Hopes and aspirations – she had them. She had big dreams of becoming the next big fashion photographer. She took the classes in college. She got a degree. But really, there was nothing out there. You needed to have connections to get into the business – and strong ones at that. You don't just start out photographing for top designers. You have to pay your dues. Put in your blood, sweat and tears. And that was what she was doing.
Elle started out working in a department store taking senior portraits and ridiculous amounts of pictures of crying babies and bored families. Her life was so boring she could have gone insane in the clutches of normalcy. From there, she moved on to doing some landscape photography for a gallery in downtown Los Angeles. But she was literally drowning in student loans and she needed to get her head above water – fast.
That was when she met some guys at a club that worked freelance as paparazzi. They turned her on to all the financial benefits of the job and she jumped in head first. Her first big win was getting pictures of up-and-coming pop music sensation, Brayden Fields, feeling-up his remotely famous model girlfriend, Nina Kendall, outside a club. It wasn't her proudest, most shining moment, but she got some fast cash, and a lot of it for the pictures. After that, it was like a drug to her – a rush of adrenaline and she was hooked.
The first time Elle saw Julian Reed – like, truly saw him – was when she really started enjoying her job. She'd known who he was from early on in his career. If you were younger than the age of thirty you knew who he was. His face was plastered all over the TV in one teen show after another in his youth. Although the most controversial and bold thing he did with his career, and what he was most well-known for, were the string of safe-sex/abstinence commercials and PSA's he did in his early teen years.
But now, as a twenty-something year old man he had an entirely new image, starring in action movies and romantic comedies that – yes, of course – featured him in sexual scenes. He was no longer the squeaky clean, virgin boy. He was a scruffy, extremely sexy man who partied and drank with his friends and was known to break a heart or two throughout Hollywood. Taking pictures of that man and his entourage became high on her priority list.
Elle didn't particularly find deep meaning in her job. She didn't get the satisfaction that most people did from a hard day's work – not in her chosen field. A lot of the time she felt like a complete asshole. But she did it because she had to. And there was something about that man that kept her coming back, time and time again. If she could have solely followed him, she would have – and for the most part, she did.
Having grown up in Los Angeles, Elle had never really been star-struck before – and doing what she did for a career – but there was something about Julian that made her take a step back and take a look around every time she was in his presence. Maybe it was because of the way their eyes would catch and the smile on his lips would form only for her. She was convinced that for the longest time he just assumed she was one of his many adoring fans who followed him around taking pictures of him. Well, up until that night.
There were rumors swirling around the internet – rumors Elle didn't care to pay attention to, but ones her agent did. She suggested that if Elle was so keen on chasing this one celebrity around, she needed to really dig up the dirt and get a story out of him. Otherwise she needed to move on to someone like Brayden Fields who had brought them the big bucks before. Elle cringed at the thought of following that little adolescent boy around. She got absolutely no gratification, no stimulation from that sort of work. No, not like she did with the illustrious Julian Reed.
"Hey, Julian... Julian, over here," Elle shouted through the group of her fellow cameramen. Julian's head turned in the direction of the only female voice in the crowd – hers.
"Hey there," he said, and smirked at her as she snapped a quick picture of him.
He stood tall – nearly six foot, with a short crop of perfectly styled dark brown hair on his head. His olive eyes stared into Elle's with an air of mystery and just the slightest hint of amusement. His lips held the most perfect pout on a mouth that housed two perfect rows of pearly white teeth. His clothes were immaculately tailored to fit his amazingly toned body. All in all, he was a woman's dream – utterly perfect.
"Do you have any comments on the new rumor that's been popping up on the internet?" Elle asked as she snapped a few more candids of him. His eyes never left hers.
"And what's that?" He asked, cocking his eyebrow in response.
She hated this. She really didn't want to ask him the question. It was his personal business and no one really needed an answer. But her agent was breathing down her neck about getting something substantial from him regarding the subject.
"That you started batting for the other team," Elle said with a sideways smirk, trying to keep it light.
"What?" He asked, cocking his head as he scrunched up his face in question. Elle swallowed hard, wishing she didn't have to blast him right then and there.
"That you're gay," she choked out.
She couldn't believe the words came out of her mouth. It was so disgraceful and completely intrusive. She hated herself for it. She honestly hoped he would just tell her to fuck off.
Everyone went quiet the second she said the words. One of her connections in the business, Charlie – a guy who she teamed up with on occasion, was filming the whole conversation.
Julian let out a little chuckle, shaking his head, before he looked back at her.
"You've been following me long enough. What do you think?" He retorted, cocking an eyebrow.
Elle's breath caught in her throat. What did she think? Well, if she had her way, he'd be as straight as an arrow and irrevocably attracted to her.
"Everyone wants to know, Julian. They don't want to hear what I think," Elle said, smirking at him flirtatiously, conforming to his playful mood. He laughed out loud finding humor where she couldn't.
"Well, let's just put it this way. There are about ten guys standing here and I've only got my eyes on you," he said, flirting with her right back.
The group of cameramen surrounding them and two guys in his posse all let out a collective 'ohh!' from his words. Elle's cheeks blushed hot as her insides twisted painfully. She was so attracted to that man, it hurt.
"Got nothing else to say?" Julian asked, smirking at her.
"Consider me speechless," she said with a shy smile back in his direction.
"Come on, Julian. We've gotta go," his bodyguard said, starting to guide him along toward an awaiting vehicle.
"Hey. What's your name?" Julian asked as he dug his heels into the ground, still speaking to her.
"What?" She choked out.
"What's your name? I feel like we should at least be on a first name basis," he said, smiling at her.
"Uh, Elle," she stammered.
"Elle?" He questioned with a soft smile, and she slowly nodded her head.
"Elle, I'm Julian," he introduced, reaching out to shake her hand.
She thought she might actually explode as they touched for the first time. His hand was soft and big and she could only imagine how amazing it would feel running up and down her body.
He couldn't still be a virgin, right? He dated some of the hottest actresses of the time, for god's sake. If they held off from jumping on that, they were much better women than she would ever be. His entire presence screamed sex. She couldn't even look at him without thinking about it, obviously. He became her number one desire in those lingering moments. She could think of nothing else.
"Nice to meet you, Julian," Elle breathed, making sure he could see the desire in her eyes and hear it in her words. She watched as his tongue flicked over his lips, before a mischievous smirk arose on them.
"Likewise," he said with a breathtaking smile just as his bodyguard gripped onto his shoulder, breaking his attention from her, thus breaking their hold on each other.
"I'll see you around, Elle," Julian said with a promising smile as he got rushed away.
"That you will," she told him, watching as they made their way to the awaiting SUV.
"What the hell was that, man?" Elle heard one of his friends ask him before they were fully out of ear-shot.
"Elle, I got it all. Oh my god. That was perfect," she heard Charlie's voice in her ear as she kept watch on Julian while he walked away.
Julian looked up at Elle seconds before he got into the vehicle, sending one last smile in her direction. Her heart spun in her chest. She couldn't even deal.
How in the hell was she going to be able to do her job after that?