The Raccoon was closest to Hong Kong yesterday between 6 pm and 7 pm, about 150 km west of the city. At the same time, the lowest pressure recorded by the Hong Kong Observatory was 1003.9 hPa. As the wind weakened, the Observatory canceled all tropical cyclone warnings at 1:30am today. As the Raccoon transformed into a tropical cyclone, the temperature soared from 21 degrees to 25 degrees, and the warming front brought strong southerly airstream and warmer air to Hong Kong.

 

The weather was fine that morning, she decided to call him.

The phone was off and there was a message. The deep and clear voice sounded just like him, but his tone was a little bit tough. She told him that he had passed the interview and they could discuss the contract in details later that day.

She called him again unconsciously right after hanging up, as if she just wanted to hear his voice. 

 

He wore a white cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and matched with a pair of jeans. His hair was not combed, just slightly wore in a tuft. He seemed very relaxed and easy-going.

“Mr. Singh, all young men should be like you,” she said.

He smiled bashfully.

 

Colleagues treated him as an old friend. At this stage, they all knew their own roles and strategies. The more they prepared, the more likely they would succeed.

Rong patted him on the shoulder and congratulated him. “It’s really rare to see someone get the attention of the advertisers during the first audition. You are such a promising young man, our company will be proud of you,” he said.

 

Rong said that it was an emerging sportswear brand from Europe that invited him to endorse their products, which will probably be the fashion trend among Asian youngsters. He will become a star.

His head was in the clouds. Rong has no idea about how to deal with this, he just said: “You should believe our sincerity in making you famous and successful.”

“Where is Vivian?” he asked.

 

She happened to hear his words, then rusted towards them.

“Mr. Singh only trusts you, why don’t you talk to him.” Rong said with a laugh.

 

She sat down and took a pile of documents from Rong.

 “Mr. Singh, I will explain the contract in details, point by point. You can ask me whenever you have any questions.” She said, surely, it’s a contract fraught with pitfalls. She had spent plenty of time on honing her communicative skills at evading the important questions for the easy ones.

 

However, she didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment in 20-min talk later. He just nodded whenever she mentioned any clauses. Sometimes, she had to stop deliberately to show respect for any questions. His nose twitched as if he wanted to say something. But no words got out and he still just nodded.

 

Eventually, it was the crucial part. After fully emphasizing the well-paid work of future advertising endorsements, she said, “once the contract is signed, we will act as your agent for the duration of the contract.” As a result, during the early stages of his work, some administrative costs would have to be paid for the company to carry out promotional and contact work for him. She took out a form to explain the details of the expenses, including the shooting of styling photos and sending Com-Card to advertisers to select advertising actors; training course for acting skills; customized promotional web page; manager's fee, babysitter's fee......

 

She adjusted her tone to the softest. She appeared clam, but uneasiness roused in her heart. Often this lead to dispute with the guest. Once they crossed the line, the contract may be canceled, and their previous efforts would all be wasted.

 

She adjusted her tone to the softest. She appeared clam, but uneasiness roused in her heart. Often this lead to dispute with the guest. Once they crossed the line, the contract may be canceled, and their previous efforts would all be wasted.

 

Sometimes when they were challenged, they could still find a way to get over it. Rong would pretend to be tougher than the client, even treat them. But that was a forced decision anyway.

 

He coughed softly. Her heart missed a beat and she stopped talking.

He pinched the form, took a glance and asked, “How much in total?”

“It depends on how much you put in promotion, because you get different effects from different promotion inputs. If you want to get the effect in a short period of time…” she took out another form. “I would recommend this combination, which is the most effective one. Although it is a bit pricy, we will give you the most preferable discount. The original price is 12 grand, and…”

“I’ ll take it.” He interrupted her once again, taking out his credit card.

She loosened up, finding out that her hands had become greasy with sweat.

In the distance, Rong made an OK gesture to her.

All of this seemed to be too smooth.

 

He had to get changed three times for the publicity photos.

All the clothes were fitted for Asians, and did not suit him properly. Only one hunting coat of khaki color was right for him

 

The sports look was a Y3 tennis outfit, which was still too tight for him even though the size was XL. He looked very strong and big with his exceptional muscular chest. The shirt could not button up. She saw the tiny platinum necklace again and a chump of light-colored chest hair. “The chest hair makes him look less clean. Foreigners, after all, are bestial,” she thought.

 

His eyes were still dull.

 “Sir, could you give me a gentler look? Think about your mom, think about her eyes,” the photographer said.

All of a sudden, he took off the tennis suit. For a split second, she saw a tattoo on his arm—a full-pull bow.

He threw the clothes right beside the photographer’s feet, then said in a cold voice: “I don’t have a mother. She died long time ago.”

Silently, he started to get dressed in his own clothes. She went over and talked to him gently. She said that the work would be done with just one more suit. And she apologized for the offensive words even though they were not said on purpose.

 

His face softened a bit. She brought over the album of formal suits and turned the pages one by one.

Finally, he pointed to one of them. “I want to shoot in this one.”

“Sir, this one is for a wedding. You can’t do it alone. And, we don’t have an appointment for a female model today,” she smiled.

“That’s why,” he spoke very slowly, “I’ll take the photos with you.”

She touched the photo, feeling surprised.

She never expected to wear a wedding dress in this kind of circumstance.

 

She sensed the fragrance of Prunella. Lulu got a cold recently, so she drunk a lot of herbal tea.

Lulu stood behind her and looked at the photo for a while. “Vivian, to be honest, you two do look like a real couple.”

Indeed. She was amazed too. The two people in this photo were surprisingly harmonious. They were both a little nervous. He clenched her hand. The strength he pressed on her was real.

And in his eyes, she could notice some kind of softness, which was real, as well.

 

She said to Rong: “Arrange an ad or two for him.”

“That’s women’s pity,” Rong said.

“We charged him so much money, so we should make him believe it’s worth it,” she added.

“Of course I will and I'm going to give him a big one! I have already called Anita,” Rong said laughing.

She was immediately alerted when she heard the name. “Enough, Rong.”

 

Rong laughed again with an apologetic expression. “Vivian, why are you so serious? Aren’t you happy to have such a big case for the first time. I know you have always wanted to rent a flat. Now you can make it happen.”

“He’s right, if I had my own flat, I wouldn’t need to sleep on the bunk bed any more,” she thought to herself. She said nothing but smiled.

Undoubtedly, all this will cost money.

She gave him a call and told him the first ad would be shot this weekend.

They rented the rooftop swimming pool of the Hague City Club. 20,000 HKD a day.

“You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs,” Rong said in poor Mandarin.

Anita showed up on time, lusciously.

 

They had been working with Anita for a long time. She showed up only for big cases. Anita was born of Chinese-Italian parentage. Her face appeared on the Hong Kong adult magazines, making men of all ages drool. Sometimes she prostituted with the wealthy person in Tsim Sha Tsui. Never had she rushed about in life since she only did small but well-paid engagements. Anyway, she would do Rong a favor because he was a friend, the first pimp who introduced her to the business, when she was still an unknown model. Rong patted Anita on the buttock, whispering to her ear. “It's your day today!”

 

A lovely day with shining sunlight.

Vivian leaned on the carved railings by the pool, and the panoramic view of the city was all in her sight. Far away was the sea and some ships. Above the sea, she saw Tsing Ma Bridge. Everything was so small, like models.

The jagged buildings in this city were clean and tidy. Well, some dirty corner could be ignored by dazed eyes.

 

She put her hand in the pool and sprinkled the water. “It was still a little bit cold. After all, it's not yet June.” She thought.

 

Anita changed her clothes and ambled out.

Even Vivian marveled at this mixed-blood women, of extraordinary beauty.

Some women were just born for men.

 

Definitely, she is the perfect women with both oriental and occidental features—well stacked figure, fair skin, black hair pouring down like a surging cascade. The clothes were only a finishing touch. Her breasts could not be completely covered under that aflame bra, with two copper rings buckled in the middle, as if half of them were jumping out. The bottom had the same design. She was almost naked seen from the side.

“She really looks like a goddess,” Vivian thought.

 

However, the “Goddess” looked back glimpsing at them. The flirtatious and strong desire filled her eyes, as usual. That was her profession. Being pandering and provocative to men had already became an instinct.

 

The young photographer Benny was a newcomer, green and inexperienced. Facing such a scene, he was just standing there dumbfounded and forgot to start shooting. Rong was keeping his countenance while he grabbed a magazine and threw it hard at Benny’s crotch. “You brat! Pull together! How can you work with your third leg！”

 

Anita came up to Singh. Then Rong clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Buddy, she is our best model, a foreigner. Look, you two are such a good match!”. He went on whispering in Singh’s ear, “Today, she is your partner. Lucky, you!”

 

“I don’t wanna shoot in swimsuits.” Though, not aloud, his voice was clear enough.

Almost everyone froze including Anita.

 

“Our contract has a clear rule, ‘No limits on the shooting scale’,” Rong said. “Mr. Singh, you know, one of the must-have quality of a professional model is to be able to show the most beautiful parts of your body, all of them! And don’t worry. The style of this sport brand is very healthy.”

 

“What if I say no,” he said.

 

Rong shrugged with a regretful posture and said, “That will break the contract. You need to pay the compensation that is one hundred times than the shooting cost based on our contract.”

 

Singh paused for a while, then seemed resigned to the situation.

By clapping hands, Rong beckoned his assistant to help Singh change clothes, and gave Anita a wink instantly. Then Anita followed Singh walking into the executive suite behind the swimming pool.

 

She looked in their direction with an impassive look.

She knew there was putting on an erotic play. For Anita, no man was a gentleman. If it was not, a beautiful lady’s offer made to him could always hardly be refused.

 

It’s a perfect setup. The pinhole camera was ready, hiding in the corner of the room where he would put on the swimsuit. The porn video, produced in real time, would be used to threaten him in the future. It'd be better if he was being too active. Anita could size up the situation and shout for help in an appropriate time. Immediately, the assistant would play a role of eyewitness.

 

Going to the police or compounding in private? Most people choose the latter one. Furthermore, “a male newbie raped famous erotic model” is a good material that local media would scramble for.

 

Everyone snickered inwardly and waited anxiously.

Out of a sudden, a woman’s scream was burst out from the room. A smug look appeared on Rong’s face that he cannot even hide but he still lowered his voice “Done!”.  

 

Anita rushed out of the room, with her bra unfastened and the abundant, white breast bounced, a little hard on the eyes.

 

Benny's mouth was opened in astonishment. Rong flashed a smile: the beauty goes so far than ever; get so blasted!

The anger-mixed-pain look on her face gave all the men there a sense of unknown pleasures.

 

“Baby, your acting skills are improving!” Rong said.

“Bullshit!” Anita said fiercely and then moved her hand from her arm on which two rows of teeth marks were clearly visible, bruised and bloody.

 

“Son of a bitch, in fact, I can’t get close to him. Guys, you’d better find someone else,” Anita sighed.

 

At this time, he came out, with an air of relaxed calmness.

“I don’t want to shoot with this bitch,” he said.

Arong was stunned for a few seconds. Then he came over and said: “Well, we can reschedule. Anita...” Arong swallowed a saliva. “Her professionalism really impressed me.”

 “No, I want to shoot,” he said:

“But we only hired one female model. We have to think about the cost, you know.”

He narrowed his eyes, and laid eyes on her.

“I want her,” he said. “Miss Chan.”

Her heart trembled.

“It will not work. This is not an ordinary style photo shoot. Vivian hasn’t any professional training, it will not work ......”

She stopped Arong, gently drawing a circular arc on the table:Plan C, the last chance today.

 “Very well, Mr. Sinh. let's go and get changed,” she said,

 

She put on a white bikini. Though prepared for the eyes of attention, she still felt very awkward.

She hugged her arms and walked out.

“What a surprise!” Benny crossed his arms over his chest and gestured to his assistant, “You really have a beautiful figure.”

The first thing she saw was his back---not very broad. A string of brown curly hairs ran through the back from the neck, extending into the blue swimming trunks.

He turned around and their eyes met. He did not withdrew his eyes.

She finally dropped her arms, untying the bath towel from the lower body.

He came closer. “Vivian, you are beautiful,” he said.

 

Shuttling around the swimming pool, they changed different swimming suites,

He put on various postures, unexpectedly relaxed.

Suddenly he jumped into the pool, deeply choked a breath, and surfaced. The sunshine was wild.

The pale hairs on his body turned light golden, covered with fine drops of water. They stood together, being neither friendly nor aloof. The camera could not accommodate to the scene at any angle.

Arong had to remind them. “I think you two should look more intimate.”

She glanced over her eyes and leaned against him.

He stood behind her, naturally resting his hand on her waist: such a seemingly perfect couple modeling.

Suddenly, she realized that he was hard against her. And there was burning breath wandering in her ears.

She looked back in horror, yet, her anger was melted by his eyes.

His black face beamed with a smile, as pure as a child.

She struggled a bit, yet her arms were tightly grappled. She could not move. “Why are you avoiding me?” He gasped gently while asking her. She held her breath, feeling a wave of dizziness.

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