Chapter Three: A new persona
The Bingham Hotel was Marilyn's choice and the sexy blonde clearly knew her restaurants. The light poured in through the Georgian boutique hotel's deco windows and their seats by the French windows offered a sublime view of the Thames.
A wonderful contrast between several small pleasure boats and a couple of private yachts sailed by as they spoke. Not that Ella really cared. All she had on her mind was the need to hear that her audition had been a resounding success. She'd thought of nothing else since Marilyn had arranged their lunch appointment.
"And keep the afternoon free," she'd said, making Ella wonder what she had in mind.
Surely that was a good sign? Ella tried to convince herself it was. If it was bad news, surely Marilyn would have just told her over the phone?
But instead of giving her the news she wanted, Marilyn had spent the first hour talking about their recent visits to Dubai. Was she doing it on purpose? Teasing her? Or had the audition really gone that badly? Ella knew she couldn't force the issue and ask, but patience had never been one of her qualities. She just about managed to listen politely by gritting her teeth in an attempt to hold back her frustration.
The frustration was only ended when their main courses had been consumed and the waiter had removed their salad plates. Marilyn finally brought up the subject, but not in the way Ella expected.
"So tell me, darling," she said, splitting the last of their second bottle of wine evenly between their glasses, "How was the audition?"
Ella's chest heaved. She was being teased, wasn't she? Marilyn's clear eyes were twinkling as the older woman held up her glass, sipped slowly and watched her reactions closely. She was looking for something. But what? An admission about what happened between her and Bruno? No way! She decided to play it cool.
"It was the most surreal experience," she admitted, choosing her words slowly and carefully. "At first I was completely overawed by Bruno, but ... er, eventually I think I managed to calm down."
A soft blush tinged her cheeks as she finished the sentence. Her companion's warm smile wasn't giving anything away, but it was clear she knew something. Ella found herself crossing and then uncrossing her legs in her anxiety and tried to sit still.
"You won him over?" Marilyn asked innocently, her amazing eyes still fixed on Ella's.
The blush deepened and she cringed to herself. She'd won him over the moment she'd taken him into her mouth.
"I hope so," she casually said.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the desperation out of her voice. Why didn't Marilyn just tell her the results of her audition? She tried to keep her tone level as she finally gave in and gave voice to her thoughts.
"Have you heard anything?"
Marilyn laughed out loud, so hard that she had to cover her mouth with her hand. Ella pouted as she realised that she'd been right all along. The older woman had been playing with her.
"Not only have I heard," Marilyn purred, choking back her laughter. It was time to get serious now. "I've seen the photographs, darling. You did me proud. Bruno produced some wonderfully sexy shots. All the production team loved them."
Ella felt the relief flood through her. All of a sudden, she couldn't keep the smile from her face.
"They did?"
"But of course they did, darling," Marilyn said, turning her head and waving the eager waiter across.
"Two Daniel Bojou Divinessence," she told him.
"To celebrate your new contract," she said with a smile when she turned back to Ella, "If you want it, that is."
"If I want it?" Ella gasped, incredulously. Didn't this woman realise how much it meant to her by now? "I can't tell you how much this all means to me, Marilyn. Of course I want it."
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Marilyn smiled benevolently at the innocent girl. Well, innocent wasn't exactly the right word, she decided, but it would do. Maybe naive was better. The way Ella had flaunted herself in Dubai hadn't been innocent, nor had the way she'd reacted when Marilyn had oiled her toned body. She smiled again. And the way she'd fucked Bruno had been anything but innocent...
"We're going to celebrate your success this afternoon, darling," she told her, softly clinking her cognac glass against Ella's.
There was no need to disclose more. Not for the moment. Let her think about it. The girl had no idea what was in store and Marilyn was going to make sure she fully capitalised on her happy mood. It made it all the easier to manipulate her. For now anyway. That grin had stayed on her face ever since she'd given her the good news.
Such a pretty face...
"And I love your new persona," she added, reaching out to stroke the girl's newly bouffant dark locks.
As usual, Roy had done a wonderful job with her hair and make-up. He'd almost turned her into a different girl—more of a woman, in fact. That big, heightened hair gave her a sleazy, teasing, vampish look that suited her perfectly. Some of their richer clients would love exploiting a woman with that look, especially the Sheik.
"It's all Roy's work," Ella garbled happily. "I decided to keep the same style for as long as I could. It took a bit of explaining away to Marc, but who cares? Do you think it suits me? I love it."
"It suits you," Marilyn confirmed. "You should keep it."
She smiled benevolently at Ella. The girl was on such a high right now that if she asked her to fuck the waiter, there was a good chance that the young brunette would have agreed.
"It's essential never to underestimate the power of a new look," she went on to explain. "A pretty face and sex appeal will only get us so far, darling. I was successful enough, but as soon as I adapted my appearance to make me look like Marilyn, the clients were eating out of my hand."
She paused long enough to let the implication sink in. The look of awe on Ella's face was rewarding.
"Men have always wanted to go to bed with Marilyn Monroe," she continued, matter of factly as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Who wouldn't want to fuck one of the most iconic women the world has ever seen? Now they have the chance."
She paused again, not wanting to frighten the girl away. Not at this stage. Change the subject back to something safer.
"So now I am Marilyn," she explained, throwing a hand in the air. "The most sought after model in the agency. That means I'll have made enough to retire in a couple of years. Not that anyone would ever want to walk away from such a fairy-tale job, would they?"