Chapter 5

When Andrew turned up at the studio on the Wednesday morning he had a flashback to the December shoot. Beatrice, Manon and Veronique were standing talking as he arrived. Chiara came out of her dressing room wearing a silk robe and a big smile. Beatrice was all business.

“There has been no time to prepare, no thought as to how this shoot will go. I was ready to cancel it but Veronique is sure that we can get something out of it. We know what we have from December and I want this to complement those shoots. I want there to be a theme, a message, and Hermès to appear elegant and sexy. Go to it.”

And with that she strode off. Manon smiled apologetically.

“She is off to find out the reaction to the commercials. She will be on the phone all day listening to various people’s reactions. We will see what she has to say at the end of the day. Veronique?”

And with that Manon handed over the direction of the shoot. What was the day like? Andrew’s memory of it was of it being tormenting and a lot of hard work. They shot all day, more than seven hours in total, and were not given a lot of direction, at least to start. Veronique said that all three shoots in December were joyful, her word exactly, and that she wanted more of that joy. December was the foreplay and today was to be the after play. Conveniently moving past the sex in the middle. So Chiara and Andrew were naked under a duvet or blanket on the bed. And for more than two hours that morning he was teased to distraction by her. Now this was staged fooling around, he needed to be aware of the camera, something that Chiara was measurably better at than he was. But whatever vision Veronique had, she was clearly getting some of it from them. It was only later in the day that they finally got dressed and she tried some outside shots again. And this time Andrew had no problem conveying how much he liked Chiara. The woman had spent all day brushing against him and generally teasing and tormenting him to distraction. Now he was trying to do the same to her, but even if Andrew had been as successful as Chiara was, her arousal was not as prominent or obvious as his own. Chiara took this as a personal achievement. Andrew, he went through a range of emotions starting at whole body embarrassment and ending up at resigned good humour about it. But the most embarrassing moment? The flesh coloured tape holding the postiche against his stomach failed. He was handed another roll of tape and told to tape ‘it’ down. Properly this time. He thought Chiara was going to run around like a boxer at the end of a bout with her hands clasped in victory.

But it was what Veronique was trying to capture, the joy of the day. The looks of delight and triumph from Chiara; Andrew’s chagrin, expressed many times and in many ways; and then the walk at the end where there was teasing and promises of revenge. It wasn’t an undirected reality shoot but there was a lot of those elements to it. Veronique captured the chemistry between them very well. He was not sure how that translated into a useable shoot for Hermès but that was not his role. He guessed she would cut in some bathroom scenes from December. He neither knew nor cared. When Veronique called it quits at the end of the day Andrew returned to his dressing room and took a long cold shower. When he came out, fortunately with a towel round his waist, Veronique was waiting for him.

“How did you think it went today?”

Apparently, they were going to chat immediately.

“It was hard work, a surprising amount considering half the day was spent naked in bed.”

“It is the concentration that takes all the energy. I wanted to thank you for being a good sport today. Normally shoots are not as blatant as that.”

“Er, okay.”

“You are new to modelling, and are not good at faking things. To shoot a scene where lovers are playing in bed afterwards, I needed for you to be a lover, not act like a lover.”

Andrew thought about what she said and meant.

“Okay, I can see that.”

“Chiara got you aroused so that you were aroused as opposed to acting aroused. As you do more shoots then maybe you can convey that without what you went through today, but maybe not.”

Given his very limited experience it seemed likely. But what about shoots with other models, would they be comfortable with what was needed. Would Andrew react the same way as he had with Chiara, or Heloise? He asked Veronique.

“Don’t worry about it. You will work with people who understand what we are trying to convey. Let me ask you something else. This campaign is inspired by Heloise and you, and Chiara and you. Two very different models, different ages, different body types, even different nationalities. But you were part of something that is new. Now we are doing the next shoots, and as you saw today it was ill-prepared and rushed. We have enough to get something from it but it was more the chemistry between the two of you than anything else. Beatrice knows I am going to ask each of the models this so what do you think the campaign should look like?”

Andrew had no idea what to say. He was surprised, bordering on being shocked, that she wanted his opinion.

“No idea Veronique, I am surprised that you have asked me. I am Scottish, male, with no background in fashion, almost non-existent experience as a model and the soul of an engineer. There are many way more qualified people to ask. Your crew would have more idea than I would.”

“Rubbish Andrew, your opinion is probably the most valuable. You have a creative mind, think about the shoot in December. It was you with the fireman’s lift with Heloise which is very funny the way she is hitting you and will be one of the memorable moments that people are talking about from last night; it was you that did the thing with the dress with Joelle, which if nothing else will definitely aid sales of that dress; and it was you with the idea for the shoot with Chiara. Never mind that lift at the end. So do not underestimate yourself. Tell me what you think about this campaign, what we have done, the nudity, everything.”

Andrew might know nothing about modelling and even less about fashion but he knew a bit about sex. And sex was the basis of a lot of advertising. This was just more blatant than he was used to in Britain. He asked Veronique to turn round before pulling on his underwear, jeans and t-shirt while thinking about it.

“Heloise’s commercials could have been selling fish or ice cream. Heloise was key to the commercial. And it was a chance for her to portray someone other than the robotic fashion model. Now Hermès are positioning it that it was this new cologne I was wearing that got her smiling and laughing. And naked in my arms. Joelle was the same, different body type but putty in my hands as soon as I splashed on the cologne. Chiara’s was different, it was the perfume not the cologne this time. Dab some perfume on you and I will turn up and eat you out against the wall. So rather than dim lighting and lots of implied activity we shot a series of surprisingly brightly lit commercials where I threw two models onto the bed and the third is eight feet up in the air. So what is that. It is not just shock, although there will be some people who are shocked.”

Andrew was talking out loud and not adding anything to what Veronique already knew.

“Look, it is something like ‘The Power of Hermès’. And this mini-movie will have a different if complementary impact as well.”

Andrew closed his eyes and thought.

“Pair the commercials, a female voice and a male voice. Almost the same shots, the same cut but with a different pitch. For the men, if you love this woman, or even if you just lust after her, then you need to shop at Hermès. Show her how much you care. For the women, go to Hermès and get the scarf, cologne, perfume, whatever you want to sell; you deserve it, your partner will notice.

“I bought 12 scarves at the store last spring, a year ago now. You should have seen the reactions of the women that I gave the scarves to. Completely over the top, eye-popping, tears, the whole works. And all but two were just friends, 18 year old friends at university to my 78 year old grandmother. I don’t think men realise how much these scarves are lusted after, treasured. So do something that just highlights ‘The Power of Hermès’ or maybe better phrased ‘The Allure of Hermès’.

“And you should take the campaign that Chiara is starting further. Young couple standing looking at the people in the store, they can’t afford it yet. Then show the same couple but 10 or 20 years later finally being able to get the scarf. Hermès is worth waiting for. Hermès is timeless. Something like that. You want the men with money to come to the store to shop for their wife or companion, girlfriend, whoever. They have the women with money well catered for already. Try and get more couples and men in the store.”

He stopped.

“How is that?”

Veronique came over and kissed him on both cheeks before running her hand across one.

“A lot of that is already done, standard industry stuff, but one or two of those ideas are very good. I think we have the name for the overall campaign, The Power of Hermès. Are you suggesting that we sex up the older people? Have them like you and Chiara and Heloise?”

“You don’t think you can find two or three men and women who still look great even in their forties? The way Chiara talked there will be a lot of people keen to show everyone they still have it. Like I said, they are the key buying age, Heloise and I are the age of their children.”

There was a knock and Manon opened the door.

“Is everything okay?”

Veronique laughed.

“Everything is fine, I am off to talk to Beatrice. Pretty boy here has, as usual, come up with some good ideas.”

Andrew chatted to Manon and put his socks and shoes on, recapping the gist of the conversation with Veronique.

“How are you doing? Chiara was teasing you a lot today”

Manon had been conspicuously absent on a couple of occasions, around the time that Andrew had needed to calm down.

“I am sorry I embarrassed you. It has a mind of its own and you are right Chiara was tormenting me a lot.”

They were both blushing, hardly surprising given the subject matter. Manon ruefully laughed.

“It is different to what I was doing in product development, that’s for sure. From talking to some of the crew it is unusual for the director to continue shooting, let along encourage that. If I didn’t know you then I think I would be okay, it is the fact that it is you that gets me flustered.”

“We have selected a model for tomorrow. We are trying different things and this woman is more like Camille from last year. She is even more petite and tiny so there will be lots of contrast shots.”

Andrew shrugged, eloquently. It was Veronique’s problem to try and get them both in the shot. Chiara came up beside him, the look in her eyes not open to doubt or debate. Manon laughed as he was dragged off to his doom.

They managed to order room service in a break between bouts but other than that the evening was carnal in the extreme. He had called it right, Chiara was ravenous and insatiable. But she was not the only one. A cold shower may have dampened his ardour at the end of the shoot but a naked Chiara in his bed had undone that respite. Even when they tried to start slow and tender and lovingly there was something about the two of them that night that turned it into a hard, spirited fuck. The best position was missionary but with Chiara’s legs splayed wide and her bent in half. She pushed back on every thrust, goading Andrew to fuck her harder, her eyes dark and full of desire. She was in magnificent shape and he never came close to breaking her. She came hard but when she came back down to earth it was very much ‘what have you done for me lately’. Mind you she was asleep before him.

The following morning after his run Andrew did wake her with a cold hand to the arse cheek and skipped off to the bathroom to avoid a pillow and a torrent of angry Italian. They swapped as she had a quick shower while he got dressed and dealt with the flotsam of the previous evening, scattered beside the bed. She packed her small bag and they headed down to breakfast.

“I might have to get a younger lover. You wore me out, you animal.”

Kettle and pot sprang to Andrew’s mind. After breakfast they parted at the hotel door, Chiara was heading to Hermès while he went to the studio in the other direction.

“I will write to you Andrew, let you know how the little movie does. Let me know if you want any advice on your agent.”

As he walked to the studio Andrew’s thoughts, unsurprisingly, were of Chiara, the last four days, as well as the dilemma of finding an agent. Their parting that morning had been sweet but he had not gone overboard with her. He didn’t think he could do meaningless sex but this was one step up from that. Chiara was physical pleasure, yes a beautiful woman that he had learned a lot from but there was not a connection. Andrew no longer was fucking Heloise but felt much closer to her than he did to Chiara.

Veronique was getting the crew organised when Andrew arrived at the studio so he waited for her to be done with a guy moving lights before asking for a quick word.

“I will need more direction today. I don’t know this woman, I don’t even know her name. All Manon told me was that she is tiny which cannot make it easy for you. Sorry.”

She understood and in fact they were going out for some walking around shots so that Veronique could see how they interacted. Renee Clement was nervous when Andrew met her. As in babbling in French, English and a mixture of both. It was just as well that they had a short cab ride to the Champs de Mars as she would have been useless if they had started shooting immediately. Previously they had shot in the Tuileries, close to the studio and with nice convenient framing shots of the Champs Elysees in one direction and the Louvre in the other. This time they were shooting in the park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. By the time they were ready for her and Andrew, Renee was over the worst of her nerves. This was all voiceover work so they did not have lines to memorise, not that it would have mattered as his French was less than 100 words. Rene was 24 although she would be carded in every bar in the world, all of seven stone and not even 5’1”. Andrew felt worse than when he was with Tanvi and Katie four years previously. He felt like a lumbering oaf beside her, they didn’t make sense as a believable couple. Renee was pretty in a cute, elfin way but she had poise and a presence about her. Later that morning when they were talking he got some background and it made sense. Renee had been a nationally ranked gymnast close to Olympic standard. Always made the trials, never quite made it. She was the eighth best gymnast in all of France five years earlier and nobody had ever heard of her. Gymnastics is the classic Olympic sport, everyone pays attention for three weeks every four years but the rest of the time, not so much. So her poise and posture made sense once Andrew knew this. Other than the incongruous height comparison between them, and indeed because of it, they made no sense. But he was not the client or the director. They wore a groove in the gravel path they went back and forth so much, trying to get the look that Veronique was after.

What saved them was when Renee jumped into Andrew’s arms. She might only be five foot tall but she had not lost her spring. It was these moves, the giggles, the sudden grabs as he nearly dropped her, wrapping her arms round his neck to hold on, finally they had something that Veronique could use. The two of them walked through the Champs de Mars, the Eiffel Tower looming ever larger as they headed towards it. They went there and back twice, it was a 40 minute walk but they strolled arm in arm just chatting to each other. This was when Andrew found out about her gymnastic career. She was not bitter, she had won regional prizes, been the champion of her province for five years in a row and had been able to represent France at a couple of second tier events. She was a normal well-adjusted woman in her mid 20s who had an interesting past. He asked her about her modelling career.

“I have been doing sport shoots, you know modelling swimsuits or leotards, things like that. I have done some clothes modelling but it is catalogue stuff, not fashion. I can still pass for a teenager so I model school uniforms, sports strips, really I will do most work. It is not a long term career for me, it is interesting and exciting but one day soon the work will dry up and I will become a teacher, that is my degree from university.”

“So why are you here today, this seems different from what you usually do?”

“I know, but I told my agent I would do any kind of work. He asked me if I would be prepared to be nude in commercials. I was not sure but then I saw how many men and women are naked on TV every evening and so I figured why not. I don’t want to be fully nude face on but topless and my derriere are okay. I have done a couple of shoots, face cream was one I think, standing at the sink after the shower, and coffee was the other. Get out of bed and make the coffee naked. Everyone does that, no?”

Renee laughed at the absurdity. Buy our coffee and a hot woman just like this one will make it for you naked every morning.

“The first was photographs only and the second was just me. This is my first time working with someone else. I was nervous this morning in case you hadn’t guessed.”

“You calmed down pretty quickly. Will you be okay being naked with me?”

She touched his arm.

“Andrew I watched all the commercials you shot last year, and that two minute movie. I am worried I am going to get all flustered with you. Nervous yes, but in a ‘yummy man’ sort of way.”

It was Andrew’s turn to laugh. The afternoon should be interesting. Veronique had wanted to get some shots of them acting natural and so told them to walk back and forth. She had the crew used longer lens just taking shots of them being a normal couple, chatting away, natural reactions, spontaneous laughter, nothing forced. By the end of it they were relaxed and happy, and both looking forward to the getting back to the studio.

Despite there being none of the relentless teasing that he had endured from Chiara the previous day there was something about Renee Clement that got Andrew all hot and bothered. She was tiny but was in perfect proportion and her b-cup tits seemed larger when on her petite frame. Was it memories of Tanvi and Katie? Maybe, although just being a male and a pervert seemed more likely. While they were shooting all the scenes in the bathroom, he was once again stuck in the too short for him shower, Andrew had to re-apply the flesh coloured tape again, ashamed at his lack of professionalism. Renee’s reaction? A giggle and “Oh my, did I cause that?” followed by more giggling. Yes, that helped calm him down!

So what do you shoot if you have a naked gymnast in the studio? Naked gymnastics. This might have been the most fun shoot Andrew was ever on. Renee would bounce across the studio and then flip into his lap. He was constantly wondering how this was helping sell Hermès, he had no idea, but he wasn’t complaining. After several practices onto a pillow to get the take off point right Andrew was sitting at the end of the bed. Renee did a short run, flipped onto her hands and when back upright, into his lap. Her momentum pushed them back onto the bed, fade out, ravishing ensued. Four takes later and he was feeling the effect of a 100lb projectile landing on him repeatedly, but he soldiered on like the dedicated professional he was. Hmmm. They took a break and Veronique approached him.

“I am struggling to do anything else with Renee’s gymnastics as splits and things like that cannot be shot, and even with careful positioning and editing it is too graphic. I want something else, a sparkle. Do you have any suggestions?”

He could not think of anything at first but as Renee returned to the set Andrew had a sudden thought. Renee still had tremendous strength and flexibility, so rather than use his strength why don’t they use hers. Veronique saw his smile and just called everyone to get ready. He walked over to Renee.

“Ready to have some fun?”

“Always. I am sad that I cannot use you as I landing mat anymore.”

“How about as a climbing frame?”

Andrew got into position to do push ups and then told Renee to lie across his back. Once she was steady he started doing push ups.

“Now still holding on with your arms and legs come round under me and kiss me.”

By the time she was in position Andrew was not supporting any of her weight, it was all her, and she made it look effortless. The kiss she gave distracted him and he forgot to do the push up. With a final giggle she pulled herself back up and Veronique called cut.

“I have never done that before, sure standing up holding on but never underneath a man like that.”

Andrew sat up and shook his arms. It was Renee’s turn.

“Andrew, can you do that again? How many more can you manage?”

“Not too many more but I can manage some.”

“Good. Veronique can we try one more?”

They started the same way but before Renee climbed under him she crabbed round on his back so that her chin was resting at the top of his arse crack. Before Andrew knew what was happening she worked her way under him but now her head was in his groin and her legs were round his chest. Thank god he had taped himself down again, he would have taken her eye out. Renee never actually touched his dick but she kissed his lower stomach and Andrew could feel her breath on it.