Remember what I said about being able to survive anyone after Montgomery? 468Please respect copyright.PENANAshHXgm8xdy
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That was utter rubbish.468Please respect copyright.PENANAh30W2lRkm9
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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.468Please respect copyright.PENANA2rnrmFYwFz
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"Bloodclaat," I muttered under my breath, hauling them over threshold, since I was too lazy to make a second trip.468Please respect copyright.PENANAcCyrxlqFew
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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.468Please respect copyright.PENANAUTW4lggmmf
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Finally, I got through the door, and rested them flat on the floor against the wall perpendicular the couch, beside the television.468Please respect copyright.PENANA3oHgXXtXe8
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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.468Please respect copyright.PENANAMdLqA3V4e1
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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.468Please respect copyright.PENANASRIgeJx82D
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"This was my first photography show, and I must admit, your work is closer to what can be considered as art than I expected."468Please respect copyright.PENANA0hPinNnBa7
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Closer?468Please respect copyright.PENANAhs3KAokvFv
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Closer?468Please respect copyright.PENANA4e8HRutLrg
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This is art. This is what I've dedicated my life to.468Please respect copyright.PENANAlTpG1Gp0yV
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"Closer?"468Please respect copyright.PENANAauzMSsgEyz
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He gives me a condescending smile, and then clears his throat.468Please respect copyright.PENANAOluGjRoBVc
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"You see, photography will never be art. You are simply looking through a lense—"468Please respect copyright.PENANAFCO3941pjC
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"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.468Please respect copyright.PENANAlOgZV0F8cS
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But he just laughs. Hard.468Please respect copyright.PENANAvYpJMTf0t0
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"Relax. It was a joke. Why else would I buy your art?"468Please respect copyright.PENANAS8UcsDcLNV
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Well now, considering that that's why I'm here in the first place, I feel like a complete moron. 468Please respect copyright.PENANAAdAge91wEM
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"When's your next showing?" he asks, assessing me with dark brown eyes.468Please respect copyright.PENANAQhFPfMgKEM
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" 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.468Please respect copyright.PENANA8RfzTECdvX
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And now here I am, remembered as the girl who had her showing at Mr Assclown's house.468Please respect copyright.PENANAYjYkjswk7x
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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.468Please respect copyright.PENANAcXTM8Nba81
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"Can I give you a job?"468Please respect copyright.PENANABYPmQOBf0z
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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.468Please respect copyright.PENANAo66MozRpws
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"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.468Please respect copyright.PENANA9Kg2I52cmK
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"I have a family reunion on Friday. I need someone to take photographs."468Please respect copyright.PENANAkJ4Rgrakz1
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Not so bad. He'll be with others, his family, and he'll have to behave. You'll survive.468Please respect copyright.PENANA288boX9yhx
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"I'll talk to my agent, and then call you back."468Please respect copyright.PENANAF0u2WG7R9S
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"I need an answer now."468Please respect copyright.PENANAXowxskoS2p
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Breathe.468Please respect copyright.PENANAEnrthl043Q
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It's now almost ten p.m. I can't call him now.468Please respect copyright.PENANA5f2EKDRQ6z
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"Okay. I'll do it," I agree, hoping that I won't regret this. 468Please respect copyright.PENANAsyZfrZn1IR
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***468Please respect copyright.PENANAtFrJTZHRcg
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"Absolutely not." 468Please respect copyright.PENANAhYouE9NpOl
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"I already said I would, Marcus," I reply, rubbing my forehead. It's too early in the morning for this shit.468Please respect copyright.PENANAUVSUiUFU0w
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"Cancel it."468Please respect copyright.PENANA9Md0WjKlYK
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"I'm not going to tarnish my reputation just because you disapprove."468Please respect copyright.PENANAeiRi9aNh1Z
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"Who's the agent?"468Please respect copyright.PENANAK4TPx8Mno7
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"It's still my decision! I need the money."468Please respect copyright.PENANAM5zSNpOwZ0
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"I arranged for you to meet with one of Jamaica's best photographers on Friday. His schedule is jam packed—"468Please respect copyright.PENANAJwHEuxIPZO
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"Then I'm sure he'll appreciate the opening. Cancel it."468Please respect copyright.PENANAK6iNLiVTQh
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"Leah—"468Please respect copyright.PENANA7vIpJgKr60
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"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."468Please respect copyright.PENANAvrQwmYxh2B
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I hear silence. Then, "Why don't you just bring him with you?"468Please respect copyright.PENANAludewHRCEK
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I snort. "That would never work."468Please respect copyright.PENANAhwShPRxRGP
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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?"468Please respect copyright.PENANA0rECNksdy7
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"Jesus Christ, you're a genius. And Rochester shouldn't mind because it'll probably make the photos come out better." 468Please respect copyright.PENANAJfIzCpnupb
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"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."468Please respect copyright.PENANAaE4GZdH8Zd
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I chuckle. "Thanks, Marcus. You're always there to ever so subtly remind me that I'm teetering on the line of poverty."468Please respect copyright.PENANAF1IInQlZj1
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"Anytime, babygirl," he says with a grin that I hear through the phone. "Anytime."
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