Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dimitri POV
It broke my heart to upset her, but at this point in our lives, she knew how things had to be. Thankfully her birthday is right around the corner, and between the both of us, I'm not too sure who is more excited that she will finally be considered an adult in the eyes of the law. My hand released hers, but we still walked incredibly close to each other.
"So where are we headed first?" Rose finally broke the silence between us, and looked up at me with a hopeful smile.
"You'll see." I said, as I ushered her through a crowd of people.
"You know I hate surprises." She said, sounding frustrated as a guy in a business suit shuffled quickly past her, knocking her bag off of her shoulder. It took a lot of will power for me to ignore the fact that he didn't even bother to apologize to Rose, so I continued to stare straight ahead. The anger soon subsided as the location where our first photo shoot was going to take place came into sight.
Grabbing Rose gently by the arm, I weaved us through traffic and across the street. She must have guessed our location, because her eyes lit up.
It was an outside floral shop, right on the edge of Madison Avenue. The entire street was flooded with the scents of dozens of varieties of flowers, and it almost made it impossible to catch your breath. Lilies, tulips, roses, daisies, orchids and sunflowers were scattered in rows and wrapped around the columns of the structure. All kinds of flowers were intricately placed in various places that were now surrounding us.
"This place is beautiful." Rose said, admiring the scenery. I gazed down at her, and watched her as she took it all in.
I remember the first time I came across this shop. It's the only one like it in New York, which makes people flock from all over to come and see the sight for themselves. I came across this shop when I first came to the city and was still trying to get a feel for the place. I swear I could have smelled the fragrances of the flowers from at least a mile away, and I followed my nose until I ended it up here. Everyday after that, I made a point to try to walk by this place as much as possible. I have loved it ever since.
And after seeing the white dress Ivan chose for Rose, I couldn't think of a more perfect place to take pictures of her. All the different colors and varieties that surrounded us would make for a perfect backdrop. The color of the dress would insanely contrast the brilliant hues of the flowers, making Rose stand out. And that of course, is the entire point. To show Ivan how in a picture filled with beautiful things, Rose is the first thing that will always catch your eye.
I pulled my camera out of its case and assembled all the pieces. "You can start at anytime Roza." I said as I took a couple of practice shots.
"Right here? In front of ALL of this?" Her eyes got wide and she gestured around us.
"Never thought I'd see the day when Rose Hathaway was intimidated by a garden." I chuckled to myself and aimed the lens directly at her, and took a candid.
"I meant the people you ass. Not the flowers."
"Well the answer is yes Rose. This is something you're going to have to get used to, especially if you want to work in a big city. Crowds of people aren't really something you can escape, and you never know where your photographer is going to want to shoot you."
She mumbled something under her breath before taking a look at her surroundings, envisioning a few poses. After assessing her positioning, she leaned against a light post that was covered in ivy. One of her arms went above her head, and the other framed her face. I snapped a few shots. She wrapped herself in the flowers enclosed her, walking up and down the isles, finding her favorite ones to be shot in front of. She used flowers as props, she put some in hair, and she would toss petals up in the air. I continued to take the pictures.
After about a half an hour, I told her to get in a few more good shots, which of course she did almost effortlessly. Modeling was something that came so naturally to her, which made it easier on me since I really didn't have to do much coaching.
We wrapped things up at the flower shop and then I hailed down a taxi so we could catch a ride across town. It wasn't long before we ended up in my friend Jillian's apartment. Before we walked in, Rose looked at me more confused than ever.
"Why are we here?"
"My friend is going to help do your hair for the next shoot?"
"Why? I thought my hair looked fine…" She sounded hurt in a way, which was not my intention at all.
I leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
"Your hair always looks beautiful. But I have an idea for the next shoot, and she's helping us with that."
That was all that I could say before Jillian opened the door, she obviously must have heard us approaching.
"Hey, come on in guys." Jillian said with a warm smile. She was a plain looking girl, but only by choice. She often wore her hair straight, and barely put on any make up. You would never know the things that she is capable of once she's working though.
"Thanks for helping us," I said, walking through the threshold of her apartment. "This is Rose. Rose, this is Jillian."
"You can call me Jill," she replied, sticking out her hand to shake Rose's. "Dimitri insists on calling me by my full name because apparently he thinks it's more professional."
Both girls laughed in unison as Jillian lead us towards the back of the building. She has an entire room that she dedicates to her work. There is a salon chair in the middle; complete with every tool you could possibly imagine to do hair with. And beside it is a large white vanity, with a massive mirror and the desk part is scattered with all kinds of make up products.
"I've been practicing on a few mannequins, and I finally think I have the style down perfectly. I adjusted it a tiny bit to make it more modern, but you can tell me if you don't like it."
"I'm sure it will be fine Jillian. Let's see what you got."
Jillian ushered Rose into the seat and pumped it up a few times until she was at an ideal height.
"What exactly are you doing to me? I'm kind of feeling like a lab rat here…" Rose eyed both of us up in the mirror, looking a little wary.
I didn't want to show her yet, but I decided to anyway. I yanked my wallet from the back pocket of my jeans and scanned the plastic sheets until I found the picture I was looking for. Carefully removing it from its place, I put my wallet back away and stared at the picture for a moment longer. It always managed to make me smile, which is why I carried it with me everywhere.
I gave the picture to Rose, and she stared at it curiously for a moment.
"She's beautiful… but who is she?" Since Jillian was now sectioning off layers of Rose's hair, she couldn't turn to look at me so she stared into the mirror instead.
"She's my mother." I said proudly, as I walked over to stand on Rose's other side. I looked down once again at the picture as Rose held it in her hands. "It was taken about five years before my eldest sister was born. My mom and her sister used to be big on photography, right when good cameras started to come out. They took pictures of each other constantly. But this one," I said, pointing down at the picture. "its my favorite."
"I can understand why." Rose mumbled as she gaped at the photo. "She was stunning. I finally see where you get your good looks from." I heard Rose catch her breath as she realized exactly what she was saying, and who she was saying it in front of.
"It's okay Roza. Jillian knows." I saw her shoulders relaxed, which made me relax a little too. "I had to tell her, she always knows when I'm lying." I saw Jillian nod out of the corner of my eye and smiled.
"It's not exactly that hard…" Rose joked, and the girls were laughing together again. I was happy that they got along, to be honest, I wasn't sure they would. Rose has a much more outgoing personality compared to Jillian's reserved one. And sometimes I've noticed that those characteristics seem to clash, but apparently that didn't apply to these two.
"Anyway," I cleared my throat. "As I was saying. I took this picture of my mother before I left home, so I could always remember her. And when I saw that cream colored dress Ivan wanted you to wear, it reminded me so much of this photograph. And I thought there was no better way to pay a tribute to my mother than to recreate it."
Rose's face lit up in a smile, and I was grateful. I had no doubt in my mind that she would do this for me, especially if she knew how important it was.
"You don't think I'm going to look weird with these bangs and stuff, do you?" She looked worried, even though I knew she had nothing to worry about.
"You could shave your head and you would still look perfect. So no, the bangs will not make you look weird." Rose gave me a thankful smile, and turned her attention back to the photograph.
Less than an hour later, Rose's hair and make up was finally done. Jillian had given her tight, yet flowy curls and short bangs that swept across her forehead. The top of her hair was teased, in a way that made it look bigger. Which was obviously the style back when my mom was younger. Jillian helped Rose into the dress, and gave her some bracelets and a necklace to complete the outfit. She covered her lips in a deep red color, that made them pop against her tanned skin.
My mom was barefoot in the photograph, but for the time being Rose had put shoes on since we would be going outside.
We drove a good ways out of the city, until we hit an area that seemed to have more nature. Luckily, Jillian had a car so we didn't have to pay for a taxi. Once we reached an isolated strip of land we all piled out of the car.
I observed the land, and then the photograph, trying my best to find the location that would be perfect for the shot. It took a little bit of hunting until we found the perfect secluded spot.
Rose studied the photograph once I gave it to her again, and tried to match my mom's stance. I loved how much she was willing to get into this, just because she knew it made me happy.
The first few frames were practice for both Rose and I. She wanted to perfect the pose my mother made, and I wanted to perfect the lightning and the angles at which the photograph was taken.
It didn't take us long before we had it. Rose stood eloquently on a long tree that had most likely fallen down quite sometime ago. She had one knee straight, and the other relaxed, pressing her bare toes into the rotted bark. Her right hand weaved delicately into her hair, as she played with a few strands and the other rested casually on her leg, letting her fingers sprawl over it neatly.
I couldn't help but notice how similar Rose and my mother looked. They both had dark features that suited them perfectly. Rose's hair was a few shades darker than my mother's, but their eyes were both a cool shade of brown. Rose was also a little bit curvier than my mother, but the dress that Ivan had chosen for her barely showed off any of her curves. The dress itself had a few noticeable differences, but of course it would. This dress was probably made last week, and my mom's dress would be well over thirty years old. All in all though, the pictures looked practically identical.
At that moment, I wanted to hug Jillian for doing such an amazing job on Rose's hair and make up. Without it, I was sure the pictures wouldn't have come out so good.
"That's a wrap." I said, lowering the camera from my face.
"Thank God," Rose spat out. "I was starting to feel like a hippie." She laughed, and I couldn't help but laugh with her. "I can't wait to see how the pictures came out though." She gave me a reassuring smile, and placed her hand on my arm.
"They look great… you look great." I said, gazing at her in awe. "Thanks a lot, Jillian. This really meant a lot to me."
She gave me a genuine smile and nodded her head. I think I expressed my gratitude enough when we were on the phone earlier. And that was even before she pampered Rose.
We all got back into the car and headed back towards the city. As beautiful as the land was out there, I miss the busy streets and the bustling of people everywhere. After living in a place like New York, I don't think it's possible to want to live anywhere else.
Jillian drove us back to her apartment where she let Rose fix her hair and adjust her make up. We had two more outfits to shoot Rose in, however I was planning on doing them at the same location. It didn't take Rose long, but unfortunately she had to keep the vintage looking dress on, because her next two outfits weren't exactly appropriate to be wandering the streets of New York in.
We took another cab to the business district of New York, and the driver dropped us off in front of an empty building. This place was still being built on the inside, so no one was technically working in it yet. Even though this wasn't the exact location I was planning to shoot her in anyway. The building that I was going to shoot Rose in, was the parking garage that was adjacent to the offices that we now stood in front of.
I led her up five flights of stairs, and I was grateful when we reached the top that there were no cars in sight. The parking garage was completely deserted, which gave it an almost creepy feel.
"Here we are. You better get dressed." I said, eyeing her up.
"You expect me to get naked, on the top of a parking garage?" She scrunched her forehead and gave me a hard look.
"It's not like anyone can see you." I replied coolly.
"That's besides the point. Why are we up here, anyway?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
She let out a frustrated sigh and walked over to the far corner where she apparently didn't think I could see her. I could, but I turned the other direction and pretended to play with a few knobs on the top of my camera.
A few minutes later I heard the clicking of high heels against the concrete become louder and louder. I turned in the direction of the sound and I swear I felt my heart stop. Rose was walking towards me dressed in the white wife-beater tank top and the small, black boy short underwear with the tall black pumps on her feet. Her body looked amazing, and I quickly ran my tongue against my bottom lip to make sure I wasn't drooling.
"See something you like?" She asked in the sexiest voice possible.
"I see everything that I like." I smirked and held my hand out. She came closer and placed her hand in mine. I quickly pulled her in close to me and wrapped my arms around her waist, resting them on her butt, which was almost fully exposed.
"One day I'm thinking that I should get to photograph you half naked…" she whispered as she played with the collar of my shirt.
"What would be the fun in that? I wouldn't look nearly as good as you do in that outfit." She let out a loud laugh, and a big smile came across her face.
"You just gave me the best mental image ever." I smiled at her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Good, now keep this attitude up and give me some good pictures. You wanna impress Ivan? Then just keep doing what you're doing. Your pictures are coming out awesome."
"You really think so?" She asked shyly. I had forgotten how little she was complimented back when she lived with her foster families. She was always convinced that she never did anything right.
"I know so." I smiled and kissed her on the tip of her nose. A tiny bit of color flooded to her cheeks and I tapped her butt in order to get her moving.
I positioned her in one of the far corners of the parking garage near the giant block of concrete that showed the level of which we were on. It's sign was large in tan-ish, yellow paint that stated level five.
Like always, Rose needed no coaching from me. She stood in front of the block with her legs spread slightly apart, which when paired with the high heels, made them look at least a foot longer. So instead of her usual five foot six height, she appeared to be around five seven or even five eight. I made sure to get the city landscape in the back ground of the picture, but like before, I assured that Rose was the center of attention.
She continued for quite sometime with poses like these, but it wasn't until the last ten frames that I thought she was really getting into it. This time she stood with her back towards me, and her body positioned perfectly so her ass was directly in front of me. She parted her lips slightly, and crossed one leg over the other, accentuating her curvy backside even more.
If I didn't have a boner by now, I was expecting to get one soon. I have never in my life seen a girl pull off boy shorts like she does. She must have known she was teasing me, because I saw an evil sparkle in her eye when I let the camera fall away from my face.
"You should get changed into your last outfit now. We are losing daylight here." I said as I focused my attention towards the sky. Clouds were now beginning to roll in, even though the sky maintained most of its blue color.
"I'll be back in a minute." Was all she said, and then she was off to change into what I knew would be my favorite outfit of the night.
It took her a little bit longer to get changed into this outfit, I was guessing because there was more to it. I remember there being stockings and stuff like that in the box, so I attributed that as to why she was taking so long. For a second I thought she might need my help, until she began to make her way across the parking lot.
If I thought she looked good before, I had another thing coming.
So I went on a writing spree last night, hopefully you guys don't mind. I've started next chapter already, but I'm not sure exactly when it will be finished!
Rose's first three outfits are on my profile if you want to get a better look at them, since for some reason I find it immensely difficult to describe them sometimes haha.
Reviews would be awesome! xoxo
