Page 72 of Picture Us

Diana took a deep breath. “From your face, it sounds like maybe that should be revisited.”

When they didn’t respond, Diana asked, “What about the fucked up maternity pictures? Did you tell her about it?”

Drew shook their head. “No, honestly it was such a small thing that I forgot about it until I was telling you how it all went down. Plus, it’s supposed to be the benefit of digital that it should be easy to remove.”

Lowering her head to meet Drew’s gaze, Diana chuckled. “I guess it wouldn’t have been great to doubt her vision in front of the client. It’s probably fine, like you said.”

“But there’s a problem.” Drew winced.

“I love problem solving.” Diana sat on the edge of the bed.

Taking in a deep breath, Drew rubbed their face. “Ellen and Fin want us to shoot their wedding together.” Before Diana could jump in, Drew lifted their finger to silence her while they finished talked. “And there’s this tennis job for Mackenzie Bennett that we’re both up for. She wants to pitch us as a team but I’m not crazy about it.”

Diana’s eyebrows squished together. “Why?”

Sinking into the bed, Drew groaned. “What if my whole career just becomes this schtick comparing Film to Digital? Like I’ve won awards for photojournalism but my rate is rising for some gimmick?”

“Some things never change.” Diana laughed and patted Drew’s leg. “Look, I think it’s totally fair to not want every job to be tied to this casual situationship…thing. But, money is money and I say don’t kick a gift horse in its very lucrative mouth.”

With a nod, Drew crossed their arms. “But am I evil for telling her I want to go out alone for the tennis gig? Like we’d be competitors.”

“Maybe that makes it hotter?” Diana joked. Ripping a grape from the vine, Drew pegged her with it. “And you might want to talk about just how casual this whole thing is.”

Before Drew could launch into a tirade about how annoying she was being, Diana stood and got out of arms reach. As she finished her outfit, Diana started shaking her head.

“What?” Drew questioned from the bed.

Whipping her head to face them, Diana waggled a finger at her friend. “In my goddamn pickup truck. You’re the biggest lesbian I’ve ever seen in my life.”

They stuck out their tongue and winked at their friend before going back to their pile of grapes. Even now, all they could think about was Rose. They’d be lying to pretend like they didn’t like working together. It was fun and they made a good team. Drew had been feeling more inspired, trying new shots again for the first time since coming back to the states permanently.

But their chest tightened as they thought about relying on her. Relying on anyone. Shaking off the feeling, Drew sighed.It’s just one more job.

26

ROSE

She had gotten usedto the sound of Drew typing away next to her after about an hour. It was comforting to look up and see them staring intently at their screen. Almost like a game, Rose couldn’t ever quite figure out what they were up to.

They had spent the week after the maternity shoot working on their individual shots, comparing every few days. Drew had even let Rose develop some of the most important shots from their reels, admitting that she was getting much better at handling the film.

And there may have been quite a few nights in bed together too. Rose’s heart pounded at the thought, still wanting Drew every chance she could get. But her phone rang with a text from Ellen.

Any confirmation for Drew yet? Trying to plan plates for dinner.

Rose bit her lip. It was the one thing they hadn’t talked about, that and the shoot for Tommy and Mac Bennett. But Rose hadn’t wanted to pressure them.

Convincing herself that they had plenty of time to think, Rose nodded to herself before closing her laptop and turning to face Drew on the opposite side of the couch. “Did you get a chance to think about the wedding? Ellen and Fin need to plan their budget stuff.”

Drew raised an eyebrow, slowly turning their head from the screen as they finished what they were doing. “Uhh… yeah actually.”

Clearing their throat, Drew set their laptop on the circular coffee table. “I am down for the wedding. I can’t say no to the rate increase and I think it will be fun to do it together.”

“Really?” Rose’s face lit up. Before Drew had come over, she had talked herself through what would happen if they said no. It would have been understandable. But god, she had gotten used to having Drew’s steady hand on shoots with her. “So you do like compromise.”

Drew nodded with a chuckle. “Yeah, but on that note.”

“Nooo.” Of course there was a catch.

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