"Well I mean it's not that cold..yeah?"
These were the last words I remember. Everything after was just a blur...
When I woke up that morning I didnt think I would be so stressed, shooting five different shoots in the same location. With four different models. Twelve different outfits. Five different pairs of shoes. Glitter. Seven necklaces. Eight-teen rings. And I was slowly losing sun.
I had been shooting just to shoot all day. But I had planned a specific shoot, for weeks now. He rode up in his vintage cafe racer motorcycle. I never got what people found so sexy about motorcycles. I now get it.
Altercations, misunderstandings and ultimately, losing the shot I had been waiting all day for put me into a pretty upset mood. However.. the tables turned when he asked if I wanted to ride home with him on his bike. For months since we've known each other I would always make fun of him for spending hours in his garage fixing all these different bikes. I'd try my best to emasculate his process by calling them, "vroom vrooms". I take it all back now.
Our director was giving me the readers digest version of how to ride bitch on a bike. "Follow through. Move with him. Hold close to his stomach" all of which made no sense in my head I was still trying to process everything in my head that I was about to ride my first motorcycle. With him. In the middle of the desert. During the sunset. Honestly. It couldn't get any more perfect.
I won't lie. I screamed my lungs out while riding for the first two seconds. The rev of the engine made the bike jump a little. I wasn't expecting so much jerking. So much leaning and being pulled forward with every break. Thank god I wore a long shirt and was able to borrow a huge oversized jacket so my low cute jeans wouldn't be exposing my ass for the world to see.
To be honest, I wish I had on a cuter outfit for my first motorcycle experience. I had a huge orange helmet that belonged to our director (who had JUST gone ATV'ing and happened to have a helmet in his car), an oversized camel jacket who's owner is a good 5'11''. And skinny jeans and some slouched boots.
All I remember is hearing my heart beat faster and faster. No way was this guy going the speed limit. He swears to this day it just "seems faster on a bike"... I call bullshit. None the less I expect nothing less and want nothing more. To go fast.
Possibly the best fifteen minutes of my life in a long time. The ride home seemed to take forever. swirving in and out of cars into different lanes, almost getting hit by a semi, and being cut off by a truck. I felt like I was in a movie. It was THAT good.
We arrived back to his place and I just fell to the ground. My legs felt like jello. My thighs were warm from the bike, and my body was clinched the whole time because I couldn't make up my mind if I was scared or excited the whole entire time. He just laughed and asked if I was alright. Fuckin A I'm alright. The only words that managed to leave my mouth were, "Just.. give me a minute.. I think I just O'd". Is it possible to have an orgasm without intercourse? In my mind motorcycles just got that much more awesome. And he got that much more sexier.
It honestly took me a few hours to recover. Physically and mentally.
We had a table reservation for 20. Whiskey. Desert bands. A lot of laughs. And a lot of hugs. I couldn't help but feel this was slowly becoming to feel natural. Like something I had been missing so much from home. I loved every moment. And I honestly love being able to capture bits and pieces of moments through my camera. Because they will be mine. Forever.
The three of us ran out the doors of Pappy's & Harriets. Walked around the old movie sets. I grabbed his leather jacket and wore it. He told me not to lay down but I did anyway. The sky is so much closer to you out there. The stars are more noticeable. Never in my life did I know so many stars existed. We looked up and talked about future trips to San Francisco. About how fun it is to be buzzed and outside in nature- enjoying life.
On the car ride home there were beats booming inside the car making my heart pump a little more faster than I thought it should. Dancing. Singing. Throwing your head out the window and yelling just because you can. This is friendship. This is living in the moment. This. Was. So. Real.
We looked to the left, driving down 62 and saw the hugest, most orange moon we've ever seen. Many a times I've seen the sun rise. I've seen my share of gorgeous sunsets. But in one night, I saw possibly the best sunset of my life. Hours later followed by my first Moon rise. We were suddenly quiet. Just staring at this huge moon. The music down shifted on our iPod at the perfect moment. "Trust Fall" by Madi Diaz playing softly in the background as if it were the perfect soundtrack to that moment. Within seconds the Moon that looked as if it were the size of an orange it was so close to us, became small, high up in the sky.
Moments like this make me just fall in love with life. And it makes me realize how lucky I am.
