“I’d love to see Joanna again. Is she dating anyone right now?” I asked.
“No, she’s single,” she assured me.
“If we can swing it, I’d also like to hang out with Bud and Laurie.”
I’d met them at my snowboarding shoot. They had been a lot of fun.
“How do you know them?” asked a surprised Sandy.
“Laurie did the snowboarding shoot with me. Bud was going to, but his face was all skinned up from doing a face-plant. I was only able to hang out with them for a few hours, but I had a good time. Maybe we all could go snowboarding. I think my brother and his wife would love it. You could see if Olivia wanted to come also,” I suggested.
Olivia was Sandy’s best friend; I’d met her at the club with Joanna.
“Would it be okay if I invited some of my other friends, too?” Sandy asked.
“Sounds like fun. I can tell right now I’ll need some downtime. This sounds like a great idea.”
Sandy and I chatted for a few more minutes, and then I needed to go. I was worn out, so I went to bed early. Peggy woke me getting into bed. I wrapped my arms around her, and we fell asleep.
Chapter 14 – Costumes
Wednesday October 29
I guess I was tired because I slept through Peggy getting up and going to school. I slept through running as well. What finally woke me was my phone ringing; it was Kendal.
“Morning, David,” she said, sounding much too chipper.
I just grunted back at her, trying to wake up.
“Tom told me you were free today since you were a bad boy and got kicked out of school,” she said, trying to get a rise out of me.
“I was sleeping. If you’re going to make fun of me, I’m hanging up and getting back to it.”
“Mr. Hill is shooting an ad today, and he lost one of his models. He needs someone desperately. Can you help him out?”
I was tempted to say no, but Mr. Hill had helped me get started by having me do his newspaper insert advertising.
“Sure, but I have to be at my dad’s country club by four.”
“We’ll make it work. I’ll be over in ten minutes to pick you up,” she said, and then hung up.
I jumped into the shower and was coming down the stairs when Kendal pulled up. On the drive over, she filled me in on what we were doing.
“We’re going to the mall to do an ad for Ken’s Sporting Goods. I cleared it with Devin. I guess they sell Range products. They want to do three commercials: two at thirty seconds, and a one-minute ad. They’re getting ready for Christmas.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked.
“I don’t know, we’ll see.”
We pulled up to the mall and got lucky, finding a spot close to the door. Kendal hustled me in, and I found Mr. Hill smiling at me.
“I hear you were being a white knight and got in trouble,” he started. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
“Don’t you love it? You can’t even protect yourself or your friends anymore. I guess I should just have let him beat on me,” I said as we shook hands. “So, what are you doing with me today?”
“We’re doing a holiday sales commercial. They want to show they have everything from swimwear to ski gear. You’re going to have to do ten clothing changes. We’ll film you in the same spot and same pose each time, and stitch it together to look like the clothes just change. I’m excited to try it because I’ve got some new software.”
He took me over to his laptop and started showing me shots of his daughter, Janet. He had her in a couple of different outfits. The raw footage was jerky as they cut to have her change. Then he showed me the final product. It looked exactly like he described. The clothes seemed to magically change. It was a cool effect.
“The key is getting you in exactly the same pose you were in at the end of the shot as you are at the beginning,” he explained. “Before this software, we would’ve had to shoot you with a blue screen and then send it out to a CGI company to create the final product. It would’ve been cost-prohibitive for a project like this.”
He sent me back to wardrobe, and I had a big surprise. Sarah, from the Ford Model Camp in New York, was modeling with me. She didn’t see me as I slipped up behind her. I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her neck. When she spun around, she had murder in her eyes, until she saw it was me. Then she gave me a serious kiss. The makeup girl interrupted us.
“I guess you two know each other,” she stated.
We just smiled at her and got into the makeup chairs.
“I hear you’re going to be a big movie star. How did that happen?” she asked me.
“I was in the right place at the right time. I went to a fundraiser and Lori Winnick was there. She asked me if I wanted to work with her.”
We got caught up while the makeup girl did her magic, and then we went out for the first part of the shoot. We were doing swimsuits first because they showed the most skin. Sarah and I worked well together. Our time in New York was paying off, and Mr. Hill noticed.
“You guys seem to move in sync. I’d like to use you both in a couple of projects I have coming up,” he told us between scenes.
“You better lock Sarah in now before she gets too famous,” I teased.
She gave me a hip-bump.
“Yeah, right, Mr. Hollywood. You’ll forget about us little people once you hit it big.”
“So? I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’ You’ll work together again for me?” Mr. Hill ventured.
We both nodded. Mr. Hill was smiling until he heard a commotion.
“Darling, so sorry I’m late.”
We turned, and an overdressed woman in her early thirties was air-kissing Sarah. Her perfume about knocked me down. Mr. Hill had a neutral look that told me he didn’t like this lady. I had to take a step back because her perfume was going to give me a headache. A little Chanel is nice, but you shouldn’t bathe in it. I recognized the scent because my Grandma Dawson wore it. I thought they quit making the stuff.
“David, I’d like you to meet my agent, Denise Ellis. Denise, this is David Dawson. He’s also a model for Ford,” she said as an introduction.
“I didn’t see your name on the work order. We’ll have to get that fixed,” Denise stated.
“I’m sorry, did you get me this job?” I asked.
“No, but you work for Ford. Don’t worry, we’ll get it worked out,” she assured me.
This one was a shark. Mr. Hill found something else to do, and I motioned Kendal over.
“I’d like you to meet my agent, Kendal Miller. This is Denise. She works for Ford, and apparently wants a piece of me today,” I said, and went to change again.
When we came out to shoot the next scene, Kendal and Denise were nowhere to be seen. I was in a baseball uniform, and Sarah had on a softball uniform. We were almost done with the scene when Denise came storming onto the set.
“Mr. Hill, I’m sorry, but I need to talk to you,” she said.
He followed her off the set. He came back red-faced.
“Sarah, I’m sorry, but I can’t use you anymore today,” he stated.
Denise came storming up.
“What are you doing? We have a contract!”
That was when they started yelling at each other. Kendal pulled Sarah and me aside.
“Denise is claiming that since the model that bailed worked for Ford, you’re their replacement, so Ford should get paid for your services. I just got off the phone with Tom. He’s calling Deb Thomas right now.”
Sarah looked confused and a little worried. I just shrugged. I knew this would get worked out. Kendal’s phone rang and she talked for a minute, then ventured over to the screaming match that was going on. Of course, Sarah and I followed. We weren’t missing this.