They exchanged some friendly barbs with the rest of the wardrobe team and then made it over to me. I cleared my throat and gave them a shaky smile. “C’mon, I’ll walk you over to the set.”
As soon as we exited the dressing room, Nora was on us. “You’re ready. Good. We’ve switched the order of the scenes we’re shooting. Briony, the model for your new release, is still in San Francisco because of a flight delay. She’ll be in the air soon, but we have to get started now if we want to get it all done.”
“Fine by us,” Mason said as he surveyed the set. It was a simple setup. A silky black backdrop, a drum kit off to the side, and a distressed leather couch where most of the official band photos would be shot.
Kaz nudged me with his elbow and gave me a wink. “You’re awfully quiet.”
Yeah, because I was acutely aware of how many pairs of admiring eyes on the two of them, and the jealousy surging through my veins made me clam up. They weren’t mine to be jealous of, goddamn it. “I’m just worried about your model. Trinity will be pissed if we don’t get what we came here for, and your budget doesn’t leave much room for error.”
“We’ll make it work,” he assured me. “We don’t need the model to get kick-ass photos, no matter what Theo thinks.”
With one last confident grin in my direction, he sauntered over to where Mason was talking to Theo.
I hovered around aimlessly for a while before deciding to pull out my camera and get started on the behind-the-scenes photos. Nothing much was happening yet. Theo was shouting directions to Nora and the set designers, while Mason and Kaz lounged on the couch. But there was beauty to be found even in moments of idleness. As a photographer, no matter how amateur, it was my job to capture it.
I circled around the set at a distance that felt safe—God forbid I got in Theo’s way—and snapped a few shots. Everyone was too busy to notice me, which was exactly how I liked it. It didn’t take me long to get into a good flow, searching for the right angle, finding an interesting story to tell, and capturing the right moment.
When Theo started shooting, I didn’t stop. He didn’t seem to pay any mind to me, and if this was how the rest of the day went, I’d be in the clear. I could tell he was getting some powerful images of the guys, who by now appeared at ease on the set. Kaz slung his arm around Mason’s shoulders and looked off to the left, both of them sprawled on the couch.
Click.
Click.
Click.
A thousand more clicks later, and the first part of the shoot was wrapped up.
“Can someone tell me where the hell is Briony?” Theo barked to no one in particular. “Is she still on that goddamn plane?”
Nora rushed over to him with her clipboard squeezed under her arm. “They’re waiting to land, apparently some traffic-control issue. Might be another hour.”
Shit. We didn’t have any time to waste. I lowered my camera and hurried closer to the set that was quickly getting dismantled by two strong-looking dudes. “I can call Trinity and see if she has a backup,” I said to Theo.
“We can’t wait for your boss to decide to take this seriously,” he snipped. “She’s not even here. We need a stand-in. Nora!” he called out loudly even though his assistant was only a few feet away. “Find me a stand-in so we can figure out the right shots, and we’ll swap Briony in as soon as she gets here.”
Nora looked like she was about to keel over from stress, her frantic eyes searching around the set. “What kind of a stand-in? Someone with similar features to Briony or—”
Theo silenced her by lifting his palm and zooming in his attention on me. “Enough. We’ll use Molly.”
A weight dropped inside my stomach. “I’m sorry?”
He raised one mocking brow. “You’re here to be helpful, aren’t you? So be helpful.”
Mason and Kaz had come up to stand beside us, and I shot them a nervous glance before turning back to Theo. “What do you need me to do exactly?”
“Just follow my directions and don’t ask any questions,” he said gruffly. “We’re back here in fifteen.”
I rubbed my arms as I watched him stomp away. Of course, I’d help them however they needed, but I was a hell of a lot more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it.
“What should I expect?” I asked, turning to Kaz and Mase. “I saw they sent an email on Saturday about some changes for this shoot, but I didn’t read it.” I was behind on work after barely opening my laptop the whole weekend. The guys had told me they were on top of everything.
Kaz and Mason shared a look. Before they could answer, the two burly stagehands reappeared carrying what looked like a bed frame to the set.
Nervous energy travelled up my spine. “What’s this? Wasn’t this shoot supposed to be the two of you in a fake concert hall?”
“They changed it at the last minute,” Kaz said, keeping his voice low. “They wanted us to—”
“Okay! Listen up,” Theo reappeared with Nora by his side. She waved her arms in the air to get everyone’s attention.
