In love with my brother - 7. Chapter 7 - Part time

Anikin’s birthday was coming up, I’d been out looking for a present for a few days and I wanted to give him something special. But everything I came upon was either too expensive or wasn’t just the right kind of special. The only money I had to spend was the small savings I had put aside from my allowance the past year or so, and it wasn’t much. Maybe I should get a part time job, I was still in good time to get first payment and get the present for Anikin before his birthday.

Once at home I sat down with today’s paper and went directly to the announcements site. I was still looking through the columns when Anikin came home.

“What are you doing?” He cast a curious glance over my shoulder.

“Part time? If you need money I can give you what you need.” I turned to give him a tired look.

“No, I like to earn the money to spend on myself, so no thanks.” I went back to my job hunting that didn’t look like it was going to pan out.

“Why don’t you work for me then?” My head fell back with a sigh as I leaned back.

“Anikin, I live here for free, I have to do something to earn my living.”

“No, I mean at the agency. We could use an extra hand in the afternoon from time to time, only small jobs here and there to help out when everyone’s busy.”

“So I’d be an errand boy.” I turned around in my seat and leaned sideways over the backrest.

He paused slightly at my comment while putting his jacket on the rack before answering. “Well… Yeah. But it’s a job, you know people there and it’s money.”

“I don’t know.”

“Try it out. You can always quit if it’s not for you.”

“Fine, just don’t write errand boy on the papers.” Anikin just laughed before disappearing into the hall.

***

Anikin picked me up at the school next day and took me to the agency for my first tryout at this errand-boy-job. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea but I needed the money and I liked being at the agency. There were so many different people and always someone to talk to, always a lot of activity and the shootings were captivating. Besides I had yet to see Anikin and Tamaki work together, usually they were kinda goofing around all the time, so I’d been curious about how they would act when needing to be professional, I couldn’t really imagine how that would turn out so I was excited and I knew they were shooting later today.

“Do you mind if I come and watch your shoot with Tamaki?” I asked as I was getting out of the car.

“Sure. Why do you want to see that?” He gave me an odd look before following my example.

“No particular reason. Just thought it might be interesting.” We headed towards the main entrance. At the front desk Anikin asked the young woman to call for Jessie, and a few moments later a tall blonde came to meet us.

“Anikin.” She said politely with a smile filled with white teeth.

“Jessica, this is my brother Dominic. He’s starting part time as a fill-in-helper today, would you mind showing him the ropes. I would’ve done it myself but I have a shoot in… 15.” He paused for a moment checking his watch.

“Sure, I don’t mind. Nice to meet you Dominic.” She held out one slim manicured hand, I took it expecting one of those dead fish handshakes you would normally get from this type of girl, but her grip on my hand was nice and firm.

“Right. Take him to studio 7B at five, I said he could watch my shoot with Tamaki. After that you’re free to go home.” Jessie looked thrilled with the thought of going home early, apparently, even though to me 5 P.M. wasn’t any way near early. But that left an hour for Jessica to show me around and tell me about the jobs I was going to be doing.

“So Dominic, I’ve seen you around a few times, what made you decide on this job?” Jessie’s voice pulled my gaze from Anikin’s departing figure to her face.

“I didn’t really decide on it, I was job-hunting and Anikin offered me this chance, but I don’t really know if it’s for me.” I shrugged as I explained.

“Well, let’s find out today. I used to be an errand boy, back in the day.” She put her arm around my shoulder to guide me while gesturing in the opposite direction of the way Anikin had been heading.

“You make it sound like you’ve been here for ages, but the company isn’t even that old.” I shot her a confusing gaze.

“I’ve been with Anikin since the beginning; I was an errand boy at the agency that first scouted him. I used to go with their group for overseas shoots and stuff, really exciting. I even had time for some sightseeing. Being an errand boy can be a very important job, and demanding.” Her eyes became dreamy.

“Sounds like a lot of running back and forth”

“Nah, not really. The biggest part of it is really just getting coffee. But with time, as you learn your way around and get to work with the same groups more often; that’s when things get fun. You get to run for all sorts of thing, clothes, camera stuff. People start depend on you for more important stuff, you will be the glue holding everyone together when everything gets stressed out. At least that’s how things are done at this agency, not all places are like this. Anikin is a good boss, that’s why everyone stays with him for so long.” We took the elevator down to the basement, a few studios were down here, but they weren’t really all that used anymore, and dressing rooms.

“Because of your position you will get a uniform. Black pants with a blue shirt, and a name tag which you should be wearing at all times, at least until you become famous around here”

“Famous?” Like when I became a model or something?

“Until people start to remember your face, that sort of famous, a known person.” She wrote my name down on the paper slip inside the tag, put the slip back and fastened it to the shirt right above the breast pocket.

“There you go, and you get your own locker.” She showed me down the row of lockers and opened an empty one on the left side.

“We’ve had some problems with theft in the past, it’s been a long time since, but just as a precaution, remember to lock up each time before you leave.” The lock was strong, and I looked at the key for a moment.

“Thanks.”

Even though I more or less knew my way around the agency, I got the whole guided tour anyway. I also got a description of different jobs and errands in the different departments, and what each studio were used for. And of course, there were a ton of stories about people we came upon on our way or some episode Jessie had experienced.

“Here we are, studio 7B. We are a little early, but I’m sure you don’t mind, it’s only a 10 minute wait, and everyone’s probably here already.” She looked at me as she grabbed the door and pushed; I answered her with a smile and followed her in.

Chaos was the only word to describe the scene playing out in front of me. Scenery pieces were being moved around by a bunch of people, guided by a slim guy with bleached hair crying different orders in what sounded like German. Clothes were being sorted through, pulled off the wardrobe rack before discarded on a nearby table, two women discussing each piece.

I noticed Tamaki and Anikin sitting by a makeup table, with huge mirrors, having their hair and faces done. The stylists, I assumed, were discussing Tamaki’s hair in loud French vocals, with big dramatic gestures while Tamaki was just sitting there smiling and talking with Anikin as if this sort of spectacle happened every day. All the while a lot of people ran in and out between each other, setting up lights and stuff preparing for the shooting.

“And so hell breaks loose again.” Jessie rolled her eyes and strolled into the room.

“Why is it that every time you have a shoot with the two of them, you make this huge commotion, Günter?”

“Because Ich been Deutch, und the two bist fantastic zuzammen.”[Because I German, and the two of them are amazing together] Günther, the guy with the bleached hair, turned out to be the photographer, his accent so heavy that it was hard to understand.

“You really need to work on your English, so people can understand what you are saying, that way you wouldn’t have so many misunderstandings.”

“Ah, People must deutch learnen.”[Ah, people will have to learn to speak German] And with that the discussion seemed to end, Jessie shrugged and Günter turned back to yell his German at the people moving stuff around.

Anikin and Tamaki came towards us, closely followed by the two French stylists.

“Mais il est coiffé comme un as de pique.”[But his hair looks like a bird’s nest] The stylist with the red hair and black leather jeans pulled at Tamaki’s spiked hairdo.

“Pierre, just leave it, his hair does not look like a bird’s nest and it’s not your job to do Tamaki anyway. We don’t have time for you and Valentin to discuss his work each and every time we all have a shoot together. And I’m tired of telling you this over and over again.” Anikin turned around to reprimand his stylist. Pierre looked crestfallen and Valentin, the one with the buzz cut to the left side and killer smile, wasn’t slow to get back at him for the insult to his work.

“Là, vous voyez, mon travail est très bien. Vous êtes toujours en train de critiquer tout ce que je fais, alors que je vous ai dit de vous occuper de vos oignons.”[There you see, my work is just fine. You're always criticizing everything I do, even though I told you to mind your own damn business.] I had no idea what it was all about but due to the whole situation I guessed he told to mind his own business.

“Enough, you two. I won’t hear another word about this matter; it’s over and done with, no more bickering. Dominic, I’m so sorry, this is such a madhouse when we have a shoot together” In the background Pierre and Valentin continued bickering.

“Vous êtes un imbécile.”[You are such an idiot.] Their voices were hushed but forceful, and Pierre looked dramatically shocked by the insult.

“Comment osez vous m’appeler un idiot? Notre rendez-vous de ce soir est donc annulé! Vous êtes un abruti incompetent.” [How dare you call me an idiot, our date tonight is so canceled! You incompetent moron.] And with those words Pierre walked off his nose in the air. They were both clearly gay and I wondered if they were a pair.

“Will they be alright?” I asked Anikin before turning my attention to him.

“I suppose so, they are always like this. But Valentin had really looked forward to that dinner date. I guess they’ll figure it out, sooner or later.” Anikin gave them a long concerned gaze.

“Now, now. Zuzammen, zuzammen. Anikin, Tamaki. Du bist here. Ready?”[Now, now. Together, Together. Anikin, Tamaki. You will be here. Ready?] Günter’s voice reached through the noise loud and clear. Anikin and Tamaki followed the German to the stage where he showed them to their places. Jessie followed me to stand backstage, behind the camera. Some tables had been line up, holding a laptop and a few other stuff; used for checking the photos after each shoot.

At first Anikin and Tamaki didn’t seem any different from other model duos. But after all the commotion I expected something more. They laid up a few different poses, which seemed normal, but as Günter babbled on in his incomprehensible German-English they slowly started moving around, they seemed to be feeling the air of the shoot and slowly a whole act of still pictures were unfolding, they seemed to be telling a story with their interacting.

I was mesmerized and Günter got more and more eager as things progressed. German words of what I assumed were praise were flying out of his mouth a he clicked away on his camera.

“Anikin and Tamaki are so good together that Günter lets them do whatever they want, he just shoots them, and they make the miracles.” Jessie explained as she took notice of the fascinated look on my face.

“Change!” Günter’s voice sounded loud and clear and the people around me started moving. Coffee cups were left on the tables as designers started sorting through the piles of clothes and the stage was changed, the chair and table replaced with a bench and a parasol. Pierre and Valentin quickly got a different make-up applied on top of what Anikin and Tamaki were already wearing, and now there was no more bickering.

At nine thirty the shooting was over, three different sets had come and gone throughout the four and a half hours it had lasted. The pictures were stunning, in every way. From the pictures Broadway look to the dark mysterious atmosphere on the last set. I had expected to be amazed by the two of them working together but this was way beyond what I had imagined.

“Finally done. Dominic, let’s go home.” I followed Anikin and Tamaki back to their dressing room and waited as they changed and got rid of the makeup.

“Do we need to drop you off on the way Tamaki?” Anikin turned on his way toward the door.

“Nah, I’m in my own car for once, so no need.” With a huge grin and a wink he waved us out the door.

“So, how about takeout? I’m not really up for cooking.” With an arm around my neck Anikin led me towards the back exit, since it was way past closing.

“Sure I don’t mind, can we order pizza?” I looked up at him with a hopeful gaze.

“Sure thing. So what do you think? You up for the job?” He let go of me to open the door, letting me through first.

“Well, I’m not sure yet, but at least it’s money and I won’t have to keep looking. I think I’ll give it a shot” Hands in my pocket I strolled to the passenger side of the car and waited for Anikin to unlock the door.

“Awesome, I’ll fix the papers tomorrow and have a schedule for you by the time I come home. You get off by three Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, right? At four O’clock on Tuesday and two on Friday?” He asked once we were both in our seats. He put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot, turning right, the way down town to get pizza.

“Yes, just remember I have chores at home, and tons of homework, so I won’t be able to work until likesix or something everyday”

“Don’t worry, I know. You mind working weekends?”

“Once in a while should be fine I guess.” Anikin just nodded and kept his eyes on the road.

***

A month went by and I quickly got enthusiastic about my job. Being Anikin’s brother and all, I was already familiar with most of the people around the agency and I knew my way around, more or less, which made the beginning a lot easier. I got assigned to attend four specific teams pretty fast, Anikin- and Tamaki’s team among others. The rest were with female models, who had come to love spoiling me with hugs and kisses, sometimes they brought sweets, like chocolate. The gifts bothered me some, and when I mentioned it to Anikin he’d just laughed, saying it wasn’t a surprise.

Friday I made it from school to the agency by myself, Anikin had extra work at the firm so he would only just have time to make his shoot, which I was tending too, right on time.

I changed my clothes before going to the front desk to check which studio we were working in and made my way to studio 3A. It was one of the studios in the old part of the building and was, like the rest there, only used for special jobs, which made me wonder what kind of shoot Anikin were going to do.

I opened the door and frantic noise met me as soon as I walked in. I froze a few steps in watching the commotion for a few moments wondering what had caused all the chaos.

“How could this happen. It’s a disaster!” Mike, the photographer was rubbing his face with distress.

“What’s going on?” Anikin’s voice sounded from behind me and I swung round. He looked good, despite my knowledge of his rough day. He had a smile on his face, and was dressed in pressed pants, a white shirt, with a black sports bag hanging from his shoulder.

“Hi Dom.” He rubbed my head as he walked passed me, making his way into the chaos.

“Tamaki just called in sick with the flu and we have no stand in.” Mike quickly filled him in on the situation.

“Was Tamaki supposed to be on the set?” I asked disappointed that he was sick, I loved to watch the two of them work together. Anikin said nothing, pulled out his cell, quickly tapped on the screen before pressing it to his ear and a heartbeat went by.

“Why the hell didn’t you call to tell me you were sick? You know how important this shoot is? You should have called me already yesterday! You should’ve been here unless you were freaking dying!” Anikin went silent as Tamaki answered.

“Fine, just hurry up and get better.” Anikin hung up the phone and turned to Mike.

“Now what? I can’t do the shoot on my own.” He gestured resignedly.

“We’ll just have to go through the list of people working today and see if any of them will do. What other choice do we have? The shoot has to be today, they need the photos first thing in the morning so this can’t wait.” Mike turned and fired up his laptop, standing on the nearby table.

“Dominic!” Bianca, one of the designers suddenly looked at me with a light in her eyes.

“Yes?” I answered confused by her sudden outburst.

“Let Dominic do the shoot.” She turned to Mike and Anikin while pointing at me.

“What?” Anikin and I said simultaneously. Mike froze for one second before bursting out in great delight.

“What a wonderful idea.”

“No… No, no, no.” Anikin said as Mike turned to him.

“That is not gonna happen!” Even so, Anikin’s protests didn’t seem to have any effect and I was hauled into the dressing room.

I quickly got my face made up and was pushed into a changing stall and a second later a pair of very expensive looking boxer-shorts and a robe was handed to me.

I looked at the outfit and waited for a moment but there were no more clothes coming. Then I realized this was an underwear shoot. I pushed open the swing doors to the stall and started to walk out of it.

“Wait a minute I…” Before I managed to finish I was pushed back inside and told to hurry.

“But I can’t do this.” My protest wasn’t heard and I was forced to change into the clothes handed to me if I wanted to get out of the stall.

Once I was done I was pushed out into the studio where the scene was already set; a platform with two steps up and a huge four poster king sized bed on top. The designers were putting on the last touch by making the bed, decorating it with huge fluffy pillows.

“Anikin… What is this, I can’t be in a shoot… Especially not like this.” Panic made my voice shrill. I opened the robe to show him my getup, or my lack of getup. Anikin looked me up and down, his expression unreadable. He turned to Mike and opened his mouth to say something, only Mike held up his hand to stop him.

“No, I won’t hear it. We are doing this shoot with Dominic on set, it’s the perfect solution. You can fire me later.” Then he turned around to prepare for work.

Anikin cast me a glance then walked out of the studio. Where was he going, he couldn’t just leave me like this. When he came back I was already up on the set getting instructions on how to pose and where to look and so on. Anikin came up beside me and handed me a gold-shimmering, black carnival mask.

“Here, put this on.” The woman beside me, supposedly one of the set designers, looked at it for one second before snatching it out of his hand.

“He can’t wear this, it ruins the whole set.” She gestured towards the white and beige theme they had going, looked like something from a honeymoon suite.

“I don’t care; he’s not one of our models. I won’t have his face showing on the pictures, so make it work.” He grabbed back the mask and held it towards me without taking his eyes of the woman, who clearly got the message, with Anikin being the boss and everything, and she just turned around and put people to work.

An hour and a half later everything was set, the color theme was changed to black and red.

The makeup team had painted gold patterns on Anikin’s face, making him a match to my shimmering mask. A final touch was added as they sprinkled the same gold on both our uncovered body parts, afterward we were finally ready to work.

“Just follow my lead and do as I say, okay.” Anikin gestured me towards the bed and we both climbed on.

A few shots were taken with me on my back and Anikin on top, it was more embarrassing than I had imagined, and I was grateful for the mask on my face, as I felt my skin heat up and the closeness of Anikin’s more or less naked body so close to mine didn’t make it any easier.

From here on the poses got more daring for each change, it was like two people drowning in desire and I felt devoured, heat rushing through my body. My heart was pounding out of my chest and even though I was told to look in a certain direction, it was hard not to look at Anikin, especially when he was looking at me with such passion. The look in his eyes made me very confused, even though I knew it was an act it made my skin tingle and my feelings tangle.

When it was all over I had the feeling I’d been running a marathon; I was tired and out of breath. I hurried to the dressing room to clean myself up and change my clothes. The shower had to wait until I got home, hence the shimmer on my body ended up all over my clothes.

Back in the studio Anikin, now covered by the robe, was going through the photos with Mike.

“Not that one nor this one either, he’s too exposed. Put them on the USB and delete the originals. You can send the rest.” With a quick smile in my direction he went on to get himself cleaned up and changed.

Cause of all the trouble, the shoot had lasted longer than expected and it was already time to head home, not that I was complaining.

On the way home I asked Anikin why he’d asked for the photos on a USB drive.

“They were really good photos so I thought I might make them into a full size wall poster in my office.”

“What?” I looked at him in horror, his tone had been serious but after a second his face cracked in a smile.

“For memories. It was a waste to just leave them.” It didn’t really answer my question but I didn’t pry further into it.

“Sometimes you confuse me.” The car was silent the rest of the way, as I gazed out the window wondering if my heart would fail from this fierce beating in my chest.

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