The Apprentice (Girlxgirl)

Chapter Eleven

"Ellie, wake up," I said nudging her as I sat on her bed next to her.

"No."

"C'mon, Damien's models are gonna be at the studio in an hour."

"We don't even need to go to work, you're rich now," she groaned and I laughed.

"Yeah, I'm rich now, you still need to work. Get your ass up, the Ryles contract will make us famous as well as rich."

I pulled the cover off of her and took it with me as I left the room, making sure to open the curtains before I left. She was mumbling something as I made my way to the kitchen to make her a cup of coffee. I didn't hear it, but it would be easy enough to guess the kind of things she would be calling me.

Thirty minutes later, she came to the kitchen looking like her usual cheerful self, not like the troll I left growling at me half an hour ago.

"Coffee to go," I said handing her a travel mug, and walking toward the door. She followed, gulping the coffee down.

~~~~

As we arrived at the studio, I saw one of the models was waiting by the door already. I got out of the car promptly and went to greet her.

She tucked her shoulder length brown hair behind one ear and smiled sweetly as I walked toward her. She was wearing skin tight black jeans that hugged her hips, and a cropped blouse, that showed her bellybutton when the wind blew it. I was surprised to see that she wasn't wearing heels, but black converse high tops.

"Hi, I'm Jamie," I announced as I neared her, "You're a little early, but why don't you come in for a coffee while we wait for the rest of the models."

"Oh!" she looked surprised, and her cheeks reddened slightly. "I'm not a model, I'm Alex... Ryles. I'm here for the-"

"Oh shit, I'm sorry," I reacted, and she laughed nervously, "and I'm sorry for swearing. I didn't realise, I thought you would be younger."

"You think I'm old?" she asked jokingly, and I panicked.

"No, no! That's not what I meant, I just mean... I thought-"

"It's okay, I'm joking," she interrupted, putting me out of my misery.

"Hi there, I'm Ellie, I'm gonna be photographing you today." Ellie appeared from the car, still drinking her coffee.

"She's not a model, Ellie," I stated, and Ellie looked confused.

"Fuck, she should be."

Alex looked embarrassed again, but smiled at Ellie's compliment. "I'm Alex Ryles."

"Ooh, the boss's daughter, nice to meet you."

Ellie unlocked the door and we headed inside, taking a seat in the reception area.

"I'll go make some coffee." Ellie said, and walked out of the room, leaving me with Alex.

"So... Alex, tell me about yourself." I suggested politely.

"Okay, umm... Well, I'm twenty one, I don't have any experience in photography... Or anything else for that matter. And I didn't really plan on getting any experience but I'm actually pretty excited about it now."

"Tell me about yourself, Alex, not about this apprenticeship." I laughed.

"Oh... Umm, I don't really know what to say." she seemed really shy, and I felt like I was making her uncomfortable.

"Okay, so what do you like to do in your spare time?"

"Umm... I like to hang out with my friends, and I like to draw. I spend a lot of time walking and hiking too."

"That's cool," I responded, and she smiled.

"Yeah, I haven't really had a chance to get out alot recently, as my dad kind of had me on lockdown for a few weeks, but this apprenticeship is a big deal for him and he's giving me my freedom back, so I'm ready to give it my best." Her smile faded as she spoke this time. It would have seemed strange to me that a twenty one year old was being grounded, if her father hadn't already told me about potentially cutting her off.

"Okay, well I don't really know how to train someone in photography, so you're gonna have to be patient with me, and tell me if I'm boring you. I think today we'll try out all the different lenses on the models alongside Ellie, and see their effects. Maybe later in the week, we'll go somewhere to try a few different things."

"Sounds good. My dad bought me a camera, and a few lenses,  but told me we could charge anything else I need to his business account." she pulled a camera out of her bag, and it was really expensive. "To be honest, I'm glad I'm not gonna be just making coffee and printing things."

I laughed, as Ellie re-entered the reception.

"Okay, here's coffee, and here's- oh fuck, they're here!" Ellie screamed.

Alex and I turned to look out of the glass doors as three black limousines pulled into the car park.

Seven tall, thin women got out of them, along with a muscular bald man, and three shorter women. The three shorter women were carrying cases and bags. The bald man was wearing dark sunglasses, and a navy blue suit. I assumed he was the manager.

We greeted everyone and took them through to the studio, where they started to get ready. One of the shorter women was the make up artist, one was a hair stylist, and the other dealt with wardrobes.

Ellie looked both nervous and excited, as she bustled around introducing herself the the models. She seemed to make them all laugh, and they all seemed to like her. She was made for this.

I, however, felt really out of place, and stayed with Alex in a corner discussing unimportant things about the camera she had. Alex didn't seem to eager to join Ellie either, which I was grateful of.

"Thank you for doing this, Jamie. My dad told me Ellie wasn't too keen on the idea of me." Alex said unexpectedly.

"It's not that she wasn't keen, it's just... You're not what we were expecting really." I explained, and she smiled.

"I'm guessing my dad told you I'm a troubled girl, and I need setting straight, and all that?"

"Well, not exactly, but..."

"It's okay, he tells everyone that, we just don't really have the same views on a lot of things, and he doesn't like that he can't control me anymore." she said, and I just smiled at her lightly, before standing up, and getting ready to start her training.