Page 139 of Whirlwind

“I should be thanking you. You were the dream assistant. I gave you direction, and you took off right where I needed you and where I didn’t know I needed you. You came up with your own solid ideas too.”

My pulse skipped a beat. To have a photographer like Lars tell me all this about my work for him was magic, profound magic.

“Did you get everything you wanted?” I asked.

“Just about—oh, hang on. There was something I wanted to show you from the shoot on the yacht.”

“I want to see.” Tag threw himself into one of the seats facing us, his long, twisty curls in his eyes, that lopsided, innocent but sly grin hanging on his mouth.

“Take a look while I show Violet something.” Lars handed my camera to Tag and grabbed his gear bag. He pulled out his iPad and swiped through photos. “Right here.” He handed me his iPad.

An image of me and Beck kissing underwater, another of the two of us facing each other, arms outstretched holding hands, sincere smiles on our faces. Both shots had a quiet, hushed, otherworldly quality to them.

“You want them?” Lars let out a chuckle.

“Yes, I want them.” He airdropped the pics to my phone. “Thank you.”

“These are great.” Tag grinned, handing me back my camera. “Can’t wait to see all our footage all together. We got good images for everything. I’m so psyched to edit.”

“I’m really happy with what we’ve got. It’s going to be a hell of a job.” Lars zipped up another backpack. “Violet, I’ll send you the cut of the videos so you can check them out. Did you get our paperwork?”

“The email came through, yes.”

My footage was going to be used and I was going to get paid—paid for doing what I loved. My soul took a backflip in the sky, like Tag hurling himself off a roof.

“Fill it out and send it back when you can,” Lars said.

We landed in Athens and said goodbye to Irina and Gabrielle, who had to catch a flight en route to Fiji for a bathing suit shoot.

“Violet!” Irina grabbed me in a tight hug, her beautifully scented long hair thwacking my face. “Goodbye. Bon voyage.”

“Bon voyage to you too.”

Gabriella grabbed me for a hug. “Bye, bye,” she murmured. “We had fun, eh?”

“It was amazing. Great to work with both of you.”

“I hope we see each other again soon. Bye, Beck.”

They both hugged and kissed Beck, Tag, Lars, and Stone.

“Take care.”

We finally got through security and exited the Athens airport, finding the drivers who would take us to whatever Tag had planned for us.

“Did I tell you what we’re doing today?” Tag’s eyes gleamed.

“Uh oh,” I said.

“We’re checking out the Acropolis, right? Or the temple of Poseidon on the water?” Beck adjusted the sunglasses on his face.

“Nah, you can’t get permission to do shit at either. We’re going skydiving instead.”

“Skydiving?” I blinked.

“You can’t skydive on any island. The winds are too fucking strong,” said Tag. “Only two places outside of Athens. I’ve been to Greece twice already and haven’t gotten the chance yet. There’s no way I’m leaving this time without doing it. Just like old times, bro!” He and Beck high-fived.

“You ever skydived before, Violet?” Tag asked.

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