Her Journey Begins (31 page)

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Authors: Karen Einsel

BOOK: Her Journey Begins
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Yeah, that should be okay, I need to call Sue though and let her know not to come pick me up yet.

  

Oh sure, the phone

s right in here.

Linda leads her into the front hallway and Chris gives her an embarrassed smile.

  

I don

t have her number.

Linda grins and opens the address book sitting next to the phone to Sue

s name. Chris whispers into the phone when Sue answers.

Linda

s brother Charlie is here and he wants to take me to his studio to develop the pictures, is he safe?

Chris hears Sue chuckle.

  

Yes, he

s safe. Charlie is a big pussycat. He couldn

t hurt a fly if he wanted to. Now go and have fun.

  

I am. I

m having a great time.

  

Okay, well call me when you want to be picked up.

Coming back into the living room Charlie smiles at her.

  

You ready to go?

Chris nods and they leave.


   As they go into the darkroom Charlie asks her,

You know how to do this?

  

Well, I

ve been learning at the school, but it looks like you have things set up just a little bit different here.

  

Well, I

ll tell you what, I

ll supervise and if I see you are going to make a mistake, I

ll stop you and head you back in the right direction, okay?

Chris smiles and nods, and takes a deep breath.

Oh and I have to lock the door.

Chris gives him a weary look and he chuckles.

Don

t worry, I

m usually pretty safe. Linda

s son, Steve, my nephew, works for me and even when that red light is on out there, he will open the door, ruining my photos, so I have to lock the door.

  

Okay

They are just about finished when someone tries to open the door. Chris looks over at it and sees the knob jiggle. Charlie nudges her in the ribs.

See, what

d I tell ya?

And Chris can

t help herself, she laughs out loud. Done with the last of the negatives, Charlie flips off the light and opens the door.

They won

t take too long to dry.

He points to the bathroom.

You can wash your hands in there and I

ll go get us a soda while we wait.

Coming out of the bathroom Chris glances into the darkroom, but Charlie

s not there. She sees another door that

s open, peeks inside, and tells herself.
This must be where they do their in house portrait sittings.
She

s back at the front counter and sees an open office door behind it, but as far as she can tell it

s empty also. Looking around she spots sliding glass doors that look like they lead out to a patio area. Chris peeks out and sees Charlie and a younger gentleman sitting at a table
.
Chris slides the door open and walks out. Both men stand up and she smiles.

  

Chris this is my nephew Steve, Steve this is Chris a friend of Sue

s.

Steve shakes her hand and tells her hello.

Chris smiles while looking up at him,

Wow you

re tall.

He blushes. She

s guessing he

s maybe a couple of years older than her, with brown hair and brown eyes.

How tall are you?

  

6

3

he tells her.

  

I

m sorry. I didn

t mean to be nosy.

   

That

s okay

Charlie pats the bench.

Chris sit down and relax for a bit. I didn

t know what kind of soda you like so I brought out a diet cola, and a root beer.

Chris takes the diet cola and tells him thank you. They

ve been sitting there about 15 minutes when Charlie looks at his watch,

Well, we better go get the proofs printed up, so they can dry, because Linda will be getting antsy and calling here pretty soon, wanting to know where we are.

Just as they go to get up the phone rings and Charlie looks at Steve,

Go talk to your mom and tell her we will be there in about an hour and a half.

As they walk towards the dark room Charlie tells her,

We will get the proofs printed and then while they are drying, I think we

ll get some lunch, because you sound like you are starving.

Chris blushes and smiles at him,

Yeah, I am getting a little bit hungry.


   Printing up the last of the photos Chris points to one with Linda sitting in the chair with Princess on her lap and Sir Peter lying at her feet.

  

Can we blow this one up?

  

You mean like an 8x10?

  

Bigger

.

Charlie smiles,

15x17?

  

Can we go bigger?

  

Well, how about an 18x20, will that work? Because that

s the biggest photo paper I

ve got.

  

Yeah that will work. Linda said she wanted a portrait to hang above the fireplace and I think this one will look great. All she needs is a beautiful frame.

Charlie smiles and putting his arm around Chris

shoulder he gives her a squeeze.

You have a good eye for the details.

Chris gives him a bashful smile,

Thank you.


   Linda opens the door.

So how did we do?

Charlie grins,

She is a natural.

And he hands Linda the proofs.

In fact she has a special surprise for you.

Linda opens her eyes wide.

Really

Chris is holding the portrait behind her back and pulls it around in front of her holding it up by the edges for Linda to see.

Oh! Chris it

s perfect! It is just what I had in mind. Pay her Charlie.

Charlie laughs and pulls a $100 bill out of his pocket and holds it out to Chris.

Oh, I don

t have change. Maybe we can stop somewhere on the way, when you take me back to Sue

s.

  

No, you earned it. Think of it as your first bonus. I know my sister and she is going to be showing off these photos and telling everyone just how great you are. I

ll have people lined up at the door wanting you to come do their portraits. Right Linda?

Linda smiles,

Oh you bet I will. Chris are you as good with kids as you are with dogs?

  

I guess.

  

Do you like kids?

  

Yes, I do.

  

Well there

s an opening for a health clerk at one of the elementary schools, if you go take the test at the district on Monday and you pass, I think I can pull some strings and get you hired. That is if you want.

  

Yes, I

d like that very much, thank you.

  

Hey don

t go putting in too good of a word or she won

t have time to work for me.

Chris swallows trying to keep the lump down in her throat.


   Charlie pulls up in front of Sue

s apartment.

So what do you think? Would you like to come and work part time for me? Maybe two days a week? A few hours a day

  

I

d like that.

  

Okay, how about you come in Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. Will that work for you?

  

I

ll be there with bells on.

Chris grins and shakes his hand.

Thank you.

Chris walks into the apartment and before she can even sit down, Sue wants to know everything.

So

How did it go?

Chris hands Sue the $100 bill.

I think it went well.

  

Whoa a $100? That

s cool, but you need to keep half of it.

  

No, you have done so much for me already.

  

Chris, all I did was buy you some necessities and they didn

t cost that much, besides you

ll need more clothes.

  

Thank you. You

ve been great. I don

t think I can ever thank you enough. And I have a question.

   

What

s that?

  

Where

s the school district?


   Monday morning Sue walks in while Chris is scrambling eggs. 

Good morning, you are up early.

Chris smiles.

I couldn

t sleep.

  

Are you nervous about the test?

  

A little.

   

Don

t be, it

s a pretty easy one.

  

But I haven

t taken a test since high school.

   

You

ll do fine.

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