*Click**Flash**Click**Flash*That was pretty much the sum of Nova Brady's life. A series of clicks and flashes, getting her through her day job.
Hey, at least she liked what she did. Working for an outlet magazine for a cheap knock off of In Home and Garden as a photographer in New York City wasn't a terrible gig. Granted it wasn't the bees knees kinda work for an aspiring photographer such as herself, but it was a stepping stone.
Yes, a huge, slippery, sinking stepping stone that she hoped would some day take her to the next level before it buried her in the mud, or she slipped off it completely.
The one thing that Nova wanted out of life was to be a successful photographer, one who maybe someday, wouldn't be limited to over-priced stuffy furniture for subjects and maybe, just maybe another avenue would see her as more than an outlet photographer.
That was her whole reason for coming to the Big Apple, the place where it was all at. The land of opportunity.
To break free from her mundane job in the south as a school photographer. It was the hardest thing she had ever done, to be stripped bare and throw herself to the clutches of the biggest city. She missed her family more than anything and it still killed her to leave them, but she felt that it was the only way to save herself from becoming just another no name photographer who was just as thirsty for Instagram followers as a lab rat in search of a piece of cheese.
She had lived in Florida all her life and loved it. That was her home. That was where she was familiar with. Nova could tell you where the best place was to get sushi, or what was the nicest beach to visit that wasn't clustered with tourists. She knew what roads to take to get you to where you were going the quickest, or the roads that would give you the more scenic route when you just needed to stop and smell the roses.
It was a place she never thought she would end up leaving, until her dreams became the loudest voice in her head.
No matter how hard she tried, Nova just couldn't make it in Florida. Not the way she wanted to. Sure there was a few photography jobs where she lived, but not the ones that she wanted. She worked for a small school photography company and one day she just woke up and realized she wanted more out of life. She had this deep feeling running through her that she was destined for greater things and the only way to to get off of this merry-go-round that she found herself trapped on was to jump off. No matter how much it would hurt.
She had to break the wheel, to take the biggest risk that she had ever taken. She had to leave Florida and go somewhere there was more opportunity. A place where she had more of a chance of granting her own wishes and starting the biggest adventure she could have imagined. New York City.
Now even though she missed her family dearly, she didn't feel she was leaving a whole lot behind. After a few failed relationships, all she really had were both of her parents and her brother, who was now married. They gave her every speech they had to talk her out of moving. It was one of the hardest things she ever had to go through, making such a huge life change with their disapproval weighing her down.
Nova was the kind of person where once she made up her mind, that was it. Her family knew that and after countless attempts to get her to stay, they knew they had to let her go to live her life. Even though they all knew she would do great, it was still a hard loss on her little family. Even though she spoke to her mother a few times throughout the week, it was still never the same on both ends.
It took a while, but eventually the dust settled and she too, became settled. She had landed her job at the magazine and found herself a cozy little apartment on the outer banks of Manhattan. She even made herself a few friends too.
First there was Robin. An attractive woman, originally from Connecticut that was in Public Relations and knew how to throw a kick ass party, as well as promote one.
Now Robin's life was something else. She knew all the hot spots and quite few hot people too. Being a career woman in that field gave her access to some pretty fabulous parties that Nova grew accustomed to attending. Nova was convinced that Robin never slept, that she just ran off of sparkles and her snazzy personality non-stop.
She was a woman that was always on the go. Whether it was meeting a client, going to publishing parties, social lunch-ins, or just meeting her friends for a few drinks, she was never stationary. Nova didn't know how she did it.
They met at a fancy new restaurant in Times Square. Nova went to the opening with her camera to see if she could get some promo shots to boast about and Robin was there to promote the event.
Now in the real world, a girl like Robin would have never given a girl like Nova the time of day, but girl world was a different story. Nova went to the bathroom to clear her head from all the hype and Robin just so happened to be in the bathroom at the same time.
Nova was washing her hands when she heard the bathroom stall door creak open behind her and a beautiful face peeked outside. "Hey...pssst" Robin said in a harsh whisper, trying to get her attention. Nova turned around and looked back and forth, not believing that she was the one she was talking to.
"By any chance, do you have a tampon?" Robin asked in a panic, looking around to make sure no one was coming.
Nova blinked, taken off guard by her question. "Oh, sure! Here" Nova said, digging through her purse to find what she requested. Robin thanked her up and down and told her to wait outside for her. Even though Nova thought it was a weird request, she waited.
When Robin finally came out of the bathroom, she thanked her again for helping her out. She told her that she was promoting the restaurant opening and invited her to a private VIP section to buy her a drink.
From there, the two girls ended up hitting it off and they exchanged numbers before the night was over. Nova was surprised how fascinated Robin was with her story. She couldn't tell if it was pity by the way she talked, or if she was genuinely interested in what she had to say, but from that night on, Robin would always invite her out to her social gatherings.
She met more people with Robin then she ever did living in Florida, and the people she met with Robin were quite fascinating. One of them was a very pristine girl named Heather Baker, who was a writer for the NY Times, and then there was Violet Smith from Brooklyn, who was also a writer, but wrote children's books.
Robin introduced her to many people but Heather and Violet became her best friends, along with Robin.
Any night out with these three girls, Nova knew would be a night to remember. The four of them became close and Nova cherished their relationships dearly. They helped her break out of her natural Florida shyness and embrace life and all it had to offer.
Her friendship with Robin gave her access to some of the best times in her life and she really taught Nova how to live in New York instead of just surviving. Robin felt it was her job to look after this poor southern girl in the big city, and that's just what she did.
Now even though her apartment was small, the fact that she had an apartment in Manhattan came with some serious expenses. Her job at the Outlet paid well, but not that good, so she needed to find a way to come up with extra cash so she didn't end up on the streets.
When Nova was in school, she was good friends with all the Thespian kids in theater so naturally, she followed in their footsteps and became a theater kid herself. She discovered that she couldn't act to save her life but through the classes she took, she was able to develop her voice into something that not all the other kids had.
Her only downfall was that she loved to sing, but hated to perform so while the other kids went on to pursue their dreams of Broadway and the red carpet, she fell in love with her camera and threw herself into the world of photography.
She never thought that some day, her drama classes and clubs would pay off and give her a transferable skill to help her get herself by in NYC. Shortly after moving to New York, she landed herself a singing gig for a couple of weekends out of the month in a fancy club called The Haunted Star.
It was a classy joint, though not a place that a lot of people knew about. Their clientele usually consisted of older married couples, wanting escape back a few decades and enjoy older styles of music. They would have acts that ranged anywhere from 20's flapper hits to 50's rhythm and blues. Nova herself was known for her jazzy sultry style, and even knew how to dress the part, making her an established performer there.
Each night, she would perform two numbers, for three to four nights out of the month, and that was enough to tie up the loose ends on her remaining bills. On average, she would get paid 400$ a night, unless the place was filled up, then the owner would cut her an extra 100$, especially if she really won the crowd over.
As much as she liked to sing, she didn't consider herself a performer. No matter how many times she got up on that stage, she would always find herself giving herself pep talks in her mirror as she got ready. Stage fright had always been an enemy of hers, and it was always very nerve wracking for her to get up in front of that many people, who she knew were paying good money for even better entertainment. The pressure was always on.
However, it was a totally different story when she was behind her camera.
Her camera was her comfort zone. No matter what she was photographing, whether she was working with a team to stage up a room for the outlet magazine, or if she was meeting a model out on the street, Nova took charge in her photo sessions and paraded herself around like she was sure of what she was doing, because she was. It was her area of expertise and she took it very seriously.
Nova was desperate to get her work out there. All she wanted was to be seen and recognized, but it was hard. She was swimming in a very big pond with an intense amount of surrounding competition. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that this was a highly saturated field but she refused to give up. She knew that all it would take was for the right person to see her work, and then more doors would open for her. She figured if she got this far already, she just had to be patient and wait for her chance.
Little did she know, that chance was on it's way...
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Nova was sitting outside of a little brunch cafe in down town Manhattan with Heather and Violet, waiting for Robin to join them. It wasn't a surprise that Robin was running late, she usually was, but the girls understood that her active lifestyle required her to divide her time with others, but not always equally.
To pass time, the girls were glancing through their menu's and listening to Heather go on and on about one of her hook-up's from a few days ago.
"I just don't understand...I took all the necessary precautions. I waited until the third date, I let him make all the first moves, the sex was amazing, and now he won't return my calls, I feel like I'm missing something!" Heather whined in frustration.
"Well, maybe you thought the sex was amazing, it takes two to tango you know" Violet teased, toying with the straw in her glass.
"Oh no, it was amazing, on both ends! Don't you dare take this away from me! We went at it three times, and we both came...ALL THREE TIMES!" Heather fired back, slamming her first on the table to emphasize her point.
Violet couldn't help but smirk and Nova looked at her friend, trying to hide hers. "Well sweetie, maybe he's just busy, or maybe he got hit by a bus or something" Nova said, in a half ass attempt to comfort her friend.Violet let out a snicker, still looking down at her menu.
"Ahh! Don't even joke about something like that! And I'm sorry, but I don't buy that "he's busy" line. Almost everyone in New York has their phone practically attached to their hand, it takes 2 seconds to say "Good morning" or "I'm good, thanks, how are you", I don't understand these guys, I really thought that we had some chemistry. I always end up being wrong about these things!"
Nova looked at her strung out friend in sympathy. "Well, I hate to break it to ya but I kinda think you have exhausted all your options on this one, I mean if the guy is not returning your texts or phone calls, don't ya think it's time to move on?"
Heather paused for a moment as if she were processing her words. "I mean I guess so, but I just really liked what we had going on".
Violet slammed down her menu and hunched over the table to address Heather. "Look, this is an obvious case of "He's just not that into you". You can either keep gripping over this asshole that won't give you the time of day, or you can set him free so another woman can enjoy him for however long she can and wait for the next contestant to come along. Obviously this guy doesn't want to settle down, so why bother forcing him?"
Heather sighed and closed her eyes as if the subject was giving her a headache. "Alright alright, I'll move on...I'll drop him...God, has anyone heard from Robin? We have been sitting here for almost 30 minutes! Where is she?" Heather changed the subject.
"I don't know, she said she was gonna be a few minutes late but damn!" Nova said, checking to see what time it was.
"Pfft please, this is classic Robin, always on her own watch, we should get an appetizer while we wait, I'm starving" Violet said, picking up her menu again.
Like clock work, the girls heard a high pitched "Hey ladies!" from behind them. They all turned around to see Robin marching over to them. She was carrying a few bags and just hanging up her cell phone as she approached.
"Oh good, you're alive, lets eat!" Violet said sarcastically.
Robin ignored her comment and continued to greet her waiting friends, pulling up a chair and setting her bags down.
"Trust me, once you see what I have in these bags for you, that scowl will jump right off your face, here" Robin said, plopping a bag in front of each girl. Once they opened them to see what was inside, each girl squealed in joy.
"How did you get these?" Heather exclaimed, holding her new black Betsy Johnson purse close to her heart as if she would never let it go.
"I was doing a promo party for their new store up on Maiden lane and I brought them in so much business, at the end of the day they told me to take whatever I wanted from the floor models, so I had fun!"
Nova's purse was black and white, decorated in stripes and black roses with a huge black bow covering the front. It was beautiful. "Oh my God, I love it! Thank you thank you so much! You have the best job!" Nova said, now hugging her purse like Heather.
Robin looked up with a cheesy smile and said "I know" with all the confidence in the world.
"Lateness forgiven, now let's order some food!" Violet said, shooting Robin a sincere smile.
After they ordered, Robin sat back and stared at Nova with a smile as if she were hiding something. "What?" Nova asked starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Tell me that you love me" She finally answered, receiving weird looks from the other girls. Nova couldn't help the chuckle that came out.
"OK I love you".
"Tell me that I am the bestest, most wonderful friend in the universe and that I am the most beautiful person in your life, go ahead, I'll wait" Robin continued to tease.
"Gee thanks...Conceded much?" Violet asked, rolling her eyes.
Nova's eyes shifted back and forth between the girls, not really understanding where Robin was going with this, and cocked an eye brow.
"Well" Robin began, scooting forward to rest her elbows on the table. "I just so happened to have a meeting with the executive and main producer of TruTV, he heard about my work and he wanted to use me to promote a low rating show that he feels can have a lot of potential, with the right publicist."
"That's great! Sounds like your kinda job, now where do I fit into all this?" Nova asked, still not seeing the point.
"Well long story short, the meeting went well and he pretty much gave me carte blanche to promote the show how ever I see fit. He is desperate to make this show a main attraction to TruTV and his last publicist didn't even give him half of the amount of ratings he was hoping for, and he knows this show could be big, and I agree."
Robin took a long drink of her mimosa to draw out the suspense. "Well that's great, if he fired his last publicist and picked you, he must know your worth and he trust's you to take over all the PR work" Heather chimed in, filling the silence.
"Exactly...So, I took a look at the show he is wanting me to work with. It's called Impractical Jokers and I gotta admit, it's pretty funny. It's about four guys that pretty much compete to embarrass each other and if they don't do what they are told then they get thrown into a punishment and have to do something even worse. So anyway, I took a look at the format and all the graphics and the imagery seem out dated. I just feel like they could do so much more to make it more appealing and then let me do what I do best to market their new season coming up, that's where you come in my friend" Robin said, pointing at Nova.
Nova blinked and said "OK?" still not sure where Robin was going with this.She had never heard of this show before. Ever since she moved to NY, cable was a luxury that she couldn't afford and she didn't really watch that much T.V. anyway so she didn't think it was worth it.
"I scheduled a photo session with the guys next week so we can get some new pictures to use for promotion. They are going to be featuring them on their website and magazines, kinda giving the show a re-launch to draw in new viewers...Guess who is going to be conducting their shoot?"The smile on Robin's face couldn't be any bigger as she watched her friend process this information.
"Wait..Me?! They want me to do it?!" Nova exclaimed, still not fully believing it to be true. Once Robin nodded her head, Nova, Violet, and Heather all let out a shrill scream in unison.
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" was all Nova could get out as her heart felt like it was going to beat right of of her chest. She covered her mouth with her hands and tears started to leak out of her eyes.
"So wait, will they be giving her any kind of photo credit for doing this?" Violet asked after the initial excitement died down.
"Ohh yeah, she will be getting everything, photo credit, a decent pay check, and her name will even be in the credits at the end of each episode, she will even be granted permission to use whatever photo's she takes in her portfolio" Robin replied snidely.
"Oh my God, Robin, I can't thank you enough, you have no idea what this means to me, I wish I could find a way to repay you! I feel like this is the big break I've been waiting for!" Nova cried. She began to have flashes of where this could potentially lead her.
"No need to thank me darling, I know you do great work and you will be returning the favor once I show the head of the network your fresh and fabulous images I know you will give me. I'm counting on you to lock in this deal and show these guys what I can do for them."
Nova didn't let the sudden rush of pressure ruin her proud moment. She listened to Robin carefully as she explained the details of where and when the session was to take place and what kind of pictures they were looking for.
"Just try to capture images that reflect their personalities and have fun with it. These guys are a riot and I took a look at some of the photo work from their last season and it was...." Robin made a face and a cut throat gesture to let Nova know it was not good.
"I know you can do better, and you will" Robin assured her.
The girls continued to talk amongst themselves and Nova was on cloud 9. She was having a hard time concentrating on the conversation. She couldn't believe that she was going to actually get to put her talents towards what she came here for. There was a lot this could lead too and even if it lead to nothing, she would still have this experience to put on her resume. Surely someone would give her a chance after this, they had to!
The first thing Nova did when she arrived back to her apartment after her brunch was call her mom and tell her all about it...