Free Thirteen Weddings by Paige Toon Page B

home. It’s been a long day.’
    ‘I don’t know how you do it and still seem so perky,’ I admit.
    ‘Lots of practice,’ she replies with a grin. ‘And I bloody love weddings. I think you’re either a wedding photographer, or a photographer who does weddings. Some people
might not think it’s very cool to be a wedding photographer, but I think it’s much nicer to have someone who genuinely loves weddings to photograph their big day.’
    I have to agree with her, even if I fail on that front.
    She beams at me and tucks into her starter.
    I’m on a strange high in the car on the way back to London, and it has nothing to do with the few drinks I’ve had.
    ‘That was such a great day, thank you so much for asking me to help out,’ I say. Maria is staying at her parents’ house tonight, so it’s just the two of us.
    ‘I’m so pleased you enjoyed yourself,’ Rachel says.
    ‘If Sally ever lets you down again, please give me a shout. I’d love to help out.’ I seem to have forgotten how hard I found it initially.
    ‘That’s really good to know,’ she replies with a smile.
    I look out of the window and yawn loudly. I’m asleep before we reach Chalk Farm.

Chapter 5
    I’m still yawning on Monday morning when I go into the kitchen to make tea for my moody picture desk colleagues and myself. I spent most of yesterday at Rachel’s
place going through the photographs and helping her to process them. I was very curious to see mine. Rachel seemed happy with how I did, considering it was my first wedding. There were certainly
some good shots there, but I made my fair share of mistakes, too. Hopefully I’ll learn from them. She put a teaser shot of Suzie and Mike – one of them walking hand-in-hand across the
green field – onto the internet to keep everyone going. Rachel’s website is linked to Facebook and already guests have been commenting on it, and Suzie herself has left a lovely message
thanking us for our hard work. Other guests will no doubt start to post their own photos today, but at least there will be one professional shot to counterbalance the Instagram ones, which
inevitably will feature half-closed eyes and unflattering angles.
    The door swings open and I cast a smile over my shoulder, expecting to see Russ, who was making a move to follow me when I walked past. My stomach contracts when I see that the person
who’s joining me instead is Alex. He looks on edge at the sight of me.
    ‘Hi,’ I say weakly.
    ‘Hey,’ he replies and I wonder for a moment if he might turn around and go back to his desk, but he doesn’t.
    ‘How was your weekend?’ I ask in an attempt to make small talk. I could really do with some of Lisa’s skills.
    ‘Good,’ he says, reaching into the cupboard for a couple of mugs. ‘Yours?’
    ‘Great.’ The kettle boils and I fill up my three mugs then refill it with water, flicking it back on again.
    ‘Thanks,’ he says, leaning back against the worktop and looking awkward. ‘What did you get up to?’
    ‘I had a—’
    He cuts me off. ‘Oh, you had a wedding, didn’t you?’
    ‘That’s right,’ I reply.
    ‘How was it?’
    ‘Amazing.’ I can’t help beaming.
    ‘I thought you didn’t like weddings?’
    How does he know that? Oh! I ranted about it when we first met! I try not to show my surprise that he remembers.
    ‘I don’t. But I love taking photos.’
    ‘Really?’ He looks interested. ‘Me too.’ We have a common hobby? ‘What camera have you got?’ he asks.
    ‘It’s a Canon 60d, but I used Rachel’s assistant’s kit on the weekend and she’s got a better model. What about you?’
    ‘I’ve just bought a Nikon d7000.’
    I stare at him blankly.
    He smirks. ‘It’s not pro-level, but it’s fine for me.’
    The kettle boils, and as he moves past me in the cramped space, I unwittingly breathe in his aftershave. I’m hit with a memory of him kissing my neck in bed.
    I turn away and concentrate on fishing the teabags out of my