Dimitri gripped his terry-cloth robe even tighter as
he stepped out onto the makeshift stage. A set of
lights blinded him for a moment. Shielding his eyes,
he looked out in front of him. A few men were
standing around, holding cameras and discussing what
sort of film they needed to use. Anya, looking as
beautiful as ever, was standing over to one side. She
gave him a quick smile.
Dimitri gulped. How could she be so calm? he
wondered. He was a nervous wreck! It was his first
day on the job, and he was already having second
opinions. He tried to reason with himself. You need
a job. You need to support your wife. You have to
have a decent salary. Dimitri sighed. This job
certainly fit all those requirements, but still... He
didn't know if he was ready for it.
Suddenly a set of doors in the back of the room burst
open, and a big man came striding in. Everyone
turned. It was Monsieur Dupont, manager of Chanel
Inimate Sales Promotions. The man who had given
Dimitri the job. Photographers scrambled to their
positions and said a brisk hello to Monsieur Dupont,
who answered them back with a quick nod and a smile.
"Everything ready? All set for the shoot today?" he
asked the head photographer.
"Yes sir, all ready!" the man answered.
"Great!" Monsieur Dupont grinned. "Nice lighting
angles." he murmured as he walked past a set of stage
lights.
"Ah! Mrs. Leongard! Wonderful to see you! So glad
you could come today!" he said, smiling and walking
to Anya.
Anya smiled back. "I wouldn't miss this for the
WORLD, Monsieur Depont!" she grinned.
Dimitri gulped again. Go figure Anya would be teasing
today, of all days! Why couldn't she be serious?! He
suddenly felt dizzy. What was he thinking?! Why'd he
take this job?! Because you need money, he thought.
And you have a wife to take care of. He wondered why
she didn't seem to mind him having this job. Must be
the extremely steady income, he thought. That's when
he realized Monsieur Dupont was speaking to him.
"So, ready for the first day on the job Mr. Leongard?"
Monsieur Dupont asked.
Dimitri forced a smile. "Well, I'm a little nervous,
to tell you the truth..." he stammered.
Monsieur Dupont laughed. "Oh, no need to be nervous!
You'll be wearing BOXERS, you know! Nothing shows!"
Dimitri's mouth fell open for a second. Anya burst
into a fit of laughter, as did Monsieur Dupont and
everyone else in the room. "Well, that's not really
what was bothering me..." he stammered.
"Then in that case, you have NOTHING to worry about!"
"Yes, but..." Dimitri started.
"Dimitri, if it'll make you feel any less nervous, I
can go get into a silk nighty and pose with you..."
Anya said teasingly.
"Oh no, I don't think so! That's completely out of
the question!" Dimitri exclaimed. No way his WIFE was
going to model too! It was bad enough that HE was!
"Really, Mr. Leongard, there's nothing to worry about!
You'll get the hang of it, and after that, you won't
feel nervous at all! Just a case of stage fright!"
Monsieur Dupont laughed as he walked back to a
director's chair behind the photographers. He
discussed some things with them for a few minutes.
Anya took the oppuritunity to talk to Dimitri.
"Anya, I don't know about this..." Dimitri started.
Anya rolled her eyes. "I honestly don't know what
you're so worried about. It's a good job!" She
grinned. "And I'm certainly going to enjoy it!"
"It doesn't bother you that thousands of women will be
staring at me, in my UNDERWARE?!" he hissed.
Anya giggled. "Just so long as you don't run off with
any of them!"
"I seriously doubt you'll have to worry about THAT!"
Dimitri said. "I've got the most gorgeous wife in the
world! Why would I want to leave her? But really,
Anya, I don't know about this..."
Anya grinnned. "I would have thought you'd be MORE
then happy to show off your manly phyique 'Mitri! You
do have such a good body. It'd be a pity to waste it!
And Monsieur Dupont was right, nothing shows except
your masculine chest!"
Dimitri thought on her words for a minute. Anya
watched him closely. If she was right, any second
he'd...
"Well, since you put it THAT way..." Dimitri grinned.
He let the robe fall to the floor, revealing black
boxers underneath with the Chanel logo on them. Anya
forced back a smile and a fit of laughter. She was
right. Ego boost! And damn, he looked good...
"I see a smile..." Dimitri teased.
Anya did her best to force it back. But that was
hard.
"Come on, I see it... You're thinking just how good
your husband looks, aren't you?" Dimitri grinned.
Anya finally couldn't stand it anymore, and started
laughing. "Alright, alright, you win!!!" she cried.
"Everyone ready? Ready Mr. Leongard? You'll be just
great!" Monsieur Dupont's voice boomed out. "Places
everyone! Dim those lights over there... Yes, that's
much better... Alright, whenever you're ready!" he
finished, motioning to the head photographer. Anya
quickly hurried back to Monsieur Dupont to watch the
action.
"Alright, Mr. Leongard, the object here is to pose in
as many different ways as possible. You pose, we take
the pictures. As soon as you see the flash, change
poses. Be creative. Ready?"
Anya cringed a little at that last remark. Be
creative? That was NOT something anyone needed to
tell Dimitri!
Dimitri gulped. "Ready when you are..." he managed to
say.
"ACTION!" The head photographer yelled. Dimitri was
blinded by a series of flashes. Then he figured it
out. POSE. He grinned. This might be more fun then
he imagined!
Dimitri moved through a series of poses, trying his
best to "be creative". If only he had some props, he
could be MORE creative... But he did his best. One
second he pretended to be Hercules, another he jumped
up in the air, and on and on...
"Great, great... Move a little to the right... YEA,
do another jump! That was fanstasic! Ok, now, you're
an animal! Burrow! You're a tiger!" The head
photographer was shouting. "Ok, now, serious! No
smile! Let the hair fall down in your eyes! Women
like SERIOUS! Yea! Great!" Dimitri did his best to
follow. Anya felt a rush of tingles as she watched
him. He was great at this! Not to mention his body
looked so good... Man! She was really having a great
time!
"And I'm spent!" cried one of the photographers.
"I'm out too..." came a few other voices. The flashes
ceased. Dimitri rubbed his eyes. He stood for a
minute, looking dazed.
"And, CUT!" Monsieur Dupont yelled. Regular lights
flashed on, and photographers headed out to get the
film developed.
"Did he do alright?" Anya asked Monsieur Dupont.
"He was fanstasic, Mrs. Leongard! He's one of the
best models I've seen so far! We're going to let the
photographers develop that set, and then we'll start
again. I want to see how they came out. In the
meantime, Dimitri can go change into another set of
boxers." Monsieur Dupont replied.
Anya nodded and walked over to Dimitri, who stumbled
down off the stage. "Did I do okay?" he asked,
picking up his robe.
"Monsieur Dupont said you did fantasic! You're one of
the best models he's seen so far!" Anya exclaimed.
"You have to go change right now though."
Dimitri and Anya moved out into the hall back to
Dimitri's dressing room. A few secretaries grinned
and batted their eyes when they passed by. Dimitri
tried to ignore them. He HAD a wife. Anya just
rolled her eyes. At last they were within the
solitary of the dressing room.
Dimitri walked over to a couch. A new set of boxers
had been laid out for him. They were bright red.
Dimitri held them in the air for a minute.
"Red. How do you like them?" he asked critically to
Anya. She shrugged. "They're okay, I suppose. If
they had little hearts on them though...." She smiled
at the thought.
"Little hearts?" Dimitri raised an eyebrow. "You've
GOT to be kidding." He begin to pull the boxers on.
"Little hearts..." he muttered.
Anya ignored him. "Well, while you change, I'm going
to get some coffee." She stood up and opened the
door.
"HEY!" Dimitri yelped, yanking the boxers up. "Just
advertise my body to the world why don't you!? As if
you'd honestly let anyone else have a piece!"
Anya started to laugh. "No one's out there! And it's
not like those pictures AREN'T going to advertise your
body, or the boxers!" she giggled. "And that last
remark was VERY uncalled for!" Dimitri rolled his
eyes, then flashed her his 'con-man' smile. Anya shut
the door. She knew he wasn't angry.
Anya moved down the hall to find some coffee. As she
poured herself a cup, and young secretary came up.
"Hi!" the girl said with a smile.
"Hello." Anya smiled back.
"You must be new around here. I haven't seen you
before!" the girl said brightly. "My name's
Bridgette!"
"I'm Anya." Anya smiled. "I guess I am new here. My
husband is a new model."
"Oh! No kidding! What does he model?" Bridgette
asked, stirring her coffee.
Anya shifted. "Underware..." she relpied.
"Wow! And you don't mind that?" Bridgette asked,
taking a sip of her coffee.
"I guess not." Anya giggled. "We're happily married."
"Wow, that's so cool! I'd kill my boyfriend if he
ever said he was a Chanel model!" Bridgette laughed.
Anya laughed too. But suddenly Bridgette stopped
laughing.
"Um, I have to get back to work." she said quickly.
"It was great chatting!" Bridgette turned and hurried
down the hall. Confused, Anya turned around. What
had she said? Then she noticed Monsieur Dupont
coming. OHHH, so THAT was why Bridgette hurried off.
Anya smirked. The girl didn't want to lose her job!
"AH! Mrs. Leongard! There you are! I've been
looking all over for you!" Monsieur Dupont exclaimed,
running up to her.
"Is something wrong?" Anya asked, a worried expression
on her face.
"OH NO!" cried Monsieur Dupont. "Not in the least! I
have GREAT news! That set of photographs was
FABULOUS! OUTSTANDING!" he took a deep breath. "In
fact, a representive from The House of Dior was
waiting to see the president of Chanel when those
pictures came in. He LOVED them as well! And
Monsieur Purdue would like Dimitri to model for DIOR!"
Anya gasped. "Model for the House of Dior?! As in,
the run-way bit and all?!" she cried. "That's,
that's..."
"It's great! We're debating what to do right now! Of
course, we'd hate to share our BEST model with
Christian Dior, but it's a great advertising and
promotional opportunity! The president of Chanel is
discussing this with Dior right NOW!" Monsieur Dupont
cried. "I'm afraid I have to get back to him. Please
tell your husband the news Mrs. Leongard!"
With that, Monsieur Dupont hurried back down the
hallway. Shaking, Anya put her cup down on the table
and begin to run down the halls back to Dimitri's
dressing room. "Dimitri! Dimitri!" she screamed,
running as fast as she could. Which didn't seem fast
enough. It felt as though she were moving in slow
motion... "DIMITRI!!!" She had to tell him the news!
"DIMITRI!"
"Anya! Anya, wake up!"
"Dimitri, Dimitri..." Anya murmured, her voice slurred
and sluggish.
"ANYA!"
"Wha?" Anya's eyes flew open. "Dimitri?" she asked,
comletely confused. What was her husband doing
leaning over her? Had she fainted? Suddenly she
remembered.
"Dimitri! I have the most wonderful news!" she cried,
sitting straight up. Wait a second... What was he
doing in pants and a button-down shirt?
"No kidding!" Dimitri grinned. "So do I!"
"You do?" Anya repeated, more confusion spreading on
her face.
"Yea! I got a JOB!" Dimitri beamed.
"I know!" Anya stammered. "I was there..."
Dimitri's face fell. "You know? How?" he frowned.
"You weren't there!"
"I was! We were both at Chanel..."
Dimitri shook his head. "Anya, I haven't been in
Chanel since Sophie took us out in Paris last month,
before we got married! You know I hate shopping!"
Anya's mouth dropped.
"I got a job as a journelist Anya!" he cried, a big
smile on his face.
Anya paused. "A what?"
"A journelist! It's great! The guy that interviewed
me said I was fantasic! He gave me the job! It's got
a good steady income, so I can support you, and any
kids we might have in the future!" Dimitri grinned.
Anya sat on the bed, dazed. What was going on? Was
it all a... a dream?
"And you know what? I'm going to take you out to
dinner tonight, to celebrate!" Dimitri said, getting
up off the bed and walking to the closet. He ripped
his shirt and pants off, and begin to search for
something to wear. "Well go to the best place in
Paris!" he exclaimed. "This is fanastic!"
Anya was still sitting on the bed. A dream, she
thought. Rats. She watched Dimitri stare into his
closet in his boxers. She giggled. Well, maybe it
wasn't a dream for her after all... He WAS standing
right there, looking as good as ever!
"The white tux or the black?" he asked, turning
around.
"The white. I've always liked that one better." Anya
sighed. Dimitri walked over to the bed and sat down.
He begin to pull his socks on. Suddenly he sat up
straight. "Hey, you said you had some good news to
tell me."
Anya smirked and wrapped her arms around his neck, and
leaned her chin on his shoulder. "It wasn't too
important. It was really just, er, too good to be
true." She smiled to herself.
Dimitri looked at her for a moment, then shook his
head. "Whatever." he replied, standing up to put on
his pants.
"Dimitri?"
"Hmm?"
"Have you ever thought about... Being a model?
Modeling boxers?" Anya ventured to ask. Dimitri's
head shot up and he stared at her. He quickly yanked
his pants up.
"A model for BOXERS?" he repeated. "NO! Why in the
world would I want to model boxers Anya? I just got a
good, decent job as a journelist!"
Anya smiled as she stood up and went to find a dress
to wear. "Oh, it was just a thought." she murmured.
"Never mind." She smirked into the closet, so Dimitri
couldn't see. He'd always he HER model.
THE END!
