James was now 9 years old and slowly he was turning from purely cute and adorable to some handsome-ness being added to the mix. With his improved physique he could even pass for a 11 year old on the first impression. His mature demeanour didn't help with this impression.
After he started going to school him mom started to work more as the CEO of the Fashion, Health and Beauty brands under the family's consortium which was her job before she had him. She had taken on a reduced role while she raised him for those first years, but had also been excited to get back into her original passion again too.
After having the maids help him freshen up and get dressed he headed down for breakfast surprisingly finding his exasperated mom on the phone. She always made sure he had her full attention when home so her being on the phone this early was unusual.
"What?! Tell them if they don't show up I'll have them blacklisted! We can't afford this." he hears her demand to the person on the other side of the line in frustration.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" she answers her frustration only deepening.
"Whatever, we will figure something out. Add them to the list though." she said finally.
"Hey one, sorry about that. There are some problems at work." she said trying to suppress her frustration for her son.
"Good morning mom. Is it a big problem? Can I help?" he asked portraying the role of cute loving son with just a hint of naivety. Even if he cared about them growing up a second time requires a decent level of acting if you want to maintain a good relationship with your second family.
"....hmmm" his mother seemed to actually be thinking about it.
'Crap, that comment was just for show. I don't want something to distract me from furthering my goals.' he though with slight trepidation.
"Honey, one of our youth models cancelled on our shoot at the last moment leaving us without a replacement. Usually this wouldn't be too big of an issue, however this particular shift is actually with a very prominent foreign designer and our best photographer. This shoot being a success is actually very important for the growth of our company outside of Japan." she said. Although she was trying to keep it a bit simpler for him he knew she had been trying to expand into foreign markets and had met some resistance causing her to struggle for the first time since they couldn't completely rely on the power of the family outside of the country where they had most of their influence.
James frowned having some idea where things were going.
"Now I was thinking. My baby is the cutest so since we can't find a replacement last minute and you would be perfect anyone. Can you help mommy out? You'll even be able to skip school." she said to entice him.
He nodded slowly. He wasn't too opposed. He would gladly help out his mom when running into problems at work and some added fame by taking advantage of his appearance wouldn't hurt his goals. He had already built some fame when his image spread across the media and internet after saving that kid over a year ago. However the hype had died down after a few months and this could help fan the flames some keeping him in people's minds before even becoming a hero.
Others might look down upon using their appearance rather than their power or heroics to build there image, but he was not opposed to using anything that would improve his public image. It would mean in the future he could wield more power socially and politically, more money in his pocket and for his development too. Although the main intent was exposure to foreign markets for his mother's brands it would still help him inside the country if it was a success.
"Ok mom. If it will help you I would love to." he finally answered.
She quickly hugged him tightly.
"Thank you honey. I knew I could count on you." she said with a smile of relief. Not only was the problem resolved, but she was sure her boy would outperform the original model by leagues. After all who was cuter than her little boy? He was perfect.
"Ok, in that case we need to hurry. Eat up quickly so we can get there in time sweetie....also don't eat too much or you'll get bloated." she rushed him.
Although his digestive system was just as improved as anything else meaning bloating wasn't a concern he still made sure to follow her well meant advice.
As soon as they finished up his mom rushed to the shoot with him. Prep always took a while so getting there in time was important. She didn't want to annoy their designer and photographer.
The moment they arrived he was immediately escorted to the dressing room.
They first figured out what they were doing with his hair which thankfully didn't need much work as he already got it cut by an amazing hair stylist. There was no way his mom was going to let him look bad given the field she was in. His dark purple hair had fades on the sides and a longer slightly spiky modernised pompadour on the top for a wilder look. The lady only had to do some minimal touch ups and styling to make the most out of it.
As for the make-up they didn't even use foundation as his complexion was already flawless only adding some minor touches with eyeliner and lip stain to bring out the best in his looks. Finishing it with some very light contouring to bring out his bone structure and they were already done.
The door burst open causing him to look over in alarm. However he couldn't see anyone until he looked down and saw a woman even shorter than him and he meant woman. She definitely wasn't a girl. She had an extremely short stature considering he was taller than her, had thick round black rimmed glasses and a black bob haircut with bangs cut straight across at her eyebrows. She managed to pull off an expression that was a perfect blend of smug and bored.
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