Page 21 of Wish You Knew
The casting followed the usual structure. I followed her to a meeting room where she flicked through my portfolio. Occasionally, she would stop on a particular shot and ask a few questions about the context. We chatted briefly about some of the brands I’d worked with, as well as finding out more about their ideas for their shoot. The whole thing lasted little longer than ten minutes.
She closed my portfolio and passed it back to me. “We’re looking to have a couple of male models on the shoot,” the fashion director said. “I’ve got one here now, if you’re okay to have a couple of shots done?”
“Sure.” I smiled. “Can’t do it if there’s no chemistry.”
I walked behind her down a corridor into a small room, which was a cross between a fashion cupboard and a studio. Half was set up with a simple white backdrop and a camera, while the rest of it resembled my wardrobe, clothes bulging out of cupboards, accessories scattered around the available surfaces, and mismatched shoes on the floor.
“Can you wait here? I’ll go and get him.”
My magpie eyes scanned the various treasures while I waited. It was like heaven in there. Just as I was about to pick up a Balenciaga handbag, she came back.
“Rosie? This is Mark. We did an initial casting last week and he’s in the running.”
Mark.
Common name. There must have been hundreds of models called Mark. The chances of it being him were…
I turned, and as soon as I saw who was in the doorway my hand flew to my mouth.
“Rosie,” he said. “Who knew we’d be up for the same job so soon after working together?”
I swallowed down the bile in my throat.Keep calm, don’t let him bother you, there’s someone else here this time.
“Are you okay?” the fashion director asked. “You’ve gone awfully pale.”
“No, um, I’m fine,” I lied. “We were on a shoot together last week forSFU.”
“Ah, good. That means you’ve already got a good relationship if you’ve shot lingerie together.” She clapped her hands together.
Mark’s gaze raked over my body. I imagined him remembering me in theSFUbra and panties. I hated he knew what that looked like. I hated how he thought he could take advantage of me. I hated how he made me feel now.
I was a professional though, and despite my hatred of him, I had to get through these brief test shots and then get the hell out of there.
We were directed to our places in the studio half of the room. Naturally, we fell into poses without the need for further explanation. Even so, my body seemed unnaturally stiff as I tried to avoid Mark touching me. Knowing what he had wanted to do made my skin crawl and any time he got close, I pulled away sharply.
The fashion director snapped away, not saying a word. These shots couldn’t be good. They’d be worse than the ones I did in my first ever casting. And we were well into four figures for those now.
Eventually after what felt like an hour, although in reality it was probably only around five minutes, she called a halt to proceedings.
“That’s great, guys,” she said, with a smile which didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Rosie, I think that’s all I need from you today. We’ll be in touch soon if we want you to come back. And Mark, if you’re happy to wait a little longer, I think there will be one more shoot.”
“Sure, not a problem.” Mark beamed. “I don’t have anywhere to be.”
One of the other members of the fashion team popped his head around the door and beckoned to the fashion director.
“Are you okay to see yourself out? I need to deal with something.” She cast a look over her shoulder at me as she rushed away. “Good to meet you.”
I wouldn’t be seeing her again anytime soon. At least not if this casting had gone as badly as I thought. Relieved to be out of there, I stepped towards the doorway, only to have Mark grab my arm.
“I didn’t think I would be seeing you again so soon either,” he hissed in my ear. “Not after your rock star boyfriend threatened me.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I twisted in his grasp, but he tightened his fingers around my forearm painfully.
“And he’s not here now, either.”
“As if you’d be stupid enough to try anything.” I clung on to that thought.
Mark’s other hand trailed a path across my breasts, sliding underneath my blazer and squeezing my right tit hard. I winced, trying to pull away from him, but his other arm encircled me.
