Photographs in the Park (Laurmani)

Chapter 7

There was a light knock at the door, and Dinah let herself into Normani's room before getting the go ahead to come in. "What you doing?"

"Don't bother me right now. I'm working." Normani was developing the photos she had taken of Lauren.

Dinah walked up behind Normani and peered over her shoulder. "Are those pictures of that whore? Ooh! And, do I see a nipple?"

Normani dropped what was in her hand and spun around. "Dinah, get the fuck out of my room!"

The ex-girlfriend put her hands up in surrender and backed out of the room. The photojournalist was not in the mood for her ex-girlfriend's shenanigans. What happened with Lauren the day before was eating at her. She liked her so much, but didn't know how she could be with her. Her situation was extremely complicated.

On the following day, Normani put all the pictures she developed into an envelope and got in her car to drive to the post office. It was raining out. Fortunately, she came prepared with an umbrella which she opened up as she stepped out of her vehicle. Walking toward the building to buy postage for her package, she was stopped by a familiar but unwelcomed figure.

"We meet again," said Arin as he puffed on a marijuana cigarette.

"And, we say goodbye again." Normani headed toward the building's main entrance determined to get her errand done and over with.

Arin stepped in front of her to block her path. "You know, you're going to regret dumping me one day. I've been working on some music, and I'm going to blow up."

Normani rolled her eyes. "Good for you. I'll be crying myself to sleep every night while you play sold out shows."

"Why don't you just tell me that you didn't marry me because you're a lesbian?" Arin demanded.

"Because I'm not," Normani answered. "Look, I didn't want to break up with you. I was going through some serious stuff at the time that I will never share with you. But, looking at you now, I'm glad I avoided this disaster."

Normani proceeded around Arin. He threw his joint on the ground and stomped it out glaring at the back of his ex. Once Normani was inside, she noticed that the service counter was closed. So, she headed over to the self-serve machine, but there was an "out of order" sign on it. The photojournalist huffed and walked back out to her car. The smell of marijuana still lingered in the air where Arin previously stood. She made the bold decision to drive the photographs to Lauren's apartment.

When Lauren heard a knock on her door, she ran up to look through the peephole. She was shocked to see who was standing on the other side. However, she figured that Normani decided to deliver the pictures to her directly, which is what happened. As soon as she opened the door, Normani handed her an envelope and turned away to go back to her car.

"Wait! You aren't going to look at the pictures with me?" Lauren asked.

"I've already seen them," said Normani. Then, she saw the disappointed look on the green-eyed woman's face and thought it wouldn't hurt to go inside for a little while.

The two women sat in the living room and looked over the photographs shot. Lauren mostly wanted a second opinion on which pictures she should put in her portfolio and which ones she should toss. Most of the time, the two of them were able to quickly come to a decision. Things were going smoothly until Lauren came across several photos that were completely unusable.

"Why does there appear to be a black cloud covering my face in these?" Lauren inquired.

Normani reached over to grab one of the photos to get a closer look. "Hmm. I don't remember any pictures being like this when I finished developing them."