“What are you doing?” Rafa said, finally ripping her from her thoughts.
She turned her head toward him, and he stood facing her with the camera in front of his waist.
“We’re taking pictures.”
“Right, but what are you doing?”
“I’m posing, like you said.”
“What exactly would you call those poses?” He furrowed his brow at her.
“I’m trying to look sexy.”
His lips turned up. “This is not working the way you think it is.”
Miri threw her arms at her side as if giving up. “You don’t think I’m sexy?”
Now it was a full grin. “No, I think you’reverysexy. But that?” he said, motioning toward her with his camera.
“This is how models pose in magazines,” Miri pointed out, still kneeling on the stone.
“And what magazines are those?GQ?Sports Illustrated?Playboy? Because you know where you won’t find models—oranyone, for that matter—posing like that?GloGeo.”
“Not on brand?” Miri asked, wrinkling her nose.
Rafa laughed. “No, definitely not theGloGeobrand. Why are you trying to look sexy anyway?”
“I mean, I was actually going for sexybadass.”
“Well, then. Come here,” he said, motioning her toward him with his hand.
Miri crawled to the edge of the stone and stepped off, standing in front of him. He set the camera on the stone then squared up with her.
“Okay, first, shake it off.” He shimmied his body and she followed suit. “All right, now, show me badass.”
Miri popped her hip, pushed out her chest, and puckered her lips. Rafa shook his head. “No. Look, this isn’t a pinup ad. You’re not selling a product. Sexy and badass aren’t the same thing. You can be both, but they aren’t identical. Being sexy is all about desire. Lust. Being badass is about confidence. A give-no-fucks attitude. And having the résumé to back it up.”
“But Idon’thave the résumé to back it up, remember?” Miri said, scrunching her face.
“Then fake it ’til you make it.”
“Show me.”
“Show you what? How to fake it?”
“Show me some poses,” she said, motioning to this body.
“You want me to show you how to look like a badass?”
“And sexy. You’re a photographer. Show me how it’s done.”
“I’m not that kind of photographer. And frankly, I’m not really a photographer at all. I’m a journalist who happens to be able totake decent enough photos that sometimes I get assigned to do both.”
“Well, clearly I’m doing it all wrong, so I want you to show me how to do it right.”
He eyed her for a second, sighed, and then said, “All right. Here, switch places with me.”
They spun around so Miri was facing Rafa at the stone. He rested his behind on the stone, then said, “This is badass,” as he leaned forward into a half crouch, resting his forearms on his thighs, and looking straight on at her.
