Her mom had accepted everything about her. When she’d come out to her at fourteen, her mom was her biggest source of support. She loved her unconditionally and got her through the rough years of high school. She’d accepted it without so much as a blink and with a huge hug and the kindest words. So why couldn’t she accept it when Laney told her that she didn’t want to have kids.? She knew she’d break her mom’s heart if she was completely honest with her, so she always avoided that discussion.
She’d never seen herself with a family. Then again, she’d never seen herself not with one either. She just assumed that one day, like everyone else in the world, she’d meet the right person, the one she knew was it, and if she wanted to have children, that would be fine with Laney because she might want to share that with her.
It was just that she hadn’t found the one yet, so it was impossible to even think about choosing to enter into that world. Everyone she’d ever dated, she’d either done it casually, or known it wasn’t going to work out. Her longest relationship lasted six months.
Most people couldn’t handle how dedicated she was to her work. They called her a workaholic, but Laney reasoned that it wasn’t her fault that her schedule was set at least a year in advance and a lot of it involved early mornings, late nights, tons of extra work, and traveling. In the last two years, the women she met knew that, yet somehow, they still used it as an excuse to end things when it wasn’t working out.
Laney wasn’t sure why she was logging on or why it even mattered to her so much. Maybe it was because she was never one to let a challenge go unanswered. Maybe she really did crave the peace and quiet that badly.
What does it even matter? I’m never going to get a date now anyway.
When she logged on, she wasn’t surprised to see a few new messages. They trickled in daily, fewer and fewer with each passing day, as she suspected, but she was shocked to see one from Unicornspooprainbowsandsprinkles498.
She was tired from work. She had a pile of editing to do, and she had to be up early for a job that she’d agreed to last minute. Plus, there was the added stress of going to the family dinner that her mom had planned for the night before the wedding, not to mention the wedding itself.
Then, like a big bag of poop dropped on her doorstep and lit on fire, Christmas was waiting around the corner. Even though Laney knew that it was Natasha who wanted to have a Christmas wedding, since she wanted the wedding day to fall on the date that she and Jason started dating, Laney still cursed her brother for doing this to her.
Laney only allowed herself to hesitate for a few seconds. Her curiosity made it impossible not to click. She needed a good dose of comedy. If the message was one chewing her out, she could handle that. She’d even be amused by it. Unlike some people, she wasn’t easily hurt or offended. Her dry sense of humor allowed her to appreciate the grouchier details in life. And maybe she deserved a good chewing out a little. She had felt bad after that woman left the coffee shop. She hadn’t even asked her name before she started in, like an idiot, with her list of demands. Was it any wonder she’d walked out the way she had?
Laney had admired more than the woman’s courage. Unicornspooprainbowsandsprinkles498 was even more beautiful in person than she was in her selfies, just as Laney had anticipated. She hadn’t anticipated the slight shiver when she sat down or the way she couldn’t tear her eyes from the other woman’s face. She kept thinking about all the ways she’d like to position her for a photo. No, that wasn’t distracting at all. Not at all.
And then Unicornspooprainbowsandsprinkles498 had given Laney a piece of her mind and stormed out. Showing spirit. Grit. A real backbone. It took a lot of courage for anyone to basically flip Laney off without ever raising the bird.
Laney wasn’t surprised to find, as she clicked the message, that she had a grudging amount of respect for Miss Unicornspooprainbowsandsprinkles498.
After two years working in her industry, which was both fast paced, competitive, and often involved some out there, cutting edge ideas, very little shocked Laney anymore.
But she was shocked. Because that message from Unicornspooprainbowsandsprinkles498 wasn’t one berating her or telling her to go fuck herself again, n
or explaining to her in a detailed format what a bad person she was. No. The message was blunt, to the point, and saved Laney’s bacon big time. If she was willing to play. And God, she was willing to play.
She read the message again, then again, then one more time.
I’ve thought about your offer and I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want cash. That still makes me feel cheap, and I feel like putting a price tag on yourself is vile and degrading. I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are. I knew before I saw you face to face.
The thing is, I’m a photographer too. I’ve been looking to break into the industry and do more high-profile shoots and work for a long time now. I want the chance to be a true artist. I want to make a better living. I don’t need people to know my name, but I do want steady work that pays me what I’m worth. I want more challenges. I want to learn and grow. I don’t want to wake up and do the same thing over and over and over. I’ve wanted to be a photographer since I was three years old.
I’m willing to go to the wedding with you, as your date, and be however fake you need me to be, but what I want in return is a chance. I want contacts. I want you to arrange a meeting with someone who will look at my work. Or someones. Plural. I want proof of this before the wedding, not after. I’m not taking your word for it. I want names. Numbers. At least ten people.
I know you don’t understand, because why would you ever think about the people below you, but you owe me. Big time. Anyway, if you choose to accept the deal, you can message me back and we’ll hash out the details. If not, then good luck with the wedding, and I really mean that, not in a sarcastic, mean way, but in a real way because I’m a good person who cares about other people, even the bad ones.
Laney appreciated her directness. She never would have guessed that Unicornspooprainbowsandsprinkles498 was a photographer. She felt guilty for the meanness behind the thought, but she automatically assumed that the other woman probably wasn’t very good. She probably did the studio style family photos that no one was interested in getting because they were terrible and boring and made everyone look awful.
Can I really give this lady my contacts? Can I have the people who know me and respect me, people I work with, big names in the industry, contact someone who probably isn’t very good?
Yes, she decided. She could. She’d tell them she needed a favor. A big one. That if they could just spend a few minutes looking through this chick’s portfolio, she’d put in whatever work they wanted her to do for a week, for free. A trade in kind. She’d give them her skill and her art, sans pay, in return for that small favor. Maybe some of them would just do it. She knew a couple people at her agency who weren’t bad. They were inundated with samples and requests, but if she submitted something, then they’d be interested and would take a look.
She decided she’d have to see the work first. If it was terrible, then the deal was off. She couldn’t stick her neck out that far and risk everything she’d worked her ass off to build. The one thing that mattered to her more than anything. Her name. Her reputation as an artist.
She thought for a few minutes before she responded to the message.
Send me three of your shots. I can’t arrange a meeting without having something for someone to look at. I won’t give out my contacts to just anyone either. I don’t think you would appreciate having to call a stranger for no apparent reason or having your name and number given out to just anyone. Actually, send me five of your best shots. If I think they’re good enough to pass along, I’ll do it. We can go from there.
Laney exhaled all the breath she didn’t realize she’d locked up in her lungs. She hadn’t taken a breath the whole time she’d spent typing. Since she was using her tablet, it was indeed a long time. One fingering it on the flat keyboard on the screen wasn’t like using a laptop where she could power through.
She was about to exit out of the app when her inbox lit up with a response. She went back to holding her breath and clicked on the message. There was no written response. Just an attachment, which she clicked.
Five photos. Three black and white, two in color. One still of a tumbledown barn and an ancient tractor, almost impossible to find anywhere close to the city, one of a decrepit brick building in some city, and three photos of people. Not models. Regular people.