Chapter 2

Andrew felt calmer about the filming that week after Beatrice’s words. It took her explaining it him to understand the value of repetition, and allowing Hermès the chance to shoot as many variations as possible. Veronique had the vision in her mind’s eye and so she provided direction as well as keeping the shoot moving forward. What allowed this fast pace was that they never had to worry about dialogue. There had only ever been two shoots where the female model had spoken. Mathilde was one with the claw clip and there may have been another model that week. The skiing into the snowmen in Courcheval had squeals and giggles but for the most part Veronique was concerned with the mood, the looks between the models, making sure that the scarf or bag was prominent and not just discarded on the floor in a heap. But there were no flamboyant theatrics. She was creative yet disciplined, and was an underappreciated component of Andrew’s success as a model.

Again with the bedroom scene allowed little in the way of latitude for doing anything out with a tiny, tight circle where the Tower was visible, the shoot that evening was over quickly. There would be up to three to five seconds of them in the final commercial anchoring the scene in Paris. But the following day Eve and Andrew turned up the heat. He didn’t run in the Tuileries as normal but instead went directly out to the equestrian centre. Eve was already there getting the finishing touches to her make-up and hair. He led her aside for a moment.

“I want to turn up the heat this morning for our shoot.”

Eve looked at him and smiled.

“Okay. How?”

“To start I am going to get all hot and sweaty like last month but every time I look at you I am going to try and convey an arrogant authority. What I need you to think about for the next hour is that chaise longue. Because I am going to be thinking about throwing you down on it and ravishing you. So get your head into that place and every time I look at you think about the chaise. The feel of the leather. How it is going to stick on your skin. Think about how far I am going to push the scene. How far you are going to want me to push the scene.”

Rubbing her temple with his fingers Andrew walked away. A skin tight shirt, jodhpurs and riding boots are not the ideal running gear but he went for a run, working up a sweat. Veronique was already shooting him as he walked back to get his jacket and mount the horse. 33 minutes later Andrew was absurdly sweaty and as he cavalierly dismounted from the horse he grabbed a small towel off the rail and wiped his face. Without breaking stride he threw the towel aside and caught Eve as she launched herself into his arms. Just for a second it seemed real and Andrew was thinking about pleasuring Eve for hours. But his fantasy screeched to a halt and he slipped back into model mode.

The best that he could describe it later was it was more lust than passion, more sexual than sensual. The highlight for Andrew was using the chaise longue. He made a mental note to investigate getting one for the house in London. Just like the counter in the bathroom scenes it was at the perfect height to hide their lower bodies so Michel was able to shoot straight on without worrying about anything being exposed. But as a prop with potential it was pretty great. And the best part of filming was the editing process where several minutes of hopping around getting their boots off could be conveniently skipped.

By the end it looked like Andrew was fucking Eve doggy over the head of the chaise. He had her pulled back into his arms, in the first shot with a scarf draped over her shoulders hiding her tits but in the second it was weighted to slide off as they pretend fucked. And there were some superb shots of the jodhpurs being peeled off down over her arse and off her legs. It was borderline softcore porn. After a break Veronique recognised that it was probably too much and so they dialled it back to more passion and implied ravishing rather than lust and blatant ravishing. Either way Eve got ravished, at least through the lens of the camera. When it was all over Andrew lay back on the chaise for a moment, a towel around his waist, letting some of the heat bleed off him. He felt someone sit on the other end of the chaise and opened his eyes.

“That was pretty wild Andrew. Do you think they will use the first shots?”

He sat up straighter.

“I doubt it. It was a little too much for Hermès I think. The first two thirds of it, even the first three quarters, is fine and I imagine they will use it but I don’t think the stuff at the end. Who knows. Are you okay? Was it too much?”

“No. There are several commercials that stand out in the series. I think this one will as well. I want to be successful and we didn’t do anything that wasn’t detailed in the contract. As you said it is probably too much for Hermès but it was fine. But you also helped me get to the right place with the talk in advance. Every time you looked at me I could see it in your eyes. But maybe there was nothing there and all you had done was primed me so that I saw what I wanted to see, or what you wanted me to see.”

She shrugged.

“It was great. Do you know what they want to do tonight?”

“No idea. In the past they have filmed us pretending to have dinner. I presume it will be the same but I don’t know.”

He wandered off to get changed. Back in the centre of Paris he snuck back into the pool at one of the city centre hotels and spent a wonderful hour just slowly cruising back and forth. It was nice to enjoy the swim and the no-drama week. When he returned to the Monsart there was a message to call Manon at her office.

“Hello Manon.”

“Can you come to the office please. We can dress you for tonight here after we have chatted.”

Andrew was sure he could find his way to their offices in his sleep now and 25 minutes later was again in Manon’s office. She was smiling and gave him a big hug.

“I think that Beatrice is afraid to meet you in December. Every time she talks to you...”

He smiled but didn’t say anything.

“There is a music store not far from the studio, just off the Rue de Rivoli. They will have a double bass there for you tomorrow. Will you show us how well you play?”

“Let me know the address and tell them to expect me as soon as they open. It is three and a half years since I played. I will be rusty.”

“Okay. How did this morning go?”

It was his turn to laugh.

“Probably a little more blatant than Hermès would consider. Veronique had us reshoot the last bit again. But it went fine. I probably have the best chemistry with Eve.”

He shrugged.

“What is happening tonight?”

“Just some dinner shots, nothing to taxing.”

“What about tomorrow?”

“After lunch we want to take some shots of Paris from the Eiffel Tower; down the Champ de Mars, over to the Arc de Triomphe, down the Seine to the Louvre and Notre Dame, all the standard tourist views. You get to play dress up with Heike, Ebba and Julie.”

“Do you and Phillippe want to have dinner? Every time I see you it always seems rushed. I am on the 8.50 flight to Amsterdam on Saturday morning and it appears I have Friday night free. Do you have plans?”

“That is a great idea. What do you want to do?”

“After dinner I will show you the little jazz bar that gave me the idea for Beatrice. The music is great, it is quiet and I like the relaxed air to the place. I always seem to be running around and it is a nice change of pace.”

Andrew needed to stop being so blasé about standard shots for commercials, the filler that may only be in the final commercial for a second or two. He survived with Eve, Noemie and Ebba and they managed not to look too ridiculous swapping places and changing clothes. What he did find interesting was that Ebba talked to the other two for several minutes before they started. That was no big deal but they kept looking over at him while doing it. At the end of the meal Andrew worried he was going to have to turn one of them down but the evening wrapped up without any veiled hints at coming back to his room. He snorted and shook his head at his own self-absorption as he walked back to the Monsart. He felt a fool.

The following morning was just a complete blast. It was a small city centre instrument shop, primarily guitars, but standing very conspicuously in the back of the shop was a double bass. Now Andrew had played for seven years while at school, he had started in Primary 7, but was not an expert in the quality of different instruments. His own bass was good, but schoolboy player good, it was nothing fancy. The bass there just felt different, it was an odd way of thinking of an inanimate musical instrument but it felt more grown-up. And so tucked away in a tiny practice space at the back of the shop Andrew played for the first time in more than 40 months. Even the scales were rusty at first but he persevered. After a while it turned into swimming, he tuned the world out and played fragments of some of the pieces that he had practiced all these years. When he looked back on all the crazy things he did during the crazy four years at school the one, more than any other, that was the craziest was his double bass lessons. Andrew played in two concerts in four years. The first had 37 people in attendance and the second more than 2,000. And then he had stood his double bass in the corner of the box bedroom in his flat and ignored it.

He was a reasonable, technically competent double bass player, functional but not instinctive. So he knew his limitations but saying all that it was a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours. There were various pieces of orchestral music with the instrument so once he got a semblance of flexibility back into his fingers he leafed through what they had provided. Of course having mentioned the Choral Symphony to Beatrice there was a copy of the bass part in the pile. Putting everything else aside he opened the part to the fourth movement and started to play. It is close to 25 minutes for the whole movement so he jumped to the moment when the main, most glorious, theme is first introduced. There is a momentary snippet from the oboes before the cellos and basses have their moment in the spotlight. He didn’t know how long he played this theme over and over, probably too many for the customers of the store, when he heard a noise. Beatrice and Manon were standing watching him and one of them must have made the noise. He stopped and looked at them.

“I don’t know why we bothered. That was wonderful Andrew.”

Apparently he had passed the audition. Once he had packed everything back up and added his thanks to the staff they walked the two blocks back to the studio.

“Can you play Jazz?”

“Yes, but I am not good enough to improvise. If there is sheet music then I will be fine.”

Beatrice just looked at Manon who hurriedly nodded. When they got to the studio she sat him down if only to save her neck.

“Heloise was a fashion model who wanted to do something more. What we have ended up with is great. She has shown that she is more than just a model for someone else’s clothes. The whole thing has been a huge success. But Alejandro wanted to do the same thing, or at least take baby steps. As you said at the time, it seemed that her agent wanted her to do it more than she did. But we have never run that shoot, at least shot like all the others. Compared to your other shoots it looks like she is a kidnap victim. So we just went with the fully dressed outdoor shots, all very standard. But overall a disaster. So if we use someone who wants to break into modelling, wants to alter how she is perceived by the public, then there will be a risk.”

Andrew shook his head.

“I disagree. Show the candidate all the shoots. The behind the scenes shoot where the model walks in all but naked in front of 50 people. You have those shots to let her mentally get ready for the process. And show her the Alejandra shoot. Show her what complete failure looks like. If she says she can do it and she is confident then get her to strip, stick on the modesty patch and tell her to go next door. You are going to film the audition in front of 50 people again. That is all made up but it will make the audition very real very quickly.”

“You really do want my job.”

He laughed.

“No you are safe. I still have the soul of an engineer, as I was told twice this summer.”

He went to get changed before the three of them were driven over to the Eiffel Tower. It was only then Andrew discovered there was a restaurant on the second level of the Tower and they were having lunch there before doing the shoots looking out over Paris. It was only months afterwards that he realised that this restaurant had been one of the scenes in the latest James Bond film. It was not disguised or anything, there is a whole fight and chase starting in the restaurant, and the Tower and Paris, are central to that part of the film. So he sat at a table for four with Manon and Beatrice opposite him and the three models came and sat and they pretended to have lunch, three times. There was only one camera discreetly hidden but able to film him and the model as they talked to Manon and Beatrice.

“Was Catherine Deneuve not available?”

He leaned back expecting a whack.

“Be nice or it will be a week of dancer’s belts for you, young man.”

They all laughed and Ebba, who had seen that particular commercial giggled as well.

“The look on your face, it was so funny. Chiara just radiated this aura of gloating.”

Andrew was not sure Beatrice should have wine at lunchtime as she gave an exaggerated account of the day, indeed the whole week. But as a way of forgetting about the camera it worked very well. After three filmed lunches, during which Andrew did actually eat lunch, they ascended to the very top of the Tower and played tourist. The morose Hector, who Andrew had worked with when talking to customers in the Hermès store, stood on a small riser ostensibly shooting out over Paris and two of them cycled in and out of his shots. No big production and no fuss. Well one or two guys watched the three female models pretty closely but nobody did anything stupid. It was a relaxed afternoon. These were filler shots but anchored the shoots in Paris, and gave Veronique additional options for a second or two in the commercial. At the end of the afternoon Andrew decided to walk back to the Monsart from the Eiffel Tower. In many ways the week had gone well, and had been easy. But there was no doubt that he was emotionally detached from these shoots. There had been few moments where he had spent any time with the different models on their own, not surprising when they were using five at once, and so there was not much of a connection. Eve had been the closest and even then, it was nothing like Andrew had with Heloise, Renee, Chiara or Mathilde. And that was down to him. Andrew’s sense of the week was that he had been coasting, mailing it in. Nobody seemed upset and there had not been endless reshoots but there was a disconnect.