Part 6.
Justin looked at his watch as he stepped up the steps towards the entrance of 101 3rd Street, the Business Towers Building. The entrance was bustling with activity as men and women in business suits rushed in and out of the building.
"Shit!" Justin said to himself as he saw the time was 2:35. He quickly entered the building and looked around. The large lobby included a reception desk at the center of the lobby where there were 2 men and a woman helping business types standing there before them. A grey haired man was just leaving the woman's counter so Justin approached her.
"Hello, I need to find Suite 769. I have a 2:30 appointment, and I'm late." he said with a frown.
"The elevator is over there behind you," she pointed to a wide hallway where several people were waiting, "Just take the elevator to the 7th floor. There is a directory map outside the elevator showing the suite locations."
Justin smiled, "Thanks." turned and quickly walked to the elevator.
The doors of one of the elevators opened as he arrived. A crowd of people filed out past those waiting to enter it. When they were clear, he and the rest entered the elevator. He pressed the button with the number 7 on it, then stepped to the back wall of the elevator. 5 others entered the elevator as well. 2 were getting off at the 2nd floor and the other 3 were getting off at the 4th floor. The doors closed and everyone stood in silence as the elevator began to move. The doors opened at the 2nd floor stop where the first 2 got off. Justin looked at his watch again as the elevator doors opened again at the 4th floor stop where the other 3 people got off. He was alone as the elevator continued on to the 7th floor.
On the 7th floor straight across from the elevator doors was a framed map showing the layout of the floor hallways with markings at each entrance to the suites on the floor. He found 769 was down the hall to his right nearly to the end of the hall on the left. He quickly turned and headed in that direction. Upon arriving at the closed door to Suite 769, he paused, took a deep breath, ran his hand over his hair to make sure it was in place, then opened the door.
Just inside the door was a small waiting room nicely decorated with plants, lamps, magazine racks and several cushioned chairs along the walls. Pictures of beautiful men were artfully arranged on the walls. Towards the back of the room Justin found a man sitting behind a desk who he assumed was Brent.
Brent looked away from his computer screen towards Justin, "Hello, may I help you?"
"Yes, I'm Justin Justice. I have an appointment." He smiled nervously.
Brent looked at his computer screen again then back at Justin, "Yes, I see it here, 2:30." He paused for a moment, "I guess you realize you are late."
"Yes, I'm sorry, I got here as soon as I could." He looked around nervously avoiding eye contact, "Our apartment was broken into and I was delayed because of that." He looked at Brent then smiled weakly.
"Fortunate for you, our agents are a bit behind schedule." He picked up a clipboard with a form attached to it, then handed it to Justin along with a pen. "Have a seat over there and fill this out. When you've completed the form return it to me. I will let you know when our next available agent is ready to see you."
Justin took the clipboard and pen, nodded then sat in a chair Brent had pointed at. The form had space for his name, address and other contact information as well as spaces to be filled in for height, waist, neck and shoe size information as well as suit size.
There was a list of questions having to do with previous modeling/acting experience and space to provide such information. Also questions about photos and composite cards. He checked the box next to where it said, "No previous experience" and left the rest blank.
He quickly finished filling out the form as much as he could, clipped the pen to the clipboard, then got up and handed it back to Brent.
Brent took the form off the clipboard looking it over has he placed the clipboard on a pile of them to his right. "You will need to establish a phone number where we can reach you in order to notify you of jobs should you be selected for them by our clients." He continued looking over the form, "Will you be able to provide us with head shots and composite cards, or would you like us to take care of those for you?" He paused for a moment looking at Justin who was still standing before the desk. "Either way, you are likely to have to spend between $200.00 and $300.00 for the shoot and processing."
He was taken aback by the revelation that he'd have to spend money to get this job. "Uuh, well, I guess you could take care of that part, I guess." He smiled, "As I told you on the phone yesterday, we don't have a phone."
"Well, honey, you'll need to get one." he smiled back at Justin, "or you likely won't be working for anyone."
"Yeah, okay." he turned and returned to the chair he'd been sitting in.
While he sat there, Brent busied himself with his work and Justin picked up a sports magazine from the side table next to his chair. Between flipping uninterestedly through the magazine pages, he looked over at Brent. Brent was a handsome young man, well dressed and groomed. His medium length dark brown hair framed his soft skinned tanned face. His green eyes sparkled with the light reflection from the computer screen.
"I wonder if he's gay," Justin thought to himself, "Since he called me Honey?" Brent looked over at Justin who quickly looked down at the magazine.
There was a buzzing sound, then Brent picked up a phone, listened for a moment, then put the headset back down.
"Mr. Justice, Bill, one of our agents, is ready to see you now." He stood up, "Go through that door, then to the first office on your right." He pointed at the closed door to his left.
As Justin got up, the door opened and a very attractive well dressed young man came through the door. "See ya later Brent." Charlie said smiling and waving to Brent as he passed by Justin totally ignoring him. Justin had to step aside to avoid being run over by Charlie as he rushed out of the suite.