Remember what I said about being able to survive anyone after Montgomery? 573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52GfpqPzx3
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQtAxSCUE6
That was utter rubbish.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLI6bwGUc0
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vAaQPGaAO
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRthxMdbK7X
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHOuDjiRSE
"Bloodclaat," I muttered under my breath, hauling them over threshold, since I was too lazy to make a second trip.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr32PV2m42o
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pE6h3Zm0v
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWcVyPo7C4
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHCytTXUhS
Finally, I got through the door, and rested them flat on the floor against the wall perpendicular the couch, beside the television.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCIHbkOuMj
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLvZFAxBix
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhMoBAG27H
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43Bgxb6pt4
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡah8pCmlI27
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0sjzMHJCS
"This was my first photography show, and I must admit, your work is closer to what can be considered as art than I expected."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHwe52RVAI
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oGGYvqFqu
Closer?573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXjT4Bk7lv
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZN8CoSQ6lI
Closer?573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzq6HuIyez
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKwa4EKeoo
This is art. This is what I've dedicated my life to.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1xbTiDwOi
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrhVlTCtZ6
"Closer?"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4NHcy1Ejp
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiypmJlzvt
He gives me a condescending smile, and then clears his throat.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPpCtHXQts
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKAyGyF3ZX
"You see, photography will never be art. You are simply looking through a lense—"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCz6UZ0SdEO
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9eEuap9bH
"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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNb3e0g9EBk
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cKPD2uL7f
But he just laughs. Hard.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIKRXdZm0y
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfomHH6IArT
"Relax. It was a joke. Why else would I buy your art?"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAzTXgyCVU
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgK0M3lTg24
Well now, considering that that's why I'm here in the first place, I feel like a complete moron. 573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoah2whB6xf
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsbxflzqiC
"When's your next showing?" he asks, assessing me with dark brown eyes.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEH4GJgBtKi
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSngkofEABk
" 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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgSaeckjXM
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXyqSq1CLl
And now here I am, remembered as the girl who had her showing at Mr Assclown's house.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkg5kg1QiwD
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5obanB0xz2
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrgYYipYV9
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyNVnELBwO
"Can I give you a job?"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVAsBpcdqT
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9qHhVOgRv
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJgRcR9jKQ
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRWrXiE1hg
"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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2V2q46gs79
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjimBCSbI5
"I have a family reunion on Friday. I need someone to take photographs."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgko6zH0TO3
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjUYZd3oeT
Not so bad. He'll be with others, his family, and he'll have to behave. You'll survive.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkFHHE8rC7
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8Tq3FnVKQ
"I'll talk to my agent, and then call you back."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYh5DSoLt1
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2GBDP1WYz
"I need an answer now."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1zHrX3qyk
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRApJ4S2KoI
Breathe.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghg9c0C1bt
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6qjpNn0qx
It's now almost ten p.m. I can't call him now.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡql6wJtrUTr
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlKjh4lsdz
"Okay. I'll do it," I agree, hoping that I won't regret this. 573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTSpZojW9L
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5Vdd6IMAU
***573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwM2ONP0eCe
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDyqjMk5v4
"Absolutely not." 573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmo3X0LyeKV
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HtSPj7Ult
"I already said I would, Marcus," I reply, rubbing my forehead. It's too early in the morning for this shit.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uZbqky0Fy
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfAf98vO46
"Cancel it."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqirIifsJc
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMhusbhsLq
"I'm not going to tarnish my reputation just because you disapprove."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKYzqANFIj
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48YYnhqcqE
"Who's the agent?"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvtBxFqlbk
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9grqr5nrLD
"It's still my decision! I need the money."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2foZBhP6aI
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4d6y6hHtLQ
"I arranged for you to meet with one of Jamaica's best photographers on Friday. His schedule is jam packed—"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUcC2pNLwa
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWmXlK5D1jc
"Then I'm sure he'll appreciate the opening. Cancel it."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs12LiQ2xMu
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgc01GiIq9d
"Leah—"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0LUQyD2ow
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPo7G2ZO0pH
"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."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNkXpZsVB1
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIs4ZQLrRK
I hear silence. Then, "Why don't you just bring him with you?"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeCKUZFEWO
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSjA1PRzbu
I snort. "That would never work."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVhCRFyxy3
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4Me4286ez
"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?"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3TMYJFY6B
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QCwhB4UFo
"Jesus Christ, you're a genius. And Rochester shouldn't mind because it'll probably make the photos come out better." 573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcb8YPI8q9P
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYtF1rA60T
"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."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIynWoY8H4M
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQU1JrxYi5i
I chuckle. "Thanks, Marcus. You're always there to ever so subtly remind me that I'm teetering on the line of poverty."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgMS69zZCI
573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPw1IKvEpI
"Anytime, babygirl," he says with a grin that I hear through the phone. "Anytime."
ns18.116.62.210da2
