Boston's Man-Eater

VIII

The rest of the day went by spectacularly.

Despite having encountered the disheartening exchange between Tess and her boyfriend, I ended up fully engaging in the historic day.

She seemed to have forgotten, or at least pretended to have forgotten what he had done, because they were stuck together as they interacted with other iconic figures.

I deeply resented that.

Finally basking into the solitary atmosphere of my hotel room, I retrieved my laptop and worked.

I don't know what pleased me more; the fact that I was working days prior to any given due date, or that I finally had something worthy to write about.

I had decided that if anything hadn't happened back in the city like the "Red Lady", I'd have Tess put on the front page.

Did that make me look like a simp?

More or less—but people needed to appreciate the Bona fide woman, and become engrossed in her work as much as I was.

...at least she'll be grateful, I think.

Sometimes Tess was difficult to understand.

The different personas mashed up into one big character were somehow contradictory.

What am I even saying?

I didn't even know her, and still wouldn't have if Harold hadn't assigned me to go do my research.

As I eagerly typed into my computer, Tony finally entered the room, and flopped onto his single bed face down.

"I'm so exhausted," he groaned.

"You seemed extremely busy today."

"Yeah, that's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Have you ever considered becoming an independent photographer?"

He sat up, frowning contemplatively as if digesting my words. 

"I mean, yeah I did study photography, but nah."

"Why not?" I quizzed, never lifting my fingers off the keyboard.

"I don't know, many people say it's not sensible, so I let it go."

I arched an eyebrow, and shifted my focus to him.

"Not sensible in what sense?"

"I guess only a few photographers like that make it in life. It doesn't pay much."

Well, I wasn't so sure about that, but I understood where he was coming from.

"You should at least try; you never know who's going to appreciate your talent and take you places."

"You think so?"

"It won't kill you," I shrugged, "Let's see the pictures you took."

He rose from the bed and sat beside me, invasively plugging his camera onto my laptop.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back as he worked his way to the pictures.

To say there were billions might've been an understatement...I wasn't sure if I still wanted to see them at all.

"So many..."

"Yeah, that's the point."

He clicked past the smiling celebrities and models, until my eyes glued onto the dark goddess herself.

Tony was really talented, I had to give him that.

My thorough gaze swept down all her features—from her platinum blonde hair, her heart-shaped face, the glistening pale skin, to her tall figure that was aggrandized by her high heels.