Broken Rules (2 page)

 “
Que linda
, Alexandra.” He smiled.
Alex wondered if he was just this flirty with everyone.
Probably so,
remember, Alex, he’s an actor
.

 “Whenever you’re ready, Marco!” Kimberly
yelled. Marco smiled and rolled his eyes so that only Alex could see.

 “Yes, Kim!
Ya ma voy
!”

 “Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you,
it’s
Kimberly
! And you know I don’t understand you when you speak
Spanish! Ugh!” Kimberly looked as though she was ready strangle him, but he
good naturedly walked over to her. As he did, he turned around and looked back
at Alex and winked. Alex was thankful that he turned his back quick enough not
to see her blush again.

 “Ok, great, we’re going to start with just
some standing setups and then we’ll bring in the chaise, get you both on that,
do some quick portraits and then we’ll be done. We’ll get you out of here as
quickly as possible.”

 “Then why don’t you stop talking and start
shooting!” Kimberly shot back.

 “Great idea, Kimberly!” Again, the more bitchy
they were, the sweeter Alex was. Her grin couldn’t have been bigger, and she
could see that Marco got a kick out of her approach, stifling a chuckle as he
looked Alex straight in the eyes and shook his head as if to say ‘naughty
girl’.

 “Ok, Marco, if we could get you standing
behind Kimberly, that’s right, and wrap your arms around her waist, great.
We’ll start there. Excellent.” Alex started shooting. As much of a bitch and
prima donna as Kimberly was, the minute the flashes started flashing, she knew what
to do. They both played to camera really well and looked so natural, so in love
like their characters, “Great, and Marco, if you could nuzzle her neck,
beautiful. Kimberly, lean back into Marco and rest your head on his shoulder,
nice. Yes, that’s it, now reach around, excellent, beautiful.” Marco’s hands
started coming up higher on her and Kimberly suddenly said,

 “Lift your hands any higher and I’ll
scream.”

Marco just chuckled. Obviously he’d been putting
up with her attitude for a while now and knew there was nothing he could do to
make her any less of a bitch. Alex pretended like she didn’t hear what Kimberly
had said, and when she saw Marco grinning, she played along,

 “That’s great Marco, I love it! And
Kimberly, you look really good too!” She added just to piss her off, “Marco,
can you nibble on Kimberly’s earlobe?”

 “No! He is not putting his mouth on my
earlobe!” she stepped out of his embrace and huffed away. Immediately hair and
makeup people fanned around her touching her up even though nothing was out of
place.

In her sweetest voice Alex said, “I’m so sorry,
Kimberly! You two just looked so in love and so great together, and since it is
a romance, it just felt so natural. I promise, no more mouths on ears, ok?”

Kimberly shot a look back at her, “Let me look at
the monitor.
I’ll
tell
you
whether or not it looks good.”

Alex hated that now in the digital age, talent
could see all their shots as they were happening. Before, they’d just have to
trust the photographer. This just made for a longer day, feeding into their
already huge egos and bigger insecurities. Kimberly walked over to the monitor
and said, “Hmmm, I guess it does look good. And it really highlights me, you
can’t even see his face in some of the shots!” she giggled to herself, clearly
not realizing how self-centered she sounded. “I guess it’s ok.”

 “I think we have enough of that setup, let’s
move on to something else.” Alex suggested, earning a little smile from Marco.
Kimberly walked back to her mark and Alex directed them to some new poses. “Ok,
let’s get you facing each other, great. Kimberly, look up into Marco’s eyes and
lift your hand to his cheek. Great, that’s beautiful, guys. Marco, take your
hand and caress her cheek. Wow, really nice.” Alex kept shooting as Marco
looked so intently into Kimberly’s eyes, caressing her cheek, her jaw, lifting
her chin up to him. He clearly knew what he was doing.

 “Ok, great, now move your hand down her
back, good, pull her closer, nice.” Alex kept shooting as they ran through
their paces. To anyone who would eventually see these shots, they’d be hard
pressed not to believe they were in love.

 “Ok, I think we’re good there. Guys, can we
get the chaise moved in? I think we’re ready to go to that.” Kimberly walked
off as Alex directed her crew, and again, hair and makeup people pounced. Marco
came over to look at the monitor, or so Alex thought. Instead, he came to talk
to her. Used to dealing with talent and needing to stroke their ego, Alex said
immediately, “You guys look great together.”

Marco smiled and chuckled, “That’s why they call
it acting.” He winked and then asked, “Do you mind, may I look at the…” he
pointed to the monitor.

 “Of course, of course, please.” She
gestured.

 “
Gracias
.” He smiled again. Alex knew
it was his job to be charming, but it was working on her. When he came back
over to Alex, the chaise was just being put into place. He looked at it and
then back at Alex and leaned closely so that only she could hear him say, “For
this next setup, on the chaise, when I caress her, I’m going to imagine it’s
you.” he stepped back and grinned as he saw Alex blush and then for good
measure, winked as he strode back onto set.

Again, Alex had to clear her throat to find her
voice. She’d had actors flirt with her in the past and always just chalked it
up to them needing everyone to love them. But somehow, this felt different. She
knew not to put any stock into it at all. She was flattered. He was eight years
younger than her and had his pick of Hollywood bombshells to flirt with. As she
thought of that, she pulled herself back into reality.
He’s an actor, Alex.
He’s acting. That’s what they do…

 “All right, Kimberly, if you’re ready, we’ll
get started with this setup and then…”

 “I’m right here. Of course I’m ready.”
Kimberly snapped back. God, this woman really was a piece of work.

 “Great!” Alex said through gritted teeth and
a forced smile, which made Marco chuckle again. At least he had a sense of
humor, Alex thought. “Ok, Marco if you could lie on your back, let your right
leg fall to the floor, perfect. And Kimberly, you’re going to lie on top of
him, great,” Alex started shooting. She was going to direct Marco to start
caressing Kimberly’s back or her face or her ass, but she didn’t need to tell
him to do any of that. She did however need to direct Kimberly, “Ok, now
Kimberly, pull your dress up a little so you can straddle him.” As soon as she
said that, Marco turned his head and looked right at Alex and grinned. Damn if
she didn’t blush again but she got the shot of him looking devilishly to camera
as Kimberly looked down at him.

Then she moved them so that Kimberly was lying
down on the chaise, one of her legs on the ground, her arms above her head,
like she was waiting for him. “Marco stand at the end of the chaise, with your
hands in your pockets, like you’re imagining all the naughty things you’re
about to do to her.” Even Alex couldn’t believe that was the way she said it.
Again, he looked to camera, his head down a bit, and cocked to the side, Alex
caught that, it was a great shot. Then Marco did what she had asked, and then
started moving onto the chaise, slowly so Alex could get each pose. He looked
so sleek and graceful, but also so predatory. Kimberly, as much of a bitch as
she was, was a good actress. Her expression was one of expectation and longing.
They were supposed to be playing a couple who had a steamy love affair that
ended with her killing him in some jealous rage. She could imagine Kimberly
doing that in real life. Probably why she was cast in the role, Alex thought.

After a few more poses on the chaise, they were on
to their final set-up which were individual portraits. Naturally, Kimberly went
first. Alex asked for a range of expressions and emotions. When she was
finished, Alex thanked her and Kimberly just gave Alex a tight smile then
barked orders to her “people” and strode off the set, en masse.

 “Thanks for waiting, Marco. Ok, this is the
last setup and then you’ll be a free man.”

 “I’m in no hurry. I’m enjoying watching you
work, Alexandra.” God, Alex’s crew was going to give her so much shit for this
after the shoot. They were all a bunch of young guys, and usually Alex was one
of the guys with them. She knew they were eating this up.

 “Um, thank you, Marco.” Was all she could
come up with. “So, like we did with Kimberly, we want to get a range of
expressions. We can just cycle through them.” And they did. He gave her
intense, angry, wistful, hopeful, and when she asked for a laugh, he said,

 “You’re going to have to make me,
Alexandra.” There was something about the way he said this, it was like it was
just the two of them and he was challenging her, but the way he said it was so
damn sexy. His accent didn’t hurt either.

 “Ok, you and Kimberly looked to be very much
in love.” He cracked up, giving a genuine hearty laugh.

 “
Bien hecho
, Alexandra.”

 “
Gracias
, Marco. Ok, I think that’s
it. We’re all done for the night. I think we got everything we need, you both
looked great. I’m sure you’re anxious to get to bed.” Marco’s eyebrows raised
and he smiled, Alex quickly clarified, “It’s late, I’m sure you’re exhausted
and want to get to sleep!”

 “
Si, si, estoy cansado, pero
it was a
very nice way to end the evening.
Gracias
, Alexandra. I look forward to
our next shoot together.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Not an
air kiss like most of Hollywood. Alex could actually feel his lips on her
cheek. That brief touch made her inhale so sharply, she knew he heard and felt
it that he actually grabbed her arms, steadying her, which just made it worse.
Better, but worse. “
Cuidado
, Alexandra.” He smiled. She knew she was
flushed again, but there wasn’t much she could do about that.

She managed a smile and said simply, “Thank you.”

He turned and thanked the rest of the crew,
“Thanks everyone for staying so late!” Then flashed a final grin at Alex and “
Buenas
noches
. Sleep well, Alexandra.”

 “
Igualmente
, Marco.” Which just made
him smile even bigger and laugh a bit as he walked off the set.

The minute he was off the set, her crew started
in, in sing-songy voices, “
Hola, Marco! Eres muy guapo!
” “Oh, Marco!”
They all had a good laugh at Alex’s expense. They teased her in Spanish for the
rest of the night as they broke down all their equipment. There wasn’t much she
could do other than laugh with them and roll her eyes. The only one who didn’t
participate in the teasing was Jesús. He was her first assistant and fiercely
loyal to Alex.

She met Jesús when she volunteered six years ago
at an inner-city arts program for at-risk youths. Even back then, when he was
only 16, he was a big, imposing figure, and looked like he could kill someone
just with his bare hands. He didn’t say much, and his arms were covered with
tattoos. Most people would have steered clear of him. But there was something
in his eyes, there was an earnestness and sweetness to him. He would stay after
class, always helping Alex clean up, and always walking her to her car. He
showed an interest in the work that most of the other kids didn’t. Soon, Alex
started inviting him to shoots, to the ones where she knew the client would be
ok with having an observer, typically the lower-profile shoots. He started
learning by watching and listening, and after the shoot was over, once everyone
else had left, he’d pepper Alex with questions.

When Jesús turned 18 and graduated high school,
Alex hired him full time. They both knew that college wasn’t an option. His
family barely had the money to feed him and his brothers and sisters. But
hiring him wasn’t charity. Jesús was the hardest worker that Alex had. And
quickly, he became the smartest and most valuable. He came to anticipate Alex’s
every move, always ready with whatever lens she needed or quick to check
exposure before she could even call for a check. They had developed a shorthand
and an appreciation for each other. And Jesús was always very, very protective
of Alex. He knew she was tough, but he also knew she was a woman and he had
seen enough bad shit in his life to know that he never wanted anything bad to
ever happen to Alex. He also knew that she took better care of him than his own
family ever could. And she took a chance on him and believed in him when no one
else did. He treated her with the utmost respect, so when all the other guys
were teasing her about Marco, he just kept his mouth shut and scowled, going about
his work silently. He didn’t like their comments, but he knew if they pissed
her off, she’d let them know. And if she did, he’d be right there to back her
up and handle anyone who stepped over the line. No one did, and Alex laughed
through it, but still Jesús didn’t have to like it.

Alex processed out the entire shoot the next day
and sent it to the agency. It was rare that an art director wasn’t at the
shoot, but she had worked with Sam Davis for many, many years now and they both
trusted each other. She knew that Sam was in France with her client / boyfriend
Laurent Román, and that Steve, her CD was up to his eyes holding the fort down
in her absence. Knowing that the shoot could very well go until the wee hours
of the morning, which it did, Alex assured them that she could cover it without
them there.

One of the luxuries of not having to show up to an
office was that after shoots like the one the previous night, or more
accurately, that morning, Alex could catch up on her sleep once she delivered
the files. Most photographers would have taken at least a day to recover before
they went to the lab, but not Alex. She was a perfectionist and always did what
was best for the job. Plus, even if she had tried to sleep first, worry and
guilt would have kept her from getting any rest. So there was no point in
putting it off. The sooner she had the files done, the sooner she could rest.
Plus, she had given Sam and Steve her word and would never want anyone to
question it.

When she got the drive home after sending a copy
to the agency, she popped it in to look at the whole shoot once more.
Obviously, she had looked at the lab to make sure it came out to her liking,
but there, she was only looking at it with a technical eye. When she got it
home, she wanted to look at one thing in particular, or more accurately, one
man. She pulled the shoot up on her laptop and started scrolling through. He
was gorgeous, and by the looks of it, a damn good actor, because she knew there
was no love between these two. But to anyone else, this couple was hot and
heavy in love, or at least lust. Alex’s favorite frames were the couple where
Marco looked right into the camera when he was supposed to be looking at
Kimberly. Alex knew those would be going into her book. Hell, she wanted to put
them on her laptop as her screensaver… she’d just need to crop off Kimberly’s
head first.

As she was clicking through, her phone rang. It
was her rep Kara. Alex had resisted having a rep for a long time, but in the
end, it made better business sense. She got more jobs with a rep and didn’t
have to hustle herself. Plus, Kara typically had to deal with all the crap,
like billing, which left Alex free to just shoot. The only way it worked was
because Kara wasn’t like most reps. She was sincere and honest and a genuinely
lovely person. Alex considered her a friend.

 “Hey there, Kara.” Alex answered, always
happy to hear from her.

 “Hey there yourself. I’d ask you how the
shoot went, but I think I already know.”

That couldn’t be good, “Uh oh, what happened. Did
that cow Kimberly Cook complain?”

 “Why do you always fear the worst?” Kara
chuckled.

 “Old habits?”

 “Well, it’s good news. Apparently, Marco
Flores quite liked working with you. Vanity Fair’s doing an article on him, his
story about his rise to fame, and he just told them the only way he’ll do the
story is if you’re the photographer. He’s going to be the cover story, Alex!
Looks like someone made quite an impression!” Kara was giddy.

 “You’re kidding me.”

 “Honey, I never kid about business. You know
that. And based on the fact that both the magazine and his rep have called me
in the last half hour, I’d say, it’s pretty much a lock.”

 “Holy crap! That’s fantastic, Kara!” Alex
was now giddy too.

 “I know! Ok, so tell me, is he as hot in person
as he is pictures?” Alex could hear Kara smiling. Kara was much more of a girly
girl than Alex, though that wasn’t hard to be.

 “More. Oh my god, Kara, you know me, I’ve
shot a lot of pretty boys, right?”

 “Mmmhmmm, that you have.”

 “I’m telling you, this guy, he’s the whole
package. He’s drop dead gorgeous and he’s charming and funny. Oh God, I’ve just
officially become a cougar.”

Kara started cracking up, “Don’t be ridiculous.
I’m pretty sure you have to be over 40 to be one. Besides, he doesn’t know how
old you are.”

 “No, Kara, what you’re supposed to say is
‘Besides, Alex, it doesn’t matter cause you’re not dating him, you’re shooting
him.’ Speaking of which, when’s the shoot?”

 “Um, yeah, here’s the thing…” Alex knew that
tone. She knew it wasn’t good.

 “Kara!”

 “The first part of it is this weekend, at
his place here…” Kara trailed off.

 “Kara, would you just spit it out, what’s
the big deal about that” Now Alex was getting a little testy. She liked direct,
and Kara never wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings or say anything that might
upset anyone, which just prolonged the inevitable.

 “The second part is at the end of next week
in his home town… in the Galapagos Islands.” There was a long pause. “You’ll
need to take a small plane once you get to Ecuador.” This time, there was an
even longer pause.

Alex lost both of her parents in a small plane
crash when she was16. Ever since then, she hated flying, period, but given that
she was a photographer, not flying at all would have put her out of business.
However, she drew the line at small planes, and given that most shoots were in
major cities, she had gotten by without ever having to fly on anything less
than a ‘real’ plane.

 “Alex, look honey, I didn’t even want to
ask, but it’s Vanity Fair, and it’s the cover. You know you can say no, but I
had to at least tell you about it.”

 “I know Kara, I know. I just need a minute.
How long do I have before you need to give them an answer?”

 “Not long. They need to know now since the
first part is this weekend. If you say no, they have to book someone else asap.
And they had Tony Boden on it originally. They pulled him off and he’s furious.
Says he’ll never work with them again, so they’ve already burned that bridge.”

“Well hell, that’s not my fault! They should have
waited till I accepted the damn offer!” Alex lashed out, though Kara knew
enough to know it wasn’t at her, it was at the situation.

 “Alex, they’re not used to being said no to.
I don’t think they have any inkling that there’s even a chance the answer would
be anything other than ‘yes’.”

 “I get it, I do. Listen, can you just buy me
an hour? Please? Tell them you left me a message but I had a really late shoot
and am probably asleep. Ok? I just need to think for a moment. I promise I’ll
call you back in an hour, ok?”

 “Sure, honey. I’ll talk with you in a bit.”
And with that they said their goodbyes and hung up. Alex knew that it would be
idiotic to say no to this. Vanity Fair basically used one photographer for its
covers for the last 20 or more years. It was a huge opportunity. And with the
field being what it was, if she said no to this, it wouldn’t just be turning
this job down. It was such a small industry that word would spread quickly. No
one wanted to work with anyone who said no. Not to mention the industry was so
damn incestuous, people on this shoot would end up on a shoot down the line.
Alex could torpedo her career by saying no. And she knew the odds. Millions of
people flew on small planes all the time. The odds were in her favor that
nothing bad would happen.

Alex went to the bathroom to splash some cold
water on her face. As if on cue, Tabitha came prancing in with a gift for Alex.
She dropped her freshly killed lizard at Alex’s feet. There was something about
this lizard, it looked more prehistoric than most. And Tabitha wasn’t eating
it, she just looked up at Alex and meowed making it clear that it truly was a
present for her. Before Alex could deal with the lizard, she went to her
computer to see just what type of flight she’d be taking. She pulled up
information and history of the islands and just shook her head when she saw
that they were home to a large population of iguanas. Sam didn’t believe in
signs, but whatever it was that Tabitha just brought her looked an awful lot
like a tiny iguana. Even if she
did
believe in signs, she had no idea if
this was a good or a bad one. The thing was dead, so that’s bad. But it was a
present… so that’s good?
Come on, Alex, you’re going base your answer on
what your stray cat just dropped at your feet
?

Alex knew the answer had to be yes. She knew there
was nothing to think about. She went back to the bathroom, cleaned up her
present and then called Kara.

The minute Kara answered, Alex simply said, “Yes.”

 “Yes, as in yes, you’ll do the shoot!?!?”
Kara practically leapt through the phone.

 “Yes, Kara. I’m in.” Alex said with a lot
less excitement than Kara had.

 “Oh my god, Alex!! This is so great! Ok, let
me go call them and officially accept,”

 “What do you mean, ‘officially’, Kara? Did
you already ‘unofficially’ accept?” Alex was rolling her eyes and smiling. She
couldn’t really be mad at Kara, especially when Kara was so damn excitable.

 “Maybe?” she giggled.

 “Ok, call them and then call me back so we
can go over all the details.”