Chapter 32

As much as I tried to ignore the way Laura’s mom was watching every move I made, I couldn’t. Every time I turned away from Mrs. Satori, trying to focus on what I was doing, I could feel her eyes boring a hole into my back. It was uncomfortable, and her constant gaze made me increasingly uneasy. Every time I glanced back over my shoulder, there she was, glaring at me.

The strange thing was how this was different from the times I had gone to their house for dinner and even watched movies afterwards. Sure, in those times it was obvious Mrs. Satori wasn’t happy, but it wasn’t like this, not at all. I really should have taken down all the pictures from the wall like my dad had said, not just the ones of Laura.

“Hey, earth to Josh,” Laura said, waving her hands in front of her to grab my attention. “Just ignore...” Laura’s eyes flicked to her mother and back to me. “ ... Okay?”

I tried to swallow but it felt like I had a boulder lodged in my throat. I couldn’t reply, not that I didn’t want to, but I didn’t even know what to say if I did. So, I just nodded and tried to smile, but from the look Laura gave me it was clear there was no smile on my face.

“Seriously, this is going to be fun.” Laura smiled, which helped to alleviate some of the tension that had me bound in knots and then she did something I wasn’t at all prepared for. “I love you.”

She didn’t say it, not out loud for the whole room to hear. She mouthed it. I could only imagine what Mrs. Satori’s reaction would have been if she had heard those three little words. I can guarantee it would have been far more severe than the reaction I had!

My eyes went wide when my brain processed and truly understood what she had just said. My heart was racing, and my hands and knees started to shake uncontrollably. I tightly gripped the light stand I was fiddling with to hide that fact from anyone watching. The whole time, her eyes never left mine.

That one statement—Laura telling me she loved me—was exactly what I needed. I had no idea that that was what would change everything for me. Maybe she did, but regardless, I suddenly felt ten feet tall and stood up a little straighter, my chin a little higher. The knots that had me so bound up unraveled and I suddenly felt ... better. No, I felt better than better—wonderful, perfect, amazing, all of it and more.

It took me a few minutes to calm down from the elation I had just felt and rightfully so. When I did though, I made a goofy face at Laura, and she giggled. I don’t think she expected that from me, but when our eyes met again when she comported herself, I mouthed those three little words back and it was her turn to give me a stupid face in return, which got me snickering too.

“Are you two just going to horse around or are you going to take her picture?” Mrs. Satori snapped.

That got both Laura and me laughing all over again which only frustrated the older woman even further.

“Sorry,” I turned to her and replied, my face flushed and the smile on my face was not going away any time soon. “Let’s get a couple done while we wait for my dad to come back with the white flowers.”

“It’s about time,” Mrs. Satori grumbled, and I noticed my mom trying and failing to hide a grin behind her hand.

“Ready?” I asked Laura.

“Whenever you are!”

I ended up taking four pictures of Laura in various basic poses on the loveseat with both the white and black backdrops behind her. I varied the lighting passed on the pose and backdrop. All four of them would be good, but I really wanted the white flowers Dad was supposed to be getting.

“What’s taking Dad so long?” I asked Mom.

“He’ll be here soon,” she answered.

“Looks like you’re all out of cameras,” Mrs. Satori announced. “Looks like we won’t need those flowers after all.”

“Mom!” Laura complained.

“What? He only has the four cameras, that’s what Mrs. Davis told me. Now we can go, and Josh can give you your pictures when they get developed,” Mrs. Satori said. “How much do you need for the processing costs?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Mom cut her off, flashing a grin. “He’ll develop them in a few minutes right in there.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. Mom winked at me, and I nodded in return.

“Really?” Mrs. Satori questioned.

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal. He’ll probably have them done by the time his dad gets back. Do you need a refill?” Mom held up her empty glass and shook it showing that there was only ice left in the bottom.

With mom doing her best to distract Mrs. Satori, Laura and I hurried into the darkroom before anything could be said.

Laura and I didn’t screw around too much while we developed the first four shots. There may have been some kissing ... okay maybe more than just some, but not enough that would potentially raise any flags or ruffle any clothes. Most of the time, we just talked.

“My mom is being a real pain in the ass,” Laura explained, letting out a big sigh as she did so.

I looked over my shoulder and just smiled and shrugged, slipping the first of the four sheets of photo paper into the develop solution.

“She’s just being ridiculous about this whole thing. I don’t know why she is being like this with you.”

I knew better than to respond to that statement. I knew why she was acting the way she was. So did Laura, but she wasn’t seeing it in the same way her mom was.

Thankfully, Laura didn’t press me to add anything in the conversation. Instead, she allowed me to focus on developing the shots we had taken. I had a feeling I needed to move quickly, and for good reason. If her mom decided she wanted to come in here, all she had to do was look to my left and there were the pictures of Laura, nude in all her amazingly beautiful glory. If she saw those pictures, her attitude before was going to look loving and compassionate compared to what it would be after seeing that I had taken a new portrait of Laura, completely naked in this very house.

As soon as I had the last of the four pictures hanging up to dry, I headed out to the studio with Laura following behind me. Our moms were talking, sitting together on the loveseat. I didn’t pay them a moment of attention. I came out looking for Dad to see if he had brought the flowers I had asked for. My mom, I assumed, was entertaining, or more aptly put, distracting Laura’s mom, for which I was tremendously grateful.

I slipped quietly through the room, trying not to draw any attention to myself and when I didn’t see my dad in the studio, I headed up the stairs to look out the front door to see if his car was in the driveway. When it wasn’t there, I went back downstairs and checked the garage. Of course, it wasn’t there either. I would have heard the door open and close if he were, even from inside the darkroom.

The only thing I hadn’t checked or tried yet was asking my mom. That had its own challenge ... Laura’s less than pleased mom.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I confidently made my way back into the studio with every intention of walking right up to my mom and asking about Dad. No sooner had I crossed the threshold into the room than I saw Mom showing Laura’s mom a pile of what looked like pictures, a few of which were in a black frame, just like those that were hanging on the wall of the darkroom.

I broke out into a cold sweat. Whatever images they were looking at had Mrs. Satori thinking. It didn’t look like a good kind of thinking, not from where I was standing. My mind started racing, trying to figure out what images they were looking at. The first and most worrisome option was the pictures of Laura—the nude ones, all of them. That’s where my mind went and once it did, there was no changing it.

Even when my mom looked up and saw me watching her and Mrs. Satori, she just smiled warmly, lovingly. I’m sure she thought she was doing something to help me, but I was on the verge of complete and utter panic.

“Hello! Anyone home?” Dad yelled out from the front door as if he didn’t know we were all still in the basement.

I was so focused on what was transpiring on the loveseat, I didn’t hear my dad when he came back, even when he came down the stairs holding two different bouquets of all white flowers.

“Josh,” Laura spoke softly into my ear, startling me. “Your dad’s back.”

Even that statement took far longer than it should have for it to resonate in my head.

“Huh?” I asked.

Laura, smiling, pointed at something behind me.

I quickly turned my head and saw my dad holding out the flowers I had asked for. He didn’t have a smile on his face, but he didn’t look exactly mad either. He looked more annoyed than anything.

“Your flowers,” he said, his voice laced with sarcasm that was hard to miss.

“Oh. Thanks!” I replied, taking the proffered bundles.

“We are going to have to have a long talk about flowers, understand?” I nodded. “Good. So, what’s going on now?”

“I’m not sure,” I answered, my body flinching of its own accord as I looked to where the moms were sitting. “Mom’s been showing Laura’s mom pictures I think.”

I just wanted to look at my toes right then, almost embarrassed. I shouldn’t have been, but in my young mind, there was nothing good, not one, damned, thing which could come from what was going on between them. For me, the worst possible scenario was the most likely.

I don’t know if my dad was reading my mind or not, but he did something I wasn’t expecting.

“Hey, what are you two doing?” Dad asked the two older women across the room.

“Oh, good. You’re back,” Mom answered cheerily. “I was just showing Laura’s mom the pictures Josh took of me.”

If my jaw weren’t attached, it would have been on the floor just then.

“Did you show her the one from upstairs?” Dad asked, suddenly sounding immensely proud.

“Yup, it’s right here!” Mom replied, picking up one of the black framed photos that was lying between the two women.

Dad gave me a smile that verged on smugness and walked over to join them. I just stood there like a deer in headlights, not knowing what to do. My arms were hanging down at my sides and it was a miracle I hadn’t dropped the two flower arrangements I was holding in my hands. Laura took one of those bundles from me and set it aside. She quickly took my hand in both of hers, for which I was grateful, as squeezed it tightly, reassuringly, as the two of us watched the interaction between our parents.

“Did you have a favorite?” my dad asked Laura’s mom.

His voice was soft, as if his words were only meant for the three of them but from where I was standing, we could hear them clearly. Her answer, however, I couldn’t hear. She held up one of the loose portraits.

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