I rub my eyes and roll over in bed. Arte is still fast asleep, her tiny little head on Spencer’s pillow. This isn’t the best habit, especially for when he comes home… but she looks so cute that I couldn’t move her. I was so overwhelmed by the gesture, but this morning the reality of the situation has set in. Yes, it’s true that I’ve always wanted a dog… but at the same time I’m concerned about how Arte is going to fare while I’m working all day. Then there’s the problem of what to do when I finish filming and want to go visit Spencer. I guess I’ll just take it one day at a time… and go from there.
I took Arte to the pet store last night and got her food, a couple of toys, a leash and collar and a bed. She was so excited when I carried her into the store that her little tail never stopped wagging until we were back in the car. She spotted a couple of other dogs, including a full grown German Shepherd, but she didn’t seem that interested in meeting them.
Arte whimpers and starts moving her paws. Aww… she’s chasing something in a dream and it’s too cute. I never imagine anything in the world could be as adorable as she is.
I guess I’ll take her with me today, to the photo shoot, with the hope that they don’t mind. I’ll bring her bed and her toys and hopefully she’ll be distracted enough that I’ll be able to get the shoot done. When we get home later we can figure out what to do starting tomorrow because I can’t exactly take her to the set with me.
Arte finally stirs and blinks a few times as she tries to figure out where she is. Her beautiful brown eyes lock onto mine and she waddles over to me. She sticks her tongue out and starts to lick my cheek. I fall back onto the bed laughing and scoop her up. She wiggles around and starts to playfully bite at my shirt sleeves.
“Aren’t you cute.”
She barks in response and then starts to run in circles on the bed. I get out of bed and walk into the living room. Arte follows me, so I scoop her up and carry her to the back door. I open it and set her down outside.
“Go run around a little.”
She looks back at me, still unsure of her surroundings. I smile at her and nod, which seems to give her the needed courage. She turns and runs toward the yard, bouncing around as she goes.
My phone starts to ring and I walk back toward the bedroom to get it. I glance over my shoulder, just to make sure Arte will be fine while I’m gone… but she doesn’t even seem to notice me walking away.
I reach my phone on the third ring, just before it’s about to roll over to voicemail. I swipe my finger across the screen when I see it’s Brian.
“Hello?”
“Amy… how are you?”
“Fine… what’s up?”
“I just got a call from the photographer over at Ence. They wanted to know if they could move the shoot up… it’s because of some kind of scheduling conflict for the studio they want to use.”
“I don’t see why not… what time did they want to do it?”
“Um… in like thirty minutes.”
“Seriously?” I ask.
“I know it’s last minute... but they are really pushing me on this. I can try to reschedule if you want, but they seemed to be pretty dead set on doing it today.”
“It’s fine… I’ll be there.”
“I’m sorry….”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I end the call and toss my phone down on the bed. Even if I left now I’d barely make it to the studio on time and I should probably take a quick shower. Ugh. I’ll just get there as soon as I can and that will have to be good enough.
Arte is still running around like the little nut she is when I walk back into the living room.
“C’mon, it’s time to come in.”
She stops, turns and just looks at me.
“Please? Mommy has to take a shower and then we have to go for a ride.”
Nothing. She’s just standing there like a statue. Does she think I can’t see her? I shake my head and roll my eyes as I walk toward her. As I get closer, she flops down and rolls onto her back. I give her belly a quick rub and then scoop her up.
“I promise you can play later, but we have a photo shoot to go do.”
I kiss her on the nose and she licks me. I carry Arte into the bedroom, close the door and set her down on the floor. She sits down and watches me as I head into the bathroom.
“Sorry, I don’t want to keep you locked in here… but I just haven’t had a chance to make sure the house is truly puppy proof. When we get back, you can go out and play and I’ll make sure everything is good.”
She lets out a high pitched yip as I turn on the water and get into the shower. I wave to her as I close the door behind myself and get in. A few seconds later I can hear whimpering. I open my eyes and look down. Arte is standing in front of the shower door and pawing at it, as if she’s trying to tell me she wants to come in.
“What? You want to take a shower with me?”
I don’t have time to be playing with her right now, but I’ll never be able to say no to that cute little face. I open the door and she steps right in. I watch her as the water starts to hit her head. To my surprise, she seems to like it. She opens her mouth and tilts her head back as she bites the water. I start to laugh, which only seems to get her even more worked up. By the time I’m finished showering, she’s soaking wet and even a little tired.
I dry her off first, just because I can only imagine how much water she could track through the whole house. Showering with her is not something I’ll do when Spencer is around, just because I think he’d be worried about her getting the wood floor wet.
By the time I’m dressed, I only have ten minutes to get to the studio where we’re doing the photo shoot. I bag up Arte’s bed and toys before grabbing her collar. She squirms a little, but I manage to clip it in place.
“I know… I wouldn’t like it either, but I can’t leave you home alone. Not yet, at least.”
I clip the leash on and scoop her up. She looks up at me with sad eyes, to which I respond with a shake of my head.
“You’re fine. We just have to go out for a little while… and then we can come home. I promise.”
We head to the car and I set her on the front passenger seat. I thought about putting the seats down in the back, just to give her room to move around, but I thought she might like to ride up front with me. She sits down and just looks over at me, as if to say ‘I’m ready, let’s get going’. I chuckle and start the car. She’s something else.
I start the car and turn on the air conditioning. Arte stands up and moves her head as close to the vent as possible, which doesn’t mean much because of how small she is. She starts to bite at the air, so I turn it up a little.
“Is that better?”
She tilts her head back and forth while looking at me. I smile at her and move the car into drive. We’re going to be very late, but there’s nothing I can do about it. It would have been nice if they would’ve let me know yesterday about moving the shoot up… or even a couple of hours ago. I guess it’s going to be what it is.
I’m just glad I looked up the address last night because I would have had a hard time finding the building without it. It’s over near some of the studios, but it’s tucked down a road… well… it’s more like an alley… and the building has no sign or anything on it.
I park the car in front, hoping that this place is indeed where I’m supposed to be. I open the door for Arte and put her leash back on. She seems to be a little more accepting of it this time, which is a good sign. I’d hate to have a dog that was rebellious when they were on leash… not that I wouldn’t understand.
With her leash in one hand and her bag of stuff in the other, I walk up to the door of the building and knock. The sound of my knock on the metal door reverberates through the inside of the building. I take a step back and wait for a few seconds, before the door pops open. The woman standing in front of me is wearing a black skirt suit and holding a clipboard.
“You’re late… and you have a dog with you.”
“Is that a problem?”
She rolls her eyes and turns around. OK… well… so much for that. She starts to walk away from me, so I step inside and close the door behind myself. The studio, if they want to call it that, is really just a bunch of lights set up in front of a white screen… in the middle of a run-down warehouse. Not exactly the kind of place I would have guessed a magazine like Ence would be doing their photo shoots. The sooner we start, the sooner I can be done and can take Artemis home.
“This is the photographer, Christian Feller,” the woman says.
He’s facing away from us, but turns around when he hears his name. Christian looks me up and down before turning his attention back to the camera in his hands.
“She has a dog with her.”
“I know.”
“I’m standing right here,” I say.
“You have a dog,” he says, looking up at me.
“Sorry… I didn’t have anyone to leave it with.”
“It’s a dog… that’s what yards are for.”
I wasn’t about to leave Arte home alone and I really don’t feel like I need to defend myself. I take a deep breath and try not to get too worked up. Taking a dog somewhere, especially in L.A., didn’t seem like it would have been that big of a deal—I always see pictures of celebrities carrying their dogs with them.
“Have Carolyn do her hair and makeup… we need to get started.”
The woman with the clipboard motions for me to follow her. I hesitate for a second, but then go. She walks around a corner and down a narrow hallway. This place is starting to give me the creeps. She opens a door and stands aside. I walk inside see a young woman with short purple hair sitting on a stool in front of a makeup vanity. She jumps up and turns around to greet me.
“Hi! I’m Carolyn… it’s so nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you, too, Carolyn… I’m Amy.”
“I know… I saw the movie with you and Spencer… it was amazing.”
She nods and smiles. Carolyn takes a step back and motions for me to sit down on the stool.
“And who is this little cutie?” she asks.
“This is Artemis. Spencer is on set right now, in Russia, so he got her for me… I guess so I wouldn’t be so lonely.”
“Aww… that’s so sweet.”
“Yeah… it’s been amazing so far… she’s perfect. The only problem is on days like today, when I’m not sure what to do with her—the photographer and that other woman were both irritated that I brought her.”
She waves her arm in the air as I set Arte down on the floor and take a seat on the stool.
“Don’t mind them. I can watch her during the shoot… if you want.”
“Yeah?”
“Of course… I love dogs. I have a yellow lab at home… Charlie.”
“Aww. That would be awesome… if you don’t mind.”
“I’d be more than happy to.”
“Thanks.”
I take Arte’s bed out and put it on the floor. She sniffs it a few times, paws at it briefly and then lies down. I smile and give her head a quick rub. I sit up straight on the stool as Carolyn moves behind me and runs her hand through my hair.
“They don’t want anything too crazy… and light makeup… so it shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to get you ready.”
“OK, thanks.”
She wets my hair with a squirt bottle and then puts some product in it. True to her word, Carolyn is finished styling my hair within a minute and has moved on to the makeup. She puts some blush on me and then does some eyeliner. She finishes with mascara and takes a step back.
“That should do it.”
“Great,” I say, standing up.
“Here’s the dress they want you to wear.”
I turn around and see a bright red sleeveless dress hanging on the back of the door. It’s stunning. I run my fingers over the beaded design on the neckline before taking it off the hanger.
“It’s Valentino,” Carolyn says.
“It’s gorgeous.”
“I know, right? I would kill for a dress like that.”
She smiles as she walks out of the room and closes the door to give me privacy as I change. I take off my clothes and put on the dress… which fits like it was made just for me. How did they even know what size I would need? The fabric feels soft and light on my skin, just as I would expect for something that must cost several thousand dollars.
I bend down and scratch Arte behind her ears.
“Mommy has to go work, but I’ll be back in a little while… I love you.”
She looks up at me and then lies her head back down on the bed.
I open the door and step into the hallway. Carolyn turns around and smiles when she sees me in the dress.
“It’s perfect.”
“I know… I’m surprised.”
She waves her hand at me.
“I’m sure they probably got in touch with the wardrobe department of one of your films… they couldn’t afford to set all of this up and not have your size right.”
I smile and nod. She’s probably right and it would make sense that someone over at Ence would do just that.
“Anything else?” I ask.
“No… I don’t think so. Oh… wait! Shoes!”
I look down and realize that I put my own flats back on, which don’t go with the dress at all. Whoops. We step back into the makeup room and Carolyn grabs a shoe box off one of the shelves. I take off the lid and blink a few times as I look down at what they’re expecting me to wear.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah… I know… but you’re going to look soooo beautiful.”
I hope she’s right because I’ve never been that good at walking around in heels. I take the six-inch stiletto slingback pumps and slip them onto my feet. They make me feel abnormally tall… but whatever, I’m just going to go with it. They are bright red and match the dress perfectly.
“How do they look?” I ask.
“Splendid.”
“I just hope I don’t fall.”
“You’ll be fine. You won’t have to walk around… it’s mostly just standing in one place.”
“Yeah… that doesn’t make me feel any better.”
We both laugh and I shake my head as I shuffle toward the door. This is going to take some getting used to. I walk back into the main room, my hand on the wall the entire way for support. The mean lady with the clipboard lets out an exaggerated sigh when I make my appearance and she sees me struggling with the shoes.
“She’s ready, Christian.”
He turns around, looks me up and down. He doesn’t make a face like she did, but he also doesn’t look all that pleased. Sheesh, what a tough crowd.
“Stand in front of the screen… please.”
The ‘please’ seems like it was extra painful for him to say. I know I was a little late getting here, but that’s hardly my fault… and this is their job! It has to be down to the fact that I’m not really famous, or anything, so they probably feel like this is a waste of their time. They wouldn’t be acting like this if Spencer was the one here for a photo shoot… that much I’m certain of.
I walk over and stand in front of the screen. It looks like the woman rolls her eyes and gives her head a slight shake before walking out of the room and down the hall. Well… I can already tell this is going to be a lame day. I just want to get this over with so I can go home and hang out with Artemis.
“Try to act natural,” he says.
That’s what I was doing already. I seriously have no idea how I’m supposed to be standing or how I should act.
Christian holds the camera up to his eye and snaps a few photos. I’ve only been standing in front of the screen for a few seconds and I’m already feeling warm from the assortment of lights aimed right at me.
“Look to the right a little.”
I turn my head and I can hear him sigh.
“A little more.”
I adjust my head and he seems satisfied as he continues to snap pictures.
What feels like two hours goes by as he continues to take photos. I glance at the clock on the wall and see that it’s only been… twenty minutes. Seriously?
“Is something wrong?” Christian asks, as he looks up from his camera.
“No.”
He stares at me for a few seconds and then takes a step back.
“Let’s take five.”
I almost protest, just because I want to get done with the shoot… but it’s not a bad idea for me to take these shoes off, even if it’s for a few minutes. Christian retreats to the other side of the room and stands next to a table that looks to have every piece of camera equipment and lens ever made. I pull the shoes off and flex my toes. Sweet relief. I have no idea how anyone could wear shoes like this on a regular basis.
Christian is engrossed with something on his table, so I just walk around the room to stretch my legs. This whole experience isn’t at all what I was expecting. I really thought it was going to be in some posh studio where everyone was ready to accommodate my lack of experience in this whole world.
I decide to take a chance, because I want the rest of this to be as painless as possible. I walk over toward Christian and clear my throat. He turns around with a confused look on his face.
“Ready to start?”
“I… I wanted to say something.”
“What?” he asks, in a slightly irritated tone.
“Look… I’m sorry if my… ability… as a model isn’t up to your usual standards—I’ve never done this before and you’re not making it any easier by giving me almost no direction or tips. Just give me a little something… anything… and I’ll work my butt off for you.”
He just stares right at me for a painfully long time before he finally decides to say something.
“Good. Now… are you ready to get back to work?”
“Yes.”
He nods toward the backdrop, so I put the shoes back on. The little break didn’t do all that much for my feet, but hopefully what I said to Christian will make the whole thing flow easier and we’ll be able to get this thing done without any more resistance from either of us.
“Tilt your head to the left… and look up a little.”
I do as he says.
“Not quite so high.”
I move my eyes again and try to keep my body as still as humanly possible.
“Good,” he says.
I shift my eyes in his direction and he looks down at his camera.
“Now… I want you to be playful.”
I raise an eyebrow, but don’t say anything—he’s the professional here and knows what kind of poses I should be doing. Playful is kind of vague, though. I smile and look at him. He takes several photos, but stops and looks up at me.
“No… don’t smile with your mouth… smile with your whole body.”
I have no idea what that means… or how the heck I’m supposed to do that. The idea, when I approached him, was to get him to be more open about what he needs from me… not for him to give me totally ambiguous directions that make zero sense.
He looks me straight in the eye and I get the impression he expects me to know exactly what he meant. OK… here goes nothing.
I quickly lose track of time as I first try smiling with my body and then follow every other direction he has… most of which make just as little sense. We get into a groove and he begins to take more and more pictures.
“Good,” he says, as he takes a step back and puts his camera down on the table.
“We’re done?”
“Yes… you were brilliant.”
I tilt my head to the side and smile.
“Really?”
“Yes… you’re a natural.”
Christian walks over to me and gives me a hug. He pulls away after a few seconds and just smiles at me. It wasn’t a weird hug, but one to show me how thankful he was for our working together… at least that’s how I interpreted it.
“Thank you.”
“I’m serious. If this acting thing doesn’t work out, you would have no trouble getting plenty of work as a model.”
I still feel like he’s just being nice, but I have no problem taking the compliment. Talking to him, during our break, was quite possibly the best thing I could have done.
“Thank you, for giving me the direction I needed.”
“Were you being serious when you said this was your first time modeling?”
“Yeah,” I say, nodding. “I’ve never done anything like this before… and I was pretty nervous about the whole thing.”
“It showed… but only at first.”
“And sorry about being late and bringing the dog… it really wasn’t my intention. My agent called me to tell me about the change in time for the shoot. The magazine had literally just called him and that was less than an hour before I showed up.”
Christian shakes his head and rolls his eyes.
“I told the editor two days ago that I wanted to move the shoot up because I wasn’t sure how long we would need… but I guess he didn’t get in touch with your agent right away. It’s not that surprising… he does it all the time… so no worries.”
I smile and nod as he talks to me. I’m glad that as the day progressed, he warmed up to me and that things seemingly worked out just fine.
“Well, I guess I should get going.”
“It was nice to meet you, Amy.”
“And you, Christian.”
We shake hands before I turn and walk down the hall to the room where I left Arte. The door is ajar, so I slowly push it open. Carolyn is sitting on the stool and doing something on her phone. She glances up and smiles at me as I step into the room. I look into the far corner and see Arte, on her bed, passed out cold.
“We played for like an hour,” Carolyn says, almost whispering, “and then she just got on her bed and crashed. She’s been sleeping ever since.”
“Thank you so much for watching her.”
“Of course.”
She gets up, walks out of the room and closes the door, so I can change in private. I take off the shoes and just stand there for a minute and wait to take off the dress until my feet start to feel normal again. I change back into my own clothes and open the door so that Carolyn knows it’s safe to come back in the room.
She walks in and hands me a scrap of paper with a phone number on it.
“What’s this?”
“If you ever want to have a puppy play date or whatever. My dog is a little older, but plays well with all dogs.”
“Cool… I’ll give you a call.”
I put the piece of paper into my purse and scoop Arte up off her bed. She barely moves and still doesn’t wake up. I look down at the bed, but Carolyn grabs it before I can even try to figure out how to juggle Arte and all her stuff I brought. She grabs the rest of it and smiles.
“I’ll follow you,” she says.
“Thanks… I really appreciate it.”
We walk out of the room and out into the main part of the building. Christian turns and smiles as we walk toward the exit. I nod in his direction, since I’ve got my hands full with my little rascal.
“Wait!” he says, as we reach the door.
I turn and see him walking toward us.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I’m sorry… but do you think I could take a few more pictures?”
“Sure… I guess so. Let me just go back and change into the dress.”
I really don’t mind, however uncomfortable the shoes were, because I want to make sure he gets the exact shots he needs—I know there’s a chance this article will be able to pacify Nadia and show her that I’m not the loose cannon she believes me to be.
“No,” he says, shaking his head, “I want to shoot you just like this… and with the dog.”
“Really?”
“Yes… absolutely.”
“OK… whatever you want.”
We spend the next thirty minutes doing a much more casual photo shoot with me and Arte. She perked up as soon as I set her down and Christian assured me he got some amazing shots of the two of us. It was actually kind of fun because I got to roll around on the floor with her and I even forgot at one point that Christian was there taking pictures of us.
He gives me another hug and I scoop Arte up. She wiggles a little bit, to let me know she’s going to make a break for it, so I set her back down and just hold onto her leash.
“Thank you for doing that,” Christian says.
“Of course… it was… fun.”
“I think your dog liked it, too.”
“Yes… I have a feeling that she enjoys being the center of attention.”
He smiles and nods.
“Take care, Amy.”
“Thanks.”
Carolyn, who watched the whole thing from the other side of the room, carries Arte’s things to the car for me.
“I’ve never seen him like that before,” she says, once we get outside.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s always so… grumpy.”
“Really?”
“Totally… it’s so frustrating.”
“But you like working for him?”
“Eh… it’s fine,” she says, shrugging, “it pays the bills.”
I smile and nod. It wasn’t that long ago that my thoughts toward working were much the same… only I wasn’t doing anything as cool as what Carolyn does.
“Well… I’ll call you for a puppy play date. Thanks again… seriously… it was so kind of you to watch her.”
“It was my pleasure.”
I put Arte down on the passenger seat and put her things on the floor. She sits there calmly and just looks up at me. I get in and start the car.
“You ready to head home?” I ask.
Arte looks over at me and blinks.
“I’m ready.”
I wave at Carolyn as she turns and walks back into the building. It was nice to meet her and I’m looking forward to getting together so our dogs can play. I think it’s really important for Arte to be around other dogs, but I don’t know anyone else who has one, so this could be really good for both of us.
“I’m starting to get hungry… what about you?”
I glance over at Arte and she barks one time.
“I’ll take that as a ‘Yes’. I’m going to stop and get something to eat… and then we can head home and have a late lunch together.”
It’s hard to believe, but it’s already four in the afternoon. Time flew once I worked things out with Christian. So much for getting done quickly and having the rest of the day to relax and rest up for this coming week. Now all I want to do is eat, go home and curl up on my bed with Arte.
I’m hungry, but unsure of what sounds good. I take the next right and see an In-N-Out Burger straight ahead. I guess I could go for a burger and some fries.
I witness a small miracle as I pull into the parking lot—there’s not a single car ahead of me in the drive through… which I have never seen before in the several dozen times I’ve eaten at one of their restaurants.
Arte starts to bark right as I pull up and hear the voice of the girl who is going to take my order.
“Shh… hang on one second… Mommy is trying to order some food.”
She just keeps barking. I turn and glare at her, but she just keeps going.
“Fine… I’ll get you a burger, but you have to stop barking… right now.”
Arte stops. I shake my head and laugh.
“Sorry about that,” I say, speaking to the girl inside.
“It’s fine… what can I get you?”
“I’ll take a Double-Double and fries… and then just a plain hamburger with just the patty and the bun.”
“Anything to drink?”
“No, thanks.”
“That’ll be seven dollars and fifteen cents at the first window.”
“Thanks.”
I take my wallet out of my purse as I pull forward to the first window.
“This is a one-time thing… because you were such a good girl, OK? Don’t get used to it.”
Arte looks at me and blinks a few times.
I pull up to the first window and pay for the food.
“Cute dog,” the girl says,
“Thanks.”
I pull forward to the second window, but the food isn’t quite ready yet. As I’m waiting, my phone chirps. I take it out of my purse and read the text message from Spencer.
Just checking in on my girls. Hope that your photo shoot is going well/went well. Can’t wait to hear from you and Arte.
“Here’s your food.”
I turn and take the bag from a young guy.
“Thanks.”
“Did you need ketchup?”
“No, I’m good, thanks.”
“Have a good day,” he says.
“Thanks.”
I set the bag on the floor behind the passenger seat and pull away from the window. I love Arte, but I don’t trust her with the bag of food anywhere in her vicinity—she’s already sniffing the air as if she knows what’s coming.
“Let’s just get home, OK? I’ll text your Daddy and then we can have our food.”
She sticks her tiny pink tongue out and starts to pant a little. I crank up the air and she leans toward the vent. I’m certain it’s impossible for her to be any more adorable than she is right now. I can’t wait to see the amazing dog she grows up to be.