mutuality | wroetoshaw

two

"Boys, this is Matilda!" Kon said enthusiastically, moving to the side to allow me to walk forwards properly, faced with seven men, and several other people scattered around the room. Instantly, I felt nervous, but I swallowed it down and tried to come across as a girl who knew what she was doing - well, I tried, anyway.

"Hi! I'm Matilda, call me 'Tilda if you prefer, I'm Kon's roommate," I introduce myself, trying to say as smiley as possible until someone else would say something.

A tallish guy with a beard spoke first, introducing himself as Josh. I thought back to what Kon had told me in the car, about how Josh was the oldest, and a bit like the dad friend. I flashed him a smile, but not before someone else started speaking.

"I'm Ethan, it's nice to see a fresh face around here! Mind if I call you 'Tilda, then?" He asks, literally asking a question I'd answered seconds ago.

"Yeah, yeah of course!" I repeat, and he shows off a cheeky grin.

The rest of the boys introduce themselves to me, and I feel a lot more comfortable in here than I did when I first walked in. Kon was right - they definitely made me feel like I fit right in, and I don't think it could've gone any better.

"You alright?" Kon whispered, gently pulling me to one side as the boys' attention was turned away from me.

"Yeah, actually. Definitely not as bad as I was expecting," I answered truthfully, as we walked over to the corner of the room where he set down his bags.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. I was thinking you could pick one of the boys to focus on and take pictures of today? Just so you don't get too overwhelmed trying to take pictures of all of them all at once," he suggests, and it's times like this I remember why he's my 'best friend'.

"Yeah, okay," I agree, smiling. I look over at the seven boys, unsure of who to pick. I instantly look over at Tobi, who reminds me so much of myself, and I know I've made my choice then and there. "How about Tobi?" I ask, and Kon looks pleased with my choice.

"Good pick. You two seem like you'll get along pretty well anyway," he comments, yelling Tobi's name and asking him to come over. He looks surprised at his name being called, but jogs over with a pleasant smile on his face.

"'Sup, Kon?" He asks, his smile remaining on his face as he greets me with another small smile. I really do feel very comfortable here.

"Matilda's gonna focus on taking your pictures for today, you mind just explaining some stuff about how shoots go, shit like that?" Kon asks, and whilst I'm pretty sure that's something he can do, Tobi agrees to it instantly.

"Course I can! I'll even show you where we keep the secret supply of squashies," he grins, motioning for me to follow him.

After giving Kon one last look he bids me farewell with a proud smile on his face, and I disappear around the corner.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, here is where we keep all the food when we're doing shoots," he explains, as we enter a smaller room, full of the natural light with the large windows overlooking onto the roof, followed by a nice view of London.

"It's very nice for a snack room," I compliment politely, looking at the array of food laid out on the table. I couldn't quite believe that these people were famous enough for them to have someone who laid out food for them, and also gobsmacked that Kon ended up working for them.

"I suppose it is, yeah," he smiled, agreeing with me. "Anyway, I don't wanna bore you too much. Just really fancied some squashies, you want any?" He offered, shaking the packet in front of me.