While we ate, Ryan entertained us with stories about how different life was in New York. He compared it to where he lived in Georgia. Ryan admitted he felt lost without a car, but with the price of parking and the hassle, he found he didn’t need one. I’d never thought about it because we always seemed to have a driver. I will say New York streets scared me. Everything was so narrow. I was amazed at how close cars got to each other. If Mom lived here, we’d go broke with car-repair bills.
“How do you deal with the paparazzi?” Ryan asked.
“It’s different,” I admitted. “Even before the movie came out, I’d get recognized for either modeling jobs or football.”
“What do you mean by football?”
“I’m the top-rated quarterback in the junior class, according to the scouting services.”
“That must be why you’re ripped.”
“I do work out quite a bit.”
“They’ve had me going to the gym to get more definition,” Ryan confided.
“It’ll happen over time.”
“So, is it always like that?” Ryan asked, referring to the press.
“Not at home as much, but when I was in LA, there was always someone lurking. I just assume that I have a camera on me at all times.”
“That has to suck.”
I thought about it.
“The way I see it is there’s no putting the genie back into the bottle, so I’ve learned to live with it. I know the paparazzi are just doing their job. They have to sell photos and stories to make a living. I, in turn, use them to keep my image in front of the public so I can do things like today. There’s a tradeoff.”
I was trying to put the best spin on it I could. I really didn’t like being shouted at and having a camera shoved into my face. Frank told me it only took one instance of me punching one of them to ruin my image.
Tyler reminded us we needed to head back.
◊◊◊
That afternoon, Ryan and I worked with ten other guys who were all employees of Abercrombie & Fitch. They were from all over the country. One was all the way from Honolulu, Hawaii. Others were from Seattle, Dallas, and Atlanta, and three were from New York.
Abercrombie was noted for their long billboard ads that feature multiple guys. Jackie had a specialized lens that would capture all of us. The only problem was it distorted the picture on the edge and made it appear as though the image was bent. She also had three cameras on tripods which would shoot photos simultaneously. She had software that would stitch the three shots together. We did several shots of us in the same clothes. Then they had us take our shirts off and put on bright red zip-up hoodies. Of course, the hoodies were left open to show off skin. Finally, they had us take off our hoodies to finish this portion of the shoot.
Jackie broke us up and brought in girls who worked at the stores, along with Melinda Kesh. They separated us into groups of five: three guys and two girls, or two and three. Blue screens were set up, and they had us act out in front of them. They wanted everyone to look like they were on a beach or in a park, goofing off and having fun. It quickly became apparent who the professionals were. Working in front of a blue screen was hard if you hadn’t done it before. You had no reference point. The problem was the newbies had no idea where to look. The rule of thumb was to know where the camera was at all times. That didn’t mean you had to gaze right into the lens, but your focus should be on something. I found it best to either look parallel to the shot or at someone. It appeared more natural than looking at the floor or ceiling.
After about thirty minutes, the employees were let go, leaving only Ryan, Melinda, and me to model. Ryan did a few things better than I did. He looked terrific in the ‘Uniform Approved’ shots with Melinda. Wearing layers of clothes and a sports jacket hid his body. When the shoot changed to needing to show off more of a physique, Jackie let him go home.
The plan all along had been for Melinda and me to finish out the shoot. Jackie told her staff they could leave. I was surprised when they all congregated in the back of the room to watch. Jackie sat us down and told us what she wanted.
“We’re going to start off with you two in casual poses. The image I want to portray is one where you two are long-time lovers, comfortable with each other. We’ll do some playful things and then some Sunday-morning-reading-a-book shots. All of those will feature the clothes, of course. Then we’ll move into some of the more eye-catching shots that’ll be used in advertising.”
“You mean he takes his shirt off,” Melinda said.
“At some point, you’ll take yours off as well,” Jackie said.
“I think that point should be soon,” I offered.
Melinda hit me with the smile that made her famous, and I was hers. You could have said Hannah Minacci, my ultimate crush, was there and I would have said, ‘Hannah who?’ Jackie saw my reaction and then turned to watch Melinda check me out.
“I think this is going to work. Go to makeup while I change the set and lighting. I’ll see you in twenty,” Jackie said.
I was a little disappointed that Melinda had a lounge for her dressing and makeup area. They had me dress in a t-shirt and jeans. Melinda came out in the same thing. Well, not exactly the same; I think hers fit her better. We met Jackie on the set, and she took some test shots and corrected the lighting. Melinda had to go back and have her makeup redone. Whatever they’d put on her didn’t look natural under the lights and high resolution. I think most models hate high resolution; I know actors do. There was no hiding any blemishes.
Once we were sorted out, we got down to business. Melinda was a lot of fun. To start with, we chased each other around, and I gave her piggyback rides. I was then put into a button-up shirt. When I came back, Melinda gave me a little smirk. I walked up to her, put her into a half headlock, kissed her forehead, and put my chin on top of her head.
Jackie was on her game and had taken pictures of our antics. She called time out and said she loved what we did, but wanted me to turn so more of the clothes could be seen. We reenacted what I’d just done. Jackie had us doing all kinds of stuff that involved long, wanting looks, or simple actions like one of us touching the other’s arm.
Adrienne’s training came in handy. I was able to stay in character and not just grab Melinda and put her into a lip-lock. Some of the looks she was giving me had my full attention. I could tell I had a similar effect on her. You could feel the sexual attraction ramp up.
“Unbutton his shirt,” Jackie called out.
“Finally,” Melinda said under her breath.
They had me in jeans with no underwear. The jeans were a little too big so they would hang down. A&F pushed the limits with wanting to show as much of the ‘V’ below your abdomen as they could get away with. I pulled Melinda under my arm, and she put one hand in my back pocket while the other roamed all over my chest and stomach. She rested her head on my shoulder, looked up at me, and our eyes locked. Jackie was busy taking pictures.
“Pull his jeans down further,” Jackie said.
Melinda gave me a wicked smile. Next thing I knew, my oversized jeans were mid thigh. Thankfully I was in work mode and only semi-hard when Mr. Happy made his brief appearance. I heard Jackie’s assistants giggle, reminding us we weren’t alone, so I quickly pulled my jeans back up.
Melinda kissed my cheek.
“Sorry.”
“They’re a little loose,” I reminded her.
I was a little annoyed when Jackie came up and adjusted my jeans. Most times, a photographer would have you make adjustments to your own clothes, but some were more hands-on. She pulled them down until you could see the base of my package and then pulled them up just a hair.
“Hold still!” Jackie ordered.
I guess Melinda didn’t think that applied to her, as she began to let her hand roam again. I bit the inside of my mouth. Someone was getting awfully low.