Clearly

I lowered the camera from my face and let out an annoyed sigh. We’re not many frames into our final shoot, but it’s hard to ruin a simple family portrait. This is only the second time that I’ve seen the full Gordon family together in person and even now, you can tell that Robert doesn’t necessarily want to be here.

I have to continuously remind him that he has to put his Blackberry away or that he needs to smile, something that he should be able to do without guidance. He seemed to ignore Pierce, not wanting to go anywhere near him and opting to stand as far away as possible with both his daughter and wife in between the two. It’s as if he doesn’t care about his son or the fact that you can see how upset his daughter is simply by the look on her face. Her smiles are forced, her posture no longer perfect, a few stray pieces of hair falling into her eyes. Such little things are so unusual for her since she normally puts great effort and care into her appearance.

“Sir, may you please put your cell phone away?” I called over, making him snap his head up and look at me before he looked down at it again.

“Oh, Dalton,” Mel mused, her usual smile on her lips. I’d be a happy man if I possessed half as much tranquility that this woman possessed. “Don’t be so silly. You’re part of the family now.”

I looked over to her husband, shaking my head lightly at the glare he shot her before he went back to typing out an e-mail or text message to God knows who, probably a business colleague.

“Sir,” I tried again, opting to stay formal since he didn’t really like me. “It won’t be long, just another five minutes, but may you please put the cell phone away for the remainder of the photo shoot?”

He looked up at me again, challenging me, but Mel wrapped her arms securely around his forearm, catching his attention. “Listen to the young boy, Jonathan,” she said kindly, gently plucking the cell phone from his hand and slipping it into his back pocket for safe keeping.

“Okay,” I finally muttered, rolling my eyes at his childishness. Who is supposed to be the well-educated, elder, successful businessman here? “Can everybody please just stand up straight and look at me head on, smiling, with your arms entwined?”

They did as I asked, and I couldn’t help how Pierce would automatically smile at his younger sister’s eagerness to wrap arms with him. It seems that his confession has brought them closer together than they were prior, and it’s heartwarming to see at least two-thirds of the Gordon family accepting him without hesitation and not making any special arrangements for him—or for us for that matter.

I lifted the camera to my eyes, clicking away again, taking shots from all different angles as I positioned them differently. The only thing that every shot had in common was the background—their main garden. It was really almost like a maze of several different types of hand planted flowers and a hulking, elegant fountain was located in the very center. Contrary to popular belief, I think Mel did quite a bit, if not all of this, herself. She seems to be the type of woman that would enjoy gardening and having time to herself to create something beautiful. And on a sunny day like this, their main garden truly is beautiful.

“Alright, that’s a wrap,” I finally said when the roll of colored film was done.

Marcie jumped up and down, clearly filled with excitement at the fact that our weeks of hard work have finally paid off. I shook my head, chuckling as the family disbanded as I packed up my photography equipment.

Pierce had to take off the second that the shoot had ended because he had a business meeting he had to go to. He’s been doing a lot to try to please his Dad and I suppose that the meeting is one of those things that he’s doing to satisfy him. However, when I looked up, Marcie had come running back to me, envelope in hand.

“I can’t believe this is your last paycheck,” she said astounded as she handed it to me gently, a smile on her lips.

“Time flies,” I said simply, opening it up to peek inside before I slipped it into one of the side compartments of my photography bag for safe-keeping. “I’ll bring your last prints by tomorrow, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan,” she murmured. “My mother wanted me to tell you that you’re still welcome here anytime.” She went on to explain, pushing a stray piece of her newly pony-tailed hair behind her ear.

“I may take her up on that offer,” I joked, knowing that I would still be around simply for Pierce.

“And I wanted to invite you to my party,” she finished off, handing me a light pink envelope with a neatly tied bow glued onto the corner. “You’ve worked just as hard as anyone else who took part in planning the party has and I want you to have the opportunity to see if your work paid off or not. It’s in a week and you don’t have to RSVP. Just come if you want with my brother,” she murmured.

I smiled at her, holding my arms out for an embrace, one she took gladly. “I think I may take you up on that offer,” I confessed into her hair, pulling away softly.

“Good. I’ll see you later, okay? I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Marcie,” I murmured as I waved and turned away, looking at my surroundings one last time as I walked back to my car. I may still be welcome here, but it won’t be as a businessman anymore and it’s given me a new perspective on things.

I’ll definitely miss it all.

*

I shook my head at the pink decorations that seem to be everywhere. The party didn’t really have a theme besides pink and black, everyone dressed in black and Marcie in a light pink dress. It worked in her favor, I suppose. Pink is her color.

She used my favorite picture from every roll, truly taking my suggestions to heart, and they look amazing. I can’t help but be proud of myself after how everything has worked out. It truly looks magnificent and each individual blown up photo seems to have a line of people ogling it.

I walked up to my last one hesitantly, taking it all in. It wasn’t hard to narrow down all of my family shots and choose the best one. There was only one photograph where everyone in the family was smiling, otherwise it seemed as if John was always distracted or mildly disgusted. I can’t really say I have much personal respect for the man anymore.

I walked closer, looking around me before shifting all the way to the left of the painting, the part that Pierce stood with his arm wound around Marcie in an almost happily protective manner. He looked gorgeous, as always, like a God carved out of the finest of marble. He had this tiny, satisfied smirk on his face and it so clearly said that he was proud of himself and his sister. He was happy and content where he was in life and seeing him so clearly through my camera lens always brought new little details to light. I never noticed how he has the smallest of dimples on only his right cheek. It’s fading, barely there, but such a minor detail made me wonder how long it’s been there and how long it took to fade and if he ever had a matching one on his left cheek. It’s these silly little quirks that I absolutely adore about him and can’t get enough of.

As if to speak of the devil, Pierce walked up behind me, tapping me on the shoulder gently to notify me of his presence without showing any public display of affection. Only his family knows about us and we intend to keep it that way since his father didn’t take the news as humbly as we hoped he would.

“You look rather dapper this evening, Mr. Gordon,” I said smoothly as my eyes trailed up and down his body. All black Armani tuxedo with a black tie and dark gray button up underneath, perfectly outlining those delicious muscles.

“I could say the same for you, Dalton,” he murmured simply, choosing not to play along with my little game. It was always me that was the polite one. It’s not like he wasn’t polite, but he could even pull of the rudest of insults in a smooth fashion.

I rolled my eyes, choosing to step a tiny bit closer to him as we examined the enlarged picture in front of us. “All of these look amazing,” he commented, a hint of pride in his voice, as if he’s happy to have such an amazing artist as me as his boyfriend.

“I’m incredibly happy with how they turned out,” I admitted sheepishly, scuffing my foot against the floor.

“You know, a lot of people are eager to meet the new up and coming photographer that pulled off all of these masterpieces,” Pierce commented, eyes shifting towards me. “They’re practically snatching up the business cards that are at the bottom of every piece.”

I squinted my eyes at him in surprise before I turned back to the painting, noticing a small stack of about one hundred of my business cards located under it in a tiny black holder. I stood on my tip-toes, using Pierce’s shoulder as support as I swung my head around the room, suddenly becoming hyper-aware of the near empty business card holders under every single photograph that is hung up. How could I have missed such an important detail before? Have I suddenly become completely unobservant?

“You guys didn’t have to do this for me,” I turned back to him, suddenly consumed with gratuity.

“I pulled a few strings. You’ve helped me and I figured I should return the favor for my… boyfriend,” he whispered gently, winking before taking another step away from me so that he would not attract any curious stares.

“Thank you,” I murmured, looking back at my picture, “so much.”

“Don’t thank me, Dalton.”

“Stop being such a hero,” I argued with him, shaking my head, but still smiling so he knew I was joking.

He shook his head, chuckling with me since he knew I was very thankful before continuing. “My Dad talked to me this morning. I think he’s finally beginning to calm down,” he said happily.

“Really? Did it go well?” I asked excitedly, smiling up at him again as I tapped my foot along the floor. It was a nervous habit of mine and the relationship that Pierce and his Father have has been weighing on my mind a lot lately.

“He says that he found out one of his business colleagues has a son that happens to be a homosexual too. Marcie let them invite him, I’m going to meet him tonight,” he explained.

“Are you excited?” I questioned softly, smiling up at him.

“Yeah, I mean, I think he’s coming around. And if all else works out, I’ll have a friend that understands me too, that father approves of. You’re always going to be more important, but I mean, I need to make him happy too so there’s not too much stress in the household.” He babbled on.

“I understand,” I muttered, looking up at him. “If befriending this boy is what will make your father happy, then do it,” I said around a smile. “Just don’t forget me,” I said sheepishly.

“You’ll always come first,” he assured me, biting his lip gently as if to fight the urge to lean down and kiss me in the middle of the party.

“Good,” I said around a shy smile, looking down at me feet as I moved them around awkwardly.

“It’s time to mingle with the crowd though,” Pierce announced. “Later on I have a guy I have to meet to make father happy and you have a bunch of eager rich people that are dying to get their hands on you.”

“I don’t want them touching me,” I pouted playfully as we started to walk back towards the main group of people.

“If they touch you, I’ll make sure they have to pay,” he said around a chuckle, playing along with me this time.

“I like the sound of that,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Good, because I’m sticking by your side this entire night. I love Marcie but her friends creep me out.”

I laughed again as he started walking us over to a rather young couple, both the man and the woman looked extremely rich. “Those are the Westerly’s. They’re dying to meet you,” Pierce explained.

I took a deep breath, knowing that I wasn’t a great people person, but this means business, so I’ll be able to handle this.

“Let’s get this show on the road.”