Mira arrived at the photographic studio early on Friday morning. It was a small studio in town with dark walls and a bright yellow door. She swung the door open, and inside she saw an open plan reception area. Light flowed in from the windows, so even though the walls were grey, it was light.

There was nobody behind the reception desk, but in the middle of the room sat a coffee table surrounded by chairs. A young man sat in one of the chairs and glanced up as she arrived. Mira wandered over to the table, he stood and gave her a small smile.

"Hi," he said.

"Hey," she said. "Do you work here?"

"Uh, no I'm just waiting for someone. She said guests are free to have coffee," he gestured to the coffee machine on the table with a smile. "It's good coffee."

"Thanks." Mira choose a hazelnut pod and put it in the machine. He sat back down. The coffee machine steam rose into the air, the smell of coffee permeating the air. Just as the machine sputtered to a finish, she heard somebody enter the room.

"You must be Mira," the voice called from behind her.

Mira turned. A young woman greeted her with a handshake. She was slim with tattoos snaking their way from her wrist to her shoulder. A nose ring glinted in her nose. In her short blonde hair was a streak of bright pink. "I'm Alessandra."

Alessandra lead Mira through the first door into a small photographic studio. It was small clean space, with light grey walls, and windows allowing natural light to filter in. Cameras watched and waited on tripods, lights at the ready.

Behind the cameras were an assortment of props: whisks, bowls, knives and cutting boards with fresh fruit and ingredients at the ready.

"Alright, so I'm going to train you on a style of food and chef photography," Alessandra said. "I know you've had some training so we can just build on that. The style likes to play with the idea of seduction and of suggestion. With our resident brand of bad boy of course."

Mira nodded and smiled, and made her way to the prop table to see what was available. She ran her fingers along the lip of a glass bowl.

"I'm used to taking pictures after the food is already cooked," she laughed nervously.

"This is way more fun, trust me," she said, "especially with Ryder. He's a natural."

"Really? Seems a bit grumpy to be comfortable being the model."

She laughed. "He is, but it works for him. His genetics do most of the work," she grabbed a few items off the prop table and set them on the chefs counter on the set. "You ready to try?"

Mira stepped behind the camera. "Definitely."

Alessandra joined her behind the lens and explained some of the settings. "This is how to make sure you are capturing enough light, even with the dark set," she explained.

Mira tried a few shots with just the equipment: a bowl with flour against the grey set, lit from the side like a ray of morning sunshine. A bread board dusted with cinnamon, berries sitting in the periphery, a shock of red. A spoon on the counter, coated in cream.

"Yes," Alessandra said, "that's a great one. Simple, eye catching. I like it." She smiled. "You're going to do great work with them."

"Thanks," Mira smiled. She stepped back from the lens. "Do you mind me asking, why don't you want to do this work with them? You're great at it. They obviously know that."

Alessandra looked away. "We had creative differences."

Mira laughed. "Your creative brands seem to be perfectly in line."

Alessandra smiled a small smile, looking through the pictures in the camera. "That is not always a good thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't matter," she said softly. "You ready to try with a model?"

"Sure. When?"

Alessandra walked to the door. "Now, silly." She swung it open. "You can come through," she called.

The young man from the coffee table strolled in with his hands in his pockets.

"Mira, this is your model. Model," she said to him, "this is Mira."

"Hi," he said. "I'm Jax." He held out a hand for a handshake, his arms peaked with muscle. His light hair swirled in curls, light eyes shining. "Full disclosure, I'm not actually a model."

"Oh, yes, I just mean a subject. But it helps that you look like you do." Alessandra said, as she shooed him towards the set. "Put on that chefs top and apron," she told him.

Alessandra joined Mira behind the camera. "Full disclosure, he isn't actually a model," she grinned. "Which is perfect. You can learn to direct someone who has no experience behind the lens. Today you are going to get him comfortable and seductive before close of day."

"Okay, let's do it." Mira smiled, peeking over the camera at Jax. He was just pulling on a chef's jacket. He turned, asked, "this, right?"

The chefs jacket was short sleeved, showing off his arms, hugging his shoulders.

"Perfect," Alessandra almost purred. She turned to Mira. "Go for it."

"Uh, okay," Mira said. "Jax, we are going to do some shots of you cooking. We set up some things there on the counter, go have a look and do some mixing, or other... cooking things."

"Sure," he said, approaching the bench. "I should warn you that I don't know very much about cooking." He awkwardly picked up a bowl, inspected it. He picked up some flour and animatedly pretended to pour it into the bowl.

"Oh goodness, this is going to be fun," Alessandra whispered with a grin. "Well," she said to Mira. "Go sort it out."

"Uh, okay." Mira stepped out from behind the camera.

"Hey Jax," she murmured, pulling out her phone. "Stop trying so hard," she laughed. Smooth R&B started thrumming from the phone. Mira approached the bench. "Let's make it fun," she said. "You don't need to know anything about cooking to pretend you do."

"Really?" he chuckleed, "Am I doing that badly?"

"Yes," Mira laughed. "Here are some things we are going to try. I'll put these fresh cookies here," she said, grabbing them from the prop table, "and lay them out like this. I want you to sprinkle cinnamon on them. Like this," she said, sprinkling a little bit. "And, let's try this," Mira said, neatening his hair, allowing a curl to fall onto his forehead.

"And this!" Alessandra arrived with a shooter glass in her hand, filled with light brown liquid.

"What?" Mira said.

"To help him relax, lower his inhibitions," she said.

Jax shrugged and downed it. "Okay," Mira said, "sprinkle. Have fun, feel the music."

Jax chuckled, wildly sprinkling cinnamon. "Yes," Alessandra whispered as Mira snapped the shutter, "capture it, the chaos, the wild side." The camera snapped, Jax laughed as cinnamon sprinkled through the air. The pictures were perfect, but after the moment, Jax stood, unsure what to do.

"Should I keep sprinkling?"

Alessandra looked to Mira. "Direct him," she said.

"Okay," Mira looked to the prop table. "Lets get you dusting some parmesan on this pasta." She brings over the bowl, vibrant with red sauce and green basil, and the cheese and small grater. She adjusted the lights.

"When I start shooting, grate the parmesan. I'll take some of you looking at the food, then I want you to look up at the camera. No smile, try to go for cheeky," she said, heading back to the camera. "Lets go."

The music played, and Jax grated the cheese. It fell into the light, speckling the food, the pictures coming out perfectly. Then he glanced up.

"Oh. No, that doesn't work," Alessandra whispered. "He looks awkward. Here, remember this," she whispered to Mira.

Alessandra wandered to the props table and picked up a small bowl with chocolate sauce in it.

"Jax, are you dating anyone?"

"Oh, uh – no. Not right now," Jax stuttered over the music.

"Okay, that's fine. I want you to think about someone you find attractive. Zendaya? Megan Foxx?" she giggled, giving him the glass of chocolate. "Think about the feeling of kissing them. Feel it in your bones, the feel of their warm lips. Then lift this spoon and watch the chocolate dribble down into the bowl."

Jax's eyes flickered up to Mira.

"After this, first," Alessandra handed him another shooter. She laughed as he downed it. "Okay, go!"

Jax lifted the small bowl and lifted the spoon. The first shot was great already, and then Alessandra says, "you think Mira is pretty, Jax?"

"Yeah, she is," he said with s smile, still watching the chocolate. Snap, snap.

"Think about kissing her."

Jax's cheeks flushed, his eyelids become heavier, a shadow falling across his eyes as he watched the liquid chocolate fall. Snap, snap. Those shots were magic.

"Great, Jax. Now lick some off your finger."

Half an hour later, Jax was taking the apron off. He threw it at Mira and laughed. "Can I have your number?"

Alessandra smiled. "You did well. Good luck with Ryder." She handed Mira a memory card. "Remember that you did this with someone who hasn't been behind the camera before."