| Subject: Priority Mail 294 |
Author:
Nikita507
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Date Posted: Saturday, August 06, 05:32:52pm
In reply to:
Nikita507
's message, "Priority Mail 289+" on Tuesday, July 26, 11:13:08pm
Nikita opened up the door to the small studio that Whitney kept and turned back to watch Michael walking in with her. She saw Whitney stepping out of the dark room and she sighed. “I hope that you don’t mind that Michael came along.”
Whitney shook her head and said hello to Michael. “I am glad that you came by… I printed some proofs of the photo shoot at the zoo.”
Nikita tilted her head to the side. “I thought we’d talk about… your trip… and what I can offer to do for you.”
“You can do whatever you want to do if you take over here, Nikita. You can change the name, the logo, the paint… everything,” Whitney chuckled and Nikita shoved her hands into her pockets and looked over at Michael. “I don’t think I’m going to be good at the business end…”
“And it just so happens that I’m looking to have something to get me out of the lab all the time,” Michael spoke and Whitney jerked her head up. “Really?”
Michael nodded his head up and down. Nikita looked carefully at him and Whitney was glad to see that Nikita realized the same thing. Michael may be saying that he wanted out of the lab some of the time, but he was doing this for her right now. She needed some further successes away from other things in her life before she would feel secure enough to take over this fully. She didn’t need Michael to run the business aspects of this. She had done so much of the work already, but Whitney was just grateful that Michael was taking this step with her right now.
“The lab was something I knew that I could establish quickly and when it was at home where Adam was, it was perfect. It’s fine where it is, but I think parts of it are too much like… my past,” Michael carefully explained his decision. Nikita took Michael’s hand and squeezed it.
Clearly they had spoken about this and Nikita had called Michael out on this decision.
“Well… maybe we can go over some of the business parts in a bit… I want Nikita to really see the photos she took…” Whitney decided to change the topic right now so she could think a bit more about what she had just learned. Plus, Whitney was really excited with what she had seen in the dark room and she wasn’t sure if Nikita even knew why.
“Did I do something wrong with them?” Nikita asked and Whitney shook her head as she reached out for Nikita. “Darling Buffy, you did more than perfect with them.”
Nikita looked at Michael with a blush across her face and she broke away from Michael and moved with Whitney. She was excited to hear that the photos came out well, but slightly disappointed that she didn’t get a chance to develop them herself. But then, Whitney was under a deadline and Nikita was thankful that Whitney had done this much.
Whitney also knew what parts Nikita was most comfortable while at the zoo and which parts that she had almost lost the talented photographer. Of course the animals that were Nikita’s favorites were on the top. She instantly pulled up the picture and smiled. “I got it.”
“You were shooting fast speed… you got ten pictures of that polar bear in mid-leap. It’s a money shot.”
Nikita turned and showed it to Michael. “I knew that they wanted this shot… I mean, how perfect is it… I mean… I wasn’t sure with the reflection of the toy… but it looks great and it can be cropped too…”
“Look at the lion,” Whitney prompted Nikita as she saw that Nikita was almost gushing too much. It continued this way for some time. Especially when Whitney had to have Nikita look thru several pictures of the gorillas and she couldn’t figure which ones that she liked the most.
Nikita looked down and blinked her eyes of the evidence that she had overcome a very awkward situation.
“I think these are your best,” Whitney spoke as she tilted her head and saw the slight glaze of tears in Nikita’s eyes. “I know that you didn’t want to take them…”
Nikita picked up the picture of the girl who was about six years old into her hands. She was in the petting zoo with a goat in this picture and she had a huge smile. Nikita had turned away from the zoo staff when they first went into the petting zoo and said that they had a girl they wanted featured. Whitney hadn’t known either but she had stepped in front of Nikita and made her stay there for a while to hear.
“She really looks good up on the camel also,” Whitney commented as she lifted a picture so Michael could see it. It was clear that Nikita hadn’t told Michael about this part of the photo shoot.
Nikita was still quiet and Whitney could see that Michael had a lot of questions even though he could see how a human subject made the pictures pop even more. “I did talk to the director of marketing at the zoo this morning after I sent some proofs over. He knows that we did not appreciate the change in the photo shoot scope…. But he thanked us profusely along with the people from Make A Wish.”
“Make a Wish?” Michael inquired and Nikita nodded her head up and down. “Ah… She was there for a wish… she had leukemia and she wanted to be a zookeeper for the day.”
“The staff touring her around thought of the photo shoot… it was by surprise… but the zoo is appreciating it and would like to use some of these if you allow it,” Whitney showed Michael a picture of the girl getting kissed by a dolphin.
“My permission? It’s their property,” Nikita spoke and Whitney exhaled. “The director of marketing offered not to use any since they weren’t on the proposal.”
Nikita shook her head. “These can be used… and she would be… happy…”
The phone rang and Whitney watched Nikita jerk in relief. “I’ll get it.”
“How could you let this happen?”Michael asked as he looked at Whitney and placed the picture on the table. “She didn’t want to take pictures of girls… especially at this age… what is this girl? Six? It’s too hard…”
“I gave Nikita the option once we found out why they wanted the pictures taken,” Whitney corrected Michael as she walked towards the office as Nikita waved at her. Michael followed behind, not sure exactly what was going on.
“Mrs. Radaker…. I understand…” Nikita spoke over the speakerphone.
“It’s Ms. Radaker… and it really is Kim,” the woman spoke and Whitney grabbed the doorframe. It was the girl’s mother.
“Kim… I don’t do photos of birthday parties… I rarely take pictures of children…” Nikita stressed and there was a sigh. “I understand that Ms. Alexandrov…”
“Nikita,” Nikita corrected with a hard swallow.
“Well, My little Kaylie keeps on saying ‘Ms. Kitten made me a super model, ma… even with my fake hair’…. And I just want her birthday to be very special with her friends and family…” Kim explained and Nikita pressed a hand against her chest. Kaylie couldn’t get the name Nikita right so Nikita told her to call her Kita, which she promptly laughed at and said she would call her Ms. Kitten because she had blonde hair like the lions.
Whitney knew how hard it was for Nikita to take Kaylie’s pictures. No one else did. In fact, she was brilliant with the girl who had been thru so much. Nikita showed her special care that most other photographers would not have done. Nikita talked to her to find out her favorite animals and other things that a natural mother would do.
“I will triple your rate… because I have tried to get my little girl in pictures and she wouldn’t do it… you are the first in years… to have a picture that she is smiling in,” Kim explained and Nikita closed her eyes. She pulled out the book and exhaled. “No increase in our fee…. When is the party?”
Whitney gasped and Michael was the one that grabbed her shoulder to stop her from stepping in there. “It’s the last Sunday of the month.”
Nikita flipped the book and pulled out a pen. “That is open… I will put you in unless you find someone else…”
“I won’t Ms. Alexandrov…”
“Nikita,” Nikita wrote down the name and looked over at Michael and smiled. Michael let go of Whitney and knew that Nikita wasn’t doing something that she wasn’t prepared to handle. “I may have to bring an assistant along… because parties are not my normal kind of thing… and he may have some pointers to give me… I’m not sure if they have explained that I’m just starting this photography career…”
“You are a natural then… because I always think the best sign of a good photographer is if they care about the people they take pictures of… and you really cared for Kaylie,” Kim gushed and Nikita exhaled. She looked at Whitney and rolled her head to the side. “I’ll call you early next week to get the rest of the details.”
“I will tell everyone…”
“No,” Nikita interrupted. “This is not a normal job we would take… so please don’t tell anyone. I don’t need this advertised. I don’t do parties.”
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