Cara Randall has dedicated her life to helping protect and save hybrids. Her hospital and shelter, Sanctuary, helps the injured or mistreated hybrids of Samta, New Kanoa. While she has success with her job, she's lacking the one thing she wants most...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Sitting in the armchair and trying to pose in the way I was directed to by the photographer was anything but fun. I hated my photo being taken, so to know it would be soon plastered in magazines and on the internet for everyone to see had me quietly freaking out inside. If the camera added 10 pounds, I hated to imagine how large I looked and how many people would judge me about my weight.
"Turn. Look melancholically pensive," the photographer directed gruffly from behind the camera.
I tried to follow what he wanted, looking to the right and focussing on a cluster of marks on the wall. I made a mental note to get the cleaning crew to look into getting those cleaned.
"No, not like that!" he basically screamed at me. "I said thinking hard, not looking like you're constipated. Seriously? How hard is it to just sit there and look where I tell you to?"
I was getting really frustrated with the prick the magazine had sent over. Not only was he over 90 minutes late for our appointment, but he expected me to know exactly what he wanted with the least directions possible. I could handle him getting frustrated with me, but the way he looked down his nose at Bang Chan, and any other hybrid that came near us, had me seeing red.
"It will take a lot of photoshop but I might have one here that could be passable," he grumbled loudly as he uploaded the shots onto his laptop. "Why I was sent to shoot a whale instead of my usual beauties is beyond me. I swear, I should be paid by the kilogram for shoots like this, not by the hour."
I rolled my eyes. This guy was more delusional than I first thought; not only was he incredibly sleezy towards the human female staff, but he thought he was the bee's knees. He probably considered himself god's gift to women and someone that no one could resist. When he first came in and immediately hit on me, I wanted to throw up in my mouth. After I turned him down firmly, his flirtatiousness had dissolved immediately and was replaced with impatient, judgemental contempt.
"I already told the magazine that I don't want the photos retouched or photoshopped," I said firmly, standing my ground on this. I wanted to be known for my heart and what I did for hybrids, not for how I looked.
"No one ever releases untouched photos," he sneered, grimacing like the thought was absolutely revolting. "Don't you want to be seen as younger, somewhat pretty and much, much skinnier? That's what photoshop can do."
I shook my head adamantly. "Nope, I don't care about looks like that," I retorted, scowling in anger when I heard him mumble 'yeah, an ugly fat ass like you wouldn't understand'. "Are we done here?" I asked, relieved when he nodded. "Good. Put the photos on a USB and leave it on the table there. Then you can leave and never set foot in here again. The journalist and I will handle things from here. You're dismissed."
This wasn't the first time I had been so disrespected, and it wouldn't be the last. The difference this time though was that I didn't want to subject Bang Chan to this vile cretin of a human while I hid in my office to calm down. So, garnering all the strength I had in my body, I waited and watched the man tap on his laptop, angrily pull the USB stick out and slam it on the desk before he bundled his belongings together and stormed out of door. I had already texted one of the human security guards to wait outside the room so he could escort the photographer off the premises. There was no way I'd let him disrespect or dehumanise one of our hybrid security personnel.
