PROLOGUE
FOUR YEARS EARLIER
It's been the first month at my new job and I'm so fucking tired of my senior supervisor, Mr. Rowan James. When I tell you that this man annoys me, I mean it. I went to the best photography school in the fucking country and I'm sure my skills are way better than his are but of course, the men always get what they want.
My department has four members, myself, Sameer, Naleeka and Rowan, the senior supervisor. And I'm sure none of them got the treatment I did. He was nice to me for the first three days. I was greeted with flowers and cookies but after that? It's literally hell.
We're on our way back from a shoot and I just know I'll get shit from him for it. Two things went wrong today which were not a fault of mine. They booked a day shoot and then it started to rain. I'm not God, therefore I can't control the fucking weather. We had to improvise and thanks to my quick and creative thinking, I got the manager of garden to lend us the gazebo for an hour and so, I got the light and background modifications set up. The couple was satisfied, even more so that they got many pictures but Rowan was nothing but pissed. Somehow he got angry with me for not checking the weather. It literally said 38% chance of precipitation. I went to college for fucking photography not meteorology or climatology.
The next thing that went wrong was the pro camera died in the middle of the shoot, so I had to switch to basics. As a 'newbie', I'm not allowed to touch pro cameras before a shoot and I have a return them at least 24 hours after I'm done. If I'm not allowed to touch the camera, and I started a month ago, how the fuck was I suppose to know the camera wanted to be charged? Can I read minds now?
He irritates me.
"We need to talk in my office," he said to me as we got to the building and slammed the car door shut.
I rolled my eyes and walked to his office. I mentally prepared myself for the bashing I was about to get. Sameer shot me a 'good luck' smile and I mouthed the words 'thank you' to him.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked him as I entered. I didn't bother taking a seat because I wanted this to be over as soon as possible.
He took his glasses off and told me to sit. I respectfully declined his offer and folded my arms. I'm not sure why he's acting cordial directly he's going to bash me for all the faults that went wrong today.
"Today's incident was one I didn't want to happen, and I hope it never happens again," he spoke firmly and shot me a grim look.
"I'm sorry but how's it my fault?" I blurted. I really wanted to fucking know.
"You're the photographer they hired. I'm just supervising as that's my job description. You have to be on your toes if you want to keep this job."
"Or you can do your part. Pro cameras are not to be touch by employees who are working less than a year. How was I to know it needed to be charged?" I asked him, my voice raised. He couldn't offer up an answer and that's because he didn't fucking have one. "Exactly, you can't answer. What did my resume tell you?"
He looked at me in a dumbfounded way. "Are you being smart right now?"
I rolled my eyes at his inability to answer simple fucking questions. "I'm being direct. What did my resume say I specialize in?"
"Photography," he bluntly responded.
"Then how on God's earth did you expect me to know it would rain today? And before you say check the forecast, I did. It said a 38% chance of precipitation. I contacted the Smith's and told them. They didn't care about that. So the next time you try to pin the blame on me for something that's the fault of the weather and your own professional team, you check the facts first and if that's all I'll be going."
He looked at me in anger for a few minutes and I walked the fuck out. I wouldn't have anyone on this planet put me through hell. I've been through enough already and I won't let this stupid man named Rowan James ruin my view on photography. He can dull my days but I won't let him dull my creativity.