Pins

ARE YOU POPULAR? CHARISMATIC? HOT?

That was the headline that originally caught my eye in the 'Help Wanted' section of Saturday's local paper. That was the headline that changed the direction of my entire life.

I went on and read the rest of the advertisement. "National Firm seeking young men and women 18-21 years of age to represent them in both Public Relations and Human Relation departments. Flexible hours, excellent pay and great benefits are available to the right self motivated young person. Be sure to ask about our college tuition assistance plan. Travel involved. Call (800) 555-1253 for an appointment."

It was the tuition assistance part that really caught my eye as I'd just been accepted at Indiana State and although as an in state student the tuition was much more reasonable than it would have been for an out of stater, between fees, books, and tuition I had no idea of how I might be able to handle it. My parents had died when I was fifteen and although Aunt Lorraine loved me as 'family', when I stood beside her three kids I wasn't really "family". I knew she was going to have to struggle enough to get her three educated and didn't need the additional burden of my expenses. I occasionally fantasized about earning enough to be in a position to help out with the education of my cousins but first I had to worry about getting my own costs covered.

My name is Barbara Needles and all my friends have called me 'Pins' pretty much all my life. I'm 5'8" tall, 18 years old, blonde and although I wasn't going to win any Grace Kelly -- Catherine Deneuve look alike contests, I

definitely

met the standards set in the ad's headline. I keep my figure trim and was one of the first girls in my class to start developing breasts. By the age of 14 I had to stuff myself in a C cup not wanting to graduate to a D before 8th grade. I

loved

playing those boy juggling games the popular kids always played and was good at it. I was totally

not

promiscuous but my hymen was trashed before my first training bra.

So I answered the ad. The appointment was set for Saturday afternoon at the conference center at the Hilton next to Gary -- Chicago International Airport. I was a little surprised by the apparent age of the person interviewing me as he looked no older than I was.

"Nice to meet you Barbara, my name is Jeff Knowles and I'm the brand newly promoted Manager for this district for Arcane International. Do your friends all call you 'Barbara' or 'Babs', or..."

"'Pins', actually, Mr. Knowles." He looked puzzled by my answer for only a split second before his face burst into the most incredible smile.

"Okay Pins, but please call me Jeff." He reached across the table and gave my hand a quick squeeze as he resumed talking. "The thing about today's interviews is that I should apologize out front for my nervousness. As I said earlier I was just promoted to this job and I'm probably more anxious about impressing my bosses than you are about impressing me!"

I answered "I doubt that!" but I remember thinking how quickly he made me feel at ease. I could see how this guy had been promoted at such a young age.

Jeff turned his swivel chair and stepped back to the credenza behind him and reached for a crystal glass. He turned toward me. "Water, a soft drink or would you prefer coffee or tea?"

"A coffee, black, would be great, Jeff." He poured two coffees and sat back down, handing one to me.

"Okay then, Arcane is probably one of the largest companies you've never heard of. Our home offices are in Washington, D.C. but we have a presence in 49 of the 50 states. I doubt that it will ever become 50 out of 50 because Jerry Bundy, the Manager of the Mid Atlantic Division controls the Delaware territory and he'll never allow it to become independent." Jeff flashed that smile again and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone. "Office politics!"

"Arcane is a talent recruiting company. Our clients are talent agencies, modeling agencies, casting companies, and the occasional independent film producer. There's always a high demand for fresh young faces and we try to find them. In the old days they used to hold 'talent fairs' and similar tryouts in small towns around the country but there are so many sleazy small-time operators out there that that entire approach wound up with a sordid reputation. Every time an ad ran announcing a tryout or talent fair, hundreds of mothers would warn their daughters about the dangers inherent in those types of situations. Their daughters would speak to their friends and pretty soon the only girls who'd show up were the ones who were there mainly to piss their mothers off or to get away from home by any means.

And you know what? Those mothers would be

right!

There are a lot of sleazy guys out there using a young girl's dream of a modeling career as a means to get themselves laid."

Jeff reached out and held my hand again. "It's unfortunate but very true. These girls wind up thinking that the best way to get their careers jumpstarted is to put out for these guys never realizing that to the promoters or photographers the sex

is

the end objective.

And it's guys like that that make our jobs that much more difficult! If you wind up getting hired by us you'll certainly come across some of the girls I've just described and one of the difficulties you'll need to overcome is how to separate us from the sleazoids. You'll need to convince them that Arcane really wants to find them work!"

He acted a little surprised that his hand was still holding mine and he pulled it back. I knew it was a planned and deliberate gesture but I found I didn't mind. In fact I was rather impressed by how polished this guy had become at such a young age! He then asked, "Any questions so far?"

I decided to go straight to my main objective. "My plans would be to use my earnings from this job to pay for my education at Indiana State. Would I be able to work from the Terre Haute area?"

There was that smile again. This was a weird experience for me. I wasn't playing him,

he

was playing me. I knew it but found I didn't care. He answered my question. "You want to complete college? Then you'll love our payout system! Arcane wants its employees to complete their education and puts their money where their mouths are, as it were. All recruiters are paid commissions and can make a great living from that alone. If you continue with your education, however, Arcane pays you residual trailers based on your recruit's income.

Let's say one of your recruits goes on to become a successful model. You would receive one percent of her income, forever, as an educational bonus payment. If you complete school and graduate, the payments don't stop either! The only way your payments would stop would be if she drops out of the work force. I don't know, maybe she and her husband want to start making babies or something.

I know one percent may not sound like much but in my first year as a recruiter I signed two hundred and sixty girls for Arcane! One percent of that many earners isn't bad!"

"And how do the commissions work?"

He smiled again and I felt myself getting wet between my legs. One more sign of how this guy was in control. "That part's easy! For each and every person you sign up that shows up and completes their test shoot you get a check for between $50 and $500. In my year as a recruiter I only got sixteen fifty dollar recruits, and for eleven of them I was later paid catch up commissions."

The size of the check is determined by the earning potential of the model. There are a gadjillion girls out there who want to be either swimsuit models or get jobs modeling Victoria's Secret style lingerie so the competition is fierce. Since their potential earning power is less you only get $50. There's a much larger market out there if the model is willing to do nude work so you would get an additional hundred bringing your check up to $150. Before you bring up Playboy sized checks remember that those big checks go to the centerfolds and for every 50 girls in the magazine there's only one centerfold, and for every girl who's in the magazine there are probably five or six hundred whose naked body is displayed on some webpage and who'll never make the magazine! Boy/girl porn stills get you another $150 and if the girl moves on to porn videos add another two bringing your check to $500."

It was silent for a while and then Jeff continued. "You would vest in the company's health insurance plan after 90 days and if you want to learn the company's willing to pick up the cost of your flight instruction so you could fly and by so doing increase your effective sales area. In the beginning after you get your license you could rent planes but if my boss gets to think of you as being a safe pilot Arcane does have six planes in our fleet."

I started speaking rather slowly and looked straight into Jeff's eyes. "So my earning potential is maximized if I can convince a large number of Indiana's grain fed teen-aged daughters to fuck on film, right?"

Jeff smiled and was smart enough to know that this wasn't the time for the hand to slip across as he said, "I'm sure nobody keeps these statistics but if they were to bother to check they'd find that a disproportionate number of porn stars come from Georgia and I can honestly say that I was responsible for creating one hundred and nine of them.

Oh and those eleven girls out of the sixteen? The ones who I was later increased on? It's illegal for any nude work for models under 18 but I could see the signs in these girls so I signed them at seventeen and got them swimsuit jobs. As soon as they turned eighteen they lost the clothes, spread their legs and never looked back."

I knew right away I would be good at this. Right off I could think of at least five girls I was sure I could convince to get naked for the camera and I was pretty sure I could get two of them to fuck in public. The problem was that these girls' parents knew my parents and Aunt Lorraine. I didn't want this getting back to her so I started thinking about how to recruit strangers. I asked Jeff, "Is there some sort of training for this job?"

The hand was back. "Definitely, Pins. For the first week I'd go on the road with you and for the next month I'd be on call to help answer all your questions. I've already thought of one technique which you'd be great at; Malls!"

I tilted my head and he continued. "You'd head into a new town's mall and start up conversations in shops, hallways, game stops, and of course, the food court! You just tell them that you're a model in town killing time before a lingerie shoot and I guarantee you'll get bombarded with a hundred questions.

Oh and a lot of our recruiters do a shoot or two themselves for a couple of reasons. It makes you more believable when you're describing the shoot to a target, you'd get to know our photographer which is a good idea since you'll probably accompany the girl to her first 'test shoot', and you'd wind up collecting the referrer's fee for recruiting yourself!

So what do you think Pins?"

This time it was

my

hand which reached across the table and gentle rubbed the back of his. "So when can I start?"

"I don't believe in wasting time. Is there a local mall we can head to which might be fertile hunting ground?"

"Yes there is but would you mind if we headed for one a little further away from my home town? I'd rather not get bogged down by girls I know from High School."

"Actually I think that's a great idea. We'll take my car."

Jeff's car turned out to be a classic Jaguar XKE in immaculate condition. "It's my favorite toy. It's almost completely original and if I wanted, it could be again. I just had the nightmare Lucas electronics replaced for more trouble free operation. I kept all the Lucas stuff in a box in the trunk so it could be restored if some buyer wanted to be a purist about it."

We talked about the techniques I could use when trying to reel in the fish I would soon be casting for. He went through a list of questions the targets might ask and how I should mentally prepare myself for each negotiation. "The worst mistake you can make is to make friends with a target. You've got to think of them as simply targets of opportunity. All their hopes and dreams, fears and desires, they're all just factors to be analyzed as you're solving the problem of separating the girls from their clothes and their inhibitions. If you start thinking of them as people you begin to wonder what might happen if one of their Dads might happen across an internet video of their precious little angel turned into a frat house whore."

I responded, "That's pretty cold, isn't it?"

"Is it? I'm not too sure. A lot of these girls are going to get knocked up by some kid working at 'Al's Tire Barn' or its equivalent and the guys are either going to bolt leaving the girl with a package in the oven or they'll marry her and wind up beating the shit out of her every Saturday evening as they blame her for trapping them into their lives of tedium.

I have absolutely no doubt that some of the girls we recruit live lives far better than they would have without us. I believe that it doesn't really matter whether a girl we recruit winds up as a supermodel on the covers of fifty different magazines or cranking out two cheap porn flicks a week in which she gets laid by the entire basketball team of her school. We each carry with us the seeds of our own happiness and our lives turn out pretty much as we allow them to."

I made a mock salute. "Yes sir, Reverend Knowles!"

As we pulled into the parking lot of the mall I had chosen Jeff asked, "Okay, it's your call. Do you want me to come in with you or do you want to try to fly solo?"

"I think I'll try it on my own."

He handed me a digital recorder about the size of a memory stick. "Okay take this and record your spiel. That way we can critique it later on this evening. Also program my cell number into your phone. It wouldn't look logical for you to free dial the number of someone you frequently work with when you text me to call me in. Oh, and just in case you need it our photographer for this area's name is Ernie, Ernie Fowler."

This actually worked out fine as far as I was concerned since I had been meaning to pick up a few tops anyway. As soon as my feet started aiming toward the discount outlet where I would normally shop I paused and then changed direction. I immediately decided that it would be a legitimate business expense to splurge and get some upscale clothes so I headed for a boutique whose outfits I always lusted after but could never afford.

They say that if you've got it you should flaunt it and as I left the shop I felt every bit the supermodel. The top I'd selected had a scoop neck that came within a fraction of an inch from showing my nipples and I felt so hot I had already gotten over the shock of the $269 price tag on the designer jeans I'd stuffed my ass into. I did feel a little unsteady atop the four inch Italian heels I was perched on but I figured I'd learn how to walk fairly quickly since I'd already done I once before sixteen or seventeen years ago. I asked the salesgirl to put my ratty tennis shoes in the shoeboxes and wrap the clothes so I could head for the food court carrying shopping bags with the appropriate labels.

I got a Venti Mocha Frappe at Starbucks and between the coffee and the three shopping bags I looked sufficiently loaded down that I could feign a degree of urgency in heading for a table. I had already picked out my targets of opportunity sitting at a large table in the crowded court. While the pretty blonde was gushing to her friend about something or other, it was the dark haired girl who caught my eye. A twenty inch waist under a pair of tits every bit as big as mine all in a package that looked to be about five feet tall. The diminutive size of this raven haired beauty made the tits look even bigger than they already were. I forced myself to remember the size of the credit card bill which I'd just rung up as I headed for the table, secure in the knowledge that before the end of the month I'd succeed in getting those two pairs of lips wrapped around some stranger's cocks.

"This place is kind of crowded. Mind if I sit here?"

"Help yourself." The blonde continued, "They have that exact same top at

Cornered

on the other side of the mall! I was staring at it last week but they wanted a fortune for it so I passed. Where'd you buy yours?"

I held up my lavender shopping bags emblazoned with the distinctive

Cornered

logo. "I enjoy their stuff! It's like their buyers did half my shopping for me since I adore almost everything they carry."

The blonde stuck out her hand. "I'm Annie and this is my friend Bianca. I don't recognize you. Are you from around here?"

"Pleased to meet you. My friend's call me 'Pins' and I live over in French Lick."

Annie tilted her head. "French Lick? Shut up! You cover some geography when you go shopping!"

I thought 'Bingo! There's my cue!' "Not likely! I'm just here for the weekend to do a photo shoot. I had some time to kill and one of the other models wanted to visit someone so I leant him my car and had him drop me off here."

"Shut up! You're a model? God, I've always dreamed about being some kind of famous model. When we were little Bianca and I promised each other that we'd remain friends no matter if one of us got super rich and the other didn't click!"

Bianca smiled as she responded, "Then we stopped growing and those dreams went out the window."

I leaned over began to plant some seeds. "Sure, you're too short for runway work but there's tons of print work out there. I remember last month there was a call out for a

Victoria's Secret

series that I wanted my agent to put me up for. They turned me down fast because I was too tall for the teddies they wanted to advertise!" I pointed at Bianca and said to Annie, "With her tiny waist and big tits they would have hired her in a minute!"

Bianca almost blushed. "Oh I could never model lingerie and underwear and stuff. I'd be way too embarrassed!"

Annie laughed as she responded, "B girl get real! We both know that if the route to stardom has to pass through

Victoria's Secret

or even

Playboy

for that matter, we'd be on that bus in a blink!

Could we ride along and watch your shoot this afternoon, Pins?" asked Annie.

"Ordinarily I could get you in but I'm afraid I already asked for and was granted a closed set for later today. Most photographers don't like conditions like that because it means extra work for them. After getting him to agree he'd probably get pissed if I violated my own conditions and invited outsiders to the set."

"Why did you want the set closed?" Annie asked.

"Because after the lingerie shoot is over I asked him to take a couple of extra hours so I could get some artistic nudes for my portfolio. There's a lot of work I could be getting that's never offered to me because of the 'no nude' stipulation I used to have."

Bianca asked, "But why would you want that kind of work? What if someone in your family should see them?"

"I want that kind of work because I want exposure. I want this face and figure in front of as many pairs of eyes as possible 'cause you see, someday I'm

going

to be a star."

I shrugged. "And as far as my family is concerned? I figure that if I work my ass off trying to make a name for myself, the high I'd give them if I make it onto the cover of a national magazine will outweigh the downer a few Playboy-style photos might give them

if

they ever see them. And that's a big

if

.

If you guys will excuse me for a sec I just want to text the model who's got my car."

I took out my Blackberry and typed, ***u can pick me up anytime now. If my tgts r with me remember the Jag is mine. I lent it 2 u to visit friend. ***k. whch ntrnce shud I come 2? ***the 1 by the movie and food crt. ***c u in 15 I turned to the girls. "Look, I'm sorry I can't get you into the shoot this afternoon but if you want, this photographer owes me a favor and I could see if I can get him to shoot you tomorrow. I think I can probably get him to shoot you a $1,200 portfolio for free. Here's my Blackberry. Enter yourselves in the phone and I'll talk to the guy after my shoot. Like I said, he owes me!" They, in turn, handed me their cells and I entered myself in their phones.