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Behind The Lens
Chapter Six; Sweet Nothings And Distance.
Logan followed Johanna out of the building, the feeling of loss overwhelming his heart. He'd be a fool to say that being away from Carlos, even for a split second, was painful. For some strange reason, the Latino he had only met had somehow made him feel more whole than he has his entire life. Carlos had a cute way of making Logan feel special, unique, like he was more than just some pretty boy that posed in front of a camera flamboyantly.
Johanna signalled one of the guys on the door, asking him to open it up. The man quickly obliged, not wanting to piss her off. She was a mean woman in any sense, let alone getting on her bad side. I mean, most of the time, she didn't have to say anything, people just did things to please her, to stay on her good side.
Logan followed her out into the carpark, noticing Carlton stood with the door open, again.
A huge sigh left Logan's lips as his mother climbed in, quickly following her as he thanked Carlton, smiling at him and patting him on the shoulder. Logan was getting pretty tired to the way that Johanna would treat Carlton, I mean, technically Carlton was Logan's employee, not Johanna's. So she should have to show some respect to the man, but would she? Probably not.
The limo purred as Carlton rolled up the window splitting the driver's section from the rest of the limo, dividing himself from the Mitchell's in the background, leaving Logan open pray to his mother.
"Logan," Johanna said calmly. "You need to understand how lucky you are, sweetie. There are many other people out there who would chop an arm off to be in your position.. You need to be grateful."
"I am grateful." Logan replied, mumbling under his breath.
"No you're not!" Johanna snapped, her face turning slightly red. She took in some air, breathing it slowly as she attempted to calm herself down, stopping the eruption from happening.
Logan pushed himself into the leather of the seat, hating when his mother was angry. She had a bad temper, always had, but with the added stress of managing her model son, it's only grown more worse and worse, but usually, Johanna would take the abuse out on the many people on the other end of her cell phone.
"Logan, you're not grateful," Johanna started, turning in her seat slightly to face Logan. "If you were, you'd take more care of your image and how you're portrayed," she motioned her hand up and down, regarding the way Logan looked. "I mean, c'mon sweetie, what the hell are you wearing? The shirt is wrinkly, the tie is crooked.. Did you even bother to put any thought in your outfit?"
"No.." Logan breathed. He learned over the years to just agree with whatever Johanna said, rather than going against it to back himself up.
"Exactly. You're lucky that the pictures won't show off the horrible wrinkles on your clothes, and the fact that Mercedes is covering you up in most of them because she has an ego the size of the Titantic." Johanna said bluntly.
Logan just let out enough sigh, leaning his head against the window. His mother was so criticial, so opinionated that it drove him insane. She rarely had a good word to say about her kid, and when she did, she made it seem like the most false thing that was ever uttered by her overly plumped lips. Her 'compliments' practically oozed with sarcasm most of the time. It was as if, she didn't see Logan as her son, but her project. A project that she had to keep perfect, keep on the straight and narrow, keep making her money.
The car soon came to a halt, stopping in front of a large radio tower.
"Thought you said we were doing a TV interview?" Logan asked, looking up at the sight through the window.
"I did," Johanna said, grabbing her small handbag. "They've set up a special interview inside the tower, specifically for you."
She smiled sweetly as she pressured Logan into climbing out of the car as Carlton opened the door. Logan stood on the pavement, ready to turn round and thank Carlton, until Johanna quickly climbed out, placing her hand onto her son's shoulder, pushing him away from Carlton before he could use his manners and thank the man properly.
"These shots are great, kid." Andrew grinned, looking into the camera.
Carlos had his arms crossed across his chest, holding himself from shaky from the nerves. "Really?"
"Yeah," Andrew pulled away. "You have some serious skills here. I mean, the way the light reflects off of Logan's face, causing it to shine? Flawless."
"T-Thanks." Carlos gushed, slightly embarrassed.
"No problem." Andrew nodded, before walking away.
"Hey Andrew?" Carlos called after him, watching the man spin round on the spot. "So err, I have a question.. D-Do you always photograph Logan?"
Andrew let out a little chuckle. "Not all the time. Mainly him or Mercedes though," he pointed over to the blonde girl being pampered by the staff. "Then there's the other models under Rocque Modelling, like Zachary Styles, Drew Huntley, Sabrina Bryant, Amelia Walsh. Why'd you ask?"
Carlos looked dumb-founded. "No reason, was just curious.. So err, what's next?"
"Well, we have some more shoots to do." Andrew smiled. "But it's okay kid, go and enjoy the rest of your day. Today was your first day and you done great," Andrew gave him a thumbs up. "So go ahead, and take the rest of the day off."
"Really?" Carlos replied enthusiastically. "I mean, we've only been at this for about an hour or so.."
"I know. And it is longer days normally," Andrew paused, before laughing slightly. "But I can smell the alcohol still on you from your obvious celebration last night."
Carlos let out a nervous laugh, the heat rushing to his neck, the prickly heat swamping it. "I promise it won't happen again."
"Hey," Andrew placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're a kid, go have fun. Just remember, it's longer days from now on. I'll text you the full details tonight."
"Thanks Andrew." Carlos grinned, his teeth on show as he departed the room quickly before the photographer changed his mind.
His mind raced as the air hit him once he reached outside. The first thought that popped into his head was Logan and where he could be. Carlos couldn't stop the grin that plastered his face as he pulled forth his phone from his pocket, quickly flipping it open and scrolling through the names on his phone. He reached the 'L's, realising Logan wasn't there.
Did he put him under something different?
Carlos furrowed his neat eyebrows as he carried on searching, carefully looking at each name, remembering who they were before moving on. Once he went through his entire contact list, it finally hit him. In all the excitement last night, he never gave Logan his number or collected his.
"God damn it!" Carlos shouted in the air, clenching his fists.
Some people walking by stared at the Latino, puzzled looks on their faces, Carlos only quickly smiling at them before running off, desperate to get back to his flat. It wasn't even midday, and yet, he wanted to run home, jump on his bed and just smell. It might sound weird, but Logan's cologne from last night would be smothered all over his pillows, and well, he wanted to smell it, to believe that Logan was still around his, in his bed, looking adorable as ever.
After sprinting the entire way, Carlos finally made it back to his building. He ran up the stairs, passing each one at a time, careful not to miss one. He was a daredevil, living life on the edge, but he had terrible accuracy and would no doubt stumble back down the stairs, breaking something in the process. He reached his floor, noticing Lucy about to enter her apartment.
"Hey Luce, whatcha doing?" Carlos asked, approaching the girl.
She soon spun around, the red highlight in her air flying madly, standing out compared to the rest of her normal coloured hair. "Hey Car, and nothing much, going to bed. The bar was packed last night! I've only just got home after Alberto made me help clean up."
Carlos let out a faint laugh. "Sounds like Alberto, lazy sod."
"Yeah," Lucy laughed, her hand twisting the key perched in the lock. "So I'll see you around?"
"Course," Carlos smiled, kissing Lucy on her forehead once more. "Sleep tight."
Lucy softly smiled, before disappearing behind her door. Carlos took the time to quickly retrieve his phone from his pocket, quickly checking the time. In a few hours, Roberto would be coming round to check on him, to make sure he was still alive and not starving to death. Then, the minute Roberto would leave, Carlos would somehow find a way to track Logan down to spend some more quality 'colleague' time with him.
He opened his door frantically, rushing in as quick as possible. He flicked the TV on, turning it onto a random channel before moving to the bathroom, shedding his clothes along the way. His red top tumbled to the floor by his bed, his shoes kicked off near the door, his jeans dropping in the doorway to the bathroom. Then, off came the socks, landing gently on top of the jeans. Carlos leaned into the shower/bath combo, turning the tap, allowing the lukewarm water to flush out, small droplets splashing gently against the tiles. He quickly shimmied out of his boxers, the cold hitting him as he stood in the shower, letting the water run down his caramel skin, his fingers running through his jet black hair.
Johanna continued to push Logan down the hallways, soon coming out into the open of a small make-shift studio. The guys were all sat on their chairs in front of their equipment. It looked exactly the same as the many studios Logan's been in before, although this time, there's a bright orange couch sat in the middle, two orange chairs facing opposite him.
"It's good to see you Johanna." a woman said, appearing out of nowhere. Her hair was done up in a ponytail, her face on full show.
"Caroline," Johanna responded, air kissing the side of the woman's face. "Logan's ready and on time."
Logan awkwardly smiled as the woman gazed him up and down. "He's a looker. Hi, I'm Caroline Zamora, I'll be doing the interview."
"Hi." Logan gently smiled.
"Follow me, let's get the make-up team on you." Caroline smiled, guiding Logan over to a chair.
Logan bent over, taking to the seat. As he made contact with the wood, he was swarmed by the make-up team, their equipment ready to go and paint Logan's face. He sighed as they started. It felt just like doing a shoot, the constant attention that he didn't want. Johanna and Caroline just kept their eyes on him, talking about him, passing him their plastic smiles.
Soon, Logan was called up from the chair by a random man stood in front of the camera, a earpiece wrapped around his neck as he clutched a clipboard to his chest. He motioned over, taking a position on the couch, adjusting himself as he continued to straighten his clothes out, hoping not to anger Johanna anymore. Plus, he was going to be on TV, anyone could see him.
Caroline soon made her own way over, perfectly dressed, hair tightened in the ponytail. She sat on one of the chairs opposite Logan, straightening out her skirt as she smiled at him, soon glancing over at the man. He replied, giving her a nod before counting down using his fingers. Then, the camera rolled.
"Good morning California! I'm Caroline Zamora for 'California Morning' and today, I have a special guest with me. It's none other than the rising teen sensation, the model in the making, Mr Logan Mitchell!" she grinned falsely, extending her arm in Logan's direction.
"Hi, it's nice to be here." Logan sweetly smiled, rather nervous. He was good at standing in front of a camera, sure, but only when it was taking pictures. When it was recording for an audience? Well, that was something Logan didn't enjoy too much.
"Now, we have much to talk about. So let's begin with a question.. Who's your biggest inspiration?" Caroline asked.
Logan glanced his eyes quickly in Johanna's direction, gaining a rather nasty glare, so, he lied. "My mother slash agent."
"Yes, Johanna Mitchell, your mom slash agent. She's really driven your career out there, hasn't she?" Caroline grinned.
"Hasn't she just." Logan falsely smiled, the smile soon dropping from his face rather fast.
Carlos soon climbed out of the shower, quickly grabbing a towel from the side and wrapping it around his waist as the small droplets rolled down his body, the water glittering as they ran over his caramel torso, landing softly on the towel and hung loosely around his hips, the defined V-shape peeking out the top. He moved into the main room once more, running his fingers through his hair, shaking it as he attempted to dry the short locks. Then, his heart jumped out of his chest.
The TV channel he had randomly chosen before the shower had Logan's angelic face on it.
Eagerly, Carlos quickly threw his body across the room, landing harshly on the couch. He grinned as he leaned forward slightly, propping his elbows onto his knee, his hands holding his head up. He was amazed. Logan always looked good, but on TV with high definition, he looked absolutely stunning. Carlos tried to push the butterflies away, listening to the woman interviewing him, watching his squirm slightly on the couch.
Carlos could see Logan's smile constantly change between the questions. He would smile, only dropping it the minute he answered. It was obvious he didn't want to be there, even Carlos could tell after staring at the screen for less than 10 minutes. He paid close attention, listening to the words that fluttered from Logan's lips, the lips Carlos couldn't remove his gaze from.
"So Logan, how about friends, do you have a normal life?"
Carlos moved closer to the screen, practically wanting to jump in there just to be with the model, to wrap his arms around him and whisper that everything was going to be okay, as long as Carlos was around.
"Well, I have a great life, I'm so thankful for the opportunities I've been given."
"And what about friends?"
"I have many friends at the company, we're like a little family."
"Only friends in the company? What about, outside work? A girlfriend?"
"I don't date. I'm too focused on my work to worry about all that stuff, maybe when I'm older. And friends outside the company?.."
"Yes, y'know, friends from school or just general people that aren't in the entertainment business."
The anticipation rose in Carlos, his heart slamming against his ribcage with a huge amount of force. His breath was caught in his throat, a lump growing at the nerves of waiting for Logan's reply.
"I do. Erm, actually, a new special friend I made recently. His name's Carlos Garcia."
That threw Carlos over the edge. Without realising, the Latino had thrown himself up in the air, squealing like the many fangirls that stalked Logan on a daily basis. He clenched his fists, pumping them in the air as he continued to bounce on the step, his whole body rising as a huge sloppy grin smothered his face in delight. Logan, the guy that he really likes, just said that Carlos was special to him. Special to him.
Still jumping, Carlos didn't realise his towel dropping to the floor, piling up in a bundle. He stayed completely oblivious to the world, his eyes squeezed shut as he went over the words that Logan's pretty mouth uttered a few minutes ago. Then, his apartment door flung open.
Carlos snapped back into reality, jerking his head towards the entrance. Stood there, in his jersey, was his brother, Roberto, eyes as wide as an owl's.
"Carlos man, cover up!" Roberto complained, covering his eyes.
A prickly heat rushed up to Carlos' cheeks, tinting them pink as he quickly dove to the floor, scrambling to grab the towel and wrap it around his waist. "R-R-Roberto.. W-What are you doing here?"
"I bunked to come see you," Roberto replied, moving his hand away. "Wish I hadn't now.."
"Shut up," Carlos chuckled lightly. "And bunking? Roberto, don't be an idiot!"
"Screw you Car!" Roberto bit back. "I'm not an idiot!"
"You will be if you continue to skip school," Carlos replied sternly, moving towards the kitchen area. "Then, you'll end up working in McDonalds'."
Roberto didn't reply, only giving his brother a nasty glare as he ran his fingers gently across his long hair, pushing the large strands away from his eyes, the rest of it following gently down his back, perched just a little bit lower than his shoulder blades. Carlos looked over, noticing Roberto's eyes still fixed on him.
"Go get a haircut, you look like a girl." Carlos jeered, filling up a glass with some water.
"Go grow some balls, looks like you need some!" Roberto laughed, pointing down towards Carlos' crotch.
"And this is why, I hate you." Carlos replied flatly, passing the water over to his brother, Roberto graciously accepting, taking a gulp.
"You love me." Roberto said, finishing the water, smirking at his less than enthusiastic brother.
"So," Carlos asked, leaning against the counter, his bare torso on show. "Whatcha want?"
"Nothing," Roberto argued defensively. "Just wanted to see you, that's all."
Carlos nodded his head, knowing that Roberto only got defensive when he got in trouble.
"Well, I'll see ya." Roberto quickly said, turning to walk out the door.
"Wait, you only just got here?" Carlos asked confused, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Yeah, but you look rather busy," Roberto laughed, winking at Carlos to remind him that he saw him naked. "Drop me a text."
"Will do." Carlos smiled, playfully punching his brother in the arm. Then, Roberto disappeared from the door, Carlos quickly closing it, running back towards the TV as fast as his feet could carry him, desperate to hear more from Logan. He had only seen him an hour ago, and yet, for some strange reason, Carlos' heart yearned for Logan to be by his side.
"..And that's all we have time for. Thank you Logan for taking the time to come and see us, and thank you everybody for watching. Remember, keep an eye out on Canadian magazine 'Teen Star' for Logan's up-and-coming photoshoot taking place in Canada tomorrow! Tune in tomorrow at the same time, have a good day!"
Carlos could see as Logan sweetly smiled, his crooked grin slightly coming into play as he playfully waved at the camera, the screen disappearing away, Logan's pretty features going with it. Carlos let out a deep sigh. He knew he'd miss Logan, he knew that this morning when Logan left the photoshoot with Johanna, but, he didn't expect the pain to be tearing away at his heart. Not only that, but Logan was going to Canada tomorrow. For how long? Carlos didn't know. But now, the pain was only going to get worse as Logan could be gone for a few days.
A depressed aura took control of Carlos' body as he stood up, dragging his feet across the floor to his bed, slamming down on the duvet, the linen smothering his face.
Yep, the pain hurt like a bitch. And now, Carlos was going to be seperated from Logan for god knows how long with no way of contacting him.
Logan quickly climbed off the couch, moving over to his mother.
"Canada, tomorrow?" Logan asked, rather confused as he rose an eyebrow. "You never told me this."
"I had only arranged it this morning when you and Mercedes were doing your photoshoot," Johanna replied, glancing up from her phone. "I had no time to tell you."
"What about the drive here?" Logan snapped, extending his arms out in annoyance.
"Don't you use that tone with me, remember, I'm your mother!" Johanna seethed. " It's already sorted, so don't bother playing the 'whiny teenager' card on me."
"Oh, so now you want to be my mother.." Logan mumbled under his breath, Johanna not taking a blind notice as she walked out, signalling Logan to follow her like a dog on a leash out of the building and down to the limo. Logan followed, his mother making pace as she continued to scroll through her phone, her high heels slamming against the ground, the noise bouncing off of the walls, filling in the silence.
They soon approached outside, another limo waiting for them. But this time, it wasn't Carlton.
"Where's Carlton?" Logan asked, watching a different man open the door for his mother.
"You mean the other man?" Johanna asked skeptically, sliding into the leather seat. "I arranged a different person to take us to the airport."
"Why?" Logan questioned her.
"Because," Johanna started as the limo purred to begin it's journey. "You were getting too attached to the man. I haven't fired him, but I thought you might need a break from seeing his face everyday."
Those cold words hit Logan hard. Seeing his face everyday? He wouldn't have to if Johanna allowed the teen sensation to be a normal kid, not some product that she could form and shape to her own selfish desires.
"Okay.." Logan quietly mumbled, leaning his head against the glass, staring out at the passing scenery.
"You are to go upstairs to your apartment, pack your bags and be down in the lobby within 20 minutes," Johanna said, eyes focused on her phone. "Not a minute late. Oh, and pack some decent clothes this time, enough to last you for a week."
"A week?" Logan's head snapped up from the glass he was perched on.
"Yes, that's how long we're staying out in Canada for."
Logan opened his mouth to reply, only noticing Johanna quickly giving him daggers, telling him to close it. He did so, admitting defeat. A huge sigh departed from his lips, depression kicking in. He's been to Canada before, heck, he's even stayed out there longer than a week. But the only thing that was bugging him was, he didn't even get to say goodbye to Carlos. What was worse, he didn't even have Carlos' phone number to text him, the model being far too wasted last night to think about collecting the needed digits.
The limo continued to drive along the road, only seperating the model and the photographer even further apart.
And on that note, Carlos needs Logan. So cute. Not much else.. I love life! Woo!