Clearly

My hands moved expertly on their own accord, easily developing the roll of film that I had taken earlier. I’ve done this so much and have mastered the technique to the point that I could do it mindlessly, allowing my thoughts to wander anywhere and everywhere. Right now they were wandering to Pierce, of all people.

I can’t explain how anxious and excited I am to develop that last picture, and to be perfectly honest, I think that’s the only picture on this entire roll to look forward to. I already have the first ten frames developed, those being the frames that I actually attempted to make Marcie look good in, and they looked absolutely atrocious. I can’t even begin to imagine how bad the one’s that I gave up in look. Marcie is just a horrible person to make look beautiful, but she’d probably fawn over these like they were pieces of gold because you can practically see both her behind and her breasts. My nose wrinkled up in disgust at that thought.

No matter how much enthusiasm I lacked for developing this roll, I continued working diligently. I may not like Marcie, or half the stuff she’s inevitably going to make me do for her, but I’m not going to start slacking. Photography is and always will be important to me and I think it would be next to impossible for me not to take it seriously.

I looked down in my hand, smiling as I saw the final developed photo in the stack. It came out perfect, putting all of the other’s to shame, but Pierce could probably do that to anyone. I mean, he is the son of a rich lawyer, he is a huge socialite, and he is extremely good looking and kind. Who wouldn’t admire and adore a person like that?

I collected the stacks of photographs, sticking all but the last one gently into a manila folder, labeling it, “Marcie Photo Shoot Number One.” I closed it up and placed it on my photography bag so that I would not forget it in the morning. I then took out another manila envelope, coming from my endless supply of them, and placed Pierce’s picture in it, securing it softly and gently placing it in the top drawer on the left side of my desk.

A sigh passed my lips as I walked past the book shelf and towards my room, quickly stripping myself of all of my clothing until I had nothing but my boxers on. I crawled into bed, falling asleep almost as quickly as my head hit the pillow, smiling as I realized that tomorrow I would be talking to Pierce again.

**********

I drove through the gates of the Gordon Estate, expecting its level’s of grandness this time, still being slightly taken aback by its natural beauty. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this estate because there’s probably something new and beautiful around every corner. My car rolled to a stop in the spot that Mel designated to be mine for whatever period of time that I’ll remain working for them. I threw my photography bag over my shoulder and started walking towards the huge front door, letting myself in, yet another privilege Mel has granted me for the remainder of time that I work for them.

I stood in the entryway, sort of lost, debating whether I should walk up the stairs and find someone or just wait for someone to come find me. Luckily, at that very moment, Pierce came strolling through the foyer, folded up newspaper and apple in hand. He looked up to see me and a wide grin automatically spread across his lips. “Hey,” he said brightly, motioning for me to follow him.

“Hey,” I whispered, a tiny bit bashfully as we started to walk up the spiral staircase that led to the second floor where all the bedrooms were located.

“So, how long were you waiting?” He asked casually, making small talk as we reached his room. He tossed his apple core into the nearest trash bin before walking over to a couch that he had in his television area, patting the seat next to him in invitation for me to sit as well.

“Just a minute,” I whispered as I sat next to him, carefully putting my photography bag on the couch next to me, taking out the manila envelope with Marcie’s first photo shoot.

“Next time, please feel free to just come up to my room,” he offered, holding his hand out for the envelope, prompting me to hand it to him, so I did exactly that. “I’m normally always in here doing something.”

I smiled, thanking the lord that the blush I felt slowly creeping up from my neck wasn’t super visible. “I’ll have to take you up on that offer.”

Pierce smiled at me before opening up the envelope, carefully pulling out the stack of my most recent photos, flipping through them slowly, his eyes trained on nothing but the stack of photos in front of him. “These are good,” he commented after a while.

“I don’t know,” I said, leaning back a little. “They aren’t my best pieces of work.”

“If this is bad for you, I can’t imagine how amazing your good shots must be,” he said, peeking at me before continuing to flip through the pile. “I’m just a bit sorry that you have to deal with a girl that has no respect for anyone or anything,” he tacked on mindlessly after a while.

Whoa, does that mean he doesn’t necessarily like Marcie? “What do you mean?” I questioned softly, not wanting to make an assumption and end up being wrong.

“My sister and I have an interesting relationship,” he muttered, placing the stack of photos back into the envelope and sealing it again. “She doesn’t care about anyone but herself and I just have trouble respecting people like that. We’re not that close.”

“Yeah,” I said, furrowing my brows. “Yesterday I was only going off of first impression, but during the photo shoot I couldn’t figure out how you two were related. I barely know you and it’s just obvious that you might as well be her complete opposite.”

He threw his head back and laughed, a sound that was pure music to my ears. “I unfortunately get that a lot.”

“Well,” I said, deciding to put myself out there a bit. “I’m glad that you’re not necessarily like her.”

He smiled at me, clapping his hand on my knee before squeezing it gently, retracting his hand. “You’re not the only one, Dalton.”

I flicked my head, trying to get my hair to fall into my eyes, covering up the blush that was probably becoming more pronounced on my cheeks. Just the way his name rolls off my tongue is amazing, sending tiny yet pleasant shivers throughout my frame. This is bad, really bad,but I really, really like it.

“Anyway,” Pierce continued, “I was won-“

“Dalton!” Both of our heads snapped towards the doorway of Pierce’s room, a miniscule scowl making its way onto my lips as I saw that it was none other than Marcie who had to go and interrupt this awesome moment with Pierce. Pierce just tensed, doing his best to hide his distaste for his little sister like the good man he was. “I’ve been looking all over for you!” She exclaimed, clomping towards the couch we sat on in her extremely tall high heels.

“Well, here I am,” I muttered, standing up and throwing my bag over my shoulder.

Marcie reached us and clasped onto my arm, picking up the envelope of her pictures that was clearly placed on the coffee table at the same time. She pulled me out of the room immediately, chattering away about unimportant topics as she opened the envelope to see the pictures. I barely had enough time to turn around and throw an apologetic look Pierce’s way, but I think he saw it since a tiny smile replaced his tense demeanor as I left the room.

“So, today I was thinking we could shoot by the pool with the girls because they really want to be in some pictures, but between you and me, they’re totally gonna ruin them so you should totally just make sure that I’m the main focus,” she jabbered on, prodding me in the arm until she could loop her own arm through mine.

“Sure,” I muttered, angry at how she could be so rude about her friends behind their back, but so nice to them to their faces. She’s a fake, a phony, a good for nothing teenager.

“Oh my, God! These pictures are amazing!” She jabbered on, praising my horrible work throughout the day. Of course she’d like them, the pictures were of her!

Throughout the day, I had a lot of trouble concentrating on the task at hand. I was too mad thinking about how Marcie had to pull me away from Pierce when we were having a real conversation. God, I really don’t like this girl!