Chapter One

Leon Anderson sat in his boss’s office with his head in his hands. The call he received the night before was his worst nightmare; the only thing his boss said was to meet him in his office first thing in the morning. Every photographer knew what that meant.

“I just can’t lose this job,” he muttered to himself, his messy blonde hair falling into his face. “I can’t go back to Taco Hut.”

“Anderson!”

Leon stood up quickly as his boss entered the room. It was hard to believe that the 6’4” sturdy blonde could be intimidated by a five foot seven roly-poly man. Mr. McGreggor scuttled over to his desk and sat down, the legs of his chair groaning under his weight.

“Sit down Anderson!” McGreggor urged. “You look like death’s hit you! And I’ve got the best news!”

Leon sat down, disoriented and unsure what to think. Mr. McGreggor opened up a drawer and shuffled around some papers before pulling out a rather thick file with “confidential” printed in bold red letters on the cover.

“Do you know what this is?” McGreggor asked pushing the file toward a stunned Leon.

Leon shook his head, unable to say anything.

“This is the Reina Hart file,” a grin spread across the large man’s face. “Do you know who Reina Hart is Anderson?”

“Yeah, she’s that new pop singer everyone loves. She sings that duet with what’s-his-face from that teeny-bopper show.”

“Great! Then you know more than I do. Apparently hooking her photo shoot contract is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And that’s why I had to make sure it went to our best photographer.”

Leon’s eyes brightened as he looked at his boss.

“Are you serious?” he asked standing up putting a hand on the file. “This is huge! These pictures will be everywhere! Magazines, newspapers, T.V., the internet! Hooking this job would guarantee a photographer’s career for life!”

“I know,” McGreggor replied. “That’s why I want you to do it. You’re the youngest and best guy we’ve got around, Anderson. Your pictures are “hip” and “cool.” Kids like your stuff, and we need to sell to kids so we keep them their whole lives. Will you take the job?”

Leon fell back into his chair and put a hand on his forehead. He sat there for a minute before sitting upright and looking straight into Mr. McGreggor’s pudgy face.

“I’ll take it.”

“Great!” McGreggor stood up. “You’ll be shooting her private photo shoot on Thursday, the press conference on Friday, and the concert on Saturday. Then, if we’re lucky, you’ll end up traveling a bit to shoot some of her other events.”

“This is amazing,” Leon thought out loud. “I can’t believe I’m taking pictures of one of the most beautiful girls alive.”

“You did that big lingerie show last year, that had plenty of beautiful women,” Mr. McGreggor reminded, scuttling over to the various parts of his office and pulling out random pieces of paper.

“Yeah, but those were just women flaunting themselves. This…This is Reina Hart. She’s smart, beautiful, kind, and-”

“Just barely eighteen,” McGreggor finished with a chuckle. “And single too, I believe. Don’t try anything funny Anderson. It’ll cost you and me our jobs.”

“I know. Don’t worry, sir, I’m professional. I know what lines not to cross. It’s not worth my job,” Leon assured, getting to his feet.

“That’s right, you’re still supporting your sister aren’t you?”

Leon sighed, “If only it were that simple.”

“Whatever. Be on time on Thursday and I’ll see you around. Now go do your job.”

“See you.”

Leon walked out of the office in half a daze. He thought that he was going to get fired only to find out he was assigned one of the biggest jobs in his career. As he walked down the hall everyone congratulated him.

Apparently this shoot was only a secret to me, He mused as he went on his way. I can’t wait to get home and tell Noel. She’ll be excited. I’m sure I can get her a pass to the concert too.

When Leon got back to his desk there was a pile of paper work waiting to be signed. All the confidentiality reports that went along with shoot a big star, all the contracts saying he would not keep any of the pictures for himself, etc. etc. He dove into it right away, knowing that the sooner he got it done, the sooner he could go home and start figuring out what lights and lens to use for the shots.

“Hey! Leon!”

Leon looked up from the mountains of paper to see his friend Dan smiling back at him, holding out a soda.

“Just wanted to say congratulations,” Dan grinned and handed him the can. “I heard about the Reina Hart thing. It’s really not fair, I wanted that job.”

Leon took the drink and shrugged.

“Sorry, but you know people are my thing. You do really well with your landscape pictures though.”

“Yeah, whatever. It’s still not fair though.”

Leon shrugged and took a sip of his soda.

“The funny thing is Leon, that when we first started working here together, and we said that if we could take a naughty photo shoot of one celebrity, you said it would be Reina Hart. So, what strings did you pull?”

“I didn’t pull any,” Leon assured. “You’re just mad because that lifeguards in skimpy bikinis show got cancelled so you couldn’t take pictures of the blonde chick.”

“Hey! She has a name,” Dan said. “It’s Portia Jones.”

Leon rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. I got the shoot based on talent alone, so don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

“Just don’t take advantage of your situation,” Dan teased. “I mean, you get to be one on one with the girl of your dreams, and the only thing between you will be your camera.”

“And her five two hundred fifty pound body guards,” Leon reminded. “You know how celebs work just as well as I do. We’ve read up on this stuff.”

“Yeah, but you know how intimate a one on one photo shook can be just as well as I do. And when there’s nothing between you but the camera, it’s hard to put the job first, and your hormones second.” Dan winked.

Leon sighed and shook his head.

“Go to your own desk,” Leon grunted. “You’ve got as much stuff to sign as I do. Aren’t you shooting some big landscape show or something?”

“Yeah, but who cares about that stuff. Your life is way more interesting.” Dan started to walk away, but then turned back around. “How are you going to tell Noel?”

“Easy. I’m going to tell her, and she’ll be excited and want concert tickets.”

“Yeah, cuz Noel would totally take anyone stealing her brother away that well.”

“What are you talking about? Noel’s never taken anything about my job personally.”

“Yeah, but remember that one time, when you almost got married but your girlfriend backed out at the last minute? You can’t tell me that Noel had nothing to do with that.”

Leon looked at the stack of papers before him fighting the urge to pull out his wallet and take out the one picture he had left from a time when he was really, truly, happy. He shook his head and started blindly signing documents.

“Listen, it’s nothing personal, I’ve just seen how your sister reacts when you get close to another girl. She freaks out, starts sleeping around, and then you both end up at each other’s throats. When all you have left in the world is your twin, you gotta be careful.”

“Dan, I appreciate the warning, but I really don’t want to think about that, ever again. So please, don’t bring it up. This is my job, Noel will be fine. She won’t pull anything, she won’t say anything, and she’s grown up in this past year. You’d be amazed.”

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” Dan quoted.

“She’s not scorned. You’re reading too much into this,” Leon grinned. “Besides, I think you’re just trying to figure out a way you’ll have a chance with her.”

“Hey, if you’re around another girl, and I’m the only guy in sight, Noel might go for me.”

“She won’t go for you.”

“You never know.”

“Yes I do. She won’t go for you.”

“Come on, there’s totally a chance.”

“There’s no chance.”

“Why would you say that? You think your sister’s too good for me?”

“No, I just think that if the opportunity presented itself you wouldn’t be able to handle Noel.”

Dan opened his mouth to speak, but thinking better of it, just shut up and walked away. Leon shook his head and sighed.

Please take this well, Noel, he thought. This is our chance to get out of that hole we’re stuck in.