Model
1) One who is employed to display clothes or other merchandise; 2) A person or thing that serves as a pattern for an artist; especially one who poses for an artist; 3) Suggests either a faultless example to be emulated or a perfect typification (from the various definitions found in Merriam Webster)
South Padre Island, that same day, 9 AM
It was a beautiful spring day in South Texas, and the models were enjoying the warm air, with just a trace of breeze from the Gulf of Mexico. Dressed in shorts or swimwear, they were waiting patiently for the shoot to begin.
Abby Farrell, the photo editor for Swimwear Unlimited Magazine, walked up to the assembled group sitting on the patio of the hotel. Glancing over at Maggie, she looked questioningly, raising an eyebrow and Maggie nodded with a smile that everyone was there.
Oddly, Maggie looked a bit younger today than she usually did.
Dismissing it as unimportant for the moment, Abby looked over at the models. There were five in all, all winners or runners up from contests over the last couple of years, and all were veterans of plenty of photo shoots. It should go pretty smoothly Abby decided.
Michelle, who looked amazingly like Maggie at the moment, watched with approval as Abby greeted the young women. Abby reminded her a lot of the lady she had worked with on the last Earth she had visited. Hopefully Libby had forgiven her for kidnapping her by now.
Looking the group over critically, Michelle decided that they would do. The five models were all beautiful, and were just what Wes had in mind. Abby, after the restoration potion, as well as Maggie and Liz, would fit the bill as well. All she had to do now is figure out a reasonable (by this world's standards) explanation for the upcoming disappearances. She had every confidence that Jake and Janell could handle the kidnapping part well enough.
Janell marveled at the ease of the assignment so far. A good disguise spell, and no one had noticed that they had simply taken over the lives of the hair stylist, make up artist and photographer. Although looking herself over, she decided that Liz could drop a few pounds and should really dress better. Although both Maggie and Liz had formerly been models, apparently Maggie paid more attention to the fashion part of their previous jobs.
Then she grinned, remembering that actually, Liz had dropped an amazing amount of weight. Especially since she was made of lightweight plastic now.
Sheila Neal, a petite brunette, listened absently as Abby went over the schedule. She looked over at Maggie and Liz, noticing that they really did seem a bit younger today.
“Must be all this humidity” the Arizona native decided as she felt herself melting in the dense coastal air. “Well, at least I won’t have to worry about moisturizing here.” She decided.
The photographer was new though. She hadn’t worked with him before, but she liked his earnest smile and decided that the shoot should be bearable. He looked pretty young, in his mid twenties, just a little older than her actually. He actually blushed a little when she smiled at him. “How cute” she decided.
“Ok girls, that’s it. You have the rest of the day off, and I will see you in the morning at 6,” Abby finally said. Sheila got up from her chair and walked over to Bill. She decided he might be fun to flirt with, and besides, it never hurt to have the photographer like you.
Within a few minutes, Bill and Sheila were the only ones on the patio. She quickly talked him into ordering breakfast, and steered him into taking her shopping within a few minutes more. She was looking forward to a fun day.
Meanwhile, Michelle caught up with Cassie, a beautiful Hispanic girl from Corpus Christi.
“Cassie, can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked pleasantly.
Cassie turned and looked at the older woman. She had worked with Maggie before, and it surprised her how young she looked today, and how nice she was being. Normally, Maggie could be kind of snooty towards the younger models, and Cassie had figured she was just jealous. Being all of 21, she was sure that the thirty something make up artist was just jealous of her youth.
“Hey, I need to do your make up. Bill needs a test shoot in a few minutes. Do you mind? I will buy you lunch after that, I know your supposed to be off today.” Maggie asked.
“Sure, I guess. It isn’t as if I haven’t been here a few times.” Cassie replied.
A few minutes later they were in Cassie’s room. The young model was already dressed in a sheer lycra one piece swim suit and had her hair up as she sat on the counter. Maggie sat on a stool in front of her, applying a light base and then doing her eyes.
“Ok, you look just perfect. Now hold still, I need to do your lips.”
Cassie nodded. Maggie was really being nice to her today. She had even brought her some really good apple juice. It had tasted wonderful.
Michelle could see that the potion was taking effect. Cassie was already half hypnotized by the charm potion. She didn’t notice any other improvements, but then, the girl hardly needed them. As she pulled out the brush to apply the lip liner, she also with her other hand pulled out the plastic doll she needed as the focus for her spell.
Cassie noticed something odd. Why was Maggie pulling out a plastic doll of all things?
She started to lean back, a bit alarmed when she felt the plastic doll touch her legs just as the brush touched her lips.
“Now you just freeze there Cassie,” Michelle commanded.
Cassie suddenly realized with panic that indeed she couldn’t move an inch. She was in fact frozen!
Michelle gently stroked and caressed the young woman as the transformation swept through her. Her eyes, still looking warily at Michelle, fixed in place and glazed over. At the same time, her skin began to shine in the lights of the bathroom, even as Michelle finished applying the lip gloss. Within seconds, joint lines appeared, and where a young swimwear model had been sitting before, a gleaming mannequin was in its place.
A perfect representation of herself until she was restored.
Michelle smiled and kissed the now plasticized girl gently on the cheek.
“I wonder how Jake and Janell are doing?”
Continued in... Part
Two