Michael wanted me to model summer clothes for the website. During the first hour, someone came in with the new clothes that would be featured. Jade’s price point was higher than either Hollister or A&F. They were more creative in their prints than those two. They’d hired an artist to come up with graphics for t-shirts and shorts.
Jackie loved that I was willing to change on the set. It fit her frenetic style. Michael had several outfits laid out, and Jackie’s assistants would hurry out as I stripped down to my boxers and hand me my new clothes to put on. The assembly-line approach meant we could power through many more outfits than usual.
Michael was also there to check photos. Tyler had worked enough with Adrienne that she had developed an eye for detail. It turned out Tyler rejected more photos than Michael did. Thankfully, Jackie was great at what she did, and there were very few that they vetoed.
◊◊◊
When we were done with Jade, it was time for Range Sports. I said goodbye to Michael, and Jackie came back to talk to me.
“I just talked to Abercrombie & Fitch. They loved your work and want to do some additional photos. Do you have plans for tonight?”
“I have reservations for a carriage ride in Central Park, then dinner reservations at The Loeb Boathouse Central Park. Adrienne has made a call to get me into One Step Beyond for after dinner.”
I’d planned to do all this with Pam, but she decided to go home. Kara had her own plans to go out with friends since she didn’t want to be a third wheel. I decided to go by myself and make the best of it. One Step Beyond was a nightclub I was too young to get into, but Adrienne was going and added me to her guest list. She used her magical powers to make it happen, or so she said.
“Do you have a date?” Jackie asked.
“Why, you want to be my date?”
“No, I thought if you’re going alone, we could take candid shots.”
“I’m okay with that. Talk to Tyler about the details,” I said and resumed getting ready for the Range Sports portion of the day.
◊◊◊
We only had one issue with Range Sports: they’d sent over baseball and football jerseys. I called Caryn, and she talked to Mr. Morris, who advised not to do anything for now that would raise any red flags. He said he felt I could wear it, but until they gave me the all-clear on my amateurism, I’d better not.
I loved Tyler. She ordered pizza for lunch. It was the New York-style pizza, which has a thin crust and comes in big slices you folded in half to eat. The only problem was I had grease dripping off my hands. Mmmm, good stuff. I was sure it was good for you, too. Doesn’t it have all the food groups?
When we were done with the Range Sports shoot, Jackie had me shower and change into A&F clothes. Tyler said she trusted me to behave and would see me at the dance club. She had a date with Adrienne tonight. It was late afternoon, so we had to get a move on if I was to catch my horse-drawn carriage ride. Tyler had left us the car and the driver who was my security tonight. He drove Jackie, one of her assistants, and me to Central Park.
When I got out of the car, I had a surprise: Melinda Kesh was waiting for me.
“Wait in the car,” Jackie said as she and her assistant piled out.
They hurried over and talked to Melinda, and she came and got into the car with me.
“I hear you didn’t have a date tonight, so you thought you’d lure me into your car with the offer of a job,” Melinda said.
“Normally, I just offer candy to little girls like you,” I replied, and then wondered why she was in the car with me. “Why aren’t we outside?”
“Jackie needs to set up and wants it to appear like we’re on a date. She said you planned this for someone.”
“Yeah, but she had to go home,” I deflected.
“Sorry about that. Is she your girlfriend?”
Someone was fishing for information.
“No, I don’t actually have a girlfriend. Do you have a boyfriend?” I asked, as two could play this game.
“No. Last one thought he could do better.”
My mouth fell open.
“I dated Blake Seaver for like two minutes,” Melinda shared.
That was even worse. Seaver was a heartthrob singer especially popular with preadolescent girls. He was currently in the press all the time for pulling what many young celebrities did when they first became famous; it was his version of a Lindsay Lohan. I scooted back from her.
“I didn’t catch anything,” she whined.
“You mean you didn’t get ‘Seaver Fever’?” I asked.
“You have to be under twelve to get that, dumbass.”
“The correct phrase is ‘stupid boy.’”
“What is?”
“My friends say that I’m a ‘stupid boy’ when I make dumb remarks,” I said helpfully.
“Oh. Do they say that a lot?”
“No,” I moaned.
“I bet they do,” she teased. “Hey, we’re supposed to get out.”
Melinda reached for the door.
“Hold on. I need to get out first,” I said.
She gave me ‘the look.’
“Don’t get your knickers in a knot. A gentleman gets out first for two reasons. The first is to assist his lady as she exits the car. The second is, if she’s wearing a skirt, to block the paparazzi from seeing whether she has any panties on … or not.”
