Little Black Book

She woke up frantically and looked out the window frightened that she’d gotten up too late. It was still dark outside. Her nerves calmed and she took a sigh of relief. She was sure she could still catch the sunrise if she got dressed quickly enough. Her black duffle bags and cooler were already packed neatly by the door. She pressed the green button on the percolator, brushed her teeth and put her hair in a bun. Her eyes rolled as she took her last sip of coffee, grabbed her things and headed out the door.

The warm summer air blew through the open windows of the car as she drove down the coast. Her mind raced while she began to think of how to get things back together. Chelsea’s booked and busy lifestyle, catering to high profile clients and travelling the world led her to places she’d never dreamed of. It took years to land her first big celebrity gig. Once people saw what she could do, event after event was scheduled. She was finally recognized for years of hard work in magazines and online everywhere. A whirlwind of agents and PR reps bidding just for a moment of her time. She needed someone special to handle everything for her tiny business to grow and convinced a good friend to leave her long time job to work as an assistant. With just her and Amy on the payroll, she had to keep the clients coming in and boy did they. With Amy’s help, there wasn’t a bride in the world who didn’t know about Chelsea’s photos.

When Covid hit, venues cancelled one by one. Her very recent success was short lived. Chelsea was forced to lay off her small staff and knew she was hurting too. Bills were piling up, savings dwindled. She didn’t know if she could sell any of her sunrise shots but she had to try something to put money back into the pockets of her assistant who always went above and beyond to make sure things were good when they were good.

The navy blue skies started to lighten just as she arrived at the beach. Chelsea looked up and got excited when she noticed the cloud pattern as she got out of the car. She grabbed her bags from the trunk and strapped them to her, making her way across the small wooden bridge. The cold sand got in between her toes as she stepped onto the foreshore. She smiled hopefully. There wasn’t another soul on the beach and again she felt that same sense of joy.

After Chelsea set up her tripod and camera, she grabbed her cooler and sat down on it. The waves crashed hard against the sand. Rolling in fast one after the other. She waited until puffy pink clouds transformed and the bright colors splashed across the skyline. She stood up and began to capture the day breaking over the beautiful blue water.

Chelsea stared at the long beach and noticed a couple dressed in their gown and tux walking over the wooden bridge. They were giggling, holding hands and she watched them for a while struggling to take photos with their cell phone.

She looked back into the lens of her camera and couldn’t believe what she thought she saw. Her eyes widened in amazement and she blinked a few times to make sure that she wasn’t losing her mind. As she started to zoom in on the image she saw the dolphins jump up synchronized once more but just couldn’t click the shutter fast enough.

The couple’s laughter distracted her. She looked over at them fumbling the selfie stick in the sand in a bad attempt to catch themselves celebrating their new marriage in front of the rising sun.

She tried to concentrate on the phenom of the dolphins again but couldn’t help but allow herself to help this couple save the memory. Chelsea took a deep breath and grabbed her camera off of the tripod. She walked over to the couple and asked if she could take a few photos of them. They looked at each other, agreed and kissed to celebrate.

Instantly in her element, Chelsea immediately sprung into action. She began moving the beautiful couple into each pose, keeping in mind that the sun would be up in just a few minutes. Her ability to capture the most intimate moments between the newlyweds was astounding. The sky changed colors behind them as they kissed and held each other at her direction.

When it was over, she looked out into the ocean again knowing she undoubtedly missed her shot with the dolphins. She asked the sweet couple for their contact information and promised to send the photos over shortly. They thanked her repeatedly and asked her if they could pay her. She refused. She was just happy to be there and give them this keepsake.

Chelsea made her way back to the car and put her equipment away grabbing her laptop. She hopped up on the trunk, waiting for the photos to download and letting the sun beam on her face. The shots were amazing and she couldn’t wait to share them. She wrote a note to the couple explaining that she would touch them up soon, but she wanted them to see how incredible they were right away. She considered removing her signature but pressed send without any further thought. Chelsea smiled to herself knowing that she couldn’t have let them get by on mediocre selfie’s. Not on her watch.

When she got back in the car, she turned to put her seatbelt on. The bride came rushing towards her. Chelsea opened the window waiting for the young lady to say something. She had tears in her eyes. She smiled, handing her a little black book and wiping her face. A note was attached that said simply, “Thank you”.

The woman in the long white dress ran towards her husband jumping in his arms and hugging him tightly. Chelsea smiled again putting the little black book into the passenger's seat of the car. Just as she was going to pull out of the parking lot she stopped and curiously opened the small journal. It was filled with childhood notes and love letters. Chelsea continued to turn page by page noticing every detail of a dream wedding that pre-pandemic would have been one for the ages. She turned to the last page where she saw a scratched off lottery ticket and a three-part list. Marry my best friend. Watch the sunrise on my wedding day. Be photographed by Chelsea Jones.

Chelsea could not hold back as she looked at the lottery ticket with a $20,000 winning amount next to it. She searched around the parking lot for the couple who was nowhere to be found. She grabbed the ticket once again holding it tightly to her chest as she looked up at the big blue sky.