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Sine
Since Alix hadn’t saidanything to me yesterday about wanting me to model for him again, I decided that going into work early this morning would be the best way to avoid an awkward conversation. If I was already working when he came in, I could control the conversation, or at least look busy while he talked. If I looked into his eyes and saw that, for some unknown reason, he still wanted me, I couldn’t say I was confident in my ability to say no.
I told myself it was because he was good-looking, and that it was due to how he made me feel physically, but deep down I knew I was lying to myself with those excuses. I didn’t have the ability to fully explain what it was about him that drew me in and made me lose focus, but I knew I needed to get ahold of it if I could ever make this work.
Which brought me back to wanting to be in the office by the time Alix arrived.
The moment I reached the studio door and found it unlocked, however, I realized my plan already had failed. As I walked inside, Alix pushed off the table he’d been leaning against and walked toward me.
“I figured that since you bring me coffee all the time, I’d return the favor.” He raised his hands to show cups from the same bodega I’d purchased the two cups I held. “One can never have too much caffeine.”
I nodded dumbly. He’d caught me off-guard, showing up early, offering me coffee. If it hadn’t been for the fact that we’d already said no more sex, I might have thought he was trying to get me into bed again. Or that he felt guilty about us already having slept together.
“I have a proposition for you.” One corner of his mouth twitched. “A business proposal.”
“Okay. Will the office work?”
Alix nodded and led the way. He sat down in the chair in front of the desk and set one of the coffees on the desk. I put one of the drinks I bought in front of him and then walked around behind the desk. It felt strange, us sitting like this, as if he was the employee and I the employer, but I wasn’t going to do anything to change it. I needed the desk between us for both distance and perspective.
“I have a contract for you,” he said, gesturing to the papers on my desk. “Two, actually. The first is to move your assistant position from temporary to full-time. Jean is taking care of things on the temp agency side, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
That one was on top, I saw. He fell silent as I read through. It was fairly straightforward for a contract. A set salary – which was higher than I expected – as well as working hours, which holidays I’d have off, my new insurance provider, and a week’s worth of paid leave gained every two years up to six weeks off total. When I got to the part about how the first week would be available as soon as I signed, I stopped and looked up.
“This is too much.”
I waited for him to admit that he’d given me such a generous contract because he and I had slept together, but he just shrugged.
“I don’t really know what it says. I had Jean write it up so I wouldn’t be tempted to try to bribe you.”
My eyes narrowed. “Bribe me for what?”
He smiled. “Bribe you to sign the second contract. It’s the same as every other model contract I have, so you don’t have to worry about favoritism there.”
I set aside the assistant contract and started going through the other one. I managed to keep my expression neutral even as my brain struggled to accept the numbers I was reading. He set it up for me to be paid per session, as he’d said, with the first two ‘test’ sessions I’d already done being only a little less than any future sessions would be. With each session, I’d have a release form to sign, which gave me a bonus. A bonus that made each session worth more than I made at the temp agency in a month. If I declined to sign the release forms, any photos from that session would only be available to Alix to use privately, unless I wished to purchase them.
The way my stomach tightened told me that the idea of him hanging my photos on the walls of his apartment, or wherever he lived, was almost as nerve-wracking as having them on display.
The contract also allowed for the option to release only photos that didn’t show my face. I’d receive a smaller bonus than if I agreed to allow them all to be used, but it also kept me from having an all-or-nothing decision to make.
“This is the same contract all your models sign?”
Alix stiffened, making me wonder if it was me questioning, or if it was the fact that I said all your models.
“I’m not treating you any differently,” he said, the muscles in his jaw clenching. “I want you to model for me and be my assistant. If you would prefer one over the other, that’s your choice.”
I was struck by the strange impulse to reach across the desk and touch him, reassure him. I curled my hand into a fist.
“It just seems like a lot,” I said carefully. “I didn’t come to the States to be a model, or to make a lot of money.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re hesitating because I’m offering too much?”
When he said it like that, I felt pretty foolish, but I had to know. “Why me?”
Alix stood, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. “I thought we talked about this.”
I shook my head. “I know you think I don’t see myself clearly, but it’s not about that. We’ve done a couple sessions, but this contract says that you want me to do a whole new line. You mentioned it before, and I asked a similar question. You didn’t really answer me then, and I would like an answer now. Why do you want me to pose for a whole new line instead of hiring a professional?”
I was feeling pretty good about how matter-of-fact I sounded, but the piercing look Alix shot me made me think twice, and his gaze didn’t waver as he walked around to stand in front of me.
