“Holy shit! I told you this was going to happen.” I pointed to the screen where Game of Thrones had just ended.
Tucker pulled his wallet out of his pocket then slapped five dollars into my hand.
“This is shit. Complete shit.”
“You should just go ahead and learn now that you should never bet against me,” I bragged.
“She’s right,” Brooke said to the right of me, and I had almost forgotten she was there. “What I am more concerned with is Jon Snow’s body. Did you see how hot he looked?”
“Yes.” I fanned myself. “He is the ultimate.”
“The ultimate sissy. His muscles aren’t even that big.” Tucker started flexing his muscles, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Feel it.” He held his bicep out toward me, and I squeezed it.
“I don’t know. You’re feeling a little soft to me.”
His face was in pure shock, and I laughed even harder.
“There is nothing soft about me,” he pouted.
“Put the lip up buddy. Not everyone can be Jon Snow.”
“What time do you have to be at work tomorrow, Kennedy?” Brooke interrupted our banter.
“I told Chloe I would be there around ten.”
Tucker stood from the couch we were sharing and started picking up the mess from our Chinese food.
“I need to make sure all my camera equipment is ready before I go to bed.”
“I need to head out anyway.” Tucker smiled over at me. “Liam is going to get jealous if I don’t hang out with him at some point.”
“Tell him to back off my bestie.” I pointed at Tucker and made a serious face.
“Will do, Firecracker.” Tucker walked over to where I was still sitting and cupped my head in his hand. His lips touched my forehead, and I closed my eyes and focused on not sighing out loud.
“Night, ladies.”
“Goodnight.” Brooke and I called out at the same time.
Tucker walked to the front door and smiled at me before the door shut behind him.
I turned my head toward my best friend, and she was staring at me with her finger pressed against her lip.
“What now?” I asked.
“You are so fucked.”
…
Butterflies took off in my stomach as I walked into the door of Rock Bottom. My camera was in my hand and my stomach was in my throat. I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous about this job, but I was. The excitement and inspiration that I usually felt when going to a shoot didn’t compare to how I was feeling at that moment.
My hands shook as I fiddled with the strap of my camera bag. I took in the space that laid before me just like I had the first time I stepped into it. It was just as impressive. The only difference was that everything seemed to be in perfect order. There were no workers walking around the space. It was empty, quiet, and intimidating.
Chloe walked out of the back of the restaurant as I walked into the space, and I let go of the breath I was holding when a large smile lit up her face.
“Hey, girl! You ready to get started?” She stood beside me, her head barely making it up to my chin.
“Yes. I’m excited.”
“Well, the place is yours. There is no staff here today except for me. I’m going to go back to my office and get out of your way. Let you do your thing.” She hiked her thumb over her shoulder and pointed to the door that she just walked through. “If you need anything, I’ll be in there.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” I pulled the strap of my bag off my shoulder and started setting out my equipment as she made her way back to her office.
Taking a deep breath and shaking out my hands, I tried to relax myself, and get my head in the zone.
I pulled my equipment from my bag. Deep breath.
My lens clicked into place against the camera. Deep breath.
The tripod legs separated, and I set it exactly where I wanted it. Deep breath.
With my camera in my hand, I began walking around the space and taking shots to test the lighting. Before I even had a chance to question it, I was in my zone.
I took picture after picture. Light gleamed off the chandelier made of agate slices, and I captured it in every angle I could manage. I walked toward the back office to talk to Chloe, but I found what I was looking for as soon as I walked through the door.
I set the ladder up in the middle of the room, I climbed to the very top and began shooting again. The angle was completely different and completely mesmerizing, and I became wholly lost in what I was doing.
The shades of magenta against the dark grey walls created an amazing contrast, and my finger clicked rapidly against my shutter until it was the only sound I could hear. I climbed on top of the large rock bar and lay on my back to capture angles that I hadn’t yet managed.
“This really isn’t that kind of bar.” Her voice came from somewhere behind me.
I pulled my camera away from my face and turned to look for Chloe. She was standing in the middle of the bar smiling at me, and she looked like she just belonged there. She had meshed her style into Rock Bottom so perfectly, and I couldn’t stop myself when I picked my camera back up and started snapping shots of her standing in her kingdom.
“What are you doing?” She laughed.
I caught the laughter on my screen.
“You do know it’s already three o’clock, right?” She tucked her hair behind her ear, and it was the first time since I met Chloe that she had ever looked the least bit insecure.
I set my camera on the bar and swung my legs around the bar until I was in a sitting position.
“I had no idea. I guess I was kind of lost in my work.” I stretched my arms above my head to loosen up my muscles that were sore from lying on the hard bar.
“I know. I came in here once to see if you wanted to go get lunch, but you were up on that damn ladder, and there was no way I was interrupting you. But now I am starving so I couldn’t help it.” She rubbed her stomach over her black T-shirt.
“Well, where are we eating?” I hopped down off the bar and starting packing up my equipment.
“Sushi?”
“I knew that I liked you, Chloe.”
She laughed as I carefully put my camera away.
“Do you think you got enough images?”
“I think so. I’ll start editing them tonight, but I took a ton. I just couldn’t stop myself.”
“This place is pretty great, huh?”
“It’s incredible. You should be proud.”
“I can’t take all the credit. The guys have worked damn hard to make this place what it is.”
“Why haven’t I seen them here before?” I was curious to see the men behind such a seductive, sexy place.
“They work a lot of nights and a lot from home. They’ll be here next week though. That’s why I wanted to wait to photograph all the staff. We’ll have everyone here, and you’ll get a chance to meet them.”
I nodded my head at her.
I slung my camera bag over my shoulder, and we made our way to the door just as it was opening.
I blinked, completely confused as Tucker walked through it.
“Tucker?” I looked over at Chloe, but she didn’t seem confused at all.
“Hey, Kennedy.” He pulled me into a small hug, but I stiffened.
“What are you doing here?” I looked around the restaurant.
“I work here.” Him and Chloe exchanged a look, but I was too busy trying to wrap my head around what he had just said to read into it.
“Why didn’t you tell me you worked here? Is this the place you’ve been helping open?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t realize this was the place you were shooting.’’
I watched Chloe as she watched him, but I didn’t know her well enough to know what she was thinking.
“Kennedy and I are going to lunch. Want to join?”
Tucker looked down at me with a smile. “I’ve got some work to do, but you two go and have fun.”
Chloe pulled the door open, and I turned to look at him.
“I’ll see you later,” he said softly, and I waved.
…
When I arrived home from lunch, there was a large package in my mailbox, and before I even looked at it, I knew what it was. I held it against my chest as I walked into my apartment. I held it against my chest as I set my bag down and sat down on my bed.
I took a deep breath then laid the package in front of me.
The school emblem practically jumped off the page as I stared down at it, and I stared at it for a long time.
It was my father’s alma mater and the exact school my brother had attended. Exactly like he was expected to. As I was expected to.
I ripped open the tab on the back and pulled out the stack full of papers that lay inside.
Information on the school, information on their programs, and information on the programs I specifically requested. Business and law.
Just the thought of both made my stomach roll.
But I had let Jessica get to me. I had let me mother get to me.
I would never be good at business or law, never love doing it, but just looking at it wouldn’t hurt me.
It would only help me with my family. With my parents.
I read over the papers carefully, page after page, but I couldn’t quit thinking about the photos I had taken of Rock Bottom.
I would have to cut down on the number of shoots I booked to go to school. I would be too busy. I would have to put all my focus into school.
Just the thought alone made my chest ache.
“Kennedy, you here?”
I scrambled off the bed at the sound of Brooke’s voice and tucked the packet in the drawer of my bedside table.