Jesus Christ. What was with this guy and his stupid stick analogy? “I’m not going to be in a shoot,” I quickly said.
“Well, then I don’t shoot.” He tossed his very expensive camera down on the sand and an assistant shot out of nowhere and grabbed the thing and rushed it off. I scanned the crowd; everyone was looking at me.
“Then you don’t shoot,” I said, turning and walking away from the total madness. Was he really being serious—it was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard.
36. A Silence Before The Storm . . .
I rushed over to one of the SUVs, climbed in and closed the door. I peered out the window and watched as a loud, lively debate looked like it had broken out. Everyone seemed to have an opinion, arms flapping, heads being held, fingers pointed and every now and again everyone would stop talking and look over at me in the car.
Then suddenly stillness and silence.A silence before the storm?The crowd dispersed slowly, and like Moses and the Red Sea, Ben strode out of the middle of it and started walking towards the car. My stomach plunged. I was getting a very bad feeling about this. Very.
“No! NO! No!” I mouthed through the window, locking the door as Ben got closer. I sat back in the chair and folded my arms defiantly.
“Sera.” Ben was trying to open the car door. “Please open the door.”
“No.” I turned to him, arms still folded tightly over my body. “You people are all mad. I told you I didn’t want to come on this shoot.”
“Please. Just open the door.” He pushed his face all the way up to the window and looked at me with a pair of sad eyes . . . God those eyes were dangerous. They caused sensible women to do very stupid things . . . like unlocking the car door. Ben pulled it open and climbed in. I shuffled away from him quickly.
“So it seems that Giovanni will not do the shoot unless you are his ‘stick,’” Ben gestured air commas.
“Mm-hmm,” I mumbled. “So?”
“And the thing is, that wehaveto do this shoot and wehaveto finish it now, we can’t come back and re-shoot it, we can’t get another model and we need to use Giovanni.”
I turned and looked at Ben. “So what are you saying? That you want me to be his fucking stick?”
“Weneedyou to be his stick. Even the client agrees. And you looked so, so, incredibly beautiful in that shot he took. Everyone thinks so, not just me.”
My face flushed red and I touched my hot cheeks. “This has got to be some sort of joke.”
“No joke.” Ben reached out a hand and placed it on my knee, I flinched at his touch. “You know how you broke down the other night and I came out to help you?”
“Yes.” I didn’t like where this was going.
“You know how you promised you would come to my rescue when my car broke down?”
“Yes.” I really,reallydidn’t like where this was going!
“Well, my car just broke down. Big time. Its tyres are flat, there’s smoke pouring out of the engine, it’s about to fucking explode, and you are the only person in the world who can save me.”
I looked up at Ben. He looked desperate. There was no longer anything cool and calm about him. I hung my head and shook it.
“But I’m not a bloody model. I have no idea how to pose and look into the camera and pretend that I am in no way self-conscious about a whole bunch of people staring at me and—”
“That’s the point. He doesn’t want a model. He wants you. Besides, he’s already sent Cindy home in a flood of tears so we basically have no one. It’s only a few shots, the rest are just close-ups of the car.”
“That sounds so embarrassing. Everyone will be looking at me.” I glanced out the window and the entire crew were now standing in a line looking towards the car, as if they were trying to read our lips.
“Please, rescue me!” Ben reached out and took my hand. “And if you don’t want to rescue me because you still moderately hate me, do it for the money instead.” At that I perked up.
“I get paid?”
“Of course. We have to pay a cancellation fee for Cindy, and then we would have needed to hire another model for the rest of the day, so you’ll get those fees.”
“Really?” I looked up at Ben thinking about textbooks and groceries and getting a few nights off in the next month. Suddenly that seemed like something that would go a long way in quelling any anxiety I might have. But right now, that money didn’t mean as much as keeping a promise I made to Ben, and also, seeing him this upset was breaking my heart.
“Fine. I’ll do it,” I said sliding towards Ben and the door.
