The Bully

Chapter Fifteen

I spotted Mark in catering a few days after the shoot and sat down opposite him. He looked up, an irritated expression on his face, which only died when I took out the photograph he had requested and pushed it across the table to him. He wiped his hands on his napkin and picked it up carefully by the corners, his eyes looking over it.

"It's good," he finally said. "You got the lighting spot on, really highlights it."

"Well I'd argue the lighting was God not me, but you're right, it was perfect for the shot. Here these are the ones of you and Paul." He took the six by four versions of the larger prints I had back at the hotel and looked through with interest. A small smile quirked at the corners of his mouth briefly but then he looked serious again.

"These are real good. Better than the studio shots they usually do."

"I don't do studio shots," I said. "They always look too posed. I don't like stiff subjects who look uncomfortable."

"I got that message while we were out," he replied, meeting my gaze suddenly, making me squirm a little.

"Sorry if I seemed rude. I just wanted us to get a good shot and see here we got several. The best one is probably just after I pissed you off." I smiled to show I was kidding and he gave me another small smile, but it didn't linger. Not wanting to push my luck I got to my feet. "You can keep the pictures, show them to Paul. They'll be licensed to the company though so I'd appreciate you not sharing them with anyone else or next corpse you bury might be mine."

He just nodded and went back to his drink. As I walked away from him I spotted Ed hurrying towards me with the bag of kit on his back already.

"We need to get to the park for the shoot with Curt," he said, a little breathlessly. "He was heading out with Bobby and we don't want to be late."

I followed him out to the car he had hired and he set off with a squeal of tyres.

"Hey relax, Ed. We don't want to get arrested before we get there."

We arrived just as they were climbing out of the car, but I stopped Ed from rushing out, putting a gentle hand on his arm.

"No, leave them for a minute. They'll have a wander and start to get acclimatised then hopefully be a little less stiff when we arrive. So remind me, he's Mr Perfect and Bobby is his manager. They're heels and his thing is he's good at everything?"

"Yes that sums it up pretty well," Ed agreed.

"Great," I said, smiling at him as I opened the car door. I put my camera round my neck and Ed scrambled after me with the bag of lenses and film. Curt smiled as we approached.

"Hey," he said. "Angelina right? I'm Curt and this is Bobby."

"Pleased to meet you," said Bobby, reaching out to shake my hand. I smiled and shook it but then looked between them.

"So you two are heels right? I don't need you to act as such but if you could channel some of that energy while we're working I'd appreciate it."

Curt grinned.

"That's our speciality," he said and Bobby nodded. They sauntered around the park, looking disdainfully at everything around them. Curt grabbed a basketball from a youth and scored a perfect basket which I managed to get several shots of from the shocked look on the kid's face to the moment he got the ball through the hoop and then his smug smile afterwards. Bobby was hugely photogenic too, his face an open window to his soul or at least the soul he chose to share. The whole session was a blast and such a contrast to the dark shoot of the night before. Bobby chatted with Ed while they packed up the car and Curt sidled up to me.