by Claire Frost
They picked their way gingerly across the vast studio floor, littered with scaffolding from the set and huge pieces of equipment that Bell couldn’t even hazard a guess at what they were designed to do, and suddenly she spotted Ade surrounded by people and computers. Thankfully, he looked up just as they were approaching.
‘Bell, hi, darling! What do you think? A bit different from our usual shoots, eh? Ah, and you must be Ben from the photography course Bell finally pulled her finger out and joined, great to meet you.’ He kissed Bell on both cheeks and shook Ben’s hand firmly, clapping him on the shoulder at the same time. ‘Right, let’s get you both to work. Ben, you can shadow me for the first set of shots and Bell, Eddie’s going to show you the ropes with some of the lighting stuff, and then you can swap over, okay?’
Bell nodded mutely and was immediately embarrassed by her lack of ability to form a sentence, which then made it even harder for her to say anything at all, so she continued to perform her goldfish impression until Ben managed to mumble a ‘sounds cool’. They dumped their bags, gave each other a scared smile and were borne off by their respective mentors.
For the next couple of hours they were immersed in the shoot’s hive of activity, involving lights, cameras and lots of action, while also trying to listen to all the nuggets of information Ade, Eddie and the team were sending their way. While Ben appeared to be lapping up everything he was being told, even asking Ade to explain things in more technical detail, Bell’s head was spinning and it was all she could do to nod along and try to follow every second sentence. Finally, a break was called, and Ade steered her over to the catering tables, where they both grabbed a bottle of water.
‘Having fun?’ he asked, grinning at her.
‘It’s, er, a lot to take in,’ she stammered. ‘But, yes, surprisingly I am!’
‘Why surprisingly? You’re good at this, Bell, and you could be really good at it if you weren’t so scared of doing the wrong thing all the time. The thing with photography is just to go with what feels right in the moment and then see what you’ve managed to capture afterwards, you know? Of course, if you’re working to a brief like today, then the stakes are a bit higher and you have to get the shot, but you still need to go with your instinct and what feels right.’
‘I’m not sure I trust myself to know that feeling, though,’ Bell laughed. ‘But this is such a brilliant thing to experience, even just for an afternoon. Seriously, Ade, it’s amazing watching you work on something like this. I knew you were a good photographer but those shots you took before were ridiculously cool.’ She felt her cheeks flame as she realised what a complete fangirling idiot she sounded and quickly added, ‘Ben’s really getting stuck into the techy stuff, isn’t he? I heard him talking to Eddie and it all sounded like gobbledygook to me!’
‘Yeah, he’s brilliant at picking it all up very quickly,’ Ade nodded. ‘He’s got that real attention to detail thing going on that you don’t see much nowadays. He seems sound. And he looks very into you, Ms Makepeace, you dark horse!’
‘No, no, we’re not together,’ Bell said hurriedly.
‘Really? You could have fooled me,’ Ade grinned. ‘Well, if you’re not, then he certainly wants you to be – I saw the way he looked at you earlier. I spend half my life trying to get people to make love to the camera, darling, and I can see in someone’s eyes when they really mean it. And he definitely does when he looks at you! The question is, do you like him back . . .?’
Bell was saved from the embarrassment of having to answer as Ade was commandeered by the creative director again, and she barely saw him for the next hour. Just as she was beginning to think her head was going to explode into a thousand tiny pieces, a shout of ‘That’s a wrap for today’ echoed round the studio and immediately crowds of people pooled around her, dismantling equipment and placing it carefully into reinforced boxes.
She tried to help as best she could, but she quickly realised she was more of a hindrance than anything else and slunk off into a corner to check her phone. Suze had been WhatsApping her all afternoon, persistently asking how things were going, despite not getting any reply, and keeping her up to date with Friday-afternoon shenanigans in the office. Bell couldn’t help but smile to herself as she read through the messages, especially as she reached the most recent one Suze had sent just a few minutes before.
I’m going to assume your lack of reply to my ramblings is because you’ve either shown yourself to be so good behind the camera that you’re now responsible for the entire shoot and are about to jet around the world shooting campaigns for D&G, H&M and, er, B&M (sorry, ran out of examples – I’m sure even a bargain-basement store needs photographers though?). Or it’s because you’re being ravaged by handsome Ade in the wardrobe area as the seamstress continues to thread her needle just metres away. Am I right or am I right? Can you tell I’m a bit bored this afternoon? I know it’s almost hometime but tell me how it’s going pleeeeeeease xxx
Bell began thumbing out a reply, but was interrupted by Ade’s voice behind her and she quickly – and guiltily – hid her phone in her pocket.
‘I wondered where you’d got to, Bell! I was just saying to Ben that you guys should get off as it will take us a while to sort all this stuff out and there’s no point you wasting your Friday nights too.’
‘Are you sure? I feel a bit cheeky swanning in here, faffing around a bit and then leaving you all to do the donkey work,’ Bell said.
‘Don’t be silly, darling, it’s fine. This lot are at least getting paid! I hope you’ve found it helpful this afternoon, anyway. And if you’re up for coming along to something again or you just want a chat about stuff give me a bell. Oh god, sorry, I bet you hear that joke all the time!’
‘Ah, you know, just a few times,’ Bell laughed. ‘It’s been so cool being here today and though I definitely need to go away and digest it all, I know I’ve learned loads just by watching you all at work. So, thank you, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, Ade.’
As she gave him a hug, he replied, ‘Any time, darling, I mean it.’
She grabbed her bags and was scanning the room for Ben when Ade added, ‘Oh, and Bell, don’t forget what I said about just going with your feelings, yes? Ah, here’s Ben now, see you both later,’ he grinned.
Bell’s cheeks turned a fetching shade of red, and she was glad she was able to pull her hair out of its ponytail and round her flaming face as she walked out of the studio beside Ben.
*
As their planned girlie Saturday together had been stalled thanks to Louis, Bell agreed to Millie’s suggestion of an afternoon in the park with Wolf. She was glad of the prospect of some fresh air after the intensity of the previous afternoon, and greeted her friend and a rather subdued Wolf warmly. Thankfully, he perked up considerably when Bell mentioned the possibility of ice cream later, and he happily ran off to play on the slide with the hordes of other kids who had descended on the park as soon as their parents had realised what a lovely sunny day it was. Millie kept one eye on her son as she gave Bell a quick run-down of her and Louis’ latest run-in.
‘And he didn’t give you any reason for having to cancel?’ Bell asked, reaching into her bag for her knock-off Ray-Bans as the sun came out from behind the marshmallow cloud that had been hiding it for the past half an hour.
‘No, just “work stuff”. It’s Wolfie I feel sorry for. Whatever Louis says or doesn’t say to me, he is Wolf’s dad and always will be and he owes it to him to keep his promises.’
‘Poor kid,’ Bell agreed. ‘Have you thought any more about seeing a lawyer?’
‘Not really,’ Millie said quietly, then before Bell could launch into another speech about why going down the legal route would be a good idea, she quickly added, ‘How did your big brainstorm at work go? Was your boss impressed with your ideas?’
‘Yeah, it went fine,’ Bell sighed.
‘Just fine?’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘I thought you were really excited about your new idea for the si
te?’
‘I was, and my boss was, for a few minutes, anyway. And then some upstart started talking about linking Instagram Story videos to reviews of each product and Marian got all excited about that and forgot all about my idea. So, yeah, it was a bit deflating.’
‘That does sound like a cool idea about the Insta Stories though,’ Millie nodded, ‘I can see that really working.’
‘I don’t really understand them,’ Bell confessed. ‘But I’m sure you’re right. God, sometimes I just feel so old!’
‘I read an article online the other day that said forty is the new twenty, so actually, you’re bang on trend!’ Her friend nudged her. ‘You’re stylish, successful and full of ideas, plus you have all that experience behind you that those snowflake millennials just don’t. You are #livingyourbestlife!’
‘Have you swallowed a motivational-quote GIF by any chance?’ Bell laughed. ‘Though thanks for the vote of confidence, I definitely need it. I even sucked in photography class this week.’
‘I don’t believe that for a minute! I thought you said you could really notice the difference in your pics now?
‘Well, sometimes, but not this week. Sheila tore my photo of tree blossom to shreds and said it lacked depth of field.’
‘I have no idea what that means, but I’m sure it was a one-off. What’s this week’s theme?’
‘Animals. Although unless I take a trip to the zoo, I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to find a willing subject.’
‘Forget the zoo, we’re in exactly the right place for animals – and, no, I don’t mean the kids running riot in the playground! There are bound to be some cute dogs for you to photograph. Good job you brought your camera. In fact, I can see at least two pampered pooches right now. And one of them even seems to have a rather good-looking human attached to it!’
‘Where? Christ, I’m so old I need prescription sunglasses, I can’t see anything with these on.’
‘The guy with the gorgeous greyhound coming towards us over there.’
‘Oh.’
‘Oh good, or oh bad? Do you not think a greyhound would make the perfect subject for a paw-fect photo? See what I did there!’ Millie nudged Bell. ‘What? Why are you looking like that?’ Millie had barely finished her sentence when the dog, followed by its owner, jogged over.
‘Bell! How are you?’
‘Ben, lovely to see you, although obviously you only saw me yesterday,’ she stuttered. ‘I didn’t know you had a dog.’
‘I don’t, but I take Graham for a walk a couple of days a week for my neighbour as he can’t get out as much as he used to. Or rather, you take me for a walk, don’t you, Gray?!’ He stroked the dog’s head affectionately and it responded by licking his hand noisily and wetly. ‘Thanks for yesterday, I learned so much from the shoot. It was just amazing to see how something like that works. And Ade is such a talented guy.’
Before Bell could respond, there came a chorus of ear-splintering screams and Millie immediately began to run in the direction of the playground. Thankfully, the shouts quickly turned to shushing and soothing as various parents picked up their children from a heap on the floor and bore them off for head-rubbing and sweet treats. Their sobs faded away until the air was full of shrieks of joy and fear from children spinning on the roundabout again. Her arms full of her son, Millie walked back over to where Bell and Ben had been standing in silence as they watched the scene unfold.
‘Is he okay?’ asked Bell, full of concern.
‘You’re fine, aren’t you, little man. Just a little bang and a bit of a shock, but he’ll be fine.’
‘Sorry, Ben, this is Millie and her son Wolf – Wolf goes swimming at the community centre, don’t you, sweetheart?’
‘I’m going to be a fish when I grow up.’ Wolf nodded his head vigorously at Ben. ‘Or a submarine man. Or maybe a footballer. Is that your doggy?’
‘No, he belongs to a friend. But you can say hello to him if you’d like?’
As Wolf struggled for Millie to put him down, she whispered to him, ‘It’s okay to be scared of the dog, Wolf. You don’t have to pat him if you don’t want to.’
‘Are you scared of him, Mummy?’ he asked loudly. ‘Cos I’m not. Hello, doggy, what’s your name?’
‘This is Graham, or Gray for short,’ Ben said solemnly. ‘Shake paws, Gray.’ The dog lifted up his leg obligingly and Wolf whooped with delight.
‘Look, Mummy, we’re shaking paws! Hello, Graham, very pleased to meet you,’ Wolf said in his politest, most grown-up voice. ‘Have you come to play in the park?’
‘He loves to run around,’ Ben smiled. ‘In fact, do you want to throw his ball and see what happens?’
‘Yes, yes!’ Wolf shouted. ‘Please, thank you,’ he added, catching his mum’s eye. ‘Fetch, Graham, fetch!’
Although the little boy only threw the ball a couple of metres, the dog immediately ran to it, picked it up in his mouth, deposited it at Wolf’s feet, then looked at him hopefully.
‘Again, again!’ Wolf said delightedly. ‘But I want to fetch it too!’
The three adults took it in turns to throw the ball as far as they were able and both Graham and Wolf ran after it as fast as they could. Unsurprisingly, the dog beat the boy every single time, but it didn’t deter little Wolf until finally he lay down, out of breath. The dog, too, was breathing heavily and collapsed next to Wolf, his paw touching Wolf’s leg and his wet nose nudging his hand.
‘Looks like you’ve made a friend there, Wolf,’ Ben smiled at him. ‘And he’s a very discerning dog so he doesn’t make friends with just anybody.’
‘What does dis-disearny mean?’ Wolf asked, turning towards the adults.
‘It means Graham picked you out of everyone in the park to be friends with,’ Bell laughed. ‘What a clever dog!’
‘He is a clever dog, like a clever clogs, or a clever dog clogs,’ Wolf said. ‘Mummy, is ice cream good for hurty heads? Cos mine is a bit ouchy still.’ He looked winningly up at Millie.
‘Ha, you are a clever clogs, too, Wolfie,’ she laughed, scooping him up and tickling him as he giggled. ‘Yes, I think we all deserve an ice cream after all of that excitement. Although maybe not Graham,’ she amended. At the sound of his name, the dog was instantly alert and Ben grabbed his lead before he made a break for it.
‘Fancy a 99?’ Bell asked Ben.
‘Why not?’ he grinned, and they followed Millie and Wolf towards the van over by the treeline, pulling Graham back from chasing pigeons as they walked. ‘What a beautiful day it is today. It feels like summer is on its way at last. Though can you believe we’ve only got two weeks of photography classes left until the course is over?’
‘Really? God, that’s gone so quickly! I took a few shots of Wolfie and Graham together, so I’m hoping I’ll have something to send Sheila this week. What about you, have you got a good pic? Although I don’t know why I’m asking you as you always have a good pic! You are a proper teacher’s pet!’ she joked.
‘I am not!’ he protested. ‘I’m just a bit scared of Sheila so I don’t want to disappoint her. Though I might be a teeny bit more scared of Laura – thank god she doesn’t do the critique of our photos!’
‘Och, look at that rubbish, it’s dark and grainy and totally shite!’ Bell said, giving her Laura impression her all.
Ben burst out laughing. ‘That is the worst attempt at a Scottish accent I have ever heard – I mean, I’m guessing it was Scottish you were trying to do . . .’
‘Hey, shut it, you!’ Bell laughed, lightly hitting his arm. ‘Or I’ll get Rita and Tony to tell you a really long and really convoluted story about that time they went to the Lake District with their son when he was little.’
‘Oh god, that was insane. I have absolutely no idea how that story ended – or even started, to be honest – as they went off on about a million tangents and twenty minutes later I had to pretend I needed the loo just to get away. Not that you and Laura came to save me – I thought the three of us were
supposed to stick together?’
‘We were having too much fun looking at your face when Tony kept talking about the strange man in their hotel room and how he was completely naked except for his socks and sandals.’
‘God, don’t remind me, it was definitely a case of TMI, especially when Rita started going on about his “dingly-dangly bits”. Seriously, I could have done without it!’
Bell cackled with laughter and wiped tears from her eyes. ‘The whole thing was amazing.’
Once they’d all finished their ice creams and Graham had helped Wolf clean his hands with his tongue, much to the little boy’s delight, Ben patted the dog’s head and stood up. ‘Right, I’d best get Gray back to his rightful owner, but hopefully we’ll see you in the park again soon, Wolf, and it was lovely to meet you, Millie.’
Wolf shook paws again with Graham before Millie produced some wet wipes from her bag and sat Wolf on a bench so she could wash his hands a bit more thoroughly.
‘Thanks, Ben, you’ve really cheered Wolfie up,’ Bell smiled.
‘Ah, I think that was mostly down to Graham, I just came along for the ride, didn’t I, boy?’ He scratched the top of the dog’s head and Graham instantly stopped pulling at his lead and instead touched his nose against Ben’s knee. ‘You’re such a softie, aren’t you! I’m looking forward to seeing if he makes it into this week’s homework, too.’ He grinned. ‘If he does, I’ll have to get it framed for him.’
‘Now, who’s the big softie!’ Bell laughed.
When he realised it was time to go, Graham pulled hard towards Bell, put his paws up on her legs and whined.
‘Down, boy, don’t be so forward!’ Ben laughed, pushing him down. ‘See you on Wednesday, Bell.’ He leaned towards her and gave her a soft peck on the cheek, before striding off across the park in Graham’s wake. Bell’s stomach fizzed as she watched him walk over the grass and she hugged her arms around herself.
‘Well, Ben is even nicer than I imagined!’ Millie observed, coming to stand next to her and following her line of sight.