Chapter 8: Ryan Gets a Surprise

Ryan had just turned seventeen. He’d left school several months previously and had been looking for a job, albeit very half-heartedly. That was made difficult by not having the faintest idea what he wanted to do. He hadn’t been all that bright at school and although he enjoyed sports, he was only an average performer.

Monday morning, having started to get pestered by his parents about making some contribution to his keep, he had made the effort earlier that day and looked through the local paper for ideas. Seeing nothing that appealed, or that he was qualified for, or capable of doing, he went for a wander round the shops. He couldn’t actually buy anything, being completely skint.

At the local newsagents he looked at all the advert cards in the window. It was more for something to do than anything. Two things caught his eye. One was a large card offering a job on a building site for a ‘fit and strong young man for labouring duties. No experience required. Immediate start. Ring Tony it said and gave a number. He put the number in his phone, then he read the other card that had caught his eye.

Presentable young men between the ages of sixteen and twenty required as models for a new clothing manufacturer. Please note this is not a full-time position, but it can provide you with some extra cash. Just a couple of hours a week, hours by arrangement to suit. Please text. He put that number in his phone too.

Typical he thought, I can’t find anything for ages and now I find two at once. He moved away from the shops and rang the first number. ‘Hi, Tony speaking.’ a voice answered. ‘Hi, I’m Ryan.’ he said, ‘I’ve just seen your advert in the newspaper shop window.’

‘Great.’ the voice said, ‘Are you fit, strong and how old are you?’ ‘Yes, Ryan said, ‘And I’m seventeen.’ ‘Ok,’ Tony said, he gave him an address. ‘That’s the building site where you would work. Can you come round now and see me?’

‘I’ll be there in ten minutes.’ Ryan told him. He walked round right away. When he arrived, he discovered it was a small site just big enough for one house. He let himself in through the site gate and headed over to an old caravan in the corner which was labelled ‘Office.’

After knocking and hearing ‘come in.’ he went in to see a man who didn’t look a lot older than him. ‘Hi, I’m Tony,’ he said offering his hand, ‘You must be Ryan.’ They sat and chatted for ten minutes. Tony told him he had just started up in business and was building a single bungalow for sale.

‘I’ve no idea if I’ll be able to carry on after this one,’ he said, ‘So there’s no guarantee of a permanent job. Hours would be forty hours a week. Nine am to five pm Monday to Friday. You’ll get a half hour break for lunch. There may be some overtime but up to now, I don’t know if or when.’

‘You would have to dig, push wheelbarrows, move bricks, mix cement just about everything. I’ll show you how, but I’ll expect you to be able to pick it up as we go along.’

‘Wages would be the national wage of ten pounds an hour for the first month. We’ll review it if you’re any good. Do you know anything about building work?’ ‘Not a thing.’ Ryan said. ‘Ok,’ Tony said, ‘I like what I see, so if you want you can start on trial tomorrow. I treat folk as they treat me, so how long you last is up to you. If I’m happy with you by the weekend you can stay.’

‘Does that mean I’ve got the job?’ Ryan asked surprised. ‘If you want it.’ he replied. ‘Yes, please.’ Ryan said, ‘Thank you.’ They shook hands and Tony said, ‘I’ll see you here tomorrow at nine.’

Ryan left and headed home feeling on top of the world. He was delighted that it would get his parents off his back. He was also thinking that now he would be able to afford to ask the new girl down the road out on a date.

Halfway home he sat down and sent a text to the model advert. ‘Hi, I’m Ryan. I’m seventeen, a builder’s labourer, five foot nine tall and reasonable shape. Available weekends and evenings after six.’

His mum was delighted when he got home with the news, he decided not to mention the modelling job. Later that evening he got a text. ‘Hi, Ryan. Thanks for replying to the advert. I have to prepare advertising pictures for a new manufacturer. You would be required to have your photo taken in just about every item of clothing. That includes swimming shorts, ordinary shorts and underpants. By taking part you would give consent for the photos to be used for advertising. You will get paid ten pounds an hour for doing the photo’s but any that are used in adverts will earn you additional royalties depending on where and how often they are used. Please don’t come if you wouldn’t be happy about seeing yourself on an advertising board or on tv in a pair of swimming trunks.’

‘I’m local to the area and I work from home. If you are interested, please send me a head and shoulders selfie. Also, a full length of your front. It doesn’t matter what clothes you wear for them. These are just to see if your body size is one that we want, and your face won’t frighten the buyers.’ There was a smiley face in brackets after that comment.

‘I’ll get back to you within twenty-four hours of receiving your photos.’ Ryan took a selfie immediately then went and got his mum to take a full length shot. ‘I need it for work.’ he told her. He sent them both off right away.

The next day he had a hard but enjoyable day at work. He liked working with Tony and found he had an interest in what he was doing. Tony was patient about his lack of knowledge and didn’t get niggly if he had to ask twice for something to be explained.

That evening he got a text from the model advert. ‘Hi Ryan, my name is Ben. I’d like to do a preliminary test shoot with you for two hours. It’s to get you relaxed about modelling as well as seeing how you come out on film. None of these will be used, if any are chosen for use, we’ll re-shoot them later when the new clothes are out.’

‘Six o’clock tomorrow night would suit me, but I can change that if it’s not convenient to you. No need to dress up. Can you measure your waist and inside leg so I can make sure I have any clothes needed here for you. This is my address.’

‘Tomorrow is fine, thanks.’ Ryan texted back with the measurements.

The next day he had a busy day at work. At knocking off time he rushed home and showered, changed into some clean clothes and set off to the address given. It was only a ten-minute walk away and in a row of detached houses. The number he had been given had a notice by the front door saying, ‘Studio appointments please use side gate.’

He followed the path round to the side of the house and came to an ordinary side gate. Opening it he found himself in the back garden. Ten feet from the gate was a double garage sized building with a sign on the door saying ‘Studio. Please knock and wait.’

He knocked and the door opened quickly. ‘The sign is just in case I’m in the middle of a shoot,’ the man explained, ‘Hi, I’m Ben, come in.’ Inside was brightly lit and all the windows were covered over. There were all sorts of big board’s standing around with background pictures on them. Spotlights all over the place and a couple of cameras on stands.

In one corner, there was a desk and a couple of chairs. In the other a double bed. There where chairs of all shapes and sizes dotted around. ‘Come and sit over here,’ Ben said leading him to the desk. ‘Have you ever done anything like this before?’ Ben asked. ‘No, never,’ Ryan said, ‘It would never have occurred to me if I hadn’t been reading the cards in the window and seen your advert.’