*This was a writing assignment that was due on the 19th of January.  Again, it was only supposed to be one page long. We were to write a series of vignettes (very short stories) that culminate into a larger one. The prompt was to compose a story based off of one of the seven deadly sins. Orginally, I was going to write about gluttony or pride, but I ended up letting my pen lead me, and I ended with wrath– a common sin to write about. I hope you all find this enjoyable. I’ll be trying to compose some more poetry shortly. Cheers. ~Chels*

What not to do: Don’t let Brick stand dead square where I told him not to. “Move. Damn it. I told you to stand so the light hits you so. Chin up. Look at the sun. No! Not that far. How many times do I have to tell you?”
***
“I think it’d be better if I stood here and posed like this…” Peter said.

Snap. I flash the camera in his face. “Move it. Come on. Don’t have all day. Got to get this shot. Got to get the picture. More photos, more money.” Peter moves his hand to his hip and arches his body a little more toward the light. Not much better.
***
Jed bends his head just so the hard line of his jaw is exposed to the lens. He runs his hand through his hair so that his bicep seems perkier than it would at his side. I snap the shot. “Tilt your head a little more.” Jed looks into the light. This kid has talent. He needs little direction. I get the shot, and I buy him a beer.
***
But then there’s Brick and Peter. Separate, they are awful. Together, they are hideous. I tell them, cock their heads. “Look less gay. You’re friends, not lovers. This isn’t Abercrombie, look rugged. Warriors, that’s what you are.”

The camera goes click. Flash, Flash, Flash. Stop. “What did I tell you Brick? Quit looking like a pansy, Peter.”
***
Brick is stupid. You can’t tell him anything. I pop a cigarette in my mouth and watch the kid bumble around the set. When’s he going to learn that when the light hits him like that he looks like freaking Bea Arthur on steroids? I flash the camera once, twice, and put the lens cover on.

“What are you? Some kind of idiot?” I scream at Brick.

“No,” he says.

“Why do you never do what I tell you?”

Shrug.

“Get off my set.”

I don’t get the shot.
***
Something in me is seething. I can feel it—the poison coursing through, pumping my heart rate so that I start to shake. Where is he? Now, he’s late. I’ve had it. How am I supposed to get the shot? How can I get the job done when there’s no kid? Brick better show. Or I’ll punch his face. I’ll break that two-hundred-dollar-an-hour smile.

Brick stumbles in; he’s plastered.

“What the Hell? I’ve been waiting for a half hour now.”

The kid smiles, his teeth twinkle at me.

I clench my jaw. I can’t throw him out again. I have to get this shot.

“Get dressed. We don’t have time for games,” I say. “And make my time worthwhile for once. You’ve already wasted enough of it.”

Brick’s eyes flicker—some darkness overtakes them. He clenches his fist. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

Enough.

I take my camera and flash it in his face. “What’s the matter, sweetheart, can’t take the heat?” I snap it in his face again, blinding him. The kid stumbles backwards into a wardrobe rack, taking it with him to the floor. I follow him down and keep clicking the camera in his face. “Let’s go. Come on. I don’t have all day.”

Brick meets my eyes, his face surprised. Then the darkness seeps in completely. He grabs my camera from my hands and chucks it across the room. Then he takes hold of my shoulders and picks me up like I’m as light as a camera strap. He carries me to where the artificial sun stands and forces my jaw upward.

“No, Cassie,” he sneers. “How many times do I have to tell you? Look into the light.” He forces my face into the blinding light. “I don’t have all day here.”

I latch onto his hands with my nails and dig in. Around me, everyone—assistants, other models—stand still. Brick lifts me higher then he throws me to the concrete floor.

“I’m off your set,” he says and walks out.

***

I lie in the cot the hospital designated to me. Smells like old people in here. The white walls and bay windows would work perfectly for a shoot.

-Chels