Chapter Text
‘’Make sure that you voice what you want him to do, if not he wont do it.’’
I stared at Cassidy with confusion at first, tying to get my head around what he had been telling me what to do for the past hour and half. His word were swimming around, mixing together and it made me feel exhausted already and it was only 11am, shaking my head slightly I looked down at the table where the camera laid and I smiled, it was my baby.
‘’Tommy’’
I snapped my head up and looked towards Cassidy as he held up two different outfits on hangers, both were black and leather apart from the one of the left hanger held small strips of gold across the pockets and collar of the worn looking jacket.
‘’Just two of the outfits which you are going to be photographing him in today, the rest is still on their way with him, he has a shoot mixed with my designs and some of my older designs which I want to bring back out again’’ Cassidy spoke out to me before he turned and rushed over to a rack and placed the hangers on it before turning back to stare at me, hands on his hips as he gave me a stern glare. ‘’Please be patient with him too’’ He sighed and I nodded a little, watching as he walked across the large studio and in to his office, the door shutting with a soft click, leaving me in silence as I sat back down and stared at the camera laid on the table top, slowly I reached out and started to take the parts apart and picked the brush up to start cleaning it lightly and carefully.
*A month earlier*
‘’What do you mean, you can’t deal with me any more?’’ I yelled back at my room mate,
‘’This Tommy, I cant deal with your temper changes all the time, one moment your happy and then the next your bitching about something to us and you cant even hold a job’’ They yelled back and I clenched my fists slightly, ‘’We want you to move out’’ Isaac breathed out and I shook my head slightly as I looked between him and his girlfriend,
‘’I cant believe you’’ I yelled out again before I stomped of to my room, grabbing a bag, I started to push everything I owned in to it, which turned out not to be a lot.
Before I knew it I was walking through the dark streets, bag over my shoulder and holder in my hand. Walking around for a while I let myself finally come to terms with having no where else to go and dropped myself down in to a doorway at the back of a large building.
‘’This is fucking stupid’’ I muttered to myself as I pulled another hoody out my holder and tugged it on over my head. ‘’I guess I can trust on you not to give up on me’’ I muttered out to my camera as I pulled it out my bag and wrapped the strap around my wrist as I turned it on. Flipping through the photos, I smiled softly to myself as I took in some of the memories before I turned it off and placed it back inside and covered it up again. Settling back in to the door way, I moved my bags between my ankles and knees as I pulled my hood up and tried to shut the draft out from my body as my eyes slipped shut and I tried to get some sleep.
‘’Hey kid, wake up’’ A voice rang out and I jumped slightly, my hands flying to my bag which held my camera and pulled it closer to me as a soft laugh escaped the person’s throat and I brought a hand up to my eyes so I could see them in the sun’s glare. ‘’don’t worry im not going to take your bag, which im surprised that you only grabbed the one’’ The guy laughed again, a hand on his hip, head slightly cocked to the side as he looked at me,
‘’Well yeah, the other only holds clothes’’ I shrugged out as I started to undo it and slipped my hand inside before I felt the coolness of the camera under my fingertips.
‘’Ooooo you’re a Run away?’’ He asked and I looked back at him and shook my head,
‘’No, got kicked out by my roommate and his girlfriend last night, had no where to go’’ I muttered out as I flopped back against the doorframe again and scowled to myself as I thought of the places I could go.
‘’Well, I need you to move’’ The guy said and I looked back towards him,
‘’Why?’’ I asked and he rolled his eyes before holding out a set of keys which glinted of the sunlight,
‘’Because I want to get in to my studio’’ He told me simply and I looked up at the doorway before back to him,
‘’Oh…sorry’’ I muttered out before I grabbed my bags quickly and stood up, swaying slightly from being sat in the same way for so long, bones creaking slightly as I stretched out,
‘’How long have you been here for?’’ He asked as I pulled my bag over my shoulder and held my holder closer to me as I shrugged,
‘’All night really, it was already dark when I left the apartment, didn’t really think when I left and just walked’’ I shrugged out as I glanced around the place now that I could see it in the daylight. I could see that it was a parking lot, for the buildings probably.
‘’Well come inside and have a hot drink at least and im sure I got something to eat around the place’’ He told me and I looked back over towards him,
‘’what’s the catch?’’ I asked and he laughed as he moved closer to the door and started to unlock it before pushing it open.
‘’No catch, just helping out a pretty boy’’ He smirked out before propping the door open with a small stand and started to head up the stairs, leaving me to stare after him.
‘’What’s the chance of anything bad happening TJ’’ I mumbled to myself before I started to slowly walk up the steps, pushing the door at the top open, I stepped inside before looking up, a small gasp on my lips as I took notice of the large studio space.
Dropping my bag down on to the floor, I held my other closer to me as I walked a little further in and started to have a look around the place,
‘’So tell me,’’ A voice rang out causing me to jump again and spin around to face the guy,
‘’I didn’t touch anything’’ I quickly told him as he chuckled.
‘’I know you didn’t, but tell me this, why are you carrying around that bag when you left your other by the door?’’ He asked and I breathed out a little as I looked down at it.
‘’I don’t want to lose it’’ I told him as I raised my hand up to the strap and pulled it up a little further,
‘’And why not, it’s just a bag with your things in’’ He said and I sighed a little before moving to kneel, my bag in front of me as I started to undo it, pushing one of my hoodies away I looked over my camera before I glanced up at the guy.
‘’It’s the only way for me to make some money if it comes to that, despite that I would be lost if I had to sell it’’ I told him as I picked it up and held it up to him to see, a smile forming over his lips quickly.
‘’Cassidy, Cassidy Haley, skingraft designer and whatever else you want’’ He told me as he stepped forward and held his hand out to me.
‘’Uhh…Tommy, Tommy-Joe Ratliff and um, I guess you could say at this time, homeless wanna be photographer.’’ I told him as he chuckled softly.
‘’Do you have any photos which you have taken on you or on your camera?’’ He asked and I looked down at it and then my bag before I nodded,
‘’Yeah a few, why?’’ I asked as he grinned and folded his arms over chest,
‘’Well, if you are good enough, I have a space here in my studio, my last photographer decided to up and leave me on short notice and I have a big shoot soon and then again in a month’s time and it’s hard to find a good photographer in that time space’’ He told me and I nodded slightly before I knelt again and placed my camera back in to my bag and dug through until I found a small box, pulling it out, I handed it over to him.
*Present*
‘’Tommy get your ass in here now’’ I heard Cassidy yell out from his office and I looked up from my camera and desk before I got up and walked over quickly,
‘’Yeah, if this is about me staying here still, don’t worry I think I have an apartment, just got to wait till the end of the week to find out if I have it or not’’ I told him quickly and he laughed softly,
‘’No, this isn’t about that, I don’t mind you staying here, you clean up after yourself. But I just wanted to tell you, good luck with this shoot; many photographers have tried and found it hard to work with him, so do you remember everything I told you just now?’’ He asked and I breathed out slightly before nodding.
‘’Be patient with him’’ I told him as he nodded, ‘’Voice what I want him to do or he won’t do it’’ I said again,
‘’Yes, what else’’ He asked,
‘’Call him by his first name because he don’t like being all formal’’ I listed off again before I leaned against the door frame and paused for a second.
‘’All correct, now there’s just one more thing you need to remember and that’s the main one’’ He told me and I chewed on my lip slightly before he sighed and shook his head, ‘’Fuck Tommy, don’t tell him to take his glasses off, if he wants to take them off then that’s his choice’’ I nodded slightly as he spoke,
‘’Can I ask who I’m actually photographing today, I still don’t know.’’ I asked and a wide smile broke out over his face.
‘’He’s a very dear friend of mine and the top model of this century, Adam Lambert’’ Cassidy told me and I felt myself tense up slightly, ‘’so don’t mess this up boy’’ Cass grinned out as I nodded and left his office, walking back to my desk I sat back down and breathed out slightly.
It was always harder to shoot someone when Cassidy knew them really well, I felt like that I would mess up too much and he would end up firing me from the job which I still couldn’t believe I had gotten from him only the month before, a lot had changed in the short amount of time I had been here.