"So what happened?" Raine asked for the twentieth time.
"Nothing!" Audrey replied for the twentieth time, sighing exasperatedly. She picked up her print from the wash with a pair of tongs and transferred it to the tray of fixer, bending down to examine it in the dim safelights and trying to make herself look occupied so Raine would leave her alone.
"Come on, I know something happened. How could he resist you when you looked like that."
"Very easily. And are you implying there's something wrong with the way I normally look?"
"Of course not, I was just saying that you looked absolutely ravishing in my clothes. Not to say that you don't normally look ravishing, but you just looked more ravishing in my clothes."
"Why are you in here, anyway?" Audrey asked, referring to the fact that Raine had followed her into the darkroom to pressure her for information about Justin. "Don't you have something better to do?"
"Nope. At the moment my only priority is to find out what happened between you and that yummy piece of boyband."
"It's none of your business!" Audrey snapped.
"AH! So something DID happen!" Raine exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew it!"
"If something did happen, and I'm not saying anything did, I wouldn't tell you about it anyway!"
"Come on darling, feed me a bit of gossip. It's a small price to pay for the unlimited use of my darkroom, don't you think."
"No, no I don't. You should be grateful that I let you be my friend, that's payment enough," Audrey giggled.
"HA! What kind of friend are you? You won't even tell me if you got it on with a boyband member."
"WE DID NOT GET IT ON! Now can you PLEASE change the subject?"
"Well, someone's testy! Get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"
"Not at all, actually," she replied, smiling at the memory of her wakeup call.
"Is it because you had some mood-enhancing company?"
"RAINE!"
"Fine, fine, I'm going," she grumbled. "You're no fun at all."
Shaking her head, she watched her friend open the door to the darkroom and pull it shut behind her, then turned back to the task at hand. Glancing down at the print in front of her, she realized it was one of Justin's smiling face and she sighed sadly. You are utterly hopeless, Audrey. Get over it.
* * *
"You all done in there?" Raine asked as Audrey emerged from the darkroom, drying her hands on a paper towel.
"Yeah, I've just got to wait for a few of my prints to dry and then I'll be on my way."
"You're not staying the night?" Raine pouted.
"No, I'm really on a tight schedule," Audrey lied. In actuality, all she wanted to do was get to Bath and be by herself for awhile. She was hoping that by immersing herself in the city and just relaxing for a few days, she could put the whole Justin situation out of her mind.
"Well, alright. You will come see me the next time you're in London, right?"
"Of course. But I have no idea when that'll be."
"That's alright. Do you want some tea while you wait for your prints?"
"That'd be great!" It would also keep Raine occupied, and a busy Raine was less likely to keep asking her questions about Justin.
As she wandered around Raine's apartment for the second time that week, her eyes fell on a picture of the two girls together. I don't remember this, she thought. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of the two of us together. Ironic, we're both photographers, and we have pictures of everything but ourselves.
"Hey, Raine?" she called loudly so her voice would carry to the kitchen.
"Yes?" came the reply as Raine's head appeared around the doorframe.
"Can I have this?" she asked, holding up the picture.
"Yeah, sure. I've still got the negs, so I can make another print. Oh, and you can have the frame, too, if you want."
"Thanks," Audrey smiled.
Raine returned to the kitchen and re-emerged moments later with a tea tray. The two sat down on Raine's couch and took their respective cups.
"So, about that Justin boy..."