Paparazzi Proposal Chapter One

A newly hired paparazzi girl makes a deal with a famous celebrity in exchange for his help in acquiring good pictures and tips about his famous colleagues.

If somebody had told me that a year after graduating high school, I would be crouched down hiding between a bush and my old chevy watching a man eating at a restaurant, I would have laughed and asked how handsome that man was. As I lay here crouching, camera in hand, I can safely say he's in the top 10 of the most of beautiful people I've ever seen and that's saying a lot as my job as a paparazzo submerges me in a world of outstandingly beautiful people.The "he" I am referring to is Luke Evergreen, a 21 year old up and coming actor, who had a one of the most sculpted jaws I've ever seen, that paired with his shiny perfect teeth and winning complexion was probably why most women did a double take whenever they passed by his table at the cafe whether or not they knew he was famous and it probably played a part on why he's been deemed the hottest man of the year by Fame magazine.

Luke Evergreen was a new face in the celebrity world, having become famous by the fact that he looked like a love child of Ewan McGregor and Robert Downey Jr. A picture of his became trending on Instagram after RDJ himself posted Luke's picture, tagging Ewan and captioning it "Our secret love child" after Robert had seen Luke's head shot in the pile of pictures of people auditioning as his nephew in his upcoming movie. That post and the fact that they did pick Luke for the part launched Luke's career and has kept him on the celebrity radar for almost a year now. Another key aspect to his fame: rumors of a romance with two of his co-stars, Olivia Rodriguez and Sophia Alahi, both new faces in showbiz and both stunningly beautiful.

All that information leads back to why I'm crouching behind this bush, my editor and constant ball buster boss, had gotten a tip that Luke was going to be out on a late lunch date and a pic of him and the girl could be sold for a few hundred bucks, maybe a few thousand if there was a kiss. As I anxiously await for whichever lady comes along, I cautiously raise my head and scope out the competition, right across from me, also hiding behind a bush, is one of my competition, armed with his camera and what looks like a meatball sub, it was obvious that he had been waiting for a few hours now. Two other paparazzo were stationed inside their car across the street. While we as paparazzi are usually out on the open, this situation was special as we didn't want Luke seeing us for fear that he would cancel on his date.

I wait for a few minutes, already feeling the strain of my arms from having to hold my camera up when I see a tall figure approaching, its Sophia.

Yes! While I try to be as objective as possible, I secretly rooted for Sophia. She was much nicer to the paparazzi and if she was in a good mood would even answer questions. I take a few pictures of her arriving and of Luke giving her a welcome hug. I stop and change the settings to take multiple pics and continue. *snap snap snap snap* It looks like they're enjoying themselves as I take pictures of Luke laughing after something Sophia says and Sophia totally focused on Luke when he talks. After a few dozen more pictures of Luke and Sophia talking, I take a break and watch, hoping for a display of affection that can only be linked to a romantic relationship. So far Luke and Sophia are careful, from the pictures I've taken, they can easily say it was just a business meeting or two friends hanging out. I need something that oozes romance. Luke and Sophia's food arrives and as Luke digs in to his meal, I notice that Sophia keeps stealing glimpses of him and fidgets with her hair. I can't imagine why she would be nervous, she was gorgeous, born of Hawaiian and Irish descent, Sophia had beautiful golden tan skin and bright blue eyes. She had a tall thin figure that which resembled Kendall Jenner and her hair had just enough curls that leaving it down seemed both casual yet fashionable.

I check my watch, it's been over an hour since they've started talking when Sophia gets ready to leave. She picks up her purse, gives Luke a slight hug and heads to her car. He happily waves goodbye and calls for the waiter to ask for the check. I snap a few more pics of Luke by himself and get ready to leave my hiding place as I wait for Luke to leave. He's on his phone texting, I wait for him because I don't want him to leave and catch me having snapped his date with Sophia.

20 minutes pass and he still hasn't left his seat. The other paparazzi have left, they obviously chose good hiding spots because the spot that I chose puts me in direct contact with Luke so if I stood up, he'd see me for sure. My legs start to cramp up and I try to stretch as much as I can without ever going over the height of the bush in front of me. Surely a guy who's as famous as Luke needs to be somewhere else instead of just chilling at a restaurant.

"What is this guy doing?" I whisper to myself.

"Maybe if I pretend my camera bag is a purse, he won't notice me so much. Or maybe if I pretend to just be picking up a penny, he'll think I haven't been hiding here all along. As I dig in my pockets for any coins that I might have, a black range rover drives up near the restaurant and drops off a stunningly gorgeous blonde. She's wearing a simple white dress with nude heels and very large sunglasses so I don't realize who she is right away but as soon as she takes them off, I know exactly who she is: Olivia.

I quickly take out my camera, take a few good snaps of Luke and Olivia greeting each other with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I stand up, make sure my shoelaces are tied well.

"LUKE!" I shout out. He turns his head right away, sees the camera in my hand and his previously happy face is now full of anger. That's exactly what I needed. I take pictures of his and Olivia's now flustered faces. Just then, I see Luke talking to the man in the other table from him, clearly his manager, and just as the manager sees me, I grab my keys, turn my car on, and drive away.

I'm a few blocks away from the restaurant now, so I park on the side of the street and dial my boss.

"Hey Micky, I've got a story on Luke Evergreen. You're gonna love it."