Page 13 of In the Safety's Zone
“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m working on a different project for Aphrodite. Lilly is the one handling your familial shoot. She’s over there. Aphrodite I will come and find you later on if that’s okay?” Rachel quickly smoothed over the slight but she didn’t realize how long my father could hold a grudge.
I gave her a quick smile knowing that I wasn’t going to have a good shoot until I convinced him to leave. “That’s fine.”
We headed in the direction that Rachel pointed us and met a woman named Lilly who also ignored my father. She was more excited about proving herself because apparently this project was one where assistants got their own families to style and she wanted to make a good impression. The clothing for this was elevated tennis attire: cashmere sweaters to be draped over our shoulders, designer shoes, and couture tennis clothing. It was a different take on the sporty look and channeled a lot of what the observers of the sport wore instead of those of us who played. I loved the styles they had for us and I was excited to get started.
“So we’re gonna do the whole daughter and father playful tennis thing if that’s okay with you all.” Lilly was going through what she was looking for from the photographer and I barely registered what she’d said.
My ears heard her but there was another man that had garnered my attention. He had deep brown skin, like the hull of a pecan and his hair was braided up in elaborate cornrows. He had a light goatee and five o’clock shadow and he looked godly. Like he was the embodiment of the god Nyame I’d learned about. He looked powerful, like he was the creator of all things and I knew I was staring but couldn’t stop.
Next to him was someone that I was visually more familiar with because he was always onSports News. It was Antwan Phillips and the god beside him looked similar enough that I assumed they had to be related. The god was slightly shorter than Antwan and the fact that they had matching smiles let me know they were definitely related. Even from a distance, his personality seemed to pull me toward him and I wondered if I would get the chance to talk to him.
Girl why are you worried about talking to this man?
“Sorry, the sound stage is so big we’re trying to get as many of these done at once. I hope that’s okay.” She’d caught me staring and I hated that she thought it was because I was irritated instead of intrigued by the unknown man.
I smiled at her because I should’ve been paying closer attention instead of ogling a man who was going to find his clothing like I was. “I’m not a diva. It’s not—”
“Someone should’ve clarified that we were going to have to share space with all these people. Do you have sufficient dressing rooms for everyone? I’m not trying to share with a stranger I don’t know.”
“Dad.” Because of course he didn’t care about me, he was more worried about himself.
“Yes, we have a dressing area that is set up for each individual. We would never compromise someone by not having everything that was needed for their comfort.”
Lily looked completely disgusted at my father’s attempt to make himself seem more important than everyone else. Or to suggest that they weren’t prepared to handle this level of famous people.
Folks had entourages hanging around and I was so glad that we didn’t have anyone with us. My father wanted as few witnesses as possible to how he was going to act, especially since he was probably still sleeping with his agent and newest assistant. My agent was at home and I’d told her there wasn’t any reason for her to fly up here just because I was going to take pictures. I refused to have a full-time assistant because I had enough people trying to handle me as it was.
“I guess if that’s all we have we’ll have to make do.” He sounded like he was doing them a favor and I could tell by the way she kept the odd smile on her face that she was only putting up with him because of me.
“We appreciate your sacrifice so that we’re able to get this shoot together. We were very excited that you would join us for this today. This is part of the anniversary issue so it’s going to be a big deal. We’re thankful to have everyone here today.” She was talking a mile a minute, her blonde head swinging from side to side as she motioned through the different areas of the room.
“We’re thrilled to be a part of it. It’s a tremendous honor.” I let my media training kick in because I wasn’t about to have him making us look bad to yet another person.
Her smile returned before she nodded at me. “If you guys will follow me, I’ll be more than happy to lead you into your dressing area.”
“So we know that your father has left but we wanted to get the okay from you to do a separate spread from what is going on here today.” I’d changed out of the clothes that Lilly had selected for me and now Rachel was prepping me as I finished getting my makeup done.
“What do you mean?”
I knew I sounded and looked exhausted but I couldn’t help it. It was a strain to spend any time with my father but he’d taken it to the next level with how he’d acted.
“Well, contrary to earlier conversations, you have absolutely been a legend for years. With the way you’re winning, there would be a very good chance that you sweep all the singles majors this year. We’d love to have a jumpstart on the article we’re going to write when you make history this year.” Rachel’s smile was wide and I wasn’t sure if she was just saying this or if she truly believed it.
I shifted in my seat because it was still difficult for me to hear people so positively about what they thought I could do. Even when my father said something positive there was a negative thread of doubt that he didn’t truly believe I could accomplish what I was attempting to. Deep down I felt like he thought it would make me better and in some ways it did, but truthfully it gave my ass a complex about any of my success.
“That seems presumptuous.”
“You don’t have any faith in your talent?” Her hand went to her hip as if she wanted to challenge me about my personal feelings about myself.
“Faith I have but I’m also not trying to jinx it.”
My locs were down and curled slightly at the ends so they were almost touching my waist. When I’d decided to loc my hair the length was the reason my mother was so furious. She’d kept my hair long like hers for years and even when I pointed out that it was still long, that wasn’t good enough for her.
“You can’t jinx what’s written in the stars. So what do you say?”
I was still hesitant but I didn’t want to pass up this opportunity. “What type of shoot?”
“Nothing crazy but the concept is one that is traditional but unique. There is one aspect that we need your help with, though.” Her eyes were gleaming and I was trying to see if this was an exploitative gleam or an excited one.
