So beautiful…
"Fuck! C'mon you guys! Deadline is tomorrow morning at 9am and none of these photos are even close to being good enough for the cover." Sam Evans was chief editor at one of the top magazine companies in the world. He and his team were on a strict deadline to deliver the spring edition of their magazine, Soulful, to their boss at 9am tomorrow morning, and none of the models they shot would work for the cover. Sam knew he was fucked. Sue Sylvester did not mess around when it came to getting her quality publication out on time.
"None of these models work. None of them have any personality. They're all bland and plain and boring!" Sam was furious. When he asked his team to change it up a bit and get models who weren't the prototype, they failed to deliver.
"Look at her." Quinn, his assistant, picked up one of the photos and thrust it in Sam's face. "She has a funky purple blunt haircut. That's edgy right?" Sam looked at Quinn with no expression. "Quinn, I've seen at least 5 girls just last week with this "funky edgy" haircut. And this chick probably hasn't eaten in a week." Sam had a monotone voice to match his expression. "Our last two cover models looked a lot like her, except Ms. April had a short black bob and Ms. May had a blonde pixie cut. Sylvester wants edgy and these girls ain't it." He took a deep sigh and pounded his fist on the desk, shaking the windows in the loft, causing everyone around him to jump. "FUCK!" He shouted. "We're screwed."
Sam took a deep breath and counted to ten. Clearly they weren't getting anywhere. They'd already wasted six hours going through over a thousand photos from their last shoot and nothing was working. None of these models screamed "Soulful." Every picture the team poured over got a resounding "no" from Sam. They'd been on a time crunch before, but something always seemed to work out. Sam didn't see it happening this time around.
"You know what guys. Let's just call it a night. Clearly, we're gonna just have to face the music tomorrow morning." Sam was defeated. His team had never seen him give up before.
"Sam, look. I can call a few models last minute. Just… tell me what it is you're looking for exactly and we'll call them in. You can shoot them and I'll direct. We can pull this out! I won't rest until this is done." Quinn's speech gained the groans of her fellow teammates, Sam included. No one was looking forward to sticking around any longer than they had to, and most of them had already begun packing their things.
"Quinn darlin'? Go home. I'll figure it out." Sam placed his hand on Quinn's shoulder and began directing her toward the exit. Quinn pouted the whole way to the door. "We're a team Sam. I know we can do this. I can't afford to be on Sue's bad side and I know we'll make it work." Quinn tried her best to get Sam to reconsider, but he just gave her a flat smile as he closed the door behind her.
Once the team had all left for the evening, Sam began to pack up the loft space. The team had decided to meet in his photography studio to put together the last minute photos for the magazine. He'd had the whole space set up with a photography equipment, a space to hold an actual photo shoot, and even a dark room. However, none of it went to any good use tonight as they were going to be screwed to all hell tomorrow morning. As he was shutting off the last of the lights, he checked his phone and noticed a text from his best friend Puck.
Puckerman: Dude it's half price beers duffys tonite
Puckerman: beer is flowing and the girls are too
Puckerman: Working too hard you need a break. Meet me. I'll be here all night.
Sam figured he could use a drink before heading off to his fate tomorrow. Heading down the stairs, he saw a woman attempting to get into the loft below his. Apparently her keys weren't working and there were at least 10 bags strewn around her feet. She seemed a bit flustered, which stopped Sam in his tracks. Normally he wouldn't have thought twice about it but… he couldn't leave a lady in need without the offer of help.
"Can I help you? I know sometimes the key can get stuck." Sam stepped toward the woman. When she looked up at him, he was met with the most amazing soft brown eyes.
"Uh, no thanks. I'm good." The woman went back to trying different keys into the lock of the loft door.
"No seriously. I can help. Please? I hate to see a lady struggling like this." Sam urged.
The woman looked up at him again, this time a bit guarded. "Really, I'm okay. Thanks for the offer." It was when she looked at him a second time that it clicked for Sam.
He began picking up the bags strewn around her feet and started walking toward the stairs.
"Excuse me? What are you doing…?" The woman had a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"You'll be standing out here all night, fooling around with that key." He stated as he continued up the stairs.
"But where are you going with my bags?" She questioned.
"I do have your bags don't I? Guess you'll have to follow me and see." He smirked.
Cautiously she followed him upstairs against her better judgment. Sam figured she might freak out any minute, so he decided to let her in on his true intentions. Once upstairs, he opened the door which led to his photography studio. Setting her bags down right inside of the door, he turned around and gestured for her to walk inside.
"I am the chief editor for Soulful Magazine. I am probably already past creepy at this point but uh… I have to shoot you. With my camera! I know nothing about you, yet… your energy is off the charts." Sam had found his muse. He couldn't let her get away and it seemed like fate had led them to this point. He needed to persuade her to model for him. She was exactly what 'Soulful' had been missing.
Since she hadn't gone running for the hills by this time, Sam decided to go with it. He gave the woman an impromptu tour of the studio. She walked behind him silently, looking around with wide curious eyes. Picking up a picture here, running her figures over props there, and generally being intrigued by her surroundings. As she continued to look around, Sam picked up his camera and casually began taking pictures of her.
"So, you never bothered to give me your name…" Sam mused as he snapped a photo.
"And you didn't bother to ask before picking up bags and holding them hostage," she said with a slight grin. Sam snapped another photo. "Take off your coat." He said.
The woman looked back at him with a scowl on her face. She was holding a strip of photography negatives up to the light. She stopped with her hands in mid-air. "Uh, what?"
Sam chuckled. "I promise, this isn't some ploy to get you to take nude photos or anything. I just want you to be a bit more comfortable."
She put the negatives down and slowly unbuttoned her coat. Still, she eyed him cautiously, but complied. He snapped more photos of her, getting excited about the prospect of finding his cover girl. And getting to know this woman better…
"Mercedes." She stated as her coat fell to the floor. Sam smiled and looked at her coyly over his camera before taking another picture.
"Nice to meet you Mercedes. So what do you do?" Sam asked.
They continued their banter back and forth. The more they talked, the more comfortable Mercedes seemingly became. Before you know it, she'd slipped off her sweater revealing a camisole underneath. She's also slipped her hair out of the ponytail it'd been in earlier. Kicking off her shoes, she sauntered toward the photo shoot set that was set up toward the front of the loft.
"I can't believe I'm doing this. I don't even know you." She laughed. By this time they'd made their way to the main photo studio and she was fully giving into posing and modeling for Sam. She was enjoying this impromptu photo session. Who knew that when she left out for a quick trip to the store, this is how her night would end?
"But it just feels so right… don't it?" Sam quipped. Mercedes couldn't help but smile in response.
"Ya know, I've actually read a copy of Soulful magazine in the doctor's office a time or two." She grinned. "But, I always thought that the title of the magazine was misleading. All those models always seemed so stiff."
"Well, now that I have my way, things will be changing." Sam snapped more photos as Mercedes continued to pose for him.
Sam reached out to adjust a strand of hair that'd fallen in Mercedes face when she recoiled a bit and laughed.
"Oh come on, you have to trust me." He laughed back.
"I don't know. I'm still waiting for the climax to this fairytale." She playfully rolled her eyes.
They continued on with this banter and fell into an easy atmosphere of playfulness. One hour gave way to two as Sam continued his photo shoot with Mercedes. The conversation went from their work, to their lives. Family, childhood stories, insignificant others. She lived out her high fashion model dreams, remembering everything Tyra and ANTM taught her about finding her light, using her angles, and smizing with her eyes. She knew it'd all pay off some day. Sam gave her grief over this when she mentioned it to him and told her that really, she didn't need those tyra-isms. She was a natural all on her own. When Sam finally got the shot he wanted, he was actually a bit disappointed. He hadn't wanted the evening to end.
"Well, I guess I should head back downstairs. It's getting late and I'm pretty sure my Ice cream has melted by now." Mercedes bent over to pick up the sweater and coat she'd carelessly tossed on the floor. Sam gave her a slight nod as he conceded to her wishes. As she headed toward her bags by the front door, Sam walked over ahead of her and picked up her bags for her. "Hey, I can at least walk you back to your apartment." As they made their way downstairs, Sam placed her bags by her door. "Oh, the trick to using the key in these doors is to push down then up when you're turning the lock."
Mercedes tried the key with the trick in mind and it worked on the first try. "Thanks" she smiled. "Goodnight." Sam gave a slight wave before heading back up stairs.
Later in his darkroom, Sam could not get Mercedes off his mind. It was well past 3am and more often than not his mind wandered back to those brown eyes… full lips… her playful laugh. It helped that he had over 3 dozen photos of her in front of him reminding him of their night together every step of the way.
Sam had his fair share of women, the job did come with its perks. However, simply being in Mercedes presence felt different. She wasn't just some mindless drone that agreed with everything he said. She had her own opinions and wasn't afraid to express them. Beauty and Brains, a myth Sam thought only existed in the movies. In the few hours they'd spent together, Sam had felt more for this woman than any other woman he'd ever claimed to love before. He felt her pull when she looked at him downstairs, and whatever it was she had over him hadn't gone away. Is it possible to fall in love this quickly?
Around 5am, Sam had his cover shot. He'd finally put the finishing touches on everything. The presentation would be ready for Sylvester by 9am on the dot. Sam had dodged a bullet with that one and had Mercedes to thank for it.
Heading up to the rooftop to clear his after the night's events, he sat and looked over the city. He contemplated what it all meant to feel so much for someone in such a short amount of time. What he came up with was one simple answer. He needed to have Mercedes in his life.
A few days later, Mercedes was heading out of her apartment to visit her parents for dinner. As she stepped out of the apartment, she almost tripped over a manila envelope that lay on the floor in front of her door. She tentatively picked up the package and noticed there was a post-it note tacked onto the front that said:
"Thank you for saving my ass. Dinner on me anytime. –Sam"
Mercedes opened the manila envelope and was greeted with her face smiling on the cover of Soulful Magazine.