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This is a work of fiction. Any similarities between the characters in this story and real people (appearances, names, etc.) are purely coincidental. This story may contain homosexual material, including love and sex, so if material like this is illegal in your region or if it discomforts you, please leave.
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Aiden, who was filled with immense excitement, shaved his upper lip and chin clean of orange hair. He then jumped into one of the showers in the communal showers in Furnald Hall. Even though the casting call specified that models should show up dressed and that the job would be clothed, Aiden still studiously scrubbed the defined muscles that adorned his body.
Trent Alicri walked into the communal bathroom and said, "Morning."
"Morning," Aiden greeted back jovially and wrapped his towel around his waist. "How are you?"
"Good," Trent tiredly answered. "What's up? Oh, the casting?"
Aiden squeezed some toothpaste onto his Sonicare toothbrush and replied, "Yep! It's in an hour."
"Luck, man," Trent groggily said. "Or break a leg, or whatever they say for models."
Aiden giggled as he brushed his teeth and flashed a thumbs up to Trent.
Aiden didn't know how to style his hair. It was still wet, so he played, testing styles. He used his comb to do a clean side part. He combed it all back sleekly. He gathered the top in a knot. He huffed and gathered all his toiletries.
Aiden had trouble back in his dorm room. He didn't know whether to wear his black three-piece suit, or his heather grey suit. He thought that the three-piece would look more dashing, but the heather grey would make him stand out more. But what if it made him stand out too much?
Aiden grabbed his phone off the charger and called his friend Helena Clemens.
"What?" Helena grumpily and groggily answered her phone. "This better be a fucking emergency!"
"It is," Aiden desperately replied. "Casting's in an hour and I. Am. So. Fucking. Lost!"
Helena sighed, and then said, "I'll be right down."
So Aiden tossed his phone onto his bed, and stood before his closet in his emoji-print boxer briefs. Both of his suits hung on the small rack but the hangers were turned so the suits faced him.
Just shy of thirty seconds later, Aiden's dorm room door opened without a knock, and Helena walked in wearing a tank top and thin cotton shorts.
"Do you know who the client is?" Helena asked as she stepped up beside Aiden.
"Janik Verhofstad," Aiden answered.
"Who?" Helena asked.
Aiden grabbed his phone and Googled said man. He showed images of Janik's work, mostly the men dressed in polished suits.
Deep in thought with Aiden's phone in her face, Helena stated, "Okay, we can work with this."
"So black or grey?" Aiden asked as he gestured toward the two suits.
"Neither," Helena responded. "Or both. Just let me..."
Helena brushed her long, black, wavy hair over her shoulder. She rifled through all of Aiden's pants and jeans, and pulled out two items; a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a pair of navy chinos. She laid both on Aiden's bed, and then grabbed both suit hangers. Helena removed the black waistcoat and the grey jacket from the hangers, and then grabbed a plain white dress shirt off of another hanger.
"Where are your neck ties and bow ties?" Helena asked.
Aiden pointed toward his dorm room door. His collection of eleven neck ties and three bow ties hung off of a door coat hanger hook. As she rifled through them, Aiden dressed himself in the white dress shirt, black waistcoat, and grey blazer.
"Try the jeans on first," Helena commanded as she continued to compare neck accessories.
So Aiden slid the dark wash skinny jeans on first. After he fastened the fly, Helena used Aiden's phone to snap a photo. She then told Aiden to try the chinos on next, and went back to comparing ties. Aiden obeyed, he removed the jeans and put on the navy chinos. Helena took another photo of the redhead.
Together, the two college students compared the two photos with eyes like a hawk. Helena swiped from one photo to the other every five seconds or so.
"Chinos," Helena decided.
"Chinos," Aiden agreed.
Helena had three neck ties and a bow tie slung over her elbow. She slung a red tie with navy stripes over Aiden's right shoulder, and slung a violet tie with silver dots over the left. She shook her head slightly before she replaced the two ties with a forest green tie with white diamonds and the fuchsia bow tie.
"Bow tie," Helena commanded.
"Okay," Aiden nodded. "Now what do I do with my hair?"
"No buns or knots. That look was sooo 2016. Where's your hair gel?"
Aiden pointed toward his desk where his toiletry bad sat. So Helena guided him there and sat him on the chair. She combed his damp hair into a clean side part and plugged his hair dryer into a socket. She kept the heat low and the pressure soft, and used her free hand to keep the side part firmly place.
Five minutes later, Aiden looked into the mirror and said, "Hot damn! I look good!"
Most of Aiden's wavy orange hair was gelled slick and flat. A few locks at the front were not gelled save for the ends to give the top a wavy, elegant lick.
"Thanks to me," Helena reminded the ginger shortly. "Set it with hair spray and you're done. If you get the job, you owe me a dinner date. If not, you owe me a dinner date and then we'll drink our sorrows away."
Aiden didn't get a chance to respond. Helena had already walked out of his dorm room and the door swung closed behind her. So Aiden affectionately shook his head and sprayed his hair.
After packing his leather laptop messenger bag with loungewear, Aiden walked to the Columbia University metro station to save on gas. As he stood in the underground tunnel, he looked at the photos that Helena had taken of him and giggled in excitement, he thought he looked polished, chic.
On the train, Aiden opened the iBooks application on his phone and continued to read Pride & Prejudice. A few train stops later, Aiden looked up from his phone to see what station he had reached.
'Lincoln,' Aiden thought to himself. 'Three more stops.'
Aiden noticed two young women sitting in front of the train window eying him, with appreciative smiles. Aiden offered them a very minuscule smile and a curt nod.
Aiden, filled with excitement and nerves, practically pranced out of Times Square Station. He had fifteen minutes to spare, so Aiden stopped at a cafe called Le Guerison and ordered a nonfat cappuccino.
Aiden reached Fitzroy & Albright with five minutes to spare. He gave his driver's license to the reception desk for verification and the woman checked a list. She advised Aiden that he was expected, and he took the elevator up to the thirty-third floor.
A paper taped to the wall in front of the elevator doors read, 'Janik Verhostad Casting ---->'
Aiden followed the arrow, and found a giant room with the outer wall adorning giant floor windows. There were about a hundred young men and women standing in the room, most talking with others. Each person- model- was dressed dashingly in suits and dresses. It intimidated Aiden.
A young man with strawberry blonde hair fixed in a neat pompadour approached Aiden and said, "Hi. I recognize you from the casting call yesterday. I'm Eric."
"Aiden," Aiden introduced himself and shook the proffered hand. "Good to meet you."
Eric led Aiden to a group of seven other models. Eric introduced them all to Aiden, and the group chatted for about five minutes.
Talia Kettilon entered the room looking as fierce and dominating as ever and called, "Alright, Kleinharts! Who's ready to impress Janik Verhofstad!?"
The entire crowd clapped softly, most looked quite excitedly while a dozen or so looked extremely nervous.
"As you all should know," Talia went on, "Janik came into town for a photoshoot! But one of the Wilhelmina models he'd booked broke his arm! Janik canceled his booking with Wilhelmina and has come to us! As Nic's email described, Janik is looking to book three girls and two boys for a huge photoshoot! The job Janik has described will be romance-themed!
"Whomever gets booked will be working in multiple locations on multiple days! Locations are not yet finalized due to date changes but Janik has informed me that he would like to shoot in Central Park, in a restaurant, and in a house rental!
"So the models booked will be paid a thousand dollars per day! Janik is not sure whether the shoots will span and two days or three! Twenty percent of your pay will be docked per your contract deals, for you newbies' reminder here today!
"Janik is here for a romance shoot! So no strutting or catwalking in! If any of you do so, I will immediately ask you to leave! No blank faces! No hard stares! No blue steel! Show your loving, softer sides! Show Janik a passionate person! Not just a Kleinhart model!
"Okay, see you in there! Impress me! Impress Janik!"
And with that, Talia walked back out of the room. Throughout her whole speech, her face remained stoic, yet hard, if that was possible.
A minute later, a young woman who fixed her chocolate brown hair in a very neat bun opened the glass door and called ten men's names. The ten men followed her out of the room and down the hall. Aiden swallowed, but that didn't lessen the intensity in which he felt the fluttering of butterflies in his stomach.
Eric clapped Aiden's back and gently stated, "You'll be okay, dude."
A minute later, Aiden watched as the men from the first group walked down to the hall toward the elevators, all bore dejected looks on their pretty faces.
The young woman came back and called another ten names. Aiden's was not one of them. His throat bobbed with his stomach churning violently. Aiden ran to the trash can by the glass door and emptied his stomach into it.
"Ewww!" a female model cried.
"Gross," a male model agreed. "Nube."
Eric rubbed Aiden's back and handed him a tissue. Aiden wiped his mouth clean, and looked surprised at a bottle of water being held out for him by another female model.
"I puked the morning of my first casting, too," she said. "And on the bus ride here. And here, in this very room. I'm Vanessa."
"Aiden."
"Drink up, Aiden. Can't pass out due to dehydration during your first casting. Now you owe me a brutally honest opinion; should I fix my hair in a clean bun or a French twist?"
"Oh, umm..." Aiden inspected the girl's long, blonde hair. "French twist, for sure. Too many girls are sporting buns. You'll stand out."
"Thanks," Vanessa said she took a comb out of her purse. "My girlfriend turned off the alarm this morning so I woke up super late."
The second group of guys walked down the hall, and the young woman called, "Henderson! Hummett! Jeremiah! Leneker! MacTanus! McCriskell! Mikaeli! Mulderman! O'Peterson! Oklier!"
Both Eric and Vanessa offered Aiden encouraging smiles. So he smiled nervously back at them, and followed the group out of the giant room down the hall. They entered another room where Talia, Rayoko, and a grey-bearded man sat on a luxurious red suede couch.
On the other side of the room were two other male models, one of which was changing into a pair of red sweat pants.
Janik Verhofstad, whose blue eyes were staring at Aiden, said, "Dat one is interesting."
The compliment made Aiden's stomach tighten in a very good way. The redhead fought off a smile.
"Don't you mean stunning?" Talia suggested, but her face was still blank. "That one is Aiden McCriskell. We just signed him yesterday, actually."
"All for me?" Janik asked the women with a salacious smile. "But is dare some-ting da matta wiss him? He looks like he is sick."
Aiden grimaced inside, but fought so hard to school his features into a pleasant expression. He had no idea if it worked.
"It's just his first casting," Rayoko supplied. "And he is a fresh-faced high school graduate. Been eighteen just shy of six months."
"I like him."
Talia nodded and said to Aiden, "Congratulations, you qualify for round two. Join Jonathan and Kalvin over there and change into loungewear."
Aiden fought every cell in his body from becoming excited and pushed down the urge to jump in excitement. So he nodded softly and and turned around. On the other end of the room, Aiden removed his messenger bag from his shoulder and began undressing.
As he slipped into the cobalt blue sweat pants and white vee-neck shirt, another group of guys walked into the room. Aiden watched as Janik took his time surveying this group. The photographer's eyes scrutinized every last detail of a brown-haired guy.
"Daniel Reimecki, yes?" Janik asked. "Him."
Talia nodded and congratulated said model. As the rest of the male models walked out of the room, Daniel changed into his own loungewear as a group of girls walked in. Vanessa smiled excitedly when she saw Aiden.
Vanessa was the only girl from that group chosen. She changed out of her lilac tea dress and five-inch heels, and into a blue tank top and black cotton shorts.
Over the next fifteen minutes, Janik saw fifty more girls. He chose four other girls, all of whom changed into comfortable sleep/loungewear. Talia asked the four guys to line up before them.
Janik surveyed the four male models with a calculating gaze. His expert eyes swept over each model very slowly, concisely.
Finally, Janik pointed his pen at Kalvin and said, "Not him."
Talia looked at the model and gestured with her head. Kalvin, dejected, gathered his things and walked out of the room.
Janik resumed inspecting the remaining three male models. Aiden felt yet even anxious. He willed his stomach to calm the hell down- or tried to.
Janik shook his head and said heavily, "Let's see da girls, yes?"
Aiden and the other two males stepped aside at Rayoko's nod. The five female models stood in a neat line in their loungewear.
Janik pointed his pen at a girl with black hair and asked, "Mind taking your hair down?"
The girl quickly removed the hair pins out of the bun and finger-combed it neat.
"No," Janik said quickly.
Talia gestured with her head, so the girl gathered her things and exited. Janik resumed his scrutinizing gaze.
After a couple minutes of complete silence- silence that was heavy, Janik asked, "Guys stand between the girls?"
Talia motioned with her own pen. The three male models approached the line, each stood with a girl on either side of him. Janik's sharp eyes surveyed each man, they flitted between a guy at a time and the girls on either side of him.
"Red hair," Janik said blankly.
Aiden was the only person in line with red hair. His stomach tightened even more, a hundred fold than before. His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly.
Janik went on, "Mingle wit da girl on your left. You are a couple in my vision."
Aiden's green eyes instantly flitted and looked toward Talia. Talia's blue eyes crinkled slightly as she fought off a smile, and winked at Aiden.
Aiden, emboldened with hope, turned left at the same time that Vanessa turned right. Aiden touched his left hand to her waist and she placed her right hand on his neck. They both smiled as happily as they could, hoped they portrayed affection and adoration. To further the image, Aiden bent his neck forward and pressed their foreheads together.
Janik sighed, which made Aiden turn his head back toward the couch. The photographer wore a small smile.
"You make a beautiful couple," Janik commented. "Doesn't make my decision any easier.
"Umm... brunette girl. Mingle wit da Latin man."
Aiden and Vanessa resumed their perfect postures in line. Janik said something in Dutch- a curse, Aiden guessed, based on his short tone.
Rayoko suggested, "Shall we see how they snuggle together?"
"I agree," Janik replied with a calculating nod.
"Sleepwear, models," Rayoko commanded.
Aiden and the other models walked back to the end of the room. Aiden stripped himself of his lounge clothes, and put on a pair of grey cotton shorts and a baby blue tank.
"Jonathan, Natalie," Talia commanded, and pointed at another red suede couch that was in front of the floor windows but now had been moved in front the client.
The Latino laid down on his back, and a different black-haired girl laid down on top of him. The girl drew invisible lines on the guy's neck and chin with her long nail. The guy had his eyes closed but a smile was gracing his chiseled face.
"Now Vanessa," Talia commanded.
So that's how it happened for the other two girls as well; each cuddled with Jonathan. Aiden watched as Janik watched them, and occasionally scribbled notes on his notepad.
"Aiden," Rayoko called. "Natalie."
Aiden laid down on the super soft couch with his back firmly pressed against the backrest. He motioned for the girl to lie down, and faced each other. Aiden slid his knee between her thighs and pulled her upper leg over his. Natalie giggled at the forwardness, but Aiden guided her upper hand to lie on his hip. Aiden swirled patterns on her arm, the whole times his heart had beat wildly in his chest.
"Rosita," Talia commanded.
The second Natalie removed herself from Aiden and the couch, Aiden sat up with his back against the arm. He motioned for the Latina girl to lie her head on the other arm. Aiden grabbed one of her feet and began massaging it.
Rosita giggled and said, "Oh, god. That feels fantastic!"
The rest of the models giggled, as did Rayoko. Aiden looked. Talia was hiding her own smile behind her fist, and Janik was smiling in admiration.
"Candice," Talia said.
Again, when the girl ejected herself from the couch, Aiden moved. This time, he quickly ran toward his bag and grabbed the television remote off the coffee table. He ran back to the couch and sat down. He grabbed the brown-haired girl's waist and turned her around, and sat her on his lap.
Shyly, so shyly, Aiden asked Janik, "Can we pretend this is a game console controller?"
With another warm smile, Janik asked, "Like Playing Station?"
Aiden suppressed laughter, but nodded in agreement. He then handed the remote control to the girl on his lap, and placed his hands over her's. Because he was so much taller, Aiden bent his neck and rested his chin on her left shoulder.
Aiden whispered, "Pretend there's a T.V. right above Janik's head."
Candice nodded, and her fingers moved quickly like she really was playing a video game. Aiden made sure to keep a kind smile plastered on his face as he occasionally jerked the girl's wrists slightly.
"I like diss one," Janik stated happily. "And he doesn't shave his legs. Even better."
Talia, whose blue eyes were shining, nodded and commented, "Aiden, it seems, is a natural romantic."
"True," Janik agreed. "Blonde girl?"
Aiden ran back to the coffee table, and replaced the remote with a magazine. He back down with his elbow on the arm, and motioned for Vanessa to sit on his lap. When she did, Aiden positioned her so that her back was against the arm, and they 'read' the magazine together.
Once again incredibly shy, Aiden said, "Well, we're both nerds in this scenario. This is a Superman comic book."
"Hot boy and hot girl are nerds," Janik said with a smile. "I like it."
Vanessa pointed at a section of the page and asked, "Is this the one where Lieutenant Zod is attacking Earth?"
"It's General Zod," Aiden corrected with laughter. "And no, this is the one where Clark learns that Krypton really is destroyed."
Vanessa pointed at another section and asked, "So then why is Iron Man following him in space? Wouldn't he run out of gasoline?"
"Gaso-" Aiden began, flabbergasted. "Oh, my god! Iron Man is from Marvel Comics!"
Aiden threw the magazine down to the floor and tossed Vanessa onto her back on the couch. He pounced on her and drove his fingers up her sides. Vanessa couldn't fight the peels of laughter that erupted from her mouth.
Aiden only ticked the blonde girl for a moment. When he looked, Talia, Janik, and Rayoko were watching. They each were smiling with amusement.
"Thank you," Talia said by dismissal. "Daniel. Natalie."
When Aiden and Vanessa got back in line beside the two couches, Vanessa booped Aiden's upper thigh with her hip. Aiden looked and smiled at her.
Two minutes later, when all the models were standing patiently, Janik said, "You, and you, are dismissed."
Aiden heart sunk. His stomach, which was still tight with nerves, twisted achingly. Janik had pointed his pen at Aiden and Candice, so they each grabbed their belongings.
On his way to the door, Talia touched Aiden's forearm and said, "Wait for me downstairs at my office."
Nic had received an email from the finance department. The email had described payments totalling sixty-nine thousand dollars received from seven different companies or people that had used models under Talia's representation. The email also detailed the dollar amounts kept in account for agency fees, and dollar amounts each paycheque (or direct deposit) would be made to the respective models.
Nic started a new spreadsheet for the new pay period.
Dean M. Barnov - Christian Dior - $3,000.00 - $600.00 - $2,400.00 - Cheque # Direct Deposit
And then the telephone rang.
Nic quickly picked up the receiver, "Talia Kettilon's office."
"It's me," Talia said blandly. "Aiden McCriskell is going down to wait for me. Get him a glass of my scotch. Cancel my lunch. And call Frank."
"Oh, you're leaving the office?" Nic asked.
Talia tersely replied, "No, I'm just looking for an office romp."
Nic didn't have a chance to respond because Talia ended the call. So Nic quickly fired a text message off to Frank Lokem, Talia's driver, notifying him that Talia would be leaving the office soon.
Nic quickly entered Talia's office and poured a glass of scotch from Talia's crystal decanter.
"Good morning, Aiden," Nic greeted the redheaded model jovially. "Talia asked me to give you this."
Aiden quirked his perfect orange brow at the glass of alcohol in his hand and said, "But I'm not twenty-one."
Nic shrugged and responded, "I don't care. If Talia asks me to do something, I do it."
Aiden sipped the fiery liquid, grimaced, then asked, "Has she ever asked you to shoot someone's kneecap or something?"
"Not in so many words," Nic answered as he took his seat. "And not in the last sixteen or seventeen months."
"Wait, seriously?"
"I was so fucking peeved after I did it," Nic stated while typing away. "I mean, that suit was my favourite! And blood splattered all over it."
Nic continued to type his report, all the while he fought the smile from spreading. He finally turned back to Aiden. The model's pretty green eyes were staring at him in shock. Which made Nic laugh boisterously.
"I'm kidding!" Nic cried.
Nic saw Aiden smile in embarrassment, and he faux-grumped, "Asshole."
"Talia is seriously one of the nicest people I know. You'll see for yourself when she's done business with Janik.
"Speaking of... you were up there longer than most models."
"Yeah, but I didn't book the job."
Just then, Talia opened the door and commanded, "Let's go, boys. You seriously didn't down that? C'mon, finish it up."
Nic asked, "What? But I'm still--"
Talia waved her manicured hand and said, "Just do that cloud thingamajig and finish it on the way."
As Nic saved the document to the Kleinhart server, he asked, "Fine, but where are we going? And why do I have to come?"
"Stop that," Talia commanded. "You sound like a petulant child."
Nic furrowed his black brows and responded, "You're a petulant child."
That broke Talia's blank face. She threw her head back and laughed. Nic dialled into the telephone system settings and turned on the call forwarding feature, so his cell phone would pick up any calls to Talia's office.
The elevator ride down was quiet, save for the annoying music. And Talia's Jimmy Choo tapping on the floor.
When the elevator doors opened, Nic asked, "Seriously, where are we going?"
Talia looked down at her Rolex, and asked, "Oh, has everybody confirmed their attendance?"
Nic sighed before he answered, "Yes. I told you that over a week ago."
"Excellent," Talia stoically said.
Frank opened the back car door for Talia, who gestured for Aiden go in first. Nic opened the front passenger door and had an inner battle with himself. The vehicle looked clean, but Nic thought otherwise. He wanted so badly to take his time and really scrub every surface of the passenger side.
"Just get in, Nic," Talia commanded lightly.
"But it's--"
"--Nicos," Talia said slowly, threateningly.
Nic sat in the car seat and groused, "Oh, my god! You cannot say that in front of the talent!"
Nic heard Talia tell Aiden, "Nic has O.C.D. you see."
"He's aware!"
Aiden quietly, fearfully, said, "Yeah, I- I'm aware."
Nic turned around and seethed, "And if I die of an anxiety attack because I didn't clean this fucking seat, I'll haunt my desk!"
Talia stoically replied, "I'd be fine with that, Shnookums. You could help my new assistant. God knows I'll never find someone as gifted as you. And stop using such vile language."
"Oh, my god!" Nic cried. "I'll send all my emails to you with graphics of fireworks and glitter bombs for the next two weeks."
"Fuck you!" Talia shouted with faux anger.
"I quit. I can't take this anymore. I quit."
"Okay, Shnookums. Hey, did Kolanski email the model earnings for this pay period yet?"
"Yeah, I was just working on that. I'll finish it up."
As Nic got his laptop out of his bag, he listened to the conversation in the backseat.
Talia asked Aiden, "Are you alright?"
"Oh," Aiden replied. "I- yeah. You were just- and he's... Are you guys- is this normal for you guys? Are you related?"
"No," Talia answered, which was the truth. "Claus is Nic's father. He was one of my best friends at Purdue. My assistant moved three years ago--"
"--Two years ago," Nic amended while still typing.
"I rang up Claus and told him to push Nic to applying for the position. I knew of his O.C.D. but something more important to me was his work ethic. He is single-handedly the most dedicated person I've ever seen, including myself. That's why I hired him. Nic is very good at his job. I could ask him to do something and he'll have already done it the day before. His reports are concise, not a single I has ever gone undotted by him. He spots errors in other departments' work. He taught Dierdre, Rayoko's assistant, everything he knows but she's still not as amazing as Nic is. There really is no duplicating that young man.
"Now let's talk about you."
"Me?" Aiden asked. "What about me?"
"Well tell me how you think you did at the casting," Talia said with no tone.
"Well..." Aiden responded, and Nic could hear his uncertainty. "Well... you were there. I didn't get the job."
Talia pushed, "Well why do you think you didn't land the job?"
Nic, as he continued typing his report, could feel the redhead's confusion and anxiety from the front seat. He smirked to himself.
Aiden answered, "I didn't get cast because I obviously messed up somehow."
Talia ominously said, "I knew you thought that."
"Well I didn't get the job," Aiden groused.
"No you didn't," Talia pressed blandly. "But it has nothing to do with your performance. Aiden, you were phenomenal. You really impressed myself and Janik. Rayoko was ecstatic. You thought on your toes."
Nic paused his typing to ask, "Was he really that good?"
Talia continued her tone less voice when she answered, "He really was. You should've been there."
"I asked to be there," Nic replied with disbelief.
"Calm down, Nicos," Talia admonished. "We both know you have a lot to do today."
"Yet here I am," Nic said with bite.
Talia tonelessly responded, "Here you are indeed."
Nic sighed as he resumed typing the report, and asked, "Why am I here anyway?"
"If you do not yet know, Darling," Talia drawled, "then you are not as bright as I had imagined. We are shopping."
Nic sighed again and shook his head, but resumed his duties from the front seat. He hated going on shopping trips with Talia, but no matter how much he had protested in the past, Talia was relentless.
Talia said to Aiden, "You really were wonderful, Aiden. I mean that. Janik wanted to book you. The only reason he didn't was because Daniel and Jonathan look older, which was the look Janik was going for. But listen to me when I say that you knocked that casting right out of the park. Janik toyed with the idea of using either a false beard or makeup to make you look older."
"Seriously?" Aiden asked, and Nic could hear the awe in his voice.
Nic's cell phone rang, so he answered it, "Talia Kettilon's office."
Raymond Kolanski, finance officer at Kleinhart, greeted, "Hey, Nic. It's Ray. Sounds like you're on the road."
"Yeah," Nic replied, "shopping excursion with a model."
"Well I was just calling to thank you for the correction to Sherry Kadlun's booking. I checked the contract and the payment from Gap Inc.. I offer my apologies for my fuck-up."
"It's really no trouble, Ray," Nic said to placate the man. "Just doing my job."
"Well, thanks anyway. And I also had a question about a... Doctor Beth Lymin. You've been to see her twice so far?"
"Yes, twice. Third coming up on Saturday."
"Great. I have a form here that I can leave on your desk for her if she wants payments sent directly to her bank."
"Sure. Yeah, I'll ask her if she wants it."
"Excellent. That's all. Tell Talia to take it easy on the AMEX with this model."
"Nope," Nic hurriedly said. "I am not telling her what to do. I can pass her my phone if you wanna handle it yourself."
"...Have a good day, Nic."
Nic finished the contract and payroll report a minute later and slid his laptop back in his bag. The car stopped outside of a clothier and Nic practically leapt out of the vehicle before Frank even came to a complete stop. Nic used his pocket square to dust off his charcoal grey three-piece and threw the cloth into his pocket.
"Tekolique!?" Aiden asked with awe. "They make some of New York's finest clothes!"
Nic smiled in amusement, but walked ahead to the store entrance. He opened the door for Talia and Aiden, and followed them inside. He then busied himself on his phone, he typed emails to each of the people with whom Talia was scheduled to have meetings and telephone conferences.
Giselle St. Pier, master clothier, called from the counter, "Talia! Mon ami! Ca va?"
[My friend! How are you?]
Talia kissed both of the woman's cheeks as she answered, "Giselle! Mon cheri! Je vais parfaitement bien. Comment avez-vous ete?"
[My darling! I am perfectly fine. How have you been?]
As Nic typed an email, Aiden nudged his arm and quietly commented, "Hey, I didn't know Talia spoke French."
Nic didn't look up from the screen when he responded, "Yeah. Do you speak French?"
"No I don't," Aiden answered. "I took Cantonese in high school. I feel so underdressed here."
Nic had still been looking down at his phone when he said, "Yeah, you look underdressed."
"Yeah, thank god the store is empty. What languages did you elect in high school?"
"None. I was homeschooled."
Surprised, Aiden asked, "Shit, really?"
Nic walked up to the counter as he called, "Hey, Talia. I rescheduled all of your meetings and appointments to this afternoon and tomorrow."
Talia looked away from the custom hand-knit red long cardigan in her hands and asked her assistant, "And what about Banana Republic?"
"Still scheduled for one o'clock."
"Nicos," Giselle greeted the young man. "Liugong tricot ce beau pull violet avec un nÅ"ud papillon assorti si vous souhaitez voir."
[Liugong knit this beautiful purple sweater with a matching bow tie if you wish to see.]
Nic cocked a brow in intrigue before he replied, "Liugong ne travaille que sur les commandes personnalisees."
[Liugong only works on custom orders.]
Aiden stepped up to the counter and said, "You could've told me you spoke French, too, ya know."
Giselle produced a box from under the counter and said, "C'etait une commande annulee. Nous avons deja percu des frais d'annulation afin que je puisse vous le vendre pour seulement trois cents dollars."
[It was a canceled order. We have already collected a cancellation fee so that I can sell it for only three hundred dollars.]
Nic popped the lid off the black box and set it under the box. He lifted he red tissue paper and unrolled the deep purple silk bow tie that was decorated with white dots. He liked it.
Nic then grabbed the shoulders of a deep purple cotton vee-neck sweater. It was unbelievably soft to the touch and had zero wrinkles or creases, per Tekolique's standards.
Breathless in awe, Nic said, "Je vais les prendre."
[I'll take them.]
As Giselle rung up the order, Aiden said, "Three hundred twenty dollars? You know, H&M sells a sweater just like that for thirty?"
"Perhaps," Nic replied with a nod, "but there is no one better than Tekolique."
Giselle then rung up Talia's long cardigan, the five hundred thirty dollar total for just that garment made Aiden shake his head with a smile of admiration.
Then Giselle eyed the redhead and asked with despair, "Maintenant qu'est-ce que je fais avec ca?"
[Now what am I doing with that?]
Nic turned his head to look at Aiden. The model's green eyes widened and he looked like prey that realized he was surrounded by lions.
"Uhh what?" Aiden asked.
Talia's blue eyes were scanning the whole of Aiden's body with ponder and calculation. She looked to Nic, who had pursed his lips in thought as well.
"Un costume complet," Talia told the clothier. "C'est certain."
[A complete suit. For sure.]
Aiden laughed nervously and complained, "Okay, I don't speak French, so..."
Nic told the two ladies, "Avec des cravates, des noeuds papillon et des boutons de manchette. Et au moins deux chemises."
[With neck ties, bow ties, and cufflinks. And at least two shirts.]
Talia touched her fingertip to her lips before she asked, "Etes-vous d'accord avec un costume gris anthracite??"
[Do you agree with an anthracite gray suit?]
"No," Nic quickly replied. "Il a evidemment deja un costume gris."
[He obviously already has a grey suit.]
"Care to clue me in?" Aiden nervously asked. "Maybe I agree with whatever you're saying. Or maybe I don't, I don't know. Can we switch to English?"
Talia nodded slowly, still thinking, and responded, "Le noir est trop commun pour nos clients."
[Black is too common for our clients.]
"Et le rouge contrasterait mal avec ses cheveux," Nic supplied with his brows knitted.
[And the red would contrast badly with his hair.]
Talia turned back to Giselle and asked her, "Quels materiaux a motifs avez-vous?"
[What patterned materials do you have?"
"J'ai le noir et la marine avec des rayures," Giselle answered as she stepped around the counter.
[I only have black and navy with stripes.]
Talia and Nic voiced that navy would be the choice. So Giselle wasted no time, she began taking measurements of Aiden's body.
Nic's cell phone began ringing, so he answered it, "Talia Kettilon's office."
"Good morning," a male voice greeted. "My name is Justin Horton, editor of Harper's Bazaar. Would Talia be available to speak? I would like to discuss booking Kent Furnell for a cover shoot next month."
"I'm sorry, Jason, but Talia is incredibly busy at the moment."
Talia was not busy. In fact, she was rifling through a rack of skirts. But she never, ever took phone calls when out of the office.
"But may I ask what dates you were thinking to book Mr. Furnell?"
"Sure. I am looking to book the photographer and Kent Furnell for April sixteenth and seventeenth."
"April sixteenth and seventeenth," Nic parroted. "Excellent. Talia certainly has your number, Jason, so I'll make sure she gives you a call back either this afternoon or tomorrow."
"Perfect. Thank you so much."
After Nic ended the phone call, Talia called, "Who was that?"
"That was Justin Horton," Nic called back.
"Harper's Bazaar? Did he ask about a particular model?"
"Kent."
Talia nodded and repeated, "Kent."
"So there's a Banana Republic casting tomorrow?" Aiden asked.
Nic turned toward the model. Aiden had his arms and legs spread, and Giselle was measuring his chest.
Nic nodded and replied, "Yep. You ready for it?"
Nic watched as Aiden eyes widened in shock. He asked, "It's for male models as well?"
"Yes," Nic answered with his brows furrowed. "Didn't you get my email this morning?"
"No. I think I'd know when I got an email from someone as cute as you."
Giselle turned her bright brown eyes on Nic. Nic remained staring blankly as the redhead, but he knew that Giselle was holding back giggles.
Nic said to the model, "Check your spam folder."
Nic walked away toward the table that held various accessories. He scrutinized every last pocket square before him.
"I'll get you to smile one of these days!" Aiden called with a flirtatious tone. "I promise! It'll make your face hurt you'll smile so much!
"Oh, look! Your email did wind up in my spam folder! Thank you, georgiou-dot-nic-at-kleinhartmodels-dot-com!"
Nic spent the next three minutes choosing accessories. When he noticed Giselle walking into the back room, he joined Aiden at the counter.
Nic laid a plain white piece of cloth before the model and commanded, "Show me any method to fold and form a pocket square."
"I don't- I don't know," Aiden said.
"That's fine," Nic gently and warmly replied. "Nothing to feel bad about. We all learn some time. I'll show you.
"This one is the easiest to remember. Fold the cloth in half so it forms a triangle. That's it. Now fold the left side to the right until it's about two inches from the point. Now fold the right to the left. There. Simple, classy, elegant, and sexy."
Nic taught Aiden three more methods of pocket square forming before Giselle walked back out with a giant roll of navy fabric.
Sounding worried, Aiden asked, "Okay, I gotta ask. Is this gonna come out of my paycheques a little at a time until it's all paid off? Because that's the only way I'll be able to afford a suit made by Tekolique."
"No," Talia answered simply, and then went right back to comparing two dresses for her daughter.
"Talia has done this for a few models," Nic told the redhead. "I don't know how she chooses which ones to spoil. But it's always the ones that book job after job. I guess she feels that you kicked ass at the casting this morning."
"Well how does she know that I'll stay with Kleinhart when my contract ends?" Aiden asked anxiously.
"She just does," Nic answered simply. "There is no one better than Kleinhart. Or Talia. And Rayoko is a close second."
Aiden responded, "You're so certain that I'll renew my contract."
"I'm not," Nic replied and stepped back to allow Giselle to begin working with the fabric on the model. "The only thing I am certain of is model potential. I was obviously right about that, if Talia was impressed with your audition this morning. But Talia is certain of you and your longevity with the agency."
just then, Nic's cell phone rang, and he hastily answered it, "Talia Kettilon's office."
"Nicos?" Claus Georgiou's voice replied. "Kalo apogevma. Loipon, einai akoma to proi sti Nea Yorki."
[Good afternoon. Well, it's still in the morning in New York.]
Nic replied, "Papa. Sygnomi, xechasa oti eprepe na se tilefoniso kata ti diarkeia tou mesimerianou mou dialeimmatos."
[Sorry, I forgot that I was supposed to phone you during my lunch break.]
"Einai entaxei," Mr. Georgiou promised. "Eisai apascholimenos?"
[It's okay. Are you busy?]
Nic answered his dad, "Nai. Boro na sas tilefoniso apopse?"
[Yes. Can I call you tonight?]
"Akougetai yperocho. S'agapo."
[Sounds great. I love you.]
"S'agapo kai ego, o Papas."
[I love you, too, Papa.]
When Nic pocketed his cell phone, Aiden asked, "What was that, Portuguese? How many languages do you speak?"
"Eight," Nic answered. "One of the main reasons Talia hired me."
Nic walked off to a rack and began looking at trousers. He liked a few, but chose not to purchase any because he had so many similar items already in his closet.
An hour later, Giselle snipped the last stitch and called, "All done!"
Nic and Talia walked over to the fitting room. Both of them examined the model in his stunning new three-piece suit. The navy pinstriped fabric hugged his body in all the right places, particularly in his thighs and butt.
Talia asked the redhead, "How do you feel?"
Aiden unbuttoned the jacket and eyed the waistcoat appreciatively before he answered, "I feel like a million bucks. Literally. I- I mean that."
To Be Continued...
Thank you so much for reading! I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this first chapter and continue to join me on this journey.
If you are interested in reading my other fictions, they're listed down below:
The Trick is to Keep Breathing
tyler.christopher36@yahoo.com