How to Break a Bad Rabbit

But it was just as well; she couldn't repair the damage she'd done, and trying to get him back wouldn't accomplish anything. She still felt terrible, but couldn't change the past. It happened, it was done, and so she decided she had to move on. To make a fresh start, learn from her mistakes, and hope she could be lucky enough to meet someone else as good. The experience hadn't improved her social skills, but perhaps fate would give her another chance—if she gave herself another chance. And though she was baffled by Sandra's supposition that she was a model...Heather thought this interview could encourage her to do more new things, and draw herself out of her self-loathing rut.

Lou and Sandy took her into the living room and they sat down together.

"That's a lovely purse, Heather," said Sandra.

"Oh, uh...thank you," she said timidly, working up a tiny smile. "By the way, eh...Mrs. Sandra, ma'am, I wanted to apologize if I came off as dismissive, or aloof last week." She looked around the room, feeling a bit awkward over it all. "I didn't really mean to, 's just..." She shrugged.

"Oh!" Sandy scoffed and gestured it away. "Don't even worry about it, honey. Go ahead, sit, sit. Have some veggies."

Sandra turned the tray so the carrots were closest, encouraging her to start with them.

"Well, it's indeed wonderful to meet you, Heather," said Lou as he and his wife also sat. "Sandy's told me a bit about you."

Heather threw Sandra a look.

"Oh—don't worry," she assured her. "I also told him there were a few things that'd go no further than the two of us."

Heather relaxed a little. "Although it's really okay, Heather," Lou went on. "Believe you me, we're the least judgmental folks. Seriously, someone could tell us the worst possible thing about themselves, and we'd try to give them the benefit of the doubt."

Heather was pleased to hear that, though her countenance still reflected apprehension.

"So, I understand Sandy's filled you in on the details of our little operation here?"

"Well, uh...kind of..." Heather said uneasily, unassumingly fingering one carrot stick.

"Heather, hon, you seem a bit nervous," remarked Sandy. "Y'know what, maybe it'd help relax you to take off your shoes and put your feet up. You know, like you were outside your building. You did seem more at ease then." She smiled. "Really, please, go ahead!" she encouraged. "We want you to be as comfy as possible with us."

While this seemed a bit out of the ordinary, Heather nonetheless acquiesced, "...Okay." She slipped her Hush Pups off, crossed her legs and rested her bare feet on the table. Lou and Sandy both mentally marveled at just how petite and soft and pure they looked. Sandy was close in guessing her size; she was actually a 7-and-a-half. With one slight glance to one another, Sandy and Lou communicated an entire conversation.

See, babe, what'd I tell ya?

Wow, Sands, you weren't kidding; those little sweeties are almost as cute as yours.

Honey, they are as cute as mine. Even cuter, in fact. This girl may be grown up, but she's still a kiddo; 's only 25.

They ticklish?

Dunno; haven't found out yet. Don't worry, we will.

"There! That's better, huh?" Sandy said. "Now, let's go ahead and start the interview. Now Heather, you told me you've never done anything like this professionally before?"

Heather dipped a carrot stick and took a bite. "Right."

"No film work at all?" asked Lou. Heather shook her head.

"How do you feel about exhibitionism?" was the next question Sandy asked.

Her expression turned a tad surprised. "Like...take my clothes off?"

"Well, yes," she answered. "I know you don't have any experience, but that's okay. And what we're looking for requires a bit more exposure than your average day of modeling."

"...All of it?"

"Well, we can ease in, and work our way along," Lou explained. He could see she was becoming reluctant, so he steered her back in their direction. "Oh, and Sandy did tell you about the salary, did she not? Fourteen hundred a day?"

Heather's eyes popped open turning back to Sandra. "I...thought you said a thousand."

"Oh, did she?" Lou feigned. "I'm sorry, sometimes my handy Sandy gets her figures mixed up. It used to be a thousand. When our sales increased we upped it to fourteen."

"Ah—he's right," said Sandy. "At that point I'd become used to telling everyone it was an even thousand. I'm sorry about that, Heather," she apologized with a small chuckle.

Actually, both knew it was $1,400. The little white fib about the figure was deliberate, from Sandy's bag of psychological tricks. If a person went into a job opportunity being told what they'd be making, she explained to Lou, and then found out they'd actually be making even more, they'd feel that much more eager and inclined to take the job.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Heather. "That's almost ten grand a week!"

"Total, yes," said Lou, "If you're willing to work every day and weekends as well."

"Of course, if we keep you on payroll through the end of the year, there's an annual five-grand Christmas bonus," Sandy added, to Heather's visible amazement.

"WHOA!" said Heather, about two hundred percent more excited than she was setting foot on Lou and Sandy's doorstep. "Is there really that much money in modeling??"

"Heather, if we decide to hire and keep you on staff, this could just be the beginning," Sandy told her, drawing her in further. "Remember, that daily $1,400 is only starting salary. Furthermore, traditional modeling often lasts only a few years. But here in our little academy, if you take excellent care of yourself...who knows how far this could go."

Heather was becoming truly exhilarated. Sandy took another carrot from the vegetable tray, dipped and handed it to her. "Here, hon."

"OH my GOD!" repeated Heather. "Just for taking my clothes off? What am I gonna be doing? Modeling lingerie or something like that?"

"Well, not exactly," said Lou. "Heather, let me ask you this: how do you feel about performing in front of a live audience?"

Heather thought. If she did this, it appeared her thirst for attention may be quenched—if only temporarily. The source did not matter quite as much as the attention itself; she found it hard to care if applauded for her mind or for her body. Maybe she could be a "smart" model, and earn applause for both. She was getting more eager by the moment.

"I think I might like that," she said, starting to smile.

"Okay then, good. Next question," Sandy asked her. "How do you feel about being...touched, on camera?"

Her hint of a smile retreated. "Touched?"

"Yes."

"Touched how?"

"Well, we won't lie to you, Heather," Lou took over. "Touched in a rather intimate manner. Our material deals in very, shall we say, familiar, and...friendly subject matter."

Hmm, thought Heather. With those high monetary figures, she anticipated something on the demanding side was involved. "So..." she hesitated, "You're saying I might be, like, in my underwear, with a guy, pretending to...make out, something like that?"

Lou and Sandra nodded to each other. "Well...yes," said Sandra. "Content may shift in terms of intimacy and intensity, but, yeah, you've got a decent idea."

She processed. "Okay..." she discreetly commented.

"Well, Heather, we've got a few more details to lay out, but how do you feel about this opportunity so far?" asked Lou.

How did she feel...well, on one hand, she felt nervous about taking her clothes off in front of a bunch of strangers. But, she reasoned, they probably wouldn't ask her to be completely naked...or would they? On the other hand, first of all, $1,400 a day—just to start, no less—and she reminded herself she never knew how it felt to be visibly attractive. This sounded like a good way to find out.

"Well, it...definitely sounds interesting," was all she could think to say.

"Good!" said Lou. "So let me tell you a little bit about the whole process. Basically, as you're center stage, and the audience is watching, Sandy'll give you cues and direction. The two of us do also participate and do some performing ourselves. Mostly Sandy."

"Oh...'kay, I see..."

"And also," Sandy chimed in, "We're always looking for new ideas and crowd-pleasers. We're very timely with the holiday schedule. This Sunday, for example, the first project in which we'd like to use you—if you're interested—is our Easter greetings show. It'll take place on the holiday itself, Easter Sunday, and start at 9:00 p.m. It essentially entails playing the Easter Bunny."

"Yes, but we must tell you a few things at this point," Lou stepped in. "For one, Heather, there's no rehearsal. One of the twists of our material is, everything's done impromptu. Rehearsing a shoot of this nature can result in losing the natural spontaneity. We strive to make our productions as real and natural as possible. Make sense?"

"I...think so."

"Excellent. The next thing you need to know is, there is no questioning our direction. Pardon me for being firm, but I remind you that as you're working for us, you'll need to do everything we say, exactly as we say."

Heather nodded, in complete agreement with that.

"That's right," added Sandy. "The secret to our success is just those ingredients: spontaneity, impulsiveness and compliance."

"So, Heather," said Lou, "All this in mind...think you might like to be our Easter Bunny?"

Heather tried to see the cons to weigh things out, but the money and attention kept impeding her vision. All she could see were pros. Much as she attempted, she could not bring many negatives to mind. However, one thought that made her anxious lingered.

"Uh...would I have to..." She cleared her throat. "...Would I have to be naked?"

They took a second, and Sandy fielded this question. "Well, Heather, circumstances vary. Like I told you, the line moves back and forth. This is a very challenging business, and there're lots of reasons most don't make it. One reason is they don't have what it takes. Some've opted out at this point. But I will be honest with you: the answer is yes."

Heather widened her eyes and gulped.

"But not all the time," Sandy went on. "It'll depend on the particular scenario in play. Should we decide to use your talents in a particular shoot, and you decide to participate, you may or not be naked, depending upon what that scenario entails."

"Right," elaborated Lou. "Oftentimes, everyone is nude. But there will be some times when you would be nude and others clothed, and other times vice versa. You see?"

Heather thought it through. It was a startling thought, though she was a sensible person; she knew they weren't paying her this handsomely for nothing. Still, at the same time she felt anxiety baring herself to all these strangers, a part of her found it somehow intriguing. Something thought of as genuinely good and appealing—and highly ego-boosting—about her. She liked that idea. And yet...it remained a tough decision.

Sandra broke into her consideration. "I will tell you this much, Heather—and we can't go into much more detail at this point. But I can tell you one thing right now, and that is: the Easter Bunny will be brought on stage in her bra and panties."

That seemed a little much right off the bat. "Oh, gosh," said Heather.

"And—oh, actually, there's one other thing we'll tell you right now," said Lou. "There's no supporting cast. The Easter Bunny's the only performer. So not only is it a starring role, it's really the only role. Should you be interested, all the performance would be yours."

Well, that sounded cool, she thought. Absolutely all the attention on her, and only her.

"Do I need to, like, memorize anything? Is there a script?" she asked.

"No," Lou said. "'S like we said before, we'll tell you what to do and say. Just leave the direction up to us."

Heather thought some more. She had to admit, they were making it sound tempting.

"Do you need an answer right away?" she asked.

"Actually, I'm afraid we do," said Sandy. "I know the timing's a bit unfortunate, and I apologize for that. You can have a little time to think about it if you need some, but I'm sorry to say it's a gamble. During that time, if we decide we're interested in someone else who's also interested, we would have to offer them the job."

"Oh, gosh..." Heather went back and forth a few more moments, and made a decision.

Y'know what? Fuck it. What the hell. Maybe it's about time I did something wild. It sounds scary, but also like it could be really fun! And maybe doing something crazy'll help take my mind off the stupid stuff I've done recently. Just maybe...what the hell!

"Okay..." She took a breath. "So then...are you guys definitely offering me the job right now?" she asked eagerly.

They both nodded. Sandra said, "If you want it right now, it's yours."

Heather accepted before she could talk herself out of it. "I'll take it!"

"Oh, wonderful! That's great!" they said. Sitting nearer her, Sandy took another carrot stick, dipped, and fed her. "Here you go...bunny."

*****

Easter Sunday, March 31st, 2013, 8:33 p.m.

The sun arc'd down, waving goodbye to the moon. The baskets were given out. The families were back from church. The stores' candy shelves were reduced to barely a single M&M, Peep or jelly bean. The dairy sections hadn't a single case of eggs left. Those that were not eaten were dyed, painted and decorated, hidden and found.

Lou and Sandy asked Heather to show up half an hour before show time, which would have been 8:30, and to wait upstairs while the guests were ushered down into the basement. She was in the bedroom, wearing only a translucent lace bra and panties. Sandra kept her company upstairs while Lou greeted the visitors who would collectively form Heather's audience.

"So, how you feeling?" asked Sandy.

She took a breath. "Uh...not too bad...few butterflies, but...I'm excited!" she smiled. The enthusiastic part of her tried to convince the anxious part to relax and have fun.

Sandra smiled too. "Excellent. Would you like a little snack or drink before we start?"

"Ooh, ummm, I probably shouldn't," Heather said. "If I get nervous in front of everybody, I might do something...bad."

Sandra nodded. Her mouth said, "Oh, hon, completely understood."

Her mind said, Oh, hon, if you only knew.

She explained that Lou would be introducing the show, and she'd escort Heather out on stage later. And that she was not to go near the stage until then. Lou, meanwhile, checked the guest list. He'd asked everyone who wished to attend to show no later than 8:45. At 8:52, after a final confirmation that everybody'd indeed arrived, he went upstairs to check on Heather.

"How's our new little bunny?" he asked with a grin.

"Oh, just a teeny bit nervous," said Sandy. Turning back to Heather, she said, "Don't worry, you're gonna do great. Just remember, you don't have to come up with anything yourself; I'll feed you all your direction. And remember too, you must do absolutely everything I tell you, and only what I tell you."

It was almost 9:00. Lou checked himself in the mirror, glanced to the clock, threw the girls a thumbs-up, and headed downstairs for the intro.

They heard the door open, a mild wave of applause, then the door shut. Heather couldn't hear anything once it closed again.

"Good evening!" Lou called, stepping into the studio. It was a large rectangular room, on three sides of which sat dozens of the Burtons' friends, colleagues and other guests. This left only vacant the side bearing the door and curtain. The curtain concealed the "backstage" area, where props, toys, other aids and recording equipment were kept.

When they bought this house, they'd had the room specially built with a stepping rise around these three sides, so they could set up chairs on it. They knew they'd need a vast open area. Fortunately, maximum room capacity was just upwards of a hundred, and there was still plenty of space left for the entertainment. They'd also had the forethought to have a carpet expert craft them a rug made of impossibly soft sheepskin fibers, thick enough to perform stunts without any serious injuries. It was soft as a cloud.

Sometimes, like this evening, a few additional touches were made. For example, in front of the audience chairs, about every three or four seats apart, sat big Easter baskets filled with grass, eggs, candy and other goodies.

"Welcome to our Easter spectacular!" said Lou. "As you know, we've got a special performance in store for you tonight, presenting a brand-new bunny in her Burton Productions debut!"

He continued. At 9:01, Sandra took Heather downstairs to wait for her cue.

"Ready, hon?" whispered Sandy.

She gave a few excited nods. "I, uh...I think so, yeah."

Finally, they heard Lou say, "And now, without further ado..."

Sandra turned the knob and quietly slid the door open.

"...I give you...our Easter Bunny for this evening: the lovely...Heather!"

Sandra led her in by the hand. When Heather walked in to generous applause and gazed around, her tummy did a flip. Her feet suddenly felt very cold. She flushed in the cheeks. She was quite nervous now. There must have been eighty people in the room!

GULLLLLLP.

She abruptly felt very self-conscious. She had no idea the audience would be this large on her first shoot. But she forced herself to keep cool and remember what led her to the decision. Just go with it, Heth, she kept repeating to her timid self. Just go with it. Behind them, Lou shut the door. Having readied the camera, he began rolling. There were a couple other stationary cameras placed strategically about, zoomed to capture just the optimum footage. This way, when Lou compiled film, he could use the preferred angle for any shot, cut and splice, and produce a quality video.

Sandy was smiling big and waving to the audience, Heather noticed as the applause finally started to die down. She did her best to smile big and wave along.

Placed a few feet in front of them was another basket, extra-sized to hold props for the occasion. Not letting Heather see what was in it yet, Sandra took it in her other hand.

"Good evening and welcome once more, everyone!" she said. "We'd like you to meet our brand-new, pure-as-silk virgin, Heather." She of course meant "virgin" only in terms of never having participated in their activities before. "Tonight is her first shoot, so, eh..." She tossed out a shrug. "...Go easy on her."

She flashed the audience a wink. Heather stared at her, a bit alarmed, wondering what exactly she meant by that. Sandy gave her a benevolent smile that seemed to say, Don't fret, I'm just teasing you. The audience threw her back a few knowing laughs.

"Well, guess we better go ahead and get started, huh?" Sandra asked. "You wanted a bunny rabbit, you got one." She retrieved the first item from the basket, a hair band with a pair of bunny ears attached, which she handed to Heather.

"I presume you know what to do with this."

As she did what she knew what to do, Sandy slid the basket down her arm and retrieved the next two items: a capped black watercolor and a thin paintbrush. "Okay, bunny, this way, please."

This would be Lou's cue to bring her a glass of water. Sandra dipped the brush. "This isn't going to harm you. You might want to close your eyes, though. Now don't move..." She painted the tip of Heather's nose black.