SHOOT: A Novel Read online

  I sat and tried to look as natural as possible, but felt as stiff as a board. Not even knowing how I looked, I still assumed that wasn’t how I sat on a stool ‘naturally’. A knot formed in my throat with the fear that modeling maybe wasn’t for me after all. Just because Sonja had taken me on didn’t mean I was actually cut out for it. There was so much uncertainty to everything.

  I gulped nervously as I heard the sound of the shutter on the camera start to click repeatedly.

  “Now put your hand on your knee and lean forward a little bit.” Brad asked without taking his eye away from the camera for even a second. I did as he asked and it wasn’t until after I held still for a few moments that I realized the pose accentuated my cleavage. My heart started to race, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. It was exciting.

  “Beautiful.” He said, snapping a few more pictures. The camera continued to click even as he spoke. “You’ll soon realize this is easy work.” I gave a polite smile. Even though it was exciting, this seemed anything but easy. Brad briefly brought his camera down and gave me a warm expression, “all you have to do is show up and look like yourself. Easy-peasy.” He laughed.

  I did my best to look graceful and natural despite how uncomfortable and awkward I truly felt. As we continued, however, I started to feel a bit relaxed under Brad’s guidance and my intense self-doubt started to fade away little by little as my excitement grew. The more it slipped away from me, the better I was able to pose for the photos. I felt less stiff and started to loosen up.

  “Already becoming a natural,” he encouraged me as I giggled. He took a bunch of photos in quick succession, “Very cute.” Sonja was quiet the entire time, just observing me. At first it added pressure to the situation, but now Sonja had become part of the background. I felt my cheeks burning again, but pretended not to have heard Brad’s comment. Mindlessly I stroked my fingers through my long locks with a coy expression on my face. Giving him new poses and expressions was starting to be fun. Without asking I reached up and blew a kiss toward the camera.

  “Oh, boy. There she is!” Brad laughed as he clicked away. “Lovely,” he said before dropping the camera away from his face and holding it at his side.

  “You are good,” I complimented. I meant it. After all, he had managed to get me loosened up and feel confident in a relatively short amount of time. If he had managed to get me feeling comfortable, then there wasn’t much doubt in my mind that he could produce a great photo. Sonja wasn’t lying when she said I was in good hands—if only I actually was in his hands.

  Brad walked up to me and reached out with his free hand to physically position me in a different pose, one I wouldn’t have thought of doing naturally. I felt chills erupt on my skin under my tank as he gentle touched my hip. I loved to feel his touch. His hands were strong and felt good as he delicately pushed and pulled me into position.

  I sucked in a deep breath and that’s when I got a good whiff of him as he stood close—a woodsy scent with a hint of lavender and spices. Whatever cologne he was wearing must have been gifted to him by God himself. It would make any woman’s heart flutter.

  “Soon I won’t need to touch you to get you into a new pose.” He said as he tugged my hip back a little toward him.

  All I could think about was how much of a shame it would be if he never had to touch me again. His forest green eyes locked onto mine as he gave me a quick smile. The moment our eyes met my heart gave a little jump start. All I could think about was if he felt the same thing.

  As Brad stepped back to take more pictures, it was obvious Sonja was scrutinizing my behavior, but she seemed overall pleased with how things were going. Brad stepped forward and positioned me in a different way, this time grabbing my leg just above my knee to do so.

  “Move your leg just a smidgen to the right.” He said as he pulled my knee a little. I shuddered. He looked at me curiously with a slight smirk, but said nothing. He was just being a professional, I knew it, but his touch was stimulating and his scent enveloped my entire world. He took a few more photos and had me stand up to take a few last test shots before calling it a wrap.

  “Thanks Chloe, you did wonderful for a first time and I know they’ll turn out beautifully.” He said with a tiny half smirk. I couldn’t be too sure, but it felt like he was hinting at something with his subtle tone of voice.

  After the photo shoot for my test shots, I got dressed back into my own clothes and followed Sonja back to her office. This time there was some hot tea waiting for us on the coffee table centered between a couch and two armchairs. We sat down and briefly discussed the photo shoot.

  “You did quite well,” Sonja told me honestly, but also gave me a couple notes to keep in mind for the future. “But before I go on too much about the future, I do need to show the test shots to the other scouts and get approval before you can officially be signed with us.” I hummed in understanding, hot tea filling my mouth. It was delicious, but my mind was focused on everything Sonja was saying. I felt the need to memorize every word even if it was a silly attempt to do so. Not to mention, I had a hard time tearing my mind away from thinking about Brad and the way he touched my body.

  “Thank you so much for the opportunity,” I finally spoke up. Even if I didn’t end up getting signed, the entire experience had already been worth everything.

  Sonja nodded and responded with something I didn’t expect to hear, “The truth is I’m not too big on waiting, especially not when I’ve hit the jackpot.” She took a sip of her tea and leaned forward, eyes roving over my face and then my body. “I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, I think you can really be something in this industry.” She paused and tapped her finger on the saucer, “Would you be willing to sign a preliminary contract now?”

  I was stunned. Signing a contract right there and then, even if it was preliminary, was no joking matter. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to call home and discuss it with my family. Sure it was ultimately my choice, but their thoughts still mattered a lot to me. I hesitated for a moment, my thoughts fixated on my family and especially my mother. She definitely wouldn’t approve. I felt conflicted; on one hand the money would help them, but I would miss them terribly.

  It was a huge, scary, life-altering decision I was faced with. My mother might even end up angrier than she ever had before. Would I be able to handle being so far away from everyone and everything I knew? Would my family manage to be okay without me? Who would bake the blueberry pies for the market?

  Sonja sensed my hesitation and slid the preliminary contract over to me. The only thing standing in the way of making it official if I signed it was the scouts approving my test shots and, considering how confident Sonja was, they would most likely approve me. I glanced at the paper in front of me and saw the big dollar amount for the signing bonus.

  Never in my life did I think I would see such a huge sum of money in my name, much less earned all at once. I stopped and thought about everything before ultimately deciding modeling was the best thing I could do for my family and for myself. I thought back on how fun and exciting my first shoot had been despite my bout of unease at the start of it. And I thought about Brad and the way my heart raced inside my chest as I posed for him.

  I swallowed against a dry throat and reached for the pen Sonja had placed on the table. The moment I scrawled my name above the line I let out a resounding sigh.

  Everything was about to change.

  It was a full week after my first meeting with Sonja when I arrived to my apartment in Brooklyn, the place that would be my new home. Not a full day had gone by when the call came in saying my test shots were enthusiastically approved.

  “You’ve created quite a buzz,” Sonja told me over the phone. I knew my new boss, or agent, was pretty smug about her find, but it wasn’t something that bothered me. After the call, the signing bonus was deposited directly into my newly set up bank account and I spent the rest of the week doing the major sightseeing the majority of tourists do in New York City.
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  Now it was time to settle into my new life. I had been set up to live in an apartment with three other girls from the agency. I figured the other girls were also models and about my age. Sonja herself organized everything and I was very grateful for it.

  I stopped in front of the door and tugged at the hem of my simple turquoise t-shirt. I only had the one small piece of luggage I came to New York with. During the first week of freedom I hadn’t done much shopping, despite the sizeable sum of money sitting in my bank account. I was responsible enough to know it would be a terrible idea to go crazy with the money and lose it all.

  I nervously rang the doorbell. As soon as it was pulled open, my breath caught in my throat. The young woman who greeted me with a small but sweet, closed-mouth smile was stunning. She was even taller than me by about an inch or so. Her long and straight light copper locks shined even in the dim glow of the setting sun. She had rich, coffee brown eyes that were deep and slightly upturned. She had a straight button nose that rested above her full lips that, despite not having much shape, were still quite lovely.

  “Hey,” she greeted. “I’m Caroline. I suppose you’re Chloe, our new roommate?”

  I nodded slowly, unable to believe Sonja and everyone else at the agency really placed me in the same league as Caroline in terms of beauty. Caroline’s mouth curled into a much bigger smile before pulling me into a welcoming hug.

  “Come in!” she barked with a happiness as she leaned forward to grab my bag out of my hand and lead me into the apartment. It was larger than I had imagined it would be. After all my research on New York, my expectation was to make due in an apartment the size of a shoebox. Living out in Brooklyn had come as somewhat of a surprise to me, but then I realized it was in a good area and not too far of a commute.

  We stopped at the entry of the kitchen where two other beautiful, young women were sipping green juices. They stopped to survey me before one of them broke out into a huge grin, “I’m Sarah! You must be Chloe, right?”

  She eyed the luggage Caroline was still clutching and nodded eagerly. There was something about Sarah that was a giveaway to me—she wasn’t originally a city girl either. That instantly made me feel more comfortable around them, or at least around one of them for the time being. I tried not to look too carefully at them because it made me feel self-conscious and confused. They were all so gorgeous and it was impossible for me to comprehend how others considered me to be as good looking as them. These women were the kinds you see in magazines, quite literally, and I simply couldn’t fathom how I landed in the same room as them.

  “Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” I told them all rather timidly. The other young woman had resumed sipping her tea despite not having introduced herself, but she did continue to look at me rather curiously. Was she sizing me up? Out of the four of them she was the only blond haired and blue eyed one.

  “Nice to meet you,” the young woman finally spoke up.

  Her voice was raspy but it was obvious it was natural. “I’m Nadine,” she said, finally flashing her smile of perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. She had the sort of look that made you think she’d be casted in the role of the beautiful high school girl with everything going for her in life. She would be the “it” girl, easily.

  In a flash, both Nadine and Sarah each took hold of my wrists and pulled me over to sit on the couch in the center of pink-painted living room. Caroline joined us a couple minutes later, extending her arm to hand me a glass of fresh juice.

  “Thank you,” I said before taking a sip. It wasn’t as sweet as the juice I was used to drinking, but it was delicious nonetheless. I took another sip before setting it on one of the coasters on the coffee table and turning to look at Sarah and Nadine. They were both sitting on the armchair across from the couch where I sat. They seemed quite giddy. It was a stark contrast to the impression Nadine had given me at first. I did a quick mental check that served as a reminder that first impressions could often be misleading. Besides, just because she looked the part of the “it” girl with the perfect life, didn’t mean she was anything like that.

  Caroline plopped down on the couch next to me, “How do you like New York so far?”

  That was all it took for me to launch into stories about my week sightseeing and how awesome everything was. “I’d always wanted to get out and see the world and, even if it’s just been one city, it really feels like it’s a dream comin’ true,” I ended, eyes starry. I took a sip of my juice, hoping I hadn’t gone on too long and bored my new roommates.

  “I felt similarly when I first moved here from Florida.” Sarah assured me. “I’m from Cedar Key. It’s a small place, but I do love it. Even though I’d been to Tampa a few times it’s nothing compared to New York.”

  “Is this your first visit to a big city, then?” Caroline piped in.

  That was one thing I had failed to mention, but it wasn’t on purpose. I had just gotten so carried away telling them about my exciting adventures that I didn’t think of telling them about home and what a shock everything was to me. “Yes, I pretty much always stayed in my small hometown.”

  “And where was that?” Nadine asked.

  “A small farm town just outside Fort Dodge,” I responded. “Fort Dodge was really th’only place I went to regularly outside my hometown and it was all on business at the Farmer’s Market.” It wasn’t until I stopped talking that I realized my accent had popped up but, for the first time, I didn’t feel the need to hide it. After all, they were all getting to know me as their new roommate.

  That was when the millions of questions started. They asked all about my parents and siblings, where I worked and what it was like, and even went into questions about the sorts of guys there were out there. All of them found it quite interesting, much to my surprise, and that was how I came to learn Caroline had also come from a small town, although she had visited a number of big cities before. Despite that, even she had been awestruck by New York. Nadine was the only one who was actually from New York, something I found amazing. I didn’t hesitate in asking questions and it wasn’t long before we were all comfortable around one another.

  “Ready to see your room?” Caroline said as she stood up with excitement. I smiled and nodded eagerly, my hair swinging back and forth. That was when Caroline ran her slender fingers through my chocolate brown locks, “So pretty. Your hair is really gorgeous, you know.” She paused and looked directly into my eyes, “You are really pretty.”

  “To say the least,” Sarah replied wistfully, “Those emerald eyes really stand out too.”

  “Sonja really found a gem,” Nadine chimed in.

  Caroline cleared her throat and corrected her, “A star, Sonja found a star.” She looked at me with a sweet smile before going on, “I really do think you’ll be the one.” The other two nodded in agreement. Now that I felt sufficiently awkward with the turn the conversation had taken, I murmured a “thank you,” and stood up so Caroline could show me to the bedroom.

  As she led me to my room, which I would get to enjoy privacy in, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly thankful for hitting it off with all three of them right off the bat.

  “There are four bedrooms then?” I asked as I placed my luggage on the bed.

  Caroline shook her head, “Sarah and Nadine share a room. Nadine grew up in New York City so she’s use to smaller rooms and when Sarah got here she was feeling lonely and homesick. It all came together perfectly because the two of them are like two peas in a pod.”

  After Caroline excused herself and closed the door, I sat down on the bed and looked around the room. It was a decent size, though smaller than the one I had at my family’s house. The walls were painted a pale mint green that I actually quite liked. The bed was full-sized and came complete with plain white blanket, sheets, and a pillow. There was a simple desk tucked away in the corner with a swiveling chair and when I opened the closet I was pleased to find wooden hangers in it.

  It was basic, but had pretty much everything I ne
eded to get started; I couldn’t wait to slowly make it my own. I pulled my bedroom door open and peeked into the hallway, eyes landing on the open bathroom door across the way. That meant the bedroom next to me, which had the door closed, belonged to Caroline and the master bedroom at the end of the hallway was where Nadine and Sarah stayed. I was curious to know what their rooms looked like, but knew I would see them eventually.

  After some time, my roommates knocked on my door to tell me they wanted take me out. “It is Saturday night after all,” Nadine said with a bright smile.

  Then they suggested I hurry to finish unpacking and then go out with them. I agreed and made quick work of pulling out my clothes and organizing it in the chest of drawers and closet before sitting on my chair and wondering what on Earth I could wear for a night out in New York City. During my free week I had explored a bit of the city, but none of that had included any form of nightlife.

  I sighed and stood up to remove pictures from a pouch in my luggage and taped them to the walls. They were all photos of my family that I had brought in case I ended up staying in New York. I thought about them and hoped that someday I could make my mom proud for taking this path.