Begin Again (Carlos Pena)

4 - Clumsiness

Chapter 4

Andy's POV

"Perfect!" I muttered under my breath as the pictures had developed perfectly. Showing no possible imperfections whatsoever. I placed them into a white large envelope, along with a disc with the digital copies of the pictures. I got out of the darkroom, going to the front of the store, unlocking the front door, and turning on the "OPEN" fluorescent sign. I went behind the desk, turning on the computer, logging on to the system and started making the invoice for Toni.

I heard the back door open, it was Carol.

"Goodmorning Andy" she said, Carol was one of those ladies who did whatever to help. She kinda reminded me of Lea Thompson's character on Switched at Birth, Katherine. Always looking for a way to help someone, just like she helped me.

"Hello." I replied smiling at her, looking up at her from the computer and noticing she had a brown bag, and a cup holder with two lattes.

"Thought I'd bring you some breakfast and join you. You mind?" she asked, I quickly shook my head no. She smiled at me, demonstrating the dimple on her left cheek. She undid the flap, opening the brown bag and taking out two wax paper covered pizza bagels. "How'd the photo shoot go?"

"It went fine, just finished the pictures actually, and I'm finishing up the invoice." I said, as she handed me a bagel.

"Can I take a look at them?" she asked, I nodded. I pointed to the envelope that I hadn't sealed yet. She took them out, examining them giving me a satisfactory grin. "These look fantastic, when are you going to send them?"

"Actually I was going to take them personally tomorrow, take the check, and deposit in company's account." I said scratching the back of my head.

"Sounds good to me. These guys look hot. Do you know who they are?" Carol asked, I fluttered my eyes, surprised by what she said.

"Uh.., kinda. I know they're some boy band and star on their own tv show, but I've never listened to them." I replied, without interest. "Jen knows who they are perfectly well."

Carol scoffed, rolling her eyes playfully. "Doesn't surprise me."

I removed the wrapping, removing the meaty bit on it since I'm a vegetarian, I took a bite out of it. Carol, face-palmed her forehead saying she forgot about my vegetarian diet. "It's okay, it happens."

Becoming a vegan was a choice I'd made at the age of thirteen when I lived with my grandparents.

***

"Come on Andrea, we're heading off to the slaughter house." my grandpa yelled from downstairs, I groaned standing up from my bed. I looked out from the window, seeing nothing but miles and miles of wheat, corn, and grain and milo rows. We lived on a ranch, right out of the outskirts of Napa, California. You know the place famous for its vineyards. But grandpa didn't get into the winery business he preferred farming, go figure.

I ran downstairs grandma in the kitchen, telling me to hurry up or grandpa'd leave with out me. For all I cared grandpa could leave me here, but if he did I wouldn't hear the end of it from grandma. So it was a lose-lose situation. I put my working boots on, and ran outside to my grandpa's old Chevy pickup.

Seeing cows killed, skinned and chopped isn't exactly what you call thrilling, except if you're a complete psychopath that's into that. We arrived to the slaughter house, grandpa's employees were already there. I hate coming here, since I'm the only girl here, I get nasty looks from the employees. Not the sexist type, but the other type where they can't stop looking at your intimate spots. It's degrading, and humiliating, but somehow I've got to pay back the help they give me, even if I was thirteen.