'Oh How the Lights Are Shining'

At first, I don’t realize the ringing in my ears is not, well, in my ears. I pull my pillow tightly over my ears and grit my teeth, willing the noise to fade. It doesn’t. Its then I recognize what the noise is. My doorbell! Well, flat bell ? Ahh I don't know.

Pillow clutched to my chest, I plod across to my front door and press the intercom seeing a warped, greyscale image of Pete Wentz, one of my best friends, appear on the screen. Since my Mom passes, he kind of took it upon himself to become my 'carrer'. I love him dearly, but what the fuck does he want at this un-earthly hour!

“Kitty are you ready?”

“For what?” I croak, feeling dizzy because I’ve been laying down so long. I lean on the door frame and run my hands through my hair, then pinch the bridge of my nose, willing the spots of dark away, trying to clear my vision.

“VersaEmerge!” he calls enthusiastically through the speaker, his face beaming at me in distorted happiness.

My elbow slips on the wall and I fall forward, my stomach lurching like when you think there’s one more step than there is... “Th-thats not today” I tell him, even though I’m remembering now.

Pete’s eyes widen. “Kitty please tell me your joking!”

“I’ll be ready in two minutes, I’ve buzzed” I yell, letting the phone swing down as I drop it and run back to my room.
We’d been back a week now. I totally forgot I had to work today! My first day back!
I pull on pale blue skinnies and baggy white, cotton v-neck. Scraping my hair into a messy ponytail I scowl at myself in the mirror. 'We have work to do my friend!' I tell myself, heading over to my dressing table.

“You ready?” I hear Pete call as he lets himself in.

“Not yet!” I reply, quickly swiping foundation across my face.

I have trouble keeping my eyes open the whole journey. The only thing keeping me awake is waiting for Gabe to text me. We've been texting no-stop since we parted last week. Well, by non-stop I mean; whenever Gabe has the chance. Sometimes, those chances are few and far between...
Clutching my large espresso I drag my feet into the lift behind Pete and up to room 201 where 'Versa' are waiting.

“Wow, she’s really pretty” I sigh as my eyes fall on Sierra, the lead singer. She’s taller than me. Her hair is longer and her skin more tanned. Way to boost my mood…Specially when I had to get ready in record time this morning...

“I know” Pete smiles. “You gonna be okay?”

“Why?” I ask, panicked by the tone in his voice. I stare at him and he won’t make eye contact with me. “Pete?!”

“You know why” he says, knowing full well I don’t know and elbowing me, jokingly.

“No, I don’t.” I say sternly.

“I’ve got…business across town. I won’t be here for the next couple of days.”

My jaw drops. “What?”

He sighs, resting a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll be fine” he smiles warmly. We look at each other for a few moments, before he brakes the stare to check his watch. “Ooh, I’m sorry, I’ve got a meeting to get to upstairs before I can leave.” he bends down, kissing me lightly on the forehead. “I’ll call you tonight!” he call’s, running off down the hall.

“Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight… now what?”I say to myself.

“Photo shoot?” Sierra asks, making me jump. I’d forgotten she was there.

“Okay” I agree, a bit dazed. Burying the faint idea that Gabe would be texting me back if I was half as pretty as her, I follow her to the backdrop, picking up the camera that's waiting for me.
They've left me a Nikon. No matter how many times I stress Im much happier with Canon. Its just what I'm use to...

Not only is Sierra majorly pretty, she’s nice too. The shoot goes fairly smoothly but takes a long time.

Taking another light reading, I struggle with the apperture on the camera, trying to make them fit. I crouch at a different angle to get a the last few pictures form a slightly different perspective.

“Ooh, those are awesome! I’m so stoked about these!” Sierra tells me, peering at the images on the small camera screen.

“Do we have enough?” I ask, trying not to sound too pleading.

Laughing she tells me ‘sure’. We all shake hands and I wish them well. When there gone, I plug the camera into my laptop and then my hard rive onto the that and upload them.

“They’ll all need editing and re-sizing” Elliot, one of my boss’s, tells me. I nod. “At two I need you for a meeting in my room” he tells me and I tell him fine.

By seven o’clock I’m knackered as I trudge back into my apartment. I shower too hot, making me faint, and then can't find any towels so have to clothe myself whilst wet.
After a burnt dinner, I crawl into bed at 9, sending Gabe one last text before sleep.

It's going to be a long week...