Sarah was and he picked
the camera back up.
“All right, Sarah. Your boyfriend is quite convincing. We’re
going to let him stay.”
“Oh, good,” she said, sounding relieved. “I’d be a lot more
comfortable with him here.”
“We do need to see your I.D., hon. We’ll have to make a copy
of it for our records.”
“My I.D.? Why?”
He lowered the camera again, keeping the lens in her
direction. “Like I said, hon. We are professionals. We have to do this above
the board. We record everything for your protection and for ours. With the
camera rolling, you know there won’t be anything funny going on, because our
bosses would know, right?”
“I guess. Sure,” she said.
“And we have to copy your I.D. Again, that’s the
professional thing to do, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. You’re right. Sure.”
She took out her I.D. and handed it to him. He walked over,
slapped her I.D. on the copier nearby and pushed the button to bring the
machine to life. He made the copy and returned her license to her.
“Hey guys,” Eric said. “Come in and meet Sarah. I think
you’ll love her.”
“Who are you talking to,” she said, worried.
“Just a few of the other producers, hon. Nothing to worry
about. They’ll just want to get a look at you and then they’ll go back into the
other room. For the rest of the audition, it will only be you me and your
boyfriend…”
“Jacob,” I said.
“Right. You me and Jacob here.”
The three men from the other room stepped in. All three of
them made it a point to look her over, each of them taking turns circling her
as they looked.
“Excellent. If she gives a good audition, the main producer
will love the shit out of her,” one of the guys said.
“Main producer?” she asked.
“Yes, hon. We do all the work. He gets all the credit. That’s
the way this industry works. Someday we hope to be the main man, but for now,
we’re stuck doing all the work. You understand, right?”
“I guess,” she said. “I think I’d rather he did the
audition.”
“I understand why you would want that. It makes sense. I
know it does, hon, but trust me. He always picks the girls that we recommend.
It really is me and these other guys who you have to impress, okay.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Can we get started then,” he asked.
“Are they going to go into the other room?” she asked.
All three of them nodded without any further invitation.
They all headed back into the room they started in.
“Okay, sweetie. Now I’ll need you to go over there and stand
by that white wall there. I need a nice contrast so that you’ll be the
highlight of the frame, okay?”
“Okay,” she said as she walked over to the wall.
She stood there facing the camera with her hands folded in
front of her. The skirt she was wearing ended a few inches above her knees and
her white top was buttonless. She looked cute, but she didn’t look like a
calendar model.
“All right, sweetie,” Eric said bringing the camera up in
front of him. “Now, I need you to spin slowly for me. All of the producers are
going to want to see you from every angle.”
“Okay,” she said. She turned slowly, moving her feet until
she was facing front again.
“Good, hon. See this isn’t so tough, is it.”
“Not so far, no,” she said.
“All right. Now I will have to see a little more of your
body. Can you lift your skirt nice and high? Show me what you’re working with?”
“Lift my skirt? Is that really necessary?”
“It is, hon,” he said, lowering the camera. “Listen, hon.
Like I said before. We are very professional here. There’s nothing out of the
ordinary going on. We do this all the time. This isn’t a children’s calendar,
sweetie. Our customers are men and you know how guys are, right. They like
beautiful girls like you and in the official calendar, we’re going to need
girls who are willing to wear sexy lingerie, or skimpy swimsuits. Some of the
sexier girls, the more adventurous girls,
Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain