Page 91 of The Titan and the Trainer

Julian thanked everyone profusely, relieved it was over, before he and Callum retreated to the dressing room.

In the quiet there, the frantic energy of the crew muffled by the heavy door, Julian let out a long, ragged exhale. He took off the shorts and carefully peeled off the secret weapon with a grimace of relief.

“Jeez, that was seriously uncomfortable, but it served its purpose.” He moved to kiss Callum a thank you, but he recoiled.

“Oh no, you’re not coming anywhere near me until you have taken at least two showers. Look at the state of you! You’re the colour of a Giant Redwood.”

Julian looked in the mirror - he wasn’t wrong. He jumped in the shower and started scrubbing away the fake tan.

By the time he’d finished, the shower tray was orange, but he, less so. He dressed and went out to check everything was okay with the crew.

Everyone was happy; Elena got what she needed. Job done.

In the car on the way home, Julian let out a big sigh, squeezing Callum’s hand tightly. “Thanks for everything, Cal. I couldn’t have done that without you, for multiple reasons and in multiple ways.” He smiled a very happy and grateful smile.

“I’m so proud of you today, Jules. I think the pictures are going to be amazing. I already rate Elena’s work from what I saw on the monitors.” He leant in and kissed him. “I’m looking forward to the office photo-shoot tomorrow too, though, and I thought I might take my camera along to take a few of you in the new suits Sophia made. The boring old corporate photos might need to get filed. This is Julian Newman 2.0 and Callum West, photographer. Step aside, Rankin, I’m coming through!” Callum laughed.

“That’s a great idea,” Julian replied. He sat back in the seat as his stomach grumbled so loudly that even Callum heard it.

“Was that your stomach?” he asked, laughing.

“Yes it bloody well was,” followed by “Coco, please can you take us to the nearest McDonald’s where I am going to have a Big Mac, a strawberry thick shake, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, chicken nuggets, a Filet-O-Fish, oh, and a McFlurry and a hot apple pie…”

Callum just laughed.

There was no way he was denying his Titan anything today.

***

Saturday 26th April 25

The next day Julian was called to repeat his modelling moment, but this time in his office, which was of course deserted. He wore his favourite of the new bespoke suits Sophia had designed for him, the dark grey with violent pink and crimson striped lining.

Sophia insisted on being there to oversee him wearing it, which Callum knew was just really a ploy to bask in the glory of her creation, take as much credit as possible, and join them afterwards for a celebratory lunch. Just an excuse to spend time with them, really.

Elena wasn’t available today, so the photographer from Men’s Health this time was a young guy called Sebastian, who introduced himself with a firm handshake to Julian and Callum. The hair and makeup team were on hand for minimal preparatory work today, set up in the gym area outside Julian’s office.

Whilst Julian was being prepared, Callum chatted to Sebastian, who spied his new camera.

“Wow, that’s the new E5 Mark 2,” Sebastian exclaimed. “What a beautiful piece of kit.”

Callum let him have a play with the camera, and soon they were comparing notes about lighting and composition. Over a coffee, their discussion turned to the office and various set-up options, and they were soon bouncing ideas between them about some innovative poses and different angles. Sebastian took an instant liking to Callum’s ideas, and they were soon scribbling notes between them.

Once Julian was ready, Sebastian led the session but did let Callum use his camera to take some of the more unusual pictures. He reviewed them and declared they were good and that if he gave his consent and signed a waiver for the magazine, they might even be used with the article if the creative director liked them.

Once the official shoot was over, Julian, Sophia and Callum found some interesting corners where they took new profile headshots of Julian in his fancy new suit.

The Callum-led pictures captured a more modern side of Julian with his newfound smile. “You’ve got nice teeth, Jules. Let the world see them now and then, hey!” This, of course, made Julian laugh, which in turn resulted in a great photo of a more relaxed Titan.

One picture of Julian and Sophia together was declared the best. They were both fake-smiling and looked at each other, descending into fits of laughter. Callum had clicked the shutter that split second and caught the absolute truth of the moment between them. It was a stunning picture.

Once Julian had washed the make-up off and changed into casual gear, they headed into town and celebrated with a nice lunch and some very fancy champagne at the revolving restaurant, The View, enjoying the city spread out below them.

Both shoots were finally over. All their work had led up to this, and it was a huge relief that it was now done.

Chapter 35 - Palatable Solutions

Sun. 27th Apr. - Tue. 20th May 25