He wasn't so sure that he should have accepted the modelling job.He wasn't so sure that he should have accepted the modelling job. From the moment he got off of the boat, the island where the photo shoot was taking place seemed strange - not uninviting, but somehow unnerving. The sky was as blue as azure, the wind full of the salt smell of the ocean, but the thick undergrowth which surrounded the marginal beach was full of noises. How many large animals could a Carribean island support? Seven men had been picked from various New York agencies. None of them were well known, and for that reason the shoot ws likely to be for some run of the mill catalog catering to would-be fashionmongers in the lonely Midwest. They had talked a lot on the plane, and Jack wasn't sure that he liked any of them. Beautiful and vain. Hard bodies, empty heads. The sun felt warm and friendly as he walked from the tiny plane (it had made a water landing; there seemed to be only one estate on the whole island). He unbuttoned his shirt and let it caress him like gentle hand. The wind blew his hair across his sunglasses. A short man with dark skin and nasty teeth emerged from the woods and signalled the pilot to get back in the plane and take off. The pilot obeyed without saying a word. The seven men picked up their baggage and followed the little guide as he led them on a tiny path through the trees. They were on top of the estate that Jack had seen from the sky in just a minute. Twelve foot walls separated it from the surrounding forest. They could smell food cooking inside. The guide led them into the courtyard, which was sunny and huge. Two skinny dogs lapped water from the fountain in the middle. The few trees that gave shade to the house in the center were full of bright parrots. The sounds they made were almost human, and almost sad. Jack looked at them with amusement. They looked back. The guide disappeared and a tall man in a white straw hat emerged from the house. He greeted them and told them that no work would be done until the following day, when the photography crew arrived. In the meantime they were to make themselves comfortable, but they weren't to leave the compound. Jack was too tired to ask why. They were shown to their private bedrooms and encouraged to take naps. |