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Chapter 4

Chapter 4



Renee's POV



I woke up as my alarm blared, this time on schedule. I sat up and rubbed my bleary eyes. Waking up at five a.m. to go to work was not exactly my ideal first impression. But I didn't waste any more time as I got up, picked out my clothes for the day, and took a quick shower.

I ran into the kitchen still putting my shirt on and I remembered that there was no food in the flat. Dang it. Oh well, I could grab something on the way.

I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my keys from a coat-hook, and rushed out the door with my camera around my neck. No doubt my boss would give me one for the job, but this was my lucky camera. I took it with me wherever I went.

I tapped my foot impatiently in the elevator, and finally five minutes later I was sitting in my car, turning the keys in the ignition. I traveled five miles over the speed limit, but practically no one else was on the road, so I was home-free. I stopped at a McDonald's for something to eat and a latté.

Since my flat wasn't too far from the Teen Tiger studio, in no time I was parking my car in a legit parking garage and clambering down the stairs to get to the next building that was the studio. I slowed down as I walked inside, smoothed down my shirt, and sashayed up to the front desk.

"Excuse me," I said in the kindest tone that I could manage. "Could you please tell me which floor Ms. Leeann Edgers works in?" This was supposedly my new boss. I wondered if she would be nice to me, or if she was really strict. I had a neighbor named Leeann once. She was really nice....

The front desk lady looked up, and I tried not to cringe at her appearance. She was obviously tired; the bags under her eyes proved it. She wore piles of makeup, like she was a celebrity-wannabe. Sorry, early mornings make me cranky.

"Fourth floor, third room on the left," the lady practically growled and then went back to whatever-it-was she was doing. I mumbled a quick thank-you before speed-walking away. I guess early mornings made her cranky too.

I got on the elevator and waited patiently for it to take me up. A few seconds later, I stepped out and walked down the hall until I came upon the desired door. I knocked. "Who is it?" a female voice asked.

For a moment, I hesitated. What should I say? That it's the newbie, the new paparazzi girl? Or should I just say my name and hope she knows this is the one she hired? And what idiot thought that early mornings made a brain work better? I decided to combine the two.

"It's Renee Wilson, the new girl," I said.

"Oh, come in, come in!"

I did, and I found myself looking at the back of a brunette's head. Then the woman turned around and smiled at me. Well, so far she's nice.

"Close the door behind you, dear," she said. "Don't need anyone dropping by unexpectedly."

I obeyed instantly, and stood there by the door awkwardly.

"Oh, how rude of me!" the woman exclaimed before hopping up and trotting over in her very high heels to shake my hand. "My name is Leeann Edgers, your new boss." She shook my hand warmly, and I did the same.

Ms. Edgers was a kindly-looking woman with crow's feet by her eyes. She had a large, toothy grin that held surprisingly white teeth. For a woman who looked around her mid-forties, she barely had any wrinkles. Her brown hair was pulled up into a very official-looking bun, making me feel a little self-conscious about my reddish-brown hair tumbling down my back.

"What a lovely camera," she said, taking a step back.

"Thank you," I said, looking down at it and smiling. "It's my favorite."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Ms. Edgers said. "May I?"

I took the camera from around my neck and gave it to her. Normally I wouldn't do such a thing, but since she was my boss, I figured I could trust her.

She observed all around it, poking her finger here and there, and nodding. Was she judging my camera?

After a moment she gave it back to me. "A very fine camera, indeed," she mused. "Come, sit here." She pointed at a chair in front of her desk, and I took a seat. She sat across from me and looked at me sternly.

"So, Renee," Ms. Edgers said. "I hear that you're a very good photographer?"

I didn't want to sound like a brat or anything, so I just nodded. "That's what I've heard," I said.

"But do you believe that you're a good photographer?" she challenged.

I nodded again immediately. "Oh, definitely," I replied honestly. "I put all of my heart and mind and soul into taking my pictures."

Ms. Edgers smiled. "That's what I like to hear," she said, sounding satisfied. "You're hired."

I blinked. I thought I already was, but I asked a different question instead. "Ms. Edgers--" I began, but she cut me off.

"Please, call me Leeann," she said kindly.

"Um, okay," I said, slightly uncomfortable. "Leeann, why are you hiring me on the spot? Why not have a proper interview?"

She leaned back and sighed. "Well, the thing is," she began. "We're running low on photographers. Paparazzi keeps getting a bad rep: rumors of stalking celebrities, getting into fights, stuff like that. People don't like that, so they quit. We need as many paparazzi as ever now."

I nodded, thinking to myself quietly. That would make sense. It's true, paparazzi had been getting a lot of hate lately. And as much as I despised hate, I'd have to live with it if I wanted to have enough money to pay the rent for my flat.

"I'm in," I said. "So, what do I have to do first?"

Leeann frowned, but she looked more upset with herself than with me. "Normally I would have someone show you around and let you go home early," she said. "You're too new to get into the serious stuff right away. But, like I said, we're almost out of photographers, so I need you to take some pics of Justin Bieber in about... fifteen minutes."

My breath caught. Justin Bieber?! Already? I wasn't a huge fan of his music, but just the thought of having a boy worth millions near me was enough to make me pass out.

But before I could protest, Leeann continued. "And I'll have an older photographer show you around," she added. "He can watch you and evaluate your work."

So, in other words, judge me, I thought with an inward scowl. See, mornings make me cranky. And did she say "he"? Why a boy and not a girl?

Leeann hit some kind of buzzer thing and said in a loud, clear voice, "Leo. Could you come here a minute, please?"

"Sure, Leeann."

"You'll like Leo," she said when she let go of the buzzer thing. "He's a nice and helpful guy, and not too bad-looking either." She winked at me. I'm not sure if she meant "good-looking" as in old-people-good-looking, or "good-looking" as in my-age-good-looking. Either way, it was creepy.

There was a knock on the door. "Ah, that must be him now," Leeann said and told him that he could come in.

It wasn't creepy anymore.

Leo was drop-dead gorgeous. He was one of those dudes you would see in a surfing magazine: longish, luscious, wavy blonde hair; sparkly blue-green eyes; a beautiful summer tan. His muscles could be seen all the way from where I was sitting. I'm sure that under his button-down shirt was a nice set of abs. My jaw literally dropped.

Snap out of it! my mind screamed at me. Your life, remember? Not anybody else's! YOURS!!

That snapped me out of it.

"Leo, this is Renee, the newbie," Leeann calmly introduced us to each other. I hope neither of them noticed my temporary daydream. "Renee, this Leo, the...." Her voice trailed off.

"Yep, the oldie," Leo joked. Oh my fudge, even his voice was sexy. Husky, yet smooth like honey. I found myself daydreaming again. All those words that heavenly voice could say....

"Hey, Renee? You there, Renee?" a voice said, whipping me back to the present. I blushed crimson. "Y-yes," I stammered.

Leeann smirked. "Leo, why don't you take her to studio number 32?" she suggested. "Justin will be meeting you there."

And just like that, my worries came crashing back down. I totally forgot about Justin Bieber! I hoped he liked me. I didn't want to fail on my first task!

"Come on, Renee," Leo said, and my heart melted when he said my name. Oh my fudge.... "Let's get you to studio number 32."

I jumped up out of my chair--a little over enthusiastically--and followed him out of Leeann's office.

For a moment we walked in silence, but that was probably a good thing because I feared that if I opened my mouth, I would say something stupid and get me embarrassed. Not to mention avoided by someone as hot as him. So I kept my mouth shut.

But Leo didn't. "So...." His voice trailed off, and I only wanted him to say something more. Let me hear that sexy voice of his! "Where're you from?"

That I was not expecting. What kind of question was that? Oh, I don't know, I think I'm from Canada. Of course I was from here, genius! I wouldn't fly all the way over here to be part of some job!

But I realized that I was criticizing a sexy god, and I calmed my tits. "I'm from Manchester," I said calmly, but when I looked up at Leo, he looked exactly the opposite. He looked almost stricken, even! Was there something wrong with Manchester?

But soon the look was gone, and he replied, "Manchester, huh? I live right next to the studio."

"You do?" I asked, a little incredulously.

"Yup," he confirmed.

"Do you walk to work everyday?" I asked.

"No, I carpool."

"Who with?"

"My aunt. You just met her, she's your boss. Leeann."

I nearly stopped in my tracks right then. Leeann was Leo's aunt?! Awkward....

I started coughing to cover up my embarrassment, but Leo saw right through my little charade. He laughed. "It's okay, Renee," he said. I felt my cheeks flush. He said my name again! "Leeann is always trying to set me up with some girl. She always tells me that it's unhealthy for a boy like me not to have a girlfriend."

If he was trying to make me feel better, he was failing miserably. This was getting more and more awkward by the second, and my cheeks kept getting hotter and hotter.

"Oh, look, we're here," Leo said, stopping in front of an average door. I breathed a small sigh of relief. At least that ends our conversation.

We stepped inside, and I gaped around. It was my dreamland come true! There were lights and cameras everywhere! There were makeup stations, dressing rooms, stages, anything a paparazzi girl could ask for! It was wonderful.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Leo said, reading my mind. "I thought it was the most spectacular thing I'd ever seen. I love photography."

"Me too," I murmured, continuing to stare around. I didn't get much time to gawk though.

"Oh, would you look at the time?" Leo said lightly, glancing at a shiny watch on his wrist. "Justin should be arriving any minute."

I gulped. "Really?" I squeaked out.

"Yep," he said. "You must be excited. Well, I'll leave you to it."

"Wait!" I protested. "I thought Leeann said that you had to watch me and evaluate my work!"

"I will be. Just from afar. I'm a dude, I don't like Justin Bieber and his... ways."

I scowled as Leo turned his back on me and walked away. What a help he was.

I turned my attention to the entrance, but then to the makeup station, but then to the dressing rooms. Where would Justin meet me?

Wait! I put my spinning thoughts on hold. Weren't there supposed to be other photographers here with me? I looked around. Nada. Huh. Well, I guess Leeann wasn't lying when she said Teen Tiger was low on paparazzi.

A few seconds later, I heard a huge BLAM! The sound of two doors being thrust open. Justin Bieber walked in, surrounded by bodyguards, and my heartbeat increased to ninety beats per minute.

"I'm here!" Justin announced. So you are, I thought sarcastically to myself, but didn't dare say a word. Justin went over to the makeup artists and sat down without complaint. They swarmed him.

A few minutes later and he was as flawless as could be. In looks, anyway. Next he went to the dressing room and took ten minutes putting on the outfit that he was going to wear for the shoot.

Finally, he was ready. Justin looked around, spotted me, and walked over. At first I wondered how he knew it was me, but then I remembered that there was a large camera around my neck.

"So," he said, once he was in earshot. "Are you the photographer?" I nodded weakly.

"Where are the others?"

"Oh," I said in a squeaky, small voice. I swallowed and tried to sound confident. "It's actually just me."

He looked surprised. "Really?" he asked rhetorically. "Well then, this is going to be a longer photo shoot than usual."

As we started towards one of the stages, the one assigned to his shoot, Justin suddenly started to bombard me with questions. "Are you a Belieber?" he asked.

"No," I replied honestly.

"A Directioner?"

"No."

"A Sheerio?"

"No."

"Part of The Wanted Fanmily?"

"No."

"A Brat?"

"No."

"A Selenator?"

"No."

"What are you?" he exclaimed, and I felt myself wanting to laugh, but I only allowed an amused smile. "I'm a Clarkie," I said.

"A what?" he asked, confused.

"A Kelly Clarkson fan," I explained. Truthfully, I had just thought of the name two seconds ago, but he didn't need to know that.

"Oh... okay," he said, and I could tell that whatever I had said had flown right over his head. Then he proceeded to tell me what the Belieber family was all about.

I hid a sigh. This was going to be a long photo shoot.



*~*~*~*



I wasn't wrong. Five hours later, and we were finally done. I had taken over three hundred pictures, and my finger had never felt so sore. I exercised it for a bit, stretching it out and bending it a lot.

Justin was quite the chatterbox, but lovable, too. It was kinda cute, really, and I felt like I had a friend in him. It was a shame to see him go. He promised he'd visit, but I doubted it. No way was he going to remember the small girl with the camera even a week from now.

I was starving by the time we were done. But I didn't know where the cafeteria was, so I had to look around for Leo. I couldn't find him anywhere. Just when I thought I was never going to find him, I spotted him talking with one of the makeup ladies.

"Leo!" I shouted, running up to him. "Thank goodness I found you! Let's go get some lunch!"

Leo chuckled as I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away, but it was impossible. And he had impossibly large, sinewy muscles that I tried very hard to ignore.

"Alright, alright," he finally agreed when I started to pound him. I was hungry, give me a break! "Let's go."

I followed behind him eagerly as we approached the cafeteria. I took note of every hall we passed. I wanted to memorize the way to the cafeteria on the first day.

There were a lot of options there, but I just settled with a slice of sausage pizza, a medium Coke, and a small fudge brownie. Leo got the same as me, except he got two slices of pepperoni pizza and a larger fudge brownie.

"Did you have fun on your first day, Renee?" Leo asked. I nodded, sipping out of my straw. "I had a lot of fun," I said. "It was a lot of work, but it was fun. It's doing something you love that makes this fun." Leo nodded in agreement, though I winced at the overuse of "fun" in my answer. I had to relax.

"Excited to come back for tomorrow?" Leo asked.

"Definitely," I replied with a smile. I loved my job already. It was perfect: I got to photograph celebrities, use my favorite camera all the time, and hang out with a sexy guy. My life was awesome. What could go wrong?



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ɑʋʈɧoɽ'ʂ ɳoʈe:



i'ɱ ʂo ʂoɽɽɣ iʄ i iɳʂʋɭʈeɗ ʝʋʂʈiɳ ɓieɓeɽ ʄɑɳʂ! iʈ'ʂ ʝʋʂʈ ʈɧɑʈ i ɯɑɳʈeɗ ʈo ɑɗɗ ɧiɱ iɳ ɱɣ ʂʈoɽɣ, ɑɭʈɧoʋɠɧ i ƥɽɑƈʈiƈɑɭɭɣ ƙɳoɯ ɳoʈɧiɳɠ ɑɓoʋʈ ɧiɱ. ʂo, ɣeɑɧ, ʂoɽɽɣ ɑɓoʋʈ ʈɧɑʈ.

i ɧoƥe ɭeo ʂoʋɳɗʂ ʂexɣ. iɳ ɱɣ ɱiɳɗ ɧe ɭooƙʂ iʈ. i'ɱ ɑɭɯɑɣʂ ʝeɑɭoʋʂ oʄ ɠiɽɭʂ ɑɳɗ ʈɧeiɽ ɑɓiɭiʈɣ ʈo ɗeʂƈɽiɓe ɑ ɯiƈƙeɗ ɧɑɳɗʂoɱe ɠʋɣ. i'ɱ ɳoʈ ɳoɽɱɑɭ, ɓʋʈ ɣoʋ ƙɳoɯ ʈɧɑʈ ɓɣ ɳoɯ.



ʂʈɑɣ ɓeɑʋʈiʄʋɭ,
-ʂɑɱɱi <3