MATT SILVER smiled as he set up his studio, ensuring that everything was perfect for this particular photo session. He knew that today’s client wasn’t just one of his usual male models. Today’s client was Lucas Meyer.
Lucas was a high-profile actor with some serious film roles to his credit. Though he’d never won an Oscar, he’d been nominated for several, as well as capturing two Golden Globes and numerous other awards. Matt had several of his films on DVD, but Lucas hadn’t had a starring role in over a year. Matt knew enough about Hollywood to know that might as well have been forever. Matt knew he was privileged to be doing the photo shoot, as Lucas had rarely appeared in front of a still camera beyond the covers for his movies.
This photo shoot was hopefully going to revamp his acting career; at forty-four years old, he was looking for a new image to convince casting directors that he was still marketable as a leading man. So Matt knew that everything had to be ready, as these Hollywood types didn’t like to wait around. Matt stood behind his tripod, adjusting the angle of his camera so it would get the best shots possible of Lucas once he was ready to begin.
The area was set, ready for the shoot: a large bed with crisp white linen made up one aspect of the mock room, alongside which was a real coal fire already ablaze in the hearth. Once the shoot started, Lucas would feel the chill of the studio. On the floor beside the fire was a white fake-fur rug, set there to offset the darkness of the floorboards and also to highlight the honeyed tones of Lucas’s flesh.
Matt had taken one shot of the room to ensure his film was ready when he heard the soft knock on the studio door. Looking up from behind the camera, he called out for whomever it was to enter. He smiled brightly as the dark-haired actor walked into the studio. He could see already from looking at Lucas that he’d started his image transformation. His hair, which was usually shoulder-length when he didn’t have to change it for a role, had been recently colored to add highlights to the newly cropped length.
Matt walked out from behind his camera and over to Lucas, offering his hand in greeting to the actor. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Meyer,” Matt said as Lucas shook his hand.
“Please, call me Lucas. Mr. Meyer is my father. And believe me, the pleasure is all mine,” Lucas said, smiling in return as he looked the photographer up and down, clearly appreciating what he was seeing.
“All right, I’m ready to begin whenever you are, Lucas,” Matt said. He felt himself blush when he caught Lucas’s eyes wandering the length of his body.
“I’ve admired your work for a long time now, Mr. Silver. You truly have a way with the camera, which is why I trust you to make me a household name once more,” Lucas told him. His eyes lingered on Matt’s brown, tousled curls, and Matt could feel his blush deepening. He dropped his eyes back to his equipment, uncomfortable at the frank appraisal.
“Please call me Matt; Mr. Silver always seems too formal, given my job,” Matt said and laughed a little, trying to shake off some of his nerves.
“As you wish, Matt. So how do we proceed?” Lucas asked. He ran one hand through his short hair, stopping to gently massage his neck while his eyes scanned the studio.
“To start with, I’m going to just take a few shots of you fully clothed in the set. Now, during the shoot, if there is anything at all that you are not comfortable with doing, just say and I’ll stop the shoot. All right?”
“That sounds perfectly fine to me.”
“All right. I think we need to draw some more attention to your eyes, Lucas, as they are truly a most spectacular shade of blue.” Matt watched Lucas while he made the suggestion, waiting to see if he was going to show any signs of the spoiled Hollywood-star lifestyle that so many of his clients often adopted.
“What do you suggest?”
“How about a touch of eyeliner? It’ll draw attention to your eyes. I don’t think anything else will be needed.” Matt watched Lucas closely as the actor walked beside him to the small makeup case that sat on a tabletop. He picked up the black eyeliner pencil without any fuss and leaned down to look in the mirror, then ran the pencil first over the edge of his top eyelid and then the bottom one, circling his eye with a black ring that instantly drew one’s eyes to his.
The eyeliner had the desired effect, and Matt knew that no one out there would be able to look at Lucas in his present state without becoming lost in his gorgeous blue eyes.
“What do you think?” Lucas asked after he lined his other eye and set the pencil down to look at Matt.
“That’s perfect,” Matt said, swallowing hard at the stirring in his groin. “Now if you’re ready to begin, I’d like to take a few shots of you fully clothed and up close.”
“As you wish. I trust your judgment, Matt.”
Matt took a deep breath as he moved behind his tripod and bent to look through the camera lens at Lucas, whose body was encased in black leather from head to toe. The black biker jacket was zipped up, fully framing his face with his new, younger haircut.
Matt knew that if he was affected in such a way, then the desired image change would be successful. No woman or homosexual man would be able to resist those soulful blue eyes and the body of a god encased in skintight leather.
“How does it look, Matt?” Lucas asked. His voice was low, almost intimate in the way he said Matt’s name.
“Absolutely beautiful,” was all Matt could say as he took the first shot of what he knew would be many.
