The Photographer

Chapter 3

Friday, December 9, 2011
Toronto, Canada

The small coffee table in Vanessa's apartment sat littered with hundreds of pictures and important papers. After calling out of work for the day, she spent most of her morning, and now a little of the evening, in her small living room adding in the final touches for her photo portfolio for her interview at Edge Imaging. She wanted this job more than ever and was more than determined to do what it took to land the spot. Everything had to be perfect!

She had prepared well over what was expected so she had high hopes for her chances of getting this job. She hoped that her passion and determination would shine through during the interview and whoever she talked with would see just how committed she was to doing her job. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through her hair, which immediately followed her scolding herself for messing up the tediously straighten strands that lay immaculately at her shoulders. She flattened the strings she had displaced before focusing back on the portfolio laid out on the coffee table. She had spent a lifetime perfecting it, crafting it, imputing only her best work into what she could proudly showcase for everyone to see. After she was finished, she took one last flip through the pictures before closing it with satisfaction and sitting it to the side to clean up the mess she had spent the day making.

At two o'clock she gathered her things and left her apartment. She sat her bag that held her portfolio and an additional copy of her resumé on the passenger's seat and reversed out the parking lot. The drive to Edge Imaging took about thirty minutes and once Vanessa arrived she shut her car off, grabbed her things and headed inside the photography building.

Inside the building the walls were painted a dull orange with a nice color scheme of light and dark grays to accompany the color. There were people walking around, talking, working on image configurations and much more. Vanessa saw a large desk with a blonde haired woman sitting behind it and walked right over to ask for help. The lady, who had been briefly occupied with something on her desktop screen, immediately noticed Vanessa walking towards her desk and shot her a welcoming smile to which Vanessa returned.

"Hello, I'm Vanessa Beckett. I'm here for an interview for the photography position that's open."

"Misses Beckett," a strong male voice called, making both women turn their heads in the direction of the voice.

A tall, slim man dressed in a well fitting brown suit stood a few meters away from Vanessa and the receptionist with a cup in his hand. His eyes were a light green with brown specs and he had shiny black hair. He was rather young looking and extremely handsome.

"Hi." Vanessa said, warily.

He sensed her confusion and took a long stride forward and held his free hand out and smiled.

"I'm Eric Williams. I'll be interviewing you today."

"O-oh hello Mr. Williams. Nice to meet you," she stumbled out stupidly.

She gave the man a firm handshake and a small smile.

"I'll handle it from here Mrs. Cassidy," he said to the blonde woman.

She nodded and the man gestured for Vanessa to follow him.

"You're here rather early Misses Beckett. I wasn't expecting you until three-thirty," Eric stated while quickly checking the time on his watch.

"Well you know what they say, if you're on time you're late," Vanessa said nervously.

Her sliver confidence had gone out the window the minute she had laid eyes on Eric and he had introduced himself. Eric chuckled and Vanessa watched as his perfectly aligned, white teeth were displayed for her to see.