"Hey, Black, you're wanted over there in Studio B."
"Alright! Thanks, Cheren!" Black got up from his chair and ran over to the door, opening it to leave.
"Uh, aren't you forgetting something..?" Cheren raised an eyebrow, picking up the camera Black had left on the table.
"Yikes. Can't take pictures without that, right?" he grabbed it from him. "Sheesh, what would I do without you?"
"You wouldn't have a job." Cheren said dryly, with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone of voice. Black ignored it and smiled, oblivious as always.
"That's true! You were the one who landed me this gig in the first place. I owe you one. Let's go out to dinner tonight, alright?"
"No, thanks. Every time you offer, I always end up paying."
"That's not true. Besides, if you don't want to pay, then we'll just go with Bianca next time. She's loaded."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because I asked her to help me out with last month's rent, and she ended up paying the whole thing without hesitation." He shot Cheren another smile before he left, as Cheren shook his head and sighed.
Blair Black (though he was mostly just known as "Black") had decided to become a photographer a mere 2 months before he had decided to become one, which was unheard of in the profession he had chosen for himself. His childhood friend, Cheren, had offered him an internship of a lifetime- to take pictures of world-famous models at the most well-known modeling agency in the country, Plasma Pictures. Cheren, being the one who ran the "audition" process and supervised casting calls, saw that the company had an opening for a new photographer. Little did the company manager know that he would take the word "new" so literally. Unable to hire anyone with that much lack of experience, the manager decided to let Black intern with them for the summer. That way, Black picks up the skills he needs, while the agency gets the position filled for the photographer they needed.
The best of both worlds.
"Yo, Black! Over here, mate!"Bianca waved at him, trying to get his attention. She was the one who picked out all the clothes, working for the wardrobe department.
"Bianca!" he bent down to hug her. "Have I ever mentioned how much I loved that Australian accent of yours?"
Bianca frowned, taking a few steps away from him. "I'm British."
Black's eyes narrowed, smirking playfully. "Are you sure?"
"Black!" Bianca hit his shoulder. "Stop with all the rubbish!" her green eyes filled with annoyance. Black brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face, leaning in closer to her.
"So you're saying that you're not happy to see me right now?" he smirked again.
Bianca blushed, looking away. "I.. I.. uh.."
He stood all the way up, his 5'7 frame barely towering over her petit 5'2 height. "I'm just kidding. I don't even like girls. Where did you need me, again?"
She pointed out in front of him. "Over there, you twit. I've got to go finish dressing the model you'll be photographing. It's a good thing you're not straight, or else you couldn't focus on your job, what with all the pretty females prancing around here half naked in bikinis and whatnot."
Black yawned, then turned to Bianca. "I'm sorry, were you saying something just now?"
The sad thing is, he was being completely serious.
Bianca opened her mouth to yell at him, but closed it when Cheren came over to whisper something in her ear. Once he was done, he left, and Bianca turned to Black, smiling.
"What? What'd he say?"
"Oh, nothing." She lied.
"It isn't nothing! That's not your usual smile."
She titled her head to the side. "You can tell my fake smile from my real one?"
Black raised his eyebrows as if to say, "duh".
"Well aren't you a cocky little thing, you are. Sometimes you're even as queer as a bottle of chips, you brown hatter. You'll be all tizzy in a while, you can bet on that. Anyway, while you're thinking of how many 'smiles' I've got, I'll be toddling off now. I'm not going to blow the gaff on this one, my dear bum-bandit." Bianca gave another smile, then hurried off to the dressing room. Black scratched his head.
"You know I have no idea what you just said, right?"
After a few minutes had passed, Black was setting up his camera, connecting it to a small white laptop so that the others behind him managing the shoot could observe the pictures he took as he took them, popping up on the screen. He checked his watch as he pushed back his bangs from his forehead with his hand. "This model is late, whoever she is.."
Just as he said that, the said model walked in, wearing a tight fitted white shirt and brown straight leg jeans. Their back was turned, giving everybody who was watching them only the view of a long lime green ponytail, tied up with a clear-coloured hair band. The model was the tallest person in the room, as White, the makeup artist, had to stand on her tip toes to reach their face, touching it up with a bit of powder.
"Alright, N. All ready to go? They're waiting for you over there. I know this is your first shoot, so try to relax, okay? Just have fun with it!"
"Hey White, why don't you give her a break? I'm pretty sure she knows how to pose in front of a camera." Black yelled, biting into a pear he found a while ago on the "Staff-only" food table.
White laughed at him, her brown curls bouncing this way and that as she did. "Black, you're so stupid. I had heard rumours the new photographer guy was an idiot, but I didn't believe it."
Black raised an eyebrow. "Wait, who said that about me?"
She shook her head and left, as the model made their way to the center, standing in front of a white backdrop.
"The colors don't work." Some one from behind mentioned. "The white shirt blends in too much with the background. Make him take his shirt off."
'Him?' Black thought, as he watched the model strip his shirt off in a sexy manner, revealing a finely toned body and a six-pack of abs.
Black's mouth went agape, as the model ran a hand through his thick green hair.
"Is this better?" N shrugged.
The guy in the back gave him a thumbs up. "Perfect. All right, we're ready to start this shoot. Black, you good up there?"
Black didn't respond, feeling nervous all of a sudden. Up until this point, all the shoots he had done were with girls. Now that there was a thin, half-naked extremely good looking male standing in front of him, he'd never be able to focus. Maybe that's what Cheren had whispered in Bianca's ear earlier? That Black would have to shoot a guy instead of a girl?
Sighing, Black bent down on the ground, positioning his camera to his face. This would be a challenging distraction, but he decided to face it and go through with it.
Starting off, N gave him a simple pose, crossing his arms over his chest. Next, stuck for an idea of a new one, he put his hand on his head and looked away.
"N, look at me and lean in a little bit." Black commanded, clicking away.
"You mean like this..?" N leaned his whole body closer, his necklace of a blue planet dangling in the open space.
"Yeah.. now put your hands in your pockets or something."
N did as told, getting the hang of things pretty quickly.
"Now act like you're mad at me."
"Haha! What?" he laughed, showing off a row of perfectly straight teeth.
Black brought the camera down from his face. "Your smile is perfect.."
"Hm? Really? Thanks, I guess. I don't see what makes mine so special, though. I brush after every meal, just like everyone else."
Black frowned. "You're supposed to brush after every meal?"
N frowned along with him. "Well.. that's what my dentist says, anyway.."
They both stared at each other for a while, as N suddenly remembered what Black had asked him to do. He quickly put on an angry face, glaring at the camera, as Black took some more shots.
As the photo shoot went on, Black became more and more fascinated with N. How he looked, how he stood with such confidence. How every single shot was perfect, and how well N took direction.
Black suddenly didn't want to photograph anyone else.