Page 62 of Mine

The band looked flustered and two of them were angrily whisper yelling at each other. If looks could kill, one of them would be dead for sure, but they set up as they continued arguing. As bad as I wanted to take a picture of their passionate exchange, I held back. I knew it was wrong, but they were just so beautiful. They reminded me of Hunter and Romeo and all that anger and tension that had to go somewhere, right? Wish I could photograph that too.

Glancing at my watch, I knew it was time for people to start arriving and while there were photographers outside, I wanted to take a few photos myself. I grabbed my faux fur shawl that Noemi lent me, grabbed my bag and headed out to the small red carpet they had.

One of the band members was already heading out holding the door for me. He was one of the ones arguing and just thinking of the argument, I blushed.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling at him as I walked out.

“My pleasure,” he said, blatantly checking me out. “You're beautiful.”

“Oh.” My face felt like it was on fire. “Thank you. You look great too.”

“I hate dressing up for these things, but I would do just about anything for Easton,” he said, smoothing out his jacket.

“Easton is amazing, this entire organization he has built was something this community needed,” I said, looking around.

“I wouldn’t be here without him,” he said, putting his hand in his pocket.

My heart clenched at the subtle undertone.

“I’m so glad you're here,” I said, wanting to give him a hug but didn’t want to cross a boundary.

“Me too,” he smiled. “I just came out for fresh air, but maybe I can buy you a drink later.”

“Gage, is everything ok?” Easton came up to us looking worried.

“Yeah, everything is fine,” he said, looking anything but fine. “I’m going to make sure the sound check has been done. It was lovely meeting you…”

“Valencia,” I said, taking his hand expecting a handshake, but he kissed the back of my hand.

Nice to meet you, Gage,” I said.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he purred.

“Ok, stop eye-fucking Valencia,” Easton said, pulling Gage away.

He turned around, mouthing ‘sorry’ at me, but I shook my head because Gage was entertaining and not bad to look at. I pulled my shawl closer to me as I walked to the red carpet they had set up. They had put heaters near this part and it was heaven. It was colder than I had expected and there was a chance it was going to snow, but they had tents up, ensuring it wouldn’t ruin the arrival of guests.

This was a smaller event, but it didn’t feel like it when people, who looked amazing, started showing up. A few models I recognized walked in and they were stunning. I couldn’t help but take their picture and when Gabriel Medina showed up, I felt like I was probably going to combust.

Yes, this wasn’t the first time I had seen him, but seeing him in a tux was an experience. Now, put Lincoln and Lola with him and they captured everyone’s attention. I took a candid photo of them, and they looked so fucking in love.

Noemi and Vincent showed up next and once Easton saw them, it was adorable. I took more candid shots of them. Just asI was about to go in, a gorgeous redhead walked down the red carpet. Genevieve Malone, the local femdom I met at The Atelier was stunning. She commanded everyone’s attention, and I mean everyone.

A couple kept looking at her. I watched them for a moment trying to decipher what was going on and once they moved past the cameras, I knew they were all together. The looks and longing in their eyes said everything. Jesus, they were stunning together, and I needed to photograph them.

While most of the guests went down the red carpet, a few arrived and went straight into the venue. Not wanting to miss too much, I went inside and found the room I had commandeered. It had all my batteries laid out along with chargers and different lenses. I put my phone on the charger while I replenished my batteries by putting on a different lens and bringing a small flash.

I transferred a few photos to my phone to make a post on their stories to keep our followers informed. Plus, snagging a photo of Gabriel would keep some of our audience engaged, hopefully. I grabbed my things before heading out, seeing the room fill up with guests.

The band started to play, and it was something that sounded familiar. That’s when I noticed it was a rendition of “Careless Whisper” by George Michael. Gage was an amazing singer, but I could tell this wasn’t the music they were used to playing.

Walking around the tables I took a few wide shots, and got as many of the decorations and guests in the shot as I could. The closer I got to the stage, the more I was able to get the band in a pic and then one of Gage and the man he was arguing with earlier, looking at each other with interest. It made me want to know more about their story because their chemistry was off the charts. When Gage noticed me, he winked at me, and I shook my head. He was trouble.

“Oh my god, you look gorgeous, Valencia!” Noemi walked up and embraced me quickly.

She was in a gold dress that complimented her skin tone.

“Not as gorgeous as you,” I said, giving her a small squeeze.

---