Complicated.
12a:
Ashley pulled into an empty parking spot in front of a six-story building and shut off the engine. She skimmed over the piece of paper that the directions were scribbled on, double-checking the address. It matched the digits over the building's entrance; she was at the right place. Flipping the visor down, she quickly checked herself in the mirror; makeup, hair, everything was in place. Before getting out of the car, she freed her key from the ignition and grabbed her purse off the passenger's seat.
To reach the main lobby, she had to pass through a set of glass double doors, a small foyer, then another set of double doors. A beautiful twenty-something year-old blond was sitting behind the receptionist's desk, with a telephone stuck to her ear, smacking on chewing gum and overusing the word 'like' as she rattled on and on. Ashley had a feeling the phone call wasn't work related, so she removed her sunglasses and leaned over the desk, getting the young woman's attention. "Hi," she smiled, tightly. "I'm here to see Spencer Carlin."
With a bothered look, the blond flicked her gaze from her important task, filing her nails, and stared up at Ashley. "Hey Joey," she squeaked into the receiver, "can ya hang on a sec?" After waiting for a response, she moved the phone away from her ear and placed it on her shoulder, resting it there for the time being. "Who are you here for?"
"Um, Spencer. Spencer Carlin."
The young woman reached for a post-it note she had stuck to the top of her computer screen. "Ashley Davies?" she asked, lifting bored blue eyes.
"That's me."
Pulling out a desk drawer, the receptionist removed a visitor's ID and dropped it onto the counter part of the desk Ashley was leaning on. "Spencer's on the fifth floor today. Once you get off the elevator, take a left, and go down to the third door on the right. During a photo shoot, no one listens out for the door, so don't worry about knocking, just go right in."
"I didn't think the shoot was still going on." Ashley picked up the ID, clipping it to the belt loop on her jeans. "Wasn't it supposed to be over with by now?"
"It started late. Spencer called down here a few minutes ago, telling me to send you on up."
"Oh, okay." Ashley looked around in search for the elevators, spotting them on her right. She glanced back at the blond receptionist, and said, "Thank you."
The blond gave her a brief false smile before picking up the phone and getting back to 'Joey'.
On the ride up to the fifth floor, Ashley leaned against the wall of the elevator, staring at the numbers above the closed doors, watching them light up as the elevator hit that specific floor. She gripped the railing behind her, tightly, not wanting to let go. She was nervous. Not quite as nervous as she was going to meet Spencer and Aiden for coffee last Friday; she had gotten used to everything since then, for the most part. But, still, she was nervous. Lunch. Just her and Spencer. Alone, for an hour. What the hell were they going to talk about for a whole hour?
The only reason she accepted the lunch invitation from Spencer was to see if they could actually do it, be friends. It was a test. A test she wasn't all that certain she could pass.
The elevator eased to a stop and a ding was heard before the doors slid open. The bright hallway lighting filtered inside the softly-lit box. Pushing off the wall, she moved forward, and with a sigh, stepped out of the elevator.
Following the receptionist's directions, she made her way down the hallway, toward the third door on the right. There was about thirty people in the large studio-like room, all buzzing around crazily like bees. She wasn't sure where to go, what to do, or how she would find Spencer in all this madness.
An older man pushing a cart came through the door behind her. She moved out of his way, allowing him to roll past. "Excuse me, hi," she said, catching up to him. "I'm looking for Spencer Carlin. Do you know where, in the midst of all of this," she motioned around the room, "she might be located?"
The man nodded, "Sure do. I'm heading over in that direction right now. Follow me."
"Thank you," she smiled, grateful. As they walked, she stayed a couple paces behind the man, taking in the large studio, busy workers, makeup and hair area, half-dressed models...
"Ma'am?"
Ashley blinked and turned her head around, facing the man in front of her.
"She should be on the other side of that screen."
"Oh, thanks." Ashley peered around the large screen the man had pointed at, spotting Spencer immediately.
The blond was standing in front of one of the models, adjusting part of her outfit with one hand, cradling a camera with the other. Moments later, she stepped back, lifted the camera, and began snapping away, giving the model direction whenever she didn't like a certain pose or facial expression.
Ashley wouldn't dare admit it out loud, but she thought this take charge, bossy attitude Spencer had going on was a little sexy. She continued to watch quietly from where she was standing for several minutes, until a tall dark-haired man came up beside her, asking if he could help her with anything.
She looked up at him with a small smile. "No thanks. I'm just here for Spencer."
With narrowed eyes and a big smile, he asked, "Girlfriend?"
"Friend, actually. Just a friend."
"Single friend?"
Wishing the annoying young man would disappear, her lips stretched into a tight smirk. "Single, gay friend."
"Ah, okay. That's cool." His head bobbed up and down twice before he thrust his right hand out, expecting Ashley to grab hold with her's and shake it, which she reluctantly did. "I'm Noel."
"Ashley."
"Nice to meet you, Ashley."
"You too," she mumbled, turning back to Spencer.
"I was just going through some of the photos Spencer's all ready taken today. Would you like to see them?"
"Um..." She was enjoying seeing Spencer in action, but she really wanted to take a peek at what the blond was creating with that camera. "Sure, okay."
Noel led her over to a cart that was set up a few feet away. A lot of important looking computer equipment sat on top of it. He took the chair in front of the large flat-screen monitor and told Ashley to take the other. With a simple click of the mouse, a file was opened and a ton of thumbnail sized pictures loaded up on the screen. He adjusted the sizes, making the pictures more viewable.
Ashley rested an elbow on the arm of the chair and leaned forward. "Wow."
"She's good, huh?"
"Amazing."
"She's just starting out, but with this much talent, at her age, it's safe to say she's got quite a future ahead of her, career-wise. The magazine was lucky to get her to sign on as one of the contract photographers. Really lucky. But, we know she's going places."
After going through all of the photos, which were gorgeous, Ashley stayed seated beside Noel, and was listening to him explain his role at the magazine, when Spencer appeared next to her. "Oh, hey," she smiled, playing it cool, trying not to come off as nervous as she really was at the blond's sudden presence.
"Hey," Spencer said, handing over the camera she had just finished using to Noel. "I'm, uh, I'm so sorry for the delay. Problems with the equipment set us back an hour." She paused, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I, I tried calling your apartment, but there was no answer, and I didn't have your cell number, so..."
"Well, it's okay, I don't mind the wait."
"Really? You're not completely bored?"
"No way. I'm at a photo shoot, watching you do your thing for the first time, with hot models walking around me every few minutes, practically naked." Ashley grinned, nose crinkling. "Trust me, I'm far from bored."
The brunette's grin had always been contagious; Spencer couldn't help but smile back. "I figured you wouldn't have a problem with the models."
"I never have a problem with models."
Noel leaned toward them, "Um, hello? I think you left someone out."
"Oh, sorry," Ashley smiled, patting his arm. "Noel, here, has done an excellent job of keeping me entertained for the past ten minutes."
"He's good at that." Spencer shifted her eyes to Noel, smiled, then quickly returned her attention to Ashley. "We'll be wrapping up in the next twenty minutes - I hope."
Ashley nodded. "Okay, cool. Take your time." She bit the inside of her cheek as she watched Spencer walk away, and when the blond was out of earshot, she blew out the breath she had been holding. She hated the jittery, racing heart feeling she got whenever she was around Spencer. Hated it.
- - -