“You look great”.

Shane sighed.

She was wearing a Versace black suit and a red, button-down shirt.

She stared at the photographer, a weird woman with an even weirder surname – Peeceki, Pizzeski, something like that. She was screaming at the top of her lungs at a poor assistant and throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

Carmen followed Shane’s look and then she winced.

“Al… Alice, Al!”, she yelled, reaching for her immediately, “…Al, calm down. What’s the matter?”.

“What’s the matter?”, the blonde woman echoed, “What’s the fucking matter, Carmen?”.

“Yeah, what’s the matter”, Carmen repeated, calmly.

“The fucking matter is that Nikki Stevens, our beloved model, isn’t here! The set is ready, your client is ready, the lights are ready, I am ready, and she is not fucking here!”, Alice shouted.

When she heard Nikki’s name, Shane jolted immediately. The last thing she needed was to work with a woman she had fucked just a couple of nights earlier. Especially because Carmen was around.

She motioned to the photographer.

“Wait a second….”, she exclaimed, clearing her voice, “…Look, Alice, not a big deal. Really. I don’t even like that Nikki girl”.

“Do you know her?”, Carmen asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Uhm, well, yeah, I guess she was on some magazines, right?”, Shane lied.

“Right…”, Carmen murmured distractedly, her hands on her hips.

“Really. I don’t want to work with her, I don’t even like her. I don’t find her attractive at all”, Shane added.

Alice grimaced.

“Are you kidding me? You don’t find Nikki Stevens fuckable? You’re a weirdo”.

“Whatever. Anyway, don’t call her. I don’t want her on my advertisements. Okay?”, Shane said flatly.

Carmen arched her eyebrows.

“Okay…”, she replied, caught off guard by Shane’s unexpected interest in the whole matter, “…But the problem remains. We need a model to portray”.

“Am I not enough?”, Shane winced, tentatively, unsurely.

“No way!”, Alice exclaimed, “Don’t misunderstand me, weirdo, you’re attractive at all, but your androgyny alone is not enough. This is going to be a campaign oozing sexiness, this is going to be huge and we need a very feminine model with you. ‘Kay?”.

“Okay”, Shane mumbled.

“Maybe you could ask to your business buddy there, that Helena. She’s hot!”, Alice proposed.