“I’ve had just about …” Adrienne started and then stopped her rebuttal when she saw me. “The talent has arrived.”
The guy who looked unhappy turned around and glared at me. It took him a second to recognize me, and then his whole demeanor changed in an instant.
“You didn’t tell me you’d gotten David A. Dawson.”
He looked like a young professional, maybe in his early thirties. In New York, many men looked similar. To be honest, he would never stand out in the crowd.
“You never gave me a chance,” Adrienne fired back, obviously still mad. “We provide the talent you can’t get anywhere else.”
She’d added the last part just to drive the knife deeper, making me wonder what I was walking into. Then she turned to me.
“Go back and get changed. We need to wrap this up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She gave me a hooded-eye look that worried me a little. I decided I probably shouldn’t give her a hard time right now. I immediately scratched my idea of telling her what I’d done with the stalkerazzi to provide her with some press.
Instead, I scurried off as Adrienne turned on the client. Apparently, she wasn’t done explaining the facts of life to him and that she hadn’t appreciated his threats. I almost wanted to be a fly on the wall and listen to her rip into him.
They’d set up some screens for privacy, but otherwise, the warehouse was just a wide-open space with a large blue screen set up with lights pointing at it. That meant they would add the background later. When I got behind the privacy screen, I spotted Jackie Chan, the photographer who’d taken the pictures at my Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch gig. She’d also taken the photos when we introduced Coby to the world.
“Hey,” I said in greeting and then lowered my voice conspiratorially. “What’s going on?”
“The client’s a jackass. He made unflattering comments about the models Adrienne brought in, any one of whom would have been perfect.”
“Models, as in plural?” I asked.
“Yep. We’ve been at this since yesterday morning. He’s rejected eight guys so far. You’re lucky number nine.”
“What’s this for?” I asked.
Jackie barked out a laugh and walked away. That was her way of saying I was a ‘stupid boy’ for not asking up front.
Wardrobe was a disaster. They didn’t have any pants that fit me, so I had to wear the jeans I had on. The rest didn’t matter because they wanted me shirtless. The client turned out to be a new magazine called Fit. It was similar to Men’s Health in that its focus was on gaining a ripped body. The only difference was that this one didn’t cater solely to men.
When I came out, the client looked smug, which irritated me.
“Did you explain my fee schedule?” I asked Adrienne. “I haven’t gotten my contract for this shoot yet.”
His look of panic made her day.
“Why don’t you get started, and I’ll work that out?” she suggested with a straight face.
Tyler, Jill, and Mrs. Lacier stood off to the side as I followed Jackie’s direction. While the shoot was going on, Tyler leaned in and explained to the Laciers what we were doing. I trusted her to help them understand what was happening.
Magazines like this followed a formula for their covers. They took someone well-muscled and shot from somewhere between the knees and waist and on up. With that being said, we wrapped up in under thirty minutes. Adrienne and Tyler looked haggard, but the client was happy.
◊◊◊
After washing off my makeup and putting my shirt back on, I called Scarlet.
“I’m done,” I announced.
“There’s no furniture in this condo,” she informed me.
She was hinting that I should fix it, but I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to keep the condo yet. If I did, I would want to buy furnishings right, not just as an emergency measure.
“Okay.”
I would just ask Adrienne if I could stay with her.
“Kevin wants to know if you can get together with some of your model friends, and we can all go out tonight.”
My first thought was to come back with something along the lines of being amazed at their finally wanting to hang out with me because I had connections. Despite our conversation in Mykonos, I was still bitter about how most of the vacation had gone so far. It hadn’t been lost on me that they’d posted a ton of photos on their social media, showing them partying in both Monaco and Greece.
“I’m not sure what all is going on. If we go out, I’ll let you know.”
“Are you coming here?” Scarlet asked.
“I planned on it. I want to see the condo for myself.”
“Okay, good,” Scarlet said, sounding relieved.
It would probably be easier to spring for hotel rooms for tonight and tomorrow. As much as I hated the thought that they only looked at me as a kid with money, I didn’t want them to have a bad time, either. So far, we’d been lucky, and the places had all been furnished. I should have realized this one would be a problem because I’d seen the photos Chuck took when he put in the security system. For that matter, both Cindy and Scarlet should have known.
“Do me a favor and find hotel rooms for everyone. I’ll make my own arrangements.”
“Thanks, David.”
We rang off, and I went to find my group.
◊◊◊
I explained what I needed to do before the dinner Adrienne and Tyler had invited everyone to. Jackie perked up.
“Where did you say your loft was?”
“In Tribeca on Harrison Street. I got it as part of a settlement in a lawsuit and haven’t actually been in it yet. From what I understand, the place is a clean slate. One of the people traveling with me is my interior designer and is coming up with a plan to make it into a livable space,” I answered.
“What do you plan to do with it?” Jackie asked.
“For now, I’ll probably rent it out. After college, who knows?”
“Could I come look at it? I’ve been looking for studio space. If I could live there too, it would be ideal,” Jackie said.
Everyone decided they wanted to go.
Upon our arrival, we found Harrison Street to be lined with older buildings. Several had ground-floor businesses in them with lofts/condos on the upper floors. The building housing my condo had once been used for something manufacturing-related, so it had an old freight elevator in the back. We decided to use the stairs since none of us wanted to find out the hard way whether or not the elevator worked. My unit was on the third floor of a four-story building.
I sent Scarlet a text that I had guests with me. Who knew what I might walk into? Better safe than sorry.
Scarlet greeted us at the front door. I was a little surprised when she recognized Jill, but then remembered they’d probably met at Brook’s New Year’s Eve party.
We made introductions, and Cindy gave everyone the grand tour.
“It’s bigger than I originally thought, a little over twenty-two hundred square feet, with twenty-foot ceilings. I’ve drawn up several ideas as to how to configure the space,” she said, getting out her sketch pad.
“I’m looking for a place to house my photography business,” Jackie shared.
“And we’re looking for another place to house models. We’ve been talking about setting something up for younger models with a house mom,” Tyler said to make her interest known.
“It would take less work to make this into a photography studio,” I said to open negotiations.
“All Tyler has to do is get Adrienne to bat her eyes at you, and you’ll just give it to them,” Jackie complained.
“It would work on me,” Kevin offered.
“Bat your eyes at him,” Tyler said.
“Do you really want this?” Adrienne asked.
“Yeah. Jill’s a perfect example. If we bring in models who are under eighteen, I want them to have a safe place to stay with some good supervision,” Tyler reasoned.
“I want to live here,” Jill chimed in.