Page 102 of Touch in the Dark

Oh God, I knew someone might have heard me and Nick that day in the dressing room. At the time it had turned me on even more, but I’d been a little mortified going back the next day, when Nick didn’t have to, but no one said anything.

“Irrespective of anything else, I was impressed. You did everything we asked of you, right down to the letter. I’ve worked with some make-up artists who deviate from the brief, or who aren’t strong enough to argue with the talent,” she puts that in finger quotes. “When they decide they want a different look. So I’ve asked around about you.”

“You have?” the bottom drops out of my stomach.

All I can think about is how I got fired from that movie. What if she spoke to them? They would have told her I was surplus to requirements and let me go because I was the least experienced. Of course, that excuse was bullshit but if Louis asked, that would be the response she’d get.

“Relax, Joel told me all about what happened on the movie set. His dad is an asshole and Joel alluded to the fact his dad may or may not have had an inappropriate relationship with that actress.”

My nose wrinkles. So Joel did suspect his dad was sleeping with a woman he’d been with. Gross.

“Joel also said we’d be lucky to have you on board.”

“He did?” I ask. I barely knew him, sure we’d had a pretty intense make out session and one, kind of date, but it wasn’t like we were close.

“He’s the kind of guy who recognises talent when he sees it, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have needed his recommendation anyway. I saw how good you are with my own eyes. I think you can see where this is going,” she laughs.

“I don’t want to assume,” I say back.

“We want to offer you a contract.”

“Oh, wow.”

“It isn’t a permanent gig, that isn’t how we work, but you would always be one of our go to artists when we have a shoot. We’d obviously expect you may have other work but if we need you, we’d hope you’d be able to come on board. Between you and me, Jackie, our current artist is heading back to South Africa, so we will be calling on you for the majority of our shoots. We can’t offer you a steady position with all of the benefits of our employees, so I want you to think about it. I have all the information here,” she hands over an envelope for me. “I’ll email everything to you as well, but I am old school and like to give people paper information. Yes, I’m a dinosaur,” she laughs. “Do you have a card?”

Still in shock, I lift my purse and take out my business card. It isn’t a steady job, but it is a massive freelance contract, working for Instinct, even on a campaign-by-campaign basis.

“This shoot was here in the US, but we often travel for our campaigns. We will need you to come along for those if you agree to come on board. Is that something you would be okay with?”

“Absolutely,” I tell her. I love travelling, even if it would be for work.

“How are you feeling about the offer?” she asks, taking my card and tucking it into a Rolodex on her desk. She really is old school.

“I’m a little stunned. I’m thrilled you are interested in hiring me.”

“Don’t be, you’re very talented, Elsa, we’ll be lucky to have you. Why don’t you take the weekend to think about it. We don’t have any campaigns to shoot in the next couple of weeks but there is something coming up after the holidays. It’s in New York, so that might make your decision a little easier,” she smiles.

I don’t tell her I’m actually from L.A., or that was where I am planning on going after the holidays. I thank her for the opportunity, and we talk some more, particularly about the shoot I was a part of, and she ends up showing me the layout for the campaign.

I stare at the images of Nick and I, almost losing my breath. They’ve chosen the one where he got hard, and I have to bite my lip against a laugh. You can see the lust on both of our faces, the complete and total obsession in our eyes as we stare at each other, and it does something weird to my chest.

“Your chemistry was off the charts,” Louis says. “But I suspect that has a lot more to do with who you two are to each other and not that you clicked on set.”

I give a smile that says I’m not giving anything away and she laughs.

“Well, management were impressed. The whole campaign has been a massive success. I have no doubt it will be the same once it goes live. It was an inspired idea to have celebrities live out their fantasies on print, then re-enact what they’re known for on the video. It really brings them to life and it helps that everyone looked fantastic in the underwear too,” she adds.

“It was great to work on it too,” I say.

“Well, like I said, take the weekend to read over the offer and give me a call on Monday. If we can get everything nailed down before the holiday break that would be fantastic. And between you and me, I’ve been told to do anything I can to secure you.”

I blush slightly. I know I’m good at what I do, but it’s a different story when you hear professionals like this praising your work. It makes me feel so much better than I did a few weeks ago, sitting on my makeup case in that hotel parking lot, devastated someone fired me.

I have a lot to thank Joel for. Without him, I would have been kicked off the movie during that first fuck up of making noises during the shoot, and then he put me in touch with Louis. I still have his card. I should call to thank him.

When I leave, I promise I’ll let her know first thing Monday, but I’ve already made up my mind. It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to pass up. Working with Instinct is already a massive bonus for my resume, actually being the go-to MUA for their campaigns is a whole other level.

Elsa: Guess who just got an amazing offer?

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