The Photographer - h.s

Dreamy

Harry

I woke up in the unfamiliar room, the light hurting my eyes for a moment while they adjusted. The walls were a light cream color with navy blue window curtains that match the bed spread. She had photos on her desk of her with her friends and one picture of her and her dad probably on her prom night. She had photos I assume she took, hanging on her walls and she had house plants sitting in front of the window and she had a long hanging one in the corner over her desk. I swung my legs out of bed and walked out of the room and into the living room. I looked around and didn't find Victoria anywhere, I walked to the kitchen and looked out the glass doors to the balcony and saw her sitting outside. She was sitting in a metal chair and beside her, sitting in the table, was a cat. She was on her laptop and she kept glancing over at, who I assume is Arlo. He was all gray with white under his chin and on his chest and the tip of one of his ears was missing.

Vic turned around in her chair and flashed me a smile and waved me to come out but I shook my head. I know that once I open the door Arlo will jump down and leave and I can just tell how excited she was to be able to sit beside him for so long. She tilted her head and turned back around to her laptop, I could see her editing more picture from the shoot she did for my album, I can't believe she was so worried about not getting any good shots, she's amazing.

The balcony door opened and I came back from my thoughts as she closed the door behind her and flicked the lock. She slid her laptop onto the kitchen counter and smirked at me.

"When did you get up?" I asked and she shrugged and looked to the small clock on her oven.

"Maybe an hour ago. I did t want to wake you up." She said sweetly and I smiled at her and shook my head.

"Always, wake me up." I told her and she rolled her eyes.

"Let's go get some breakfast, I know a place." She said and I nodded and we walked to the door and slipped on shoe and she grabbed her keys from a hook beside her door. She opened the door for me to walk out first and followed behind me locking her door. We walked down the hall and down the one flight of stairs and out of the building.

"So...where are you taking me?" I asked and she smirked and we got into her car as she starts the engine.

"So, there's this little diner my best friend works at that makes the best waffles I've ever had." She told me and smiled before backing out of her parking spot and leaving the lot. The drive was short, only about 10 minutes before we arrived to a cute little diner with a few cars parked in the front. The sign was on the building read 'Sunny's Diner'. We climbed out of the car and she lead me to the front doors, I leaned forward and opened the door for her and she smiled at me sweetly. An older woman greeted us at the door and showed us to our booth and set menus down in front of us. Vic and I sat across from each other and I smiled at her, this was our first time sitting down like this together, that is until we were greeted by, who I can only assume is her best friend.

"Vic.... didn't expect to be seeing you. Introduce me to your...friend." She said while keeping very intense eye contact with her.

"Oh uh...yeah. Soph, this is my friend Harry. Harry, this is Sophia." She said and Sophia turned to me with a wide smile.

"Nice to meet you Sophia, Victoria has told me a lot about you." I said to her and her face glowed pink.

"I- um.... I wish I could say the same...but I haven't seen much of her since she started hanging out with this guy she met a few weeks ago who she thinks is just so dreamy-"

"Thank you, Sophia." Vic interrupted in a serious and bold tone. Sophia smiled and giggled before she walked away, leaving me sitting with Victoria who was blushing and looking at me pursing her lips.

"So, you think I'm dreamy?" I asked her amused and she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"She never said I was talking about you." She added and looked down at her hands with a smirk before our waitress came over to ask for our drinks, saving her from our conversation. She ordered an iced coffee and I ordered mine black.

"So tell me about her, howd you guys become friends?" I asked her and she took a sip from her cup and smiled.

"I had just moved to California and starting my job and I sat down at my desk in the first day and she sat at her desk across from me and it's all history. We worked on shoots together, talked all the time at the studio, after a while we would start coming here on breaks and when she started college courses she went part time at the studio and and she took a two year course and got her degree in graphic design and started working part time here when she went back to school for a second degree. She's currently doing online classes for Computer Animated Design so I don't see her much unless it's when we're in the studio together." She told me and I was impressed.

"So, she has 2 part time jobs and is taking college classes online? Impressive." I told her and she nodded with a proud smile.

"She has a lot of dreams and she's determined to reach them all." She told me and I tilted my head at looked at her.

"What about you? What's one of your dreams? Attainable or not, I wanna hear one." I told her and she raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

"I... I don't know..." she said hesitantly before I interrupted.

"Nonono, nope, you don't tell me much about yourself but this is one thing I gotta know. Just... one dream, one thing that you aspire to reach." I said and she thought for a moment. She doesn't open to me much or tell me all too much about her personal life. I mean...I get it, we've been friends for a little over a month now, I'm not expecting to know her whole life story but she just seems... she seems closed off.

"Okay okay, one day...one day I want to be in galleries. I want my work to be on the walls on galleries, I want people to stop and feel something when they see my work. And... and I know that it's a long shot and my work isn't-"

"No. You do this thing, where when you talk about yourself and your work you sell yourself short. You are good. You are extraordinary, Vic. I can 100% see you standing beside your photos as you showcase them in a gallery and I'll be there making sure everyone knows that I'm there with the photographer."