“Sorry sir,” I say immediately. I try not to make a face at the smell of his overpowering cologne.

“I need to see you in my office for a moment.”

“I’m actually supposed to—”

“Now,” he orders, cutting me off. I grit my teeth together but follow him into his office. His personal assistant is always short with me, but this time she gives me a look of pure disgust. “I didn't know you were for sale, Dove.”

I give him a confused look. I don’t have a clue as to what he’s talking about.

He turns, dropping a few pictures onto his desk. I look down to see what seems to have him so upset. I do a double take. But when I look again, I still see myself. All of them are of me. In one you can only see half my face. My eyes are closed. I look peaceful. The next one is the one I focus on. I know it’s from last weekend. I’m in a sheer white dress trying to work the blinds and failing miserably. I’m covered in cookie dough. I recall Jay licking every bit of it from my body.

The only problem was the dress was sheer and you could easily see the outline of my breasts and nipples. Of course that’s the one that Thomas decides to focus on. He picks it up and disgust fills me at the way he stares at it.

“So is money what it takes to get inside of you or was it the Pulitzer Prize that had you spreading your legs?” Before I know what I’m doing, my hand comes out, and I smack him right across the face. He stands there shocked for a moment. I grab the pictures and storm out of his office. I don’t think I need to tell anyone I quit. I think the message was loud and clear.

I pull out my phone as I make my way out of the building to call my sister. She picks up after the first ring.

“I think Jay’s been lying to me.” She doesn't say anything. “Avery. Did you hear what I said?”

“What did he lie about?” she asks a little too slowly.

“Avery!” I snap as I flag down a cab. I’m not in the mood to wait to take the train. I hop in and rattle off the address.

“It’s nothing big, which is the only reason I didn’t tell you. I knew he was a good guy with good intentions and that you would have never given him a chance.” I hear her words, but they still don’t tell me what I need to know.

“Did I mention that there are pictures of me that somehow got passed around?” She lets out a gasp. When I hear a loud crash I know it’s her desk chair.

“You might not realize it, but Jay is kind of a big deal.”

“Oh, you mean like he has a Pulitzer Prize and yet he somehow lives in a shit apartment next to mine?”

“Huh.” I can tell she’s thinking. “That is weird. Why did I never think of that?”

“Oh, I don’t know because within days he had us staying in a penthouse.”

“That place is killer, Dove.”

“That’s not the point! The man I’m in love with lied to me. Do I even know him?”

“Dove—”

I cut her off. “The fact that you knew and didn't tell me—” I pause for a second, trying to get my thoughts together. “You’re supposed to be my person. He was also supposed to be my person. You were the two people I trusted, and now, now I…” I decide to hang up. I turn off the phone because I don’t know how to feel. What I do know is that once again I feel alone in the world.

When the taxi gets to the building, I pay and head straight for the elevator. When I get into our place, I can tell he’s not here. I go to his office and start flipping through the folders on his desk. The first ones are pictures of the city. They're all beautiful.

When I make it to the next, my eyes start to sting. They are all of me in different parts of the city. I flip through them, mesmerized by what he’s captured in them. For the first time I truly see myself, how I see the world, and most of all how he sees me. Tears run down my cheeks as I continue to take in one picture after the other.

When I hear a noise, I look up to see Jay standing in the doorway of his office.

“Dove, I—”

I hold my hand up and he stops talking. “I know. I know everything.”

He shakes his head. Some of those pictures in that book were from before I’d ever met Jay.

“I just have one question. Do not lie to me.”

“I won’t.”

I run my finger across the one picture I’d gotten of him one time.

“Have you done this with other women?”

“Never,” he says instantly, taking a step further into the office. “I’d been lost for a while. My camera and I couldn't capture anything. Then I saw you. I snapped one picture and then another. I couldn’t stop. With each shot life and color seeped back inside of me. All of it is because of you.”

He steps closer to me. I come around the desk. “Have I hidden things? Yes. I knew one day you’d find out. I also knew that I’d rather have you for a moment in time than not at all. I’d rather risk living the rest of my life with a broken heart than never having you in it at all. To me it would be worth it.”

“Jay.” I whisper his name. I can’t get the tears to stop. He was right. I don’t think I would have given him a shot. So instead he moved in next door to me and took his time. “You’ve been trying to make me fall in love with you.” It’s not a question.

“Blue jays mate for life. It’s you or no one.”

My mouth pulls up in a half smile. I pick up one of the pictures he took of me. I was looking right at him when he snapped it. “You have to know I’m already in love with you. You and that camera miss nothing.”

“If I’m in love with you and doves mate for life, then what does that mean for us?” Any space between us he clears as he lifts me off my feet. I wrap my legs around him and kiss him back as passionately as he kisses me.

“No more lies or half-truths,” I say between kisses.

“Then I should probably tell you I’ve been working on getting that Thomas fucker disbarred.”

I laugh against his mouth. “It doesn't matter. I quit. Or maybe I was fired. I smacked him. He had some of these pictures and said some things that were out of line.”

“Fuck. I’m so sorry. I’m working on finding out how some of them got leaked. Some of those were for our eyes only.”

“I’m the one that’s sorry. That’s your work, Jay.”

“But some of the pictures were a little…” He doesn't finish his sentence, but I can see the jealousy all over his face.

“I looked pretty damn good so I’m not complaining.” I laugh. Jay doesn't seem to think it’s as funny as I do. I kiss him again. As upset as I was when I got into that cab, it was all worth it.

Here I am with the man of my dreams. A man who thinks I actually bring the sun out each day. I close my eyes and thank my mom for giving me the one thing she always wanted. The other half of a soulmate. A true love.

Epilogue

Jay

“Hannah, look at the camera. Look at your uncle.” Avery snaps her fingers in front of my lens while her daughter stubbornly keeps her eyes focused on her toes.