MODEL — Valentine Beaumondt

Valentine’s day could not get any worse.

First of all, Val was scheduled a photoshoot with one of the shittiest modeling agencies in the entire world—and Valentine’s been around the entire world. That damn agency never gets the lighting right, never gets his good side, and always puts him in warmer colors when it’s so glaringly obvious that he has a cool undertone. It’s like they’re trying to ruin his good image with their lack of effort.

Then, Val’s chauffeur called in sick, the back-up chauffeur had a family emergency, and the limousine was in the shop for a flat tire. At first, Val thought it was the perfect opportunity to reschedule the photoshoot, or better yet—cancel it entirely. But no, his damn manager had insisted that Val make it to the photoshoot.

Valentine’s face dropped when he was told he had to take the subway. No. No way would a shitty photoshoot be worth taking any mode of public transportation.

He hated the subway. It was absolutely disgusting. He’d be forced to sit on sticky seats, seated next to a complete stranger, and probably be hit on by a crackhead. Ugh. But against his will, Valentine found himself on a train, seething in his seat as he tried his hardest to not touch anything more than he had to.

Out of the corner of his eye, Val noticed a man sitting across from him. He’s cute, Val mused to himself. He looked to be about Val’s age, maybe a college student—considering the backpack laid next to him.

The student held a small notebook in his arms, writing in it with a pencil as he hunched his head. But then, he looked straight up at Val for a split second before looking back down at his notebook.

Wait, was he—drawing Val? He had to be, with the amount of times he tried to look up at Val while moving his pencil, angling his notebook so that no one could see it.

Well, if he wanted to draw Val so badly, how could he ever refuse? Valentine subtly looked out the window, purposefully tilting his head to give the artist a good angle, straightened his posture, and crossed his legs to seem more elegant. It’s not much different from how he poses for photoshoots.

Speaking of photoshoots, Val’s stop was arriving, but the artist still wasn’t done drawing him. Val didn’t even bat an eye as the train doors opened and closed at his stop, moving on quickly to the next one. Oh no, Valentine missed his stop, what a shame—he was really looking forward to the photoshoot, etcetera, etcetera. He wasn’t moving until the artist finished drawing him.

Val kept posing for the artist until three stops later, when the artist closed his notebook, grabbed his stuff, and—wait, was he leaving? Val watched with wide eyes as the artist just up and left, walking through the doors and onto the subway platform. Well, Val didn’t do all that posing for nothing.

Without a second thought, Valentine walked out of the train doors, trailing closely behind the artist. The only made it a few steps onto the platform before Val spoke up, “You know, dear, it’s often common courtesy to allow your model to see the finished product.”

Val let out a dramatic sigh as he shrugged, uncaring of the way the artist whipped around to look at him in shock. “But perhaps you’ve never had the experience of drawing a live model, so I guess I can’t blame you entirely.”

Val strutted towards the artist, closing the distance between them as he leaned over the artist’s shoulder, peering down closely at his sketchbook in his hands. “Now, let’s see here...”The artist flinched at the sudden proximity, and Valentine noticed, and didn’t care.