Recruting an Army

Chapter 12

The cab ride to the Brightstar Model Agency takes a surprisingly long time, so you have the opportunity to use your cell phone to get some information about the next part of your plan ahead. If Lena thinks she can change your mind with the promise of a pretty girl and help with a date, she has...

"Holy shit!" you gasp, catching the driver's eye for a second. The girls on the cover of the website look fantastic! You have to put the phone aside and collect yourself. "Of course they look awesome... what were you thinking." You swallow hard. "In the old days, that would have worked..." you admonish yourself. Now it doesn't. "Right? Shit..." Fortunately, it still takes time until you arrive at your destination and so you can let your lustful thoughts run free until your head is clear enough to concentrate again. That you will have sex with the girls there is clear by now, even if the thought of Cassie stings your stomach. But you're doing it for her and if you thought about her again, she'd be the one stabbing you. You laugh weakly. The only thing Cassie doesn't know is that you have more options now. But that shouldn't change her concern for you. And if things go the way you imagined last night, it'll end up being Cassie who stabs herself with your cock... "No. Think this through. Not now."

"Everything okay?" asks the cab driver and you give him a thumbs up. It certainly doesn't happen often that someone babbles such funny stuff to himself and surely the man thinks you are crazy. But you're not. You would die for Cassie to make her infinitely happy. You've already done one thing, the other will soon follow. And the sex is just for you but is although that what Cassie wanted from you.

"Hello," you greet kindly. The lady at the reception desk could also be a model, but she is certainly already thirty, maybe a little older, and so has already lost her glamour and value to the world of the beautiful. At least she is still allowed to stay on the fringes of this world and offer a beautiful, if not so well paid, sight for the men who come in and out of the Brightstar Agency. Judging by her looks, she also thinks you are one of these men, which confuses you at first, but then you see your shapely and striking figure in a large mirror on the wall. You've always cared little about your appearance, and even now you're proud of the strange contrast of Adonis body and hangdog clothes, which even the receptionist notices in wonder.

"How can I help you?" she wants to know. You've been given a cover story by Lena and already want to introduce yourself as the new model-photographer, but you know nothing about taking pictures and it seems your powers can't make people take a blurry, out-of-focus photo for a Robert-Capa. You may still know the golden ratio and can make Cassie look pretty in her profile pictures (which isn't hard, this is Cassie after all), but that's about it. But luckily you have another ace up your sleeve. Grinning broadly, you bend over the table and get close to the lady, who looks at you cautiously. Are you another pervert who wants to pose as a photographer? Maybe Lena wanted to trick you, it occurs to you.

Ten minutes later, Helena's overjoyed and hearty laughter echoes through the reception hall. She has tears in her eyes and the day of the Year while holding her stomach and almost falling off her chair with happiness and joy. As you set a timer in your head for five to six minutes, with four minutes in reserve to be sure, Helena wipes tears from her eyes.

"Honestly, I didn't think I'd ever tell anyone this." Her story really touched you, Helena is a prime example of what happens to women in this industry. Starting out at sixteen, starving down, driven by parents, earning well. Fashion contracts, photo shoots, small roles in television and advertising. Then bigger contracts. Finally, here at Brightstar. The figurehead. You even know Helena from a moisturizer commercial. Then, at twenty-four at the peak. Five figures for just one day's work! Then, mismanagement of finances. She had believed the money would keep coming, had kept her lifestyles going up and up, as had her expenses, but her income had stagnated, then dropped, then failed to materialize. Then she had gotten pregnant. You didn't probe further but under your influence Helena finally admitted the ****. A photographer, you are all the more satisfied not to have pretended to be one. She kept the child, a daughter, while he is with Helena's successor now. Tears came to her eyes when she told her fate. She takes care of her daughter but misses her old life, which she still thinks would have been better if she had made one or more decisions differently.

Actually, you were going to let her suck your dick while you continued with your plan, but now you find yourself with her hand on your upper arm, shaking with laughter. It was quite simple, what scared you. You persuaded Helena to quit her job and become a full-time mother. That made her scared at first but you told her not to rush into anything, to go back on the dating market and talk to as many men as she could. She should forgo sex, something she thinks would be appropriate on a first date to be taken seriously as a single mom in her 30s. And when she finds a guy she likes, she should call you and meet him and you together 'for an innocent coffee'. Secretly you vowed to change the poor guy to fit Helena's needs and to give her a good life. You also told her she had to lower her life style a bit, because not every man is so rich and handsome to date a supermodel. Then she laughed.

"Yes, not everyone can be like you." Now she runs her fingers up your arm a little further and you have to pull your arm back. "What is it?" Helena doesn't understand.

"I'm already taken, Helena. I'm really sorry." And you're really sorry. Helena is a beautiful woman who just had the misfortune of being beautiful and young. But she takes it well, have you made her overjoyed.

"Probably one of the models here, right? Why else would you be here?" You grin guiltily.

"No, not one of the models. They'd eat me for breakfast and then spit me out. To them, I'm the goat in Jurassic Park." Again Helena laughs. Maybe you helped a little with your powers, you're not that super funny after all. Or maybe she's just happy. "Her name is Cassie and I love her with all my heart."

"Cassie's a lucky girl," Helena says, and you shrug.

"I guess so."

"Does she know how you feel about her?" Good question.

"I think so."

"And she's still around you?"

"Mmm."

"So what do you think that means?" You grin weakly.

"I know." Then you look around the outer office. "She's why I'm here today, too." Helena doesn't understand but smiles contentedly as you lean back over the counter toward her. Your voice becomes low and conspiratorial. "I need six girls. Preferably ones who are the furthest away from your behavior as possible."

"So really nice, innocent, intelligent things?" Oh, that hurts.

"You should think better of yourself Helena. If only for your daughter's sake. She needs a strong, confident mother." You hope that works. In any case, your opposite still laughs so carefree.

"I see." Without a blink, Helena opens the employee girl's file and turns her monitor around to face you. You only wanted to get access to the person who has this data, but it makes sense that the first person you meet in this building has access to the photos (including bikini and nude photos). Men don't have much patience it seems. "So some real nasty bitches?" Helena giggles. "That's all of them here, actually." You click your tongue, which is to be expected, but fits into your plan.

"I'm looking for girls who don't deserve to be as lucky in life as you are Helena." The young woman in front of you blushes, unable to look you in the eye.

"There's a group, they're in the house today too. They...they're my ex-boyfriend's favorites for his photos." Well, of course, you think to yourself and don't wonder.

"I want them" you say and Helena prints out the forms of the six ladies without hesitation.

"What do you want with them?" At some point she had to ask, if only out of curiosity, not professional prudence. You've become Helena's friend, she trusts you. "I'm not asking for personal reasons" she explains. "But watch out when you put them together with your Cassie. The world here...you know...Cassie seems nice." She's worried about me and Cassie. Unbelievable. You take Helena's hand and kiss it, making the woman shudder slightly.

"Don't worry. You worrying about Cassie is really sweet. But I'd rather help the six ladies...well, and me too...I don't want to have girls who deserve their lives." You hope that makes sense but strangely enough Helena understands all too well. With a firm nod, she hands you the notes. You thank her kindly and wish her well. You are looking forward to her call and the dinner with her and her chosen one. The last thing you see of Helena is her typing on her monitor and calling the six ladies to a meeting that will 'change their lives'.

Your stiff friend is back at the moment when the door to the small office Helena showed you the way to opens. As announced, six girls walk in, whose beauty seems to defy description. Almost like angels they float through the room and lift you up with their charisma and flawless skin. But the moment their eyes turn to you, you plop back down to earth with all your might. As beautiful as the girls are, as playful as they act in the photos you have seen of them, they behave in a businesslike, cold and distant manner towards you. Fortunately, you do not play the photographer, otherwise you would have to pretend to be used to this fuss. So you wrestle a quiet giggle from one of the girls, the youngest among them, Paula, when she sees your open mouth. But then she is immediately busy again and waits until all the other girls are also in the room.

There is Serena, 22 years old and one of the most experienced models in Brightstar. You also know her from an advertisement, but this time for batteries. You know that Helena is the leader of her clique. And it's her you have to watch out for the most. As beautiful as she is, she is devious.

Then you look at Angela. Her red hair makes your blood boil, especially because it perfectly complements her pale, soft skin. But as Serena's right-hand woman, she's also dangerous, if a bit more obedient than the leader.

Nora you like at first sight. She has an interesting complexion and a certain demeanor that you miss in many girls. Like Angela, she's twenty-one, but a little sturdier than the others. Helena has already said that she is teased by the other girls because of her looks. You would marry her immediately, she looks so stunning, but by Brightstar standards, Nora is a few pounds too heavy. You shake your head and look to the next girl.

At nineteen, Paula is the youngest of the group. It is for her that you have the most hopes... and worries, you suspect that the one year she has been modeling might not have changed her that much. You could think of her as a buddy, if it weren't for an incident Helena told you about with another girl of the same age who mysteriously disappeared from the agency.

Odele, at the age of twenty, gives the impression that she doesn't want to be here at all. And that is true. Her parents have chosen this path for her, as Helena told you, and the girl is paying them back with the hell of a spoiled princess... and everyone else who doesn't belong to her group. With her, you have to be careful not to lose yourself in her eyes, because you know all about her wickedness, for which she can't really do anything.

And then there's Miko, who actually has a middle-class western name, but plays the race card and pretends to be a native Japanese, which she's not. With Miko, the point isn't that she's mean, she just eats up anyone who gets in her way. She's already handed out several harassment complaints, none of which have gone to indictment, so you don't know if they're true or not. But what you and Helena did find out is that Miko has already gotten several contracts because of it with companies that wanted to apologize for their disgusting male employees. When Helena was pregnant, that option didn't exist yet and she was expected to just put up with the pushy photographers. So Miko seems like a double-edged sword to you.

All in all, you've rarely seen so much beauty in such a small space. But also rarely had to exercise such caution. At least for the next six to ten minutes. You decide, actually **** yourself, to play the somewhat intimidated representative of Femware but soon the girls notice something.

"Why are we here anyway?" wants to know Serena as the leader, leaning back in her chair expectantly and crossing her arms in front of her chest. You just have to look, which brings a knowing grin to her lips.

"I'm here on behalf of Femware" you explain, starting your inner countdorwn with a glance at a clock on the wall. "And I've chosen you girls to..."

"We're not girls" Serena explains dryly.

"We're women," Angela follows up.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry." Paula rolls her eyes which earns her minus points with you.

"So. I picked you women to..."

"Where are our contracts?" wants Miko to know.

"They come when you..."

"We don't do anything without contracts," says Paula. Too bad.

"We've always done it that way with Femware" Nora explains and it seems she's the nice one of the group. "Why is Lena sending us a rookie like that?" Never mind.

"Ladies, if I may explain..." You interrupt yourself in front of Odele. That I deserve.

"Ladies? Listen, you son of a bitch," Miko starts, not looking at all like the shy girl from Japan but more like a trucker from the Midwest.

"Are you even authorized to negotiate on behalf of Femware?" Angela wants to know, swinging her head to the side so that a strand of her hair slips out of her face.

"Why wouldn't I be?" But you already know the answer.

"Because you're a..." Nora bites her tongue. Man or not, you're promising her agency money and connections, the girls know that. Actually, you can act as stupid as you want it dawns on you. The agency wants your money, not a nice guy. Unfortunately, the conditions are reversed in your case. Whereby you realize more and more that the 'nice guy' doesn't help here. The true nature of these girls comes out with every mistake you make. The looks they give you become more and more hostile as they begin to understand that you don't deliver what you promise. "Because you're not dressed the way you should be." Being asked about your clothes was bound to happen at some point and you don't mind. You like the things you wear. Here, however, it shows you clearly that you are a person with whom these incredibly pretty girls do not normally associate. Here worlds meet and it makes you angry that the wall that separates you was built over the outer appearance.

With Helena this wall had already cracked and now that you get the anger and contempt of the girls in front of you, you also understand where these feelings come from. Helena accepted you after your powers helped you to get over this wall. For Selena, Angela, Nora, Paula, Odele and Miko this wall is still high and firm and you are someone who has no place on their side, just as they do not feel comfortable on your side. Helena showed you her human side because her beauty no longer corresponded to the ideal that Brightstar had asked of her. The other girls... Their beauty is their curse. They are defined by it, their lives are determined by it... And they know that... And they hate that. And so they hate anyone who enters their side of the wall without playing the game. It's a strange feeling knowing what it takes to save these girls, and yet having to use them feels strange too. It comforts you to know that when you're done with them, they'll have a good life. But first you have to break them.

"Hey," Serena wants to know, annoyed. "Are you still there?" You look at the clock on the wall. Not even two minutes. Not enough time but time is a commodity that is priceless to pretty girls. Once gone and it never comes back, just like the beauty that defined them through their formative years.

"Yes I am" you murmur, feeling almost sad. Most of all you want to disappear, just to leave this place. So much poison, lost hope and wasted potential. But what do you know, you just want to make a girl happy. You're out of time, just like the six girls who impatiently sitting across from you.

"It's not going to work out," Angela says sarcastically and rolls her eyes.

"Let's get out of here," Miko adds but remains seated. They know that what they are doing is not good for business. But Serena makes a decision for the group.

"That's it girls, we're leaving." Oh, you get to call them girls? The six girls/women/models rise with Paula hesitating a bit but then following the others.

"Femware will hear about this" Serena says and you hear some uncertainty through her anger. But that's not what makes you act. You have a plan and maybe something good will come out of it for these six girls.

"Wait!" you call out as Serena's hand is already on the handle at the door.

"What?" she asks with venom in her voice. You rise from your seat as well, resting your fists on the table in front of you and looking at the girls out of ice-cold eyes, which doesn't do much good.

"Fuck you!" With that, Nora lands at the bottom of your list.

"Who the fuck do you think you're dealing with?" nags Odele, giving you the finger. A damn good question, especially a rhetorical one. Clearly, the girls outnumber you. They're in the group, they have the home-field advantage, and they've been trained by life to be superior to everyone, especially men, and especially men like you. But you still have something to answer Odele's question with. It's for her own good, you think to yourself as you focus on the six girls. And for Cassie.

"I'm clearly dealing with six girls who think they're very pretty, but inside they know that the path they're taking through life will only end in a dead-end. I'm dealing with six girls who think they're women but are really just insecure girls who don't know how to get out of the situation their beauty has gotten them into." You let your eyes slide from one model to another and feel pretty damn powerful. Not only Odele, but the others are shocked by your behavior. "You may be beautiful and in demand... right now, but you know full well that what you have won't last forever. You all secretly know that you are spending the time of your lives, in which you should build strong relationships, friendships and the foundation of your lives, selling your bodies for money. You know very well that in the long run it will bring you nothing but loneliness and that scares the shit out of you all!" Are you talking to six models right now or are you giving way to your own anger? Your powers allow you to do both at the same time.

"What..." begins Serena but you silence her with a harsh gesture.

"I'm not done yet. You're unruly, little beasts who don't appreciate the people around you, and in time it's going to make you lonely as hell." It's time to calm down and get back to your plan. "But don't worry, girls. I'll tell you in time and you'll be damn lucky to have someone like me. Because out there, everyone, male or female, is only looking at your bodies. I tell you that you have other values and I don't charge you for that. But you could be a little more grateful that I'm the only one who takes you seriously as people and recognizes your potential, not just as objects or models or whatever you want to be called, but your value as people, friends and... Well... I'll tell you the rest later." Because here's what happens now:

"Fuck you you freak!" screeches Odele, storming out of the room past Serena.

"Unbelievable..." the girl breathes and disappears as well.

"Freak," insults Miko. The rest of the models disappear without saying anything. You are alone in the room.

"Well that was something" you breathe exhaustedly and sit down again. On the table in front of you is a bowl of fruit, surely only for decorative purposes, yet you have to grin as you grab a bright green apple to feel even more like a villain. You don't waste a thought on the conversation, preferring to flip through the girls' files while looking at the clock. After ten minutes... nothing happens.

"Hmm...." There's another green apple. You eat that one as well. Fifteen minutes pass. "Shit..." Maybe it didn't work after all. Twenty minutes. You rise, sobered. At least you could vent your anger at the company and ask Helena to pick out six more girls for you. You cross the room and pull open the door…