Page 38 of No Place Like You

I trip over a tripod leg, stumbling toward my tote bag. Ryan swoops toward me when my step hobbles a little before I catch my feet and stand upright. “Sorry,” I say sheepishly. “I’m ready. Let me just grab my laptop.”

I follow Ryan to where Kyle is stationed at a long six-feet foldable table. Sweat starts gathering in my armpits and under-boob region, making my bra chafe against my skin. Kyle doesn’t look up when we approach him, and Ryan waits a beat before interrupting him.

“Kyle, you wanted to see Lucy?”

He nods, his gaze focused on the tablet screen in front of him. “Did you edit the pictures?” he asks, addressing me.

Ryan steps aside, and I open Dexter’s laptop before setting it in front of Kyle. “I worked with a few different contrasts and exposures. For this one…” I pause, clicking open a picture of Seb leaned against the brick wall with half of his body glistening in sunlight and the other half hidden in the shade. “I used a more vintage style editing process and focused on bluish hues to contrast with his clothes.”

He murmurs an acknowledging hum.

“And for this one,” I add, clicking another picture of Seb leaned forward, the shade now covering his entire body with the light reflecting off the wall behind him, “I used a higher contrast to counteract the shaded area. I just thought it would make Seb pop a bit when he’s surrounded by so many shadows.”

Kyle hums again, turning the laptop screen so that it faces him fully. It forces me to relinquish control to him as his fingers skate across the flat mousepad. I stand there awkwardly, twiddling my fingers in front of me while attempting to read Kyle’s facial expression. Is that furrow between his brows a good thing? Or is the way he just sighed through his nose a sign of disappointment?

“Okay,” he finally says, looking up at me while gently pushing the laptop back in my direction. “Send those over to Ryan. He’s going to send them to the rest of the project team, and we’ll go over them before having the brand manager take a look.”

I hold back the eager spring in my feet, refraining from hopping up and down. Hoping I don’t look as impatient as I feel, I nod before turning to walk away.

“And Lucy,” he calls. I turn to face him, suddenly scared he’s going to change his mind. But he doesn’t, and the constant trickle of letdowns and setbacks I’ve faced in the last month seems to fade away. “Good work.”

“Oh! They have a chocolate peanut butter cupcake today!”

Elaine and I both light up in front of the bright display case carrying various flavors of cupcakes in front of us.

“Ohmigod, and a strawberry shortcake too.”

It’s our lunch break, and Elaine suggested we celebrate my little serendipitous milestone with a return trip to our new favorite dessert place while she claimed it wasn’t serendipitous at all. That it was a result of my hard work and talent. We make our selections and head back toward the studio while I clutch my strawberry shortcake cupcake with a graham cracker crust and walk with a practical skip in my step.

As we approach the building, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I impulsively assume it’s Dexter as we’ve been texting each other back and forth, with his last message before my break congratulating me on my most recent praise from Kyle. But when I look at my phone, I see Nat’s name flash across the screen.

“Uh, why don’t you go on up? I need to take this,” I tell Elaine.

“Okay.” She nods and presses the button to call the elevator.

“Hey, Nat.”

“Hey! Are you busy?” she asks, her voice sounding distracted and echoey.

“Uh, I have a minute.”

“Sorry, I have to put you on speaker,” she explains. “I was in between meetings after lunch, and I just needed to talk to you before I forget.”

“Okay. What’s up?”

“So, I’m going back home in a few weeks. Mom wants to go wedding dress shopping.”

I smile. “I called it.”

“Yeah.” She laughs. “We’re going to finalize reservations and rooms for the hotel while I’m there. I was thinking you can stay in my room with me for the first few nights before the wedding.”

“You aren’t staying with Hayden?”

“We can’t see each other on the wedding day!” she argues in a teasing voice. “It’s bad luck.”

“Okay,” I respond through a laugh.

“Oh! I also wanted to try something fun while we’re in Hawaii. Maybe snorkeling. Or ziplining!”

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