“Where to first?” the driver asked as they all piled into the van that had been rented for them.
“Trafalgar Square,” Audrey decided, and noticed the grin she received from Justin at this announcement. Within minutes they reached their destination, and they all unloaded themselves from the van. The five guys looked at Audrey expectantly, awaiting instructions.
“I want some shots of you guys feeding the pigeons first.” She gave them a handful of British coins and then sent them off to the vendors, opening her backpack and pulling out her camera. She busied herself with loading a roll of film into it and checking the settings until they returned with cups full of birdseed. She directed them over to one of the ornate fountains in the Square, waited until they had seated themselves on the edge of it, then instructed them to feed the birds and just ignore her presence. They did as asked, and she was delighted with the reactions, which she wasted no time in capturing on film. Justin’s face was lit by a bright grin, similar to the one he had worn the previous day during the same activity. Joey was shrieking in fright as he tried to fend off the birds that were attacking him, and Chris was making silly attempts to catch the birds. JC and Lance were too busy laughing at the others to concentrate on their own bird-feeding task.
“Hey, aren’t you going to have us do silly poses and brooding expressions?” JC asked, as that was usually the norm with the photographers they’d worked with.
“No, these pictures are supposed to be really natural,” Audrey replied. “Not fake-natural like most pictures end up being, but honestly natural. That means no fake poses or reactions. Just be yourselves. We’re trying to convey the fact that you’re normal, everyday guys. We’re not trying to make you look like gods or angels or whatever the hell it was the Backstreet Boys were aiming for. We want the opposite of that. The fans need to know that you’re reachable, down-to-earth. Now stop talking me and get back to bird-feeding!”
Audrey snapped about half a roll of group shots, before attempting to capture their individual reactions. After the novelty of bird-feeding had worn off, Audrey moved them to the large lion statues that guarded the Trafalgar monument and ordered them to climb up on one, as many tourists did. After much laughter and many failed attempts, they finally managed to get up there, and Audrey had her camera ready and wasted no time, as she was unsure how long they’d be able to maintain their precarious position atop the statue.
Once they were finished at Trafalgar, Audrey allowed them and herself a small lunch break at a nearby café. After that, it was back to shooting in a different location. Things pretty much continued that way until late afternoon when Audrey decided that it was getting too dark to continue. The guys were relieved; they were tired of running around all day being ordered around, and they were looking forward to having the evening off.
“Are we gonna go clubbing?” Joey asked the others excitedly as they sat in the van on the trip back to the hotel.
“I don’t know,” JC mumbled dubiously, remembering what had happened the last time he’d gone clubbing with Joey.
“Come on guys, we have to!” Joey pleaded. “This is one of the few places where the youngin’ can actually legally drink! We have to take advantage of it!”
“Yeah!” Justin chimed in.
“I suppose I’ll go,” JC decided.
“Yeah, count me in!” Chris said.
“Me too,” added Lance.
“What about you, Audrey?” Joey asked.
“Me?”
“Well I don’t see any other Audreys in here.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, wrinkling her nose slightly. “I’m not much of a club-type.”
“Come on! You can’t just sit in the hotel room all night,” Justin joined Joey’s coaxing.
“I wasn’t planning on it. I have a friend who has a studio here in London, I was going to stop by her place so I could get a head start on these,” she gestured to the rolls of film in her bag. “Maybe another night.”
“But we’re only here for four more days! We might not get another free night!” Joey looked despondent at this prospect.
“I’m just not in the mood tonight,” Audrey apologized. “I’ll tell you what. If we don’t get a chance before you guys have to leave London, then the next time you’re in Toronto you can give me a call and I’ll go clubbing with you then. Alright?”
“I suppose,” Joey agreed, placated for the moment.