Man in the Mirror

Chapter 8: 3x5

Aja stood in front of her mirror and smiled. Memories of last night flashed in her head causing her to heat up. "Get it together, Aja." She chided herself before heading downstairs to the kitchen. "Good morning, Anders. Good morning, James." They smiled at her before returning the greeting. "This looks great." Aja stared at the omelets and turkey bacon with toast on the table. They sat down to make a plate when they heard footsteps running.

"Anders! Anders! How could you let me sleep in?! I'm losing light!" Mr. Blanchet yelled running out of the house with a large camera in hand. Aja looked at Anders confusedly. "Daniel." Anders said with a smile. "You have to be on him, Aja. He will go days without eating if you let him." Aja nodded as she followed Anders out to the back yard where Daniel was taking snapshots of the flowers in the garden. "Daniel, why don't you come in for breakfast and then you can work with Ms. Evans here."

He put the camera down for the first time and stared at Anders and then Aja. She didn't think she could get over the fact that they were the same person, but so different. The expressions they each held were vastly different from the other. Daniel leaned into the pout that naturally graced his lips and she wanted to bite them. "Hi, I'm Aja. I'll be your new assistant." She held out her hand waiting for him to take it. He stared at her for a bit before taking her hand in his. Aja wasn't surprised that she felt that same spark as she had with Jack, Aiden and Holden. By the way his eyes widened, she knew Daniel had felt it too.

"I've already lost so much time as it is, Anders. I don't have time for breakfast." Aja shook her head. "How about we have a quick breakfast for sustenance and then you can take snapshots of the sculptures around the maze? I'm sure they look great in this light." Daniel eyed her before looking down at his camera. "Fine, but a quick breakfast. Those sculptures do look best in morning light." Aja nodded her head before leading him back to the kitchen.

Daniel reminded Aja of an anime character as he scarfed down his food. His cheeks resembled the fattest chipmunk and it took everything in her not to cackle loudly. "Okay! Let's go!" Daniel said with his mouth still full as he grabbed his camera and them Aja's arm. She felt like she might as well have been floating the way he carried her towards his destination. In seconds they were standing at the maze entrance located on the left side of the mansion.

There were various Greek gods and goddesses littered throughout the maze. Daniel handed Aja something that she soon realized was a tool to help with lighting. "Hold it up high so I can get the right glow." Daniel instructed causing Aja to stand on her tippy toes while holding the device above her head. After an hour of doing this Aja was spent. "Daniel, can we please take a break? My arms feel like Jell-O." He looked up at her and huffed. She was being a trooper. He couldn't deny that. Anders usually left him after ten minutes.

As he looked at her, he became inspired. The way the light hit her she looked ethereal. The cream colored dress she wore flowed around her making her look like an actual angel. He was snapping her picture before he could stop himself. "Don't move." He instructed as he continued to snap away. Aja found herself confused before realizing what Daniel was doing. She had some self-esteem, but she knew she wasn't a model. Aja looked at Daniel's focused face and couldn't help but smile.

He captured the picture before looking up from the camera and into her eyes that were a shade of brown, he was sure had yet to be discovered. She was a vision and he was feeling emotions that he hadn't felt before. "I think we're good on photography for today." Daniel said curtly causing Aja to frown. "Okay. What do you want to do next? How can I help?" He looked at her once more and acknowledged the burning feeling in his chest. "I don't need you. You can go do whatever you like." He said swiftly before turning and walking inside.

Aja was beyond confused. She thought they were having a good time. She made her way into the office and spent the day working away on some tasks and items for B & B. The Sales team were starting a new project and were in need of three new hires. She really needed Jack on this, but would settle for Aiden as the deadline to present candidates to the team was next week. When she looked up it was 6pm and she had totally forgot to ensure Daniel ate lunch. She hoped Anders was on it.