Photographer

The hot beverage sliding down his throat made his sigh, as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He didn’t care that he had waited thirty minutes for it or that it tasted like utter crap, at the moment. All he knew was that caffeine was the best thing in the world.

The man could smell the salty air that emanated from the ocean and the toxins that came out of every car. There was a slight breeze, just enough to send chills down your spine and Tom was happy that he had thought to bring his jacket. His feet hit the cement periodically as he continued walking down the street to the building where the photoshoot was. It was a completely hilarious concept to him: photoshoots. Just a place where they would try to make him look sexy in some pictures and he’d end up laughing at them while others gushed at them. Personally, he thought it was too early for him to wake up on one of his off days, but he couldn’t complain because he knew a lot of people had it much worse than he did.

“Hello, I’m looking for Room 326?” He asked the receptionist and the old lady sent him a nice smile that revealed a set of yellow teeth.

“Floor 7, third door on the left.”

Tom thanked her and then went in the elevator. The music annoyed him until he tuned it out and just continued sipping his coffee, wondering when the damn thing would stop. Finally, it did and he stepped out into a white corridor that looked extremely clean and boring. There were a few pictures of half naked baby’s and two grey chairs, the walls were all white. Taking a deep breath, praying that his photoshoot wouldn’t be too boring, he found the door and walked inside.

The room was quite like any other one like these that he had seen; cameras, computers and other props. There were flecks of color and life though, which gave hope to the young actor. The minute he was in though, a crew of five individuals surrounded him. The man instantly connected them to the people who would be clothing and dolling him up.

“Miss Chantal said that we had to get you ready before she met you. She was busy at the moment, you see.” A young man said to him, already leading him towards another smaller room. Tom couldn’t help but smile while being forcefully seated into a chair in front of a mirror. The crew started working on him, and he just took it all without response, replying with a nod to the clothes that they showed him because he knew that in the end he had almost no say in it.

After what felt like endless lifetimes of sitting in the chair, they finally announced that they were finished and that it was time for the photoshoot to start. He didn’t even look at himself in the mirror, he knew that what he’d see wouldn’t be him and that he’d just feel like an alien. They led him back into the main room, where a woman was standing, totally interested in a camera.

Tom felt a smile tug at his lips as he knew that this wasn’t going to be some old boring photoshoot. The woman was young, probably in her early twenties; half of her head was shaven off and the rest of it was a bright red. Her makeup was very light though, which came as a surprise, but he felt a jolt as he realized how beautiful this woman was. Her skin held almost no blemish and she had a cute button nose, but it was her eyes that caught his attention. They were an odd color, somewhere between blue and grey but there was a passion in them that he hadn’t seen often and that was what caught his attention. She wasn’t the type of person that would usually attract his eye, though. Although, she was something all of her own, he could tell.

“Oh, hello! Sorry, I was just wondering which camera we were going to use today. I promise I won’t zone out like that while we’re shooting.” she smiled at him, showing off a row of perfectly white teeth. He held out his hand, and she shook it a moment, not breaking eye contact with him. “My name’s Chantal, by the way. It’s a real pleasure to meet you; I personally asked if I could be the one to photograph you today.”

Tom felt a little funny, thoughts flying everywhere so that it probably seemed as if he had a blank look on his face. Quickly trying to recover, he gave her a smile in return.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Chantal. But, can I just ask, why would you ask for that?” The man was genuinely interested, not only being polite as he had done so many times previously. He honestly wanted to know how this wonderful woman’s mind worked.

“Well, all of your photoshoots are quite fantastic, plus I’m a bit of a Harry Potter fan myself.” She smiled at him, not even showing the slightest bit of shyness as she said this while he knew others would’ve blushed. “Alright, well let’s get to work then. We’ll be going outside for this, if you don’t mind. I am utterly bored with this room and I would love some sunlight.”

Tom laughed at this and the two continued their conversation while Chantal equipped herself with a camera. He was somewhat glad that the photographer only wanted to do some simple shots so she wouldn’t need others to help her. He wanted to talk to her, to get to know her better.

They set out quickly, both walking because Chantal had a perfect place in mind for the shoot and apparently it wasn’t far away. The conversation was no longer about photoshoots, but instead had turned a bit more personal. Both talked about how their jobs were going –in which Chantal told him about how she had just graduated and had only just begun.- and progressed to other things such as movies, music, places they went or wanted to go. Conversation just flowed naturally with Chantal, something Tom enjoyed quite a lot. He knew that he was beginning to get a crush on her –it had been a long, long time since he had used that word- but he just couldn’t help it. She was adorable and interesting, and just plain lovely.

Finally, Chantal stopped dead in her tracks and Tom had to return a few paces to inquiry on why she had stopped. She let out a small chuckle as she saw his confused face. “We’re here,” was the only thing she said. The man looked around and smiled. It was a park, a swing set and a jungle gym was in the middle, benches all around the place with trees rooting up every so often.

Chantal brought him further, stopping him every once in a while, commanding instructions until she was happy with his pose and taking a shot. This went on for a few hours, but it wasn’t as bad as the others because they made conversation between the shots, having fun with it as well.

After a certain picture that had taken a bit more than five minutes to get the perfect pose and face that Chantal wanted, she squealed in delight. “Tom! Come here! This is my absolute favorite one!” Shaking his head with a smile, Tom came and looked over her shoulder at the camera. Obviously, it was another one of those photos where he was trying to act all sexy and some shit like that, but if it made Chantal happy that it was an alright picture.

“Alright, well I think we’re just about done here. I’ll call you when the photo’s are done and edited, if that’s alright. It’s been a pleasure meeting and photographing you, Tom.” Chantal slung an arm around him so that they were in a loose hug that only lasted a second. The man was a bit disappointed that it hadn’t lasted longer, but he knew it would’ve been awkward if it had.

“Likewise.” he managed to say as she turned around with a smile, but as he watched her walking away, her hips swinging slightly, he just couldn’t do it. “Hey! Wait a second!” He ran up to catch with her as she stared at him with curiosity and surprise mingled in her features. “Do you, uh, want to get coffee or something some time?” A big smile erupted on her delicate face, and somehow Tom forgot his awkwardness and smiled back at her.

“I’d love to! How about Friday night?”

“Sounds like a plan.” She gave him another smile before walking away once more. Tom stupidly stood there, watching her with a huge goofy smile on his face.

He couldn’t wait until Friday.