After several hours, countless outfits, and dozens of poses, I finally relaxed. To my surprise, I had even started enjoying myself. I owed that entirely to Jamie. After a while, he'd decided that communicating through a translator was unnecessarily slowing things down and began showing me what he wanted through body language instead.
As a result, our laughter echoed back and forth. The photos turned out so beautifully that even I felt proud of myself. Of course, Jamie was the one who made it possible, but surely there was no harm in giving myself a little credit as the model.
Beyond that, I'd realized that Jamie was impressive not just visually, but also in terms of personality. He wasn't just a successful photographer—he was warm, fun, kind, and refreshingly free of ego.
Even though we didn't speak the same language, he communicated with me better than many of my friends.
When lunch break was finally announced, I was thrilled at the thought of finally sitting down. As everyone went to their corners to rest, I walked over to Demir, who was sitting on the couch with a serious expression.
"What's wrong? You look bored. Couldn't you find another girl to sneak off with?"
"Oh, not at all. How could I be bored while watching you and that jerk flirt with each other?"
He ignored my second sentence, made a meaningless comment about us, and I frowned in confusion.
"What are you even talking about? No one is flirting with anyone."
"Of course not. You constantly sending him encouraging smiles and him never missing a chance to touch you—that's all just my imagination, right?"
"Yes, it is your imagination, Demir! None of that is real! We're just working."
"Who are you trying to fool, me or yourself? I wrote the book on male-female relationships!"
"Oh, you're absolutely right. My mistake for expecting a guy like you—who can't think of anything beyond sleeping with every woman he sees—to believe that a man and a woman can get along without sexual desire!"
"No matter how much you deny it—"
Our argument was interrupted when a blonde girl stepped in and handed us our food packages. Even though her obvious attempts to get Demir's attention annoyed me, Demir, unlike me, seemed completely uninterested.
Strangely enough, he didn't even appear to notice her behavior. Which was odd, because you'd have to be blind not to notice the breasts spilling out of her deep-cut blouse. When she leaned toward Demir in an exaggerated way, they were practically begging for freedom.
Yet Demir didn't even glance at her as he took his food. Instead, he kept glaring at me angrily.
As we ate in tense silence, I couldn't help thinking about what he'd said. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that I was right. No matter how I looked at it, Jamie had no reason to behave toward me the way Demir claimed. Besides, I wasn't someone who even knew how to meet the eyes of the person I liked, let alone flirt with the opposite sex.
After finishing my meal and placing the trash on the table, another thought occurred to me. I turned to Demir and studied him suspiciously. He frowned.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I thought about what you said, and I'm still convinced that there's nothing suggesting we're anything more than two people working together."
He rolled his eyes, ready to reply, but I continued without giving him the chance.
"But there's something I don't understand. Even if we were flirting—which, again, we're not—why does that bother you so much, Demir?"
Judging by his stunned expression, he either hadn't expected that question at all or didn't know the answer himself. I raised my eyebrows, signaling that I was waiting for a response. He opened his mouth to speak, but someone called out to me from across the room.
I hadn't expected such a short break to be taken so seriously. I sighed tiredly and stood up, making sure to give Demir one last suspicious look.
After more than three hours of nonstop work, aside from a ten-minute tea break, I entered the makeup room exhausted. While talking to Duru on the phone, I tried to put on the outfit they'd given me. When I finally managed and hung up, I returned to the hall—but before I could reach the shooting area, Demir called out from behind me.
"Hold it right there, runway beauty."
I turned around with an exasperated sigh.
"What is it, Demir?"
When he came over, he pointed at the dress with an uneasy smile.
"There's clearly been a mistake, because this outfit isn't finished yet, Jigglypuff."
I glanced at the dress and then looked back at him.
"What's missing? Everything's there."
"Are you kidding me, Aylin? This dress literally has no back! What are they going to do, put the photo in biology textbooks as a diagram of the spinal system?"
Clearly fed up with his nonsense, I gestured toward the shooting area.
"I don't have time for your ridiculousness, Demir. As you can see, people are waiting for me."
Before I could take a step, he grabbed my arm and shook his head confidently.
"I don't think so, beautiful. You're not going anywhere unless you change this dress."
I yanked my arm free and put my hands on my hips.
"Who do you think you are? Who gave you the right to tell me what to do? I'll wear whatever I want, and neither you nor anyone else gets a say. Got it? Now move."
As I tried to push past him, he grabbed my arm again.
"Aylin! Don't drive me crazy!.." He took a deep breath and continued.
"Look, we're not talking about what you wear outside. You may feel disconnected from the rest of the world in this little space, but these photos are going to be used in magazines and ads seen by millions. Your family, relatives, and lots of people you know will see them. Is it really worth putting yourself in an uncomfortable position over a stupid dress?"
I was about to fire back full force when the pathetic foreigner approached and handed Demir a stack of papers. I frowned and pointed at them.
"What are those?"
As he took the papers and read them seriously, he explained,
"A sample of the contract they want you to sign. I wanted to check it in case you decide to go through with the main shoot and I'm not here. I know how foreigners tend to work, and it's better if I review it instead of someone else."
I nodded in agreement.
"Hmm, makes sense. Go ahead, read it."
I knew it was strange how quickly we'd gone from arguing to calmly cooperating, but I wasn't about to deny that he was good at his job just because he'd annoyed me earlier.
After all, who could be more reliable to review a shady contract than someone trusted with a massive construction company's international deals?
As he continued reading, occasionally asking questions and getting answers, his expression suddenly tightened and his brows furrowed.
"Aylin, go pack your things. We're done here. We're leaving."
I blinked in shock.
"Why? What happened? What does it say?"
"I'll explain on the way. Do what I said."
I was about to object, but when he added a firm "Please," I sighed and nodded.
Normally, I wouldn't back down so easily, but the darkness in his eyes—so intense it overshadowed his stern expression—made it clear that this was a real problem.
When I went into the room to change, my eyes widened like saucers the moment I saw my back in the mirror.
Was I seriously going to do a photo shoot wearing this?
After changing into dozens of outfits and working at such a fast pace, I'd apparently lost all sense of what was revealing and what wasn't.
I knew the real reason was, that I'd been in such a rush to tell Duru about everything with Jamie that I hadn't paid any attention to the dress—and had even forgotten to look in the mirror before leaving the room.
In this situation, instead of being mad at Demir, I should've thanked him for saving me from a huge mistake. But honestly, it didn't feel like a big deal. After everything he'd done to annoy me, what was one time I unfairly snapped at him?
After putting on my shoes, I was about to grab my coat when shouting erupted from inside. I grabbed my things and rushed out of the room.