BBM Picture Perfect chapter 1
BBM Picture Perfect
Chapter 1
Ennis stood behind the bar, sweat on his brow. The night was hot, especially in his bar- tending uniform. He had opened the top buttons of his shirt, revealing a hint of his chest, but due to the bars poor ventilation it wasn’t much help. The night had been relatively quiet; a small group of women sat laughing in the corner and a few couples were dotted around the room. Ennis was getting bored of waiting for something to happen.
Just as Ennis was about to sit down a young guy walked in. Ennis reckoned he was around the same age as himself.
The young man walked to the bar and sat down directly opposite Ennis.
“Whisky please,” he said, in a tired yet appreciative tone.
“No problem,” Ennis replied, a half smile spreading across his face. “It's not often I get some one who says please in this joint,” Ennis thought to himself.
“Rough day?” Ennis asked, sliding Jack's drink toward him with one hand while he brushed his free hand through his blond curls.
“I‘ve had better,” the guy said, smiling up at Ennis, his blue eyes showing a look of thanks.
“Hmmm,” Ennis groaned, before pulling his mouth into a sympathetic frown.
“Oh, name's Jack Twist by the way,” Jack said, leaning in to shake hands with Ennis.
Ennis shook Jack's hand and replied “Ennis, del Mar.”
“Pleasure to meet you Ennis,” Jack said, a wide smile momentarily covering his frown.
Ennis smiled in agreement before he turned his back and started to polish some glasses.
Jack just trailed his eyes down a bit to check out Ennis’ ass, his smile returning again for a few seconds.
Ennis had been wandering about doing odd jobs for around 10 minutes before he heard Jack cuss and he turned around.
“Shit, this is all I need,” Jack said, a look of frustration spreading across his face. He had put a cigarette between his lips but as he was trying to light it all he was getting was random sparks but no flame.
“Worthless piece of junk,” Jack cussed, depositing the lighter back into his pocket.
“Here,” Ennis said, leaning towards Jack with his own lighter in his hand, lit and ready to light Jack's cigarette.
“Thanks,” Jack said, leaning in toward the flame so the cigarette tip could be lit.
Ennis stood shifting his mouth oddly for a few seconds before saying,
“If ya don’t mind me askin’, what's got ya so down, I don’t mean to pry or nothin’?”
“Ahhh its nothin’, just a subject for a photo shoot cancelled on me is all. The bitch is if I don’t find a replacement the company that hired me for this shoot won't hire me again and I’ll lose out big time if I lose their business.” Jack stared at his drink the whole time he talked.
Jack raised his head and looked at Ennis square in the face, secretly taking note of his beautiful brown eyes.
“So anyway, enough about me, how’s your day been?” Jack asked, still staring into Ennis’ eyes.
“Ahh my day, same old, lounge around home, come here, then back home.”
“You! Stay at home, you not got a girlfriend or someone to be with?” Jack asked quizzically.
“Who me? Nah no girl waiting for me,” Ennis said, matter of factly but with no bitterness in his tone.
Jack wasn’t proud of it but part of him was happy that Ennis wasn’t in a relationship.
“Ennis, Mike says we can leave early today,” the voice came from a petit blonde member of female bar staff who had just entered the room from a room adjacent to it.
“Okay,” Ennis shouted back, throwing down the cloth he had been using to clean the glasses.
“Care ta join me for a drink,” Jack said, looking at Ennis.
Ennis shied at the offer before half-heartedly beginning to say, “I really should be getting home, I-----” at that point Ennis was cut off by Jack, who interrupted.
“Hey, you already said you got no one waiting for ya, ya really gonna ditch a guy sittin’ at a bar on his lonesome?” Jack asked, his big blue eyes wide open and staring at Ennis’.
“Fine, I’ll stay for a drink,” Ennis said, his mouth curling into a half smile.
Ennis and Jack moved over to a small table near the bar and Ennis grabbed a bottle of whisky from behind the bar and placed it down in the centre of the table along with two glasses.
“Woah, how much is that gonna cost us?” Jack said, his eyes widening.
“Huh? Oh no, this is my whisky, I get terrible headaches sometimes. A glass of this on my break often does the trick,” Ennis said.
“Well, don’t expect me to just take the drink from you, how much do you want for it?”
“You kiddin’, I don’t want ya money for it,” Ennis replied, and though Ennis tried hard to hide it, Jack could tell that his offer had offended Ennis’ pride.
Ennis poured the whisky into the glasses and both of them took a sip.
“So photography, huh? Sounds interesting,” Ennis said, trying to make conversation.
“Yeah I suppose so, depends who or what your photographing really.”
“Hmm, s’pose it would,” Ennis replied, nodding his head.
“Might get a whole lot harder come tomorrow if I can't get a new model for the shoot,” Jack said, a hint of worry in his voice.
“Hmm, what’s the deal with that anyway, shouldn’t the company who hired you sort that out?” Ennis inquired.
“In most cases they would, but generally the companies that use me are small clothes businesses that are looking to expand but don’t have the connections to get hold of the models. So they hire me to both hire the model and shoot them, and then once I’m done and they get their pictures I get my wage plus the money I paid for the model.”
“Hmm.” Ennis nodded.
“Ennis, you’re not one to say much about ya self are ya?” Jack asked, half smiling.
“Not much to say,” Ennis answered plainly.
The two sat in silence for a while, both looking around the room, occasionally looking at each other and smiling.
“Ennis?” Jack asked.
“Huh? Whut?” Ennis asked.
“How would you feel about being the subject for my photos tomorrow?” Jack asked hopefully.
“Now what would ya want me to do that for?” Ennis scoffed.
“Are you kidding, you're perfect for it, probably better then the guy I had hired. Plus it's not like I'd be askin’ ya ta do it for free or nothin', and it would be a really big help to me.” Jack shifted to the front of his chair like a little kid waiting for a birthday surprise.
Ennis’ usually stiff face softened momentarily when he saw the hope in Jack's eyes.
“I'll do it, as long as my face ain't in any of the photos, I don’t want no attention or nothin'.”
“That’s fine, it’s a shoot for sweaters anyway so neck and below is perfect,” Jack said, his whole body relaxing and a broad smile spreading across his face. He looked at Ennis’ eyes and had to pull his gaze away before Ennis noticed something was up.
Jack pulled out a pen and a small business card from his pocket, scribbled an address on the card and handed it to Ennis saying “The shoot is at 1 pm tomorrow at this address. Thanks Ennis.”
Ennis just stared at Jack's face, the appreciation showing clearly. It warmed his heart to know he had really helped someone out of a tight spot.
“No, problem, but I really should go now, I’ll see ya tomorrow.” Ennis stood up and pushed his chair under the table.
“Yeah, see ya tomorrow,” Jack added, running his fingers through his dark hair.
Ennis then turned to leave, turning his neck once to smile and wave goodbye to Jack.