The Start of Time

Chapter 33

"Do you think this would be a good option?" Maverick asks, examining his camera. "The focal length is like the closest to what our eyes see, so it's like the ideal lens for natural portraits. If we put the aperture at f/1.2 it will melt the background."

"Am I supposed to know what those words mean?"

"It just means if you hold this down and turn this." He pushes some button on a turning wheel. "It will give you the perfect portrait with a slightly blurred background."

"Cool lens. Turn dial. Make pretty pictures."

"Exactly," he laughs, climbing out of the car, heading towards a bench near the small grove in the park.

I love how bold the colors of fall are. The leaves merging into orange and red. The gentle breeze contrasting the typical warm sun. It comes so subtly, like magic changing with the wind, forging golden hues everywhere she touches. The most beautiful, grand entrance to the dead of winter where everything looks dead, but everyone is alive. The transition stage, just like my life.

I attempt to listen as he mumbles gibberish about shutter speed and clicking just right as he scrolls through a few images.

He takes a couple, first focusing on one flower. Then catching a bird flying towards its nest in a tree and the movement of the large fountain.

The same fountain where Declan and I had our first kiss before chaos and happiness ensued.

I can already feel the corner of my small mouth tugging itself up into that stupid grin. Mav obviously catches onto my silence before I even realize I've become immersed in thought, subtly smiling to myself.

Instead of saying anything, he just clicks.

And thus became one of the only pictures I liked of myself. The golden flecks of my eyes so defined as my form pops out of a background that melts into an ethereal blur of colors like the perfect daydream.

Of course, it would stem from thinking of Declan's lips moving perfectly against mine.

"What is that look for?" He finally speaks.

"What?"

"The sparkling eyes. The crooked smile. The dreamy expression. Although the better question may be who that look is for."

"It's for me. I came to this exact spot like a month or so ago, and everything sort of changed."

I'm not completely lying. I am sort of smiling for myself. I finally accumulated enough courage to take a chance on someone. Someone who is way out of my league yet still wants me for me. Someone who makes my eyes sparkle and my crooked smile reappear. Even though it's just casual, it's still something.

Okay, maybe it was a little bit of a lie.

Something warm suddenly drips down my forehead. The warm, fall sun now hidden behind dark clouds. Lightening streaking across the sky, cursing the rest of our photo shoot session as we run to take cover in the car and make our way back to the house.

"By the way," Mav laughs, pulling into the driveway. "I don't believe you."

Before I can ask what he means or even crack the door, Declan pulls the front door open, but the look on his face is far from what I was expecting.

Declan is fuming. With no regard for the rain, he marches down the stairs straight towards me. I'm surprised the heat from his rage doesn't immediately evaporate any drops of rain that touch his skin.

"Where the fuck have you been and why haven't you been answering your phone?" He glances at Maverick, climbing out of the car quickly. "And why the fuck were you with him?"