Page 80 of Picture Us

“You can have my parents. They’re super clingy and annoying. Obnoxiously normal.” Rose wiggled her eyebrows at them, getting a laugh.

Watching her eyes, Drew felt themself calm down. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that.”

Diana sat back down at the table with some new snacks. Just as she did, Drew’s phone began vibrating from their pocket.

They had no idea who would bother calling them on a Sunday morning. But as they pulled the device from their pocket, they immediately recognized the number. Looking at Rose and Diana, Drew gestured to their phone. “I have to take this.”

The words had barely left their mouth before they were swiping to answer the call. Before being out of earshot, they smiled. “Hey, Tommy. Good to hear from you.”

Through the phone, Tommy sounded as if she was smiling. “Hey Drew. Thanks for picking up on a Sunday.”

“Of course, what can I do for you?” Drew rubbed the back of their head, taking a peek at the table a few feet away. It was hard to tell from here, but Rose looked both interested and annoyed.

“Look, I’ll make this quick since it’s a weekend. We’re torn between a couple candidates and we’d like to clarify some details with you to ensure you’re a good fit. We’d need the shoot in the next three weeks. We want a few locations, one at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy where she learned to play and the other at Arthur Ashe in Queens.” Tommy was moving fast, listing off details.

Drew nodded. “That won’t be a problem for me.”

Tommy exhaled. “Great. And this job requires… some discretion. She’s a huge star and we don’t want a photographer with a big mouth. She had a lot going on that the public really doesn’t need to know about.”

Drew tried not to cheer, instead lightly pumping their fist. “Discretion is not a problem. If you’d like to send over the dates, I’ll set them aside in my calendar for whenever you make your final decision.”

Tommy laughed. “Will do, thanks, Drew. Talk soon.”

The line disconnected and Drew was slightly baffled. Despite their many years in the field, they hadn’t had the chance to shoot many celebrities. This could really change things. And if Tommy wanted more details, it meant Drew was in the final running.

But as they turned around to head back to the table, their face fell slightly. Of course they were thrilled by the prospect. But as far as they knew, Rose hadn’t gotten a similar call.

God I don’t want this to get in our way.Drew bit the inside of their cheek. Knowing they couldn’t avoid the table forever, Drew walked back and sat down with a tense smile.

Unable to read the room, Diana nodded. “Anything interesting?”

“Just a follow-up, nothing crazy.” Drew looked at Rose, trying to gauge where she was at. But she just wiggled her eyebrows and went back to her food. “Oh Rose, how are the edits on the maternity shoot going?”

Rose nodded. “Good, almost done. I think we should be able to get Lauren the collection by mid-week.”

Rolling her eyes, Diana groaned. “Am I the only one who thinks maternity shoots are weird?”

Drew laughed. “They aren’t my favorite but hers was kind of cool. Rose did a great job planning it out. I think it has a cool vision.”

Looking up from her plate, Rose shrugged. “Well, thanks. I tried.”

It was weird to imagine not working with Rose as much. But Drew reminded themself that they still had the wedding. And after that, it would be up to them how often they wanted to pitch joint projects.

Drew tried to push down the fear that they would grow apart if they didn’t have a reason to be together. There was no way of knowing and right now, they couldn’t be happier with where they were.

28

ROSE

She hadn’t beenable to take her mind off the call for the rest of the brunch. Obviously she was happy to see Drew getting more work. But it would be a lie to pretend like she wasn’t a little jealous.

Turning her attention back to Drew as they walked back to her place, Rose tried to push it aside. It didn’t matter. Accepting a phone call at brunch may be rude in another circumstance but Rose knew how important it was to them.

“So, I think I’ll have about twenty-three prints for the collection. Do you think that’s enough?” Drew asked, looking at Rose.

But they clocked her annoyance. With a deep breath, Drew grabbed her hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Rose shrugged as she looked down the block. The curb boxes were exploding with wild flowers planted by locals who hoped to bring some light back to the city after the gentrifiers made the whole place so bland.

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