Author's Note: This story is completely fictional and did not happen. All characters and names are fictional and were made up. I do not make money from these stories. Please do not copy and plagiarize my work.
This story was a personal request from my close friend Jack. Credit to him for the scenario, celeb choice and some of the minor details.
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New York City, New York
The plastic lock piece slammed shut, echoing throughout the large room as a sound with such power to drown out the nuisance of stomping in the distance. Black walls were visible from the corner, but with a white backdrop as part of a set piece in the middle and all cameras focused forward. The smaller studio had nothing more than a basic room with the bar necessities for portrait based photoshoots. The simplicity was there for producing photographs deemed appropriate for quick and easy sessions that would be used for portfolios. Usually it only required a single photographer in the room, though today was different with two camera men managing the equipment. A box of cleaning tools sat nearby on a stool, opening and closing to create the loudest noises heard.
Another day was complete at the offices, as that was the way Bruce Webb preferred to look at things. He didn't enjoy spending hours stuck in the smaller studio downstairs from the offices, but it was still a paycheck one way or the other. At twenty-seven years of age, working as a photographer was all he had known in life since leaving college. With a short stature, he kept his brown hair cut short and slicked back. For a typical summer day, he had arrived at work in beige colored shorts and a blue T-shirt. With a clean shaved face and slim build, there wasn't much about his appearance for Bruce to stick out among any other man working at the Tigers Modelling studio. An adjacent building that sat next to the agency itself that handled most of the business operations inside Brooklyn.
New York wasn't Bruce's kind of town. After spending his college years back home in California, attending USC, he would've preferred to stay back there for his career. His first gig as a photographer had been working for a modelling agency that was now a forgotten afterthought to most people. It had one glorious moment in name as a career starting to a point for a famous Instagram modelled who had since moved on to funding her own solo based operation. The company had been bought into a larger corporate chain and Bruce quickly found his job moved. With an offer to carry on his short lived career as a photographer, he quickly accepted a job to move across the country and continue on with the line of work he had been trained for. New York City had a different vibe compared to the environment of working back home.
The parties were among the first thing he missed. It wasn't unlike Bruce to indulge himself in some hard drinking and occasional passing of the bong with friends on weekends. Everything was more laid back with a relaxed atmosphere in L.A. New York City was a polar opposite, at least he thought to himself. The work schedule came down to crunch time with little free time on six day shifts. Back home he didn't have to worry about checking in with an office, but that was a different story for the daily shifts working under contract now. Everything felt more organized, perhaps due to working under a corporate chain. He didn't have any friends yet after five months of working on the east coast. Bruce typically kept his mouth shut and was socially distant from the other men, as he didn't see a reason to hang out after work.
Working at Tigers Modelling, Bruce had learned early on that the agency was the main key part of the business itself. Unlike the studio back in L.A., the models signed did most of their photo sessions at various locations depending on what they were signed for. Magazine shoots led to live locations, whereas a deal with commercial photographers may have led someone across town for a special shoot. So far, his biggest job had been to work at a fashion runway show, where Bruce was only one of many photographers in the crowd who had to snap as many pictures as he could with a flash camera. Fashion modelling was now his specialty, a far cry his original dreams of working in black and white based photography. Bruce still had hope that a decent opportunity would come about in the future, perhaps even in a town like this he didn't consider to be home.
A real career working under the corporate ladder would've been possible had Bruce considered working as an agent. But that wasn't his dream back when he went to college, nor did he consider it back then as he casually ignored the opportunities to major in any business oriented classes. For now, he would continue on with work, as that was how life went. He had spent the day cleaning up the cameras to prepare for a photo session tomorrow. So far, he had rarely been able to flex his talents as a photographer, often situated down in the smaller studio and taking up close portraits. Models came and went under the Tigers name, but there was always the big names that carried a level of royalty. Bruce had learned early on that these were concentrated down to Victoria's Secret models and a few who had become household names over time.
Leaving the studio room, he stomped his sneakers down across the floor. A hallway led out from the room, but Bruce didn't stray his eyes anywhere else apart from the elevator in view. Ignoring the people who walked past and went about their business during the day. Outside the second studio were other rooms for maintenance and supplies. Bruce didn't have any care in the world what anyone else may have needed to do during the day as he now stood in front of the metallic elevator doors and pushed in the button. The light flickered white before turning green and the sound of the box moving down from the floor was audible. Bruce stood there for a moment, waiting as the elevator had stopped on a higher floor before the doors opened. He let out a sigh at this minor nuisance, only to see it stop one more time. By now it felt that he had been sitting and waiting for a minutes, though time had a way of creating illusions on an impatient mind.
"Dammit, come on..."
Ready to go off cussing at the elevator, Bruce planted his hands onto his hips while standing in front of the large silver doors. A black frame went around the doors, sticking out from the white interior covering the walls of the lower floor. When the elevator finally rumbled down to the current floor, Bruce heard the 'ding' sound and watched the doors slide open to reveal a familiar face with a smile across her lips.
"Going somewhere Bruce?"
A set of big blue eyes glared back at Bruce, as he studied the face of Lorena Rae. Her long brunette hair was split down the middle, waving beyond her shoulders. She wore a white top with small straps over the shoulders, shirt tucked down into a pair of denim blue skinny jeans. Bruce found himself smiling and then blushing as her smirk revealed her pearly white teeth. Lorena had been the only model he had worked with so far into the month of July. All her photo shoots involving a smaller budget and a simple white back drop. He had known her as an up and coming model, all their photo sessions coming down to what outfits she was modelling.
"Nah, I'm not going anywhere with you standing right there in front of me."
She giggled back at his response, visibly taking in his apparent blush. Bruce stepped into the elevator as Lorena leaned back against the wall. Black walls greeted him with a metal hand rail on all four sides. She leaned past him and clicked the button for the lobby, offering a grin that only confused Bruce as they were now locked in the elevator for a short time.
"You're leaving too?"
Lorena nodded her head at him, prompting another question.
"What made you go down to the second studio then?"
"I was trying to find you, if you believe me."
"Oh really?"
Once again, Lorena nodded while softly giggling. She waited a moment before carrying on in speech.
"I spoke to my agent about our shoot last week for the lingerie line. You know I've got some leeway around here, right?"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Well, for one it means I get to pick my own photographers. And for two... maybe I should go on and ask you if you wanna get outta this building for a bit and do a photo shoot for Grazia?"
Bruce smiled, quirking his eyebrows up in surprise.
"If you want me, I'd do anything to finally get out of that little white room back there. How did you land a photo shoot for Grazia magazine?"
"I didn't, my agent did. I'm on the cover for an issue to be released in Italy."
