Next Time I'm Taking the Stairs

[Gabriel Mendes]

"It definitely cleared out." A small twitch in his lips made his smirk a lot more diabolical than he had began it. It was clear to him then that they were both pretty into each other. At least aesthetics wise. And it was also pretty clear they were outrightly flirting with each other.

"Oh please, nothing about you is a mess right now." He shrugged, a dismissive look on his face. It was rather adorable how modest she was. She made a career of being good looking, there was no way she didn't know just how beautiful she was.

Another shrug came from the recruiter, the situation they were in suddenly dawning on him how ridiculous it was. They were stuck in between two floors, just one move, they could clear themselves from the elevator but somehow, they were stuck there.

"So besides looking good and being paid for it, is there something else you're interested in?" He asked, turning his body slightly towards her.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna snorted, but decided to accept his comment. Nobody liked a person who fished for compliments and if she denied what he said, that's exactly what she would have been doing. Plus, she was a model, who would honestly believe her if she said she didn't know she was pretty at the very least. Still, the half put together look didn't always suit her. She preferred to be thoughtfully put together and usually she was. Today had been horribly off for her.

His question made her tap her finger to her lower lip briefly and she thought of what to tell him. There was a number of things that she did in her free time or that she had grown up loving. Dance was her favorite thing to do in the world, but it was rare that she actually got out to do it anymore. Working out wasn't quite as interesting of a topic, though perhaps he'd appreciate the way she kept her body in shape. Partying was probably the last thing she wanted to mention. He seemed so well put-together himself, she couldn't peg him for a sloppy partying type like she was.

So she settled on the safest answer, "I am in love with dancing if I'm going to be honest." She laughed and bit her lip, "I don't get to do it so often anymore, but I've been able to dance since I started walking pretty much." Adrian looked up at him and could still feel the heat on her cheeks. He was now angled in her direction slightly and she could look straight on at his face.

[Gabriel Mendes]

As she thought about it, Gabriel actually took the time to think of what he was interested in himself. In case Adrianna asked him that question. But he got distracted by her face instead. How could he not be, she was gorgeous.

Once she finally responded, he raised an eyebrow. She could dance too? His smile softened as he was reminded of Luciana, his baby sister. She was a dancer too. She had even been in an ensemble dancing troupe that performed for a competition show as featured dancers.

"Why haven't you been able to dance?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing in the middle. "Is your modeling schedule that hectic?" He continued, genuinely curious to know.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna was a little surprised that he'd shown so much interest. Of course it could have to do with the simple fact of nothing else to hold his interest, but he seemed curious in her and it wasn't often that guys asked questions about her life other than if her boobs were fake and if they were built for speed or for comfort. It was a happy change of pace for her to talk about herself in a way that wasn't completely degrading or about something supremely boring. When she talked about dancing or her job, there was a sort of passion behind her eyes and she became expressive. She loved her life, the way it was going and where she was headed.

Especially when her luck ended up being this good.

"Yes and no. I take night classes at the community college outside of Kalispell. I figure I should prepare myself for the inevitable future of being too old to model. I'm not keen on the idea of being a commercial model for some medication for menopause," Adrianna scrunched her nose and laughed. Perhaps that was a little too detailed, but it was something she found herself thinking of constantly. She was only twenty-three, but anymore it was the teen models that became much more popular in the fashion industry.

Adrianna looked over his face and smiled, "How about you? Other than traveling and finding people like us, which must be fascinating, what do you do in your spare time, Gabriel?" Okay perhaps she enjoyed saying his name way too much, but it was just one of the sexiest names she had ever heard, easily.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Gabriel prided himself in his ability to make every person he met feel like they're the only person he's talking to. Even if it did sometimes only last for a hot minute. Right then, however, Adrianna had his full attention. And no, it was not because he had no other choice.

He nodded as she spoke before giving out a slightly choked laughter at the joke she made. "Good God." He wheezed as he composed himself, shaking his head in amusement. Well, wasn't that refreshing. A model who could poke fun at her industry.

"What do you study over there?" He asked before smiling when the inevitable turnabout question came. "Spend time with my curmudgeon of a best friend. The gym, don't judge me. This body does not take care of itself. But mostly I just stay at home and sleep. I'm a boring person to be honest."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

When he laughed, her worries eased and she was pleasantly surprised that a guy that looked like him would appreciate a joke like that. Most of the time her jokes were met with turned up noses and rolled eyes, at least in her own industry it was. She couldn't help what went through her mind though, least of all when half of the time all of the things she thought were hilarious. A little colorful, sure, but that was half of the fun. Her parents hadn't raised her to be sheltered and prudish when it came to anything. Jokes were jokes, offensive jokes happened to be some of the funnier ones to her.

"I'm actually studying design. Cliche as this is going to sound, once my modeling career is over, I kind of want to design my own fashion line. I've already started making my own clothes just basing them off of trending fashion statements, but nothing all that great," She shrugged and bit her lip. Adrian didn't often tell anyone that she liked mimicking fashion trends and seeing if she was capable of replicating them, but it was something she was sort of proud of. Most of the time, no one even seemed to notice a difference, except for a slight color or fabric change.

The answer to her question had her laughing. His best friend, maybe that was who he'd been visiting and why he too was running later this morning. She wanted to believe that it had been a guy and not a girl because, well, she was not willing to imagine him with another girl at the moment. Her nose scrunched at his gym comment, but she laughed and waved dismissively, "I can't judge when I'm the same way, as far as the gym junky goes. But I most definitely wouldn't call you boring. When you travel as much as recruiters do, I feel like sleep is necessary. All that jet lag, yikes."

[Gabriel Mendes]

Even though Gabriel knew next to nothing about modeling, design seemed to make sense for someone who displayed clothes on herself for a living. He nodded understandingly, impressed by the fact that she was already half way there. "I don't think it's that much of a cliche. It's kind of cool that you're doing something you actually like."

When she laughed, Gabriel couldn't help but laugh along with her. It might just be the lack of air in the broken elevator but he liked how her whole face just lit up with her laugh.

"Oh you're a junkie too? Right on." He nodded and chuckled lightly before shrugging when she tried to argue with his sentiment. "That's sweet of you to say." He grinned lightly. "But I still hold on to the fact that I'm actually pretty boring. I make up for it by my charm and good looks though, don't you think?" He gave her a big goofy grin before chuckling to himself.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Her face brightened when he said it was cool what she was doing. The only people who even knew what she was doing was her family (including Robbie and Dani), of course they were all supportive, but when it came from an angel like him, well it just seemed a little better. She smiled and shrugged, "I s'pose so. I just dunno if I'll ever be up there with the big leagues of designer clothes. It's scary." Adrian laughed and bit her lip, truth be told, she was not easily scared but when it came to her future, she had a specific plan in mind. And steps. Lots of steps.

"The junkiest kind of junkie," She paused and then shook her head, "That sounded weird. What I mean is that yes, I'm a junkie. My dad's a personal trainer so I totally got the junkie genes." Gosh she needed to stop saying junkie.

Briefly distracted by the most adorable smile that he'd given her, she almost completely forgot where her thoughts were originally headed. Luckily it didn't take long for her to remember and she nodded, "Oh of course. Your modesty, too!" Adrianna giggled. What was it about him that made her laugh like some kind of little school girl? She felt like she was fourteen again, fangirling over a cute boy. Granted, he was much more than a cute boy, but even so, Adrianna did not fangirl over just any guys. It was usually celebrities.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Gabriel was going to have to try and ignore the fact that he was staring but how could he help it when her whole face seemed to light up. When she kind of brought herself down, Gabriel shook his head. "No no. No talks about not being good enough. The fact that you're even doing something about it is already brave. Just keep at it." He nodded, wondering briefly exactly why he was being so Anthony Robbinson all of a sudden.

Her repeated mention of being a junkie made Gabriel snort a little. "Maybe we should work out together some time. Do you have a personal trainer or are you one?" He asked. That had to be the most cheesy line he had ever tried on a girl but hey, the oxygen was probably slowly leaving his brain in the stuck elevator.

"Modesty? What ever are you talking about? I have that in mounds!" He responded, running his fingers through his hair exaggeratedly. He dropped the act when a voice came crackling through the ceiling.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience. The technician will be here in half an hour. Hang on tight."

Raising an eyebrow in Adrianna's direction, Gabriel snorted at the announcement. "Because we have nothing better to do than 'hang on tight'."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

His encouragement made her smile and she laughed, "Okay, okay! Fine, no self-deprecating remarks anymore. They're not really my style anyway." She was full of confidence most of the time, but there was always a bit of doubt intermixed. It wasn't that she thought she was bad at making clothes because she knew she wasn't, but it was coming up with something fresh and new that she was worried about. What hadn't been done already?

Her lips twitched into a smirk and she bit her lip, "Well I'm sort of trained to be one, but I'm not certified. I'm very good at what I do though." She winked at him and laughed at his dramatic antics. Oh yes, his modesty matched her own. "I can so see that, it's just rolling off of you in waves really." Adrian giggled but it was cut off abruptly as the overhead speaker began to buzz with static and a voice told them to hold on tight.

Adrianna's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she sighed, "Seriously. Are you kidding me right now?" She laughed shortly and shrugged, "Whatever. I'm not having a terrible time in here, I'll admit." She glanced up at him and smiled boldly, no use in playing coy any longer. Adrianna knew she was heavily attracted to him and he'd shown enough interest for her not to be too worried about him reciprocating.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Gabriel nodded and chuckled. "Oh you have a style?" He asked teasingly. Though he was a little relieved that she chose not to be self-depracating otherwise. Of course, he knew close to anything about her work but he stood by his belief. That she even did anything pertaining to her passion was already good enough.

"Really? Huh. Interesting." He smirked at her. "I bet you are." Oh, it was just much too obvious that he was flirting with her. If Will saw him this way, his eyes would fall out of his socket from rolling it too much.

After the announcement, Adrianna's remark had him smirking again. "Neither am I. Maybe the next time we meet, it shouldn't be on the floor of an elevator though." Gabriel took his phone out and handed it over to Adrianna. "Save your number in there, why don't you?"

[Adrianna Carstyn]

"I have plenty of style. It's one of the best qualities I have in fact," She laughed and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Adrianna was pleased by the teasing tone and the way they seemed to just go back and forth between doing it to each other. If someone could laugh at themselves and knew that they were slightly ridiculous, Adrian felt that they were more than worth talking to. She came from an all too serious career, one that she laughed at all times of the day. Taking life too seriously was just silly.

Oh how he wouldn't believe, she was one of the best trainers he'd ever have if they worked out. Of course it helped that she was nice to look at, but she was also a hard-ass when it came to working out. She pushed herself harder than anyone. Her competitive edge was what made her so fierce when she worked out. But maybe she'd take it easy on him, just to enjoy the view of rippling muscles and such a solid abdomen. "You'll find out soon enough if we do workout together," She smirked. Even she was aware of the double entendre that came from her words.

"Couldn't agree more," Adrianna laughed and took his phone with a smile. After saving in her name and number, she handed it back and flicked her eyes up to his. "There, all set." Now she had no reason not to see him again and the idea made her smirk. Whether it ended up being working out or dinner, she would be fine doing just about anything if she got to see that beautiful face again.