Random acts of Violence: Episode Three.

This is a dedicated Halloween series loosely based on Steemit users and some details they provided.

Click...Click. Click.

"Sorry, what was that? How did I get into modelling? well..."

Click...Click.

"It started many years ago when I was 12. I was Discovered! Can you believe it? It was like a dram come true, an unexpected and even unknown dream but once I got the offer, it was all I could think about. I was in a subway with my my mum in NY, which was in itself a dream come true, I am small town all the way and it was my first trip to proper city. And New Y-O-R-K City to be boot, what a place to start!

Click..Click......click.

I saw him looking at me, he was young like you but lets say, a few shades lighter hahaha. He asked my mum if he could talk as he handed her a card and bent a little to hand one to me also. I had no idea what this was and I blushed. He asked my mum if I could come to a test shoot for some head shots. He was so nice, good looking too come to think of it now and my mum was really unsure but he spoke some more and said to check his web address to see the content there.

After he left, I was so excited and we checked the site straight away. All the shots were gorgeous! I had never seen such beautiful women before and the clothes! If heaven has a closet, that was it. I was so excited to try and wanted it more than anything I had ever wanted in my life!"

Click. Click.

This is why he had chosen her, her enthusiasm for life. There was an innocence to her he could not ignore. She wasn't the thirteen year old that had been discovered that day yet she held a brightness, a freshness that was undeniable.

He had seen her on a catwalk at a show, she was not the star, hardly even an extra but he saw something unique within her eyes. He wanted to make her shine. He wanted to capture her and keep her in his collection forever. Something in him could see, no feel, that there was something inside her, a secret akin to Mona Lisa's smile, a mystery just waiting to be discovered or waiting to escape but one did not know which.

He talked to her agent and was surprised to find it was her mother. Still, after all this time her mother was still finding her work, finding her photo shoots and runway shows. Normally the parent manager gets replaced with a professional soon enough but once he got talking to them he realised why, they were brilliant together, a true team and formidable. She was all air and sunshine, the mother shrewd and calculating, a tough negotiator. For the first time in his blossoming career, he had to work to get her.

He had been a fortunate photographer and he knew it. A business major, photography was a hobby, something to muck around with on weekends and a way to interact with friends. It started off a way to explore the city normally unseen, like many photographers, being behind the lens brings the courage to go where perhaps once shouldn't, a shield of magical protection. Abandoned warehouses, midnight subways and life under bridges were his stomping grounds.

Soon after starting school though, the gruelling assignment schedule bit into free time and in order to keep his hobby, he had turned instead to portraits of friends. He was surprised how much he enjoyed this and how good he had become. Slowly, he combined street life and the grime of the street together into a subdued style of candid portraits. He started posting a few on a small social media platform that paid for content until one day, boom. He himself was discovered.

Since then, models asked him, not the other way around. This made getting this girl for his collection even more special.

Click...Click...........click.

"Yes, that's right! We did go to the shoot of course. My mother organised it for a week away as we had so much to do since we had just moved to the city. I wanted it sooner but I knew that mum was upset so didn't push her. My mum and dad had been having problems and then one day he just vanished. I remember he kissed me good night the last time I saw him. They fought again hard after that and in the morning, there was no trace. Not even a note. So, mum packed our bags and we vanished too. She said he would never be in our life again. I understood why, he was good to me, not to her.

All week I could hardly sleep, I was so worried I would have dark circles under my eyes for the shoot and then I was worried I would get pimples from worrying about my eyes! Twelve year old girls should have better things to worry about, don't you think?

On the morning of the shoot my mum got a call. A last minute job interview had come up and it was at the same time as the shoot. Of course it was! She wanted to cancel but I begged and begged her not to. She took out his card and called to see if we could reschedule but no go. He had a busy week already and would be flying out of the country on a long location shoot. He said, it is a shame because I have so much potential!.

I almost cried! but my mum said that if we go there early and check it all out, she could be back after an hour or so and I could do the shoot. I hugged her. What an awesome mother I have!

When we arrived at the studio office, it was a shared lobby and the receptionist was so fancy looking with her headset. My mum asked for the photographer but when she tried him on the phone, he was busy but would come soon. She called him Mister and made him sound very important. She asked us to sit and offered us coffee and juice. I didn't drink coffee then, but now, Y-E-S Yes!

Time was running and mum had to really go and was about to drag me with when he came out of an office door and apologised. He explained he was on the phone to a designer in Milan for a shoot and with the time difference, wouldn't be able to call back after. He apologised again but my mum had to leave.

He asked where the interview was and then quickly explained that the shoot would take two hours or more so she could make it to her interview and back for the second half if that was alright. Then they could go through the shots together. He called to the receptionist and at the same time offered my mum a taxi to get there on time. The receptionist call and he handed over a hundred dollar note and said, 'tip or keep the change, I don't care'. She kissed me and rushed out.

He then turned his attention to me and asked if I had had enough to drink or if I was nervous and wanted to go to the bathroom first. I was and I did! He pointed to the ladies room and told the girl behind the counter to send her in when ready.

After peeing, I looked in the mirror. I was so nervous and I took some deep breaths to try to calm down as I had heard that is what people do. At least in the movies. All I could think was this is the time, this is my moment, my chance to never be a small town girl. This is where real life starts.

She buzzed me in to the room, and I pushed the door open and stepped inside. For some reason I was no longer nervous, I was strong and confident and sure of myself, perhaps for the first time ever."

Click...Click.

Was this the secret he had seen in her eyes, was it a facade of uncertainty veiling the confidence of a lion, a predator? He had to know, this could be his greatest achievement yet, his first real discovery. He added fifty percent to the offer and they accepted. He even rearranged his schedule to fit them in for the day and time they wanted. Unheard of since his college days.

Click........click.

"Is this the end? No but almost don't worry, I know a talk a lot, L-O-L! There is just the ending part to come, kind of how we got here today I guess. It has been a long journey. Ten years since that day. Right mum?

My mum comes to all my shoots now and sits there in the corner silently watching and waiting for me and the photographer to do our work. Me in front, them behind. That is why these ones are so special, I get to be behind the camera instead and my mum gets to do the work. She really enjoys it, so much so that I am unsure if she would change the past even if she could.

That day so many years ago, she got the job and excitedly rushed back to the studio for the end of the shoot. It took her a bit longer than she had thought but only 20 minutes or so, still enough time to see her baby shine. When she arrived she asked the receptionist to buzz her in and was informed that the photographer had just stepped out but to take coffee in and make herself at home.

When she pushed through the door, she was greeted with the same scene I had been. An empty room and me. I don't really remember much but she says I was on the floor clutching my knees and staring out the window at the city skyline. New Y-O-R-K, the city of broken lights. On the floor next to me was a memory card and the camera strap he had tightened around my neck as he raped me. The memory card contained the pictures he took of my first 'modelling' experience. Freebies he called them.

Click. click. click.

And, this is where we find ourselves every anniversary of that day. Of course, we are always in a different city or country, except this time, this time we are back, our return to Broadway so to speak. A ten year reunion.

That camera strap around your neck is the same one. It is a little frayed as there have been nine before you after all. My mother will replace it with one of your own after it is done of course and you will become just another young photographer that either couldn't play the game or was broken by the attempt to continually perform.

It is a shame though, you seemed really nice and I think you would have done a good job capturing me in your frame. I look at the your work and you have a way of seeing behind someone's eyes, removing the veil and looking at their soul. You had potential.

Click..... Click.

The chair was driven out from under his toes, his eyes went wide as the strap fashioned into a noose pulled tight. He clawed at it but there was nothing he could do. He could still hear though...

"Is this what dad looked like in the garage, mum?"

Click.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

This is the third in the Halloween series: Random acts of Violence.

This is dedicated to @thatkidsblack who is a great young photographer who deserves more exposure. Hopefully tonight, he enjoyed his time in front of the camera instead.