Up the Creek
Helen and Mark didn’t tell Trevor where they were going for lunch, which was why they were so surprised when he showed up at their restaurant. He dropped himself into their booth, threw his bag across the bench and stretched his legs out so far Helen was positive he would trip a waitress… but maybe that was his plan.
“Hey kids,” he said casually.
Mark gave him a funny look, but managed to be polite enough to ask without an attitude, “What are you doing here?”
Trevor shook his hand at Mark like he didn’t realize he was interrupting a date. “I’m angry,” he said simply.
“Of course you are. A whole morning wasted! What exactly happened with Alexander and Dominic anyway? Helen’s convinced Alexander refused to pose with her,” Mark explained.
Trevor nodded. “Sorry, Helen. Try not to take it personally. I don’t think it had much to do with how you modeled or how you look.”
“Then what was it about?”
Trevor shook his head. “I don’t know. Considering how urgently Alexander wanted to leave the set, I’d say he simply had some other place else he wanted to be and he chose to say it was your bad modeling that was driving him away rather than take responsibility for what he was doing. Dominic certainly didn’t want him to leave us in the lurch, hence the extended argument. You see, Alexander broke the conditions of his contact with Capier when he walked out today.”
“How’s Collin taking that?”
“I haven’t been able to talk to him.”
“Maybe Laura knows where he is,” Mark said, retrieving his cell phone and finding Laura’s profile. He programmed her number and put his phone to his ear. Within a few rings, Mark hung up. “Yeah, she’s not answering either.”
Trevor chuckled, “Lover’s quarrel?”
“LOVER’S QUARREL?” Helen and Mark blurted at the exact same time.
“Huh?” Trevor said. “You didn’t know? Collin and Laura have been together for a couple of years. They're a weird couple, eh?”
“Laura? With who? As far as I knew she was single!” Helen blurted.
Mark looked as perplexed as Helen. “Yeah, Trevor, Laura has been chasing me since I started working for Capier.”
“What? Well, then I guess they broke up."
“I didn’t know she was ever with Collin,” Mark continued.
“Really? Back in the day, they were all over each other. The marriage issue must have finally done them in.”
“What?”
“It’s not an uncommon story. She wanted to get married—he kept putting her off. I knew they were fighting about it, but it’s been a long time since I had a personal conversation with Collin.”
Helen could hardly keep her astonishment in check. “But Mark and Collin are nothing like each other. How could she be interested in both of them? Collin’s a…”
“Player?” Trevor supplied.
Actually, Helen would have said ‘womanizer,’ but she couldn't say something like that about her boss’s boss, who hired a little nobody administrative assistant as a model? Saying even one word that might be interpreted as a slander was out of the question. She closed her mouth and waited for someone else to continue the conversation.
Luckily, Mark rescued her. “It’s not so weird. Collin’s unpredictable and Laura is a control freak. She probably got fed up with his crap and decided to go for someone who was more ‘her type.’ Me. Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe Collin decided he didn’t want to be with her for the same reason I did.”
“What was that?” Trevor asked.
“I didn’t want a girl I had to schedule time with.”
“How ironic,” Trevor said thoughtfully, taking his feet out of the aisle and putting them under the table. “That you should end up with Helen; a girl you not only had to schedule a date with, but also had to pay for.”
Helen lifted her eyebrows and said frostily, “I thought we’d been through this.”
“Sorry,” Trevor said breaking from his reverie. “I didn’t mean to insult you. Don’t take what I said personally. I have a lot on my mind. I need to talk to Collin about the photoshoot because Alexander broke his contract. He says he won’t come back to work until we have found a replacement for you, but I don’t think we have time to find someone who suits Alexander. That is a tough job when you have all the time in the world. We need to have these shots done as soon as possible so we will have time to film a commercial before the end of the summer.”
Helen sighed and looked away. She wanted to be helpful, but she didn’t know how. She couldn’t force Alexander to cooperate.
“So far, all of the shots Alexander has done for Capier he has done solo. Could it be that he really doesn’t like sharing the stage?” Mark suggested.
“Maybe that’s the problem. It’s possible he doesn’t think our project is a priority because he’s not really the star. All the shots taken either focus on both him and Helen equally or they highlight Helen while he’s left in the background. This phone is for women, so we need to show a woman using one which means he can’t do the shoot without a female partner. Like I said, finding someone who can model with Alexander is challenging. When I saw Collin’s pictures of you, Helen, I thought we had practically struck gold. You would look good with anybody… Which,” Trevor said meaningfully, “is why I think it would be faster to replace Alexander than to replace you.”
“With who?” Mark asked.
Trevor’s eyes literally twinkled. “Mark,” he said smoothly. “Do you remember the promise you made me in exchange for letting you live in my condo?”
“You don’t mean—”
“Oh, but I do,” Trevor said, fishing through his bag and withdrawing a magazine.
“Helen, have a look at this.”
Helen took the copy of Teen Wish and examined the cover.
It was the prom issue. Helen gaped.
Mark laughed when he saw it. “Where did you dig that up?”
“Dig it up? I keep a copy with me at all times,” Trevor proclaimed noisily. “Of course you do,” Mark drawled. “How many years ago was that, anyway?" “Five,” Helen answered, looking at the date on the issue.
She flipped open the cover and found a younger Mark staring back at her. There he was on almost every other page sporting tuxedos and a fashionably messy hairstyle. He wasn’t the main attraction, but merely an accessory to the girls who were modeling prom dresses. She could not believe how good he looked. Not only that but as she combed further into the issue, she found a picture of him that had been mounted on one of her school friend's walls. She remembered seeing the photo years and years ago and thinking he was hotter than the usual teen heartthrob, but naturally, completely untouchable, so not worth thinking about.