Chapter Seven
Anna watched in fascination as Daniel photographed the models. He seemed to know instinctively which poses would suit their faces and their bodies, and he charmed them with gentle words to get the right reactions, ones that Anna knew would look good in the glossy magazine they’d end up in. She concentrated hard on making sure she had all the right equipment to hand — she’d memorised where everything was so that she could find things quickly. On the whole the day was running smoothly, but that didn’t stop him barking instructions at her when she didn’t get it quite right. She envied the models for the way he spoke to them, with a soft caress in his voice, and wished he would speak to her like that.
They worked hard all morning, barely even stopping for a coffee. Her body ached from moving equipment and backdrops, and she realised how little physical activity she’d done in her old job. But she was enjoying the experience, and just by watching Daniel — the kind of lighting he used, which camera angles and lenses worked best — she felt as though she’d already learned so much, things that would benefit her own work. With the exception of the photographer in question, this was the perfect job for her.
By the time they finished the shoot at three o’clock, she was exhausted but elated, and a rather gruff, ‘You did well for a first big shoot,’ from Daniel had her spirits soaring.
‘Let’s get packed up and this lot back home as soon as possible,’ he said. ‘I’m going up to Cheshire this evening, so I’d like to get on the road as soon as possible.’
‘Of course.’ She immediately started to pack up the equipment. ‘Doing anything nice up there?’
He stopped what he was doing for a minute and stared at her, frowning. She wondered if she’d overstepped the mark. Throughout the week, he hadn’t said anything about his personal life.
‘I have a house there,’ he said. ‘My son lives in Cheshire with his mother and it’s my weekend with him.’
‘Oh, I see.’ She was stunned. She hadn’t realised he was a father. She didn’t really know anything about him, other than he was often photographed coming out of a restaurant or a nightclub with some beauty on his arm. ‘That will be nice for you.’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It’s just a pity I only get to see him every other weekend.’
‘I can see that must be difficult,’ Anna said softly.
‘It is.’ He turned away and continued putting the equipment back in the right containers. They worked in silence until everything was in the Range Rover and they were on the road towards Kensington. After encroaching on his personal life, Anna was hesitant to start up another conversation, so sat in rather uncomfortable silence beside him. She decided that, over the weekend, she’d have a look to see what was on the internet about his personal life. It might help prevent her from putting her foot in it in future. It was a relief when they arrived and she could start unpacking everything, glad of something to do.
When they were finished he said, ‘I tend to go to Cheshire every other weekend. I don’t normally plan shoots for a Friday if I’m going away but this one was delayed. It’s likely that every other Friday will be a short day, but there will be other days when you will need to work longer. Is that okay with you?’
‘Yes, that’s fine,’ she said. ‘Whatever suits you.’
‘Well, I’ll let you go, then. Have a good weekend.’
‘And you,’ she said quietly before leaving.
Anna walked towards the Tube station, wondering what to do with her unexpected time off. If she went home, she would only get bogged down in the numerous jobs that needed to be done around the house. It was a sunny afternoon, too good to be wasted on chores, so she wandered around Kensington instead, taking snaps of whatever took her fancy, before settling at a table outside a café, contemplating the weekend ahead. She was actually looking forward to next week, wondering what she would learn from Daniel. On Monday they would be editing the photos they’d taken today and she couldn’t wait to see the results. Suddenly life seemed to be getting a whole lot better.