As the end of the first class approached, April went into the adjoining kitchen to arrange the supper while Karyn discussed the homework assignment. The assignment was a 'jeans and shirt' assignment. By specifying this somewhat boring choice for the model's clothing, the focus would be on the photographer's posing of the model. Karyn then went over the rules of who they could use as a model. As Chloe already knew, she stressed that their model had to be someone present in the class that evening. In other words, they had to ask one of their classmates to model for them, or make an arrangement with April, who had agreed to work for $120 an hour. Chloe knew this price could have been a lot higher, but it was already beyond her means.
Karyn suggested that they talk amongst themselves over supper. As they stood up, Chloe could see that Ruth and Deirdre, who had been sitting beside each other, were already deep in conversation. She felt anxiety building inside her. She had decided that Ruth was the person she would feel most comfortable working with, but even Deirdre was preferable to having to work with any of the men. She headed towards them, but soon found her way blocked by Gerald, the older hippy.
"Hi Chloe," he said. "You look like you might be a dancer. I would love to work with someone who knows how to dance."
Chloe turned down Gerald as quickly as she could do so politely, but then she found her path blocked by Alistair. "Chloe, I would love it if you would agree to work with me. I think you look gorgeous, more naturally beautiful even than April, and she is totally hot." Although Alistair obviously thought his compliments would win Chloe over, in reality he made her skin crawl. She couldn't get away from him fast enough.
By the time Chloe reached the other two women students, she could see that they had already reached their own agreement. She could hear them discussing times to get together as she turned away in disappointment and went over to the supper table. She was pondering the idea of asking her employer to advance her the money to hire April when she was approached by Andrew.
"Can I speak to you?" he asked. Chloe wasn't really in the mood, but it wasn't like she had anything better to do while she sipped her tea and ate her chocolate biscuit. She nodded.
"I know you wanted to work with a woman," continued Andrew, "and I don't blame you, but please hear me out. I know I should be asking April, and I could probably get my brother to pay for it, but I don't think I could cope with the pressure of working with a proper professional. I'm sure I will make lots of mistakes to start with, so I thought it might be easier to work with someone who was also learning their way. I really need to get over my shyness with beautiful women like you."
To Chloe, Andrew's comment about her appearance didn't seem manipulative like Alistair. Instead, she felt genuinely pleased, which surprised her. She could see how nervous he was, and it struck a chord with her. However, the idea of working with a strange man still seemed too challenging.
"I don't know," she said. "We only just met."
"How about we decide week by week?" said Andrew. "That way you don't have to make any commitment for the later weeks. If at any stage either of us doesn't think it is working out, then we call it off and use April or someone else.
Chloe looked around the room. Ruth and Deirdre were still deep in conversation. She didn't know whether Gerald had asked Alistair if he was a dancer, but she noted that both men were comparing diaries with April. She figured that, given the lack of alternatives, there would be no harm in working with Andrew for at least the first week, and maybe one or two after that. "Okay," she said.
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Chloe and Andrew decided to meet on Sunday afternoon and again on Monday night. Both agreed it would be best to keep each photo shoot on a separate day so that they wouldn't get their roles confused. This schedule would give them enough time before the shoot to plan it, and enough time afterwards to edit the photos before they emailed their ten best shots to Karyn by the Wednesday night deadline.
Chloe spent the next few days anxiously trying to prepare for Sunday afternoon, when she would be the photographer and Andrew the model. She knew it would be very awkward if she just asked Andrew to do various random poses. What she was looking for was some sort of concept or theme that would give them both some focus. Then finally, on Saturday evening, she got some inspiration while watching the news on her television
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Chloe met Andrew outside her work. Despite being Sunday afternoon there were a couple of people working in the main office, but fortunately her studio was far enough away in the back to give them enough privacy. She anticipated that her model would be quite self-conscious.
Andrew was very impressed by her studio, and watched with great interest as she arranged a black background and adjusted the lighting. She worked with great concentration and seemed to forget about him, as she seemed slightly surprised to see him standing there once she was set up. She picked up a bag and pulled out a green shirt and a small placard like you might wave at a protest march. On the front of the placard she had glued a piece of paper which was printed the same green as the shirt. She held them out to him. Since Chloe hadn't told him to wear any particular colour, he had chosen to wear a white linen shirt with his favourite blue jeans. "I could have worn a green shirt if you wanted me to," he said.
"I hope you don't mind wearing this one," said Chloe, "because I needed to get the colour of the sign to match the shirt. I'm going to chroma key it later."
"Chroma key? What's that?"
"You know, green screen. I'm going to add different stuff to the shirt and the sign later."
Andrew was impressed. Chloe really seemed to know her stuff. He looked around again. "Um, where do I get changed?"
Chloe blushed. She had completely forgotten about that. She opened the door to a small storage room. "Will this do? I'm afraid there's not much room."
Andrew went inside and closed the door. After stripping off his own shirt, he found it strangely difficult to do up the buttons on the green shirt. He realised the buttons were on the wrong side. "Hey Chloe," he called to her through the door. "Is this a woman's shirt?"
"Yes. I borrowed it off my flatmate. Is it too small?"
"No, it's okay I guess." Now that he knew it was a blouse, he noticed that the shape of the collar and shoulders were all wrong too. He desperately hoped that it wouldn't be obvious when the photos were displayed at their next class.
Chloe explained that she wanted him to pose as a protester. She asked him to look angry and brandish the sign. She took a number of photos, but she wasn't happy. She then tried asking Andrew to actually shout out various slogans to try to get a more authentic expression on his face, but he just ended up looking embarrassed.
"Come on," she urged. "Nobody can hear you."
"It's just weird," he complained. "I think protest slogans are embarrassing."
Chloe tried a different tack. "I know. Imagine you're at a rugby game, an All Blacks test match, and we're losing. The referee is making some awful decisions and you're getting annoyed." Then she took a deep breath and yelled. "COME ON. HE WAS TOTALLY OFFSIDE!" Andrew looked startled, but Chloe kept yelling at the imaginary referee. He started to join in, just echoing her words to start with until he began to get into character.
Chloe took a great many shots from a variety of angles, including climbing a short step ladder that they kept in the studio for just that purpose, but she didn't stop yelling abuse. Andrew couldn't help smiling occasionally at the absurdity of the situation, but Chloe still got plenty of great pictures of him looking angry.
Finally they were done, and as Chloe packed her camera away Andrew started changing back into his own shirt. He had his back to her, and she was momentarily stunned by the orange colour of his armpit hair. He was a good looking guy, but she wasn't sure that body hair should be so bright.
"Hey, Tyra!" she said. "What's wrong with your changing room?"
"Oops, sorry about that," he said, quickly buttoning his shirt before turning to face her.
She gave him a grin to show that she was only teasing. After all, a man taking off his shirt wasn't a big deal. At the same time though, she was pleased that he seemed comfortable with her. She still felt nervous about being his model tomorrow, but for now she had to acknowledge that the day had gone well.
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On Monday night, Chloe agreed to meet Andrew at the house he shared with his brother. When she arrived, she saw that it was a traditional family home, complete with a swing set in the yard. This led her to the inevitable conclusion that he still lived with his parents. Andrew seemed acutely aware of her likely perception as he immediately explained that his parents were spending a couple of years travelling overseas, so he and his brother had moved back in to look after the place.
Andrew led Chloe inside where she met his brother and employer. His brother introduced himself as Rupert, although to Rupert's displeasure Andrew referred to him a couple of times as Robert by mistake, which was obviously his real name. Rupert was exactly like Chloe expected; outgoing and flamboyant. He expressed his pleasure at Chloe agreeing to help Andrew with their coursework. He had obviously questioned Andrew about her photo shoot the previous day. He said he was very curious to see the finished product.
Andrew eventually dragged Chloe away from his talkative brother and out into the yard to the swing set. "I thought I would try a 'joys of childhood' theme," he said. "What do you think?"