Don't Kiss the Bride

Glancing through the notes I took on How to Make Instagram Product-Photos Look Amazing, I bring the photos into the editing app, add the filter I’ve chosen to apply to all of the photos to make our brand look cohesive, and wow… My heart does a little jump. I don’t think anyone will be able to tell an eighteen-year-old with zero photography experience took these. They actually look professional. I even have that cool bokeh light thing going on in the background of a few shots, and a tiny glint of sparkle on one of the gemstone necklaces.

“How’s it going?” Rebecca asks when she finds me at the small table in the kitchen.

“Awesome. I’m just planning out a schedule so two pictures will be automatically posted a day, one in the morning and one later in the day. I’m going to post short videos in the stories section, like a little virtual tour of the store.”

“Great idea!”

“Look at the pictures, let me know if you like them.”

She takes the phone from my hand, and the expression on her face says it all. Her eyes widen, her mouth drops open, and then she breaks into a huge smile.

“Skylar… these are better than I could’ve imagined. This looks like we had a professional photo shoot done. I can’t even tell you how excited I am about this.”

I try not to smile too big. “Me too. Tomorrow I’m going to grab some of those fall and Halloween decorations you have out back and take some photos with those so we have them ready. I think we should put a cute little sign by the register, telling people to follow you online to see new items, sales, all that stuff.”

She hands the phone back to me, her earrings swaying as she shakes her head a little. “Keep this up and you’ll end up being my marketing guru.”

“It’s actually really fun and interesting. I can’t wait to see which photos get the most likes.”

“I’m glad. Enjoying your job is the absolute best. If there are any words of wisdom I can pass down, it’s to make sure you enjoy what you do.” I can’t help the proud grin I give her as she heads to the register. “I’ll be up front if you need me.”

I dig into my purse for a honey lozenge and pop it into my mouth. My throat has been burning lately. I hope I’m not getting a cold. The last thing I need is to get sick.

“Did you get laid in the back room or something?” Megan asks as I climb into the passenger side of her Audi.

“No, why?”

“Because you’re smiling like you did.”

Rolling my eyes, I pull my seatbelt strap across my chest and buckle it. Megan drives a bit erratically and I’m not about to take a flying header through the windshield.

“Look at this.” I present my phone to her as if I just caught a unicorn. “Is this not the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen? I got to keep my old phone number, too.”

Her brown eyes flash. “Holy shit! Lavender! Did you steal that?”

“No, bish. Rebecca gave it to me to take pictures of the products and post online. Dude, I’m loving it. I had so much fun doing this today. The time flew by. It’s going to be part of my job now. She’s giving me a raise, too.”

“How much is she giving you?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. I don’t care.”

She reverses out of the parking lot, and my head wrenches back into the headrest as she floors it onto the main road.

“I don’t know how you haven’t lost your license yet,” I say, gripping the armrest.

She ignores me. “Sky, you can’t just not care about a raise. You need to know these things.”

“To be honest I’m just excited for the opportunity to do something I enjoy while learning and getting paid at the same time.”

“How much you’re getting paid should be the priority, though. You might be doing the kind of work that deserves like, thirty bucks an hour.”

“I doubt it. I’m a part-time employee with zero skills. Rebecca has always been more than fair with my pay and my holiday bonus. I trust her. Not to mention, this phone was legit expensive and she gave it to me to keep.”

Megan side-eyes me. “I’m jelly over that, I must admit.”

My body lurches forward as she brakes abruptly at a red light. “Oh, hey,” she says, unfazed by the sudden stop. “I’m really sorry, but I can’t give you a ride to pick up your car tomorrow. My mom texted me earlier and told me they’re going out and I have to babysit Johnny. Like seriously, they have no regard for my social life at all. None. I’d bring him, but I don’t like putting him in the car. He always screams bloody murder.”