No, I wasn’t interested in getting into a fight.
“Even funnier, Bobby’s sister is the bartender for the VIP section. She saw what you did with Joanna, and she figured it out. When I went to pay for our drinks, she laughed and said the drinks were on the house. She said her idiot brother needed to learn a lesson. I can guarantee you that she’ll be rubbing it in come morning.”
“I hope I didn’t ruin anything for Joanna. I think she’s pretty cool,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it. Joanna had her eyes opened, and we’re all relieved she’s dumping him. She can do so much better than dating the village idiot,” Sandy said.
“Let your friends know I had a good time.”
“Where did you learn all those little orgasm tricks?” Clare asked.
“This is going to sound weird, but I learned them from my brother.”
“Do you have any more?” Clare asked.
Sandy started laughing. I couldn’t help myself and laughed too. Clare went beet red when she realized what she was asking. We fell into a comfortable conversation on the rest of the ride. When I got back, I found Mom in the great room. We talked about the night. She let me know that Kendal had moved up to the main house with Devin. It seemed we had a budding romance on our hands.
Chapter 21 – Four Stooges
Saturday December 7
DEVIN WOKE ME UP EARLY so we could go practice snowboarding. Saturday, in early December, was a big ski day at the resorts, so Devin wanted to get us there early to beat the crowds. We started on the bunny hill at first light. For the photo shoot, they needed me to do two things; the first was a gentle downhill. I got the hang of that up to the stopping part: I pretty much was doing a face-plant. Then they needed me to do some launches to catch air.
Once Devin was sure I wasn’t going to kill myself, and could actually stop, he took me up the ski lift for a quick run. They had a run designed for snowboarders with plenty of ramps so you could get some air. We were having a blast flying down the hill. I wiped out more than once, but I just kept getting up and going again. By the end of the run, I was getting the hang of it.
We were laughing and having a good time. He took me to the lodge and turned me over to Bev, who was in charge of the morning’s shoot.
“Looks like I’m going to get some spectacular face-plants out of you today,” she said, as she knocked some snow out of my hair.
“If it helps sell the product, I’m your guy,” I replied.
“Come on, we have a conference room set up for the clothing shoot. We’re going to try to get all the clothes done by noon, one o’clock at the latest. Then we’ll get on the slopes and do the action shots. Our goal is to be off the ski hill by four p.m. Then we’ll go to the ranch and catch the late afternoon sun for the horseback riding. Therefore, I need you to stay focused all day, and we’ll plow through this together. Any questions?”
I smiled.
“I just need three things.”
I could see her sigh as she expected me to start my prima donna act.
“I’m all sweaty, so I need a shower. Devin forgot I’m a growing boy, and didn’t feed me; and finally, I need something to drink. This dry air is making me thirsty.”
She looked relieved.
“Come on, I’ll get you fixed up.”
She took me to the conference room and they had a fruit tray and a coffee setup. I looked at Bev in mock horror.
“Growing boy, remember, not a starving model. Next, you’ll be giving me a cigarette to go along with my coffee.”
When they set up food for one of these shoots, it was always something like this. Models are always worried about their weight. Fortunately, I didn’t have that issue. Everyone seemed to ignore me, so I called Clare.
“Hey, we’re getting ready to shoot, and I need real food. They just have fruit and coffee here.”
“What does his majesty want?”
Her tone pissed me off. I just hung up on her. I went to wardrobe and makeup to get started. They sent me to another room to get my shower. I came back and was done with makeup in short order, and they had me in a ski suit. By eleven, I started to feel dizzy. The lights they were using were generating some heat, and I hadn’t gotten anything to drink or eat.
During my next wardrobe change, I called Kendal.
“Where are you?”
She could tell I was pissed.
“I’m having brunch with Devin and Clare. Why, what’s wrong?”
I took a deep breath to calm myself, but it didn’t work.
“Nothing, I’ll talk to you later.”
I hung up on her. I called Deb Thomas in Chicago. I finally got through to her.
“David, how can I help you?”
I took a deep breath and I let loose.
“I’ve been with the client and/or shooting since six this morning. I’ve not had anything to eat or drink, and I’m about to pass out. Clare and Kendal seem to think it’s more important to go to brunch than help me out. I’ll give you fifteen minutes to get this fixed, or I’m walking.”
“Are you telling me that neither one of them are there with you? Have you talked to them?”
I was being called to wardrobe.
“Look, I have to go, they need me. You said to call you if I had any issues.”
I went back to the shoot and when the fifteen-minute mark came, I stopped the shoot.
“I’m sorry guys, but I’m going to collapse if I don’t eat and get something to drink. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
To say that caused a shit-storm would be an understatement. I just went and got my wallet and walked out. I found a coffee shop and got two turkey sandwiches and three large bottles of water. I drank one of the waters while I was waiting to be rung up. As I walked back, I wolfed down a sandwich. I got back to find a pissed-off Bev, and Clare, Kendal and Devin waiting on me.
“You don’t walk out on my shoot!”
Bev was bright red.
I just went back to wardrobe, changed into the next set of clothes, and was ready while she screamed at everyone. While she did that, I sat down, ate my other sandwich, and drank another one of my waters. Kendal looked nervous as she came up to me.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
I stood up.
“I’m ready, let’s get this finished,” I said to Bev.
She seemed to calm down and we got back to her taking pictures. I ignored Clare and Kendal and did my job. Most of the shots were for their website, so I found myself having to do the same pose with five or six different color combinations of each outfit. Even with my mini-walkout, we were still done by noon.
THEY HAD ME DRESS IN a snowboarding outfit. I was to meet them outside. I went to the coffee shop and bought another three waters and two more sandwiches. On the drive to the slope, I called Deb.
“I’m sorry to be a pain, but I haven’t approved any of the pictures from this morning. If Clare does a blanket signoff without reviewing them, this’ll be my last shoot for Ford.”
“Let me get to the bottom of this. Our contract reads that you’re supposed to have a chaperone at all your photo shoots because of your age. If it’s a Ford shoot, I expect our on-site representative to be there with you.” She paused and made a decision. “I’ll personally be out tonight to oversee tomorrow’s shoot. Do me a favor and don’t tell anyone. I personally need to see what’s going on. I’ll call Devin and tell him we need to review the pictures here in Chicago. Do you trust me to have that done right?”
“Yes, ma’am, I do. I just want to give you a heads-up: Devin has been sleeping with Kendal, both here and in Chicago. I just don’t want you to get blindsided.”
It took Deb a moment to take that in.
“I’ll call Tom about that. We can’t have a conflict of interest when dealing with a client. He may need to join me.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Devin Range will not take it well if anything happens to Kendal. I also personally like and need Kendal. I told you that so you wouldn’t do anything that would threaten our relationship.”