made up, surrendering
control to someone else, someone who so obviously
knew what she was doing. She closed her eyes at
Danni's request and when she opened them she
was stunned at the transformation.
The girl staring back at her looked so much
older that Angel hardly recognised her shimmery,
glamorous reflection, so much more polished and
sexy, almost like one of the girls from the photographs.
'You look great,' Danni told her reassuringly,
seeing her confusion. 'Stunning.'
Richard wandered over to take a look. 'You look
gorgeous, darling, well done. Now pop along to the
dressing room and choose some underwear and a
pair of shoes and we can get started.'
As soon she walked into the dressing room and
saw the piles of underwear Angel's nerves started
up again. Oh, God, what if I can't do it, what if I don't look right? she fretted, rifling through the
underwear and at a complete loss to know what to
wear. There were thongs and knickers of every
colour and of every material: lace, satin, silk, cotton,
Lycra. I'll give this one a miss , Angel thought to
herself, picking up a tiny leather G-string studded
with diamante and hastily dropping it.
'Don't worry,' Richard called in to her. 'It's all
clean!'
In the end, Angel went for a shocking pink lace
thong and matching bra and slipped on a pair of
gold stilettos. Before going back into the studio she
looked at herself in the mirror, tossed back her long
hair and took a deep breath. 'Just go for it, you've
got nothing to lose,' she told her reflection, willing
herself to be strong. She marched back into the
studio confidently, as if she always paraded around
in next to nothing in front of total strangers, and
took her place in front of the camera. There were
no props to hide behind, just her, a white backdrop
and Richard looking through the lens at her. This
was it.
'You look fabulous, darling!' Richard called out.
'Love the pink and gold combo, now let's get
started.
'Hand on your hip, look at the camera, that's it,
stick out your boobs a bit more, smile and hold it.'
And as he clicked away and shouted out encouragement,
Angel's nerves disappeared. Instead of
worrying about whether she was doing the right
thing she found that she was enjoying herself. She
concentrated on getting the pose right, breathing
in slightly, pushing out her boobs, cheekily pulling
the side of her thong, thinking only of the camera.
After fifteen minutes, Richard called out, 'Ready
to try some topless shots now, darling? I'm loving
what you're doing.'
To her own surprise she didn't hesitate, she just
shook back her hair, undid her bra, whirled it
round her head and then tossed it to the far side of
the studio – much to Richard and Danni's
amusement.
He continued to call out instructions but Angel
found that she knew what to do almost instinctively.
She smiled, turned, pouted, shook her hair, played
with different poses and attitudes. She could tell
from Richard's smile that she was doing well.
An hour and a half later, after several changes of
underwear and make-up retouches, they stopped.
'Fabulous,' Richard said simply. 'I don't get a girl
like you very often. You've got real star quality,
Angel, a natural talent.' He must have seen her
doubtful smile because he hastened to add, 'And I
promise you, I don't say that to all the girls, very far
from it, as Danni will tell you.'
Danni nodded enthusiastically, giving Angel a
smile and thumbs-up. Angel was on cloud nine. It
was such an amazing feeling, discovering that she
was good at something and being praised for it. She
had never felt that special. And here she was, doing
what thousands of girls would envy her for. And to
her huge surprise she had loved every minute of
the experience.
'Don't you think I'm a bit flat-chested for this
type of modelling?' she asked anxiously. She
couldn't help comparing her 32B breasts with the
32DDs all around her.
'No, you're perfect just the way you are and
don't let anyone tell you otherwise!'
As soon as
Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain