Photographs in the Park (Laurmani)

Chapter 6

"We can't do it at my house. My ex-girlfriend might come home and raise hell." Normani and Lauren were on the phone going back and forth on where they were going to do their photoshoot.

Lauren argued, "My apartment is a piece of shit."

Normani countered, "A hell hole could be a cool backdrop, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to put up a white sheet for the headshots you wanted to redo."

"And, watch a roach crawl on the sheet in the middle of the shoot. Look, the headshots won't take long. I thought we were going to spend most of the time doing something fashionable," Lauren replied.

"Why can't we do this outside at the park or in the woods like I originally suggested?" Normani asked.

"Because there are limitations on clothing changes and such," Lauren explained. She sighed, "We'll just do it at my place, but don't judge me."

Lauren rummaged through her closet for good stuff to wear for her shoot. She even thought about asking Normani to drive her the thrift store. Often, she would find cool stuff there that had a bit of a vintage feel. But, she settled on some outfits Isaac had bought her.

"Camila, I need you to get out," Lauren told her sister who was listening to music in her bedroom.

"Why?" Camila whined.

"Normani is about to come over to do my photoshoot, and I don't want any distractions," Lauren responded.

"I'll put my headphones on and just stay in my room," said Camila.

"Here's five bucks." Lauren tossed a bill on Camila's bed. "Go buy yourself some ice cream at the mall."

"Do I look like I'm 10?" Camila quipped.

"Well, you kind of do," Lauren joked.

"Kiss my ass. It's my day off, and I'm going to chill in my bedroom," Camila asserted.

Lauren tried one last time to plead her case. "Camila, please! I would really appreciate it if you gave us some privacy."

Slowly, a grin crept up the younger woman's face. "If you wanted to fuck your new girlfriend, that's all you had to say."

"That is not...never mind. We just need about three hours," said Lauren.

"That's definitely not a quickie," Camila giggled.

Camila turned off her music and put on clothing that was more appropriate for the mall. She didn't know what she was going to do with $5. She would probably stop to do one of those consumer studies for another $5 to spend at the food court. Maybe one of her friends wasn't busy and could go hang with her.

After Camila was gone, Lauren took it upon herself to nail a white sheet to one of the walls in the dining room. Then, she pushed the dining room table into the kitchen to give them as much space as possible. Thinking it would be nice to have refreshments, she made a pitcher of iced tea with powdered mix and put out a bowl of trail mix. Since she was doing her headshots first, the first outfit she had on just consisted of a simple blouse and some jeans.

Lauren heard a knock on the door around the time she expected Normani. As expected, her photographer was at the door. Normani, with a large bag in her hand, had on a form-fitting, white t-shirt and blue jeans, and she had a half ponytail. Lauren was enamored.

"Come in," Lauren welcomed Normani. "Would you like a glass of iced tea? I also have some snacks on the table."

Normani walked over to the table and poured herself a glass of tea before Lauren could make it over to do it for her. Then, Normani took a long look at the trail mix sitting in a bowl. "Raisins. Hmm. How am I supposed to tell them apart from the roaches you say you have?"