“Good luck with that.”
“Before we get started, I was wondering if we could do two interviews? Do one just about Eve and her new song, and the second about everything else.”
“Actually, I was hoping to get her reaction to our date,” she shot back.
Actually, she wanted to see the shock on Eve’s face when she saw the photo.
“Tell you what, we do it my way, and I’ll be a hundred percent forthcoming in the second interview. What I will not talk about is my family. My mom’s cancer is off the table.”
She thought about it, and then just nodded.
Eve’s interview went fine. She did what I told her and turned everything to one of the talking points. Once you get the hang of it, you can do it easily. She would get better with practice. I went and changed into my clothes for tonight’s dance. The interview started with her asking about my clothes. I got to plug the designers and tell her that they’d be available late spring or early summer. She then talked about my date with Kara and how the dance went. She had a video of our dance team doing our extra credit.
Then the interview turned to what I dreaded.
“I hear you just got back from doing a photo shoot in Miami with Adrienne. Things seem to be heating up between you two. You were also with her on back-to-back weekends in New York recently.”
I could see pictures flashing on a monitor of the two of us at different events. A couple of the shots looked like we were a couple on the street. These had been for the fashion stuff. We had promised to wear the clothes on the street so their photographers could ‘leak’ the new lines. Tyler had been sending me the Page Six pictures when they came out. Page Six is the famous gossip section of the New York Post.
“I was in New York doing some photo shoots with Kara Tasman. While I was there for that, I spent some time with Adrienne. She’s been mentoring me. She helped Kara and me with one of the shoots, and then we did a session with Adrienne. We’ve become good friends.”
“I would say much more than friends,” she said as the nude pictures came up on the monitor.
It was good I was prepared, or I would have given her the reaction she was looking for. Once it was made, there was no taking it back. The more I would have tried to deny it, the guiltier I would have looked. I shocked her when I laughed.
“Oh, my, can I get copies of those? My friends all think I’m pulling their legs. Now I have proof.”
“So you’re saying that you and Adrienne are not having a torrid affair?”
I couldn’t believe she used the word ‘torrid.’
“I wish. The sad truth is that she’s way out of my league. She is one hot, sophisticated woman. I could only dream of having a ‘torrid’ affair with her,” I said, doing air quotes around ‘torrid.’
“So, where were these pictures taken?”
“This was at the photo shoot in Miami. The dressing areas for the models are not roomy. We had over twenty models having to get dressed and have their hair and makeup done. Being a Midwestern boy, I was pasty-white, so they gave me a spray-on tan. For these shoots, they don’t want my white butt peeking out if my suit moved. The simple solution is to do it nude.”
“Don’t you get embarrassed?”
“Not really. It’s part of the job. Everyone acts professional, so it’s not uncomfortable.”
“Even with twenty naked models running around?”
“Okay, you got me. I do peek. I’m just a guy, after all. I bet if you asked the girls, they peek, too. The difference is that we’re all so busy working that that’s all we do.”
“So these pictures aren’t a big deal?”
“Oh, yes, they most definitely are. Just possessing that picture is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Like I said, we’re professionals. We were at a job site. That’s not like a public beach. The only people that had access were employees. For a picture like that to be released, there would have to be documented allowances. If those were not in place, then there would be lawsuits to recover damages. You know lawyers, they’ll sue everyone.”
“I’m covered because of the freedom of the press.”
“Did you buy these?” I asked, but didn’t wait for her to answer. “If you did, then it’s the same as buying stolen goods, especially if you know their origin.”
At this point, I was bluffing. I had no idea if that was true or not. But Sunny was in the business and knew that this could damage my career. When the interview ran, the pictures weren’t included. She even did half a minute on the sleazy side of the business. I was glad she took the high road.
She let me have the raw footage so I could email it to Deb and Tom. She told me who she bought the pictures from and I included it in the email. They were able to get the girl to see the light and get her to delete them. Of course, we would never know if she really got rid of all the copies.
While I dealt with that, the girls had gone up to Sunny’s room and changed. Sunny had on her version of the little black dress and three-inch heels. With those on, she was almost as tall as I was. Eve had on jeans that showed off every inch of her gorgeous butt. I was proud to have both of them on my arm when we went to eat.
“Sunny, how old are you?” Eve asked over dessert.
“Nineteen.”
“I thought you were older,” I said.
“I get that a lot. You have to remember that I was only four when I began my first TV show. I did that one for five years and then I switched to True Heart. It was on for eight seasons. I was going to go to college in the fall, but I just got picked up to do a new show this fall. We begin filming in a few weeks.”
“Care to share?” Eve asked.
“Let’s just say it’s for cable and will be for mature audiences. Nothing hard-core, just the content is more mature.”
“That’s great,” I added.
“I have you to thank, in a way,” she told me. “Your segments got me to the national spotlight. It led to me doing more national stuff. The producers of my new show had been watching me, and wrote a part just for me.”
WE DID THE ‘WALK INTO the dance and have our pictures taken’ bit. When we got into the dance, Sunny received a call. They wanted her to come back and work on her piece. They also needed her to do voice-overs. She slipped out and told us to have a good time.
Tonight’s dance was Lady’s Choice, so the roles were reversed. Several of the girls conspired not to ask dates to the dance. They’d gone stag and then asked whoever they wanted to dance. Others laid claim to a guy. I was happy to see all my boys had girls ask them. Since my official date bailed on me, I was fair game. When the music started, I was shocked when Stacy Clute, the quiet girl from art, grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor.
Eve was shaking her head since one of Stacy’s friends had bumped into Eve to block her. Stacy had effectively cut me from the herd. I would have to remember that move. All I needed was a wingman.
“I don’t think your new girlfriend liked that.”
I looked over and Eve gave me a look. I just shrugged and she smiled at me.
“I would bet she’s okay. She knows you outmaneuvered her. So why not just ask me?”
“I wasn’t going to chance it. I wanted to get at least one dance with you.”
“Oh, I get it. You need to tell your mom that we’re still dating.”
“That, and I saw you in your underwear all week. Jessica’s freaking out because she’s afraid you’ll expect her to strip down to her underwear, too.”
Jessica was next week’s model for art class. On Friday, my teacher told me that I could have left my jeans on. Of course, she said that with about five minutes left. She assured me that I was getting plenty of extra credit to get an ‘A,’ so I just let it go.
“Tell Jessica that she has nothing to worry about. I measure breasts a little differently, though,” I said, making a cupping motion with my right hand.