Episode 35: Glamour in a Can

Karen had had a lot of experience working with models, of course -- but none as famous as Meg Townsend. Hillyer, Jones was producing a new series of glossy magazine spreads introducing the new line of Anson Cosmetics "suncare" products, and the shoot involved Meg posing in a series of swimsuits designed to expose as much skin as possible -- against a deliberately fake and hokey "seaside" backdrop art director Lucien Brandt had hand-painted. As Karen played with the tripod on which she was going to mount her Nikon, she mused that Meg Townsend had, apparently, become not just "the face" but "the body" of Anson Cosmetics.

"You're going to love working with her," Sydney Chen had told Karen when she called to set up the shoot. "Meg's really normal. No attitude or anything."

"No, really," Sydney had insisted.

Karen had decided to adopt a "wait and see" attitude, when the buzzer at the studio door rang, signaling that Meg was at the freight elevator downstairs. Karen's assistant was in the kitchen preparing some sensitively low-calorie snacks for Meg, so Karen hollered, "I'll get it, Denise."

Karen held the button down longer than she had to, and stood at the elevator door, which entered directly into her loft-like space.

It opened, and there stood Meg Townsend -- or at least Karen thought it was Meg Townsend -- looking like death on a cracker: huge dark sunglasses had been pushed back onto her head to reveal bags under her eyes that you could positively carry shoes in. A huge trenchcoat was belted at Meg's anorexic-looking waist, and a kerchief was wrapped around what Karen would later learn was Meg's unwashed and unruly hair.

This is a supermodel? Karen thought to herself.

"How do you do!" Karen said brightly, extending her hand to Meg, who, oblivious to the gesture of hospitality, walked right past her into the studio. A mousy looking woman followed Meg out of the elevator, and acknowledged Karen's existence.

"Hi, I'm Jinky Hudson, Meg's rep at FLASH!," referring to Meg's newly signed modeling agency. "I'll be here throughout the shoot."

"Oh, great," said Karen fakely. She hated it when model's reps played back-seat photographer on shoots.

"Meg, I'm really looking forward to working with you," Karen volunteered helpfully, doing her best to be cheerful to the obviously sullen model, as she escorted them into the studio.

"Yeah, whatever," Meg mumbled absently, throwing her trenchcoat on a canvas director's chair, watching it fall to the floor, and waiting for someone else to pick it up. "Can we do a cup of coffee or something? I am so wasted I just want to curl up and go to sleep."

"Oh, absolutely," said Karen, desperate to perk the girl up. She couldn't believe this so-called professional had shown up for a cosmetics shoot looking so ... trashed. Thank god the stylist from Anson was due any second. "Denise? Is the coffee ready?" Karen yelled into the kitchen pleasantly.

"Coming!" said Karen's cheerful gal-Friday, emerging from the kitchen with a tray of mugs and a pot of freshly-made coffee. I just brewed some Starbuck's," she said, proud of the fact that she'd shopped for, and found, a Colombian/Kenya blend that Starbuck's didn't always have in stock. She'd gone all the way down to Bleecker Street for it.

"Oh, damn it," said Meg glumly, falling into a Jensen-Lewis black tubular steel and polished cotton swivel chair and spinning 180 degrees. "I hate Starbuck's."

Silence.

"Jinky," Meg said indignantly to the model's rep, but staring into space, "Help! Is this going to be one of those nightmare jobs?"

Apparently so, thought Karen Goodman. For all of us.

"Jill, it's against agency policy. And you know Hillyer will find out about it. Eventually. And you know how he feels about creatives freelancing for agency clients -- he considers it stealing. Just as if you'd gone into the petty cash drawer and taken money. Or embezzled."

"It's not the same thing, Agnes," Jill laughed.

"I'm sorry, Agnes, I just don't see it that way. I'm not competing with Hillyer, Jones" Jill said defensively. "Hillyer, Jones isn't in the business of producing Annual Reports."

"Well, kid, it's clear you've already decided to do it," Agnes said, resigned. "You have my word that I won't say anything about it. But I think you're skating on thin ice."