Remember what I said about being able to survive anyone after Montgomery? 575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfttJMGBok
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecMrmsHJIQ
That was utter rubbish.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvefadY6ec
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wO7DKUEca
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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUjgVkcmzB
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OZk74RasA
"Bloodclaat," I muttered under my breath, hauling them over threshold, since I was too lazy to make a second trip.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mncyHAi1d
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYjlsnvJe8
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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOc6dK2ph0
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFQwIZkNk3
Finally, I got through the door, and rested them flat on the floor against the wall perpendicular the couch, beside the television.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwSEedybnQ
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfxmB9lCTF
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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpenkejizx7
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBSMrlwbXt
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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfWOjypYFR
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4rmN8eVql
"This was my first photography show, and I must admit, your work is closer to what can be considered as art than I expected."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9pUlFOntj
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8tAmrXX3e
Closer?575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWFTMyX3y1
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkrOW5r1mB
Closer?575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjDagh5Cfl
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7HuhmtjN5
This is art. This is what I've dedicated my life to.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXffgjpKf8
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76Exnmbrda
"Closer?"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtR0siqp5Uf
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8RYdyMjIH
He gives me a condescending smile, and then clears his throat.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElZdJarRCf
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdx4uNNGlK
"You see, photography will never be art. You are simply looking through a lense—"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWvgi84njs
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosxoz7JoXU
"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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdIgSEu3OI
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmJcGjhOAC
But he just laughs. Hard.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgHUyzq6t0
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIl2dM6mC6
"Relax. It was a joke. Why else would I buy your art?"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHT7snKNUSp
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGSGZED5vNZ
Well now, considering that that's why I'm here in the first place, I feel like a complete moron. 575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3VRhKlJSL
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6e1AS1QrEl
"When's your next showing?" he asks, assessing me with dark brown eyes.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQ7W6Gl3ik
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBzAN69L4x
" 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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGaLlCCN2s
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bDOjUWvDo
And now here I am, remembered as the girl who had her showing at Mr Assclown's house.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgtTiEbVYA
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghRST6dCQb
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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODqe2w2DyO
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDAs1T08Tm
"Can I give you a job?"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDlBE71eVO
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumkuets4Rc
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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkHIFsLvDV
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tHgsi0TNU
"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.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgSU3hHWui
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouLz3yiNix
"I have a family reunion on Friday. I need someone to take photographs."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYUrf2jRj9
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1awWMlCOT
Not so bad. He'll be with others, his family, and he'll have to behave. You'll survive.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7f1cjojNa
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kPpLP3nvL
"I'll talk to my agent, and then call you back."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRv9S5w7LD
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvc3DdrdgWU
"I need an answer now."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QLMXxJF02
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVcyZsLa46
Breathe.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdt586F8wl
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDySRnJB9n
It's now almost ten p.m. I can't call him now.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0flv60ac9V
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTikmVRl1w3
"Okay. I'll do it," I agree, hoping that I won't regret this. 575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusSGpsIKoV
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUtHEMiei2
***575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboqMYivQkD
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu8W6ijoFM
"Absolutely not." 575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vt6Vl43eG
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGskZhQjIk
"I already said I would, Marcus," I reply, rubbing my forehead. It's too early in the morning for this shit.575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7w1d4iUSH
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibFXbXkzLZ
"Cancel it."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaFlUkcfVK
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxixYhYbA2
"I'm not going to tarnish my reputation just because you disapprove."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14sphSMe0T
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SxuHLGsX8
"Who's the agent?"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJ7C4EHH3h
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBveeQAhP1d
"It's still my decision! I need the money."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OrNN2Z3qy
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLS7qKaQlJl
"I arranged for you to meet with one of Jamaica's best photographers on Friday. His schedule is jam packed—"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhMtwiz1ae
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAf8fVwV8BE
"Then I'm sure he'll appreciate the opening. Cancel it."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZ1Jf0XWMy
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEv2QYoxLf
"Leah—"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9thnGrlAU
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJD5oDFznw
"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."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxj9KX4EWCT
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qLaTigp7Z
I hear silence. Then, "Why don't you just bring him with you?"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHLH5oLlVW
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JXpfE6bup
I snort. "That would never work."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLykcTo9Lfe
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPefyYevyjY
"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?"575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZc145g9mnr
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXdXu6N3nx
"Jesus Christ, you're a genius. And Rochester shouldn't mind because it'll probably make the photos come out better." 575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8vnUeWFQ5
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGr9mCa0GUc
"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."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsrtF2I4qM
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuqMgIYiYq
I chuckle. "Thanks, Marcus. You're always there to ever so subtly remind me that I'm teetering on the line of poverty."575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfgqXbKCLX
575Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDg7iTcPkg
"Anytime, babygirl," he says with a grin that I hear through the phone. "Anytime."
ns3.141.33.133da2
