Page 115 of Awestruck at Dusk
After a few adjustments, they were happy about the lighting and allowed me to start shooting Lily. I had all the information I needed to get the shots they wanted. I just needed to relax.
Joaquín and what felt like a small crowd of people swarmed around the monitor where the shots I took would appear one after the other. I could hear them commenting on them with praise. That gave me the confidence to loosen up and start directing Lily a bit more with what I thought would look good.
“Yes!” Joaquín shouted. “That’s the shot. Right there, Billie. Take a few more like that, please. Lily, you’re looking great!” I did, and then they switched Lily’s outfit.
Frankie winked at me from afar, and I could feel my face getting warm. I couldn’t believe I was shooting for Haute Magazine.
The team allowed me to shoot the rest of the outfits they had on a rack for Lily, which meant they were pleased with my work.
We were there for a few hours. It’d been exhausting, amazing, surreal, and the most fun I had in a while.
“Someone from the office will contact you later today to get your bank account information,” Becca said as we were leaving. I nodded a few times with a slightly furrowed brow like I knew the business and she let out a soft laugh. “You didn’t think you were working for free, right?” I honestly hadn’t thought about the money. I was just happy to have been given the opportunity to collaborate. It would be the first time I earned any money for work. And I didn’t even know how much they would pay me, but the feeling was so rewarding.
Lily and I left, and I realized I hadn’t had anything to eat, so we celebrated with sushi.
Exhaustion hit me hard when I returned to my apartment, but I was thrilled about the shoot. I took a shower with stupid smile on my face. I couldn’t wait to tell Nolan about it. He was going to flip.
I threw myself back on my bed with a towel wrapped around my body because it’s just the best feeling ever to chill out for a few minutes right after showering before putting clothes on.
That’s when William’s piano became audible, and my smile melted off my face.
He was back.
Curious
July 31, 2010
NINA AND Iwent for a run this morning. We’ve been seeing a lot more of each other ever since I was single again. I invited her to my apartment for breakfast afterward. Mimi said she’d cook a few things for us, and I wasn’t ever going to pass on that.
We stepped out of the elevator on the ninth floor and saw Eric and Zara rolling a few suitcases out of William’s apartment. Eric jerked his chin with a smile to greet us. We both waved him hello. I freaked out for a second but relaxed once I saw Zara locking the door. William wasn’t with them. He was back, but I hadn’t bumped into him yet.
It was best to keep it that way.
Nina clutched my arm as we approached my door.
Zara and I had crossed paths more than I would’ve cared to during the summer since she was staying at William’s place until her new apartment was ready, but we always pretended to be ghosts and basically ignored each other after a simplehey.
She hated my guts, and I still couldn’t deal with the embarrassment of my immaturity regarding everything that happened the last few months. I wished I could’ve apologized, but I just never found it in me to approach her when she’d pulled up a thick wall around her.
My guess was that her time as my next-door neighbor was up.
“Oh, hey guys,” she said, turning around. Her gaze darted at Nina. She was rolling two more suitcases aside from the ones Eric had in his grasp, plus a backpack and her bag.
“Hey,” Nina and I said at the same time. I offered an attempt of a smile in their direction. “Is your apartment ready?” Nina asked.
“Yeah. It’s finally ready. We’re just going to roll these suitcases over there.” Her apartment was only half a block away from here. Lily confirmed to me that William bought her the one-bedroom apartment at the Ritz Tower.
“Do you need any help with that?” Nina offered. Her voice was shaky. I could tell she was nervous about seeing her.
“Um—no. We’re good, thanks,” she said, pulling her long hair into a pony.
“Aaron and David are downstairs. I could ask them to help you,” I told her, but I knew she was going to decline. I still wanted to be polite.
“That would be great, Billie, thanks.” She actually smiled at me.Wow,okay.
“Sure, no problem. I’ll let them know you’re coming down.”
She offered me a quick nod and resumed walking toward the elevator.
