EXTRACT FOR
A Hundred Pictures of Her
(Daisy Rose)

James Thomson chooses the perfect moment to bring up the book. The first pitcher of sangria is empty, and she is feeling just the right combination of light headed and buzzed, not drunk on the sangria, but relaxed and susceptible to things that might normally frighten her off. The dinner plates in front of them have been cleared with nothing left on the table except for the pitcher of sangria and a few rolls of biscuits in the basket between them, shimmering in the light of the unscented candles that are gradually blinding her.



A year ago, Gwen would think this was a date, but she knows better now. James is in a relationship. Lily has made it abundantly clear to her that Gwen is inferior to her in every way. She is taller, prettier, bustier, and richer. In fact, Gwen is living in an apartment complex owned by her uncle and she is fully capable of kicking Gwen to the curb if she so much as look at James in an inappropriate way. Short of peeing in a circle around James whenever Gwen comes around, she doesn't know what else the woman could do to make it clear that James is off limits.



So no, this is not a date. It's a business meeting. The fact that James chooses very picturesque locations to hold these meetings doesn't mean anything.



James, who must have been a storyteller in his past life, even gives his story a title of sorts. "Have I ever told you about my Uncle Louis's legacy?"



Gwen could not forget Uncle Louis even if someone had hit her over the head with a club and gave her a concussion. Her experience with him is unlike anyone she has ever met and she doubts she would meet anyone like him ever again. Though he calls the man 'uncle', he was really his father's childhood friend, an eccentric older gentleman she has only met once a few years ago, when he passed by in his journey to travel to every major city in the world until his money runs out. "It will take a while," she remember James saying. Uncle Louis is incredibly rich. He had taken a liking to Gwen straightaway and had wanted a private session with her, being a photographer himself. He asked if she has ever entertained the idea of having her feet worshipped, and she had thought mistakenly at the time, that it was merely a mistake in translation that had made him use the word. After all, Uncle Louis had spent the majority of his life in France. She thought he meant to ask if she had pictures of her feet taken before. They were talking about close up photographer, after all, and it matched with the discussion.



She hadn't and told him that she didn't have the right feet for it. James does not pick up many high-heel advertising for her to do because her feet are not the regular size, but Uncle Louis would hear nothing of it, calling her a beauty.



"Allow me to buy you a pair of red heels and photograph you in them," he said, "As a memento of our meeting."