Katherine sat down and watched Mersiha over the top of her magazine as the photographer, a young bearded guy in his early thirties, came out of his studio and introduced himself. His name was Ted and he had a nasal New York accent, though his vocabulary was often that of a West Coast surf bum. He had a goofy grin and Mersiha thought that under all his facial hair he was probably a good-looking guy. He took her into the studio, and sat her down on a green leather armchair, fussing over her until he was satisfied that she was sitting in the right position – back straight, head tilted slightly up and to the left, one hand poised under her chin. To Mersiha it felt too posed, too artificial, but Ted said she looked 'really cool, totally', and she thought that once he might actually have said 'groovy'.
He had a large camera mounted on a tripod, but he took an instant shot with a Polaroid camera first to show her what it was 'Awesome, huh?' Ted asked.
'I can't believe I look like that,' she said, handing the Polaroid picture back to him.
'The camera doesn't lie,' he said, 'much.'
He stood behind his camera and used a remote switch to operate it so that he could stand up straight and give her instructions. 'A bit more to the left, curl your fingers a bit, think beautiful thoughts, open your lips just a shade more.'
Mersiha did as he asked. Her fingers had gone numb and her arm ached, but if the finished effect was going to be anything like the Polaroid, she was quite happy to put up with a little discomfort.
'Have you ever thought of doing any modelling work?'
Ted asked.
'No,' Mersiha laughed. 'Of course not. I'm only fifteen.'
'You'd be surprised how young most models are,' he said. 'In fact these days, the younger the better. You've got the face – and the figure.'
Mersiha tensed instinctively at the mention of her figure.
She'd forgotten that she was wearing a revealing dress and that it had ridden almost up to her thighs as she sat in the chair. She squirmed and tried to pull the hem down, but Ted told her not to move. 'Trust me, it looks perfect,' he said.
She forced herself to relax, but Ted had already decided that he wanted to set up a different shot. He photographed her in a multitude of poses – sitting, standing, looking over her shoulder, face on, her face tilted up, down, sideways – until it seemed to Mersiha that there were no other options left. 'Do you always take as many pictures as this?' she asked.
Ted shrugged. 'You should see some of the girls I have to photograph. Their mothers bring them in here and expect me to work miracles on them. I tell you, you'd have to smear Vaseline on the lens and shoot them through a blanket to make them look halfway decent. But you, you've got a look.'
'A look?' Mersiha repeated, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.
'I meant what I said about you being a model. You could do it. I'll give you my card on the way out. You should speak to your mom.'
'What sort of modelling are you talking about?'
'Nothing sleazy. Your looks are too good for that. High fashion, that's what you'd be good at. I don't mean runway modelling because you're not tall enough or thin enough for that. But you'd find plenty of work in the fashion magazines, the sort we've got on the tables out there.'
Mersiha pulled a face. 'We'll see,' she said.
Together they went back to the salon. Katherine stood up and put her magazine down on the table. 'How did it go?' she asked.
'Okay,' Mersiha said.
'Better than okay, she was terrific,' Ted enthused. He took a business card from his wallet and gave it to Mersiha. 'Think about it,' he said, then disappeared back into his studio.
'Think about what?' Katherine asked.
'Oh, nothing,' Mersiha said.
'Come on, young lady. Spill the beans.'
'He just asked if I wanted to be a model, that's all.'
Katherine raised an eyebrow. 'Really? And what did you say?'
Mersiha shrugged. 'Nothing. What could I say?' She went back into the changing room, took off the black dress and put on her shirt and jeans. The make-up was a stark contrast to the casual clothes but she had no idea how to get it off without smudging it.
Tanya was talking to Katherine when Mersiha left the changing room, the dress rolled up in its carrier bag with the shoes.
'I was just telling your mom, we'll have contact prints ready for you early next week. We'll call, then you can come and choose the prints you want. How did it go?'
'Great. He really made me feel at ease.'
'Yeah, Ted's a terrific photographer. He used to work for some of the big magazines in New York. He's got an amazing portfolio.'
'So what's he doing in Baltimore?' Katherine asked.
'His mother's sick. He's moved in with her to take care of her.'
Katherine smiled sympathetically. 'Nice boy. Come on, Mersiha. Let's hit the road.'
Mersiha gestured at her made-up face. 'I can't go out like this.'
Tanya looked at her wristwatch. 'I don't have another client for twenty minutes. I'll take that off for you and show you how to apply daytime makeup.'
'Great,' Mersiha said.
Katherine sighed and reached for her packet of cigarettes. 'I'll be outside,' she said.
Freeman heard the dog barking with joy before he heard the car, and he was standing with the front door open before Katherine and Mersiha had climbed out. Buffy ran over and pawed at Mersiha, her tail wagging like a metronome.
'How did it go?' Freeman asked Mersiha. She looked different, but it was only as she got closer that he realised she was wearing eye make-up and lipstick. 'You look fabulous,' he said.
Mersiha blushed. 'You should have seen me before,' she said.
'What do you mean?'
'Full war paint,' Katherine explained, kissing him on the cheek. 'They gave her the works before they took the photographs.'
'So where are they?' Freeman asked.
'They take a few days to get the prints ready, then we choose the ones we want them to blow up,' Katherine replied.
Freeman ruffled Mersiha's hair. 'I can't wait to see them.'
Mersiha pulled a face. 'I bet they'll be terrible.'
He noticed the bag she was carrying. 'Is that the new dress?'