The Sun in Her Eyes (41 page)

‘We haven’t decided yet.’ I nod at Ben. ‘I think this one wants a surprise.’

‘I figured we’ll have enough surprises when the baby arrives,’ Joseph interjects.

‘So you’re having a boy?’ I ask. I noticed he said ‘he’ a few moments ago.

‘Yeah,’ Joseph replies, and the look of love in his eyes as he regards his fiancée does a strange thing to my crush. It practically snuffs it out. It’s hard to fancy a
guy who is so completely and utterly devoted to another woman. I smile at Ben and the corresponding smile he gives me reignites the fire in my stomach.

There we go. Crush firmly back in place. But for the right person, this time.

‘Shall I get Beryl out?’ I ask Ben. ‘For Joseph?’

‘Call me Joe,’ Joseph interjects.

‘Sure,’ Ben replies.

I go over to another holding cage and lift out Beryl, a two-month-old. I carry her over my shoulder like a baby, and pass her to Joe. His hands brush mine as he takes her from me.

Okay, maybe the crush isn’t completely gone.

‘Are you guys here on holiday or working?’ Ben asks him, ever at ease.

‘I’ve been filming,’ Joe explains. ‘But we’re taking a break now, aren’t we, Al?’

‘A very welcome one,’ she replies with a smile at the joey in her arms. She glances up at me. ‘I don’t suppose you’d grab my iPhone out of my bag and snap off a few
shots of us, would you? It’s in the front pocket.’

‘Of course I can,’ I reply, doing as she asks.

A few moments later, another idea comes to me.

‘Would you like me to shoot some with my professional camera, too? I could email them to you. I promise I wouldn’t send them to anyone else,’ I add quickly.

‘God, that would be great!’ she enthuses, grinning at Joe.

‘Yeah, definitely! Thanks,’ he adds warmly.

I suggest we go out the back under the eucalyptus trees. There’s a fence, so it’s private, but the shots will look much better with natural daylight.

Liam, the bodyguard, comes too, but no one minds.

‘Ready?’ I ask when they get into position. ‘On the count of three: one, two, three!’ I begin to click off shots of them looking straight to camera. ‘How about a
couple of natural ones, now?’ I propose, continuing to shoot as Ben swaps Beryl with the joey to give the latter a break. I capture a particularly lovely one of Joe resting his hand on
Alice’s baby bump.

Afterwards, we go back inside and I show them the whole set, one after the other. I’ve relaxed now that I’m behind a camera. ‘I’ll delete this one,’ I say of an
unflattering angle, acting on it immediately. ‘And this one,’ I add of another where Joe has his eyes closed. ‘Are you happy with these?’ I double check, flicking through
them again.

‘They’re fantastic,’ Alice says. ‘Are you a professional photographer?’

‘I’m trying to be,’ I tell her modestly.

‘Yes, she is,’ Ben firmly corrects me. ‘She’s
brilliant
,’ he adds with pride. ‘She’s been taking photos for this place’s website, but
she’s had her pictures featured in magazines and newspapers, too.’

‘Have you really?’ Joe asks, cocking his head to one side.

‘I used to freelance at Tetlan, a magazine publishing house,’ I tell him with a shrug. ‘So I have a few contacts.’

‘It’s nothing to do with your contacts,’ Ben says seriously. ‘She took all of those,’ he adds, pointing to the publicity posters on the walls.

Alice goes to take a closer look. ‘They’re excellent,’ she says.

‘Really good,’ Joe adds.

‘Thanks,’ I reply, my face warming at their praise.

‘Well, you must let us pay you for these,’ Alice says resolutely.

‘Absolutely not,’ I cut her off.

‘No, we
will
pay for them, won’t we, Joe?’ she says.

‘I won’t hear of it!’ I interrupt indignantly. ‘There’s no way I’ll take any money from you, so don’t say another word.’

Joe chuckles and Alice raises her eyebrows at him.

‘If you could do an autograph for my sisters, though, I’d be delighted,’ I say with a smile.

‘I can certainly do that,’ Joe replies while Alice delves into her handbag and pulls out a stack of publicity shots.

‘How many sisters do you have?’ she asks me.

‘Three,’ I reply.

Joe takes three pictures and a silver pen from Alice and bends over the counter, writing while I tell him the names of my half-siblings: Kay, Olivia and Isabel.

‘They are going to flip out when these come through the post,’ I comment. ‘They live in the UK.’

‘Can I do one for you guys, too?’ Joe asks, glancing at Ben.

‘You may as well just make it out to
her
, buddy,’ Ben replies wearily. I giggle and slip my arm around his waist, smiling up at him.

‘You should get a photo with Joe,’ Alice suggests.

‘Okay!’ I don’t need to be asked twice. I hand my camera to Ben, then stand next to Joe, willing myself not to blush as he puts his arm around my shoulders and bends down to
press his cheek to mine.

A slightly manic giggle escapes my lips, but everyone pretends not to notice.

‘I saw the trailer for
Two Things
, recently,’ I say, slipping firmly into fan mode. ‘It looks amazing!’ It’s out in Australia in a few months.

‘I can get you tickets for the premiere in Sydney in August if you’d like them?’

‘Oh my God!’ I squeak, unable to contain myself. ‘That would be incredible!’

‘You might be a bit busy in August, Lils,’ Ben points out reasonably.

I stare at him with confusion and he looks meaningfully at my belly.

‘Oh.’ Dammit!

Joe chuckles. ‘Maybe next time.’

Alice smiles at me, ruefully. ‘I know exactly how you feel,’ she commiserates. ‘I’d planned on going on the publicity tour with him this time, but I won’t be able
to fly, either.’

‘Aw,’ Joe says gently, rubbing her shoulder.

What a sweet couple.

While I’m putting my camera away, I hear Alice say something to Joe in a low tone. Out of the corner of my eye I see him listening and then nodding.

‘Sure,’ he replies.

‘Um…’ Alice starts, turning to me. ‘This might seem a bit weird…’

I’m instantly curious.

‘… But would you like to sell these?’ she asks. ‘No one knows I’m pregnant, yet, so you could sell them as an exclusive. I don’t know, it might help a
little.’ She looks awkward as she’s relaying this, clearly not comfortable with the idea of being famous, which makes what she’s suggesting even more astonishing.

‘I… I…
Really?
’ I ask with amazement, my head spinning as Ben smiles encouragingly.

‘Absolutely,’ Alice reiterates. ‘Maybe they’ll help you get your foot in the door or something. Not that you should stop being a wildlife photographer,’ she adds
hastily.

‘Not likely,’ Ben replies on my behalf, reaching across to squeeze my arm. He looks really pleased for me.

‘We could do a mini interview, too,’ Joe chips in.

‘
Really?
’ I seem to have lost the rest of my vocabulary.

‘Of course. Jeez, it’s nice to be asked, isn’t it, babe?’ He glances at Alice.

‘Rather than told,’ she explains to us with a wry smile. ‘But I have one condition,’ Joe adds with a raised eyebrow. ‘Would you call the joey Alice?’

Alice laughs and Ben and I do, too. ‘Alice it is,’ Ben says.

With all the excitement, Ben forgets to ask Owen to take ‘Alice’, so we have no choice but to bring her home for another night.

I get to work after dinner, editing the photographs and typing up Joe’s words. I send the shots over to Alice, as well as the interview for her approval, even though she didn’t ask
for it.

To my surprise, she replies after only a short while to say the piece is great and that she loves the pictures. I can’t believe she gave me her personal email address.

‘Who are you going to contact about this?’ Ben asks, bringing me a cup of tea. I turn to face him and he pulls up a chair to sit opposite me.

‘I was wondering about calling Bronte at
Hebe
in London.’

Hebe
is a celebrity weekly magazine and Bronte is a friend of mine from when I used to live and work in Sydney. We met at
Marbles
magazine when I covered for her as editorial
assistant. I was asked to apply for her job when she got promoted to the picture desk, but I moved back to Adelaide with Ben instead to pursue my first love. Well, first
loves
: Ben and
photography.

He nods and lifts my foot up onto his lap, proceeding to massage it.

‘
Hebe
would be perfect.’

I’d love to give the exclusive to my friend, especially as she’s bought some of my pictures from me in the past. It would be nice to return the favour.

‘Mmm, that feels amazing,’ I murmur, closing my eyes as Ben continues to work away at my foot.

‘Will you ring her tonight?’ he asks.

I shake my head, sleepily. ‘I don’t want to call her about work stuff on a Sunday.’ It’s only Sunday morning in England. ‘I’ll wait until she’s at work
tomorrow,’ I add with a yawn. It will be tomorrow night here with the time difference, but I’d rather not leave a message on her voicemail in case someone else picks it up.

He nods and takes my other foot. My eyelids are feeling heavier by the second.

‘Come on, beautiful, let’s have an early night,’ he says gently, after my third yawn in a row. He stands up and holds his hands down to me.

‘You were amazing today,’ I say seriously, as he pulls me to my feet.

He looks confused. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You were so cool. So calm and collected around them. I was fighting the urge to bounce up and down like an idiot.’

He laughs gently and tucks my chestnut-coloured hair behind my ears. ‘Well, I don’t fancy Joseph Strike, so it was a bit easier for me.’

‘I don’t fancy him, either.’

‘Don’t you, now,’ he says wryly, not even bothering to punctuate his sentence with a question mark.

‘Not as much as I do you,’ I correct myself with a teasing smile, sliding my arms around his waist.

He chuckles under his breath and holds me against his chest, rocking me slightly.

‘Can we go to bed, now?’ My voice is muffled. I pull away and look up at him, hoping he can see exactly what I plan on doing to him once we get there.

A smile plays about his lips as he bends down to kiss me.

‘Alice’ starts to squeak.

Ben sighs heavily against my mouth and pulls away to rest his forehead against mine. ‘I’m sorry. She’s due a feed,’ he says wearily.

‘Okay.’ I tenderly touch my hand to his jaw and he raises his head to look at me disconsolately. ‘I’ll see you in a bit,’ I say with a poignant look.

But I’m fast asleep by the time he joins me.

We oversleep the next morning so it’s a rush to get out of the house. Both of us are at work today – me as a keeper, rather than a photographer. I’m still on
a high after the previous day’s excitement and I can’t wait for the day to end so I can go home and call Bronte.

In the afternoon, Trudy in the office gets a call from Joseph Strike’s PA to say that he and Alice want to make a huge donation to the conservation park. She goes straight to tell Ben, who
is elated.

‘I’m so proud of you,’ I say.

‘It’s nothing to do with me,’ he replies modestly.

‘Yes, it is,’ I insist, nudging him delightedly.

Bronte starts work at 9.30a.m. UK time, so I have to wait until at least eight o’clock that night before I can call her. I decide to give her an extra half an hour to
make herself a cup of tea before I ring, but by eight fifteen, I’m chomping at the bit. ‘Shall I email her first, do you think?’ I ask him.

‘It wouldn’t hurt,’ he replies.

‘Actually, I’m not sure she has the same email address.’

‘You could email and then call, too,’ he suggests.

‘Okay, I’ll just nip to the loo.’

Just as I’m finishing up, the phone rings. Ben answers, and a moment later he calls out to me.

‘
It’s Bronte!
’

‘No shit?’ I exclaim, rushing back through to the living room. I bet she’s heard Joe was at the conservation park yesterday.

‘She was just about to email you,’ Ben says to Bronte, grinning up at me.

I grab the phone from him and clamber onto the sofa beside him.

‘Joseph Strike,’ I say into the receiver. ‘Am I right?’

‘Yes, you freaking are,’ my friend replies in her familiarly bubbly Aussie accent. ‘Did you see him?’

‘I got pictures,’ I reply, bursting to hear how she’ll react to
that
little piece of information.

‘No!’ she gasps. ‘Does she have a baby bump?’

How does she know Alice is pregnant?

‘Clear as day,’ I reply, trying not to seem fazed. ‘I got a brilliant one of him with his hand on her tummy.’

‘Wow! Can we buy them from you?’

Eek! This is so exciting! I beam at Ben, who’s clearly on the same wavelength.

‘Ooh, I don’t know… How much do you think they’re worth?’ I ask cheekily, making Ben throw back his head and silently guffaw.

‘Who would have thought you’d become a pap,’ Bronte says with a giggle.

‘I did ask their permission first,’ I tell her, playing it down. The truth is, they
offered
their permission.

‘Did you?’ Bronte asks with surprise.

‘Yeah. His chick and I compared baby bumps,’ I say nonchalantly, making Ben chortle under his breath again.

‘What?’ Bronte exclaims in my ear. ‘Are you telling me you’re pregnant?’

Oops. I still haven’t got around to spilling the beans to everyone.

‘Yes,’ I laugh happily. ‘Four months.’

‘Oh, that is so lovely!’ she squeals. ‘I’m so excited for you! Is Ben pleased?’

‘Ridiculously.’

He reaches over to stroke my waist. I am
so
having sex with him tonight. Sooner rather than later, I hope.

Focus! ‘Anyway, Joseph didn’t mind having his picture taken at all. They’re such a lovely couple.’ And they really were. They’re the sort of people you could
imagine being friends with, but I bet everyone who meets them thinks that. ‘So, do you want to see them?’ I ask.

‘Yes, please. Have you shown them to anyone else?’