Chapter Two
2376 Words
Chapter Two
I shouldn’t have gotten that large coffee with extra expresso. I feel jittery and all over the place. But I am low on sleep and for the first time since I finished college, a client has contacted me about taking photos for them.
Naturally, I couldn’t sleep the night before and the coffee had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I am trying to type in the address the client has given me and can already feel a headache forming.
The fact that this is my first official client is making me nervous. I always loved photography. I had taken every photography course in college that was offered. Most people considered it a hobby but when I made it clear that I was serious about pursuing it as a career, everyone thought I was joking.
My parents had basically said they would just hire me for whatever they wanted and let their friends hire me. But that isn’t what I wanted. I want to be taken seriously as a photographer. So I decided that striking out on my own would be my best bet.
And now – finally – I have a client of my own! I can’t help but feel excited at finally getting some real work... they are for the client’s website. The address is on the other side of town, in the financial district. It pops up on my GPS on my phone and I pull out of the parking lot.
I arrive there in about twenty minutes with my gear for the shoot. It is the middle of the summer and way too hot for my liking. I cross the parking lot and step inside the small office.
It smells of new paint in here. There isn’t anything even labeled to let anyone know what the office is for. A receptionist looks up and smiles at me.
“April?”
“Yes, that’s me,” I say, walking over to the desk. “Here to meet Mr. Smith.”
“He’s on the third floor. You can head right up. I’ll let him know you’re here.”
“Thanks,” I reply, smiling at her and heading towards the elevator.
Something about the office is odd. It’s so small, first off. Maybe I am just too used to large companies, like the ones my parents and their friends own. The man said this was for a small website so I guess it made sense. The receptionist looked vaguely familiar however, although I can’t pinpoint from where I would have seen her.
I take the elevator up to the third floor and step out into an empty office. The windows overlook a small garden. There is a radio on the floor, playing a classic rock station. The scent of new paint is overwhelming. Mixed with the coffee, my headache takes flight.
“Hello?” I say, peering around the office.
A door opens to my left and a man steps out. As soon as I see him, I turn around and get ready to leave.
“April, c’mon, wait.”
“f**k you, Bennett,” I retort angrily. “I can’t believe this. Did my parents put you up to this?”
“No! They didn’t. Are you really going to leave?”
I press the elevator button, waiting for the doors to open. I am seething. Of course, I should have known my parents would have been determined to shove their noses into my business.
“April,” he says and puts his hand in front of the now open elevator doors, “Come on. Stay. I hired you because I want you to take photos for my website.”
“You’re lying.”
“No. I’m not.”
“Move. I’m leaving,” I say to him.
“If you leave, I’m going to make sure no one in town hires you. You’re acting pretty unprofessional right now.”
I have a mental image of pushing Bennett out of the way but I stop. I’ve known him my whole life... his family, worth billions, are close family friends with my own family... and I’ve always hated him. He acts like he knows everything and as if his money makes him hot s**t. The fact that he is the one who hired me pisses me off to no end. He is the type of person who would tell everyone in town not to hire me because I walked out.
I clench my jaw. “Fine. I’ll stay.” No way am I going to let this jerk mess up my photography career.
Bennett smiles at me. I have to ignore how handsome he is. He always looks good. But he knows he looks good. That’s one of the reasons I can’t stand him.
“What business are you starting, anyway? Pretty sure your daddy is going to give you his media corporation when he finally kicks the bucket.”
He only grins at my words. Everything always bounces off of him, even the things that are true. His father, Kevin, is in control of one of the largest media corporations in the world. It began at some little radio company Bennett’s grandfather started and now his company controls most of the media, with numerous channels, news sites and other social media websites across the globe. His family is so rich that they make my own rich family look poor.
“Thought you could take the photos for my website.”
“Why me?”
“Why not you, April?” he says, finally moving his arm away from the elevator. “Family friends, after all.”
“You know I’m not looking for any hand-outs,” I say to him. “I want to do this on my own.”
“I know. Your mom won’t stop complaining about you,” he replies, turning around to look out one of the windows. “Pretty boring.”
“I don’t want to talk about my mom,” I say to him. “Anyway, where are we taking these photos? What are we even taking photos of?”
“We can’t take them here?”
“I guess,” I reply, looking around. “Sort of boring for whatever you are selling but if you want to, fine.”
“Selling? Oh. No, this is all for my personal website.”
“What? You said you were taking photos of a business. For your new website.”
“No, that’s what I said to get you to agree to the job. This is just my friend’s office. He’s starting up some online company and this is where he is working out of. I figured we’d meet here because you wouldn’t come at all if you saw it was my dad’s address.”
I stifle a groan. This is just getting worse.
“Well, what business is your friend starting?” I ask, trying to salvage something from this. “If I take your photos, will you pass my information along to your friend?”
Bennett seems to consider this. I wait for him to answer.
Instead he shrugs. “Maybe.”
“What?”
“Well, what if you don’t take good photos? Come on, April. I have my reputation to think about.”
Now I really want to leave. But I don’t want to give him any pleasure from pissing me off so I ignore what he just said.
“So, again, what am I taking photos of?”
“Me.”
“You?”
“Yes. Listen, my dad says an online following is important. Especially since I am the heir to the business. So this website will look professional. A little about myself. A blog section. Things like that. So people can get to know me so whenever I take over, I’ll already be a known figure.”
“Can’t imagine you writing a blog.”
“I’ll probably hire someone. Maria, downstairs. She likes to write.”
Maria. Of course. She had worked on and off for Bennett’s family for a few years now. I haven’t seen her in a while so that was why I couldn’t pinpoint her as the phony receptionist.
“Anything authentic on your website at all?” I ask as I pull out my equipment. “Anything that is actually going to be from you?”
“These photos will have me in them. Where should I be?”
We end up spending a chunk of time fighting over where the photos should be shot. Bennett wants an overly complicated set up for a portrait. I tell him that I think it should look more casual so he looks friendly and approachable. My head is throbbing by the time he agrees to my idea.
He stands by the window and proceeds to put on one of the cheesiest grins I have ever seen on him. In spite of myself, I let out a snort.
Bennett frowns. “What?”
“Nothing. That’s great.”
“You’re lying,” he fires back at me. “What is it?”
I look up from behind my camera. “You just look super phony. Sorry. I mean, if you want that, I can take the shot.”
Bennett is looking irritated now and crosses his arms, “How am I supposed to look then?”
I take a photo. He hears the click of my shutter and looks even more pissed off. I know I shouldn’t be irritating him but it is so hard not to. Bennett just seems like a spoiled billionaire. Taking bad photos of him to enjoy in the privacy of my home seems like a simple pleasure at this point.
“Delete that!” he demands.
“Okay,” I lie and pretend that I do. “Okay, are you ready now?”
“Fine.” He leans back against the window and smiles cheerily again, “Any better?”
I decide that I am going to be here all day if I don’t help him along. If I lose the natural light, then taking the photos will be even more difficult. I look up from behind the camera again.
“Try to look approachable, Bennett. Isn’t that what this whole project is about? Try to look... you know... not how you usually do,” I pause before adding, “Figured you would be better at this. You pose for photos all the time.”
“Guess your shitty attitude is affecting me,” he quips.
I stop myself from rolling my eyes and start taking photos of him. After the first few shots, he starts to relax a bit. He still looks like a prep boy but not as phony. He has also stopped talking, which I am thankful for.
As the photo shoot continues on, I start to notice different things about him. Weird how I have known Bennett for most of my life but only through the camera lens I pick up on different things. Like the fact his eyes are blue but depending on the light, they go from light to dark. How tall he actually is. How his muscles seem to perfectly fit his white dress shirt...
“Okay,” I say suddenly, popping up. “We got it, I think.”
“Let me see,” he says, coming over.
I flick through the photos, making sure to bypass the one of him looking irritated. Bennett stands next to me. I can smell his cologne. Probably some rich stuff. Yet the smell of it seems to go directly to my head and make it feel light for a brief moment.
“Looks good,” he says casually. “E-mail them to me and I’ll pick the ones I want and pay you.”
“Great, okay,” I say quickly, wanting out of there as soon as I can, “I’ll send them tonight.”
I turn around to start packing up my things. My headache still hasn’t gone away. The whole shoot only took a couple of hours but it feels as if I’ve been trapped in this office for fifty years with Bennett.
“You coming to Dad’s barbeque party this summer?” he asks me.
“Uh, no,” I reply. “Don’t think so.”
Kevin throws a giant summer bash every year. It is ridiculous and so over the top that I lied last year about being sick to get out of going. The mansion where Bennett’s family lives in has four different pools, a bowling alley and a small waterpark. Kevin decorates the entire thing and has a small carnival set up on the property. Celebrities attend, not just people Kevin knows from business. It is the party of the summer. A few years ago, people were trying to sneak in and a bunch of cops had to make arrests.
The party is usually fun for about an hour. By the end of the night, everyone is drunk and making out in the numerous bedrooms in the mansion. I like a good party as much as the next person, but after having to go for so many years, I have been looking forward to getting out of it again this year.
“So, you really mean it then?”
“Mean what?”
“You’re ditching your family and everyone for good.”
I look up from my camera bag, “No!” I snap. “It isn’t like that!”
“Seems like it. What, you were fine with your parents paying for literally everything, including college, and now you want to make it on your own?”
He is pissing me off. But Bennett was always good at making me angry. I know that I shouldn’t take the bait but after being stuck with him for a couple of hours, coupled with the raging headache, I snap.
“You have no idea about anything to do with my family. I’m not abandoning them, okay? Mind your own business.”
“Just seems like you were fine with living a cushy life to get out of school debt and now you want to try to make it. Isn’t very realistic,” he shrugs.
I look up at him, “And your life is realistic? Your billionaire daddy and your stupid website are realistic? Please. Just stop talking.”
I finish shoving everything in my bag and go to move past him. I want to get away as quickly as possible. The last person on the entire planet I want to discuss my life or my family with is him.
But he stops me. His arm is against the elevator door again and he is looking down at me. When did he get so tall? I suppose I just hadn’t been paying attention.
“Move,” I say to him.
“Why are you so pissed off?”
“Are you serious? How can you say that? You know you shouldn’t be talking about my family at all and yet here you are, running off your mouth.”
He leans close to me. Once again I could smell his cologne. His eyes are dark blue now with little flecks of gold in them. I need to stop paying so much attention to them.
“Running off my mouth? I’m just saying what everyone is thinking. Including your family.”
“My parents don’t think that,” I counter. “They don’t understand my choices but they respect them.”
“Do they?” he replied lightly, his tone teasing.
I push his hand away and slam on the elevator buttons. Luckily, the doors open right away and I step inside. Bennett is just staring at me. His expression is blank. His dark blue eyes are the last thing I see before the elevator doors glide shut.
- Writer
