Chapter 18
I arrive back at the Daniel House first thing Monday morning. Collin should be meeting us here in a few minutes to film some
clips.
I speak the words out loud as I type them on my phone. “Do. You. Have. Any. Issues. With. Sawdust? Like. Asthma?” Inside,
Sam’s crew is busy at work bringing the floors back to life.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Maya says, lugging the swatch books to the table we set up on the porch. It looks like something
that was once used for beer pong, but at least it goes with the bare-bones vibe of the place. “By the way, did you have a
chance to review the update for Jade and Douglas? They’ve got that board meeting on Wednesday, I think, and need to give a
progress report and talk next steps.”
“Oh, right. I think it’s good to go. What would I do without you?”
Maya smirks. “Struggle for sure.”
My phone dings with a reply, and I lift it immediately to read. “Oh good . Collin doesn’t have asthma.”
“Are you the boy’s medical concierge now? Or did I miss something?” Fitz asks, gliding up the steps, a to-go coffee cup in
hand.
“We didn’t tell you about that guy we interviewed?” Maya asks.
“Oh, that’s right.” Fitz chuckles, then adjusts his neon-orange glasses frames. He glances out across the front yard, and he freezes when his eyes land on the gate. “I’m sorry, I know asthma is probably a deal-breaker, but this is who we landed on?”
I look to the gate where Collin stands, wrestling with the latch.
I glance over at Fitz. “I promise his videos are incredible. Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Fitz leans closer. “Or a boy by his wardrobe, I presume?” He giggles.
“Stop!” I playfully swat Fitz’s arm and then grab Maya to pull her alongside me as we descend the stairs.
“So is that really a wet suit he’s wearing or am I hallucinating?” I whisper out of the corner of my mouth to Maya.
She shrugs as if to say, We didn’t talk dress code . “I’m afraid so. But he was also the marine biology student, right?”
I don’t have a chance to reply before we reach the gate, where Collin has finally found his way in.
“Hey, y’all.” Collin shakes out his hair. “Is there a bathroom I can change in? Came straight from ocean lab.” His cheeks
turn pink.
“I’ll show you,” Maya says.
“Thanks.” Collin slings a bag over his shoulder. “It was a tight turnaround, and I can promise this won’t be a typical thing.”
Fifteen minutes later, Maya, Fitz, and I stand in the kitchen with Collin. Sam’s crew has momentarily stilled the floor sanders,
and Collin is getting a slow-motion shot of the “before” floors.
“Sweet,” he says. “Now, if you want to go ahead and activate that sander, I’ll get an action shot.”
Maya hands out masks and safety glasses, and once everyone’s set, the crew gets to work. Collin dances gracefully around them
holding out his phone, weaving like a well-trained ballerina. From a distance I imagine it looks silly, but the video credits
he’s already got to his name are not one bit of a joke.
Collin waves us out to the porch, and the sunshine highlights the sawdust on our clothes and nestled in our hair.
“Here, let me give you an idea.” Collin taps a few buttons on his phone and twirls it around.
It’s only a few seconds long, but the clip is already professional grade.
I smile. This is exactly what I wanted. It looks top-notch. Like something the best in town would have, and if there’s anything
we need to be picked, it’s to be the very best.
“It’s incredible,” Maya says. “All right, so for the next thing I was thinking we could get some shots of Mack and Fitz looking
through design swatches.”
Collin nods. “Yeah, sure. Maya, you aren’t a cohost?”
“Oh no, no.” Maya holds out her hands. “I’m strictly behind the scenes. In fact, I wouldn’t have even told them about the
auditions had I thought they’d force me in front of a camera.”
“I get it.” Collin dusts off his iPhone with a special cloth. “I’m a behind-the-lens kind of guy myself.”
Fitz loops his arm around my waist, and I point to him with my thumb. “This guy will by my cohost.”
“Great. Well, let’s get started,” Collin says. “Honestly, we won’t use all the clips in the end. It’ll be edited down. But
any time in front of the camera will help you loosen up and feel more natural.”
I nod. “All righty.”
Fitz starts warming up by singing arpeggios, and Collin quietly starts filming.
We spend the next hour shooting clips in different parts of the property, and just as Collin promised, I become more comfortable with each take. I talk about the colors for the home, neutral shades like white and cream with hints of blues and greens throughout. Fitz pokes fun at my seriousness, and the old stories tumble out: the historical workout room we painstakingly created, the haunted properties, the time Fitz knocked over a tin of brown paint onto a priceless rug, then proceeded to blame it on the clients’ dog having diarrhea. Fitz and I reminisce about our best projects, the stunning Charleston single houses, and our feature in Southern Living .
Collin gets a great shot of me pulling a sky-high weed, pretending to be Jack of the fairy-tale beanstalk. Fitz feigns using
one of our fabric swatches as a hankie, much to my dismay. We relax, and soon it’s as if the camera isn’t even there.
I’m sweaty and bleary-eyed when Collin calls it a wrap.
“We’ve got some awesome stuff,” Collin says. “You’re both great on camera, especially together.”
“We can’t thank you enough,” Maya says. “I’ll be in touch about another filming day.”
“Honestly, we might not need it,” Collin says. “I watched some Exquisite Interiors audition tapes on YouTube, and if you give
me access to your ‘after’ photos of other projects, I can lay them into the video. From what I saw in the examples, I’ve got
what I need.”
“Really? You’re sure?” I ask. I’m feeling anything but sure. This felt mostly like goofing around with Fitz, and I want our tape to be excellent.
“Coco did say personality and charisma were the key in the video,” Maya says. “We’ll submit a formal portfolio as well, with
our official before and after photos and features of our most impressive projects.”
Collin nods. “We can always shoot more, but I have a good feeling you’ll like what I can do with this.”
I shrug. “That’s reasonable. When do you think we can have it finished by?” I ask.
“Not long at all once I get all the photos,” Collin says. “A week tops, depending on my schoolwork.”
A thrill runs up my spine. It’s all closer than I realized.
“Wonderful,” I say.
And I mean it. Though talking design and having fun with Fitz on camera isn’t specifically what I pictured for my career,
at its heart it’s everything I’ve wanted: something that would be mine. Something I earned through hard work that doesn’t
require me to be anything but my true self.
Maybe there will come a day when I don’t have to suffer Magnolia’s project management any longer.