Page 51 of Something New

"Oh, okay, w-what would that be?" I asked nervously.

"Don't be shy, Shy." He smiled, and I smiled back, but I was sincerely interested in having him elaborate.

"Because after dinner, I'll use that time to do some editing before bed."

"I was hoping we could do some portraits, like we talked about. A birthday portrait… not necessarily in my birthday suit, but, you know, maybe with a little abs showing, you know what I'm saying?"

"No, I, I think I'm going to need that time to… I really will need to get some editing done so that I can have more room on my camera for tomorrow night. I can either have Jonathan take some pictures of you later tonight, or we can wait till tomorrow."

"When tomorrow?" he said. "In the pool before the party?"

I shrugged, making a face like I was thinking about it. "Before the party, maybe. Or I can get Jonathan to do it for you tonight."

"I don’t even know who that is."

"My assistant. He's in the room next door. He's the one who got you in touch with me."

"Please tell him he'll need to wear dress code tonight since he will likely be in a few of the pictures. The staff uniforms and masks are in the kitchen."

"Do you want Jonathan to wear a special brand? I thought he just needed to wear black."

"No. I've changed my mind. He needs to dress like the rest of the staff. You don't, because you're taking all the pictures, you won't be in any of them."

"Okay, I'll go tell him now," I said, moving toward the door.

"Did you get the cash?" Nick asked.

"Yes, thank you."

(About an hour before, someone had delivered a covered silver platter to my door. They left it inside my room, bowing as they retreated. I opened it to find twelve thousand dollars in cash—a thousand over what he had promised.) I wondered if these extra requests were because of that. I wanted to tell him that I didn't need the tip and that I'd just stick to the original plan.

But he left my room before we got into any of that. I went to Jonathan's room, only because Nick saw me knock on his door. I wanted to go get his outfit alone, so when he answered the door, I told him that he would need to wear a certain mask to dinner tonight, which was the truth. I said it would be delivered to his room, which was also the truth.

I left there and went straight to the kitchen. There were stacks of pants, shirts, and masks. There were signs for women and men with sizes marked, and I walked through the men's section, taking two of everything and making it look casual. I had brothers, and I made good guesses at their sizes. I ran into Andre on my way out, and I told him I was getting them for my assistants. He knew me from earlier, and didn’t ask twice about it.

I brought both sets to my room before taking one of them to Jonathan's room. He was already dressed for dinner, and he wasn't happy, but he changed quickly. I had no idea how I was going to get the uniform to John-Michael, but I was so happy that I had it. I held onto the fact that he would be there with me the following day.

Dinner was served at 9pm, and it was a huge ordeal with live music and dancers. Nick was a showman and he gave speeches and made toasts. His actual birthday was a few days before, and he told stories about how he spent his day. The staff laughed as he talked, and photos of the whole scene basically took themselves.

Everyone loosened up and started dancing when the dinner was over, and I took pictures the whole time even though Nick told me I should put my camera down and enjoy myself. I assured him that if my camera was down I would not be enjoying myself, and we laughed about how I was more comfortable behind the lens.

He wasn't outright inappropriate, but I was hyper-aware of every time his hand brushed me, and I always moved and maintained a certain amount of professional distance.

It was a beautiful dinner, a photographer's playground. The art came easily. I knew I would have beautiful work to show him. The problem was that he liked me. That was more and more evident as the night went on.

If this had all happened to me a few months ago, I would have been fine with flirting back with him, but things were different for me now, and I wasn't able to do it.

It was exhausting for me to concentrate on getting good work done while at the same time conveniently avoiding Nick and pretending I did not notice his advances. I kept telling myself that he would be busier tomorrow night and therefore he would be less of a challenge.

I stayed by Jonathan once I was finished taking photos, and we made it back to our wing of the house by midnight. Jonathan tried to talk to me about Nick and the possibility of a love connection between us, and I shut him down and acted completely oblivious. I pretended to be hyper-fixated on processing the evening's photos and preparing for tomorrow.

I was relieved to find a text on my phone from John-Michael when I went to my room. Looking at his name felt like home to me. I missed him and E so much.

His text said that he would be up until midnight and that I should call if I had time, if not, he would touch base and see me the following day. I was overjoyed when I read it because it meant that his plans were solidified and he was planning on coming. I called him even though it was twelve-fifteen.

"Hey," he said. I could hear the smile in his voice, and I leaned into the phone, closing my eyes and concentrating on his voice.

"How are you?" I said.