Working Extra 08

I woke up to my phone ringing. I sat up on the edge of the bed and reached for it. I glanced at the clock. It read 12:43 a. m. Who the heck calls in the middle of the night? In the few seconds it took me to reach for the phone, a dozen terrible possibilities raced through my sleepy mind - mom, dad, my sister?

Then I saw it was Shelly calling.

"Yeah...?" I yawned.

"Hi, babe. What took you so long? Are you with someone?" I could hear her chuckling at the other end.

"No, I was sleeping," I sighed. "Why're you calling?"

"Well, babe, I got good news, and I wanted you to be the first to know. Remember that series I told you about, the one I've been doing for three years, and that they suddenly decided to kick me out for someone new?"

"Yeah..." I yawned again.

"Well, that new dollface they hired just screwed up big time and got herself arrested, so guess what? They called me and asked me to come back to the series."

"And you said no?"

"I told them a few things, but when they promised to keep me on the set for at least three more productions, I said yes. I'm flying to Vegas in a few hours."

I was trying to make sense of what she was telling me, but I was speechless.

"I'll be gone for a week or so, so no need for you to come to my place and do your thing."

After we hung up, I crawled back into bed. Damn you, Shelly! I have to get up in a few hours, but now I'm awake. I sighed, rolled over and hugged my pillow, trying to go back to sleep. But my mind was still trying to work out what she had said. Did she say that I didn't have to do the chores while she's gone? And my pay? She didn't say anything about it... Oh, fuck you, Shelly!

***

As always when we were shooting the next ad in the store, there was a small group of people watching us. I don't know if they were there to watch the filming or if they were there to find out what was going to be on sale next week. I didn't mind.

The scene was about toothpaste. I was standing by the shelf, holding one tube in each hand. We usually did three takes so they could pick the one they liked, and this was the third.

"Action!"

I turned on my best smile and started delivering my lines when I suddenly felt something tugging on my pants. I looked down and saw a boy, maybe three years old, looking up at me.

"I like the red," he said.

I don't know why, but instead of just cutting the scene, I squatted down beside him.

"It's good that you like to brush your teeth. What about this one?" I showed him the green tube I had in my hands.

"I like the red one, cause it's the one Mom buys." he reached for the tube.

"Well, if you ask your mom to buy them both, she will get twenty percent off and you get the chance to try them both."

"Harvey! Come here!" a woman's voice cut through the aisle. I looked up and saw her trying to push herself through the small crowd that was watching us filming.

"I'm so sorry for this!" Her face was flushed with embarrassment.

"It's okay," I looked up at her. "He didn't do anything wrong."

She quickly retreated, pulling the boy with her.

"That was hilarious!" Dave, the cameraman laughed and so did I and the small crowd. "And I got it all on camera, too. Damn, I got to see it again."

When everything had settled, we carried on.

***

Thursday afternoon. Five minutes early I parked my car on the street near Torres Productions. While I was walking to the studio, I texted Angela to let her know I was there. Thirty seconds later I got a "thumbs-up" in return.

"Welcome, Natalie!" We shook hands and I noticed that she was dressed in her usual outfit - jeans, shirt and sneakers. She looked awesome in the most casual way.

"Come, let's meet the crew before they start shooting."

Without waiting, she turned and headed for the studio.

I looked around. The room where we had been trying the armbinder was now transformed into a bedroom. On the floor was a soft carpet and behind the bed was a new wall with a window and a "green-screen" in it. Scattered around the scene were lights and screens that almost made the room glow.

Angela led me to the people standing by the bed.

"Natalie, meet Jenna and Morgan, today's models. Daniel, one of my photographers and this is Jamie, today's makeup artist. Folks, this is Natalie, a possible new model."

While we shook hands and greeted each other, Angela continued, "She's here to see how we work, and maybe we get to sign her up for something."

After the greetings, they soon turned their attention to each other and the upcoming shoot. While they talked and Daniel showed what he wanted from Jenna and Morgan, I noticed that Jamie was watching me. But it wasn't like the guys used to watch me back in school - it was more like he was already trying to figure out what makeup I should wear. At least so I thought.

"This is going to be a soft girl-on-girl bondage scene with Morgan and Jenna," Angela started to explain. "Morgan's an experienced model, but she's also a skilled rigger. We often hire her to work both in front of the camera and behind the scenes."

I watched the scene take shape. Morgan slowly wrapped the ropes around Jenna, pausing whenever Daniel wanted another shot or a different angle. Every now and then, Jamie stepped in to touch up their makeup or adjust a stray strand of hair.

After a while, Morgan had Jenna tied with her hands behind her back and ropes around her torso, leaving Jenna's breasts prominently displayed. It had been a slow process, pausing to allow Daniel to get his shots but now Morgan was kissing and fondling the helpless Jenna. I couldn't help feeling a little excited.

"Okay, let's take a break! 10 minutes."

Daniel reached for his jacket and before he was out of the studio, he already had a cigarette between his lips. Jamie also left the studio but for the bathroom.

"Hey! What about me?" Jenna called out, still tightly bound.

"You don't need your hands to pee," Morgan laughed, but she started untying her anyway.

Angela and I joined Jenna and Morgan, who were both sitting on the bed. The lights were off, but I could still feel the warmth lingering.

"What do you think... Natalie was it?" Morgan asked while she was gathering up her ropes.

"Yeah. It's more work and detail than I had expected."

"It's your first time in a studio?" Jenna asked.

"We did some modelling back in school, but this is so different."

"Yeah, there's a lot more to it than most people think," Morgan said with a quick smile before turning her attention to Jenna.

"You look familiar." It was Jamie, who had joined us again.

"I'm pretty good at remembering faces and I'm sure I have seen you somewhere before. Maybe in a store or something."

"Well... I do help the store where I work by doing some video ads. But they're only running on local TV stations and the Internet."

His eyes narrowed as he kept watching me. "I knew it! That's where I have seen you. I remember those ads. No offence, but they're pretty lame."

We laughed. "I guess so. It's just a guy with a camera and me. No lights, sound or makeup. The manager gives us a list of items we should market; we make something up and shoot."

"No script, just improvising?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

By then Daniel was back from his smoke, so Jamie dashed off to pick up his tools again, to get the models ready for the next set.

"I guess I will have to have a look at those ads," Angela said and then changed the topic. "What do you think about this?" She nodded to the scene.

I turned to the scene where the lights were on, and again Morgan was tying up Jenna. This time she was lying on her back on the bed, arms and legs spread wide. Again, I noticed how quickly Jamie jumped in with his brushes to adjust some minuscule details.

"It's a lot more work than I expected, but it looks fun. A little exciting, too." I couldn't take my eyes off the scene.

"And how do you feel about doing it professionally, showing a lot of skin and knowing the pictures might be published?"

I chewed on my lower lip as I thought about her question. Did I mind?

"No. I guess movie actors have to be prepared to do all kinds of scenes."

Angela gave me an encouraging smile. "I can ask Daniel and Morgan to do a test shoot if you like."

My eyes went to the scene again, and my heart raced. "I would love to try."

***

When the shoot was over, Angela led Daniel, Morgan and me to her office.

We sat down and Angela explained the idea of the test shoot. Daniel started to ask me questions about my ambitions and my modelling experience. It was pretty much the same questions that Angela had asked me the other day.

"And what experience do you have with bondage?" Morgan asked.

Before I could answer, Angela cut in. "Actually, I think I have something to show, Morgan." Angela turned to me. "May I show them the pictures we took the other day?"

I gasped as I vividly remembered what we had done that evening and how aroused I had been. But didn't I just tell her that I thought that most actors should be prepared to show some skin? Besides, I had seen all the photos, and I knew that I had been dressed in all of them.

I nodded. "Sure,"

Angela reached into a drawer for her camera and linked it to her computer. Then she turned the screen towards us.

Daniel reached for the keyboard and, without a word he scrolled through them all. Back and forth. Once in a while, Morgan asked him to go back to a previous picture or to zoom in on a detail, then they moved on to the next. I could feel my cheeks grow warm as they reached the photos with me wearing the armbinder. Angela gave me an encouraging smile.

"Hmm... not bad," Daniel concluded before sitting back in his chair again. "I can see the camera likes you, and that's good."

"And it looks like the two of you had a good time," Morgan added with a smile. "That's also good."

Daniel watched me for what felt like an eternity.

"I like the pictures. You have a pretty face and, from what I can see in the pictures, a fine body. That's all good, but I like to see how you take instructions; that's the important thing for a model and for an actor." He paused and looked at Morgan, who nodded.

"What do you say, Natalie? Do you wanna try?" Angela asked.