The return trip to the city was just as fun as leaving, though they made two stops. First, he dropped Tahani at an upscale shop, fitting for her rather developed sensibilities, the kind that even an accessory ran five digits.
Unlike what he sold with Haley, it wasn’t affordable luxury, but real luxury, the kind that most people didn’t even realize existed. Luckily, such shops also had private entrances for their valued clients.
She couldn’t have worn her dress, as that was too creased to be worn after being carried around in a bag.
They also had enough discretion not to ask why one of their valued clients came dressed as a biker chick. And, while she dealt with her shopping, he dropped back the stolen bike and instead rented a car, the hacked security system making it easy to do. Apparently, the owner didn’t even miss it.
When Tahani’s shopping finished, he was waiting at the entrance with it. “What’s this?” she asked.
He smirked. “We can’t drive around the city driving a … borrowed bike, princess,” he teased her.
That made her laugh. “I can’t believe I’m disappointed about not riding a stolen bike,” she said.
He chuckled. “It’s because you’re solely missing excitement in your life,” he said. “You need an adventure.”
“I beg your pardon,” she said haughtily, in a way that would have made anyone else unattractive, yet it fit well with her whole aura in a cute way. “I’ll have you know, I have visited over one hundred and fifty countries—“
“And stayed in the same expensive hotels and mansions, being shown around by local politicians and self-important guides, always moving with an ensemble, never experiencing the local culture,” he said. “Did I guess it right?”
That made her blush. “Fine, you might have a small point. Some of those travels weren’t … as exciting as it could have been.”
“Stick with me, and I’ll teach you all the way to have fun,” he said.
She blushed. “I don’t know. Technically, we didn’t even have a date. You promised that I’ll love it, but I doubt I will. The bike things had been alright, but don’t expect every single one to hit. You’re not that good at reading people.”
“And what if I win, again?” he teased. They already had a bet on it, but he was always happy to raise the stakes.
Her blush deepened. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Maybe I’ll wear something … fun…” she stopped. “Too bad we can’t do it tonight. I’m already cutting close. Tomorrow, I need to be in Nepal, and even with a private jet, it’ll cut close,” she said. She sighed. “I don’t know when I’ll be back in New York.”
“How about Los Angeles?” he said. “It’s more likely I’ll be there. I do have a tiny shack there.” He deliberately undersold it, as knowing how rich she was, his Malibu rental actually counted as slumming it.
That made her smile. “That’s actually more likely. I could squeeze a day there after an event in San Fransisco.”
He smiled. “It’s a date,” he said. They spent another hour just driving around and talking, though he stole a steaming kiss when she was about to disembark. She blushed, looked like she wanted to say something, but then she stepped out.
Watching her walk away was fun, knowing that she put the extra sway on her hips for his sake…
&&&
Once he dropped Tahani, he found himself not knowing what to do. Luckily, he had some other friendly faces he was yet to connect with. For that, he sent two quick messages, one to Robin, inviting her for another visit to the shooting range, the other to Lily, arranging an evening shoot.
He met Robin at the shooting range just before dinner. Robin was already there. “You’re late,” she said.
He smirked. “We said six. There’s still five minutes to it, Miss Dagger,” he said, smirking. “You know, you can just admit you missed me.”
“Don’t call me that, or I’ll shoot you,” she warned.
“That’s the only way you can win, Miss Sparkles,” he responded instead, enjoying her flash of anger. Robin looked good when angry. One just needed how to handle her.
Ted certainly didn’t know. Neither would Barney.
“I’ll shoot you, for real,” she warned, but when he just smirked condescendingly, and they started their little shooting competition.
It was fun. Robin took her defeat in good humor, though she did insist on pointers; then they moved to a nearby cafe for a quick early dinner before Robin left for work. It was getting rare for him to have a meal with a woman without it ending in bed, so he enjoyed the rarity.
And, listening to the familiar stories from a new perspective was certainly fun.
“… so, we managed to convince the bartender to call our friend Swarley instead. God, the look on his face,” she chuckled. “It was a good distraction from Marshall’s upcoming date. Lily is getting annoying about it. I’m afraid that she would sabotage the date.”
“When is it? Tomorrow?” he asked. Robin nodded. “We were supposed to have a photo session with Lily tonight. I’ll have a talk with her, teaching her that it’s not fair for her to do.”
“A talk?” Robin asked, her tone suggesting she was very much aware of how their last session had ended. He shrugged. “So, why Lily? Why not a professional model?” she asked.
He decided to give her a real answer. “Because with professionals, you lose freshness. They are like carbon copies, with no interest in honesty in front of the camera. It works when you need to finish a hundred different outfits in a day, but I’m shooting something unique here. Even fashion work, I only do on my terms.”
Robin sighed. “I’m jealous. I don’t have that luxury in my career. I read whatever nonsense fluff piece they ask me to.”
Ethan kept his face serious. “Do you want some tough love?”
“I will regret it, right?”
“Most likely,” he said. “But you’re tough. You can handle a little professional challenge.”
She paused. “Alright. Hit me.”
“I was curious, so I checked your work. You stopped pushing yourself, and that’s why you’re regressing. I’m willing to bet that you have at least three auditions that you can go in a month, but you either ignored them, or you flunked because you didn’t prepare them seriously. Because you’re afraid of taking that next step and breaking your bubble of comfort.”
She paused. “I hate you.” He smirked. “Fine. There’s an audition. For a national network. They are looking for a reporter to handle the New York desk, the kind that can do quality interviews. With real, important people.”
He smiled. “And, you didn’t respond.”
She shook her head. “Not yet. I’m a joke. I do fluff pieces for a local TV that has lower ratings than TV sets in showrooms. They will not accept me.”
“Are you scared?”
“It’s not about being scared. It’s about—“
“Are you scared?”
Her eyes suddenly burned. “I’m not scared.”
“Fine, let's do a mock interview. You interview me. I'll play a few different roles. Politician dodging answers, an angry protester, even a bored bohemian artist. You run it as if it’s real. Fair?"
She paused for a long while before giving an answer. "Fair."
He chuckled, and they started.
She started.
For the first ninety seconds, she was good. She had control, and presence. But, as he started to respond shiftily, she started to lose her thread of thought, taking his bait rather than staying focused on the main topic.
Not to mention, the infamous ‘but umm’ phrase made too many appearances.
When ten minutes had ended, she failed to get her answers.
She buried her face in her hands. “Oh my god. It was horrible,” she said.
“It was not ideal,” he said. “You get too focused on trying to track every single point I raised, and it allowed me to drag the discussion away. Revisiting would look unreasonable, giving up means I got away safely. You realized that and panicked. When you do, you start drifting, and use too many filler words.”
“It’s not that bad, is it?” she asked, and he let her listen to the recording. She froze. “Oh my God, it is worse,” she said, turning away. “I’m pathetic.”
“No. You’re not. Look, you have good instincts. Ninety seconds in, you had me on the ropes, but you let me get away. Interviewing is like boxing, and it requires a killer instinct … well, at least if you want to actually do real reporting. If you want to do fluff pieces all the time, it’s different,” he said, deliberately harsh.
The way she shuffled showed that it was the correct choice.
They went again, though he changed the personality, this time smarmier, using insults at the drop of a hat, which she handled with surprising ease, though she still meandered toward the middle, and the infamous ‘but um’ from the show started to show itself.
Several more attempts, and she actually got better, confirming his guess about her instincts. No wonder that on the show, once she moved to a serious news organization, she thrived.
“You made a good investigative reporter. You have the instincts,” he said. He thought about making her an offer of help, but he decided against it. Maybe once she got the job. If he helped her right now, she would feel like she hadn’t earned it.
It was probably why she hadn’t used the connections her rich family must have.
“It was fun, but I need to run away,” he said. “I have to be in the hotel to meet with Lily.”
Robin nodded, then paused. “Maybe don’t mention we met. Lily is terrible at keeping secrets, and while nothing happened—“ she started, suddenly feeling guilty.
“Sure, I won’t,” he said.
“Just like that,” she said, surprised. “No question about why? Or a lecture about keeping secrets?”
“It’s your call,” he said. He had a feeling it was about Ted pressuring her to open up again, and she appreciated the contrast.
She nodded, and they continued chatting about trivial issues, though he did let a few things ‘slip’ to remind her how much fun Lily would have during their session and afterwards without coming across as crude.
Sometimes, a timely smile told a much more interesting story than words ever could.
“Do you mind keeping an eye on my stuff while I wash my hands,” he said as he left his jacket on his seat, with his room keycards visible. He also acted as if he hadn’t noticed the absence of one of the keycards when he returned.
Since her response to catching him behind the shooting range with Max was to watch for a long time, he wasn’t entirely surprised.
Whether she would take the next step was a question that would need to be answered.
&&&
When he arrived in the room, Rachel was already there, laying down the outfits they would be shooting. Though he could see that the work had already been done, and she was just nervously patting them.
She was also focused enough that she didn’t hear him approaching, even when he made sure to add some extra stomp to his steps. He had to admit, Rachel was proving out to be surprisingly good at her job even at the start, already handling her new role as an assistant-procurement agent, handling the local boutiques like a pro.
So much that Annie and her combined handled like ninety percent of the decisions perfectly without his input.
“If you continue like that, you’ll wear out the fabric,” he teased.
“Ethan!” Rachel said, even as she jumped out. “I was just.”
“Panicking because you don’t want to ruin this opportunity by making mistakes. Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” he said.
She smirked, though her blush was cute. “Well, that’s simply not true.”
He chuckled. “Fair point.” With that, he walked to her, kissed her hard before pulling back. “Now, let’s go over your role as a set assistant, ready?”
“After that kiss,” she muttered. “You’re not playing fair.” But, despite saying that, once he started explaining the key points, she caught on quickly. He showed her the rig, explaining the basics of how lights and shadows worked in general terms before focusing on her role, mainly adjusting the lights, helping the model dress, and doing makeup.
She was a good student, not only able to repeat all key points but also taking notes. Soon, they finished the talk, and they focused on the prep work.
She was in the other room, doing one last check on the outfits when there was a knock on the door.
It was Lily, her mood split halfway between excitement and fear. After all, while they had used some of her test shoots, it was supposed to be a test. While he then got her permission and used them, it helped her to tamp down her excitement. This time, it was official. “Hi,” she said the moment he opened the door, bouncing up and down excitedly even as she walked in.
“Hello, Lily,” he said teasingly.
“I can’t believe I’m going to be a real model,” she said. “I was so sure that you would find a far better model.”
“Don’t worry, Lily, you are very good on camera,” he encouraged her, which had the added benefit of being true. Admittedly, his photography skills helped greatly, but without her naughty spark, it wouldn’t have worked.
One couldn’t unearth what wasn’t there.
Though, he decided to fuel that spark by stepping toward her, and delivering a searing kiss that caught her by surprise, for a second before she climbed him like a tree, showing her passion, and he slipped his hands under her skirt.
It took only a spark to get her burning.
Which was why she looked shocked when he pulled back. “What’s wrong?” she whispered, showing she was even more enthusiastic about how they ended their last shoot than the shoot itself.
“Well, for one, I want to introduce you to Rachel, my right-hand woman in this venture,” he said, pointing toward the door where Rachel was watching, her expression halfway between exasperated and interested.
And, absolutely not surprised. Understandable, considering his last encounter with Rachel was a foursome.
“Hi,” Rachel said with a deadpan tone.
Lily dropped down in panic, and without his help, she might have actually rolled her ankle. “Hi,” Lily responded, blushing. “It’s not what it looks like,” she said reflexively.
“So you weren’t trying to give Ethan a tonsil examination,” Rachel responded, her sarcastic tongue in full effect.
He said nothing, knowing that Lily would adapt to it soon. Lily had many faults, but being meek was not one of them. But, it would require her to calm down first. “It was just a friendly greeting,” she muttered.
“Right,” Rachel said. “Anyway, let’s get you into some … friendlier outfits, then,” she said.
“Hey!” Lily said in protest, but Rachel just smirked and disappeared into the bedroom, which the outfits were. Ethan smirked as they started bickering in the other room, Rachel quick to embrace her campus queen attitude, and soon, Lily was giving back just as well.
He didn’t say anything for two reasons. It was fun to listen to them bicker, and he would take that even if it risked the shoot. Also, knowing Lily, it would help her perform even better.
Playful anger worked surprisingly well for the intimate shoots he had been planning, as it was proven once Lily returned, wearing her mask and a sexy set of lingerie.
His model and his assistant slinging constant insults was not the height of professionalism, but it worked.
Especially since their insults soon turned playful.
Though, even with bickering, the professional aspects were going surprisingly well. With his skills allowing him to channel Lily’s fire correctly, the photos were coming out truly spectacular, and Rachel didn’t let her playful arguments with Lily distract her from her work, moving around the room with a surprising ease, keeping everything ordered in a way that reminded him of Monica, proving that she had learned well from her roommate … to a degree.
Even in something she cared about, there was no way for Rachel to embody Monica’s Type-A intensity.
“Have you thought about modeling as well?” Lily asked toward the latter half of the set.
Rachel paused. “I did, but my real passion is the fashion side. Modeling would actually make it very hard for me to be taken seriously, no matter how tempting it is,” she said.
“But, the mask,” Lily said, suddenly worried.
He jumped in. “It wouldn’t work for Rachel, because she’s dealing with all the brands. Masks are good, but not enough to hide her identity from people who will examine those photos very carefully while sitting in the same room as her for hours.”
“Good point,” Lily admitted.
“A pity, because I look amazing on camera,” Rachel bragged.
Lily smirked. “How about a private shoot after we finish, then, to see who’s the better model? Or is it just empty bragging?”
“Only if you want to lose,” Rachel responded quickly, more than ready to jump into that aspect.
He smirked as he made sure to handle the other sets as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality.
They were about to have a lot of fun…