Full: A Novel by Julia Spiro

Author:Julia Spiro [Spiro, Julia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2022-03-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The next day, I prepare for my photo shoot with Naomi. I purposely eat a light breakfast and lunch so that I look less bloated. A few weeks ago, I landed a pretty great sponsorship deal with an LA-based workout apparel company called Urban Sweat. The founder is a young Silicon Valley ingenue who says that she got tired of spending more than she wanted to on workout clothes.

“Plus, everything was boring,” she said in an interview I read when I first got the deal. “What about bright pink? Neon green? Funky patterns? Biker shorts? When did workout clothes stop being fun?” My deal with Urban Sweat is really just preliminary for now, like a test run. They’ve agreed to send me some free outfits over the next couple of months to see how the response is, and I received a package just before I left LA. Today’s pile includes sports bras with crisscross backs, metallic leggings, and crop tops with holes purposefully slashed throughout the fabric. My deal with them is pretty standard: I have a discount code just for me that I share with my followers, and then the company sees how many new customers and purchases there are using my code. This is where I really excel. I’ve always been great at convincing other people that they need something. I’m even better at convincing myself of it.

I’m wearing fire-engine-red ribbed leggings and a matching bra when Naomi arrives, and I’ve got my “no makeup” makeup on. I blew out my hair but added some beachy texture with a few products, so it looks like I could have just finished a light workout and let my hair out of a ponytail or bun.

“Come on in,” I say when Naomi arrives. “Thanks so much for helping me out with this. Seriously, I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Naomi says. “I’m excited to see what your process is like. It’s cool.”

I’ve got three outfits to photograph, and I decide that we should do some indoors and some out. In the red outfit, I suggest going to the kitchen, where I envision a scene of me cutting some fruit or pouring coffee, evoking a serene morning routine either before or after a workout.

I give Naomi my phone and show her how to use the ring light, how to use the wide-angle lens, what the most flattering angles are, what to include in the frame and what not to. I move around the kitchen, looking down, away, and occasionally toward the camera, fake-laughing here and there. And when I think we have enough, I quickly look through what she’s taken and decide that they’ll work fine after I edit them. I change into outfit number two, a set of short-shorts and a strappy bra in a camo print in various shades of blue.

“This outfit is really better for yoga,” I say as I tug on the shorts and get the waistband exactly right on my hips. “Something chill.” The shorts cover my butt only when I’m standing.

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