Joe and Max threw their luggage into their rooms without bothering to unpack, and went out to scout for colorful locations for stills, and ocean tide-pools or reefs for action shots.
Quentin said he would unpack, and join them in a short while.
Candy had the houseboys carry Suzanna's wardrobe into the guest house, where they opened the cases immediately to avoid further wrinkling.
Suzy gasped when she saw some of the fabulous nothings she would be wearing in the commercials. They were obviously designed to show a great deal.
Helene asked her to try one of the more concealing costumes, since it would require more fitting. She couldn't believe Suzy's waist could be that small, but it was. Everything fitted perfectly.
Joe came to the door a short time later, and said, "We'd like to take a few stills before lunch to try the lighting. We'll do the befores first. Suzy, get your makeup off except for lip gloss. Bruce, put up her hair. Helene, the girl-next-door cover-up she's wearing will be perfect. Change into some plain white flats and come out as soon as you're ready."
"Okay," said Suzanna. "Be with you in a minute."
When she had finished, they called her over to the main house where they shot the 'before' shots of her seated, then standing at a desk. She even had her fake glasses on in one. Candy oversaw the work with the digital camera. When Joe was done, she checked each on her computer screen.
Next they took some video of her down on the beach, making the most of the early morning light before the sun got too strong.
Then it was time to film the afters. This time her hair came tumbling down, and she got the full make up treatment from Bruce. They took the same shots as before, and then they posed her against a palm tree in a white strapless sarong-type dress with a splash of scarlet across the breast and down the deep side slit.
There was a matching stole with a six-inch fringe, and she looked like a siren luring men to their deaths on the rocks as she posed down by the reef.
Candy had to admit that her figure was not perfect, being a bit too rounded in the hips for the standard waif-like models that were the trend these days, but whatever Suzanna had, it was obvious it was all hers, without the benefit of starvation or hours in the gym.
Even the cameramen and Bruce, whose tastes were somewhat jaded from photographing and making up the same perfect bodies and faces for years on end, were overawed by her sheer sexuality.
Now that she was doing the 'after' shots, Suzanna performed like a 'pro'. As Max called directions, she smiled, pouted, flirted, and threw sultry looks at the camera over a bare shoulder.
Occasionally, Max would give her the once over and tug at the tops of the dresses, up to improve the line, or down to show more cleavage, but it was an impersonal gesture, and Suzy did not feel threatened by it.
Quentin was there for the entire shoot, but Suzy was too busy to notice him. It would have done her heart good, though, if she had seen him scowl whenever Max touched her clothing.
Later in the day they had her scrub off most of the makeup and go a bit more natural with the swimsuit they had planned for her. Candy helped her get ready, which entailed using more wax than ever before.
"I feel like a plucked chicken," Suzy complained through gritted teeth as her bikini line became a Mohican.
"Sorry, dearie, it's just too revealing to take a risk," Helene apologized.
The swim suit, the exact color of her skin, was a long, thin triangle of silk jersey in front and a very short one in back with a string to hold it around the neck, and a series of strings attaching the front to the back. Once she hit the water in it, she looked almost nude.
"We sure as heck won't be able to use these in some of the ladies family-type magazines, but they should do well in Cosmo and a few of the others," said Joe with a grin.
Quentin looked as though he had swallowed something sour, and got up. He walked down the beach and clearly tried to ignore Joe and Suzy sporting themselves in the surf, with Joe taking underwater shots as well.
They had been so busy, they'd completely forgotten about lunch. It was only at about two that the housekeeper called them to say that she had set out a buffet.
They decided Suzanna needed a break, since modeling was not her chosen career and could be exhausting for a novice, and despite all the sunblock they kept putting on, they last thing they wanted was sunburn on their first day.
Lunch was the first time she was been able to talk to Quentin privately since that morning in her hotel room. He came up behind her as she was fixing a plate for herself from the elaborate salad bar. There were platters of roast beef and turkey and bowls of cold shrimp and langostina with a variety of sauces as well as fresh-baked bread and rolls. He joined her in the small line, filled his plate, then followed her out of doors to sit at a table for two shaded by a striped umbrella.
"You know," he said to her when they were seated, "I'm not sure it was the brightest thing I ever did when I asked you to take this job."
She stared at him in surprise. "Why not? The pay is good, the work, though tiring, isn't really hard, and I get to wear these luxurious clothes."
"That's part of it. You mean the clothes you almost wear--like that swim suit you have on under the robe."
"I know what you mean. It barely covers possible."
"Without a doubt, you have the wildest collection of sayings I've ever heard-but usually apropos. Is that another one of grandma's?"
"Yes. One day I think I'll put them all in a book so I can hand them down to future generations."
"Does that mean you're planning to have a family of your own some day?"
She glanced at him in surprise. "Of course. Does that thought disturb you?"
Quentin considered the idea. "No," he said. "Quite the contrary. But tell me. How did your German grandmother pick up all those old, wise old sayings?"
"Oh, she didn't. The sayings come from my witty Irish grandma."
"You seem to have inherited the best traits of both. But you've also managed to change the subject on me. I swear, if that Max puts his hands into your cleavage again, I'll tear his heart out."
Suzanna grinned. "You noticed? Don't let it disturb you. It was all very impersonal. He didn't really touch me. He was only trying to make the dress show a bit more skin. Besides, why should you care? Only a dog in the manger would want to keep a man away from something he doesn't want himself. You've never shown the slightest interest in my cleavage or anything else."
"That's an out and out lie and you know- Oh, damn it all, here comes Joe. That means they're ready to shoot again."
Suzanna had to wolf down her food and change again, this time into a white net string bikini with two circles and a triangle of opaque white satin latex in strategic spots. Sensible Suzanna was becoming Sizzling Suzy right before everyone's eyes, including her own, and truth to tell, she rather liked it.
She could see Quentin he was inwardly fuming, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. In the meantime, as the agency representative, she suggested certain still shots for layouts she had in mind, and tried to jolly him along into offering his opinion.
Suzy herself struck poses of her own designed to sell more cosmetics. She bent over a tide pool and looked up at the camera, holding a tiny starfish as if showing it to a watching lover. The make-up was featured as being water-proof and perspiration proof, and so far as she could tell, it was holding up well as she put it through its paces.
The video-camera caught her in a fast, though one-sided, game of tennis, and on a boat, as well as just sunning her long, lithe body.
They worked while the light held, with Suzanna stopping only long enough to have Bruce change her make-up colors, and for Helene to get her into another exquisite costume.
Toward evening, they put Quentin in a dinner jacket and asked him to be a back-drop for her. She was like a fairy princess in a flame colored ball gown, held in his arms as they danced in the charming courtyard. He was in three-quarter profile, while Suzann
a looked at him starry-eyed as the camera caught every romantic nuance.
"You're some actress!" the crew congratulated her when the scene was over.
"I don't know of a professional model who could have done that more convincingly," Candy praised.
Suzanna smiled demurely and said, "Thank you."
At last, they had finished shooting for the day. Dining was to be 'al fresco', with the Bahamians preparing a sort of mini-clambake in a metal drum. There were giant crayfish, the lobster of the tropics, clams, potatoes, and corn on the cob all steamed in seaweed.
Conversation was lively, and there was some good-natured kidding about the brevity of Suzanna's costumes. Quentin didn't seem to find the remarks very funny, though he managed a polite smile.
When dinner was over, they retired to the living room to see the results of the day's 'takes.' Although the video tapes had been monitored as they'd been shot, all wanted a chance to see them on a big TV screen.
They figured they had done enough footage for one week of commercials. If they could do as well on Sunday and Monday, they'd have it made.
There was a hush as they slid the tape into the player, turned on the set, and pushed the play button. First came the 'plain' Suzanna sitting at the desk, putting on glasses, taking notes, talking on the phone, just an average, efficient personal assistant doing her job. There were a few scenes with her face and hands applying makeup, then her hair being brushed out.
The next scene was the one that would make every female rush out to buy 'Femme Fatale.' Right before their eyes, an ordinary girl had turned into a sex-symbol, a gorgeous creature to capture any man's heart. They would use the exotic Bahaman locales to make her fantasize, and then live the fantasy.
As the tape came to its breath-taking end, there was complete silence in the room. Quentin was the first to speak.
"Well, folks, it looks as if we've pulled it off. We have the start of a campaign that will be an all-time classic. It's perfect, every frame. We can use every inch of that footage."
The crew concurred wholeheartedly. Only Suzy sat tongue-tied. She couldn't believe that she had so naturally fallen into such seductive poses, or had unwittingly revealed the open invitation in her eyes. She and Quentin stared at each other across the room, his expression unreadable.
The spell was broken when someone suggested they all take a refreshing dip in the ocean before going to bed. Within minutes, they were all in their swimsuits and running into the calm, transparent water.
"Hey, Suzanna," Quentin said as he splashed into the sea right behind her. "Congratulations. You were fantastic." He looked down at her black nothing of a maillot and said, "If that is your own suit, it's almost as bad as the ones Femme Fatale picked for you."
"Almost as bad! Any other man would say almost as good!" she fired back.
"Sure," he said hotly, "but any other man doesn't happen to be in l-- Er, I mean, doesn't happen to care about you."
Suzy's heart turned over. She knew how close he'd come to saying 'in love with you'. But she let it go, and remarked, "And you do care about me, I suppose."
"Of course I do," he replied gruffly.
"You have a funny way of showing it."
"We aren't going to start fighting again, are we?"
"Not now, I'm not in the mood, and it would spoil the great day we've had so far."
"Then how about racing me to the float and back?"
"You're on," she said.
As she plunged into the water and started toward the float with a strong, graceful crawl, Quentin launched into a good backstroke so he could look at her while they swam. They reached the float in a dead heat.
"We both win," she said with a grin.
"I concede victory to you because I'm a gentleman."
"Thank you, kind sir."
They boosted themselves onto the float, where they were soon joined by the whole crew except Helene, who had gone back to the guest house.
They splashed, dived, pushed, told jokes and laughed a lot, and when they were relaxed and feeling tired enough to sleep, swam slowly back to shore.
Suzy had been delighted to notice that Candy's figure was no less lovely than it had been when she had been at the height of her career. Her breasts were high and firm, her abdomen flat and her buttocks still firm and tight.
Unless Suzy was very much mistaken, her measurements were still just about the same as they had been when she had been a top model. It was good to see she had nothing to fear from growing old, at least not yet.
But Candy had been right about what she had said about her looks: they would not last forever. There was no sense in wasting her beauty. If Quentin didn't want, her, there would be plenty of other men who would. It would just be a case of her finding the right one.
There had to be a Mr. Right out there somewhere for her. She had thought Quentin would be it, but perhaps she had been wrong? He didn't seem to care about her the way she longed for him to. She was only making a fool of herself by continuing to want what she couldn't have, for all his slip of the tongue had caused her hopes to raise for a moment.
Her impression that he might not really want her after all was reinforced when he made no move to speak to her privately or detain her.
They all bid one another goodnight in front of the guest house and went in to a well-earned rest. She went into her room to be dejected, think how lonely it was to be in paradise without Quentin in her arms.
She headed to bed just as lonely as she had been the night before, and wondered why everything had to be so complicated where Quentin was concerned.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The next morning, shooting started immediately after a luscious breakfast of coconut pancakes with mango syrup and rather more mundane ham and eggs.
Quentin had a great brain storm as they were finishing up. "You know, you're such a great cook, I think you really look at home in the kitchen."
"Thank you, I think. Or are you being sexist?"
"No, I mean, I think the 'before' shots today should feature you as a domestic goddess in a plain dress with an apron. If there isn't one in wardrobe, I'm sure the housekeeper can provide one. No glasses, but hair up, slightly looser. There's probably some batter left from breakfast. You could have her making breakfast for us."
Max and Joe agreed. There would be three weeks left before Christmas and they wanted a new look each week.
"What can we use for a 'before' shot tomorrow?" asked Helene. "I have a nice, plain in the house type clothes and gym clothes for today, and all the other 'after' things are ready. I didn't know you'd want all the befores to be different."
Quentin hadn't realized that his final layouts hadn't been seen by the crew. "I wanted her in a nurse's outfit, neat and efficient."
Helene looked thoughtful. "That shouldn't be too hard to arrange. Everything else is laid out, so I can probably ask one of the houseboys to take me over to Freeport, where I can buy something appropriate, or that I can rework."
That decided, Suzanna went to get dressed for her housewife role, while Quentin went into ask Bella, the cook, to save the pancake batter until they took their domestic shots.
They worked through until noon, ate a quick snack, and started in all over again.
Suzanna breathed a sigh of relief when the light failed and they were finally through for the day.
After an early dinner, Candy said to the crew sitting around the table sipping smoothies, "This will be our last night here. I'd like to see some or the night life before we go back. Who's for going to Freeport?"
Max, Joe and Bruce jumped at the chance. But Helene had been there already once that day, so she opted to stay and work on the nurse's outfit. Suzanna said she was too tired. Besides, Helene might need her for a fitting. Quentin declined also.
Accordingly, the others took off. When they had gone, Quentin asked Suzanna, "Are you too tired, or would you like to look at today's videotapes again?"
"I'd like to see them all again. I'm tired,
but not sleepy. It's too early to go to bed."
Quentin got the tapes, turned on the TV and watched them quietly.
"I didn't enjoy watching them last night when everyone was here," Suzanna admitted. "There were certain segments I would have liked to ask you about, but not in front of the others. Lots of people I know will probably see these commercials, and I don't want them to get any wrong idea. Some of those shots in swimsuits, for instance."
Quentin stared at the TV open-mouthed. Then he whistled. "I see what you mean. It doesn't leave much to the imagination. But these shots will all be edited, so have no fear."
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