Lily woke suddenly to the sound of the front door closing, she sat upright in bed allowing the covers to drop down around her "Hello" she called out but nobody answered.
Lily hopped put of bed and picked up her blue silk night gown off the back of the chair, tying it around her waist as she walked into the lounge. She looked at the wall clock and realised it was 6.30am shit...
××
Lily hated being lated for anything, but even more so work. The fact she was late meant she had only just finished setting up for a photo shoot and had no time to go out for coffee before the band arrived. She just had enough time to reply to a message from her best friend Natalie and read the text she had received from Blake earlier that morning.
"Hello" a familiar yelled up the stairs causing Lily to jump a little "Oh Lily sweetheart thank you so much for doing this"
"It's fine" Lily put her phone on the side and greeted John and the band she would be working with.
"Guys this is the one and only Lily Grainger, she's the best in the business" Lily smirked as she remembered something Dean had said to her the day before "Lily this is Zach, Drew, Ryan, Brent, Eddie and Bryan"
"Hi" Lily smiled and shook the hand of each member "OneRepublic right?" She added with confidence. They all nodded and laughed "Okay great, well shall we get started?"
"Yeah sure" Ryan's eyes seemed to be fixed on something behind Lily, as she turned around she saw what he was looking at. It was a photograph of a sunrise taken over Central Park "Did you take that?"
"Yeah" Lily smiled "That's why I have it on display in my studio" Ryan sniggered a little when he realised his stupidity.
"Obviously" he shrugged and grinned "Seriously though that is incredible, is it for sale?"
"Ryan I'm sorry to be a kill joy but you need to get a move on Lily has other clients, but she is far too polite to say so" Lily shook her head at Ryan and laughed a little.
××
It wasn't long until Lily was in full swing, she had different photos of all the guys and lots of individual shots "That should be it for today" John called from behind Lily's camera "These are amazing" he tapped Lily's arm and walked over to the band "Why don't we grab some lunch and let do her thing?" John ushered Brent, Brian, Eddie and Drew out of the door "Ryan are you coming?"
"Erm no I'm gonna stay here and take a look at Lily's work now I'm in my own time" he looked at Lily and winked before turning back to John. He rolled his eyes and nodded, before disappearing.
Lily turned and saw Ryan looking at some of the photographs she had taken on a safari in Kenya, his attention was quickly drawn to a huge print of a Lioness and her cubs "You really are amazing" Ryan exhaled as he took a step back "So tell me Lily who is the most famous person you have worked with?"
Lily thought for a moment before replying "Erm...I did some family shots of the Queen of England and the royal family last November"
"NO way" Ryan was shocked "And how old are you?"
"29" Lily blushed and looked at her mac book screen "Here we are" she clicked on the file and opened her shots of OneRepublic.
"Incredible" Ryan whispered under his breath as he walked closer to Lily.
××
"I like that one aswell" Ryan chuckled as he pointed at Drew and himself fooling around during the shoot "You capture moments so creatively"
"Yeah well it is my job" Lily laughed "So John tells me you write for other artists as well as your own band, what made you get into that?" she was distracted as her phone vibrated on the table for the fourth time.
"You can get that if you want"
"No it's fine" she replied. Lily saw it was Blake again and silenced the vibrations, Ryan was now leaning over Lily as she sat down and continued to edit the shots.
"I enjoy writing music and it's good money" Ryan replied "Have you seriously never heard our songs?"
"A couple on the radio" Lily felt ashamed to admit it "Counting Stars and Apologize"
"Our biggest hits" Ryan found this amusing "Hey listen we are playing a short show tonight at the, why don't you come along. Bring a friend, introduce yourself to our music"
"Oh I don't know..." Lily was hesitant.
"Oh come on, call it a thank you for fitting us in this morning" Ryan replied. They both paused for a second, the chemistry between them was unavoidable.
"Lily" a voice interrupted the moment and made Lily jump. She spun round quickly as Ryan stood up and turned towards the figure behind them.
"Blake hi" Lily's voice was shaky and no longer confident, Ryan noticed instantly how uncomfortable she seemed "What are you doing here?" She quickly pushed her phone out of view.
"I have been calling you" Blake seemed annoyed, he glared at Ryan and then looked back at Lily.
"I've been really busy" Lily stuttered.
"I can see that, I brought you a coffee. I noticed you haven't had one this morning" Blake handed Lily a tall Starbucks coffee take out cup.
Ryan still didn't understand why Lily seemed so shaken, he got the feeling Blake didn't want him there though "We just have a few more pictures to edit..." Ryan spoke up.
"I think you have taken enough of my fiancée's time up this morning don't you?" Blake snarled at the OneRepulic front man.
"Blake" Lily snapped quickly.
"I'm sorry I don't want to step on anybody toes" Ryan quickly apologised.
"You're not Ryan" Lily stepped forwards "Blake we have talked about this, you are not my Fiancé. Please I'd like you to leave"
Blake looked furious he moved quickly towards Lily and grabbed her wrist firmly causing her to flinch "Hey" Ryan pushed Blake away from Lily "She asked you to leave"
Blake looked at Lily and realised how scared she was "I'm so sorry" he stuttered before turning quickly and leaving.
"Oh my god I am so sorry, that was so unprofessional" Lily quickly moved away from Ryan and started rustling around with some papers on her desk.
"Hey no don't worry about it, are you okay?" Ryan approached her again, she nodded "So who was he, an ex?"
"Not even that" Lily sighed as she plonked herself down on a chair "I went to school with him, we met up again at a school reunion and I agreed to go out for one drink with him..."
"And he's been like that ever since?" Ryan looked concerned.
"Pretty much yeah" Lily couldn't believe she was talking like this to a complete stranger "It just started as texts at first, then phone calls, then he would turn up at my apartment and now it's flowers being delivered and yesterday he ordered me some lunch and sent it here...its just getting ridiculous...I'm sorry I shouldn't be telling you this"
"No it's okay" Ryan smiled "I might be able to help" Lily watched curiously as Ryan wrote a cell phone number on a sheet of paper "This is the number for our security manager, he knows all kinds of people in the business. He should be able to tell you what to do"
"Thanks" Lily took the paper and read the number.
Sounds of footsteps echoed in the studio as the rest of the guys came back from lunch "Are you about done?" John rushed towards them, he handed Ryan a bag with a sandwich in it.
"Yep this is the last one" Lily clicked a few more buttons and the removed the memory stick from her computer and handed it to John "Do not lose this" she threatened jokingly.
"I won't, Lily-Rose Grainger you are an angel" John praised and Lily laughed.
"Yeah, Yeah" she chuckled "Now go on before you make me late for my next job"
"Hey don't forget Hollywood Bowl tonight 8pm, I'll leave two passes at the gates for you okay" Lily nodded as she watched OneRepublic and John dissappear out of sight, giving her just enough time to check her phone.
More calls from Blake, Lily took a deep breath and dialled the number Ryan had given her "Oh hi, yeah my name is Lily Grainger I was given your number by Ryan from OneRepublic" Shit he hadn't told her his last name "He said you might be able to help me?"