Rebirth – Chapter 27: Opportunity Knocking

-Notes-

You: XD Well let's see now, techinically if you're hoping that Allison would walk in on them, that would mean that you want her to find out, and if you want her to find out, that means you want the affair not to be kept secretive and for those doing something wrong to be caught. So, theoretically, you want the right thing to be done, so doesn't that make you a good person?

AngelGardian666: Bears are notoriously callous. I'm sorry! Hermit crabs are affectionate. :)

Merry-2004: Omfg, you weren't the first to review this chapter:P Aw, I'm so flattered that you stuck onto this one. Even though I take forever to make a damn point in the story and I take forever just to update. Thank you!

Damion Starr: Don't cry! I have candies! XC Sorry my update wasn't all that soon!

Raz Gaiale! AH! The pressure! -bursts- Don't go insane! Yes, I figure I'll let them day dream for a while. Lawrence is good at pretending his problems aren't there, so I supposed that that's what he would do in this situation. But we all know it can't go on like that forever… ;D Thanks!

Pirategurl85: Guess what, I'm updating it:) Thank you!

Redrose2310: -military salute-

Thanks to all for being patient. Life is shit, updating is hard. Hope that y'all aren't getting bored. :) Have a nice day. And that's not a suggestion


Adam let out a stressed huff as he shut the door behind him, tossing his keys out onto the table. Unfortunately, they missed and hit the floor. He'd just spent the accumulative amount of six hours (minus bathroom and food breaks) searching out jobs in convinient locations. At least, if that didn't count the one trip he took to a place roughly forty-five miles out. So that was the one outlier, the job he secretly hoped he wouldn't get, even if he would have taken any job. In any sense, things weren't looking all that great. As far as jobs went, he never had a real one. From age fifteen to twenty he worked at various fast-food joints, and from there, somehow this had spawned. He liked it at first—finally an opportunity to put his photography major to good use. Now he was ashamed of how stupid he'd been. Funny how it had only taken one day—not even a full day—to change his mind. Well…maybe not so much funny as…unnerving.

He set some bags down that he'd gotten out at the store, just ciggarettes, and soda for Lawrence, who seemed to always be drinking one. If he expected him over tomorrow night, he'd better have the proper tools to seduce him. Though he didn't remember if he liked Coke or Pepsi, so he'd settled on Dr. Pepper.

Things were looking bad in the job department. No one wanted to hire an inexperienced loser whose only friend was a camera. It all made him feel useless, pathetic. Writing down 'Arby's' as his last legitimate reference was more than a little embarassing. Tomorrow, his rent was due. And after that, he was pretty much flat broke. The idea worried him, to say the very least. He didn't know what he would do, and he especially didn't know what he was supposed to tell Lawrence. Naturally he would try and help, but Adam couldn't take money from him. He'd already taken too much…he was already a damn burden. For Lawrence's sake, he knew he'd better find something quick.

Well, things couldn't be so bad. He tried to shrug it all off optimistically. Tomorrow he would pay his dues and go out looking for jobs again. At night he could forget about his problems for a little while and spend some time with Lawrence. Right. He just had to take it slow, not worry. He tossed the soda into the fridge and tapped out a ciggarette from the package, sticking it between his lips as he searched around for a lighter. He spotted it on a table, but before his hand met it, the phone rang, and instead he went for that. It occurred to him, as he did so, that he no longer feared what voice would be waiting for him on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" he muttered, struggling out of his jacket as he held the phone to his ear with a shoulder.

"Yes, hello, is this Adam?" came an unexpected voice. It sounded like some elderly fellow, a voice he didn't recognize.

"Yeah, I'm him, who's this?" he replied suspiciously.

"Hi, this is Charles Bastian, editor from Ryka Publishing. I'm calling because I heard something about a good photographer. To tell you the truth, I'm interested." Said the amicable voice.

Adam paused, for a moment stuck in confusion. There was an abnormally long stretch of silence before he cleared his throat, the ciggarette falling unnoticed from his lips to the floor. "Uh-wha, mm—" he stuttered, trying to clear his head. "Er, hi…"

"I'm…sorry, is this a bad time?"

"No," Adam managed. "Uh, I just wasn't really expecting…um…S-sorry, my photos? …Yeah, I…I take pictures." Waita show of that college education. He scolded mentally.

"Well then tell me a little bit about yourself." The man suggested. "What kind of experience do you have?"

Adam was still slightly taken back, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to scramble for an answer. "I-I…I majored in media arts and photography, uh…I sort of did some…investigatory work lately, nothing…proffessional." He bit his lip.

"Hm. Okay, that's fine. So…tell me about what you're doing now."

"Ah…I…looking for something else…?" he helplessly floundered, knowing how ridiculous he was sounding.

"I'll be honest, I'd like to see some of your work." The man said genuinely. "Have any kind of portfolio or something?"

"Only, like, twelve." He got out, glancing around his apartment quickly. "I mean, yeah, yeah."

"Great. Maybe you could get one ready to show me? How does…Friday, two-thirty work for you?"

"It, I, uh, yeah. Yes, of course."

"Let me give you and address."

"Right." Adam reached for a pad and pen, furiously scribbling down. "Uh-huh. Okay. 23455? North? Er-uh, South, okay…Okay yeah. Yeah, I'll be there. Thanks…Thank you." Slowly he pulled the phone away from his ear, setting it carefully down onto the reciever and gaping at it in awe. He stood numbly for a moment longer before a laugh escaped him, and he shook his head in disbelief. Lawrence… he smiled, mind reaching back into the conversation they had shared that first night they saw each other out of the hospital…

"A few years back I wrote an article for some magazine…I still have the sources somewhere. But I know a guy. Maybe I could…"

Adam mused for a moment longer before wandering into the kitchen. …Now where were those old photographs? The nice ones…