"So you're inviting me to the expo, right? Because I really want to go," Haven tells me on Tuesday as we're in class. It's the third week of class now and we've grown kind of close in our Principles of Photography class, which is really nice because I like having a friend in my photography classes.
"Sure, you can come. You don't need my permission or anything though, it's open to the public," I say to her. "But you should probably look nice."
"I look forward to it," She says. "And I also want to meet your new boyfriend. Will he be there?"
I nod. "He will. It's next Friday night."
"I'll be there," Haven chirps. Our professor gave us a partner worksheet to complete so we're working on that while conversing about the student expo coming up.
"Thanks," I smile. "I'm really glad that you'll be there. I'm actually freaking out, now that it's coming up."
"You'll be awesome," She assures me. "I mean, I haven't seen the collection that you're showing but from what you've shown me, you're super talented and everybody will be awe struck at your magnificence."
I laugh at her dramatics as I write down one of the answers on the work sheet. "Well, that would be pretty awesome but I'm sure it won't be that great. Everybody that's being displayed at the expo is really talented, completely upper level stuff, so hopefully, I can hang with the big kids."
"Yes, and then make friends with a lot of the cute upper class boys and have them give me a call," She jokes. "Not a photography student though, I want a culinary guy. I'll even settle for a film major."
"I'll see what I can do," I tell her jokingly, laughing again. "No film or culinary is going to be at the expo though, I'm pretty sure it's just photography? Just the 2-D arts, I think."
"Film is 2-D," She reminds me.
I roll my eyes at her. "You know what I mean."
"Well, no pressure or anything, but my love life is now in your hands," Haven informs me.
"I'll do my best," I assure her as the professor tells us that class is over so we hand in the work sheets and then file out of the classroom.
"Good. Are you up for lunch? Deli across the street?" She offers.
I nod, feeling starving. "Sure, that sounds good."
"Okay. So tell me more about this boyfriend- did he take you on a date or anything?" She wonders curiously as we leave the building to go over to the deli.
"Well, his name is Scott, and yeah. He took me to Gibb's Gardens on Saturday night and then we went to some cheesy diner after that. It was really nice," I explain to her, recounting the events of Saturday.
"And then...?"
"And then he dropped me off at my apartment and went back to his dorm," I tell her slowly.
She sighs in disappointment. "That's incredibly unexciting."
"It was romantic," I defend with a small laugh.
"Right, it sounds incredible, the Gardens are gorgeous. I'm just saying that if he's as beautiful as you say he is, it's just sad that you didn't make the most of that opportunity to jump his bones."
"It was only our first date," I remind her, deciding not to tell her about Friday night in the tree house. I don't mind telling Haven most things but that night in the tree house feels too personal to tell her about. Not yet at least.
"Okay, I respect that. Keeping it classy," She nods as we get to the end of the line of the deli.
I blush, feeling a bit bad for making her think that I was 'classy'. No, Haven, I didn't have sex with him on our first date- I did it before that. I'll pass on letting the cat out of the bag for now. "Something like that."
The other two classes that I have on Tuesdays go by slowly but eventually, 3:30 comes and I make my way to Sebastian's office to start my shift. I've been texting Scott throughout the day so I tell him that I have to go to work before I put my phone away and then enter Sebastian's office.
"Good afternoon, Jo," He offers me a friendly smile when I walk in. "I have a hefty list for you today."
"Of course," I chirp, walking into the cubicle to grab a notebook to write things down with. That's how I start each day, I'll have about a five minute talk with Sebastian so that he can tell me what I have to do for that day and then I get it all done and leave. Boring but simple.
"I'm in charge of the expo next week so a few phone calls need to be made to get things situated for that. I need you to call the caterer and confirm the date and time for our order and then the decorator to ask her to email you the final layout of the studio and I'll need a printed copy of that. Invitations were sent out to all of the people on the VIP list last week?"
I nod, scribbling down the main points. "Yes."
"Good. And we'll need the plaques ordered- I'll email you the form that you need to print and mail out for that..." Sebastian keeps feeding me tasks to do and I keep scribbling them down in the notebook until he's all out of things to give me and he barely looks up from his computer the whole time. By the time he's done, I have a good half page of things to keep me busy until seven.
"Two more things," Sebastian says at the end. "Drop these tests off with Tara and tell her that I'll need them graded by Friday. And I'd love a fresh cup of coffee."
"Sure. I'll be right back," I say, tucking the manila folder stuffed with test papers under my arm as I stand up from my chair and leave my notebook in my small closet-office before leaving Sebastian's office to get started on my long day of work.
I knock on Tara's office door since it's not open then she calls 'come in' in a voice that seems about an octave higher than her voice usually is. I think it's weird but forget it easily as I open the door to give her the tests. She's sitting at her desk with her bare legs crossed, jutting out the side of her desk, and she's leaning heavily forward to display her hefty amount of cleavage.
However, when she sees that it's me, she jumps upright, putting her boobs back where they should be, and hiding her legs behind her desk as quickly as possible. "Oh. Jo, hey."
"Hello..." I say slowly. "Were you expecting somebody else?"
"Nope," She says quickly. "What can I do for you?"
"Um. Dr. King needs these graded by Friday," I tell her, trying to ignore what I'd seen when I walked in. I am relieved that she wasn't trying to seduce me though because that'd make for a very awkward workplace.
"Alright. Sure, thanks," She sighs and I don't waste any time in getting the hell out of her office, shutting the door behind me.
With a pit stop at the break room to get Sebastian a cup of coffee, I drop it off at his desk and then make my way into my closet-office to start making phone calls.
I just got off of the phone with Timothy Hogan (a huge fangirl moment for me) as he RSVPed for the expo that's happening next week. It takes all of my will power not to squeal like a little girl while on the phone with one of my favorite photographers of all time when he tells me that he's going to be at the expo, where my work will be displayed right there. Timothy Hogan is going to see my work. I hope that I don't faint.
I give myself a mental pat on the back when I manage to sound completely professional through the whole phone call and when I hang up, I muffle my excited squeal by pushing my lips into my palm and then I'm back to work but I can't stop the grin from spreading across my face.
The phone rings again and I quickly answer it, wondering how many more of my photographic idols I'm going to talk to today. Maybe Kait Robinson. God, I could dream. "Sebastian King's office, Jo speaking," I answer the phone.
"Aw, you sound so professional," Scott's voice says on the other side.
"What," I glance out the little window of the door separating me from Sebastian's office but the door is closed so he can't hear the conversation. He's never had any rules about personal calls but I still don't think that it looks good if I'm on the phone while at work. I don' stop working though because I'm so busy today so with the phone wedged between my shoulder and my cheek, I keep typing at the computer. "How'd you get this number?"
"It's on Sebastian's website," He tells me as if that's just the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'm working," I remind him.
"I'm aware," He chuckles. "But I have a break in my classes and I decided to see how things are going over there."
"Busy," I sigh. "With the expo next week, there's a lot of loose ends to tie up before the event."
"Oh yeah, I'm really excited for that," Scott tells me. "Is your sister coming?"
"She is. Almost everybody I know is coming. From California to New York they're all flying out to see this. Except for my mom, obviously."
"Your mom isn't going to come see your first gallery showing?" He wonders incredulously.
"Nope," I pop the 'p'. "She's trying to avoid the fact that I'm actually succeeding without her help. She also doesn't want to come back to Atlanta for understandable reasons but yeah, she's just trying to ignore anything that has to do with the Art Institute or me moving all the way across the country."
"That's tough. She should be there for you."
"I agree," I tell him. "But Sienna will be there and in all honesty, she was a better parent to me than my mom was until she moved to Seattle so it just matters to me that Sienna is there."
"Who do you know in New York though?" He wonders.
"Stella. The girl who's on Broadway. I told you about her, remember? Stella and her husband Andrew are going to come."
"Who else?"
"Brian and Mason from California, Sienna and Penn from Seattle, Stella and Andrew from New York, Ana and Niles from... wherever it is that they are. Wales last time I heard. Even my uncle is coming. Sienna is very excited to meet you- well, you know what I mean."
"It'll be interesting, to meet all of these people. Now I'm even more excited," He says and I can practically hear him grinning. I wish that I could see it.
"I'm really excited to see everybody. It's been a while since we've all been in one place," I tell him. "They all have their own families and their own lives now, so we don't congregate very often."
"I think that we should-"
Scott is interrupted when the phone starts to beep and the light next to the number '2' starts to flash on the phone's dock thing. "I gotta go. I'll call you tonight," I tell Scott quickly before hanging up and then answering line 2.
"Sebastian King's office, Jo speaking."
That night when I get back to the apartment, Conner, Noah, and Jasper are all sitting in the living room- Conner and Jasper sharing the couch and Noah sitting in the comfortable black chair beside it- eating pizza and watching The Wizard of Oz.
"How was work?" Jasper asks me when he sees me walking in the door. I put my bags on the kitchen counter and then grab a plate and make my way into the living room.
"Busy," I sigh, putting some pizza on my plate from the box that's sitting on the coffee table and then sitting in the orange chair on the other side of the couch. "Why are we watching The Wizard of Oz?"
"He said that he's never seen it," Jasper tells me, nudging toward Conner. "So I pulled it out to relieve him of his sins."
"That does sound tragic," I play along sarcastically.
"Oh, and I was telling these guys about your expo thing next week. Is it cool if they come? I wasn't sure if you had a max amount of guests that you could invite or not," He says without taking his eyes away from the screen.
"Yeah, you guys can totally come," I assure them with a smile. "Ugh, I have so much to do before the actual expo. Sebastian is in charge of it so I have to take care of so much stuff for his part and I still have to go pick out a dress and have to organize all of my prints. But yeah, the more the merrier. I think I'm going to rent out a private room in a restaurant so that we can all go to dinner afterwards because there's going to be so many of us."
"How many people plan on coming to see you?" Noah wonders with raised eyebrows.
"With you two, I count about twenty," I mutter. "Which is great but also nerve racking."
"Please tell me that I don't have to go dress shopping with you," Jasper tells me, this time glancing over at me with his puppy dog eyes. Conner laughs beside him and Jasper teasingly elbows his side.
Rolling my eyes, I say, "Haven's going with me this weekend. You don't have to go."
"Why can't you just wear the same dress you wore on Saturday on your date? That one was really nice," Jasper wonders.
"I can't reuse a dress within two weeks of each other. Really, Jasper, have some common sense here," I insist. "And you know that I am always looking for an excuse to buy a new dress. It's a weakness of mine."
"You went on a date?" Noah wonders, changing the conversation completely.
"I did," I confirm with a nod, not looking directly at him due to the awkwardness. "With Scott. You met him at the dunk tank thing."
"Oh yeah, I remember. He's nice," He says.
"I, personally, thought that it was pretty predictable," Conner adds.
"Well, not that I don't love discussing my love life with you guys but I'm going to go upstairs and get some homework done. You boys have a nice night," I mumble, finding this conversation a bit too awkward for my taste. I take my school stuff and my pizza up to my room and then open up my laptop and start writing a page-sized essay for my public speaking class.
I've only gotten a few sentences written when my phone rings. I check the caller ID, praying that it's not Felix- he hasn't bugged me in a while but that doesn't make me any less paranoid- and I'm relieved that it's Scott.
"Hello there," I chime into the phone.
"Hey, what's up?'
"Homework. You?"
"Nothing exciting. I actually just got off of the phone with my mom and I told her about your expo and she wants to come. Is that alright?" He wonders.
"It's not my expo," I say to him. "I mean, I'm only one of the people that are going to have displayed work there. You know that, right?"
"Yes, I know that, but it's still really cool. So is it okay if she comes? And maybe Nick and my dad too," He adds quickly at the end.
"Sure, they can come. We're going to dinner afterwards, by the way. You get to choose the restaurant. They have to have a party room or something because of all of the people that are coming," I say to him, wedging my phone with my shoulder so that I can keep typing up my speech while I talk to Scott.
"Alright. I'll think of something," He assures me.
"And tell them that I say thank you- it really means a lot to me that so many people are showing up for me. Oh! And I didn't even tell you that frikkin' Timothy Hogan is going to be there. Do you know who that is?"
"No, I really don't," Scott laughs. "But you seem pretty excited about that so congratulations."
"I'm seriously freaking out about it," I tell him honestly. "He's one of my favorite photographers ever. His work is seriously amazing. It's still over a week away and I'm already freaking out about him possibly seeing my work."
"He's going to love it," He assures me.
"You've still never seen any of my work," I remind him with a small laugh.
"I know that but I still know that you're so amazing that he'll love it. I can just tell," Scott tells me. It makes no sense at all- he obviously can't know how good (or not good) my art is since he's never seen it- but his words still comfort me more than they should.
"You're ridiculously cheesy," I inform him with a giddy laugh. "But thanks."
"Anytime," He sings. "And also, what should I wear to the expo? Is it fancy?"
My mouth almost waters at the idea of Scott in a suit but I blink away the image and focus more on my paper. "Kind of. Just jeans and a nice shirt will be fine."
"What are you going to wear?"
"I haven't decided yet. I'm going shopping this weekend," I tell him. "A dress most likely. I have to look nice for all of the professionals from the industry that will be there. If I do well at this expo then I might be invited back for the winter one."
"They have a winter one too?"
"Yeah, they have fall- this one- winter and spring. Three each year. It's really only open to juniors and seniors but also the scholarship winners, which is me. The fall expo is guaranteed but I have to actually work to be considered for winter or spring, which means that I have to impress the important people at this one," I explain to him. "It's stressful and nerve racking but I'll get through it."
"I wish that I could help," He says. "But I know absolutely nothing about photography."
"I know," I giggle. "It's okay. Just being here, talking to me, helps me a lot so you're doing great."
"And before we go to the expo, we can just make out like crazy to calm your nerves," Scott suggests jokingly.
I laugh hard enough that I almost drop my phone from my cheek. "I think that's the best idea that you've ever had."
"Well if you like that one then you'll love what else I've got up my sleeve," He tells me in a low voice with a sexy darkness to his words.
"Scott," I sigh and my fingers stop typing as I focus more attention on the conversation at hand.
"Is that moving too fast?" He wonders, basically reading my mind.
"A little, yeah," I admitted meekly. "I mean, the tree house was a minor lapse in judgment for both of us but I really do want to things kind of slow. I've really never hooked up with somebody and then dated them- I've always thought that it'd make things weird. I mean, it didn't make things weird with us but I just feel like it's important to build a relationship- a strong one- before we add that to the mix. Is that alright?"
"Of course that's alright," Scott assures me, clearing his throat. "I'll wait for as long as you want to wait."
"Thank you," I sigh in relief. I was confident that Scott wouldn't get angry if I told him that I wanted to wait until we had sex again but I'm still relieved that he took it so well. He's seriously the best. "Anyway, to change the subject to something way less awkward, how are the dorms going? Making any new friends?"
"Yeah, the people on my floor are pretty cool," He confirms. "We're actually all going out to the bars this weekend if you want to come?"
"What time? I have to go dress shopping on Saturday but it shouldn't take very long."
"Around ten," Scott says. "It's a straight bar though."
"Those are absolutely no fun," I say jokingly, starting to type my speech again. "But sure, I'll go. I want to meet your friends over there. And it's been a while since I've gone out."
"It'll be fun," He assures me. "But anyway, I should probably get started on this essay I have to write before Thursday so I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright? We can go to dinner or something."
"Yes. Dinner tomorrow sounds fabulous," I grin for absolutely no reason at all. "I'll see you then."
He says goodbye and then we both hang up so that we can both do our schoolwork without getting distracted. Because I know all too well how Scott can be distracting.
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Song: Rules by Nat and Alex Wolff
Picture: Holland Roden who plays Haven