Another Shot: A Modern-Day Ruth and Boaz Story (5 page)

"So everything seems right on this end," Debbie said, with a matter of fact smile like our meeting was over.

Chapter 6

"I got a huge raise and they're not taking insurance out of my check," I said when I opened the door to the apartment.

Laura was standing in the small kitchen and she cocked her head at me. "Say it again, slower this time," she said.

"Dominic's paying me way more than we agreed on, and he's covering insurance too. It's not coming out of my check. I held up my phone as a symbol of my paycheck. "It's way more than I thought it'd be," I said, unable to stop a smile. I opened the email and walked my phone over to Laura. I set it on the counter and she squinted down at it.

She instantly pinched the screen, trying to make it bigger then proceeded to inspect it for several seconds before looking at me. "You're kidding me!"

I shook my head. "I made sure with my boss. She said Dominic told her to adjust it. She acted surprised I didn't already know about it."

"We're going to have to do something to thank him."

"I already sent him a card for the camera and phones. I don't even know if he got that yet. Is he back in town?"

"You'd know that before I would," she said. "I'll write a letter thanking him too."

I didn't dare tell her what Debbie said about her insurance. We'd just have to see if anything ever came of that. "I got my prints today," I said instead. I took my backpack off and set it on the counter so I could dig for the envelope containing the photos. I handed it to Laura.

She ran her finger across the envelope where it said
Nic's Prints
with stripes of blues and yellows and his signature logo of a Polaroid camera. "It's amazing to see his name printed on the envelope like that," she said.

We looked at my photos, and one by one she told me what she liked about them. I learned a lot by hearing her feedback. It was nice to hear what struck people when they looked at your work. I put the photos back in the envelope and slid it back into my backpack. We were silent for several seconds, both thinking.

"I can't believe your paycheck," she said.

"Wanna go out for dinner?"

She smiled. It was a good, genuine smile that made me happy. She was glad Dominic was being nice for my sake and I was glad he was being nice for hers. It wasn't about the money so much as the happy feeling we both got on each other's behalf.

It was a good night.

We went to a place she remembered from when she lived there before. It was a steak house with quote-unquote the best steaks on the planet. It said it right on the door, and after I ate one, I might have just believed it. They didn't have a wide variety on their menu. Basically, you just chose how big of a steak you wanted and what sides you wanted with it. They did one thing and did it well, and we went to bed full that evening.

I laid in bed considering texting Dominic for his generosity, but I had never text him before and thought it might be odd to do so for the first time at 10PM. Instead, I decided to gather a few of my favorite prints along with a thank you note and deliver it to him the next day—that way he could see I'd been using the camera.

I chose my three favorites.

One was a bulldog that was randomly tied to a lamppost outside the deli the other day. He had on a spike collar and was just about the most photogenic thing on the planet.

The second was a colorful chalk hopscotch game with a kid's legs and feet hopping. You couldn't see the whole kid, just from the knees down, and her Converse were positioned in a perfect hopping pose at the top of the photo.

The third was Laura. It was a black and white portrait of her. I captured the pain she'd been through, and the photo was undeniably compelling. Laura didn't think it was flattering of herself, but she liked it because it was a true representation of her feelings over the last month.

I'd taken some photos of her smiling. I knew I could get one of those printed, or just choose another from the prints I had, but I chose to give the melancholy portrait to Dominic. I packaged the three 8x10's in a big envelope along with a note.

Dominic,

I don't know what to say. I assumed my paycheck was a mistake, and couldn't believe when Debbie told me it wasn't. I know this is for Laura's sake, which touches my heart. She is so fortunate to have such a family, and I'm honored and blessed that I was taken into the fold. The raise and insurance were unexpected and so very appreciated. Rest assured that I'll do my best to earn the rate you're paying me. I'm stunned by your generosity and can't tell you how thankful I am.

Sincerely,

Rae

The next morning when I got to work, I gave the envelope to Debbie same as I did with the other thank you card, which Dominic might or might not have gotten by now. When I gave it to her, she told me Dominic was back from his trip.

For whatever reason that made me slightly nervous. I almost chickened out of giving him the photos, but that would mean taking the envelope off Debbie's desk and saying never mind. Basically, I chickened out of chickening out, and now Dominic was gonna see my pictures whether I liked it or not.

None of them were inspired by other people's work, but I was still nervous about what he'd think of them. I tried not to think about it, and had done a pretty good job of it until Debbie came down to receiving to tell me Dominic wanted to see me in his office. I felt like I was being called to the principal's office, and trembled all the way up to the fifth floor. Before Debbie came to me with these instructions, I had no idea Dominic even had an office in this building. I rode to the fifth floor feeling anxious about what I'd find when I got there.

There was a well-dressed woman sitting at a desk that faced the elevator. Facing her in my uniform shirt made me feel way underdressed and a little self-conscious. I smiled as confidently as I could at her.

She smiled back. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm supposed to see Dominic."

"Are you Rae?"

"Yes."

"His office is all the way at the end." She pointed to her right down a hallway. "I'll let him know you're coming down."

I heard her warning him of my approach as I walked toward his office, and his door swung open before I made it there. "Come in," he said, smiling broadly at me.

It had been a couple of weeks since I saw him, and for whatever reason, his smile was like a breath of fresh air.

"What happened in the two weeks I was gone?"

I was in the process of following him to his desk when he asked, and I waited till I sat down to speak.

I cleared my throat. "What do you mean?" was all I could come up with.

Instead of sitting behind his desk like I thought he'd do, he stood near me and sat on the edge of his desk, crossing his legs in front of him casually. He turned to reach for some papers that were sitting on the desk and when he faced me again I realized they were my pictures.

"How did you learn to take these pictures in two weeks? Did you take these?" He held them up, and I nodded. "Do you have photo editing software?"

"Just the program that came with the computer. I don't know much about it, but I'm trying stuff with different filters."

"Rae, I'm not just saying this… these are amazing. I love your work."

I wasn't able to contain a smile. "Don't give me too much credit," I said. "That camera could take pictures by itself."

He scoffed. "That's false and you know it. You have a special gift, Rae. We're gonna put it to the test."

"What? What's that mean?"

He was amused at my jumpiness I could tell. I narrowed my eyes at him, and his smile broadened.

"Next month I'm going to hold the first annual employee photo contest. I have over two hundred employees, and most of them are into photography. I can't believe I haven't thought of it before. You'll have to send a digital file or an 8x10 to me by November first. I'll hang the photos on the east wall. Customers will have the chance to place their vote at checkout using a number system."

"I sure hope you're not doing any of this because of me. There are far better photographers than me down stairs, and that's just in shipping and receiving."

"I'm having the contest. You don't have to win, but you have to enter. If you don't turn anything in, I'll just enter one of these."

I giggled. "Which one would you choose?"

"Laura probably, but the hopscotch—wow. I wish I could put all three, but I'll only be able to do one entry per person or else we'd never be able to display them all."

I dropped my gaze. "I hope I got across how very thankful I am for everything," I said. "I'm baffled by your kindness.

"You're family," he said simply. "I'm happy to do it, and we don't need to mention it again."

I could see him swivel to put the photos on his desk. He crossed his arms when he turned back around, but all of this I saw out of my periphery since I was looking down. "London went well," he said.

I glanced up and met his eye. "I'm glad to hear it."

"I'll be opening a location there next year if all goes as planned."

"Oh, that's exciting. I've never been there."

"I took some pictures if you'd like to see them sometime."

"I'd love to."

"Now?"

I smiled, and felt myself blushing. "I told Matt I'd be back down there as soon as—"

"Rae."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"Dominic."

"That's right. And do you know whose name is written on the outside of the building?"

"Yours."

"Yep. That means I own the place, which also means I make the rules around here." He was smiling the whole time he was talking, which made me regard him with narrowed eyes. I could tell he enjoyed pushing my buttons.

"I'd love to see your pictures Mr. Russo," I said.

He smiled. "That's better."

I stayed in his office for a good while, looking at the hundreds of photos he took in London.  He let me sit in his chair and use his computer while he used his phone to take care of some email.

"You're an excellent photographer," I said when I finished looking at the last photograph on the camera roll.

He set his phone on the desk and leaned, regarding me with a smile. "Oh yeah?" he asked. "Think I could take you in the contest?"

"Definitely," I said, without hesitation. "No doubt you could take me. Are you entering?"

"No."

"Why not? You'd win."

"It's against the rules for me to enter."

"I thought you just said you make the rules around here."

"I do," he said smiling. "And that's one of my rules. I can't enter."

I gave him another teasing scowl. "You're trying to take it easy on me," I said, "but just so you know, I could take you even if you
did
enter."

He laughed. "I love it. I might have to just to accept the challenge."

"Let's do it," I said, smiling.

"I'll even let you pick what photo I submit," he said. He pointed at the monitor. "Go ahead and pick from the ones you just looked at."

I sighed. "There you go again."

"What?"

"You're trying to take it easy on me. You can't let
me
pick your entry. I could choose the worst one on purpose."

He gave me an offended look. "There aren't any bad ones in there."

I laughed. "You're not tricking me into letting you let me win, mister," I said pointing at him. "I'm just playing," I quickly amended. "That implies that I think I could make it past everyone on the main floor, which I don't."

"I'm glad you gave me the idea for the contest," he said. "I think it'll be a hit with the customers."

"Thanks for liking my photos, and for the camera in the first place." I glanced at the clock and gasped when I saw that it was nearly time for me to clock out. The main floor stayed open late, but shipping and receiving shut down at five.

I sprang out of the chair, and Dominic just stared at me with that same amused grin I seemed to evoke in him.

"I emailed Debbie while you were looking at the photos. She had your things brought up. They're at Bridgette's desk. Matt's clocking you out when the rest of them leave at five."

"I feel bad like they're gonna be mad at me or something."

He cocked his head at me. "Who's the boss?"

"You."

"So why are you trying to impress Matt in receiving."

"I'm not, I just don't want—"

"Don't worry about it. Nobody's mad. Everybody loves you down there."

I smiled shyly. "I loved your photos," I said. "I'd like to ask you some questions sometime when you get the—"

"Now."

"Like right now?"

"Yep."

I couldn't hold back a grin. I stayed in Dominic's office for the next two hours. I asked him questions and he gave me insightful answers. I learned more about photography in that two hours than I had in two weeks of extensive research, and I left feeling overwhelmed by how much I had to learn, but excited at the same time to try some new things.