Free Fostering Love (The Soul Sisters Series Book 1) by Victoria Johns Page A

some haggling over my concerns that I will be interrupting the normal flow of her business.  I also ask if I can spend three or four hours just sat at a table taking random natural shots.  She likes this idea too and tells me which days would be better than others.  Whilst I’m there I also plan to take some shots of the still life in the coffee bar, like the traditional shop front and doorway, some cakes bursting with flavor surrounded by her pretty crockery and maybe a half eaten cake surrounded by some crumbs.  I reckon this one will take place on my table!  I can definitely see the value in that one.  Net result = Mudjoes shoot secured.
    Second call, Tommy.  I’ve checked the weather and tomorrow or the day after offer a sunny and warm forecast for the lake and waterfall shoot.  Doing it this early also means that if the shots aren’t great I have some scope and time later on when another good forecast comes in to go back.  Tommy is free tomorrow and could be free the day after, but would need to do some juggling of his contract jobs at the cab firm first. 
    I’ve known Tommy and his family for years; he was in the same school year as Jonas.  The Sevens family have run the local cab firm in Hawkstown since well before I came to live here and it is a simple business with a brilliant business model behind it.  It has six cabs and the number running during the day or night shift depended on the day of the week and the demand that day would bring, one of them is also dedicated to longer pre-reserved trips.  They also have a number of local contracts which means they have a couple of school buses and mini-buses in their fleet. 
    The drivers are local men and woman who work shifts as independent people, they aren’t employees and each sign up to cover shifts depending on their own life commitments.  This was a brilliant idea of Tommy’s that reduced the firm’s overheads as the number of employees reduced, it also elevated him in the family as the one to take the business forward, he was involved in it from a young age and it seemed like a fitting natural progression to take the helm.  All of a sudden the business was thriving due to some simple changes and young, fresh thinking.  Day to day, Tommy mainly sits in the background completing the managerial tasks, but he also volunteers for some of the night shifts because he would rather keep an eye on the routes that are more susceptible to drunken fares, this responsible mindset means he has a great reputation.  I mainly come across him these days because I’m one of those drunken fares stumbling out of Purps; however the first time he became my assistant was by temporary choice.  I needed someone to help me on a job and knew he had a lot of reliable people on his books as drivers who weren’t tied to an employment contract and may want to make some extra cash.  Tommy, being a diligent guy, wouldn’t recommend someone until he had scoped out the job himself, this meant he offered to be my assistant that first time and he’s been the guy I’ve offered the work to ever since.  He has no problems following direction and understands my professional standards and requirements to get the job done.  I once asked Tommy why someone as busy as him still wants to do this with me, his answer is simple; it’s an escape from his normal routine and gives him time to appreciate the odd change to his daily routine whilst earning a bit of cash...and of course, working with me, we’re flirty co-workers!
    On this particular job Tommy understands that working with me and being at the mercy of nature means it will take as long as it takes, and once I share the location he also understands that he won’t really be able to just set up, run and leave me to it.  There is a big possibility that we’ll need to move around a lot to take advantage of the light and doing that on my own with the gear will be exhausting not to mention there is a small danger factor in