"Here you go." Dylan says while placing a dramatically bigger stack of papers on my desk. "Wow." I say. "Yeah, Edward is loading you up." Dylan laughs. My first shoot is in half an hour, so I straighten up my photo station and wait downstairs. It's a teenage girl looking to take head shots for a modeling agency. Her and her grandmother arrive, and I take her up to my studio. Her agency had requested just simple head shots, so that's exactly what I did. It didn't take very long, and Edward met us at the computer shortly afterwards. I was standing behind Edward and the girl's grandmother when I heard her sniffle.
I turn to her as she quickly wipes away a tear. "What's wrong?" I mouth. She shakes her head. "I need to use the bathroom." She announces. "I'll show you where it is." I say. I quickly lead her to the bathroom, and she begins to sob. "What's wrong?" I ask her. "I just don't feel pretty." She whimpers. My heart sinks for her; I remember when I felt that way. Those were some of the worst years of my life, and they were surely hard to fight through. "I'll be honest with you, you have nothing to worry about. You're absolutely gorgeous! Breathtaking!! You have beautiful, long hair and stunning brown eyes, lively like the biggest oak trees in mid spring." I explain to her from the heart. "That's not what other people tell me." She sniffles.
"Why does that matter to you? You shouldn't put yourself lower than you are. Your value is clearly much higher than theirs. I bet they are all just jealous of you and are just trying to bring you down. You are an amazing human being. What makes you so special is that you're not only beautiful on the outside, but on the inside also. Why does it matter what people say? How will that effect you in four years? It won't. That's why you shouldn't let it bother you now." I sigh. She hugs me and I squeeze her back tightly as if to mend together her broken parts. "Thank you. I guess you may right, in a way." She shrugs. "Now, wipe up those tears so we can finish looking at all of those beautiful pictures for that modeling agency. They're going to want you so badly." I smile in encouragement. She giggles as we exit the bathroom.
I'm filing her papers, and Edward walks in unexpectedly. "I know what happened." He says while putting the memory card on my desk. "Sad, isn't it?" I almost whisper. "Very." His lips were in a tight line. "I just wish that society wasn't so harsh on young kids." I say quietly. "Agreed, but you handled it well. When you two walked away, her grandmother said she's been dealing with it for a while." I sigh. "It's weird how we'll never see her again."
"Yeah." He says and quickly clears his throat. "Well, get ready for your next client." Then he was gone.
I had two more clients before my lunch break. The first was an elderly couple, they were a bit grumpy and bickered with each other a lot. It was a bit amusing - I was struggling to hold in my laughter, but overall they were adorable and took amazing pictures. Secondly, I had a woman come in asking me to take pictures of some of her designs for her online business website. She designed custom cups, blankets, curtains, duvets, and about anything else you could think of. I considered ordering a blanket from her myself.
The clock strikes noon just as I finished filing the morning's papers. I decide that today I'm going to get a salad from the small cafe where I get my coffee every morning. I grab my purse and exit my office, only to stop in front of Edward's. I knock lightly on the door, "Come in." His raspy voice sounds. I open the door and step in. "I'm going eat at the small cafe just around the corner from here, would you like to join?" I ask nervously. His office is full of pictures pinned on the walls, and there are books everywhere. His cameras line two shelves long on the wall. I'm in awe of the whole place. He picks up a bag off the floor and my attention shifts back to him. "I was actually going to my brother's gym. Would you like to come with?" He smiles cheekily, his two dimples deepening more than ever. "Is there food?" I ask. "Yes," he laughs, "there's a sandwich and salad bar inside." Oh good, salad. "Okay." I smile. He grabs his keys, "Let's go then." As the elevator doors close he laughs to himself, "What?" I ask him nervously. "Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?" He asks. My eyes widen, and he laughs again. It strange that at some points he doesn't feel like my boss at all. "N-No." I stutter. "Well, there's a first time for everything." He smiles as the elevator dings, the sound it makes when the doors slide open. I follow behind him nervously.
"Can't we just walk?" I ask him, practically begging. "It's all the way across town. If we walk I'm sure we will be there by morning." He says. We pass by Haley at the front desk. "Haley." He says. "Mr. Styles." She replies. She makes a surprised face at me, and I shrug with a smile. She winks and I roll my eyes with an embarrassed giggle.
Edward swings his leg over the motorcycle, and he looks at me with an idiotic smile, he must know I'm scared. Strangely, he seems to be enjoying it. "Come on." His hands gesture me towards him. I nervously walk over to the bike and swing my leg over, seating myself. "You might want to hold on." He says in an obvious tone as he slides on a pair of reflective aviators. They look really good on him, honestly. I wrap my arms around his chest. "Can you scoot back some?" He asks. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry." I say quickly. He chuckles to himself and he scoots back with me. He starts the motorcycle and I jump at the sudden boom. I hear his laughter roar over the loud engine and I squeeze him tightly. The only thoughts filtering through my head are of motorcycle crashes.
