All characters are adults over the age of 18.
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April was different.
Unlike Don's other models, April wasn't a student at the university where he usually recruited women. He found April working as a restaurant hostess, and she was so striking that he gave her his business card and invited her to discuss becoming a model. Like most beautiful women, April had fantasized about being one of the glamorous girls who appeared in fashion magazines. She never imagined her fantasy would become real.
This made her uncertain about what to expect the first time she came to Don's studio. He explained that he took photos - a LOT of photos - for manufacturers of medium-priced fashions sold mainly through online magazines. He showed her some web pages featuring his work, and made sure she understood that he wasn't the kind of big-name photographer who'd fly her to some exotic location so she could pose in designer clothes on some beautiful beach. All Don's work happened in his studio.
"This is not a particularly complicated job," Don said. He told April what he paid for a session, and she liked what she heard. April had long-term financial problems that were troubling and burdensome. Even a small amount of extra money would make a big difference to their family.
"I'd love to try it," April said. "I love wearing nice clothes. It sounds like work that's also fun."
"I hope you still feel that way after you've posed in a few hundred outfits," he said.
"This is the changing room. The clothes on this rack are for you to wear when you pose. After you finish, you fold up that outfit and put it in this box. The most time-consuming part of the process is changing from one outfit to another, so I need you to do that as quickly as you can. I take pictures by the thousands. I can't be successful unless we can do this in a rapid, organized manner."
It wasn't hard at all. On the back wall of his studio, Don hung a series of photos that showed standard poses. Anytime April was unsure of what to do next, she looked at the pictures and imitated those poses. It seemed to please Don.
"You're very good at this," he said early in their first session. "These pictures are terrific. You look great. Women are going to look at you and want to wear these outfits. It's obvious that you are very fit. That helps a lot."
April was flattered by the compliments, partly because she didn't think Don was consciously trying to flatter her. His brand of photography was very rushed; it was obvious that he wanted to take a lot of photos in a short time, and he seemed focused on the fact that April posed in a way that allowed him to get suitable exposures quickly.
"I'm glad you're happy," April said. "I've never done anything like this. I hope it's OK."
"It's better than OK," Don said. "I can tell that I'm going to want to work with you a lot."
What Don didn't know was that April was a wife and mother struggling to survive. Although she was only 25, she was older than any of Don's other models, who were all single coeds with few responsibilities. When Don wrote April's first check, she was thrilled to realize that it was enough to pay for a week's groceries. When he said he wanted her to pose every Thursday, April did a little math and understood that working for Don could improve her family's financial situation in a big way.
He would learn later that April's situation was unique. She'd had a happy childhood, and as an 18-year-old teenager she was a varsity cheerleader without a care. Back then she dated a handsome boy on the football team, and they spent many joyful hours making out in the back seat of his car. But they were too immature to use birth control, so she got pregnant.
April and her boyfriend had both planned to go to college, find a good career, and have a good life. The pregnancy derailed all that. Her boyfriend got a low-wage job as a warehouse worker, they got married, and they moved into a tiny apartment in a marginal neighborhood because that was all they could afford.
April found a job working evenings as a waitress. She was so smart and organized that she was soon promoted to the position of hostess. Although they had two salaries, no couple ever worked harder to earn so little money. Life was a struggle that wore them down.
They reacted to the stress differently. Her husband smoked a lot of cigarettes, drank a lot of beer, and watched a lot of sports on TV. He never complained because he didn't want to dwell on the fact that they'd made poor choices. As his belly grew, April became determined not to let that happen to her.
She realized that her body was one of the few things in her life that she could control. She never skipped a workout, never smoked a cigarette, never ate more than 1,400 calories a day, and almost never drank alcohol. As she watched her formerly-athletic husband transform into a pudgy slob, she swore she would keep fit and attractive.
"I don't understand why you say I'm good at this," April said at the end of the first shoot. "I look just like all your other girls."
"That is definitely not true," Don said. "You do NOT look like the other girls! You can do many types of modeling that other models can't.
"I don't want you getting the wrong idea about yourself. Can I show you something? It will just take a minute."
Don got the memory card from his camera and downloaded the new pictures of April into his computer.
"OK, let's look at this outfit. It lets you see what I mean. You're wearing a crop top that shows a bare midriff. Look at your abs. You are buff, April. All my models are lean, but most of them have soft bellies that don't show any muscular definition. They can't model athletic apparel, or two-piece swimsuits, or some types of lingerie. You can do all of that.
"Here's a picture of a girl I photographed yesterday. She's very good. I use her a lot. Now, look at her arm. It's nice and slender, but there's no muscle. No curvature. No shapeliness. It's straight as a pencil. That's acceptable for a lot of outfits, but let's look at your arms.
"Check out your shoulder. You can see there's a deltoid muscle that gives the shoulder some definition. You have visible biceps and triceps that give your arm some shape. You're not overly muscular - nobody would confuse you with a bodybuilder - but your body looks like an anatomy chart showing a perfectly proportioned woman.
"Conversations like this make me a little bit uncomfortable because it sounds like I'm a meat inspector and you're a slab of beef. I hope it doesn't seem like that. What I'm really trying to say is that your anatomy is almost perfect for modeling. I hope you want to work with me, because I could really use someone like you."
Your body looks like an anatomy chart of a perfectly proportioned woman.
It was the best compliment April had ever received. She was aware of the fact that Don wasn't trying to ingratiate himself with her; she recognized that he was simply stating a fact he wanted her to understand. That sincerity made the compliment more meaningful.
"I'd love to work with you," April said. "This was fun." She didn't mention that the check she held in her hand would have a big impact on her budget for the week. She wanted more of those checks.
"OK, let's plan on seeing you here one week from today. Is this time slot alright? I can work around your schedule. My clients are sending me a shit ton of new clothes next week, and there are a lot of items that are perfect for you."
"This time slot is fine," April said. Her daughter had just started kindergarten, which gave April more free time than she'd had since becoming pregnant. The opportunity to earn more money came to April at a perfect time, and she felt lucky.
But Don knew none of those things. As he was walking April to the door, she mentioned that she particularly liked a leather skirt she'd just modeled.
"You like it? Take it. It's yours," Don said.
"Really? Don't you need to return it?"
"Nope. My clients don't want me to return this stuff. Once a month I haul a bunch of new clothes down to the Salvation Army. If you see anything you like, please take it with you. And not just the clothes you wore today. That big box is full of stuff my girls have modeled since the last shipment arrived. Take whatever you like."
April loved pretty clothes. She always wore nice things before she got pregnant, but now she didn't have enough money for such luxuries. Don saw excitement in her eyes.
"Let's go treasure hunting!" he said, picking up an empty box and heading for the changing room. He and April went through the pile of clothes he'd photographed, and they found a lot of items she wanted.
She saw that Don had a good eye for fashion. "Take this," he'd say. "It will look great on you." Rummaging through the box, he pulled out a sexy green dress with a sharp slit skirt. "This is appropriate for you to wear to work, isn't it? You'll turn a lot of heads when you show up in this."
Don carried the box to her car. That's when he got the first clue about the challenges in April's life.
The car she drove was old and rusty, with a big dent in one fender. He noted that April kept it spotlessly clean, but he couldn't help thinking that such a car could break down unexpectedly and strand April somewhere inconvenient. He realized that there must be an explanation for why she drove such a crappy car, and that the reason was probably sad.
He hoped that the money she earned modeling would be enough to help her get a better car.
