Uplifting Six

I sat there stunned. “Why would I be the face of a brand?”

She looked at me almost pityingly, “Geri, sweet innocent that you are. You heard what Babs said at the dinner last night. She said that there was a campaign in the making that needed twins.”

“Givenchy is looking at a launch of a perfume that would make you twice as alluring. I know that the sort of advertising they like cries out for black-haired girls to suit the ambience. I can almost write the story-board myself – it is a classic situation and only needs the two of you on the bill-boards. Done correctly it would be a case of instant recognition and that is what everyone wants. I hope that I am not wrong as you are too nice to be let down and I have become very attached to you, especially after last night.”

We kissed for a while and then she stood, “Put on your shower cap and have a good shower using the scented body wash. Make sure you shave carefully and I will be back to get you ready.”

She picked up all of her clothes from the bedroom floor while I tidied in the kitchen and she gave me another kiss on the way out, leaving to door unlocked. I did as requested and was clean, tidy and feeling a bit more like a real person when she came back.

She told me to sit at the vanity while she had a good look through the wardrobe, finally coming up with a “Ahah!” as she pulled out a blue denim skirt and a white blouse.

“I thought I had seen Justine in these, Tati will be wearing the same.”

She worked on my hair and then on my face and then allowed me to dress.

We started with the gaff again, followed by white panties and a lacy white bra. She showed me how to put on panty-hose and then I put on the blouse and skirt.

I giggled, “About to be a supermodel and today I wear my first skirt.”

She pulled out some light coloured boots in what she called taupe. Then she found a similar colour handbag and we put all of the essentials as well as my keys, purse and the lipstick in the colour I was now wearing. When I looked in the mirror I saw a very nice looking girl who could be just the girl next door, if you lived in a gated community full of millionaires.

She gave me a hug and told me that I should just do my best and follow orders. She told me that photographers liked models that would hold a pose as ordered until the next one is called.

“Listen to what they ask” she said “That is the key to not only getting it right but also to getting it over with quickly.”

We pulled my door shut and went to collect Tatiana, who was a mass of shivering jelly. I held her and told her it was just another day at work and she would be successful as long as she doesn’t dissolve on set.

She laughed, “Listen to her, not a single shoot under her belt and she is giving me advice!”

Francine snorted, “That’s because you need it, girl. If you walk into a shoot the way you are they would take you straight to the exit. Get a grip and follow her lead. She is not worried because she is ignorant and, at this time, ignorance is certainly bliss.”

Before we went to the lift Francine took some more pictures of us and the two of them hugged us and whispered “good luck.”

In the lift Tatiana told me she was scared that it would not work out so I held her and told her that what I said before was all she needed to think about. It was just another shoot for her and we will either be successful or we wouldn’t.

If we are there was nothing to worry about and if we weren’t there was still nothing to worry about because we both had regular jobs and there was always the chance that being picked to try out for this job would be all she needed to move forward. I told her that Babs would make sure that everyone she dealt with knew that there was a big campaign finalist in her stable.

Steve was waiting by the car and he gave us both a hug before we got in the back. As we pulled away he told us that we looked magnificent and we both called him an old smoothie in unison before breaking into giggles.

At the studio he showed us in and greeted the boss by name, telling that he was now in the presence of two supermodels. We were ushered into a dressing room where four ladies waited for us.

I thought that the overtime rates for today would break some businesses. We were taken into separate rooms and I was told to strip down to bra and pants. Given a robe to wear I was then sat in front of a vanity again and all of this morning’s work was removed and another layer replaced it. One girl put my hair up and then I was taken back to be dressed in a magnificent evening gown.

I followed advice and did not say or do anything I wasn’t told to. Finally, I met Tatiana on the way into the studio proper. She looked like a million dollars and smiled when she saw me. The photographer was very professional and we followed his direction and smiled on cue.

He had us together, apart, one behind the other, holding a perfume bottle with “Double or Nothing” on the label or just admiring it while it sat on a plinth. Two changes of dress later he declared that he was happy with the result and that we could go home and enjoy the rest of the day. He thanked us both for being so fantastic and professional and that he looked forward to seeing us again.

We went back to our denim and white and thanked the ladies for their attention. They looked shocked at first and then thanked us for being so nice.

On the way out I commented, “That was different, what did those ladies expect, fire-breathing dragons?”

Tatiana said the usual behaviour from supermodels was just that and they had treated us like we were already at the top of the tree.

I said that it cost nothing to be nice and she hugged me before we got into the car.

“Thank you for everything, it’s in the lap of the gods now.”

Instead of going back to the apartment, Steve drove us to an up-market suburb and pulled up outside a mansion. Babs opened the door to us and welcomed us into her house to meet her husband, son and cocker spaniel.

She had organised a light lunch and asked us how we got on as we ate. Tatiana said that she thought we had done everything that was required and that the photographer had said that he looked forward to seeing us again.

“That’s promising” said Babs “He’s a one company man and they pay him enough not to do any other work except for his other passion, landscape photography. I’ve been to a couple of his exhibitions and one of his pictures hangs in the office.”

As we ate I noticed the son gazing at Tatiana like he was sitting in front of a goddess but my own attention was demanded by the spaniel which thought that I was the best person in the room to give out tit-bits.

We had just finished eating when her phone rang and she went into her home office to answer it. When she came out she had a big grin on her face.

“Ladies, you are now the faces of the ‘Double or Nothing’ campaign. I will be meeting the principals during the week to finalise the contracts but first we need to get the two of you to the office to sign you both on new contracts. Are you all right with that, Geri?”

I said that I didn’t know if I was all right with it until I found out just what it was I was needed to do.

She said that there would be more of what we did today as well as media interviews, overseas trips, millionaires at our feet and probably TV or film offers.

“Oh,” I joked, “Just like normal people then.”

She got her coat and office keys and Steve took us to her office in the city. On the way she made a call on her mobile and, when we arrived, a distinguished looking gentleman in golfing attire greeted us as we got out of the car.

He shook our hands and smiled widely, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, girls; I think that you’re going to make everyone very happy.”

We went up to her office in an outside lift which was a magnificent viewing platform if a little scary. He went to his own office to print up a contract and Babs took us into her own where we sat and she told us what we would likely be earning.

It was a figure that made me go damp and a bit dizzy and she gave me a glass of water while I recovered. I asked if there was allowance in the contract for assistants and she told us that we could nominate our own personal assistants and the principal would pay them a salary while we worked.

We both knew who would be taking the journey with us and that there may well be opportunity for them to be in front of the camera as well.

Tatiana had been in the business for a while so I figured that if she thought it was good to sign, I would too.

The contract that we signed was pretty standard as far as I could see. We nominated Babs as our manager on a five percent commission on our earnings and she agreed to look after our wellbeing and general day-to-day requirements, such as car and driver and needed beauty treatments.

When she pointed that one out she looked at me and said that this would include any surgery I would need to fulfil my obligations to our employer. It suddenly came home to me that I may need to become a full-time woman after being one for just one weekend.

I wondered that if I had new boobs I could wear an uplift bra.

Marianne Gregory © 2022