Before I knew it, Saturday had arrived. I spent the morning setting up my little, makeshift studio in my already-cramped apartment. It wasn’t anything fancy—just some soft box lights, a white backdrop, and my Nikon camera. I’d cleaned up the place, trying to make it look less like a homeless encampment and more like a professional set-up, or at least as much as possible.

Tatiana knocked on my door at the time we agreed, and when I opened it, she looked even more stunning than usual. She was dressed casually, wearing jeans and a black sweater that highlighted her figure without being overly revealing. Her hair was down and framed her face nicely. She had with her a small bag, which I figured was filled with the outfits she planned to wear for the shoot.

“Oh, this is nice,” she said, shooting me that beautiful smile. She looked around as she stepped inside. “Very cozy, I like it.”

I smiled. “I know it’s nothing like your used to, but I think it’ll get the job done.”

She set her bag down on my recliner and pulled out a couple outfits. “I brought a few different looks. Maybe we can start with something simple, yah?” I watched as she took out some of the pieces, “of course,” I finally said.

The first outfit was this simple white dress. I gave her some general directions, like “stand here”, “tilt your chin”, “look over your shoulder”, things like that, but mostly, I let her move naturally. The more relaxed she became, the more I started to see what she had been talking about. There was something real about her, something that wasn’t coming across in the stiff poses you’d see in the magazines.

As I clicked away on the camera, I caught glimpses of her personality. She was playful, laughing at her own awkwardness when she wasn’t sure how to pose. Yet, she was confident, able to shift her body with ease and occasionally throw me a sultry glance. I was getting lost in the moment, the way her eyes sparkled and how they seemed to speak through the camera lens.

After about an hour, we took a break. Tatiana stepped out of the bathroom where she had changed into another outfit, this one a sleek, black number that hugged her body perfectly. I couldn’t help but stare. She noticed, of course.

“Do I look okay?” she asked, with this hint of tease in her tone.

“You look amazing,” I admitted, my voice a little rougher than I intended.

She stepped onto the backdrop, but her movements were much slower now, more deliberate. As I started taking more photos, I could sense that the air between us shifted. I felt that professional façade I had up, slowly begin to fade, and was being replaced with something more... intense.

As I focused the camera on her face, her eyes locked with mine through the lens, and all of a sudden, it didn’t feel like just a photo shoot anymore. There was this tension in the room that wasn’t there before. It was electric, like a current humming just beneath the surface. I took in a deep breath as I tried to focus, trying to keep things professional, but it was getting harder. I was getting harder.

I lowered the camera, “Tatiana, I...”

She took a step towards me, her expression soft but serious. “Jacob.”

I swallowed, and I could feel my pulse quickening. Heart pulsing. I rotated my neck in a meager attempt to stretch and focus. I wasn’t sure where this was going, and I didn’t know if I would be able to stop it.

“Maybe we should take a break,” I said, knowing that as I spoke those words, I really didn’t believe them.

But she didn’t move away. Instead, she took another step closer, reached out, gently placing a hand on my arm. Her touch was warm, and her fingers feather light, almost dancing on my skin. “Or maybe we don’t have to.”

And just like that, everything changed.