Save My Soul (15 page)

I walked to Adam with a big smile on
my face. "What?" he said.

I took his hand in mine and led him to
the props where Alex was standing. I let go and went to set Alex in
his first pose. It was a pose that I used with every senior. He was
leaning with his elbow propped on a pedestal, with his fist to his
temple. "Class of 2012 was written in block letters running down
the length of the wooden pedestal. I made sure he was perfect then
went back to Adam.

I positioned my camera on the tripod
and brought Alex into focus. I leaned back and then handed the
clicker to Adam. He took it, but looked at it like it was a snake
about to bite him. He could make a precision cut in human flesh
with a scalpel, but he couldn't take a photo. I found that freaking
hilarious.

I laughed then pointed at the camera
and told him to look. "You have to wait for the perfect moment,
then capture it. A person's features are constantly changing. You
tell them to smile or not, and they do what you ask, but different
parts of their body are moving in tiny fractions every second. I
could have him stand like that, tell him not to move, take ten
pictures, and every one of them would look different. That's why we
take so many shots of the same pose. Then we choose the one that's
the best. You're going to have some fun today, Adam."

"Wait, he's taking my pictures?" Alex
said, aghast.

I laughed. "Not all of them. I'll take
most of them, but Adam here is going to learn to have fun, and
learn something new while doing it; something that doesn't require
saving lives, but rather seeing the beauty in life."

Alex rolled his eyes, but he didn't
say anything else. Adam was still looking at me with a horrified
expression.

"When I tell you to click, push this
in like this." I looked back at Alex and said, "Smile!" he
complied, and I said, "Click," then pushed gently on Adam's finger.
The camera came to life and made the familiar, comforting sound it
did when it captured an image.

Adam's face lit up like a kid at a
carnival. Had he never taken a picture before? It was good to see
him smiling. I wanted to keep that smile planted there for the rest
of his life. I realized then, that I wanted to be there to see it
for the rest of his life…or the rest of mine, however long that may
be.

We worked with Alex through five
different poses. Adam was really kind of a natural. There were a
few times when I was about to say "click," that he went with his
own instincts and took the shot before I could say anything. He
smiled at me every time he did it. I would compliment him and smile
each time. The majority of the time I had to tell him to click,
when I would look at him, he would be watching me instead of Alex.
I wanted him to have fun, and if watching me was fun for him, we
were heading in the right direction.

While Alex changed from his football
uniform back to his khaki shorts and t-shirt, I put my props away
and began setting up for my next appointment. A girl named Amy was
due here at five. I didn't know her, but then again, I didn't know
most of the kid's names, only their faces.

Alex hugged me goodbye and paid me for
the sitting fee. "Mom told me to tell you to call her sometime. I
think she wants to catch you up on the town gossip or
something."

I laughed. "That's probably exactly
why she wants me to call her. Tell her I have a lot going on right
now, but as soon as things slow down a bit, I will."

He nodded and eyed Adam again, but
finally smiled and stuck out his hand. Adam grinned and shook it.
"You got a great girl here. Treat her right, or someone else will
be trying to save your life."

"Alex!" I exclaimed in
disbelief.

Adam laughed. "I believe you, Alex.
Maybe we will come to some of your games this year."

I was in shock. I had to be. Not only
did he not deny that we were seeing each other, but he plainly
stated that we were.

Alex nodded then grinned at me. "I'd
like that."

I shook my head. "Have a good year," I
said as he walked to the door.

After the door closed, I turned and
stared at Adam.

"What?" he said with a
smile.

"Maybe we will come to some of your
games? Since when are we a couple? Today wasn't a date, remember?"
I said as I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned on the kitchen
counter.

He smiled sheepishly. "No, you're
right, today wasn't a date." He moved closer to me and I
straightened up a little. "Tell me why I can't stop looking at
you." He stopped about five feet away from me and leaned against
the counter opposite the one I was up against.

My heart began to race, and so did my
mind. If I told him, he would bolt. I had to handle this very
carefully. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

His eyes got a little wider, like he
hadn't expected me to say that. "So you know why?"

I nodded and forced myself to breathe
steadily.

"Try me." he said, and then the phone
rang; saved by the bell. Hal-le-lu-jah!

I stared at him a moment then went to
get the phone off the bar. "Hello."

"Kendra." It was Aven. Shit. I really
needed to start checking my caller I.D.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't call you
back. I've been really busy with senior pictures." I
said.

"That's right. I forgot you were going
to be so busy. Hey…I really need to talk to you. Do you mind if I
come over in a little while?"

"Can we talk some other time? I really
do have a lot on my plate for the next couple of weeks."

"It won't take long. How about I come
over tonight around ten? Will you be done with your clients by
then?" I was actually going to be done with my clients by eight. I
looked up and Adam was watching me.

"I'll be up all night developing the
photos I've taken today. Now just isn't a good time for me." I
didn't want to tell him I had company, but he was really leaving me
no choice.

"I can help you develop," he said. He
had never volunteered to help me do anything. What the hell was up
with him?

"Is what you have to say that
important? You've never helped me do anything."

He was silent for a moment, and then
he finally spoke. "I think what I have to say is pretty
important."

My eyes grew wide as I realized what I
thought he wanted to talk with me about. We had been friends since
grade school and friends with benefits for a little over a year. He
clearly wanted to take the next step. Double shit! I didn't want to
hurt him, but there was absolutely no way around it. He was
probably never going to speak to me again when I told him, but I
already had Adam, Mason and Rhyan filling my schedule. I didn't
need another man.

"I'm sure it is, but I have company
tonight." I said, quickly.

He was silent again for a moment then
said, "You mean your clients?" I could hear the suspicion in his
voice. I knew he didn't think I had meant my clients. We had
decided that when either of us told the other we had "company," it
meant that we had a date with someone else. That had always been
fine before, but I didn't think it would be this time. Come to
think of it, I was the only one who had actually used it. Aven
never seemed to have "company" when I called him.

I sighed. "No, I don't mean my
clients."

"Why didn't you just say that then? Is
this thing with him serious or something?" he said, sounding a
little upset. I figured he would be.

"Yeah…I think it is a little serious.
I didn't want to hurt you." I was pleading with him to understand.
If I'd thought he would ever want to get serious with me, I
wouldn't have allowed "the benefits" to go along with our
friendship.

"Don't worry about me. Have a good
night, Kendra," he said, then hung up. That was the second time
that day he'd hung up on me. I growled.

I stared at the phone in my hand
briefly before setting it on the counter. I looked up at Adam, and
my doorbell rang; saved by the bell, again. We really did need to
finish our conversation, but I didn't think I was prepared for it
at the moment.

I went to the door and Adam stayed in
the kitchen.

It turned out I did remember Amy. She
was a cheerleader, and I had done shots of all the girls only a few
weeks ago. She was petite, thin, and I could tell right away that
she was photogenic. This should be an easy one for Adam. She
informed me when she walked in that she wanted something different
than everyone else had. She wanted most of her pictures to be taken
outside. That was fine with me, but it would take longer and be
harder on Adam. He would have to hold the camera instead of
clicking the clicker.

I decided to take the majority of the
shots and then let him snap a few at the end of each pose. We would
find out if he had any real talent.

We made our way through the house to
the kitchen. I introduced her to Adam and told her that he would be
helping. She seemed to be fine with the idea. She was so fine with
the idea that I thought if I'd suggested that she take off her
clothes for the shots, it would've only taken her about five
seconds to get undressed.

I turned to look at Adam. He was
smiling at me. Were my thoughts written somewhere on my
forehead?

"Yes."
Rhyan said.

"
I don't need your input."
I snapped
back at him.

I could hear him snicker, but I
ignored it. I told Amy that I needed at least one formal, and that
it had to be taken inside. She was fine with that, too. I gave her
a tube top and pointed to the screen. She went to change. When she
came back out, the tube top was pulled down lower than it should
have been. Her cleavage was impressive, and that means a lot coming
from me.

When she sat on the stool for her
formal, I took the material from the front and tugged it up. She
gave me a sour look, but didn't say anything. I draped the black
material around her shoulders then buttoned it on the inside where
the camera couldn't see it.

I moved the tripod and focused in on
her. "Click," I said, and the camera came to life. I repositioned
her then told her to smile for the next two. She did, and my camera
went off before I could say anything. I smiled, adjusted her
clothing a bit then turned the soft box on. When I moved out of the
way, I looked at Adam. He had a look of concentration on his face
until he clicked again.

I told her she could change, and she
slipped behind the screen.

I took my camera off the tripod so we
could go outside. "When you want to zoom in or out, you use these
two buttons," I said to Adam. He moved in a little closer to me to
get a better look at the camera. "She wants the rest of her shots
to be taken outside, so the tripod will be essentially useless. You
need to have a very steady stance when the tripod can't be used." I
sighed. "We could use it, but it would take too long." I noticed
then that he was really close to me. He was still looking at the
camera, but I didn't think that was where his attention was
focused.

He opened his mouth to say something
and Amy cleared her throat. We both looked up, and Adam took a step
away from me.

"I think I want my first picture to be
under the trees in your back yard. You can take some of me up-close
and some from a distance." I really hated when the client tried to
tell me how to do my job, but she was paying me, so I really
couldn't say a lot. Most of the time, I gave the clients that were
easy and nice a break, but I knew that the girl in front of me
wasn't going to be either of those. Oh, she was easy all right, but
by a totally different definition. I'd give her all the poses she
wanted, and I'd make sure they were all damn good. When it was time
for her to pick out the ones she wanted, I'd make a small fortune
off her. It was evident she was in love with herself. She would get
her daddy to buy every one of them.

She was dressed in a thin, long sleeve
button-up that was tied in a knot under her boobs so she could show
off her belly button ring. She had only bothered to button up one
button, and her cleavage was spilling out over the top of the tight
material. She had on cut off shorts that were so tight, I couldn't
believe she could actually breathe, and they were so short that I
was positive her ass had to be hanging out the backside. To top it
all off, she was wearing cowboy boots. I always thought it
ridiculous when anyone wore boots with shorts. She looked like an
amateur who was about to pose for a playboy spread. Who dresses
like this for senior pictures? Her parents had to be
proud.

I smiled sweetly. "I will do whatever
you want, Amy."

We walked out of the house into my
back yard. I saw Adam analyzing the unique windows of my studio
from the outside. He was studying the rods, water pipes and
lighting fixtures hanging over them for creating effects. I could
tell he was curious, but he never said anything.

I had an awkward tree in my back yard
that forked low to the ground. It was low enough that a person
could sit on the lowest branch with their feet still touching the
ground. One of the big branches extended horizontally for a short
distance, like a seat or immobile swing, and then curved up to meet
its fellow branches. The tree was definitely different, and I had,
on more than one occasion, taken shots of it alone. It provided a
lot of shade and reminded me of peaceful evenings. It was my
favorite tree, and it was the first place Amy chose to
pose.