Paint It Black

Talking to Frank was the last thing I ever wanted to do. Of course we seemed fine at the club, but we were in front of people, putting on a front. If we were alone, I think the emotions would get the better of me. I feared seeing him, being alone with him, so I didn't take Mikey's advice.

I spent the rest of the week avoiding Mikey, staying close to Tyler, and painting my ass off. I had a job, though, the following Monday, and I didn't even know what I had to actually do.

"When do you start?" Tyler asked.

I shrugged; we both were lying in his bed watching Ghostbusters, but I wasn't paying attention, the pills had me feeling a little woozy.

"I dunno, but I meet them at this studio tomorrow."

I wasn't nervous, more annoyed. They hadn't told me what to bring, just my camera, or what to expect.
-

I wore, what I thought was, my best, the next day. I wore a light blue plaid shirt, and denim shorts, with grey converse. I said goodbye to my mom and Chris, grabbed the keys to Chris' black Mazda (he let's me borrow whenever I'm in town), and headed out.

I drove to the studio, that I was instructed to, and pulled into the parking lot. My little setup,camera, lenses and chargers, hung on my shoulder as I walked into the lobby. I was to meet with a woman named Missy Ingram. I walked up to the desk, smiling nicely at the receptionist, who looked like a snooty teenager.

"Can I help you?" she said politely.

"I'm here to see Missy."

"Romero?" she asked, I nodded, "Missy said to meet her down that hall, room 13," she pointed to her right, my left.

"Thanks," I turned my heel and walked down the hall.

The entire building reminded me of my therapist office. Everything was so clean, quiet, and smelled like scented candles. The hall was narrow, a few records on the wall, but I didn't stop to notice them. I got to room 13 and knocked.

The door swung open before I could even let my arm down. I was met with a fire red headed woman. She was petite, a few inches taller than me, she had red matching lipstick, and looked to be in her early 40's.

"Romero?" she asked, grinning.

I nodded, "Uh, yeah, but I go by--"

"Sunny?" I was cut off by a funny voice I recognized.

Missy turned, exposing Gerard Way, with dirty red hair that was fading. I bit my lip, keeping my smile tight.

"Gee!" I finally burst out.

He rushed over, engulfing me into a tight, warm hug. I wrapped my arms around his back, getting a hold, and a swift of coffee and cigarettes.

"Is this really you?" he asked letting me go and holding my forearms.

"Yeah!" I smiled at him.

He scanned my body, "Look at you! Oh man!" he hugged me again, "Look at your hair! And your tattoo!" he pulled away again.

I scanned him, bringing my hand to his nappy hair, "Look at yours!"

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"She is going to be documenting you for the next month," Missy said, breakingbetween us.

I looked at her, confused, "Just Gee or--"

"My Chemical Romance, for their website, to document how the album is coming
along."

I sighed, feeling a weight land on my shoulders, "So I just shoot them?"

Missy nodded, "It's only for 4 hours a day, weekends off, along with the days that they have off."

It didn't seem that bad, I could handle it. I just didn't want to get tangled up with Frank, or with Mikey.

"Great," I tried to seem enthusiastic, but it was hard.

"Awesome," Missy grinned, "you can start as soon as the rest show up."

Gee and I sat on the couch, he and I catching up, just a little. I took a few shots of him, and I let him take one of me (for himself). He talked about the direction he was going for their new album, and showed me a few lyrics.

"We're recording this song called Planetary Go!," he told me, "Ray wrote this amazing riff--"

"We brought coffee and doughnuts!" I heard a familiar high voice called.

Gee and I looked towards the door; it was Ray and Frank. I took a shot of them, smiling at them.

"No way!" Ray said, nearly dropping the coffee after the flash went away, "Sunny?"

I stood smiling, and holding my camera, "In the flesh."

He put the coffee on the table, beside the couch, and wrapped his arms around me. I giggled into his hair, "How have you been, kid?"

He let go, "I've been good. What about you?"

He looked me up and down, "Great...whoa," he pointed to my arm, "tattoos?"

I nodded, "I got a few more."

He shook his head, "You've really grown up!"

"I guess," I shrugged.

"But, what are you doing here?"

Gee came over, putting his arm around my shoulder, "She is the photographer Missy hired for the website, so we get to see her pretty face for the next month."

Ray looked over his shoulder, to Frank, who was busy on his phone. He turned back to me, "That's cool, it should be fun, right?"

I shrugged, "Hopefully."
-

Frank gave me a swift hi, before he went and started messing with his guitar in the booth; I took a couple of shots of him. Gee and Ray, along with the engineer, were talking about what they wanted to do next. I didn't have much to do, but take pictures of them and upload onto the website.

I guess, the pills made me bold, because I decided to go and get more shots of Frank. I stood, walking over to the clear door to the booth, and opened it. Ray looked over at me, he gave me an unsure look, but I just shrugged my shoulder.

Frank looked up as I walked in, headphones over his ears, and his electric guitar in his lap, plugged in.

"Hey, I just need a few close ups of you," I told him.

He nodded, looking back at his strings and strumming harsh cords. I got close to him, kneeling and took 4 frames.

"That's all," I said awkwardly.

He looked at me, his eyes daring my figure, "Can I see them?"

"Okay," I walked to him, feeling at ease, and leaned the camera down to show him his photos.

"Nice," he noted with a small smile, "you're really good at this."

I felt my face heat up, "Thank you."

"You're blushing," he said as I stood straight.

"Habit," I waved it off.

I started to walked back, "Wait," he called behind me.

"Yeah?" I turned around.

He shifted in his seat, "Can I talk to you...later in private?"

Worry hit me, but then subsided, "Yeah, sure. Where?"

He hummed for a moment, "You're leaving in about 30 minutes...in an hour, at the Hilton."

I nodded, "Okay."

"I'll be waiting, in the front, probably smoking," he gave me another small smile.