Remember what I said about being able to survive anyone after Montgomery? 552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrvwWTPngr
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6n8bnTXl9
That was utter rubbish.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGY5iKx4nR
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpgCs3BmYI
The first thing that struck me as I hauled the heavy-as-fuck photograph into Mr Rochester's studio apartment, the edges of the badly cut hard plastic casing digging into the skin of my fingers, is that his walls were bare. You'd think that someone who spends one hundred and twenty thousand on photographs would, at the very least, have a two bedroom with a few paintings on his walls.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrfYlvWPPU
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECqqFkGa9l
"Bloodclaat," I muttered under my breath, hauling them over threshold, since I was too lazy to make a second trip.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAPgiIrhNL
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS798TwJanA
He was sitting, relaxed, on the sofa opposite the television, and eyed me curiously as I struggled to get through the door, offering no assistance.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYrrAwmnzA
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAs9spj5al
Finally, I got through the door, and rested them flat on the floor against the wall perpendicular the couch, beside the television.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRvoUdLXeX
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2vh0Be0FD
I'm now on my third beer — he offered me, then directed me to the mini bar, not bothering to get up, and asking me to get one for him — trying to calm my nerves. My hand is shaking with the effort to not crush the beer can.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhq613gEgv
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1INzJO3ivw
He keeps saying little things, specifically designed to piss me the hell of. Like how I should sleep more to get rid of the bags under my eyes, when I sleep for eight to ten hours every night. Or asking me if I want I brush, when I have the perfect style for kinky curly hair — kind of like how Tip from Home wares her hair out.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ry6rX0YnI
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8I92Fsgtat
"This was my first photography show, and I must admit, your work is closer to what can be considered as art than I expected."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQQfpMywr0
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtjX4V4ss3
Closer?552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcYUbfrvHA
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdyCKKfg0z
Closer?552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0PGR4CwRh
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqsVVROA2k
This is art. This is what I've dedicated my life to.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtAwIYA38k
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpH8nJdYHTL
"Closer?"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegSWXURU4Z
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He gives me a condescending smile, and then clears his throat.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhQGkuzv6n
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgCEoie4yW
"You see, photography will never be art. You are simply looking through a lense—"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqXfb55cHh
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxthpoNnuGX
"Lighting, mirrors, filters, focus, the subject, angles and so. Much. More. Are a part of photography. One angle, one filter, one ray of sunlight could be the difference between erotic asphyxiation and a psychopath ex on a rampage. Don't you dare demean my art like that." By the time I'm done, I'm heaving, taking deep breaths to make up for the oxygen that I just lost. I'm so tired of having the same argument, defending my job to people over and over again.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFN2gBoaqX6
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjM31rvRK7
But he just laughs. Hard.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2aOY9PWTd
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnmFJ5jvEF
"Relax. It was a joke. Why else would I buy your art?"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2gD8AoG35
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIs3PlDsVNJ
Well now, considering that that's why I'm here in the first place, I feel like a complete moron. 552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX7Mr51oby
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSHdAyZoo1
"When's your next showing?" he asks, assessing me with dark brown eyes.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOiMLkA1SD
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXCZ5gpME4
" I don't know. Didn't plan one." The truth is that I don't really do showings — don't really like them. But Marcus insisted on me having that one, saying that he'd advertised well, on my behalf, to all the right people, and it would give me experience as a photographer. When it got cancelled, I'd worked for months, just worked too hard to just let it go down the drain.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsft0y7EC8s
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6i39H4Vsq
And now here I am, remembered as the girl who had her showing at Mr Assclown's house.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkcnITLvVo
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEplHnd7Dkz
Now, he's looking at me, assessing me. I can see him weighing the pros and cons, see the question that he so desperately wants to ask me in his eyes — a question that I don't want, that I'm dreading, but I need. Like the most bitter liquid medicine imaginable.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqDJxSxxvV
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJNGDvVlIi
"Can I give you a job?"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTKgYAYLSn
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMpeJjvecG
Now I want to cry. Really, really break down sobbing. Because I don't want to see this man ever again, but I do need money. I need it really fucking badly.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttnqjPaveM
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Rx7qqGI8e
"What's the job?" I ask hesitantly. With his level of arrogance, he could well want me to take pictures of his dick. But at this point, I'd take a picture of a turd for money. The seventy thousand that he gave me can barely cover my water bill, and food for the month, plus the fifty thousand dollar minimum I put aside in my various bank accounts — I never put it all in one account — every month for a house. Thank goodness for solar panels, because that leaves me with no light bill. Rent, gas money... I'll have to find that elsewhere.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfhApxvrRr
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5zdvFgxop
"I have a family reunion on Friday. I need someone to take photographs."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1maDEHmA9a
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBl9vYiuJfK
Not so bad. He'll be with others, his family, and he'll have to behave. You'll survive.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSs8rz34nmd
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyPtPnkom1L
"I'll talk to my agent, and then call you back."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrF9KuqSIE
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvhYQ9Gjup
"I need an answer now."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DNsvR7e2b
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDLIgV5U8a
Breathe.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprRyY8B0Ji
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nCZxqIFOY
It's now almost ten p.m. I can't call him now.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBc5enCmNQ1
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHdEtUPuFO
"Okay. I'll do it," I agree, hoping that I won't regret this. 552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXVNP6lbZr
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7JTUu6stF
***552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnn4YgYLzt
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQE94lbcXLp
"Absolutely not." 552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05zhmKkMeQ
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YphmKBUYa
"I already said I would, Marcus," I reply, rubbing my forehead. It's too early in the morning for this shit.552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzaLVutYY2
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfV9IGoX2KL
"Cancel it."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1NVvhHv0l
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEdeA7B5aW
"I'm not going to tarnish my reputation just because you disapprove."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMfBYpbtYz
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxaEdCCag6
"Who's the agent?"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOB4QyiSb5Y
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQz5l4aE5s
"It's still my decision! I need the money."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsLjXc95YV
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4Di02Unxy
"I arranged for you to meet with one of Jamaica's best photographers on Friday. His schedule is jam packed—"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZZQ65eL6M
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdf5QZVrBO5
"Then I'm sure he'll appreciate the opening. Cancel it."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oFZn0N8Ld
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhoKQBivSi
"Leah—"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStGN5yxUIR
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHto9PYVFz6
"I said cancel it, Marcus!" I let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. It's just that... I'm under a lot of pressure right now. I don't like this guy. He's such an asshole."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64epNpWrbs
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9gZy8JyVq
I hear silence. Then, "Why don't you just bring him with you?"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96PkB7PBwW
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfhIJqciSD
I snort. "That would never work."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwFLfE3OUj
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"Stop and think about it for a second, Leah. Shemarré Martin is a photographer. He wants to give you tips on photography. Where and when better to do that than while you're photographing?"552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxRpMgRhRz
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtH40unYq1
"Jesus Christ, you're a genius. And Rochester shouldn't mind because it'll probably make the photos come out better." 552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7TMKS6CGw
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMWGmRgd9i
"See, there's always a solution." I can hear the smile in his voice. "Now since you're free today, and I don't work for you for free, I suggest that you get off your lazy ass and hustle."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDd8U82G85
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctqVUAWi5F
I chuckle. "Thanks, Marcus. You're always there to ever so subtly remind me that I'm teetering on the line of poverty."552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyGJcOpEXb
552Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVov7mqe8O
"Anytime, babygirl," he says with a grin that I hear through the phone. "Anytime."
ns 15.158.61.4da2
