4
2830 Words
Lance took down each picture and brought them into the studio for display, laying them out on his light table for Cassia to see when she arrived. Speaking of her, she was late. He looked at his watch once more and frowned. They had an appointment to keep, and she was probably sleeping the lazy tart.
He looked up from the table when he heard the elevator doors slide open. “You’re late.” He snarled.
“I wasn’t aware you were expecting me.” His mother smiled stepping off the elevator.
Lance smiled, his hard-exterior melting away at the sight of the woman that gave him life. She was looking wonderful in her white silk dress and sunhat. She removed her sunglasses and put them into her handbag before kissing her son’s cheek.
“Hello, Mother.” He said genuinely happy to see her.
“I thought we could have lunch before I fly out tonight.” His parents had a house in Malibu, but his mother preferred to live in New York. She had recently retired from the ballet and bought the company. She still liked to be involved even if she had gotten too old to perform.
“Oh, I would love to-”
“But you’re expecting someone.” She smiled.
“Yes.”
“A female someone?” She asked taking a seat.
“Yes, but it’s not what you think. It’s business.” He said walking to the stove and putting on the kettle. “Tea?”
“Yes. Model or photographer?”
“Model.”
“It’s not that Cindy girl is it?” Hearing her name grated against his last nerves.
“No Mother, not her.”
“That’s good I never liked that one. She’s two-faced, I can tell, god knows I’ve dealt with enough of them.” His mother had never liked Cindy. From the first day, she had taken him aside and said that Cindy was no good. He hated when she was right.
“It’s not Cindy.” He assured her. “I am done with her.”
“Well good I can finally sleep at night. You know I almost thought you would purpose to the little hussy.” She laughed as he poured hot water into a cup. She knew him too well.
“Well, I finally saw her for what she was.” He said adding the tea bag and handing it to her.
“Good. I was about to have a chat with the girl myself.” She said accepting the mug.
“I wish you wouldn’t.” He said coming to sit beside her. When he was younger, Lance had fallen hard for one girl who his mother was sure was only using him. Lance hadn’t wanted to hear about it. He had been so sure she was in love with him. Until the night his mother talked with her.
She had handed the girl a check for fifty thousand dollars, and all she had to do was stop seeing Lance. He had been in the next room listening to the conversation. His heart was broken when she took the money and immediately left him. It had been a harsh lesson in life he had forgotten when Cindy walked in. It would be a lesson he wouldn’t forget again.
“I just worry about my boys.” And rightly so with five little hell-raisers, Lance and his brothers had kept their mother busy with their shenanigans. She always said that Lance was just like his father, although Lance wasn’t sure that was considered a good thing. His father in his day had been known for being reckless and selfish. That he had been cruel and a terrible womanizer. With the way Lance went through women, he supposed he was just like his father. A daunting thought.
“You have to trust in the way you raised us.” He said trying to put her mind at ease. His mother was a saint. She was quiet and strong. She had always been the last one to raise her voice, but she never backed down from anyone. She had miraculously reined in his father and managed to keep both him and five boys on the straight and narrow.
The elevator doors slid open once more and out stepped Cassia. She paused when she saw Lance sitting with his mother. “Oh my, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Come in.” He said standing up. “You’re late,” Lance said crossing his arms.
“I know, and I’m sorry, but the pie just wouldn’t cook fast enough.” She said coming into the kitchen with a freshly baked pie in her oven mitt hands. She placed the pie on the stove top and removed the mitts to shake his mother’s hand. “Hello, I’m Cassia Dillinger.”
“Eve Sanchez.” His mother smiled shaking her hand.
Suddenly Cassia was star struck. “I saw you in Swan Lake; you were fantastic.”
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t see it firsthand, but I caught it on TV. I was so little I started dancing around the living room. I wanted to take ballet lessons, but my folks couldn’t afford it.” She said happily.
“You bake?” His mother asked looking at the pie Cassia had brought in.
“Oh yes.” She said remembering it. “It’s cherry cheesecake pie.” She said moving back to the stove and searching the cupboards for plates. “It’s cherry pie with a cheesecake top. It’s from scratch you should try some.” She said dishing out three slices and handing one to Lance and his mother.
“It smells wonderful.” His mother said taking a bite. “And it tasted even better.”
“You shouldn’t be eating that,” Lance said as Cassia took a bite of her own. “It’s got to have like a million calories.”
“Nonsense.” His mother scolded. “One piece of pie is not going to ruin her figure.” Cassia just smiled and took another forkful. Lance had been effectively silenced. He sighed and took a bite of pie almost dying the moment he tasted it. It was very good. The girl had hidden talents.
“I thought I would do something nice to thank you for all your help. I know you didn’t want to help me, but I do appreciate the fact that you reconsidered.” Lance didn’t know what to say; no one had ever thanked him before let alone baked him anything from scratch, gee it was really good, he thought, finishing his piece off. He had practically inhaled it.
Maybe one more piece. Lance cut himself a second helping and caught Cassia grinning with pride. “Careful it will go right to your hips.” She teased with a wink. Lance frowned and put the piece back. She was right he didn’t need it any more than they did.
Lance looked Cassia over. Her late arrival aside she had arrived looking better than she had the morning before. Today she looked ready to go clubbing in a short blue skirt, white silk halter top and three-inch white pumps. Her dark hair was swept up in a messy up due that showed off her long neck. She still didn’t look like a model, but he could work with it.
“Is that my picture?” She asked putting her empty plate down and walking over to the light table. “Oh, wow I wasn’t sure about being naked, but my god, look at me.” She said picking up one of the pictures. “I can’t even believe that is me,” Cassia said holding it up for his mother to see. “Your son is amazing, look at this.”
“It’s very flattering.” His mother smiled. “Very tasteful.”
“You can put that one in your portfolio,” Lance said coming to the light table. “I got copies.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She said with gratitude.
“I think the pie was a perfect way to say thank you.” His mother laughed as she stood up. “I can see you’re busy, so I will leave.” She said kissing her son. “Promise to visit the next time you’re in New York.”
“Of course, I will,” Lance said walking his mother to the elevator.
“She’s a nice girl this one.” She whispered.
“It’s business.”
“Of course it is.”
“I’m a professional.”
“I know.” He didn’t like that tone. That mother knows best tone. “I will see you soon darling.”
“I can’t miss you if you’re not gone.” He teased receiving a nasty look from his mother. “Good-bye, Mother.” He said pulling the door shut. He then turned around to face Cassia. “Now as for you.”
“Your mother is nice. Very beautiful.” Cassia said placing her new picture into the portfolio on the counter. “What did you do with the pictures I had?”
“I burnt them. They were terrible. It is better to have fewer pictures that are quality than many that suck. I booked one girl on a total of three pictures. It is doable.” He said picking up one of his cameras and loading film. “Now we have an appointment.”
“We do?”
“Yes, and I detest being late.”
“Is this a photo shoot?” She asked looking at the camera in his hands.
“No, but it is always a good idea to bring it. You never know when inspiration is going to hit.”
“Then what is the appointment?”
“A makeover.”
“What’s wrong with the way I look?”
Lance snickers. “So much.” She looked offended. “Do you want me to lie to you or help you?” She looked down at the clothes she was wearing trying to figure out what he disapproved of. “It’s not that you’re not pretty, you are, but there are hundreds of thousands of pretty girls trying to break into this business. It’s the edgy ones that book.”
“What are you going to do?”
***
She almost cried while she watched her long dark hair fall to the ground. He was cutting it all off. Each lock floated down over the black cape she wore as the stylist cut it away. It was short, so short, a stylish bob that was longer in the front than in the back framing her round face.
“I love it,” Lance said standing beside the stylist. He ran his fingers through her hair with a pleased smile she could see through the mirror. His gaze met hers in the mirror, and for the first time, she thought she saw sympathy in his bright eyes. “Don’t cry you look fantastic.”
She found that hard to believe, she had always loved her long hair, and now it was gone. The stylist removed the cape and dusted away a few stray hairs from Cassia’s shoulder. Lance paid the woman, and they left the shop. Cassia kept reaching for the hair that wasn’t there.
“You’ll get used to it.” He assured her.
“What’s next?” She dared to ask. Nothing else could be as traumatic as losing her hair.
“We go shopping.” He said taking out the keys to his car. That was one bonus today she got to ride along in his fantastic car. Lance opened the door for Cassia which seemed unusually gentlemanly. She had to admit he had some traits most men today did not. His mother had raised him well.
They drove down to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Cassia wasn’t sure she could afford anything in any of these boutiques. Her suspicions were confirmed when the first shop they walked into had no price tags. If you had to ask, you couldn’t afford it.
Lance, however, didn’t seem to notice as he pointed to things for her to try on. “I can’t pay for this.” She whispered so the proprietor didn’t hear her.
“It’s fine.” He said. “I’ll pay for it, and you can pay me back.”
“I couldn’t pay you back if it took a million years. This stuff is too expensive.”
“I’ll make you a deal I’ll pay for it now, and when you book your first big contract, you can pay me back.”
“And if I don’t book anything?”
“We can take it out in trade.” He said with a sly smile. It took her a minute to realize he had cracked a joke. Now she knew why he was always so serious because he wasn’t funny.
By the end of the day, Lance’s trunk was filled with an all-new wardrobe. Everything from shoes to hats. She got new designer jeans, shirts, skirts and jewellery. She got scarves and new makeup; he had insisted she wore autumn colours when it came to makeup. He even showed her the proper way to apply it. From eyeliner to lipstick. Foundation and eyeshadow. She was surprised by how much he knew about dressing woman, but she supposed in his business it was something he needed to know.
Exhausted from shopping, they sat in a beachside bistro enjoying a light supper. Cassia was dressed in an all-new outfit after Lance insisted on throwing the one she was wearing out. She was sporting new white knee-high leather boots with a short black pleated skirt and a satin sleeveless vest shirt. Around her neck hung black diamonds and a black fedora which she wore tilted. Her face washed clean of her old makeup and Lance had applied an all-new look.
As they sat there, they watched the sunset over the water. Lance was smiling; she figured he didn’t smile often. “What?” She asked as he watched her.
“You look great.” He said reaching for his camera. “I love the way the sunset is playing off your skin.” Cassia blushed at his praise. Lance lifted his camera and took her picture. “Show me something fierce.” Getting lost in the moment, he got out of his chair and backed up turning their meal into a photo op. He got down on one knee for a different angle.
Cassia fell right into it posing for each shot and changing the way she was sitting. She hardly noticed the growing watching crowd. Suddenly he lowered his camera and frowned. Had she done something wrong? Lance looked out over the white sandy beach, at the sun dipping low in the water. The sky had taken a brilliant orange and red.
“Let’s use the light.” He suggested taking out money to pay for the bill. He took her hand and led Cassia to the beach. With an ocean background, Lance followed her around from every possible angle until they lost the light. As stars appeared, Lance lost interest in shooting. “I think we got it.” He said winding the film. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Home to change.” He said walking away. Change? Were they going to change again?
“Why?” She asked trying to catch up to him.
“If you’re going to get noticed you have to get out.” He said heading for his car.
“But where are we going?”
“Have you ever heard of Briar Creek?”
Briar Creek, she sure had, Briar Creek was a designer of couture. Her gowns are worn on red carpets around the world. “I’ve heard of her.”
“Well she is having a show tonight, and we are going.”
“We?”
- Writer
