Capturing You

Chapter 5: A New Assignment

My day with Burrow passed in a few hours and predictably, I hadn't met Elena's quota; I barely scratched the surface. I reported to her desk the following day anyway, ready to tell her that Burrow's schedule ended sooner than I thought it would and I wasn't about to follow him back to his place where he would be getting his much deserved rest. After the conversation I'd had with Burrow yesterday, I was injected with a kind of confidence as I walked through the door of the headquarters and into the PR department, sitting at my desk. I pulled out my camera, plugged in the memory card reader to my computer, and began sifting through my photos.

I was halfway to her quota at least, and maybe that would be enough to placate her. I landed on that cover-boy photo of Burrow giving the camera a candid smile right before a pass when, in perfect timing, Elena came by and poked her nose into my computer. "Oh my gosh, look at him!" She cooed. That photo alone, I'd hoped, should send his fan base to mania. "He's so adorable. I trust you have 199 other photos that look exactly like this, Avery?"

"Not quite," I said, swiveling in my chair to face her, my shift in position forcing her to take a step back and look down at me. She folded her arms over her chest expectantly. "I didn't have as much time with him as I wanted, and he's not at headquarters today, so..." I hoped it would end there; the thing I didn't like most about taking photographs of other people was that I didn't want to be invasive. I didn't have that natural inconspicuous trait that most other photographers who took pictures of people had. My mom always told me she painted scenery because she didn't have to worry about the trees moving out of place.

Elena huffed and thought for a moment, her expression curling downward in defeat. I had half a mind she was going to fire my ass right there — she was unpredictable that way — but instead, she lit up. "Genius! Avery, you're a genius." She clapped her hands. "Ever since Joe Burrow came on the scene, he's been the object of so many female fans' attention. I bet they want to get to know him more, and meet the guy under the helmet."

I narrowed my eyes, anxious to hear where she was going with this.

She continued, "Think of it this way. Don't we all want to know what our favorite actors, musicians, athletes are doing in their downtime? It's the reason why so many people tuned in to watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians." Wearing a maniacal grin, she dropped her hands on my shoulders. "'On the Prowl: A Day With Cincinnati's New Favorite Bengal.'"

I visibly grimaced, not liking the idea at all. As much as I liked trash reality television, there was something about exploiting Burrow for views that sat poorly in my stomach. I supposed this put all of my guilty pleasure binge watching into perspective. She took my immediate silence as a segue into her next words; she looked me up and down before lifting her chin up.

"Don't think you're going to let someone else pick up your slack just because you came up with a good idea, Avery," she said, tone a warning. "I expect you to deliver the rest of the photos by the end of tomorrow, or else. I'll make the arrangements with Burrow's agent. As for the photos you have now... Edit and post them accordingly."

All that without so much as a 'Thank you.' I held back my sigh and swiveled back to face my computer, already hearing her walk away as her heels clacked against even the carpet. "Aye aye, captain," I muttered.

I only got as far as uploading my photos onto my computer before an iced matcha latte was set right beside me at my desk. I grinned; now this was the kind of morning greeting I needed. Looking over my shoulder, I watched as Spencer circled around me and onto the other side of our shared cubicle to sit at his own computer.
"Good morning, Spence," I said, taking the straw of my latte in my fingers and cheekily taking a sip. "How did you know?"