The Shoot

"No, no, no, no no!" Andi repeated with increasing frustration, flicking through the dozens pictures she had just taken.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying!" whined Lexa from the sofa. Andi had decided that the lounge area was the perfect setting to portray an idea of comfort and control; thus, Lexa was half sat half laying back with her arms draped casually around her. Her face had gone a permanent deep red, as not only Andi, but the technical crew and her assistants all orbited around her, focussed exclusively on her naked chest.

"No, it's not you," assured Andi, "there's something about the whole tableau. I can't tell if it's missing something, or we're trying too much at once. I'm not getting the self assured autonomy that we're going for, I might need to rethink the set a bit.

"Oh, er, if we're taking a break, can I put my arms down now?"

"Sure, but stay sitting there if you can, I'm trying to build an image here."

Lexa closed her eyes in frustration, but didn't argue. She nestled her hands over her boobs and twisted her body to a more comfortable position that wasn't angled towards the camera. Aside from Andi scrutinizing every inch of her body, there was also Tom, following her around and occasionally handing her notes or pulling her aside, and there were three technical crew members managing lighting and extra equipment around her sofa. This amounted to five people constantly eyeing up her chest. She thought that would be enough people for a lifetime, but no, next week this would be in a magazine distributed to everyone in the country, she felt a lump in her throat at the thought.

She was interrupted from this thought, by spotting two of the crew looking at her covertly, it was clear their motives weren't professional, they just wanted to look at the topless girl. Suddenly Lexa started feeling defensive, these men were meant to be professionals and they were ogling her like schoolboys. Without thinking she called out to them.

"Hey! Take a picture, it will last longer!" She realised the irony as she said it. Still, the two men immediately looked away sheepishly.

"There! That was it! That's what I want!" Andi cheered from her chair.

"What?"

"I had it all wrong, I was going for calm and confident, what you need is confrontational and confident. It's about making you the active party, not the passive party."

Lexa wasn't sure what she was talking about but decided to just go with it. "What do you want me to do?"

"Sit up a bit, good, put your weight on your arm there, bring it forward so I can see your tattoo, good. Okay, remember that position, now stand up."

Confused, Lexa stood up, not sure what to do with her arms and absolutely no clue what Andi was trying to do.

"Can you put your arms above your head like this?"

Lexa blushed again, but obligingly raised her arms.

"Ah! What the Hell?" As soon as she had raised her arms, Andi had yanked her trousers down.

"Relax, I need your trousers off for this scene."

"But, this is just a topless shoot?"

"You can keep your pants on, just get your trousers off. If you want to be the real you on camera, the camera will have to see the real you."

"Couldn't you just ask me to take them off?"

"Easier to gain forgiveness than permission."

Lexa huffed, Andi was rapidly sapping the strength from her.

"Okay, lay back in the position you were just in."

Lexa did as instructed, while Andi snapped away with her camera, but couldn't help but cross one leg over the other, feeling even more exposed than before. She tried to look comfortable and confident, but instead she just felt awkward and shy.

"Don't cross your legs so tightly, it makes you look all scared and shy. That's it. Look directly at the camera, come on. Now imagine all the people who ever criticised you for your body and say 'screw you!' That's it let your passion out."

They continued in this manner for a few minutes. Andi was enthusiastic, which was enough for Lexa to eat least feel comfortable where she was, but she knew she wasn't getting anywhere and Andi seemed to be running into a wall again. She glanced up to just behind Andi and caught the gaze of one of the men who had been staring earlier, quickly he looked away, pretending not to have seen her. The fact that he was looking away now, after staring at her for hours actually amused Lexa, and for the first time since she arrived, her lips curled into a smile.

The camera flashed once more and Andi stopped.

"Look at this." She said. "I think we have your topless duty photo." Andi beckoned her over and Lexa came. She was so intrigued by the look of excitement on Andi's face, she forgot to cover herself with her arms as she walked over.

"Here, look at that."

The girl in the picture smiled smugly back at her, she was leaning up on her elbow, looking at Lexa as if she had been caught intruding on her. But she showed no shame or embarrassment, and she wasn't arching her back seductively, she was just letting her breasts be as they wanted to be.

"I look... good." Lexa didn't know what else to say.

"You look beautiful. Now how about I send this upstairs to the publishers?"

"Uh, yes. Okay." Lexa had lost her composure a little, but still hadn't covered herself at all.

Andi and Tom walked out of the room and the crew started dismantling the set. It was only after a minute of standing around that Lexa realised she was still topless. She wandered over to her discarded clothes with no sense of urgency. She picked up her bra, but paused, deciding that she enjoyed the freedom and she didn't really need one anyway, she put the bra back in her bag and just threw her t-shirt over head.

Not long after, Andi came back, still holding her camera.

"Alright Lexa, the publisher likes it, so you're good to go. Just hand your lanyard into reception on your way out."

There was brief exchange of polite thank-yous and Lexa turned to leave.

"Oh, one more thing!" Andi called after her.

"Take this, and call me if you want to get a copy of that picture for yourself." She handed Lexa a business card.

As she sat in her car, Lexa stared quizzically at the card, she wasn't sure if she wanted a picture of her boobs hung on her bedroom wall; however, Andi had taken a very good photo.