Remember what I said about being able to survive anyone after Montgomery? 658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUL49jKE5Iu
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRTVwf5cgR
That was utter rubbish.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgSyM2sKTP
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0zRL0Ozbg
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6Nu4LoQUN
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKNAUcfqxT
"Bloodclaat," I muttered under my breath, hauling them over threshold, since I was too lazy to make a second trip.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3TBR9g1qD
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCRrurrs9K
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nhV76cFN3
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5dpMU07pr
Finally, I got through the door, and rested them flat on the floor against the wall perpendicular the couch, beside the television.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLL7DTRSVZ
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHv5mYfdtA
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtreMcM1EEZ
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNi4g3jJEz8
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbK510OEzH5
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiergaJtafV
"This was my first photography show, and I must admit, your work is closer to what can be considered as art than I expected."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzH5rpp9EX
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNYgOnM6GE
Closer?658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqG26xPsnJ
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ885z9g6DmE
Closer?658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAlJHV7gQt
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpQJ97dTRO
This is art. This is what I've dedicated my life to.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGMN5bjqaU
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzwyhtQHvD
"Closer?"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSS2HtDwQm
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTRxKM8P7E
He gives me a condescending smile, and then clears his throat.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPbyLwaGnL
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjjfFAZAin
"You see, photography will never be art. You are simply looking through a lense—"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrS2qZYFuC
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9ZmuAhcwn
"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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvj5Raxbdxd
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPSoixi4Sk
But he just laughs. Hard.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahWIoefYOQ
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NM35CIVLL
"Relax. It was a joke. Why else would I buy your art?"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUqCLlNnXL
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02UVwDSZri
Well now, considering that that's why I'm here in the first place, I feel like a complete moron. 658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDBge5ZEy5
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPXeab6kE0
"When's your next showing?" he asks, assessing me with dark brown eyes.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDTQTnC4XF
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsqxjTOXNy
" 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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUS6t8rZcfQ
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxiPKdWVZi
And now here I am, remembered as the girl who had her showing at Mr Assclown's house.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82iFmD6eTd
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclClB2dims
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9O685Xmd1n
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9hY20FJpu
"Can I give you a job?"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkBFmcFD33
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcX7frTPra
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltg0BxYo3o
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjlFuuqNvt
"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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpwLMnkIBw
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1Yc2czpvO
"I have a family reunion on Friday. I need someone to take photographs."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUB9BGDl3q
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFRxTTXNb1
Not so bad. He'll be with others, his family, and he'll have to behave. You'll survive.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzTbQqFpPH
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQogaF69cE
"I'll talk to my agent, and then call you back."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmnWNvzd8O
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdH5buULyt
"I need an answer now."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWMY9r2jGn
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxocdp3VGq
Breathe.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudnpG75rD2
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKU6s1Kniw6
It's now almost ten p.m. I can't call him now.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nSIlDKM8A
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAFXCWCSxe
"Okay. I'll do it," I agree, hoping that I won't regret this. 658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zGvilkZoy
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7coROSZi84
***658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7WcFmeBnl
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29KLTmhEpt
"Absolutely not." 658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvBNlwQSPR
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6KLXDdCUk
"I already said I would, Marcus," I reply, rubbing my forehead. It's too early in the morning for this shit.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgt5bS31Iz
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlI4NZ9DRxV
"Cancel it."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMpTeT0no2
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgACPnTbP5
"I'm not going to tarnish my reputation just because you disapprove."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJN8VShBFu
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1M85GZZhk
"Who's the agent?"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0y5ZCXrxQC
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8eVryeq1rL
"It's still my decision! I need the money."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZame3XabUf
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyA6ozvYn4z
"I arranged for you to meet with one of Jamaica's best photographers on Friday. His schedule is jam packed—"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUlUDtl0Cl
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLUHaMO3Xi
"Then I'm sure he'll appreciate the opening. Cancel it."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWjf3jJWer
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl59AQdg6TH
"Leah—"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2fKOBOSPfv
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0qXwWb7lb
"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."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKv2aqCOOD
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3LtziO6Az
I hear silence. Then, "Why don't you just bring him with you?"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡct8Dxim3Iv
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILeS3JNvy2
I snort. "That would never work."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19IhRhvQ9M
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgXW13il6P
"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?"658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidr5T0IQQS
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqNBE7sNZw
"Jesus Christ, you're a genius. And Rochester shouldn't mind because it'll probably make the photos come out better." 658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFe40qpJ1vL
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafnAjOyb6r
"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."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmfBM7eRwL
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ovDGTyTo9
I chuckle. "Thanks, Marcus. You're always there to ever so subtly remind me that I'm teetering on the line of poverty."658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlPrAQd30k
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrm9lXugt0w
"Anytime, babygirl," he says with a grin that I hear through the phone. "Anytime."
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