Chapter one (segment nine), 2016, August, Christina

Christina dropped her pose and went through a sequence where she allowed the photographer a leisure half a second between shots. He was good enough to be called a professional, but he was still a sad excuse compared to the crew she built her career with in her previous life.

In her previous life. It would be bad to forget that. Restart. You're not 'The Princess of Scandinavia' here. They don't remember you, because they have never seen you before.

She stopped moving when she felt how the photographer dropped out of focus.

“Am I doing something wrong?” she asked to remind him that he was doing a sloppy job. He was tiring faster than she. “Please direct me so you get the shots as you want them!” I can always fake following his directions later. As long as he gets the shots he needs he'll be happy.

He just stared at her with awe in his eyes.

This is bad. I need crew, not fans. “Where do you want me now?” she asked to wake him up.

The reaction she got was about as far from professional as possible. He leered at her.

For crap's sake. It should be illegal to become a fashion photographer before you've shot a few hundred sets with nude, beautiful women and men!

“Don't look at me like that!” Christina squealed in what she hoped was a suitably shy and shocked voice. There was hardly a part of her she hadn't shown the crews in her previous life. Most of those shots had obviously been destroyed, but she couldn't stay among the top ten if she froze whenever a camera saw her naked body.

Idiot! You think I'm working with my body. You'll never be top notch. She slid into a new pose when the photographer finally regained his senses. My body is our tool. You and I have to cooperate when using it. That's why I always work with my brains and not with my body.

Christina really, really detested small minded men. Put a beautiful head on a beautiful body and they automatically deducted twenty points from IQ. But who am I to complain? Made it a lot easier for me to break through. Manipulating morons is a lot easier than handling the crafty ones.

That thought, however, belonged to a later life. She had quit modelling and started out on the road that led to her becoming 'The Billion Dollar Empress' when she began thinking in such terms.

Ulf, will you love this side of me as well? So different from the last two months, my best two months.

Christina fell out of sequence and they had to retake the last shots. Thinking of Ulf too much still made her unprofessional. But I wish I could have stayed that way. Young and in love like a teenager. I felt like one, was one and I loved it all. You made my dream come true, Ulf. For that alone I'll love you for the rest of my life!

They had been shooting for the better part of three days, and it was time to wrap it up. Her photographer was too tired, and Christina kept thinking of Ulf. Spending more time wouldn't make good shots.

She thanked the crew and left for the dressing room. It reminded her of when she had been sixteen, the first time and before she became famous. A dressing room she had to share with all the other starry eyed girls.

This time around she knew to keep a lower profile. The backstabbing was brutal among those who had yet to make it big.

Christina took a seat in the corner and quickly removed her make-up. Then she dressed in a baggy set of clothes that didn't do her justice at all. She had spent over an hour to find exactly that set. It came in handy when she needed to be left alone. And after that she powered up he smart phone for the first time in three days. Christina needed to have it off for her concentration, and now she wondered what kind of gossip her friends had shared during her absence.

What she read sucked all air out of her as if she had been slugged in her stomach.

Ulf, what have you done? What have I done? He's hurting and I wasn't there. The one time he needed me and I wasn't there!

Christina was sobbing with fear when she threw open the doors and dashed out of the studio.

Ulf had spent the night in a drunken stupor, and when morning came he went after the bottle again. James stopped him, but that he had allowed it in the first place stunned her.