Three weeks after her eighteenth birthday, Emma was looking for a part time job that she could do on the weekend, or evenings after she finished high school for the day. She wanted to go to university when she graduated, but her family didn't have a lot of money so she wanted to try and save up and pay for at least some of it herself. Flipping through the classifieds of the Calgary Sun, an ad caught her eye.
'Photographer looking for new models for Hudson's Bay and Eaton's catalogues. Women aged 18-25, Boys aged 12-16.'
Underneath was a phone number to call. Emma thought that she was quite pretty, and thought it might be a fun experience. Plus, all of her friends would think it was pretty cool if she was a model! Emma cut the ad out of the paper and went down to the kitchen where the phone was, and dialled the number. Both of her parents where at work so she had privacy as she sat down at the kitchen table with a pad of paper and a pen and listened to the phone ring.
It rang half a dozen times and Emma was starting to think about what message she would leave on the answering machine, when someone picked up.
"McAnally's Photography," a gruff male voice said.
There was a pause, the man obviously waiting for Emma to speak, so she said, "I saw your ad looking for models?"
"Right. Have you ever modelled before? Do you have any headshots?"
"Oh, no, I haven't," Emma mumbled. "I didn't know you needed experience."
"How old are you? What do you look like?" The man asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Well, I'm eighteen. My birthday was three weeks ago actually. I'm five foot eight, I have long blonde hair. Um, I swim a lot so I'm in pretty good shape."
"Weight? Measurements?" The man prompted her.
"Uh, I'm about 130 pounds. I'm not too sure of my measurements exactly. I wear size four pants and my bra is a 34c. Does that help?" Emma asked hopefully.
The man grunted, then said, "Are you able to come down to my studio tomorrow at 3? I can take a look at you, and maybe do a few test shots. Decide if you'll work for the contracts I'm working on."
Emma thought about it. The next day was a Friday so she finished school at one, so she could probably get there in time. "Ok, I can do that. Where is your studio?"
The man gave her the address. Emma asked if she should wear anything specific for the test shoot but the man told her that he would provide the clothes. Excited about the potential new job, Emma went back to her room and tried to concentrate on her homework. She eventually got it done, and by then her parents were home, so Emma went down and joined them for dinner.
Over dinner Emma told them about the modelling ad, and that she was going to check it out the next day after school. Her mom was excited for her, though her dad told her to be careful and not to get her hopes up too high. After dinner they watched some TV for a bit, then Emma headed back up to her room. She picked out the outfit she would wear the next day, a pair of jeans that she thought made her legs look good as well as a bright red blouse. She placed her favourite lace panties and bra with the clothes, then stripped down and got into bed. She read for a while, trying to keep her excitement under control before she finally fell asleep.
When Emma's alarm went off, she hopped out of bed with more energy than normal, and headed to the bathroom down the hall to shower. Her room was in the basement and her parent's room was up stairs, so she didn't bother putting on any clothes, just wandered down the hallway naked. In the shower she thoroughly washed her hair and shaved her legs and armpits. When she got out of the shower Emma wrapped her hair in a towel while she plugged in her hair curlers to warm up, then spent ten minutes carefully applying makeup. When that was done, she gave her hair a quick blow dry and put the curlers in. After she went to her room and got dressed, Emma returned to the bathroom to take the curlers out and finish styling her hair before she finally went up stairs.
Emma's mom was still home, though her dad had already left for work, and she was in the kitchen. "You look nice sweetie!" Her mom said as she poured Emma a cup of coffee and passed her some toast and jam. "Excited to be a model?"
"Well, I don't know if I'll get it or not, but I wanted to put my best foot forward!" Emma said with a smile as she took a drink of coffee and winced at the heat. The two of them made small talk for a bit, then they headed out to Emma's mom's car to head off to school and work. As usual, Emma dropped her mom off at the train station before heading into school. Her mom worked downtown at a dry cleaners. Emma's dad also worked down town as an accountant, and while he started earlier than her mom, they finished at around the same time, so they would drive home together, giving Emma use of the car.
After she dropped her mother off, Emma headed to school. She parked and headed to her first class, chemistry, stopping at her locker along they way to grab her text book from her locker and drop off some of her things. Emma got to class a few minutes before the bell rang and sat down at her usual spot near the front of the class and beside her best friend Kristen.
"Dressed up for something special? Trying to get back with Kevin?" Kristen asked her.
Emma winced and shook her head. "I dumped that idiot for a reason. If I never see him again it'll be too soon," she told Kristen. "I've got a job interview after school!"
"Spill! What is it?" Kristen asked excited.
"Some modelling thing for a guy who takes pictures for the Bay and Eaton's catalogues," Emma said, and filled Kristen in on the details, scant though they were.
The day seemed to drag on and on until the final bell rung. Emma grabbed her jacket and the textbooks she needed for homework on the weekend, then headed out to her car. She stopped in the bathroom along the way to touch up her makeup and make sure her hair was still looking good.
In the parking lot she bumped into Amy, another one of her friends. "Are you going to going to Larry's party tomorrow?" Amy asked.
Emma shrugged, "Probably not. I know Kevin will be there, don't need the hassle."
"Ya, men are scum," Amy said with a laugh. "If you change your mind, I'll see you there." Amy then got into her own car and waved to Emma as she pulled out.
In her car Emma got the street map out of the glove compartment and double checked where the studio was. It wasn't too far away, in some strip mall just outside of the Foothills Industrial Park. It would only take her about twenty minutes to drive there, so Emma decided to stop off at an Eaton's on her way over. She wandered through the woman's clothing sections, looking at the various model photos they had up to show off the clothes and picked up a catalogue to look through.
After checking her watch and deciding she'd killed enough time, Emma got back in her car and drove to the studio, arriving at 2:50. There was a nail salon, a Chinese restaurant and a liquor store also in the strip mall, but the studio looked pretty nice, with big photos in the windows showing off their work. She went in, and found a tough looking woman with a buzz cut wearing a flannel shirt and jeans behind the desk.
