Jackie broke us up and brought in girls who worked at the stores, along with Melinda Kesh. They separated us into groups of five: three guys and two girls, or two and three. Blue screens were set up, and they had us act out in front of them. They wanted everyone to look like they were on a beach or in a park, goofing off and having fun. It quickly became apparent who the professionals were. Working in front of a blue screen was hard if you hadn’t done it before. You had no reference point. The problem was the newbies had no idea where to look. The rule of thumb was to know where the camera was at all times. That didn’t mean you had to gaze right into the lens, but your focus should be on something. I found it best to either look parallel to the shot or at someone. It appeared more natural than looking at the floor or ceiling.
After about thirty minutes, the employees were let go, leaving only Ryan, Melinda, and me to model. Ryan did a few things better than I did. He looked terrific in the ‘Uniform Approved’ shots with Melinda. Wearing layers of clothes and a sports jacket hid his body. When the shoot changed to needing to show off more of a physique, Jackie let him go home.
The plan all along had been for Melinda and me to finish out the shoot. Jackie told her staff they could leave. I was surprised when they all congregated in the back of the room to watch. Jackie sat us down and told us what she wanted.
“We’re going to start off with you two in casual poses. The image I want to portray is one where you two are long-time lovers, comfortable with each other. We’ll do some playful things and then some Sunday-morning-reading-a-book shots. All of those will feature the clothes, of course. Then we’ll move into some of the more eye-catching shots that’ll be used in advertising.”
“You mean he takes his shirt off,” Melinda said.
“At some point, you’ll take yours off as well,” Jackie said.
“I think that point should be soon,” I offered.
Melinda hit me with the smile that made her famous, and I was hers. You could have said Hannah Minacci, my ultimate crush, was there and I would have said, ‘Hannah who?’ Jackie saw my reaction and then turned to watch Melinda check me out.
“I think this is going to work. Go to makeup while I change the set and lighting. I’ll see you in twenty,” Jackie said.
I was a little disappointed that Melinda had a lounge for her dressing and makeup area. They had me dress in a t-shirt and jeans. Melinda came out in the same thing. Well, not exactly the same; I think hers fit her better. We met Jackie on the set, and she took some test shots and corrected the lighting. Melinda had to go back and have her makeup redone. Whatever they’d put on her didn’t look natural under the lights and high resolution. I think most models hate high resolution; I know actors do. There was no hiding any blemishes.
Once we were sorted out, we got down to business. Melinda was a lot of fun. To start with, we chased each other around, and I gave her piggyback rides. I was then put into a button-up shirt. When I came back, Melinda gave me a little smirk. I walked up to her, put her into a half headlock, kissed her forehead, and put my chin on top of her head.
Jackie was on her game and had taken pictures of our antics. She called time out and said she loved what we did, but wanted me to turn so more of the clothes could be seen. We reenacted what I’d just done. Jackie had us doing all kinds of stuff that involved long, wanting looks, or simple actions like one of us touching the other’s arm.
Adrienne’s training came in handy. I was able to stay in character and not just grab Melinda and put her into a lip-lock. Some of the looks she was giving me had my full attention. I could tell I had a similar effect on her. You could feel the sexual attraction ramp up.
“Unbutton his shirt,” Jackie called out.
“Finally,” Melinda said under her breath.
They had me in jeans with no underwear. The jeans were a little too big so they would hang down. A&F pushed the limits with wanting to show as much of the ‘V’ below your abdomen as they could get away with. I pulled Melinda under my arm, and she put one hand in my back pocket while the other roamed all over my chest and stomach. She rested her head on my shoulder, looked up at me, and our eyes locked. Jackie was busy taking pictures.
“Pull his jeans down further,” Jackie said.
Melinda gave me a wicked smile. Next thing I knew, my oversized jeans were mid thigh. Thankfully I was in work mode and only semi-hard when Mr. Happy made his brief appearance. I heard Jackie’s assistants giggle, reminding us we weren’t alone, so I quickly pulled my jeans back up.
Melinda kissed my cheek.
“Sorry.”
“They’re a little loose,” I reminded her.
I was a little annoyed when Jackie came up and adjusted my jeans. Most times, a photographer would have you make adjustments to your own clothes, but some were more hands-on. She pulled them down until you could see the base of my package and then pulled them up just a hair.
