Through the Lens

Chapter 3

Lydia had a long weekend as the thought of Abel filled her head. After she received the pictures, She had thought over and over again who it could be. Seeing none of her questions were answered, she tried to take Abel out of her mind.

"Grrrrrrrr" With a loud groan, Lydia switches off the alarm she had set a night before. She literally drags her body out of bed and makes her way to the bathroom. She pauses to take a look at herself in the mirror, but the woman staring right back at her is unrecognizable; her eyebags are swollen. In shock, she staggers back a bit. Moving closer to the mirror, she shudders in horror and takes a deep breath. She takes her shower and conceals her face in a way that her eyebags are totally hidden.

"Perfect!" She says to herself. She walks to kitchen and fixes sandwich for breakfast. Since the night at the club, a knot has permanently taken a room in her stomach and it seems to increase with every growing second.

Just as she's about to finish her breakfast, Reuben's call comes through.

"Hello" Lydia says after she downs her coffee.

"Ly, I'm out front" Reuben says from the other side of the phone.

"Alright, see you in a minute." Lydia says and moves to clear the plate and mug she used to eat. She went back to the room to pick up her purse, and quickly rushes back to take a last look at herself in the mirror before dashing out of the apartment.

"That sure took you a minute" Reuben says from the driver's seat.

" Ha ha ha..so funny" Lydia says matching his sarcastic tone.

"Ready?" Reuben asks Lydia who is getting settled in the back seat of the car.

"Sure! Go go go!" Lydia says after buckling in her seat belt which earns a laugh from Reuben.

The drive to the studio was mostly a silent one as they both were in their headspace. The knot in her stomach keeps growing and she takes a mental note to have a quick stop at the bathroom before the meeting

Eventually, they arrive at the studio. As Reuben drives into the driveway that is decorated with well trimmed flowers and vintage lamp posts, he takes a quick look at Lydia and realizes she has drift off to sleep in between New York traffic.

"Lydia" Reuben calls out to her after he parked.

"Hmm?" Lydia says looking around a bit with a sleepy look. Having realized they had arrived, she takes a deep breath. Reuben alights from the car to open the door for Lydia, while Lydia takes the time to unbuckle the seatbelt and take her purse, making sure her phone is secured in it safely.

"Shall we?" Reuben asks, offering to help her out of the car.

"We shall." Lydia replies putting on her sunglasses to complete her look of pink blazer and pants with black heels.

Lydia hooked her hand in hisbas they walk into the studio that has "Timeless studio" written boldly on it.

"Good afternoon" a short lady says from behind the desk with a smile as they enter what appears to be the reception.

"Good afternoon, we have an appointment for 12" Reuben says offering the lady a smile of his own.

"Ohhh, boss has been expecting you. Please sit for a moment, I'll put a call through to Natasha." She points to the chair placed not too far from the desk. She continues to dial a number on the telephone placed beside her.

Lydia takes a moment to take in her environment. There are floor to ceiling windows which allow natural light to seep into the reception area. She stands to take a look at the studio's works on the wall. While admiring the pictures, she feels the knot in her stomach clench once again. This reminds her she needs to go to the restroom to take a pee and retouch her makeup before the meeting starts.

"Excuse me, could you point me to the restroom " She politely asks the receptionist who in return points towards a hallway with a smile.

"Thank you" she replies with her own smile.

" I'll be back "she says to Reuben who is busy on his phone.

"Alright" Reuben replies and goes back to his phone.

She walks down the dimly lit hallway and arrives at the end of it where an inscription of "Ladies" is written on the door. She opens the door and enters. She enters one of the stalls and goes about her business. After she's done, she stands in front of the mirror and checks out herself. The knot in her stomach is still there but she decides to push it aside and focus on the next task, which is the meeting. She brings out her powder and dabs on her face until she's satisfied, she adjusts her long brown hair and stick it behind her ear.

"You can do this." She says to her reflection in the mirror and gives herself a final look before walking out of the restroom to the reception.

Just when she arrives back at the reception, a woman with ginger hair walks in

"Good morning, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting. We were in a meeting" she says apologetically.

"It's not an issue, you must be Natasha?" Lydia says offering a hand to her for a shake.

" In flesh and bone " she replies her with a smile pulling her in for a hug instead.

"I'm Lydia" the smell of strawberry fills her nostrils as she says into the hug.

"I know!! You're more beautiful in person." She replies almost fangirling which earns a laugh from Lydia.

" Sorry about that, I've been wanting to meet you for a while." Natasha says enthusiastically.

"I'm glad to meet you. By the way, this is my assistant, Reuben " She says with a laugh and eventually points towards Reuben who has been standing awkwardly through the conversation.

"Hi Reuben!" She waves at him with a laugh.

" Hello" Reuben replies with a smile of his own

"Shall we? We don't want to keep the boss waiting" She says and motions for them to follow her.

They walk through another hallway and arrive at a door. With a push, Natasha opens it and they arrive at a room that looks like an office space, with desks and computers. They walk further into the room and eventually, Natasha opens a glass door that leads to a mini conference room.

A man is seated on the chair with face away from the door.

"Boss, they are here" Natasha says to the man seated on the chair.

Lydia who was admiring the decor, looks towards the "boss".

She sees a man putting on a navy blue suit and immediately he turns around, her world stops.

Impulsively, she stumbles back a bit as her heart beats fast. She holds on to Reuben trying to regain her composure. Reuben faces her with worry written all over his face.

"Are you okay?" He asks her gently still supporting her.

"Ye..yeahh I'm fine, just got dizzy" she replies trying to compose herself.

"You're sure?" Natasha who had earlier moved closer to them asks with concern. Meanwhile, the man just stares at her lost in his own world. Lots of emotions flash through his eyes as he keeps on staring at Lydia.

Quickly, Lydia recovers herself from the shock and decides to push it aside for professionalism sake. She removes herself slowly from Reuben's arm and looks towards him.

"This is Abel, the photographer and my boss." Natasha says after making sure Lydia is fine.

"I'm Lydia" Lydia says offering her hand for a handshake. A part of her had told her Abel is the new photographer, but she had a hard time believing it. He had gone MIA since their breakup and now he's back into her life after ten years? Now she made her decision to pretend he never existed in her life to begin with.

"Nice to meet you Lydia" Abel replies with a broken smile returning the handshake.

Abel can't help but keep staring at Lydia as soon as her presence was announced in the room. Truthfully, he had been aware of her coming to the studio , because he chose her personally for this project amongst other models. He thought of it several times if it was a reasonable idea. Professionally, it is because she is good at what she does, but given their past, it wasn't a good idea. Despite weighing his options, he decides to go with professionalism.

As he holds her hand for the shake, feelings he had promised himself to keep hidden come biting at him. As they both feel the same thing as their hands come in contact with another, they let go almost immediately as if they had burnt themselves.

"Reuben" Reuben offers him a handshake too. With a nod of head, Abel shakes him back but feels something from the shake,

"Please have your seat, shall we start?" Natasha says after feeling tension rising from every corner of the room.

"Thank you" Lydia and Reuben replies simultaneously.

Throughout the presentation that Natasha gave, Lydia could sense eyes burning into her skin. She feels stares coming from opposite her; where Abel is seated. She pretends as if she isn't aware but the stare alone could burn through her skin. On one occasion, she glances towards his side to confirm her suspicions and they were correct. She stares back at him for a while but shifts her gaze back to Natasha who feels like she's about to faint from the tension in the room.

However, Reuben fail to sense the tension too. He can't help but see Abel as a threat to him and Lydia's relationship. He feels the need to mark his territory and that's exactly what he did with the shake. He takes a mental note to investigate more about Abel as he doesn't like what he's feeling with Abel in tje room. He sees Lydia staring at Abel for a while during the meeting and he sees an emotion he had never seen on her face before towards any man; vulnerability.

"So that comes to the end of the presentation." Natasha says after a while.

" Very well Natasha, thank you." Abel says finally shifting his gaze from Lydia to Natasha. With a nod of head, Natasha sits.

"So when does the shoot start?" Lydia says after forcing her eyes to look away from the nape of Abel's neck that is revealed a bit.

"Next week, Natasha will send the schedule to your email." Abel replies with a smile after noticing the flush on her face. This automatically makes Lydia redder.

"Excuse me, I need to go to the ladies." She hurriedly walks out of the room and when she gets outside the door she takes a deep breath. She just needed to get out of that space. She sees light seep through a half opened door down the hall and she walks towards it; as if being pulled by a magnet. When she gets to the entrance, she sees an inscription on the door reading "CEO". Curiously, she pushes the door open wide after making sure nobody is staring.

She walks deeply into the room and sees a desk and a chair behind it, to the right is a shelf with vintage cameras. She moves closer to the desk and when she is near, she sees a journal half opened on it. Picking it up, she flips through the pages and stops when she sees something towards the end of more like someone; herself!! The shoot she has done over the years, compiled in one place, in Abel's journal , in his office. That could explain one thing, Abel knew she'd be coming because he made it happen.