Chapter Ten
Sneaking out of the house to go to the Maison d'Ombres shoot turned out to be far easier than Lilith had expected. Shortly before sunrise her parents bade each other good day and quickly retreated to their separate suites. Within minutes of their master and mistress retiring, the Todd family's undead staff followed suit, shuffling off to the storage closets on each floor of the penthouse, where they would spend the coming daylight hours stacked on narrow shelves like cordwood.
With the undead servants out of the way, that just left the day shift, which consisted of the human thralls who served as the Balmoral building's concierge, its doorman, and the daylight drivers and other errand runners. All Lilith had to do to sneak past them was to walk out of the Balmoral via the loading dock instead of the front door and hail a cab instead of calling for one of the family cars. It was just that simple and oh so exciting.
The shoot was being held at a full-service facility for New York's fashion and film industry, on West Thirty-fifth, in what was once the city's infamous Hell's Kitchen. As she entered the ground-floor studio, Lilith was surprised to find herself standing in what looked like a movie soundstage. In the middle of the twenty-five-hundred-square-foot room was a replica of a Parisian garret-or at least three quarters of one-
complete with a window that looked out onto the Eiffel Tower. The studio was full of lighting techs, carpenters, and other less identifiable people, all of them clutching clipboards in one hand and cups of Starbucks coffee in the other as they spoke frantically into their Bluetooth headsets.
"Lili!"
Kristof trotted toward her from the other side of the studio, a smile on his face. He was accompanied by a wiry man with dramatically highlighted hair. "You're right on time!"
"My God, Kristof! She's absolutely stunning!" the other man gasped, putting his hands to his mouth in an exaggerated show of surprise. "Where on earth did you find her?"
"D&G, believe it or not," Kristof replied with a laugh. "Lili, I would like you to meet Tomas, the art director for today's shoot. I've got to set up a few more lights, so I'll be leaving you in his very capable hands."
"Let's get you in the makeup chair!" Tomas said, taking Lilith by the arm. "So, Kristof tells me you're a virgin."
"What?" Lilith's cheeks colored slightly.
"Not in that sense of the word, sweetie." Tomas laughed. "If anyone else but Kristof had told me that he was using someone with absolutely no professional modeling background to launch a new fashion line, I would have laughed in his face. But if there is one thing I know, it's that Kristof is never wrong when it comes to talent. And if he says you can pull this off, then I have the utmost faith in his decision."
The makeup and hair station was in the far corner of the studio, next to a salon-style shampoo sink and a well-lit vanity table. The hairstylist and makeup artist were ready and waiting, the tools of their respective trades in place, as Tomas and Lilith walked up.
"Dino? Maureen? This is Lili Graves, Kristof's new discovery. I want you to make her ready for her close-up."
"That's what we're here for." Dino grinned, sticking a comb into the hip pocket of his bubblegum-pink designer jeans. "God! I can't wait to get my hands on your hair! Hop up in the chair, baby girl, so Mama and Daddy can get to work!"
Maureen leaned forward, closely scrutinizing Lilith's face as if she were an art expert authenticating a masterpiece. "You have the most exquisite skin! It's like porcelain."
As Dino began parting Lilith's hair into two-inch sections, Maureen prepared the pressed powder for Lilith's T zone. "We're going for a subdued yet sophisticated look here," the makeup artist explained. "Something clean, with just a hint of radiance."
Lilith stared into the vanity mirror, awestruck by the sight of her own face. Her entire life she had been forced to steal glimpses of herself whenever she could, all the while fearful of being caught. Now she was free to look at herself as much as she wanted, and nobody seemed to think a thing about it. It felt incredibly natural yet at the same time oddly surreal, like flying while in a dream.
"I can't believe this is really happening," she muttered.
"Girlfriend, I totally know where you're coming from!" Dino chuckled. He had finished pinning her sectioned hair into mini-buns and was now misting them with a flexible-hold hair spray. "You are living the dream, hon! Living the dream!"
As Lilith stared at her mirror image, Kristof's face suddenly popped in over her shoulder. Although she was unable to turn her head, Lilith could see that there was a college-age brunette standing at the photographer's elbow, a clipboard folded under her arm. Lilith eyed the girl suspiciously. She didn't like the idea of other women hanging around Kristof.
"How is our star doing, Maureen?" Kristof asked.
"I've never worked on someone so relaxed before,"
Maureen said as she applied a shimmery nude pink shade to Lili's eyes. "Usually the new girls twitch or fidget, especially when I'm working on their eyes. Lili just sits there and lets me do my thing. It's wonderful!"
Lilith smiled, acknowledging Maureen's compliment. Sitting as still as a life-size doll while others toiled on her makeup and hair was as natural to her as breathing. After all, she'd been carefully groomed since earliest childhood by her personal dresser, a two-hundred-sixty-year-old undead gypsy girl named Esmeralda who had once been in charge of overseeing Madame de Pompadour's toilette.
"Lili, this is my assistant, Miriam," Kristof said, pointing to the girl with the clipboard. "She's handling all the paperwork for the shoot. She just needs you to fill out a few forms before we get started. Excuse me-I have to go talk to the lighting crew."
"Hi, Lili, I've got some ten-ninety-nines I need you to fill out," Miriam said, holding out the clipboard and a ballpoint pen.
"Ten-ninety-nines?" Lilith echoed, trying not to let on that she had no idea what they were.
"Uh-huh, it's for the IRS," Miriam explained. "I just need you to fill out your name, address, and Social Security number in the proper boxes."
"Social Security number . . . ?" Lilith's guts began to cinch themselves into a knot. This was something she was completely unprepared for. She had imagined she would simply come to the studio, Kristof would take his pictures, and she would leave with a lot of money and fame. But now she was being asked to fill out forms and prove her identity-which was something of a problem, given that Lili Graves didn't actually exist.
"Uh-huh. You wouldn't happen to have your Social Security card on you, would you?"
"Sorry, I'm afraid I don't." The truth of the matter was that not only did she not have a Social Security card, Lilith didn't even know what Social Security actually was, save that the clots on TV were always yammering about it running out.
"Uh-huh. How about a driver's license I can Xerox?"
"I don't have a driver's license," Lilith replied, irritation starting to creep into her voice. "I don't drive."
"Who in Manhattan does, right?" Miriam said
with a chuckle. "Okay, then-how about a student ID?
Anything with your picture on it . . . ?"
By the Founders, the woman was relentless! Lilith took a deep breath as she tried to steady herself, her mind scrambling for an easy, believable lie that would extricate her from this situation.
"I'm afraid I left all my identification back at my dorm at Columbia. I didn't realize I'd need it. I'm real new at all this. . . ."
"Uh-huh. That's all right, Lili. Just fill out as much as you can. I'll get what I need for our files at the next shoot."
"Next shoot?" Lilith asked as she quickly jotted down false information on the forms.
"Uh-huh. Maison d'Ombres has arranged for at
least three different editorial shoots in ELLE, Vogue, and Vanity Fair," Miriam explained. "This is the ELLE
shoot. Then there's the straight shoots for the advertising that's going to run in every major fashion and lifestyle periodical."
Kristof's assistant left, and Dino removed the pins from Lilith's hair, releasing a mass of loose waves. As he fastened her locks at the back of her head, he leaned down and whispered in Lilith's ear.
"How much are you getting for this shoot, sweetie?"
"I don't know," Lilith admitted. She had never thought twice about how she was being paid. Since Gala had gotten a million dollars, she had automatically assumed she would be getting a million dollars as well. "We really haven't talked about that aspect of it yet. . . ."
"That's what I was afraid of," the hairstylist said with a wry smile as he handed her a business card.
"Here, take this. A friend of mine handles talent. Call him before this goes too far! You need a contract, girl, and you need one drawn up fast! I wouldn't trust any- one in this business, if I were you. They'll all smile in your face and tell you how beautiful and talented you are and then stab you in the back the first chance they get. Truth is they're all just a bunch of damned bloodsuckers."
"Dino's right, hon," Maureen agreed as she carefully curled Lilith's lashes and applied a light coat of black mascara. "A girl as young and beautiful as you needs to have someone looking out for your best interests."
Lilith stared at the business card for a long moment before pocketing it. "You really think I'm beautiful?"
"Of course you are, sweetie!" Dino laughed. "Hasn't anyone told you that before?"
"All my life; I just didn't know whether they were lying or not."
"Silly girl! All you have to do is look in a mirror to know it's true."
"It's not as easy as that," Lilith replied wistfully.
"Not for me, anyway."
Dino pursed his lips in dismay. "Models! I'll never understand how drop-dead gorgeous people can be so insecure!"
It was almost ten-thirty by the time Lilith was finished with hair and makeup. Then she was off to wardrobe. A tiny birdlike woman named Enid dressed her in her first ensemble for the day: a puffy buttercup-yellow dress with a black bow. Under normal circumstances Lilith wouldn't be caught wearing it dead in a Dumpster.
"Okay, Lili-here's what we're looking to do with this shoot," Tomas said as he walked her over to the waiting set. "We're playing up Maison d'Ombres being a French label. That's why our incredibly talented set designer and props master, Enrique, built this replica of a classic Parisian garret. You can even see the Eiffel Tower out your little window. Isn't that cute? Anyway, the theme of the editorial spread is that of a starving artist locked away in her loft, slave to her muse, just like Toulouse-Lautrec, except that you're young, hot, and have beautiful legs. You'll be portraying a poet, a painter, a sculptress, a dancer, a musician-each with a different Maison d'Ombres ensemble that allows you to express yourself. Do you think you can do that?"
"Mais oui." Lilith smiled.
Seven hours and five changes of clothes later, Kristof held up his hand and announced: "That's it, people! It's a wrap! We're done!"
Lilith, dressed in a red silk blouse cut to resemble a traditional painter's smock, put down the longhandled paintbrush she was pretending to use to finish an incomplete canvas depicting a man wearing a bowler hat with a green apple obscuring his face.
Maureen hurried forward from off camera and
removed the daubs of color she had artfully smeared across the young model's cheek and brow to suggest paint.
"Let's hear it for our beautiful star: Lili Graves!"
Tomas said as he stepped out from behind the LCD
computer screen he was using to study the shots transferred from Kristof's digital camera. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that Lili really did a fantastic job here today!"
Lilith returned the borrowed clothes she was wearing to the stylist, heaving a sigh of relief as she changed back into the boot-cut jeans and cashmere sweater she had arrived in. As she zipped up her black leather Prada ankle boots, she glanced at her watch. It was after five in the afternoon, which meant it would be getting dark soon. If she hurried, she could get back to the penthouse in time to change into her school uniform before the night shift revived and discovered she was gone. As she looked up from her watch, Lilith was surprised to find Kristof standing in front of her with an expectant look on his face. "I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight."
"I'd love to, but it's getting late and I have, uh, night school this evening. I really need to leave. I'll get in trouble if I ditch class. . . ."
"I was hoping we could talk about your contract and the other shoots," Kristof said, looking somewhat crestfallen. "Plus, I have a present I wanted to give you. . . ."
"You got me a present?" Lilith asked excitedly.
"What is it?"
"The only way you'll ever find out is if you agree to go to dinner with me." The photographer smiled. Lilith glanced back at her watch. She really needed to leave if she was to get back to the penthouse before her absence was discovered, but she also wanted the present Kristof had promised her. And Lilith would gladly walk over a bed of live coals liberally garnished with rusty barbed wire and discarded syringes if there was a box with a bow waiting for her at the other end. What to do? What to do . . . ?
"Did you really mean it when you told the others I did a fantastic job?" Lilith asked as the waiter placed her Ni?oise salad in front of her.
"Of course I did! Like I said, I don't lie unless I'm in love. . . ."
"And even then, not until the third date," Lilith finished for him.
"And this is only our second." Kristof chuckled. "So you can still believe everything I say. And I'm telling you that you were truly incredible today, Lili."
Lilith smiled and lowered her eyes as she poked at her salad. She'd never spent so much time alone with a human before. Although, to be honest, she was finding it increasingly difficult to view Kristof as just another clot.
"So what's the present you wanted to give me?" Ever since they'd left the studio, she'd been trying to guess what Kristof had bought for her. It had to be some little bauble or bangle, because all he was carrying on him was a leather portfolio about the size of a large notebook. Perhaps it was a tennis bracelet or a watch? Or a pair of earrings? It might even be a necklace or a ring.
"I have a present and a surprise for you. Which one do you want first?" he asked, giving her a mischievous smile.
"The present!"
"Here ya go, then." Kristof slid the leather portfolio across the tabletop.
The smile instantly disappeared from Lilith's face. Granted, the portfolio was made of fairly nice leather, but it wasn't like it was a purse or even a handbag. It didn't even have gold stamping on it or anything.
"Go ahead-look inside," he said.
Lilith flipped the portfolio open and saw a vaguely familiar young woman with piercing ice-blue eyes and honey-blond hair looking back at her. With a start, Lilith realized she was looking at pictures of her own face.
"These are the photos you took in your apartment!"
she said as she paged through the plastic sleeves clipped within the portfolio's binder.
"Do you like them?"
"Kristof, no one's ever given me anything like this before in my life!" Lilith replied, and for once she was telling the absolute truth.
"Every real model has a portfolio-what she calls her 'book.' You take it with you on go-sees."
"Go-sees?" Lilith frowned.
"Job interviews with fashion designers and other potential clients," Kristof explained. He sighed and shook his head. "You really didn't think this whole thing out very well, did you?"
"What do you mean?" Lilith said defensively.
"Look, if we are going to continue to work together, you've got to be honest with me, especially about the important stuff, Lili."
"I don't understand what you're trying to say to me, Kristof."
"Lili, I know you're not eighteen. You listed your Social Security number as four-zero-three-two, for Christ's sake! You don't even know what a Social Security number is supposed to look like, do you?"
Lilith opened her mouth, prepared to launch into yet another round of denials, but then thought twice. It was better for her if Kristof mistook her for an underage girl pretending to be a college student rather than discover she was an underage vampire trying to pass herself off as human.
"You're right," she admitted, allowing her shoulders to slump.
"So how old are you really? Fifteen? Sixteen?"
"Sixteen."
Kristof took a deep breath and rubbed his face as if he'd suddenly become very tired. "Well, that's a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that being young isn't a drawback in this industry. Most models are your age."
"So what's the bad news?"
"There's not going to be a third date for us, I'm afraid. Not for several years, anyway. I have absolutely no interest in your father coming to look for me."
"I'm not scared of my dad," Lilith said sullenly.
"Well, that makes one of us." Kristof chuckled. "As it is, we're probably the same age."
"No, my dad's a lot older than you," she assured him.
"And he's nowhere as cool. Fact is, he's a lying asshole. I need the money from this job so I can get out on my own and be free of my family. I'm sick of them trying to control my life and telling me what to do!"
"Well, that's not that unusual in this business, either." Kristof sighed. "Lili, I'm willing to go out on a limb here and help you lie about your age, your Social Security number, all of that. But I'll also see about hooking you up with a good lawyer who can help you emancipate yourself from your family, if that's what you really want. Do you want to know why I'm willing to take these risks? Because over fifty percent of the frames I shot of you today were usable."
"Is that good?"
"Kid, there are big-name supermodels I've worked with who don't have that kind of percentage. With someone as green as you, it's unheard of. You're a phenom, Lili! If what you did today is any indication of the future, you're going to set the fashion world on fire. And I want to be there to watch it burn!"
"You said you had a surprise for me as well," Lilith said. "So what is it?"
"The publisher of Vanitas is throwing a Halloween party tonight. A lot of people from the industry will be there. I think it would be a great idea for you to meet these people and get some face time in with them. What do you say?"
Lilith glanced down at her watch. School was well under way by now. Although she knew she was already in trouble for playing hooky, she couldn't bring herself to worry about it. That was part of Lilith Todd's world, not Lili Graves's. Lili Graves was a girl without boundaries, limits, or expectations. And right now Lilith was enjoying her alter ego's life a lot more than her own.
"Sounds like fun," Lili replied.