Page 81 of Charming Like Us

We stand up. I hand him the backpack with his extra lens. “Boom kit is also in there if you need it, but you shouldn’t have to mess with sound too much.” I plan to leave the heavier camera bag at cabins with medical.

Jesse slips on the backpack and clutches his Canon, ready to go.

“Now go get me some B-roll.” I make thehang loosegesture. “Shaka brah,brah.” I smile.

He smiles back on his way to the lake. “Talk later, Kuya!”

A minute later, I drop off the camera bag and regroup beside Charlie. I’m gripping two handlebars on either side of a Canon. The gimbal helps steady the camera and avoid shaky shots. Sometimes I’ll use a Steadicam, which is harnessed to my chest, but both are hard to operate and ache my muscles after a full day shooting.

I can already tell my forearms are going to kill me.

Beauty is pain, and I’m searching for that beautiful up-close frame. The one where I push closer, that feels personal, like the viewer is almost uncomfortable at the intimacy. Feeling like they’re a voyeur to Charlie’s life.

I am.

I am one, and it’s something that I know has to be translated well or else it’s all for nothing.

Right now, I capture footage of Charlie waiting for a woman behind the registration table. She reaches out and hands him a bib number.

I feel Oscar nearby.

He’s off to the side. To my left and a little further back. He’s surveying the crowds, but as I risk a glance, our eyes catch for the briefest second before we return to our jobs.

My breath hitches.

Focus, dude.

That’s how it’s been for the past three days.

All work.

We haven’t done anything since the night I slept over—not for lack of interest—just lack of time. It’s July 31st.We Are Callowayproduction starts tomorrow, and when Oscar is off-duty, he’s been in security meetings for the Fun Run. We’re both swamped outside of Charlie’s show.

And still, Oscar has occupied almost 80% of my mind.

I just keep replaying everything over and over and anticipate it happening again. We’ve texted a little, but not enough to distract us from our professions. My nighttime dreams of him and me do that enough.

I angle my camera more on Charlie.Focusing.“Are you excited for the race?” I ask him.

“Overjoyed,” he says dryly.

“Excuse me, excuse me.” A business-casual man in a pair of gold-rimmed aviators shoves his way to the front of the line, next to Charlie. Oscar sidesteps to let him through, and a second passes before I place his face and affiliation to the families.

Ernest Mangold.

CEO of H.M.C. Philanthropies.

He’s the same board member who exercised a coup and overthrew Maximoff from the position. I step back to capture him.

Ernest’s salt-and-pepper hair flies with a gust of wind. He lays his sights on Charlie, but Charlie ignores him by slowly sticking his bib number to his mesh tank top.

Unfortunately, Ernest whips to me. “Shut that off—”

“No,” Charlie says flatly. “It stays on. He’s filming me.”

Ernest says words likelawyerandsueandnot authorizedbefore reaching for the camera, and that’s when I have no choice but to stop rolling.

“It’s off,” I ensure, pulling away from him.