“Let’s make this quick, don’t want you catching hypothermia, sugar,” Ed stated as he arranged Ben at the landing of the fire escape. He then staggered Mike and Taylor on one step and Rick on the step before them. “Let’s get you up there next to Ben,” he directed me.
“Don’t go peeking up my skirt,” I joked at the guys.
“I’d like to see you try to stop me,” Mike muttered as I squeezed past him.
I went to swat the back of his head, and laughed as Ben reached out to restrain me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he laughed.
“Great shot, lady and gents,” Ed said laughingly. “I like to get those candid shots to capture the real essence of you.”
We situated ourselves and continued to move in different spots and positions as Ed told us where he wanted us. We were out there for twenty or so minutes, before Ed shooed us inside and told us to warm up and get into our last outfits.
I saw Ed go over to talk to Will and he seemed slightly animated as he was talking. I wondered what got him so excited as I went into the room to change.
My last outfit was a little more my normal style, although skin seemed to be the theme of the day.
“When did you get those?!” Jemmy exclaimed as she pointed to my abs, where I was now almost sporting a four pack.
I giggled. “When you work out six days a week, this can happen to you too,” I said mockingly.
She snorted and shoved a mini cupcake in her mouth, “Nah, that’s too much work.”
Bee snorted, “I agree, too much work for me too. Although, your body was a dream to dress. If you cut a label and start going on tour, call me up,” she handed me a card.
I slipped her card in my messenger bag and shrugged. I didn’t know how any of this stuff worked but I’m sure I would be bombarded with all the details come Monday.
I left the room in my signature black leather pants and leather ankle boots. My top was a vest made of black leather and I feared the buttons that ran up the front of it would pop at any moment; my cleavage, once again, was on display. Since my pants were low on my hips and the vest was more of a crop top, a wide expanse of my abs was on show.
Bee gave me silver necklace with a pendant that rested on my cleavage. She paired it with big silver hoop earrings. She also gave me these cool bracelets that wrapped around my wrist up to my forearms.
I found Will right outside of Jemmy’s room. He lowered his voice, “If you’re comfortable with it, Ed would like to take some pictures with some gifts being used. It’s just going to be the guys, the band, Ed, and Lionel.”
“So, they’re gifted…?” I asked hesitantly.
“Yes, but they don’t know all of your capabilities. That’s why the guys want to be up there with you guys,” Will stated. “He can photoshop it later, but he figured with a name like Gifted Elements, the real deal would feel and look more authentic.”
I shrugged. “If you don’t think it’ll expose us too much.”
Will shook his head slowly. “It shouldn’t.”
I took the spiral staircase up to the roof and found that everyone was in place. Ed had us stand side by side, with me directly in the middle. The city behind us was a perfect back drop as the sun was descending in the sky. Remy picked me up so I could stand on his shoulders. Ed told me to hold my hands up to the sky. Drake took his position behind me and cast a force field around us all. Ben, to the left of me, camouflaged himself so only his head and hands were visible. Taylor, to the right of me, held out his palms so rain fell on us. Rick had cloned himself, so he stood back to back with his clone. Troy stood behind Mike and levitated two fireballs. Jax stood by the side of us and cast the illusion that Remy, Drake, and Troy weren’t there.
I really couldn’t wait to see these pictures when they came out. Ed talked us into various positions and told us the feeling he wanted us to invoke. By the time he got enough pictures we were all soaking wet and my hair was back to its original state of curls. We all started laughing as we looked at each other.
Chapter 29
Today was a day of surprises. Everyone but the band members left, and Ella had been dropped off as we started to dig into the food that Drake, Court, and Adam had worked so hard on. I grabbed a plate full of food and took a seat at the table made of dark walnut wood and cast iron. The table was long enough to fit all of us with room to spare.
I felt more like myself as I wore a ta
nk top and sweats, and I put my hair up in a messy bun. I dug into my hot wings, not caring that my fingers were coated in hot sauce.
“Great wings,” I smiled at Drake as I held up a wing in his direction.
“You need to try one of these.” Troy threw a wing onto my plate with a different sauce on it.
I took a big bite. “Mm,” I said around a mouth full of food. “What flavor is this?”
“Mango pineapple habanero,” Troy said as he laughed at me, wiping the side of my cheek with one of his napkins.