Chapter 2, Part 1: Master of My Abilities

Please see "Chapters You May Have Missed..." for previous chapter/parts.



Chapter 2: Master of My Abilities
Mykell picked up her purse and portfolio from the coffee table and headed out the door. She was on her way to the downtown hotel for one of the biggest open model calls she had ever been on. She was nervous but confident. Ever since she was a teenager, people always suggested that she become a model. Now that she had the time and the money, she would do anything and everything to pursue her career. Plus, being a model could open up doors for her becoming a successful actress.

When she walked up the steps to the front of the hotel, she saw a lot of beautiful girls. Short thick Spanish girls, tall skinny white girls and average height and sized black girls. There was someone there to represent every nationality. She sized herself up to a few but always shook off the idea that they had anything on her.

When she arrived inside the big ballroom, there were rows of tables set up with representatives from a large number of big time modeling agencies. She decided not to try and inquire about them but to let them inquire about her. Her strategy was to walk down each row and throw short smiles at some of the reps. Mykell believed that if they really wanted her, they would ask.
After several minutes of walking, Mykell finally got a reaction. The representative was a thin older woman who looked as though she could have passed for a model back in the eighties but was now reduced to scouting new talent. The older woman introduced herself and asked if Mykell had a comp card or photo.

Mykell reached into her portfolio and handed the woman her card. The woman glanced over it quickly. So quick, Mykell almost thought she hadn’t took any interest in it. To Mykell’s surprise the woman invited her to a private consultation that was to be held the next day. She inform Mykell that only special individuals had enough quality to attend.

Mykell accepted the invitation and thanked the woman for her time. Although she felt confident that the invitation was legit, she continued her stroll for other considerations. She made her way around to the lower level of the ballroom. There she saw what seem to be the lesser known agencies. She found a few which were black owned. They displayed pictures of black magazines and stills of music videos in which they made claims to of having provided models for.

One booth caught Mykell’s attention. There was a tall, handsome gentleman in a blue pinstriped suit standing next to the table. He had the figure and face of a model. She straighten out her tank top and scrunched her ponytail before she walked by him. As she walked by, she made eye contact with the gentleman and licked her lips. He returned her gesture with a smiled. She felt his grip tug on her arm to bring her closer to him.

“Excuse me, Miss. But can I have a few minutes of your time?”

“Sure. And your name is?”

"Dickson. Dallas Dickson. And your name?”

“Mykell Armstrong.”

“Ok, Miss Armstrong, you’re exactly what I’m looking for.”

“Well, what are you looking for?”

“My company is willing to sponsor a few girls to help start their career in modeling, acting, and in the music industry. Now, from what I see you have very good potential to be successful in at least two of those areas.”

“Really. Now I heard you say your company. Do you own this company, Mr. Dickson?”

‘Between me and you, I do but, please, call me Dallas. I like to take interest in the endeavors of my girls, first hand. Now if you’d like, I can set you up an appointment to discuss our offer in further detail.”

“Ok, Dallas, what do you have available?”

“How about tomorrow at eight pm?”

“Wow! How late does your office stay open?”

“We close at six. But for you, I’d work overtime.”

“Umm, sounds good. Where are you located?”

“Here’s the address. Please come dressed to impress.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“No, thank you.”

Mykell smiled at Dallas’ flirtatious attitude. She could feel him undressing her with his eyes. She took the business card from his fingers and slid it down into her portfolio. She walked away with sass. She knew that he would be watching. When she got to the end of the row, she turned back and caught a glimpse of Dallas shaking his head in approval. Her search was over. She had two appointments lined up and felt good that either would turn into something profitable.

Tayla was up late researching some potential internships for the next semester. Although, becoming an advertising executive was her life long dream, all the efforts to prepare herself for the large work load ahead seemed endless. She glanced over at the clock on her nightstand and it read 7:30 pm. She hadn’t heard from Dallas since their lunch date earlier and wondered what was keeping him. Impatient to wait any longer, she picked up her phone and dialed his number at the office.

The phone rang three times before he finally picked up the phone.

“This is Dallas Dickson of Best Potential Incorporated, how can I help you?”

“Hey, baby, you still at the office I see. You getting off soon?”

“Naw, I have a lot of paper work to do for this shoot tomorrow. I think I might have to take some of this home or stay late tonight. Why? Were you waiting up on me?”

“Not really. I just hadn’t heard from you since lunch. Sorry to bother you. I’m busy, too. Just wanted to hear your voice.”

“Ahh, I wanted to stop by but this requires my undivided. So I promise you I’m going to be all yours this weekend. We’ll ride out to South Beach or something and relax…just the two of us.”

“Sounds good to me. Call me tomorrow if you get away for a second, aight?”

“Fo sho, baby girl. Love you.”

“Me too, Dallas. Bye”

Dallas looked over the contracts for the photo shoot that was scheduled for the next day. They were nowhere near being complete and ready for his signatures. Frustrated he buzzed his secretary, Torrance, into the office. She sauntered in his office wearing the usual short mini and high heels. Dallas only hired her because she had looked more tempting than the other applicants when he started up the business. And he knew that the only reason she even applied was because she was desperate to meet anyone with six figures behind them, male or female, and would do anything to get at them.

“Torrance, these contracts are unacceptable. Did you look over them when they were delivered?”

“Was I suppose to?”

“I hired you to do that kind of work. Not just to sit on your ass and make long dime calls on my tab. If you can’t handle that then I will find someone else to. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yeah. But I don’t know what I’m suppose to be looking for.”

“Ok, look. Just make sure that all the places I’m suppose to sign are marked and that each contract is stapled separately from one another. I don’t want to have to sit here and try to figure out which contract belongs to which company all night long. Now take these, fix them, and bring them back.”

“But it’s almost eight. I was suppose to have been gone home. You asked me to stay for the last client coming in, remember?”

“Damn, I almost forgot about Miss Armstrong coming in. Ok, I tell you what. You go prepared Studio B for me and wait there. I might need you in some shots tonight. The contracts can wait till in the morning.”

“Ok, Dallas.”

“That’s Mr. Dickson, to you.”

“Sorry, Mr. Dickson”

Torrance left the office with a huff. She didn’t understand why Dallas had her calling him Mr. Dickson. They had been on a first name basis just a few weeks ago. But it seemed like he had did a complete 360 the last couple of weeks. The door shut behind her and Dallas moved from around his desk headed toward his in office bathroom.

He steadied himself with both hands on the sink, taking just a moment to consider his the situation at hand. He reached over, turned on the cold water, and splashed some across his face. The reflection he saw in the mirror seemed to talk back to him.

“What are you doing? Tayla loves you, man. This is the old you. Think about this.”

Dallas shook off the notion that he could ever be faithful. He had never in the past, and even, being engaged to Tayla couldn’t stop his urges for sexual satisfaction. Maybe it wasn’t natural for him to be monogamous, besides, his new business required that he be open and “free” just to attract new faces, even if he really wasn’t.

The sound of his office door closing startled him back to reality. He quickly dried his face and adjusted his suit. He stepped back into the office to see Mykell standing next to the door wearing a snug black dress with a plunging neck line. The dress was cut so well that it almost looked like it was painted on her body. Dallas swallowed the thick lump in his throat. He knew it would be a great night.

“Good evening, Miss Armstrong. You look very nice tonight.”

“Thank you. And you don’t look bad yourself. I brought my portfolio if you want to take a look.”

“Great! Let’s do that.”

The two walked over to the large table positioned in the corner of the room were Dallas clicked on the big overhead light to get a better look at the young woman’s pictures. He skimmed through several photos of Mykell in urban wear, bikinis, and lingerie; many of which caught his eye. She had natural talent and the camera loved her.

As Mykell stood next to him, she couldn’t help but notice his cologne, strong but enticing. She shifted her weight a couple of times to fight back the urge to reach out and grab him. After a few minutes of viewing the album, Dallas closed the book.

He motioned for her to have a seat at the desk. She slowly maneuvered around the chair so that Dallas could get a good glimpse of all her assets that she intended to make great money off of. She slid into the seat easily and made herself comfortable. Dallas propped himself up on the corner edge of the desk, moving a cup of pens to the side to make room for his frame. Still holding her portfolio he smiled over at Mykell.

“These are very nice. I like what I see. I think we may have something here. But first I need you to answer a few questions on the type of work you are looking for and what your goals are.”

“Well, I’m open to almost anything right now. I’m a junior over at the university as a theatre major. Eventually I want to be an actress like Halle Berry…well, the next Halle to be exact. But I know that I have to start somewhere and modeling is a good place. So here I am.”

“Ok. You said modeling. Does that include print as well as commercial and full body?”

“I’m confused. There’s a difference?”

“Yes. Let me explain.”

Dallas explained to Mykell that print modeling would appear in magazines and advertisements, and that it might not necessarily include her face. Mykell nodded at the thought of her appearing in a magazine. He elaborated by clarifying that commercial modeling is the small time stuff like car shows, mall displays and non-high fashion modeling, and full figure would mean Mykell would be required to be nude on the set but not necessarily show anything indecent.

The thought of being nude made Mykell nervous. She had never done anything like that before. She rose from her chair and fixed her dress a bit. Not knowing if she wanted to continue with the interview she reached for her portfolio and prepared to leave. Dallas drew his hand back with a puzzled look on his face. He asked Mykell what the problem was.

The look in her eye made it clear that she wasn’t about to enter into any contract that would require her to be nude in any way. He suggested the possibility of amending the standard contract to exclude any full figure modeling until it was clear that Mykell was willing to participate. He informed her that she would have the freedom to reject any jobs that required full figure modeling.

“This is something that I don’t usually do. But for you, I’ll make an exception.”

“It’s not something that I just won’t do, but I’m not ready to commit to something that drastic this early. I don’t want anything I do now to affect my future career. Halle Berry made it big before she took off her clothes and I can do the same, if not better.”

“I can respect that and that’s why I’m making the offer to amend the contract. But you have to leave the option open for later because that one job might make you a star, like it did for Lisa-Raye.”

“Ok. Under that one condition, where do I sign?”

Feeling better about the deal, Mykell returned to her seat. Dallas walked around his desk and sat down in the big desk chair. He looked like a king on his throne. He reached into the side drawer and pulled out a few forms. One long one labeled: Standard Contract, at the top. He handed Mykell three different forms. She read each carefully and signed each at the bottom. She watched as Dallas wrote in the amendment on her contract. He slid it across the table and Mykell read it over and signed her name. The only thing on her mind was how much money she was going to make signing with an agency.

After all the paper work was out of the way, Dallas stood and offered Mykell his hand. He welcomed her to Best Potential Inc. and she thanked him. Before putting on a bright smile, Mykell licked both of her lips then bit into her bottom lip. The gesture made Dallas want to see her in action…in more ways than one.

“Although this is a nice portfolio, I want to get some test shots of you to put in the catalog we send out to our clients. Would you mind if we did that tonight?”

“Wow, I didn’t bring any wardrobe or anything.”

“That’s not necessary. I have a tank top that I have all my girls wear for the catalog shots. You’re a medium right?”

“Yeah, you sure do know your sizes. Who’s going to be taking these pictures?”

“Me. I’m also a photographer. Let’s head down to Studio B. My secretary is waiting.”

Mykell, smiled her famous smile and let Dallas lead her downstairs to Studio B. The studio was set up so professionally. The lights were on and a black backdrop was set in the center. Torrance walked over with a black tank top. She handed it to Mykell who cordially tried to introduce herself. Torrance ignored the greeting and whipped around to finish the set.

Dallas pointed in the direction of a three panel screen and instructed Mykell to put the tank on. Knowing Dallas didn’t offer her any shorts. She emerged from around the screen wearing the tank top and her black thongs. Dallas’ eyes widen at Mykell’s slender frame. She walked out in front of the backdrop.

Dallas gave her simple instructions to smile naturally and look into the camera. Mykell’s natural ability presented itself immediately. The glow from her face and body could over shadow anyone. Confidently, she finished the catalog shots and knew it would be nothing but success in her new modeling career.

Mykell finished her shots and redressed behind the screen. Dallas told her that he would be calling her in the upcoming weeks to schedule jobs for her. They briefly shook hands and he walked her out the door. As she walked away, Dallas grew intrigued with her potential. His business was growing, faster than he had ever assumed it would. He wasn’t concerned much about making it in his future, but was concerned that his business might interfere with the type of relationship he wanted with Tayla. If he could only find a balance without jeopardizing either venture.