The Photographer - h.s

The showcase

Harry

"I am so excited to see this." Mitch said as we stepped out of his car. Sarah got out of the passenger seat and Jeffrey and I slid from the back bench. We walked towards the front door and Mitch grabbed one the bar on one of the doors holding it open for the other 3 of us to walk in. We were all dressed formally, with nice dress shirts and slacks, and Sarah was wearing a flowy black dress. We entered the large room and I looked around at all the different people standing with their displays. We started at the beginning and as we began to walk through we were gaining some attention. We ignored it and hoped that our privacy and personal space would be kept in mind.

These photographers were so talented, the emotion that some of these photos portray is astounding. If these are all this amazing, I can't wait to see Victoria's showcase selection. Each photographer has 5-10 pictures in their showcase display, each with a title placed underneath the picture. We turned the corner to see the next row of displays when I caught a glimpse of her. She was wear burgundy slacks, with black hells on and a black shirt tucked into her pants, with a blazer that matches. She was stunning. When she saw me turn the corner she smiled widely at her, her eyes bright. When the other 3 turned the corner to join her jaw dropped and put her hand over her mouth. I walked quickly over to her and opened my arms as I approached and wrapped her in a tight hug, lifting her feet off the ground for a moment. I placed her down and I kept one arm around her as I glanced at her display quickly and back to her.

"You look... you're- absolutely breathtaking." I stumbled over my words and she giggled and shook her head.

"I can't believe you all came!" She said excitedly as Mitch walked over with Sarah and Jeff behind him.

"Ah, Queen Victoria! We wouldn't miss this for the world." Mitch said and walked over and hugging her. I looked to her display and admired her pictures.

Her first picture was of girl who looked to be in her early 20's. She was standing with a few people around her but the picture was focused solely on her. She looked so.... sad. Her head was low and her eyes were so sad. I remember when Victoria told me that she enjoyed photographing strangers... this was a beautiful picture. She titled in 'too crowded'.

Her second picture was the the one she asked me to use two weeks ago when she told me about her showcase. She titled it 'HS1'. I was just honored to be included in her first display. The third picture was of a full moon with a silhouette of the tree line below it with the title 'Canyon moon', the one she told me about at Canyon Ridge. The one that reminded her of being back home on the east coast.

Her fourth photo was of the bouquet of hydrangeas that she got for me. They were sitting on the passenger seat in her car with the sun coming through the car window above it. She titled it 'for you.' It made me think of the night she gave them to me, she was so nervous her hands were almost shaking. She's the first girl to get me flowers, she is hands down the sweetest person I have ever come across, and the fact that she even gives me the time of day is still shocking to me.

Her last picture was of Arlo. He was sitting on the table on her balcony with a clear blue sky behind him. He was all grey with small white markings, and his left ear was clipped almost halfway. Her title was simply just his name.

I smiled and looked over her photos and smiled. She is standing with her display proudly, as she should. She's feeling confident with her work and her skills, she feels important. I hope she feels larger than life, she is radiating pure joy right now, it's my favorite view. I turned back to her as she talked with Mitch smiling, she looked over his shoulder and locked her eyes with mine and looked back to Mitch. They talked for another minute before he walked over to her display as I walked over to her.

"They're amazing Victoria. You are amazing." I said to her honestly and she looked to the floor for a moment and then back to me.

"Thank you for coming." She told me and tilted her head to the side. I pushed a piece of her hair away from her face and admired her for a moment. "I...really want to kiss you but... there's already so many people looking at you." She said just above a whisper and it made my stomach fill with butterflies. I glanced around and noticed the wondering eyes and examined the crowd around us, no one had their phones out or pointed at us. I looked back to her and I placed a hand on her cheek and leaned in and kissed her softly.

"I...am so proud of you." I told her and she smiled widely to me let my hand fall from her face as her cheeks flushed pink. "We're gonna take a lap around and look at the other displays  and let everyone else look at your amazing photos. We'll meet with you when you're done." I told her and kissed her cheek and gave her a smile before walking over to Mitch, Sarah, and Jeffrey.

Jeff and Sarah walked away and found their way outside. They told us they only came for Vic and they were bored... babies. Mitch and I continued walking slowly by displays and stopping to glance at their work.

"So... looks like you two are getting... involved." Mitch said smugly and smirked at me.

"Uh... yeah." I said back, I honestly don't know what we are or what we're doing. We're together... but not? I'm too afraid to say anything because I dont want to make it awkward by trying to label it. She's.... my best friend, I'm okay doing what we're doing if means not losing her.

"Harry... come on. We all saw the lovely PDA that occurred not even 10 minutes ago." He pointed out and I looked at my feet for a moment and back to the display in front of us before we continued down the row. "So you're dating?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Well, no." He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"So...you're friends?" He asked and I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. "Is that because you don't have to balls to ask her to be your girlfriend?" He asked and I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Fuck off, Mitch." I spat at him and he chuckled in response.

"Harry, just admit that you want to be with her and then man-up and go tell her." He said to me as we turned and rounded the corner to the next row of photographers.

"Oh you mean like... how you won't tell Sarah you like her?" I asked and he raised his eyebrows and looked at me.

"Stop trying to avoid the conversation. I've never seen you like this with...anyone." He said and i furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head. What did he mean by 'like this' ?

"Which means?"

"Harry, you're happy. Like really happy lately. You are a completely different person when she comes around, you laugh more, and every time you do you look at her to see if she is too." He said and I sighed and rolled my eyes. Of course he's got a point. But if I say it out loud it makes it real and I can't take it back. Also, I don't know how much faith I have in Mitch keeping this to himself and not telling Sarah, because if Sarah knows she might tell Vic since they're getting close.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mitch. I'm a happy guy, what can I say?"