Carlos was the man you turned to when you needed a fix. Whether it was pills, blow or anything else you needed, Carlos was the man.
He was sitting now in his Mercedes C Class outside the fitness center. He'd received a text message about twenty minutes ago from one of his better clients.
Estelle Garner was a model. She was tall and lean and had the face of an angel. Although slender she had larger than average boobs, at least larger than your average model. Who knew what her original hair color had been but she was now a platinum blond. It was cut into a stylish bob that hung to her shoulders. It fell naturally straight and framed her picture perfect facial features; big blue eyes, pert nose and full lips.
She came out of the gym and looked quickly up and down the street. Then she saw Carlos' car and walked briskly toward it. Without asking she opened the passenger side door and climbed in.
"You got them?" she asked hurriedly.
"Of course I got them!" Carlos said smoothly, "You know me! And my rep!"
"Good," she said as she dug into her gym bag, "Give them to me!"
Carlos raised one eyebrow in irritation and sighed. He looked her over and a smirk formed on his lips.
"You know," he said slyly, "There's other ways you could pay."
Estelle froze as she was pulling a wad of cash out of her bag. She looked him in the eye sternly and her lips formed a straight line across her face.
"There aren't enough pills in the world," she hissed.
Carlos snickered and dropped a small baggie with white pills into her lap.
"Don't sweat it Sweetheart!" he said, "A man's got to ask!"
She handed over a folded wad of bills and sniffed arrogantly.
"No!" she said, "He doesn't!"
"Whatever," Carlos said with a shrug, "One day you might take me up on that offer."
"No," she said, "I won't!"
He shrugged again and smiled lazily.
"How come these look different than last time?" she said as she scrutinized the contents of the baggie.
"Different supplier," he said dismissively.
"Are they the same?" she asked in a worried voice.
"I told you!" he said with irritation, "Don't sweat it!"
"They better be the same!" she said with a pout.
"Don't worry about it!" he said angrily, "They're the same!"
She regarded him dubiously and sniffed once again. Then she got out of the car without another word.
"I could give you a ride," Carlos called out through the open window.
"In your dreams Creep!" she snapped as she walked away.
Carlos pulled away laughing and Estelle watched him go with her lip curled in disgust. He was a truly horrid human being but he was the best connection in Hollywood. If her were to suddenly disappear a lot of models, actresses and singers would stop showing up for work. The film and TV industry would grind to a halt. They'd all be too busy searching for a new supplier or they'd be going through withdrawal and throwing up at home. Her included.
She grimaced at the thought but quickly pushed it out of her head. She had a shoot to get to and those pills were going to get her through the next four hours.
Walter Kline was a photographer. He was working on the layout for his next session when he heard the outer door chime ring. He glanced idly at the inner doorway to the studio in time to see Estelle. He nodded a greeting but she was fixated on the door to the makeup room to the side. She didn't even acknowledge him. He sighed and shook his head and then went back to work.
Estelle was edgy as she sat in the chair. The makeup artist had been working on her hair and face for the past hour and was touching up around her eyes.
"Are you about done?" she asked tersely.
Jill was used to these outbursts from Estelle. Truthfully from all the models she worked on. They were all so strung out on whatever diet pills or cocaine they used, they were always bitchy.
"Another few minutes," she said.
Estelle sighed impatiently and shifted in her chair.
"Don't move please," Jill said with practised serenity, "Or I might have to start all over. You wouldn't want that would you?"
Estelle's eyes burned with rage but she stopped moving.
A few minutes later Jill straightened up and studied her work. She nodded and then stepped to the side.
"You're done," she said.
Estelle stood, ripped the bib from around her neck and tossed it onto the floor.
"Get out of my way!" she said and stormed out of the small room.
Jill sighed and stooped to pick up the bib. She dropped it into a laundry hamper and then cleaned up her work station.
In the wardrobe trailer Estelle threw her workout clothes onto the floor and stood naked. She held her arms out to the sides and waited while the dresser fitted a loose fitting gown onto her.
The dresser studied her nude body disinterestedly. She had seen lots of naked girls over the years, most of them famous. By now, they all looked alike in her eyes.
She was a woman in her fifties who always had a cigarette dangling from her lips. The smoke drifted lazily to the ceiling of the trailer as she meticulously fastened the snaps down the back. She grabbed a few pins and pulled the sides together to fit more snugly over Estelle's waif-like body. When she was done she gripped the model's hips and spun her around to face her.
Estelle frowned at being manhandled like this but she knew better than to snap at Eileen. Eileen had worked with every model and actress in Hollywood for thirty years and no one talked back to her.
When the fitting was done Eileen left the trailer with a farewell mumble and Estelle sighed with relief. She sat in the only chair and rummaged through her gym bag quickly. She pulled out the baggie and popped one of the pills into her mouth. She dry swallowed it and then stood. With another sigh she stepped out of the trailer and strode regally onto the studio set.
Walter glanced in her direction and nodded silently as he checked the lighting levels.
One thing he knew when working with Estelle was that she was always on time, unlike some other models. You didn't want to talk to her but you could count on her showing up in plenty of time to get to work.
When he was set he gestured to a lavish looking throne and told her to sit. She settled into it and gazed as only she could at the camera. Walter studied the image and nodded to himself. He stepped over to her, adjusted her arms and one leg and then went back to the camera. He looked at the display once more and smiled.