‘Most people live on a lonely Island’

Once again I’ve had my nightmares although this time was considerably different. The bullies came to pound me and I pulled out the same little pistol I had used when we practiced. I fired one or two hundred shots hitting absolutely nothing but it frightened them all away. I’ve seen too many movies where the good guys never need to reload. Their guns never run out of bullets. Then Dad came to tell me that using a gun was a crutch and he’d teach me how to do it right.

 © 2010 by Lilith Langtree & Rénae Dáºmas. This work may not be replicated or presented in whole or in part by any means electronic or otherwise without the express consent of the work’s Owner (copyright holder), with the exception of the private and non-commercial viewing by the reader who is also the end purchaser. ALL Rights Reserved, including but not limited to ownership of Characters, final content decision, and more. This is a work of Fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this story are fictional and any resemblance to real people or incidents past, present or future is purely coincidental. Any and all images which may be shown within this work are taken through license under Corel with the exception of the title image which is Photo Credit to Irina Sheik. No affiliations, involvement or gender assignations through the use of these or any images of the subject or subjects contained within those posted images is to be implied, intended or inferred.
An Aldoennetti & Langtree Original.

In response to the many questions about languages and their use. Teddi was FLUENT in more than ten languages. Both in proper idiomatic use and native inflections. I know for a fact she could pass as a native language speaker in at least English, American, German, French, and Italian. I presume she was as talented in the others as she was in those. I am unable to answer any other questions which have been placed but presume she modeled some of ‘Kat’s’ abilities after her own, much as she seems to have done for Lucy in Air Force Sweetheart.

Rénae Dáºmas

He came at me with murder in his eyes and I pulled out the same little pistol and proceeded to squirt coloured water at him. He melted like the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz. I couldn’t believe it, and then the tin man came and arrested me for using an unlicensed squirt gun.

“Only licensed squirt guns are permitted.”

“How does one get a license?”

“OH. Well you have to do a good deed. Have you done any good deeds lately?”

Since he was the Tin Man I took a chance and said, “Well, my house fell on a wicked witch.”

Before I had a response, positive or negative, Tanner woke me up and said we needed to get ready to leave. It seemed so real.

We left an hour later stopping along the way to pick up some coffee and Tanner grabbed a Sweet roll. I lusted after a Cherry Strudel but behaved myself since I had a dessert last night with my supper and I wasn’t ready for an early morning lecture on weight control. Maybe some time when he’s not watching.

We arrived at the studio and Irina pulled in about an hour later, some twenty minutes prior to the arrival of our first client and model who we are surprised to learn is Pam of the “Emerson is going to make me famous” ilk. I guess it didn’t work out. She seems quite subdued and I don’t bother to say anything about it but make the same fuss over her that I would any of the girls that come in to do modeling. When the session ends and they are about to leave she tells me, “Thank you for not throwing everything I said in my face. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. You were right.”

“Pam. I’ve gone through some very bad hurts in my life. I wouldn’t wish anything bad on anyone. We all make mistakes at one time or another. If you are not signed to anyone, I’m sure Tanner would welcome you back without reservation.”

She looks across the room at Tanner who is speaking with the client, “I couldn’t ask him to do that.”

“Are you signed with anyone?”

“No.”

“Would you come back if I asked him to let you do it?”

“Do you really think he would?”

“I’m willing to ask. Stay here and as soon as the client leaves I’ll talk with him, okay?”

She seems very uncertain of this but nods her head and I take her over to sit on one of Irina’s chairs until the client leaves and Tanner is available. I don’t know if it’s my powers of persuasion or if Tanner really feels the same as do I but he says, “I never tore up her contract so if she wants to continue as though nothing happened, I’m willing. Same rates and financial conditions as before. She still has the investments intact because there hasn’t been enough time to cash them out to send the money to her. Bring her over.”

I go back to a contrite Pam and half drag her back to Tanner. A few minutes later she is again her happy self and hugging everyone, glad to be a part of the family again. “Thank you, Katrina.”

“You’re welcome, Pam. I’m really glad to see you back.”

She smiles at me as Tanner calls her over and begins to talk with her about being one of the three models going with him during the European gig.

Ten minutes later she is going out the door to start getting her things together and check on her shots. The second client and their model have arrived and things are once again going a bit crazy. An hour and a half later that session has finished and we rush out for lunch since I need to be back in time to spend three or four hours with my modeling coach.

The coach arrives on time and Tanner speaks with her prior to siccing her on me. Everything I thought I had learned and been doing has been “all wrong” so now I need to learn the proper way it is all done.

“I can’t believe you were being paid for doing everything in such a manner. Obviously the clients didn’t know any better.”

“They seemed happy with the way I was doing it. They said my manner was ‘wholesome’.”

“Wholesome is not necessarily professional. Come, he wants you ready for a major runway presentation and you will need a lot of work. Now begin like this...”

I never dreamed it could be so difficult to make everything look natural. I thought I was doing pretty well before but, nooo...

“You look like a tomboy. You don’t walk with your shoulders, you walk with your hips, like so... No, your feet go like this, remember? That turn looked like you’re a truck skidding around a corner on two wheels. Do it smmooothly, like this.”

I’m getting so confused. It’s such hard work making it look like it isn’t hard work.

To make matters worse, the new language courses arrive just minutes before my coach departs threatening never to return if I don’t practice all night. I wonder if she really means it??? Maybe I could just “forget” to practice...

Tanner bursts that bubble in a hurry as he looks up from his computer, “I see you improved a little. She’s one of the top coaches so with the rest of the week and part of Saturday I figure you’ll be doing a lot better. Your new lessons are here, by the way.”

“Gee, Thanks heaps.” I needed that vote of confidence. I’m considering throwing the engagement ring at him protection or not. NO. It’s worth too much, I’ll throw the language lessons at him.

“You’re welcome. I’ve arranged for her to go to the house the rest of the week. That way you’ll have more time to practice and to study the languages. Irina and I will get along okay here the rest of the week. Do you need a short nap or maybe a little something to eat before the Emerson shoot? We’ve got a little over an hour to kill before we need to leave.”

“I’d like to get some juice to take with us so I may sip some while we are doing the shoot but otherwise if we’re not going to be late, I’m okay.”

“Great. Then why don’t you use the computer in the office and take a look at the Russian course?”

Right. Whatever happened to, ‘Why don’t you rest for a bit and catch your second wind’?

“Tanner, I really just need a half hour to relax and think about everything I hope I just learned.”

“Oh. Yeah. That is a good idea. Maybe you could even use some of it on this shoot. We might have you walk around and take snaps on the fly as well as static stuff.”

“Thanks, Tanner.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Doesn’t this man understand facetious? No, probably not. I think I’ll hide over in Irina’s corner for a while.

“Kat? Kat! Come on, we need to get going.”

I didn’t know I went to sleep, that explains the weird dream. Somehow I need to find a way I can wake up without the shock of Tanner always telling me we need to get moving in thirty seconds. All right, so he isn’t really that bad... but almost.

I splash some water on my face in the restroom and am beginning to become aware of everything going on around me. My face looks okay so I’ll forego makeup since Irina will need to see what I’m modeling before he changes it anyway. I join them and the three of us go out to the RV where Irina puts his make up kit in the back before he checks on his mobile makeup station lights which run off the same inverter that runs all the chargers. The two batteries powering it are huge 12 volt things and Tanner has said the inverter “can power a small house for quite a few hours.” I guess a dozen or so little chargers don’t mean much to it. Irina is happy with his lights so we pack into the RV and are on our way.

“Tan? Remember I need some juice.”

“No sweat, Kat. We’ll stop on the way.”

Tan and Irina begin talking about the shoot and I learn, indirectly, that there will be eight or ten different items to model with a number of mix and matches occurring as well. That is to allow Emerson’s company a wide selection from which to choose showing Pendercot’s lines, thus giving them a greater latitude in the layout of the department store flyers as well as the posters which they will be generating. It’s still a bit difficult to realise that my face will be plastered all around the world in department stores. I hope Mom or Sis don’t make the connection. At least that possibility is still some months away.

We arrive on location where Tanner and Irina begin unloading the RV of all the equipment which is stowed inside so I will have somewhere to change and may stand up while doing it. When they finish I will actually have room to move. The makeup station swings out from the side storage unit and an awning leans down from the top of the RV on the passenger side to provide a little shelter while sides are brought out and snapped in place thus creating a small shelter/wind break. This has the effect of making the inside of the RV nice and snug.

Tanner tells me, “In colder weather, there’s even a heater which makes the inside of the RV nice and toasty. Usually the girls will huddle around in here or near the large stand up propane heater which we put up just outside. It creates a nice little bubble of heat when there is four or five inches of snow on the ground.”

“Right now, I’ll settle for my juice.”

He opens the refrigerator in the RV and lets me decide which of the two I want to drink first as he pulls out a sweet roll which he purchased back at the convenience store where we stopped enroute, “Hey, Irina. You want anything?”

“No thanks Tan. I’m good for now. Where are the other two girls?”

Tanner closes it all up again as he answers, “They should be here in a few minutes.”

I begin sipping my fruit juice as he munches his sweet roll; if I thought I could get away with it I’d grab his arm and take a bite — out of the sweet roll, I mean. In very short order he is halfway through the roll.

“Hey Kat. Would you like a bite of the roll?”

I’m licking my lips at the thought, it looks inviting.

I screw my face up in denial, tears almost coming to my eyes, “I better not. As much as I would like a nibble, that will get my sweet tooth going and I’ll want more.”

“Kat. I promise I won’t rail on you about it. You’ve been off this sort of thing for a week, cold turkey. I won’t let you start up again. Here, half of what’s left won’t kill you.”

I look at him and at the sweet roll. Half of what’s left really won’t be a lot. It’s not like I’m eating a burger and fries. I purse my lips and lick them again, “Maybe a little?”

He laughs and breaks the roll in two giving me the piece which has most of the filling in it. I close my eyes and take my first small bite... ambrosia. My whole body reacts to the taste. I just know I’m going to gain two or three pounds but just this once it’s worth it.

“Thank you, Tanner.” I take another small bite and float on the sugar high.

“You’re welcome, Kat. Here’s a paper towel so you can wipe your hands afterward.”

“Thank you.”

Taking a sip of my juice, which seemed so sweet before, I blanch at the bitterness of it. The aftermath of consuming nearly pure sugar in the form of a sweet roll. It was worth it. Besides, it’s not like my metabolism can’t slough it off. I’ve eaten three burgers a day several days in a row when I was Mac and that included the fries and a shake with each meal and I didn’t gain a thing. If I can’t eat a small part of a sweet roll without gaining weight then something’s wrong.

Tanner and Irina go to talk with Emerson’s rep to see exactly what we will be doing and the order in which we will be doing it while I wipe my hands and take another sip of my juice which isn’t quite as bitter as it tasted right after a bite of the roll. By the end of the shoot it tastes sweet again.

Emerson will be arriving to take a quick look at the shots about an hour or so into the shoot which is likely to last close to three with the lighting and outfit changes. With three of us modeling, the gaps in time between my actually posing for the camera seem much more pronounced. At the show there was always someone entering or leaving the runway. Here, everyone is more relaxed and there is more time for me to change. Since it is outdoors and the light is changing as we go, Irina must adjust our make up for the changing light and different clothing. Not drastically as yet but as more and more reds creep into the light then Tanner and Irina must change their own lighting to fill the difference and sometimes Irina makes little changes to the makeup on each of us. It’s difficult for me to understand why anyone would want to shoot outdoors, but I guess it sells clothing.

We have made great progress despite the changing times and adjustments for light. Emerson doesn’t show up until we are nearly finished. I’ve just gone out to model the last item and the other two girls are getting into their street clothes or having their makeup removed when his limo pulls up and his minions begin fawning all over him. Tanner just continues shooting pictures. Emerson takes a look at us then goes over to the desk pulled down at the side of the RV where Irina pulls up the photos so he may look through them. He point some out to his two assistants who make notes while Emerson continues to look through the images pointing and talking to his assistants.

Finally we finish with these photos and take a break, going back to the RV.

“I’m going to check with Emerson to see if anything needs to be shot over or if he wants another combination. Why don’t you wait in the passenger area of the RV while I talk with him and see if I can let the other girls leave?”

“All right. May I have my other bottle of juice?”

“Sure. No problem, Kat.”

He digs it out and then goes off to talk with Emerson who comes up with a couple of other skirt, blouse, blazer combinations he would like to see shot so Sue and I change again and we continue to add photos to the folder. We are shooting quickly now to try to keep up with the light and we manage to finish in about forty minutes.

Again Emerson is pointing and talking and his assistants are writing. Apparently his business and promotional senses are quite well developed and he generally makes very astute decisions or investments. Some of Pendercot’s labels are items Emerson promotes into countries Pendercot doesn’t service, which makes me wonder what the tie-in is there. At any rate Pendercot usually supplies to English speaking countries while Emerson also markets into much of Europe and a small portion of the former Republic of Russia as well as some of the break-away nations. It’s amazing what you can learn over the course of a week or two if you listen and don’t talk.

I’ve just finished changing when I realise Emerson is at the door of the RV which I opened only moments before. He has me cornered here at the RV for all of thirty seconds before Tanner winds up behind him.

“Are you bothering my fiancee?”

“Of course not Tanner. You know me.”

“Oh yeah. I know you all right. Anything you thought you could get away with you’d give a try.”

“Now is that any way to speak with your employer?”

“If that employer is you... Yes.”

“Careful now Tanner. You don’t want to go into contract default. I can be most difficult if that happens.”

“You’re not the only one who can become difficult and who has deep resources, Carter.”

“Oh yes, your little ‘friends’. They don’t scare me, Tanner. I get what I want and I have ‘friends’ too.”

“I know that. Mine just don’t give a damn about yours, that’s all, Carter.”

“They should, especially when it doesn’t concern them.”

“Touching her will concern them. They tend to get very upset when someone does something to one of their own.”

Carter starts at that comment, his face changes, and for the first time he turns away from me and toward Tanner.

“Exactly what is that supposed to imply, Tanner?”

“Nothing. Just if anything happens to her while we are on this tour of yours, they will immediately assume you are behind it and act accordingly.”

“I’m supposed to be frightened of that?”

“If I were you, I would be. They have a habit of not playing by the rules as you well know.”

Emerson seems to be carefully considering that which Tanner has said.

“Another time, Tanner.”

“No other time, Carter. And if I were you I’d hire some protection for Katrina here and my other two girls as well for the duration of the tour. I’ll take it a bit personally if ANYTHING were to happen to any of them. Take it out of the profits you expect to make with your Greek venture.”

The smile vanishes from Carter’s face and he looks like a snake considering if he should strike.

“What do you know about my business?”

“They know enough about it to make it very hot for you with your own agency not to mention with and for your Greek counterparts. Their competitors would likely take a very dim view of the ‘events’ the five of you are orchestrating. Try your breach of contract with me, Carter and they’ll find out. Before or after the fact doesn’t usually matter much to them.”

“You so much as whisper...”

“And what, Carter? You’re on the short end of the stick and it has a fuse which is lighted and burning. If you don’t want it to go bang anytime soon, stay away from all of my girls and stay away from Katrina in particular. I tend to play by the same rules that the Agency uses.”

“You don’t scare me Tanner.”

“I should. Just remember what happened to you in high school. There aren’t any parents or teachers around now and someone might just finish the job. Not that it isn’t deserved. I should finish it just because of what you did to Pam.”

Emerson was looking at me at the moment Tanner mentioned Pam and as my face suddenly takes on a scowl he knows I know and that I’m not pleased. I’m really considering borrowing that little... pistol and playing with Emerson for a bit. I wish I could get away with it.

Emerson does a double take at the murder in my eyes and I suppose that isn’t something he’s accustomed to seeing coming from one of the girls he wants to seduce. I take two steps in his direction and he retreats like he’s been burned.

“Well Tanner, I think we will not require your services for the European shoot after all. I’ll have my attorney’s contact yours to work something out.”

“Fine with me but have your hand holders contact the Agency since they are involved. Or did you think Katrina here, was going on the shoot out of the goodness in her heart?”

“You’ve got something going down during the tour?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes there are several somethings, as I understand it. One or two are for the agency you say you represent. I wonder why that would be? Don’t they trust you anymore, Carter? Maybe you’ve been straying a bit too far off the reservation if they need to call in a clean up squad. Mind your P’s and Q’s over there Carter. You never know what might wind up in our reports. See you around, Carter. Up on all your shots?”

Emerson’s face nearly turns white then it is replaced by rage and he storms off entering his limo and slamming the door. It nearly leaves before the assistants can get in.

Now that things are calming down I am a bundle full of questions which I know better than to ask while we’re here. But Tanner better watch out once we get home because I’m going to drag him downstairs if I have to and get some of my questions answered.

to be continued