Yes, but only for today...

Months later...

I have been working for Ruby for some time now. It goes without saying I have ended up in more than a few embarrassing situations since then. As her model, I have had to put on some of the most revealing costumes, strike some ridiculous poses, and yes, I also had to dress down in front of a swarm of women in order to get my picture taken for an occasional nude. But all of that is another story for another day.

Why am I still working such a humiliating job you ask? Apart from losing my job as a barista, I promised Ming Zhao I would stay on as Ruby's playthi-...uh, I mean model, until I found something that paid better. Due to a fortunate misfortune, Ruby has actually been paying me exceedingly well for my...services...yeah...anyway I haven't found anything that paid better yet, don't judge me!

I have confirmed just how famous Ruby was for her work not just from my monetary compensation but for also this day; the day of her art unveiling in a prestigious gallery. Apparently Ming Zhao was given an invitation from my new boss to an art unveiling at the gallery and she was allowed to bring a plus one. That would be me. Not that I couldn't get an invitation of my own as Ruby's employee; I just wanted to come together with the girl of my dreams. When the night first started out, I was so happy that I did. This was technically the first real date we had where I actually had clothes on.

For a fancy event like this, I wore a stylish black blazer with matching pants and a metallic blue tie that matched my handkerchief. As for Ming Zhao, she came wearing a slimming white Chinese dress that showed off an incredible amount of leg and black lace-up pointed toe pumps. Her hair was tied up in a bun to display her perfect cheekbones and she wore lipstick that somehow managed to make her smile even more alluring. I'm a goner.

"Wow," I said to Ming Zhao when I met up with her at the front entrance to the gallery. My jaw hung loose as my eyes absorbed every last inch of the incomparable goddess who stood before me. "Isn't the artwork supposed to be inside the building?" I smiled and Ming Zhao laughed in response.

"Aren't we quite the sweet talker," she said as she took my arm. "Love the suit by the way, though you look so much more handsome with everything off." I blushed a little, trying so hard to forget the embarrassing shenanigans that led up to this point. "I guess this makes it official now huh?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What's official?" We walked up the stony steps of the gallery arm-in-arm as I tried to lean in close enough to clandestinely catch whiffs of her perfume.

"You and me...as a couple..." this time it was Ming Zhao's turn to blush, "I mean...I know we did...a lot of things before now now that should make it obvious." she gripped my arm even tighter, mushing her breasts into my bicep. "But we never really said it out loud, have we? And I think this is the first actual date we have ever been on. Unless of course you count all of those times after you accepted Ruby's job offer where you..."

"No! Oh God no! Those were not close to being dates at all! Just me getting into another embarrassing situation again and again." I flushed at the memories and tried to distract myself by scratching the back of my head with my free hand. "I was actually just thinking about the same thing really." My heart was now pounding beneath my breast pocket. "I want to make it official too, once and for all. I am over the moon for you Ming Zhao..." Sweat was now beading down my collar. "Will you go out with me?" I held my breath.

"Yes!" I exhaled, not expecting an immediate reply. "Ahab, I like you too! A lot." She kissed my cheek. "You and I are going to have an endless amount of fun from this point on." I could have skipped to the rhythm of my heart flutters up the rest of those steps as we entered the gallery but we decided to lean in on each other instead.

The doorman asked for our invitation which Ming Zhao produced without preamble. He then asked to see our ID's to confirm if we were 18 years or older before we entered the gallery to see art. I found that to be a little odd, why would we have to be 18 years or older to view art in the gallery? I didn't bother to ask questions since I was too high on my new relationship status to even care. Seriously, this was already by far the greatest night of my life.

What could possibly go wrong?