'Of course, it's so nice to finally meet you.' Ed shook my hand politely. I was so shocked he knew who I was.
'Lu is so overwhelmed, look at her!' Freya laughed from the corner and everybody joined in. My anxiety made me start sweating buckets.
'Aw, let's not embarrass her. Alright, what shirts are we wearing first?' Ed asked, looking around at everybody. The couches had been pushed out of the way so that the room looked like a completely different place. From the corner of my eye, I could see Callux sitting on the couch with a very big bag that was completely filled. He pulled out three of the black waterproof jackets that had his logo on one side of the chest.
'We should start with these! I mean, seeing as we live in London and it always rains here, this is totally fitting and like, who wouldn't want to buy these?' He asked, chucking one at Sarah who squealed happily when she caught it between her legs.
The three of us put it on over a basic black t-shirt and zipped them up. 'Right, who's first?' Ed asked and Freya and I instantly pushed Sarah in front of the camera. The boys were standing behind the photographer and laughing as she posed awkwardly. 'How about you just look at Lu and your other friend,' He suggested to Sarah and then turned to Freya and I. 'And you should make some funny faces so she really smiles. Okay?' He asked with a bright smile. When Freya and I nodded, he winked at us and focused back on his camera.
Freya and I posed together and pulled some crazy faces in attempt to make Sarah laugh. It seemed that that's what worked, so that's what we did whenever each of us had to go up and 'model'.
I was posing in front of the camera in my waterproof jacket, laughing at what Freya and Sarah were doing in the corner and listened as the shutter sound of the camera went off one after the other. I looked up briefly into the camera lens so to fix my hair, only to see Simon standing next to Josh with his arms crossed. The two of them were whispering something to each other.
I frowned towards Freya and Sarah when Josh smiled and shrugged, raising his eyebrows but I was pulled back to reality when Ed said, 'How about you pose like this?' He had one hand on his waist and one leg bent. I mirrored what he did, and then made eye-contact with Simon, who was intensely looking at me. When his blue eyes met mine, he flashed me a toothy smile.
I suddenly felt very uncomfortable and my stomach churned so I walked off set. 'Lu?' Freya asked when I walked past and brushed my arm against her. I stopped and gave her a warm half-smile.
'I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be back.' I told her and Sarah, and then walked away.
–
'Thank you so much for having us, it was such a blast.' Freya and Sarah said their goodbyes to Ed as they were just about to leave.
'No, thank you! You were amazing models, see you soon!' Ed said and waved at them as they walked towards their car. I was now alone, with all the boys, and I hadn't even spoken to Simon once.
'Hey Ed, would you like some water or wine or anything?' I asked him as he was putting away all his equipment.
'Oh God, I'm sorry I didn't think about asking that.' Simon walked up behind me and apologised to him.
'No, that's alright. A glass of water sounds nice, though.' He beamed at me, then awkwardly looked up at Simon behind me.
'I'm on it,' Simon said and headed over towards the counter.
'Here, I'll help with putting your things away. Your pictures are so nice, when did you get into photography?' I asked him, taking down a tripod and folding it neatly.
'Well, I first got one of those disposable cameras every time we went on a family trip, so I guess I started when I was around 5 years old. My pictures have always been of people though.' He explained, standing on his toes so he could reach the white fabric that was hung up on the wall and took it down carefully.
'I don't take photos of people, I take photos about people.' I told him. He paused momentarily and blinked up at me.
'That's a beautiful saying. Did you just come up with that?' He asked me, his big green eyes open wide.
'Well, yes.' I told him and shrugged. I turned off one of the soft box lights and folded that down, too.
'Lu has loved photography for as long as I've known her. She knows what she's talking about.' Simon came back with a glass of water in his hand. He stopped next to me and looked down at me with a twinkle in his eye.
'That's cute. How long have you guys been together?' Ed asked and as soon as he did, I took a step away from Simon.
'Oh, no, we're not together.' I breathed awkwardly. From the corner of my eye, I could see Simon bite his lower lip and look down at his socks, holding his arms behind his back.
'Oh, excuse me.' Ed said. Sooner or later, all his equipment was packed up in bags and his cab arrived, telling us it was time for him to say his goodbyes.
'It was so lovely to meet you, Lu, I hope we'll see each other again soon.' He reached out to shake my hand again, then waved at Simon who stood behind me. We watched in silence as Ed walked down to the cab that was waiting for him.
As soon as the door shut, I whizzed around to still see Simon looking down at me, except this time the dimples in his cheeks were slowly appearing.
'Movie night?' He asked, the excitement clear in his eyes. I smiled ruefully and nodded at him.
---
Ugh I really wanted to actually get to the movie night part of this 'scene' but I can't stop writing and I always end up writing too much 😳😂 What do you guys think will happen when she's with Simon tho ;)
Concept: what do you guys think of me publishing this as an actual book once it's completed? Like of course it'll go through all the editing process, I might change some of the names and I'll add a lot more 'filler chapters', but what do you think? Would people be interested to read it?
And an extra long chapter coming tomorrow :)
Mel xx