"Alright, that's it," says Jessica. "I'm calling it." Jessica is beautiful, lush long hair that seems to hang perfectly at any given moment. She could walk through a storm and still look like silk - not that anyone would notice. Let's face it, if it's raining, all eyes would be on her wet shirt. Fortunately for her outfit, it isn't raining today. Yes, she's beautiful, but also stubborn.
She uses the back of her hand to wipe the sweat off her forehead. On the other side of the gym, Tom shuts off the treadmill and steps off it. He uses the front of his shirt to mop sweat off his face. "Yeah, it's getting pretty late. You want to grab breakfast?"
"Isn't that usually the plan?" Jessica leaves their home gym first, swinging into the kitchen. They've already got smoothies made up in the fridge, in nice little glass mugs, and she grabs them out, one for herself and one for Tom.
They haven't been married for very long - only a year or so. There's a lot about their life with each other that's still being figured out. Breakfast isn't one of those things.
Tom and Jessica both have a love for the fitness world, and their mornings are always the same. An early morning workout, and then a healthy, hydrating breakfast afterwards. They almost always have smoothies for breakfast. Today, it's a thick, green and fresh smoothie made up with spinach, apples, yogurt, mint, and apple juice. It's the perfect way to rehydrate after a work out, and the best way to start the morning off.
Tom strips his shirt off before settling in at the bar-counter with his smoothie. He says, "we're got t do that ten-k job today."
"That's the outfit for the online fashion retailer, right?" Jessica gets paid to model clothing and post photos of it to her SM. It works out incredibly well considering that Tom is incredible when it comes to using a camera. He might not have a degree in photography, but he's got all of the skills that could be put into use behind a camera.
"Yeah," says Tom. "We've got to get it up by five, or it won't match with that promo code offer."
The rules are easy. No photo, no post, no £10,000!
Or at least, it's normally easy! Torquay is a lovely city, and it works well for the urban aesthetic that most of their clients want in the pictures. But it's also the middle of lock down. Covid-19 has the entire city in a panic. People have gotten into serious trouble for breaking the lock down rules, and there's a lot of debate going around about what work counts as 'work'.
Jess is no fool. She knows that the way that she brings in money - being an influencer, mostly - isn't something that a lot of people understand. The older crowd of folk are especially out of the loop when it comes to odd, internet based careers. She's certain that most of them wouldn't understand the importance in the work that she and her husband are doing.
Jess and Tom have waited until today, Sunday and the final day for the project, to try and lessen the amount of people that are going to be out and about. It's not as easy to wander randomly around public areas all dressed up while everyone is meant to be staying at home. With the streets more deserted than before, they stand out like sore thumbs...But they're also hoping that they might be able to get in quicker.
"No crowds to deal with," says Jess. "That could help. We normally have to shoo people out of the way. And if we hit up the fountain first, then the guard rail just behind it? The one at those steps? We should be able to snap a whole versatile set of pictures in one go."
"That's a good idea. I'd been going to suggest the shopping centre itself, you know, out front? But I think that the fountain's going to fit the outfit better." Tom nods. "We'll make it quick. A few pictures, and then we'll call it good."
Jess finishes her smoothie, rinses out the glass, and then heads to her bedroom. The outfit has been sent out to her free of charge, of course, A pair of sleek, scrunchy shorts and a patterned blouse. It's not her personal favourite, but she's paid to wear it, not love it. She's got to wear a pair of low cut cotton panties with them, because everything else is leaving lines in the tight khaki fabric. Panty lines are not something she wants in her professional photo shoot, thank you very much!
Because it's such a cold morning, she pulls on a heavy coat over top of it. The coat isn't actually part of the outfit, and Jess will have to take it off before they start snapping pictures. It will keep her nice and toasty warm on the walk to the fountain, though, and it will be good to slip back into it afterwards, too!
The coat is thick and fluffy and warm. Tom is already dressed in his tight tracksuit and big arm coat on, camera tucked in one hand. "You ready to go?"
"Looks windy out."
"Not the best weather we've had. Then again, could be worse. Could be raining."
"Oh! Don't say things like that!" Jess swats at Tom's hip. "You're going to jinx us."
Tom says, "that's just one more reason to hurry up. You remember when we got caught out in December?"
"I'm still half frozen from it," says Jess. She follows Tom out to their 4×4 and climbs into it. "My teeth were chattering for days afterwards!"
It's not a sunny day out, but it's not the worst weather either. The clouds are heavy and thick, but more in a way that promises wind than rain. She hopes that the weather holds up well enough. Jess really does hate doing shoots in the rain, and they've put this one off for so long that it isn't an option. No matter what the weather ends up doing, they're going to have to get this done.
On their way in to town they get their regular Starbucks coffee drive thru which they do more out of habit than need. Jess always loves a large extra hot extra shot latte to drink while she sits back in her comfy white leather chair, scrolling through her phone while Tom drives her in to town.
Jess makes short work of her latte, all but chugging the drink down. The warmth of it settles in her stomach and makes her feel a little bit better. What can she say? Coffee is a comfort drink of hers! And while taking pictures might not be the most high stakes job out there, Jess is always nervous before a really well paying shoot like this. After all, if the client doesn't like the photos, there's a chance that she and Tom won't get paid.
And with it so close to deadline, they won't be able to come out later and redo the shoots, either. Jess is so worried about it, she drinks her coffee twice as fast as normal...and then she reaches over and she drinks Tom's coffee, too!
"No," says Tom, playfully. "I didn't want the coffee that I ordered, for myself, exactly the way I like it."
He pauses between every few words, drawing the sentence out. Jess flushes and tells him, "you should be paying attention to the roads anyway!"
"There's nothing to pay attention to," says Tom. "It's fine, you can have it. Tastes odd, anyway. They put in too much sugar or something."
Jess agrees with him - both about the fact that the coffee is too sickeningly sweet, and the fact that there's no real reason to be hyper focused on the roads.
The roads are empty. It cuts down the travel down by half, which is great. Jess has a whole list of things that she wants to do this evening. A hot shower is at the top of the list for when she gets home. And...honestly, finding a bathroom is on the top of her list for right now! Jess tosses back the last of the second cup of coffee so it doesn't go to waste and starts getting her things together.
Tom pulls into their usual parking spot. "Alright. Let's get this shoot done with. I want to be back home before it gets any colder."
"I'll be right back," says Jess. She slings her purse over her shoulder and gets out of the car, casting around for her normal break stop. The centre of town is a bustling hub of activity - normally. Between the nearby shopping centre and the coffee shop, there's normally no end to the throngs of people that they have to fight through.
In that same line of thought, there's normally no end to the amount of public toilets that are available. Their trips always go the same way. They get coffee. Jess goes pee and fixes up her make-up. Then they do the photo shoot, and they get something to eat on the way back home.
But neither of them have taken into account the fact that Covid-19 has changed things. See, not only is there no one else around, but a lot of the businesses appear to have closed as well. The fact that it's Sunday isn't helping matters.
"Tom," she says. "I've got to pee!"
"Shit. I don't think there's anywhere open."
"I'm desperate, Tom! I've got to pee really badly!"
"We should have skipped the coffee," says Tom. "Okay, hang on." He looks around, but comes to the same conclusion that Jess had. "There really isn't anywhere open. Okay, look. How about this? We get the pics now - "
"I've got to pee badly," insists Jess. "And it's cold out! You know that makes it worse!"