painfully shy.”
“Looking like that?”
“Yeah! Looking like that. And I was helping her to see her own worth. I wanted to show Nadia the beauty she was. She always compared herself to the cheerleaders.”
“Really? I doubt any of the cheerleaders are fashion models.”
“But she could never understand that... until she did.”
I never expected to lose her to her newfound confidence and I still hate the day I turned my nose up at her wish to become a model.
“I pushed her away.” My voice cracks and I clear my throat to cover it up.
“Then pull her back to you. Speak to her,” Connor says, dragging his towel from his bag.
“I did. She asked me for a favor,” I say. “She wants me to recruit ten hockey players for a charity modeling event she’s agreed to.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, she spoke to me like we were old friends and not...”
“Did you?”
I nod. “Right before I turned psycho on her because by then she’d signed up with an agent who was convinced she was going to be big.”
Connor puffs his lips out, and I can see my frustration is seeking into him.
“Is she the one that got away?” he asks, dragging his sweater over his head.
I nod. “She’s the one, Connor.”
He smiles. “Then we need to drum up ten hockey players for this charity event and get you back together.”
He pushes his fingers into his blond hair and grins. “I always thought I should’ve been a model. That’s me and you. Eight to go.”
“Nate and Oliver.” I brainstorm about who is best to fulfill her request. Gathering ten hockey players at such short notice seems like a daunting task, but if it means spending time with her, I’m willing to go the extra mile.
“Yes. We know Nate and Oliver won’t let you down. And I’m sure Reynolds, Carter, and Drake would love to have a model on their arms.”
“The rookies...”
“Yeah. Definitely. Look, don’t worry about it. I can talk everyone into giving some time up for charity. Call her and tell her we’re on.”