Life Begins at Midnight

Rigidity

Richard West was bored. He'd had enough of skinny, beautiful girls who'd do anything to please him, but were incapable of doing just that. Because to please him, they'd have to be different. Unique. Such that they'd make his line of products stand out from the crowd. He had dresses and perfumes and cosmetics... even footwear and accessories. His line was exclusive and he wanted to make it perfect. He'd always wanted a model who would do it full justice. But he'd never found any. He had almost come to believe that there was no one in the entire feminine population of the world, who could give him what he wanted. He wanted character. A face, to define the perfection he sold in bottles and fabrics and neat elegant packages. And if he, Ricky West, couldn't have it, then it mostly did not exist. Which woman would stay away when he was willing to do whatever it took to have her pose for him?

Today the forms would come in from the High Schools he'd been willing to try. He wanted one dedicated girl who'd exemplify his creations and what they stood for. Was that tough? Apparently, it was, because his secretary, Julia Hawthorne had just come over to tell him he had the maximum applications from the High-School model hunt. She asked him which criteria he wanted to use for scanning, because the next day, they would get the preliminary shots of the girls they'd shortlisted. He spoke in a certain but bored voice, telling her - "Julia. Dump them all in the shredder, unless mine's the only name they've checked."

Julia was flabbergasted, but didn't show it. "That would hardly leave us with anyone." She tried to reason with him. He strode one step closer and spoke in a threatening voice - "I don't care if it leaves us with no one at all." He thundered, and Julia cursed herself for having tried to reason with Ricky West. It would always be like he wanted it. No matter what.

He dismissed her with a wave of his hand, and began scanning through the themes that his designers had put together for the shoot with the model from the High-School hunt. He also went through a daring theme for one of his other photoshoots, where the model would be expected to pose in an ice-bath, completely covered with ice. It was an idea for one of his perfumes, and although he liked the theme immediately, he would never do that to any model. So he just put it in his file, and noted that he would like it to be more humane. Then he went back to brooding over the lack of character and originality in the modelling industry. At least his photographer was not at fault. She was young herself, though not as young as Ricky West. She was 25, and could have been a model if she hadn't been a whiz at photography. He had heard that she had a younger sister who was into modelling. As a photographer, she was daring and talented, two traits Ricky admired in his staff.

He called her over to talk about the High-School model shoot.