Chapter 32: Take A Picture

            “It’s already been a month?” Chance asked as she, Shiri, and Majandra walked into a small coffee shop on the outskirts of Covina. They had gotten to talking about the direction the show was going, and all too suddenly Chance’s name came up. It had been a whole month since she had arrived in LA and began filming. She had become an accepted member of the group, and everyone was glad to see her when she stepped onto the set. Even the show viewers liked her.

            “Yeah, it has,” Shiri replied. She stepped up to the counter and ordered a double latte.

            “Wow, that’s amazing. I never thought I’d be doing so much to occupy my time,” Chance said as she ordered her own latte.

            “Yeah, we’ve been going strong for two years now, and I know season three is going to happen. Everyone loves us,” Majandra added her own comment. “But what I want to hear about is how you and Dan are getting along.” She pointed to Shiri who stared innocently back at her as she sipped her drink. A smile appeared on her face at the mention of his name.

            “Well…” she began.

            “Oh, come on, you’ve never been so happy in your life taking care of someone. What’s he done to you?” Majandra asked.

            “I don’t know, he’s just so wonderful. That’s all,” Shiri replied. “And maybe it’s the accent.”

            “I knew it,” Chance joined in. “That’s the first thing that I noticed about Darren. A guy’s accent is such a turn on, no wonder I’m so in love with him.”

            Shiri and Majandra laughed. “I still can’t believe how you two fit so well together. You guys are perfect for each other. You’re so going to make it in life,” Majandra commented.

            “Thank you,” Chance replied. The three women sat down at a table to finish off their coffee and talk.

            “So, what are you guys doing this weekend?” Shiri asked.

            “I’m spending some time with Brendan. Work’s been a bitch on our relationship. I can’t remember the last time we spent alone, together,” Majandra answered.

            “I’m taking a trip up to San Francisco with Darren and I think we’re going to be shooting the pictures for the album cover,” Chance said.

            “That’s cool,” Shiri replied. “I’ll be spending my time with Dan.”

            Chance caught the dreamy tone in her voice. “Don’t go off doing something stupid,” she warned.

            “You’re only 18, what do you know about stupid things?” Shiri retorted.

            “Plenty,” Chance responded. “Example number one, throwing myself off a bridge. Example number two, having sex before I was even married. Example number three, getting my worst enemy pissed off enough he wanted to kill me.”

            “Ooh,” both Shiri and Majandra said at the same time.

            “See, so don’t either one of you do anything as stupid as me, because I have the scars to prove my mistakes, well, most of my mistakes,” Chance replied. She took the last gulp of her coffee and threw out the paper cup. “I guess I’ll see you guys at the beginning of next week. Have fun. Bye.”

            “Bye.”

            “Later Chance.”

            Chance walked out of the coffee shop and headed for the condo to pack a few things she would need for her trip to San Francisco.

~~~~~~~~~~

            Darren took a hold of Chance’s hand and led her down a walkway lined with trees. It was absolutely beautiful. A colorful array of flowers began to spring up in small plots at first, then an entire field sprang up around a huge Victorian fountain.

            “Where are we?” Chance asked, her voice full of curiosity and bewilderment.

            “At one of the most beautiful vineyards in San Francisco,” Darren said as he led her past the fountain and closer to the mansion where the camera crew for the photo shoot was setting up.

            Chance felt her eyes pop out of her head when she saw the old 18^th century palace that stood in front of her. Its old stone walls stood tall with small towers jutting out of each corner. Small stained glass windows stood out from the rest of the plain clear glass ones and reflected the sun’s light. The big wooden door swung open to reveal a short man dressed in very colorful clothing.

            “Welcome to my castle,” he said, his voice high pitched and somewhat funny sounding.

            Chance held back a giggle as Darren said, “Hey, Malcolm. Good to see you again.”

            “So, who’s this pretty little thing?” Malcolm asked.

            “Malcolm, this is Chance Malone, my coconspirator. Chance, this is Malcolm, the photographer,” Darren introduced.

            Chance smiled and shook his hand. “Pleased to meet you,” she politely said.

            “The pleasure is mine,” Malcolm replied.

            The three of them walked out of the hot midday sun and into the cool confines of the mansion where the camera crew was finishing their setup.

            “Oh, my God! This looks exactly like the video for ‘Nobody Wants To Be Lonely,’” Chance gasped. She stared out at the beautiful white marble staircase and the pillars that held up the second story of the house.

            “Come on, lets explore,” Darren whispered into her ear as he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the stairs.

            “You guys better be back by three. That gives you two hours. I want you ready for hair and makeup,” Malcolm yelled after them when they were halfway to the second level.

            Darren and Chance ran down the hall and towards the last room at the end of the hall. He opened the wooden door and peered inside. Chance stood beside him and followed his gaze. The room was the master bedroom, and inside stood a tall, king-sized cherry oak four-post bed draped in white lace and sheets to match. On the floor was a skillfully crafted oriental rug made of red, black, blue, and white fibers. Opposite the bed stood the dresser, hand carved in cherry oak. On the left side of the bed was the small nightstand, also hand crafted and made of the same wood as the rest of the room. Large windows provided most of the light to the room, the lamp on the nightstand being the only electric thing in the entire room.

            Chance slowly walked into the room and crept up to the bed to lay her hand on the silky white sheets. She closed her eyes, imagining herself sleeping in the bed and waking up every morning to watch the sunrise. Darren placed his hand on her shoulder and she turned towards him.

            “This place is so beautiful,” Chance whispered. “I love being here. I never wanna leave.”

            “That’s why I chose it,” Darren quietly said into her ear, then gently kissed her neck. “We’re staying here for the rest of the week.”

            “What? You’re kidding,” she replied in disbelief. “What am I going to do about filming?”

            “I already took care of it,” he answered, pushing Chance onto the bed. Darren lay on top of her and placed a gentle kiss on her tender lips. “Happy Valentines Day,” he added.

            Chance smiled her approval and kissed him back, but another thought floated into her head. “What about Dan?” she asked.

            “He’s got Shiri, remember?” Darren answered.

            “You smart ass,” Chance teased, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~

            Three o’clock rolled around slowly. Chance and Darren had fallen asleep before anything happened between them. Chance was the first to wake from her slumber. She rubbed her eyes open and adjusted to the light. As she sat up, she could feel Darren’s hand take a hold of hers and pull her towards him.

            “Where are you going?” he asked.

            “Downstairs,” Chance answered. “It’s already three. We gotta get ready for the shoot.” She stood up and stretched, then left the room to head down the stairs. Malcolm was already waiting for her as she descended the last step.

            “Great, you’re here! Come on, we’ve must get you ready for the shoot,” he said, taking her hand and escorting her to a tall chair in front of one of the makeup mirrors. “Mary, could you take care of her?”

            A tall young blond woman walked up to the table. She stared hard at Chance and said, “You’re going to look great when I get finished with you.”

            Mary was a very friendly person. She loved to talk while she did Chance’s makeup, and at the same time was very focused on the task in front of her. With the constant flood of information Chance received from Mary’s continuous ranting, she learned that the shoot would be a regular one; nice clothes, close-ups, and different settings.

            This was the one area that Chance wanted some creative control over. She was dying to get her own ideas incorporated into the album cover. Over two hours passed before Mary finished, and at that time Chance had come up with her own ideas. She could see Darren walking down the stairs, a floppy hat hanging on his head.

            “Daz, could you come over here for a sec?” Chance called to him as he reached the first floor. He walked over to her and said nothing. “Have you gone mute or something? Talk to me.”

            “What?” Darren asked, grumpy and mad as hell.

            “Take off that hat, you look ridiculous,” Chance said as she swiped it off his head. She gasped when she saw his hair. “Daz, what the hell! Why did you go blond?” she nearly screamed.

            “It was Malcolm’s idea,” he mumbled. “Damn jackass.”

            Chance began to giggle, but soon stopped when she saw the glare in Darren’s eyes. “Hey, you still look cute,” she tried to compliment. “At least you don’t have orange streaks or anything like that.” Chance burst out into fits of hard laughter and couldn’t stop even when she saw the anger building up in Darren’s eyes.

            “What did you want to talk to me about?” he asked, trying to get off the subject of his hair. Darren put the hat back on and waited for Chance to calm down.

            “Okay, I’m calm now,” she said. “I wanted to talk to you about the shoot. Instead of doing the regular boring stuff, why don’t we go with something a little more edgy?”

            “Like what?” There was a strange doubt, almost scared feeling that hung in the air after he said that.

            “Something a little more eye catching, like me and you in bed together, only the covers… Catch my drift?” Chance asked. Darren nodded, but looked uncertain.

            “Are you proposing something like the cover of Anastasia’s CD?” he replied, already not liking the idea.

            “Yeah,” she said, but she saw the look of doubt in his eyes. “Come on, Daz. Let’s do something that’ll really make the music industry nervous. I know you’ve got that in you, just let it out. Jeez, you wrote ‘Universe,’ and that’s one hell of a steamy song.”

            Darren thought for a long time. He didn’t like the idea of Chance getting herself into a position where she could be a potential target for media. “I don’t know,” he slowly answered. “You’re way too young to be taking these kinds of pictures. On an ethical level, it’s wrong.”

            “Oh, and going at it until I nearly passed out wasn’t?” Chance angrily retorted, her voice loud enough to be heard by everyone.

            Darren grabbed her arm and whispered, “That’s our own business. Nobody should be hearing about it.”

            “It’s not fair,” she whined, sitting down in her chair and folding her arms over her chest. “It’s nearly Valentines Day, and I’ll be spending it alone again this year.”

            Darren stared at her in resentment. Chance had gone far enough with her threat the he reconsidered her idea. “How about a compromise? We’ll do both shoots and see which one turns out better. Okay?”

            “Okay,” Chance said with a smile. “I’ve got the entire thing in my head down to what I want the pictures to look like.”

            Darren rolled his eyes as she continued to talk. Tuning out helped, but he could still hear her ranting away like she usually did when she hadn’t noticed he wasn’t listening. Instead, he let Mary do his makeup and listened to her while she gossiped about her recent jobs as a stylist for the Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, O Town, and a bunch of other boy bands Darren didn’t care much for. But what she said next stunned him back into listening.

            “I just got finished with doing a shoot for Fisher, and man, she is so nice. Her music totally kicks ass,” Mary said as she applied a few strokes of blush to Darren’s cheeks.

            “I know. It’s really good. One of her songs actually has a special meaning to me,” he replied.

            “Oh, really? Which one and why?” she asked.

            “The song is ‘I Will Love You,’ and the meaning behind it is that it was the first song Chance and I ever danced to,” Darren explained.

            “Aw! That is so sweet. That song must be the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard. If you guys ever get married, call me and I think I can get her to perform at your wedding.”

            “Well, we’re really not looking that far into the future yet, but it’s a definite possibility.” Darren began to think about proposing now that he had talked it over with someone other than Dan. Chance had taken his heart and showed all the love she could possibly show him. Now was the time to repay her for everything. Yet, second thoughts kept him from deciding on an exact date. Scott would always linger in both their minds, but it was he who said that they were meant to be, and there was no way Darren would ignore such a strong sign from God.

            “Darren,” Mary said as she poked him in the arm. “Darren, you’re wanted in wardrobe.”

            “Oh, sorry. I got lost in thought,” he replied, then stood up and headed for the room marked “Clothing Department.” Chance was already there changing into her outfit, a black halter top, flared blue jeans studded with rhinestones, and a pair of black stiletto heels. She walked over to Darren as if she were a model and winked.

            “I know I look good,” Chance said.

            “Very nice,” he replied, taking in her beauty. Darren walked to one of the many racks of clothing and quickly chose a crimson shirt, black pants, and a pair of Doc Martians.

            The first half of the shoot was to take place in the lower rooms of the mansion, the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, and the indoor pool. The rest of the shoot was to be done outside by the Jacuzzi and the outdoor pool. ‘Maybe I can persuade Chance into reconsidering her idea and putting on a bathing suit,’ Darren thought, but knew she had already talked with idea over with Malcolm.

            The time flew by so fast; Darren didn’t even realize his traditional idea was almost finished. It wasn’t until Malcolm said, “That’s a wrap for part one,” that Darren realized Chance was going to get her way no matter what. He heard the conversation she was having with Malcolm, but decided not to interrupt fearing a fight would end the perfect week and their relationship.

            “You’ve got the idea, right? Nothing below the waist, only from the navel on up,” Chance instructed to the photographer.

            “I got the idea, and I have some really good ones of my own if you don’t mind me using them also,” Malcolm answered.

            “Oh, of course not. If it looks good to you, I’ll probably also look good to me too,” she said, walking into the dressing room to change.

            Malcolm walked over to Darren. “That girl is such a pain in the ass, always wanting things her way. How can you live with her?”

            Darren laughed. “She’s not like this all the time, only on these kinds of occasions.”

            “I have to give her some credit though, she has some really good ideas, especially for the treatments. She’s thinking about doing one picture on the computer and making it look like it’s been airbrushed. You can’t tell me that’s not a bad idea,” Malcolm said as he watched Chance walked out of the dressing room only wearing a robe, her jeans, and her heels. She strode over to him and Darren slowly, letting them ponder what else was under the robe.

            “Well, are we gonna start or what?” she asked, pulling Darren with her. Chance slipped his shirt over his head and led him to a couch in the living room where the camera was set up.

            “What’s your first idea?” Darren reluctantly asked.

            “A few shots in here, a few out by the pool, and a few in the bedroom,” Chance answered. “Everyone, turn around!” she yelled at the rest of the crew. She slipped off her robe and quickly positioned Darren’s hands where she wanted them.

            “Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all,” he said, gently kissing her neck.

            “What did I tell you?”

            For the rest of the shoot, Darren and Chance enjoyed themselves. Malcolm ignored everything Chance had told him except for the boundary line. By the time it was over, darkness had fallen over the mansion. Chance slipped on her robe and stood up to look at the first few pictures that were already done. Darren walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She stared down at the pictures not taking notice of him.

            “I look so fat,” Chance complained. “Maybe you were right about keeping the clothes on.”

            Darren stared down at the picture in her hands. It was one taken on the couch where Chance was laying on his chest and staring into his eyes. He loved the picture because so much passion was expressed without words.

            “It looks good to me,” Darren said. “You don’t look fat, you look great.”

            “How about this one?” Chance asked, handing him another one off the table. This time it was a picture taken in the bedroom at the two of them lay in bed, the covers drawn loosely over Chance’s body with Darren gently kissing her shoulder.

            “Ooh, I really like that one,” he answered. “And before you ask again, I like them all.”

            Malcolm walked over to the table and stared at the pictures with them. “I have to give you guys credit for doing such a hot shoot. These pictures turned out great. Any favorites?” he asked.