Hollywood's Fallen Angels: Sandy 01

I fell asleep laying on my towel, enjoying the feel of the warm sun on my skin.

Sometime later I awoke with a lurch as Tiffany poked me.

"Sandy, don't look now, but there's some pervert down the beach taking pictures of us." Tiffany whispered. "Look to your left."

I casually turned my head to the left, and down the beach I saw a man with a camera and a big lens. He was pointing his camera at us! I felt surprised and annoyed. How dare he!

He started walking toward us, perhaps having seen me looking at him.

"Oh shit! Tiffany, he's coming this way! What do we do?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Just ignore the pervert." She hissed back.

We closed our eyes. I could hear the sand on his feet as he approached, closer and closer. Soon his shadow cast over us, and we heard a small cough.

I looked up, getting onto my elbow and glaring at him. "What do you think you're doing pervert!" I demanded.

"Don't come any closer, or we'll scream!" Tiffany added sternly.

He laughed, "Calm down ladies. I'm not here to bother you. Far from it! I think I can help you." He smiled.

"Oh! Do you now?" Tiffany said in a sarcastic voice. "And exactly what did you have in mind? We saw you taking pervert shots of us with your camera. You can't do that!" Tiffany lashed at him.

"Ladies! You've got me all wrong!" He said laughing. "I'm a professional photographer. My name is Ted. Here's my card."

I snatched it out of his hand and looked at it suspiciously.

Ted's Fashion Photography

Headshots, Body Shots and More!

Represented in all Major Magazines

There was a phone number and an address in Northridge.

"I saw you ladies down the beach and couldn't help taking a couple of pictures. I hope you don't mind. I think you have the potential to be models." He said looking down at us with what appeared to be a sincere look in his eyes.

He sank down to rest on his calves, and we finally got a good look at him.

He was an older man, but good looking. He had close cropped brown hair, greying at the temples. His squarish jaw and small glasses that made him appear professorial. His shorts and Hawaiian shirt seemed expensive. He had a camera with a 'Nikon' logo on the front and a big lens that looked like it might cost a lot of money.

I handed the card to Amy who glanced at it like it might burn her before passing it to Tiffany.

"Oh! So I bet we're the very first women you've ever used that pickup line on, right?" I asked cynically.

"First, it's not a pickup line. I'm serious. And second yes, from time to time I've found excellent models here. Often those women have no idea how beautiful they are. But once in front of the camera and on film, they get a chance to see the beauty I see."

"Ha! I bet!" Tiffany chortled. "Why don't you just get out of here before we scream and get the cops. Pervert!"

"Relax." He responded smoothly. "All I wanted to do was introduce myself. If you're interested, you have my card. And if not. Not a problem, just throw it away."

He stood up, turned to walk away, then turned his head and spoke looking toward me, almost whispering.

"But you should know, there's something about you that's different. Special. I think you may have in you that singular look that could be very good on camera." He paused, speaking louder. "I pay one hundred dollars for bikini shots. I pay up to five hundred dollars for nudes. Clothes off is completely optional. You can keep your bikini on the whole time. No matter what you decide to do, it's one hundred percent your choice how far you go. So just think about it."

"Get the hell out of here, sicko!" Amy insisted.

He turned and started walking away. Then he paused and looked over his shoulder, calling out above the dull roaring surf.

"Just think about it. And hold onto that card. You might want to call me someday to see how special you really are."

As he walked away Tiffany threw the card at him. It fell into the sand near my arm.

"What a creep!" She said as she sank back down to work on her tan.

I thought about what he said. I pictured myself in a Hollywood photo shoot in a long flowing silk gown. I fantasized I was a fashion model. I pictured myself modeling like a sexy librarian. A pencil in my hair, my glasses half down my nose. I thought about being dressed in lingerie, posing in front of a camera, my hair and makeup perfect. I'd be wearing pretty, lacy panties and a cute bra. And they would be the only things hiding my otherwise naked skin from the world.

Ted's words and my fantasies about being a model made me feel sexy.

"I've got a date tonight," Amy said with a grin, "and it's with a hot lifeguard. So we better get going so I can get ready."

It was time to go back to reality.

As the golden sun sank toward the ocean we packed our stuff, preparing to leave. As I turned to walk up to the parking lot I noticed the tip of Ted's card peaking out of the sand, almost buried. I paused. Checking to see if Amy or Tiffany was looking in my direction I bent down and grabbed Ted's card, hiding it inside my towel. I didn't necessarily want to pose, but it couldn't hurt to save his card just in case.

**********

A week later I was driving up Canoga Avenue in the hot afternoon smog-haze headed to Ted's photography studio. "Please don't go" by KC and the Sunshine Band droned on the radio, but I barely heard it. I was too focused on my shame in having to pose for money.

Money had become a big problem. Or more accurately, my lack of money. I was weeks late in my rent and my roommate threatened to kick me out if I didn't pay her immediately. With no other options for coming up with quick extra cash I had no choice but to take Ted up on his offer of a photo shoot.

The directions his assistant gave me wound into an industrial area brimming with large, austere concrete warehouses. I found the address, a huge, frumpy dull-gray warehouse with no windows and just a single door. The expansive empty parking lot in front held only two cars, a brand-new Mercedes and a shiny, stainless-steel DeLorean. The photography business must have been pretty good considering the cars.

I parked my car a few spaces away from the exotic cars. I hesitated before shutting off the engine. I checked my hair and makeup yet again in my rear-view mirror. My heart raced. I felt butterflies flitting across my stomach.

With a shaking hand I turned my car off. Taking a deep breath, I pulled the squeaky door handle open and stepped out into the glaring sunlight. Even though there wasn't a soul around to see me I still fervently wished it was dark. I wanted to hide. In my mind's eye I saw hordes of strangers leering at me from the rooftops, their imaginary faces sneering condemnation at me for what I was about to do.

I trudged to the metal door and against my better judgement pulled it open. A dark hallway yawned before me as the smell of old concrete and dust wafted past, riffling the curls of my hair. I realized I was holding my breath. I forced myself to breathe, gulped and after a moment of hesitant panic squared my shoulders.

This is it. I'm going in.

Posing in a bikini or worse, in the nude went against my Oklahoma Christian upbringing. But I was out of options, and this seemed like the only way to get out of the deep financial hole I found myself in.

With an effort, I took the first step across the threshold. With the first step behind me the second was a bit easier. Then the third. Fully inside the murky hallway the door closed behind me with a solid, metallic BOOM! Trepidation was my only companion as I started shuffling down the dark hallway toward my uncertain and potentially shameful future.