Ceri’s First Customer

“Okay, sweetheart, it’s a date.”

As she hung up the phone, a pair of strong arms snaked round her arms and hugged her from behind.

“Hello, lover,” she sighed, leaning back into the warm, firm body behind her, breathing in his fragrance. She rested her hands on his for a moment until he slackened the hold he had on her to allow her to twist round in his arms to face him.

He kissed her soundly before releasing her and taking a step back. “Sweetheart? Date? Is there some cad walking round the Glen trying to take my lady away from me?”

Ceri wrapped her arms round Max’s neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. “Don’t worry, cariad. There’s only one cad in Oz who owns my heart, and I’m looking at him right now.”

“That’s okay then,” Max smiled, kissing the tip of her nose. “So, who’s your date?”

“Oh, Max, it was my first customer. I told you we didn’t need a grand opening for people to see there was a photographers shop in town.”

“So, do you get to call all your customers ‘sweetheart’?”

“Don’t be an arse, Max. It was Jeff.”

“Ah, that sweetheart.”

“Stevo’s mum is due to head back to the top end in a couple of weeks and they want to give her a personal going away gift. They were thinking of a portrait, but realised they’d left it too late for Bron to get one done before Meri heads home, so they wondered if I could take their picture and do a canvas print.”

“Sounds like a good idea. When’s your date then?”

“They’re dropping by tomorrow to have a chat, then I’ll most likely book them in for the end of the week. That will give me enough time to make a good job of it.”

“Darling, you always do a good job.”

“Well, thank you my sweet. This is a bit different though isn’t it, they’re friends. I want to be able to find a really nice frame to finish it off with; something Meri will love.”

I understand, Luv. They’ll all love it I’m sure. Now, what say we go outside and watch the sun set?”

They sat out on their back porch, a bottle of chilled wine in a cooler in front of them, and enjoyed the quiet of the evening. The birds had settled down and the cicadas had yet to start up. The only sound was the rustle of the leaves as the trembled on the branches, caught up in a silent dance with the gentle breeze. They stayed outside until the sun went down, then went in for an early night.

The meeting with Jeff and Stevo went well, and Ceri finally managed to persuade them that Meri would rather have a casual shot of them than have them all formal, as that was the way she knew and loved them. The sitting was set for a couple of days later and it was a riot. Ceri wondered how she managed to get any of the shots in focus, the boys had her laughing so hard. In the end, she took about 50 frames, she was enjoying herself so much.

“Okay, boys. Pop back in on Saturday and I’ll have the proofs ready for you to check through and chose.”

Friday night, she sat with Max showing him the proofs. “They’re all fantastic, Luv. The boys are going to find it hard to chose which one to have on canvas.”

“I know. I was having so much fun I just got carried away. I know know which one I want them to pick. I’ll have to sit on my hands when they get to it won’t I.”

“You certainly will. Let them make up their own mind.”

The next day the boys were nice and early at the studio and spend a lot of time going over the prints. Ceri was thrilled when they picked her favourite shot, and three days later it was all printed up ready for framing. Ceri had found a beautiful frame at a craft fayre in Coffs. It was made with native woods, and stained in earth colours. It set off the portrait beautifully, and the boys were thrilled when they picked it up, giving Ceri a nice bonus for getting it all done in time. Ceri smiled all the way home, she would take Max out to Andy’s for dinner to celebrate.