by Selena Kitt
"Forget it." The woman snorted—Heidi thought the tall blonde's name was Daniella—waving her off. "Maggie!"
A short, pudgy woman hurried in from the front of the trailer. "I'm sorry, sweetie, Chloe was having problems with her straps."
Heidi slipped out of the trailer, leaving one of the coffee trays for the girls and took the other, going to find the crew.
"Argh! This is a latte!" Ty grimaced, handing it back to her and waving her off. "Not mine."
"I'm sorry." Heidi apologized again, knowing that she couldn't fix her mistake now unless she got back into the car and trekked the three miles to Starbucks.
Lenny, one of the crew, looked over from where he was setting up the tripod. "Ty, we'd better get the girls out here while the light is good. Where’s the artist? Wasn't she supposed to be here by five?"
Lenny came over and grabbed a coffee, smiling at her and winking. "Black. I'm easy, baby."
She smiled back, her eyes dropping to the sand. Her watch said it was 5:32 a.m. and the sun was just coming up over the horizon.
"Do you want me to get the girls?" Heidi sighed, glancing back at the trailer where the models were changing.
"Fucking Kaiser's coming out here." Ty fiddled with his camera. "I hate shoots when he shows up."
Heidi's eyes widened and she looked between them. "The Kaiser? Warren Kaiser?"
"Speak of the devil." Lenny pointed over Heidi's shoulder with his eyes.
Ty sighed, fumbling his camera, but not looking back. "Shit."
"He likes the swimsuit shoots," Lenny whispered to her as he passed.
"Gentlemen!" Warren Kaiser looked as out of place on a morning beach in his suit and tie as a poodle in the pound. "Let's start the engines, shall we?"
He strode toward them, swinging a finely crafted cane that sank into the sand as he walked. The cane could have served to give him a jaunty look, like old black and white movies, Heidi thought, or might even have made him appear older than his years, but somehow it did neither. Despite his salt and pepper hair, the man retained quite a youthful appearance, his eyes bright and sharp, and when his mouth twisted into a smile, there was something almost cruel about it. Still, he was attractive, his shoulders broad even in a suit. He seemed to fill the whole beach the moment he arrived.
Kaiser dug the point of his cane into the sand when he stopped short, leaning on it and crossing one foot in front of the other. The gesture was so suave and urbane it might have seemed silly had another man done such a thing, but this man…it seemed he could do almost anything without losing that bold sense of presence. That was it, Heidi thought, her breath catching in her throat when his gaze fell on her. He was fearless. Absolutely fearless.
"I'll go get the girls." Heidi avoided the tall man's gaze, but she felt them as she moved carefully around him, noticing the exposed bottom of his shoe as she passed.
"Testoni!" Heidi stared for a moment at the feather images hot-stamped into the soles. The man was standing on the beach, unmindful of the sand the toe of his fifteen-hundred-dollar shoe was resting in.
"God bless you!" Lenny snorted.
"Good eye." Warren Kaiser’s voice was deep and filled with a quiet authority Heidi had never in her life heard. The sound instantly drew her gaze upward and the man with the cane and the salt and pepper hair looked curiously down at her, his interest clearly piqued. His eyes were dark and quietly assessing her.
Lenny nudged Heidi's shoulder with his. "The girls—Daniella?"
"Going," she breathed, trying to make her heart stop racing.
She swore she felt the heat of the man’s eyes following her toward the trailer. Normally they set up the portable beach cabanas, but this was going to be a five day shoot, and there would be different models every day, so Kaiser had sprung for a trailer.
Inside, there was a flurry of activity, girls everywhere in various states of undress, the costume women tucking and folding and taping. Heidi took a moment to try to compose herself, blinking, her eyes adjusting, but all she could think about was the man on the beach, the one who had noticed her, if just for a moment.
“What do you want?” One of the models, a tall, lanky redhead, frowned in her direction.
"Daniella?" Heidi looked around for the tall blonde in the midst of bodies.
"She's in the bathroom!" One of the girls held her arms above her head, her breasts bare, as a costumer taped them together.
"Daniella?" Heidi knocked on the door. No one answered, but she heard the distinct sounds of vomiting. She knocked again. Nothing.
Making her way back through the flutter of activity, she discovered outside that Lenny had found a chair for Mr. Kaiser. He sat, his cane propped against the arm, his hands folded over his chest and his legs stretched out, his fifteen-hundred dollar Italian shoes crossed in the sand. Again, it was almost a ridiculous pose, but he pulled it off somehow.
"Lenny," she whispered, motioning to him. "I think Daniella's got the stomach flu. She's in the bathroom throwing up."
"That's not the flu!" He laughed, rolling his eyes. "That's Dunkin Donuts reversing gears!"
"Oh." Heidi flushed, noticing Mr. Kaiser watching them again. She could almost swear he was smiling at her naiveté, his head cocked in her direction.
"Heidi, come here!" Ty called. He was looking through his camera towards the surf.
"I'll get her. You go." Lenny nudged Heidi toward the photographer as he headed for the trailer. Heidi waited patiently while Ty fiddled with the camera. He glanced over at her, frowning, eyeing her up and down.
He pointed. "See that towel out there?" She nodded, shifting uncomfortably. Mr. Kaiser was still watching them and his eyes on her made her feel too small in her skin. "Go stand on it." He looked through the camera again. "I need to get a reading, and I can't do it without a subject."
Heidi trotted obediently out to stand on the towel. From this angle, she could see Mr. Kaiser looking at her, tilting his head to the side so he could peer around Ty standing at the tripod. She wished he would stop looking at her. His eyes on her made her whole body feel flushed.
"Hey!" Ty looked over the camera at her. "Take off your top."
"What?" she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her. She was flushed now, she was sure of it.
"Come on!" He waved his hand impatiently, looking through the camera again. "Let's go!"
Heidi glanced at Mr. Kaiser, who was leaning a little further now around Ty as she obediently crossed her hands in front of her and grabbed the edge of her t-shirt, wishing she had actually put on a bra this morning. Was she actually going to do this? Oh god, was she really?
She wanted to close her eyes in shame and become invisible, to run to the trailer and hide. They had asked her to do a lot of things, a lot of demeaning and degrading and humiliating things, but this—this was too much!
Mr. Kaiser’s eyes grew dark as she began to slowly lift her t-shirt—too slowly for Ty’s taste, and he kept calling her to hurry up, they were burning daylight—and something in the man’s expression suddenly shifted things inside of her. Mr. Kaiser gave a brief nod of his head when she hesitated, her shirt stretched just below her breasts, his jaw tightening, his lips curling into a cruel version of an almost-smile. It was all of that and none of it. She didn’t understand, but her shame and fear and hesitation disappeared. Kaiser was telling her, she was sure he was, that he wanted her to do it, and she did, pulling her shirt over her head and standing there topless, her flesh exposed for everyone’s eyes.
But the only eyes she cared about were Kaiser’s.
“Finally!” Ty did something behind the camera and the spell was broken. She pulled her t-shirt close, holding it modestly in front of her breasts, feeling the heat of her blush and staring at the tips of Mr. Kaiser's shoes. And still, she could feel his eyes on her, like a heat.
"More skin!" Ty called.
She glanced toward the trailer, hoping to see Daniella and Lenny magically appear, but no such luck. She couldn’t, not again. She i
magined finding a dark corner and hiding in it. It was enough humiliation, enough…
But it wasn’t enough, and while it was Ty doing the asking—demanding, really—it was Kaiser she obeyed. When her eyes met his, they smoldered, his gaze like fire sweeping over her, leaving her burning, her whole body aflame. He wants me to do it. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. And it was more than that. He didn’t just want her to… he was waiting, watching, to see if she really would.
Biting her lip and taking a deep breath, she dropped her arms to her sides, fully exposing herself. Her nipples immediately hardened in the breeze. Her face was on fire with shame, but she straightened her shoulders when she met Kaiser’s dark gaze and saw that slight twisted smile. Why did it matter to her that he was pleased? But it did…and he was.
"Okay!" Ty waved her in. "Got it!" Quickly pulling her shirt back over her head and willing the flush out of her cheeks, she walked toward the photographer.
"You didn't take any pictures, did you?" Heidi watched Ty as he looked through the camera and then out to the horizon again. She was trying hard not to look over at the man with the cane.
Ty snorted. "Of you?" Her blush deepened as the trailer door banged open behind them and Daniella pushed Lenny out onto the sand.
"Fucking pervert!" she hissed, weaving around him. "Next time, send in Miss Cauliflower for Brains—at least she's a girl." Lenny laughed as he brushed himself off and one of the other girls grabbed the trailer door and shut it.
"Let's get this show on the road!" Daniella flounced past Ty. "Where do you want me?"
"It's already been quite a show." Mr. Kaiser put his hands behind his head, looking pointedly at Heidi.
"Mr. Kaiser!" In an instant, the model's voice was thick with honey and now Heidi felt like she needed to go do a food-reversal herself.
"Heidi, can you help me?" It was Maggie, sticking her head out the trailer door.
"Lenny, find out where that damned artist is!" Ty waved Daniella toward the towel.
Heidi saw Lenny dig his cell phone out of his pocket, but it wasn't long before the henna artist showed up to start painting the girls and Heidi found herself blissfully distracted from Mr. Kaiser. The artist was a dark-haired woman, all soft curves and long legs, and dark blue-black hair that hung to her waist. Heidi held her paints and watched, fascinated, as she painted patterns over each girl's skin, sealing the henna with some sort of glittery paint before sending them on their way.
Daniella came back in to get hers, and complained the whole time about having to hold still. Heidi had to run to the refrigerator to get her an Evian twice, but she didn't mind sitting in the cool trailer and watching. Lenny and Ty didn't seem to be missing her, although she knew that with all the girls out on the beach, she should probably go out there, too.
The truth was, she didn’t want to see Kaiser. Yes, that was the truth. Wasn’t it?
"Do you want one?" The black-haired woman looked at her after Daniella left, turning her coal-black eyes to Heidi as she cleaned her syringe.
"Me?" Heidi glanced toward the door, biting her lip, considering.
"You have lovely hands." The woman grabbed one and turned it over, running her fingers over the curve of Heidi's knuckles. "Perhaps something here?"
Heidi shrugged and let her paint, watching as the syringe left a dark brown trail over her skin. It just looked like squiggly lines and dots at first, but eventually, she was able to discern a leafy, paisley pattern as the woman worked.
"It's really beautiful." Heidi’s blonde head bent close to the woman's dark one. "Have you been doing it long?"
"Since I was a girl." The woman glanced up with a smile. "There...do you like it?"
Heidi held her hand out, admiring. "Yes...thank you."
"Heidi!" It was Ty, pounding at the trailer door, making her jump up with a gasp.
"Gotta go." She headed for the door.
"Wait!" the woman called after her. "I need to seal your—"
Heidi knew Ty's mad voice when she heard it, and her heart was beating fast as she shut the trailer door behind her.
"Where the hell have you been?" he hissed, and she hid her hand behind her back, careful not to touch the wet henna to anything. She followed him as he walked back toward his camera, grumbling something about Lenny, but Heidi didn't see him anywhere. "Listen, I need you to help that guy bring in the boxed lunches."
Heidi looked over toward the truck pulling up in the parking lot and headed for it, hurrying past Ty. She didn't see Mr. Kaiser's outstretched legs at all before she tripped over them, reaching to catch herself.
"Whoa, there!" He grabbed for her, but she tumbled anyway, managing to turn and clutch onto his pants before she landed hard in the sand.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, hearing the girls laughing behind her. She started brushing the sand off her shorts as she knelt, and that's when she noticed the smeared henna over the back of her hand.
"Are you all right?" he asked, his eyes concerned, and she knew he hadn't seen, didn't notice.
Panicked, she glanced down at his pants, seeing the stain on the inside of the leg. The material was a dark grey and the henna was brown, leaving a clear mark. "Oh my god... your pants... I'm so sorry..."
"What did you do?" Ty glanced over at them, frowning.
Still kneeling, she held out her trembling hand, the painstaking design now a dark smudge, turning her eyes up first to Ty and then to Mr. Kaiser, who was inspecting his pant leg now with a frown.
"That's a Fioravanti, isn't it?" Heidi winced.
He nodded, his mouth set in a fierce, thin line. If she had thought his smile was cruel, this expression bordered ruthless.
"Oh my god!" Ty's hands were pressed to his cheeks, his eyes wide. "Heidi, you're going to have to pay for that! What were you doing with henna on your hands!?"
"That's a three thousand dollar suit," Heidi whispered, sure no one could hear her. She knew, she knew what she had done.
"Five," Kaiser corrected, standing. He reached into his pocket, digging out his keys. "I have a change of clothes in my trunk. It's the Porsche. Get them."
Heidi took his keys, trying hard not to cry as she ran to his car. Careful to use only the hand without the henna, she retrieved a dry-cleaning bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she ran back toward the beach.
"Where is he?" she gasped to Ty, who had gone back to photographing the girls.
"Trailer." Ty waved her off.
Inside it was dark and cool and quiet. Everyone else was out on the beach, and even the henna lady had gone.
"Mr. Kaiser?" She was trembling as she made her way toward the back of the trailer and saw a light on in the little bathroom. "Sir?"
"In here, Heidi."
She startled, surprised and secretly thrilled when he said her name. She found him sitting on the edge of the toilet seat with his pants folded neatly on the sink, the stain showing.
"I'm so sorry." She edged inside and shut the door.
"See if you can get the stain out." He held his hand out for the dry cleaning bag. She handed it to him and turned to the sink, feeling cold. Using soap on her hands to wash the rest of the wet henna away, leaving a ghostly pattern, she then started on the pants.
"You know a great deal about fashion." He stood and hung the bag over the hook on the door.
"Fashion design major." She scrubbed the stain, feeling that flush creeping up her cheeks. "Syracuse. I graduated last year."
"And you came to work for Kaiser?" He slipped off his suit jacket. "Probably thinking you could get your foot in the door?"
She nodded, blinking back tears, and rinsed the spot. It had barely faded. What was that henna stuff made of? "Something like that."
"And now you're basically the go-to girl?" He shook out his suit coat carefully, leaving on his shirt and tie, while Heidi watched him in the mirror.
"Basically." She turned off the water, drying her hands on a paper towel. They were trembling, too. "Sir, I…I'm afraid I'm not goin
g to be able to get this clean."
He nodded. "I was afraid of that."
"I'm glad you had this suit in your car." Heidi turned toward the dry-cleaning bag and unzipped it. "It's—oh my god. Is that a Liana Lee?"
He smiled, that sardonic twist of his mouth. "I thought you might appreciate that."
"She's my idol!" Heidi ran her fingers over the lapel.
"You want to design men's suits?" He reached around her and slipped the jacket off the hanger and handed her his other suit jacket. "Hang this one up."
"Among other things." She obediently hung his other suit jacket up.
He straightened his collar, his tie, glancing at her in the mirror. "So, Miss Heidi, what are we going to do about these pants?"
She bit her lip, meeting his gaze in the mirror. His face was serious, his eyes hard. What could she do, what could she possibly say?
"I don’t know..." She swallowed hard. "With what I make, it would take me forever to pay you back five thousand dollars."
"I understand that." His gaze moved over her, taking in her tousled blonde hair, her t-shirt and shorts, the body beneath them lush and fully feminine—much more so, to Heidi’s lament, than the tall, slender models she worked around all day. "Still, something like this... there is the matter of personal responsibility."
"It was an accident," she pleaded, turning to face him. He raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed, relenting, hanging her head. "What do you want from me? I’ll do it. Whatever you want. I’ll do it.”
“I believe you would.” His voice softened and she felt a shiver run through her when he lifted her chin, making her look at him. She blinked back more tears, trying to retain some semblance of dignity, trying hard not to just melt into a puddle of shame and embarrassment on the floor. Kaiser’s gaze never wavered, but he seemed to be thinking, deciding something. Finally, he gave a slow nod and took a step back, folding his arms over his chest. "Perhaps…just a simple punishment is in order."
Heidi blinked, frowning. "What do you mean?"
"Turn around."
She had said the words—whatever you want—and meant them. Now she did as he asked, heart hammering, facing the sink and the mirror once again.
