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“Hey, Kallie, sorry. You know how she loves to play with my phone, well steal it is more like it.” I laugh and get up to put my dish in the dishwasher.
“Stop, Braden, I love when she calls me. She wants to come over so we need to make plans. How are you?” He proceeds to tell me how tired he is between working and having the kids.
“You love every second of it. You can’t bullshit me.” He laughs.
“I do. Listen, I need to get Dawn over to Sarah’s parents’ house. They are keeping her overnight to give us a little break. I’ll call you during the week and make plans. Love you.” We hang up, and I figure I’m done with editing pictures for the day. I want to do something. I grab my camera and head down to the beach. I like to do this every once in a while—go to the beach and just snap random pictures. It is relaxing to me.
I wish I lived close enough to the beach to walk, but it’s only a
short drive. Once I get there, I get out and head over to one of the big rocks I like to sit on and people watch. I still like to take pictures of objects, not just people, so I focus where the sand meets the rocks and snap. I smile looking at the picture and just begin snapping. Nothing specific, I just snap away. “This rock taken?” I look over at a very good-looking guy and smile.
“Not that I’m aware of.” He laughs and I smile at him.
“What are you doing exactly?” I hold up my camera.
“Just taking a few pictures.” He nods his head and sips on the coffee he has in his hands. I normally don’t have company when I’m here, so I’m a little uncomfortable taking pictures now.
“Please don’t stop invading people’s privacy because I’m here.” I snap my head to him, and he is just staring at the crowds of people on the beach.
“Excuse me?” He looks over at me and shrugs his shoulders.
“That’s what you’re doing. You are taking photos of people without their knowledge, therefore, you are invading their privacy.” I just keep staring at him, and he is looking right back at me. “Cat got your tongue?” I clear my throat and turn to face him.
“First of all, who the fuck are you? Second, I am doing nothing of the such. I am capturing the beauty that is around me. I’m a professional photographer, so maybe before you come over here accusing me of something, you should know what the fuck you are talking about. Now if you’ll excuse me, I don’t feel so inspired anymore.” I stand up and make my way to my car, feeling pissed and hurt. I climb in and close the door. For the first time in my life, I wonder if maybe I shouldn’t be here taking pictures, maybe I am doing just what he said. I back out of my spot and head toward home. The more I think about it, the more I know he’s wrong. I never focus on anyone’s face, and I always, always fade them out. Asshole, making me question what I do.
After I get home, I call Brinley and see if she wants to do something. She could tell I was upset about something and told me to head over to her house. I showered and took my time getting ready. I curled my hair, applied my makeup, and picked out an outfit to make myself feel sexy. I end up with a pair of skinny jeans, a black halter-top, and black heels. I look in the mirror and smile before grabbing my phone and purse off the counter and heading to Brinley’s.
When I pull up, I see a few more cars here. I walk up to the door and let myself in. “Brin?” I close the door and head toward the living room.
“Outside, Kallie.” I head out there and give Brinley a hug along with Nora, Jackie, and Ella. “Grab a drink, sit, and talk.” I tell them all about the guy from the beach, and being the supportive friends they are, they all tell me what a dickhead he is. After a few beers and bashing men, we are sitting around talking and laughing about our love lives or lack thereof.
“Last night, I was at the bar, and this guy comes up to me. Hot, muscular, tattoos, just my kind of guy. He asks if he can buy me a drink, and we start talking. Every word out of his mouth made me want to become deaf. Is it too much to ask for a sexy guy that can actually hold a conversation?” We laugh at Nora but completely agree. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had a conversation with a guy where he seemed intelligent. Let me rephrase that, the last time I had a conversation with a guy that was available to me. Plenty of my models are extremely intelligent, but extremely off limits.
“Enough of the pity, lack of good men talk. I say we rent a funny movie and get trashed.”
“Brin, that’s the best offer I’ve had in months.” We all laugh and head to the living room to find a movie. Brin goes to the kitchen and comes back with a bottle of vodka and five glasses. Looks like I’m going to be spending the night. We go through all the movies on Netflix and finally settle on Step Brothers. Brin pours us all a shot and holds up her glass.
“To the most beautiful women I know and am damn lucky to call friends.” We all raise our glasses and throw them back. I am definitely one lucky girl to be surrounded by such amazing friends who have my back no matter what. I throw myself into my work and don’t talk to anyone for sometimes weeks at a time, but they love me anyway.
I wake up to the sun blinding me. I roll away from the window, but it’s useless; it’s so bright in here. I open my eyes and look at the clock. “Ugh.” It’s ten o’clock already. I need to get home and finish my edits. I have another busy week and that huge shoot this weekend, which I’m so excited about. Not only am I excited about working with Max, but also finally getting to work with Jax. You’d have to live under a rock not to know who he is. He is one of the most popular models right now, and I’m beyond excited to work with him.
“Morning.” I turn my head and see Brinley sitting on the chair in the living room. Even when she first wakes up, she looks stunning. Bitch.
“Morning.” I push myself up and face her. “Damn, I haven’t gotten that drunk in a long time.” She laughs and I shake my head.
“Maybe you need to hang out more. Once every couple of weeks sucks, Kallie. I know you are busy with work, but I think you need to relax more often.” She’s right, I know she is, but photography is my life. I don’t know how to step back. “Stop over-thinking it.” I laugh and rest my head back.
“You’re right, I do need to get out more, but I don’t know if I can do it.” She sits down next to me and rests her head back by mine.
“You’ll never meet someone if you don’t get out, Kal. You can’t expect someone to just show up on your doorstep one day.” I stick my tongue out at her and she smiles. “Don’t you think if you take a break sometimes you might enjoy it more?”
“Impossible. I live for this and you know that. I will promise to make more time for relaxing and going out. How about we plan a vacation in a few months? Me, you, and the girls.”
“Now you’re talking. A girl’s vacation would be fucking awesome. How about in the meantime we go out to dinner Friday night? We have that shoot Saturday morning, so we’ll do an early dinner. Sound good?” I lean over and pull her in for a hug.
“Sounds perfect. I do need to get home and get a few things done though. I will call you later. Thanks for last night.” She kisses my cheek and tells me she’ll talk to me later. I head home, and right as I walk in the door, my cell phone rings. I drop my purse and keys down on the counter as I answer it. “Hello?”
“Kallie?” I walk to my office and turn the computer on.
