The news was followed handshakes and hugs all round, then lots and lots of paper, even Anna had to sign on two copies of some of them with her dads name next to hers, then they were gathered up, one pile for Ivan, and one pile for her dad that Ivan put into a big folder. Then he handed her father an envelope which she saw contained bank notes.

"That is the signing on fee as noted on the paperwork, plus a little extra so that you can take all of the family out for supper tonight and celebrate" said Ivan. It wasn't till they were on the bus heading back home, that Anna realised it was late after-noon and they had all missed lunch, so it would be wonderful that the whole family would be able to eat out to celebrate together.

In their apartment Marta her older sister had been down on the floor playing snakes and ladders with her younger brothers, as soon as their eyes met, she knew, and the two girls rushed to hug one another, followed by a string of questions not giving Anna a chance to answer.

"Calm down Marta" said Igor, "go over and see if Nana Olga could look after the boys for an hour or so, the four of us can talk about what happened today, then if the boys behave for Nana Olga as a treat we will all go out to supper."

There was an elderly couple that lived in the apartment across the hall that the children had always known as Nana Olga and Gramps, they were not related but had become adopted Grandparents.

They sat at the table once the boys had gone, and Igor summarised what had happened as the two girls sat together, Marta had her arm protectively around her younger sister as she listened, a little jealous, but mostly with a sense of pride and even admiration for her. He went on to say that the contract was for a minimum of two photo sets within the next six months, and depending on how popular they would extended the contract on a rolling basis, which meant that Anna could only work for that agency, but she could end up doing photo sets, or even videos for any of the web sites that they owned.

Igor said it would be best if they did not tell anyone about it, just to say Anna had got to do a little modelling work for a foreign clothes catalogue if pressed, it would not be a good idea to flash money about with so many people now out of work. Marta was curious as to how much her sister would earn, and was stunned when her father explained it could be ten times what he earned maybe more, Ivan had told him that within a few hours of Anna's first photo set being on the web site they should have an indication of how well liked she was, and if by the time she had three sets, if they were all selling well, it would be worth their while thinking about moving to live in Kiev.

If news of the possible earnings had been a shock, the thought they could afford to move to the capitol was right off the scale, their father went on to say if it lasted for only two or three sets during the six month contract, their mum could take Anna back and fourth by train and stay over in the company apartment and they would still have a nice nest egg to help them through troubled times. If things went well, and Igor was not one to count his chickens, then it would make sense to move so they were close to the studios.

Another positive thing was that Ivan had contacts all over the city so Igor could find work on building or factory maintenance, he might even go to work at the same studio complex. That evening they enjoyed the meal out at a small café that was a short bus ride away, where Igor was sure they would not be seen by anyone they knew, although it was a special treat for them, to western eyes it looked like the sort of place that manual workers might go to for a greasy breakfast.

Four days later on the Wednesday, the first day of the summer holidays, the boys once again got to stay next door, as mum and the girls went across town to shop, their mum brought each of the family three new sets of underwear, a blushing Marta even getting her first ever bras, this event being perhaps more than a little overdue. Underwear was safe, they were happy to get new clothes, they were needed, but it didn't show, also they had each been given a little personal spending money. On the journey back their new purchases were in the bottom of their two shopping baskets, with only cabbages, bread, and other vegetables visible on the top.

They put away the shopping before bringing the boys home for lunch, leaving a surprised and pleased Nana Olga with a fresh loaf and a round of cheese they knew she was fond of saying they had had a bit of luck this week.

After lunch Greg and Peter were playing on the floor and both girls were sitting at the table reading, their mum came up and quietly asked Marta if she had started having her periods to which the girl replied no, but she thought about half the girls in her class in school had. Ella then looked at Anna, "Did you spend your money on a box of tampons?"

"I have heard you say how periods are a nuisance enough, without the pads being all scratchy as well, and I know how you try to save money by getting the cheapest ones, so those are for you mum."

Her mum kissed her forehead then went to get on with her chores, and Marta just smiled.

The time came for Anna's first photo shoot, she and her mum would be away for three or four days, with Marta looking after the boys and doing the cooking.

The five o'clock train was only twenty minutes late, and they arrived at their destination just after eight o'clock, although they had the address, they had been told it would be best to phone from the station when they got there, and they would send someone in a taxi to pick them up. They had been waiting outside watching the busy street scene for about a quarter of an hour when Anna heard someone shout her name, it was Valya stepping out of smart looking taxi, she ran over to embrace her, and her mum followed carrying their one small suitcase.

On the ride to the studio Valya told them she had looked for Anna's name to come up as she had promised, and found out they would be arriving today so she had volunteered to collect them rather than send someone they had never met. It was only a short drive before the car turned into a new business park and pulled up outside a group of several buildings, some were stylish offices and others that could have been warehouses.

When they got out Valya did not pay the driver, she just signed some-thing on a clipboard, seeing Anna's puzzled look she explained how they used cabs hundreds of times every week and the accounts department would settle up later. Valya clipped a name badge to her lapel as they entered reception, introduced them to the girl on the desk and got two temporary badges for them to wear before heading off to the personnel Dept.

Valya handed them over to an older lady, who first checked over some more paperwork then made up laminated ID badges with their photos on, she then took them on a tour of the complex, they even saw a bunch of tall black boxes with flashing lights like something out of a sci-fi movie that the lady called servers that held all the pictures and customer account details, and pointed through the glass at the people in charge of that stuff, and called them their trained geeks.

They went past the design department where they came up with ideas for all the back-grounds and scenery, then the costume designers, there was what looked like a whole factory of ladies making the clothes, then a big wardrobe room where two younger ladies looked after all their stock outfits.

In one large building there were men with drills and hammers and machines making stuff, and their guide stopped to ask which studio they were resetting, that was their next stop.

In studio three it looked like a old castle the background and even a cloth on the floor had been painted to look like old flag stones, that these two old men were still busy painting and off to one side was a table and chairs to built to match the scenery.

By now they had spent some time looking around, the lady checked her watch and told them it was time for lunch in the staff canteen, the food was so different nothing stodgy, salads, chicken and fish, big helpings, fruit and ice cold milk, but no prices, the lady laughed and said all meals were free, they had really healthy food to encourage the models to eat properly, the other staff could follow that example or go out and pay for their own lunch.

She told them all new models were given a tour so that they could see just how many people it took to run the business, the models may be the stars, but it took a large number of staff to make that happen.

The afternoon schedule included a visit to a private doctor, who took an embarrassingly close look at her privates, which she realized were soon to become public, she had to pee in a cup, give blood and do all that other stuff you do at the doctors, but it was a very nice doctors surgery. In the same building was a private dentist who was very pleased with how well Anna looked after her teeth, maybe it was because she had heard so many stories about how bad the state dentists were.

By late afternoon they were installed in one of the companies two bedroom apartments, the little suitcase unpacked, Ella was glad when Anna had asked to share the same bed as neither of them were used to sleeping alone, and this was the first time either had been on more than a day trip anywhere.

There was a nice kitchen, but stocked with just the stuff to make tea, coffee or fruit squash, in the lounge there was a huge TV and there were telephones in every room, even the bathroom!

From the windows they could see a park, and many of the streets nearby were lined with trees, which made Anna think her home town looked very grey and dull by comparison. Everything in the place was bright, colourful and new, like the big soft duvets on the beds, to the floors covered with wall to wall carpet, but her favourite had to be the bathroom.

The walls and floors were tiled but somehow the floor was warm, there was even a heated rail covered with the biggest, softest, towels she had ever seen, and next to the toilet was a thing that looked like a cross between a toilet and a wash basin that her mum told her was a bidet so you could wash after using the toilet, and real rolls of soft toilet paper. The bath had the taps on the side, if they had one like that at home there would be no arguments with Marta as to who's turn it was to get the tap end, there was also a glass door in the wall into a separate shower, it had the usual hose thing, but it also had jets of water that sprayed out that would wash your bum and armpits for grown-ups but Anna guessed it would hit her belly button and squirt in her eyes.

There was a big stone like top with two wash basins and a big mirror with lights, with a whole bunch of soaps and sprays and bubble bath and everything, but most of all what made Anna laugh was a little gift basket with an individually wrapped pads and tampons.

The lady from personnel took them out to supper as arranged earlier, the restaurant was posher than any place Anna or her mum had ever been before, and they were glad they had been on a subsequent shopping trip to buy a few modest new clothes to wear on their trip to the city. Once back in the apartment they phoned home, although they had a phone at home they did not use it much, but they were told they could use the phone in the company apartment as as often as they liked.

Both Anna and her mum indulged in a long hot bubble bath before bedtime, as in a fresh one each, not a shared one.

The next morning in the bathroom Anna wiped her bum on the really soft toilet paper then hopped across to try out the bidet, after all if the photos were close-ups she wanted to be sure she was really really clean back there.

Anna and her mum had time for a cup of tea in the kitchen before the car came to collect them for the studio, there was even a panel by the door so you could speak someone at the street door to the apartment block and unlock the front door for them.

Anna mostly spoke Ukrainian, as did most people in her home town but she could get by speaking Russian which was taught at school, she noticed it was more common in Kiev, she also knew a few English words she had picked up through pop culture.

This morning it was all preparation, after a swift breakfast it was straight through to the beauty department first with the hairdressers, and as there was a spare chair and it was a quiet day, her mum got done as well, though her mum got tinted as well as styled, she thanked the staff over and over saying how her Igor would think he had a new younger wife when she got home. While Anna's longer hair was drying she was given a manicure on one side and a pedicure on the other, then as the girls finished they changed sides. Her finger nails were painted a delicate lilac but not her toenails, her hair was now piled up high with braids and clips holding it in place with a few long ringlets hanging down, until the stylist was sure it matched the details on the instruction sheet from the theme designer.

With the look complete a call was made to the people who looked after studio scheduling.

Valya showed up to take them to the canteen for an early lunch, where they saw a few other girls with their mums and other staff- most having fresh milk and fruit with their meals. When they had finished eating, Valya produced a typed list of names handing it over to Anna to look at, "Well Anna this is a list of names for you to choose from, for use as your web-site name, which one do you think would suit you?"

"Could I be called Natasha, I don't know anyone with that name but it sounds nice."

And so began the career of a Ukrainian girl known everywhere else as Natasha.

They arrived at studio four to find a backdrop painted like a giant's garden with tall plants and strawberries nearly as big as Anna, there were big pretend rocks, covered with green fur pretend grass, there were also real plants and vines all over the set. When Anna asked if it was a giant's garden, Valya said the designers idea was the other way around, a normal sized garden, with a tiny pixie sized girl like the thumbelina fairytale character.

The make-up and dressing area was amazing, and there was even a door through to a full bathroom with a shower. The clothes for the set were all laid out complete with a box full of accessories to go with the outfit.

"It's only a very simple costume today so we won't need a dresser" Valya told her, "so strip off and we can make a start."

Anna had not worn panties that morning, but she had worn a longer dress as she had been told models were always careful to avoid marks from elastic waist bands before a shoot. Once naked she pulled on a pair of high-cut white panties with a purple trim, next was a two layered skirt in light green with large butterflies printed all over it which could be seen through a very fine purple net over-skirt. The short sleeved top was light green to match the skirt, only it looked like one of her dads string vests - well apart from the sleeves, and the colour, and the fact it was covered in large colourful butterflies to match the skirt.

Valya had explained that most times they did the make-up first but with this costume they would dress her first. When she sat in the make-up chair she was draped in a cape and then the process began, after that little butterflies and purple feathers were added to her hair, coloured beads around her wrists and finally butterfly rings for her fingers.

Valya told her that either of two photographers was available to shoot the set planned for this afternoon, Sandra, who she had worked with at the test shoot before or John. Thinking over what she had been previously been told about working with various different photographers, Anna screwed up her courage to say she would try working with John.

"Anna it might be a good idea to go for a pee before you start" suggested Valya, as Anna stood to go off to the bathroom she suddenly gasped as she felt Valya slip a small flat tin into her hand, - how did she know - Anna was too embarrassed and shocked just now to ask, maybe later, if she could face her.

Anna returned her face still a little flushed, placing the tin on the edge of the table, thankful Valya and her mum were over by the set talking to this tall good-looking man who she supposed was her photographer John. She walked over to join them, John smiled at her and said how pleased he was to be taking her pictures, as Sandra had told him how easy Anna was to work with, saying how some new models were quite nervous, and a few of the more seasoned models got too big for their boots.

John went on to explain they might take a few hundred pictures during the shoot, then later, on the computer screen, he would choose the best ones, somewhere between fifty and a hundred and twenty images which would go onto the web site as her first set. While John was making last minute checks and adjustments, Valya gave her a pair of fluffy white ankle socks to complete her costume, then fussed with her hair for a moment before pronouncing her perfect.

When they started the shoot John had her stand in different parts of the set, and leaning over the rocks, then he started telling her silly jokes, as he directed her movements. As the set progressed he asked her to stretch up to reach the cap of a giant toadstool, "No I want you sideways on to the camera Anna to show off your cute little buds honey, now bend around the stalk and hug it like your best friend" and so John continued with his guidance.

Anna played with the net over-skirt, stretched up to show her bare tummy, and leaned in for close-ups with the real flowers on the set, then she got down on floor of soft yellow furry carpet for pictures sitting or laying down. John asked her if she could do the splits on the floor, then later when she was standing how high she could raise one leg, and praised her on her flexibility. After dozens more shots where he had her pulling funny faces he said they should take a short break.

On reaching the make-up area Valya opened a small fridge and handed each person their preferred soft drink, placing a straw in Anna's bottle, to avoid messing up her lipstick. After their break John asked if they could loose the top, her mum and Valya helped ease it over her hair, followed by a bit more fussing, then back on set holding the top up to look like she had just pulled it off herself. Shortly they progressed to the skirt, and finally the panties, where John asked for lots of teasing, taking thirty or more pictures of the panties coming down.

Nearly naked, well she was wearing socks, she rolled about posing and laughing, and bending every which way, aware of the many close-up shots John was taking of her girlie parts, but she didn't mind as he was so nice to her, and she was having so much fun.

When John said they would take about another dozen or so shots and call it a day, Anna repeated a pose she had done for Sandra and got down on the floor on all fours looking backwards over her shoulder, then she winked at the camera just as John took the shot, she thought she might try to use that same pose in every set as a kind of signature, John must have liked it too as asked her to do it again a few times just to be sure.

Next she stood up and slowly blew a kiss, which John captured on three or four shots. Curious John asked why she had blown a kiss, to which Anna explained she had seen a couple of other girls do it, when she had carefully studied the last few thumbnail pictures in some of the sets she had seen.

John then started to shut down all the equipment around the set and Anna sat down for Valya to remove her make-up and let her hair down. "Well ladies I hate to run" announced John as he bowed to them, "off to the editing suite to select images of our new young star to feature on her debut web site appearance, goodbye for now."

Anna was still on a high from such an exciting afternoon and could hardly stop talking, but when her mum left to use the toilet, Anna could no longer contain her curiosity, "Valya how did you know" she asked her eyes flicking towards the tin of Vaseline. The smiling woman explained how she always laid her table out in exactly the same order so that she could find things quickly, so it stood out to her when something was not in the right place.

She had put two and two together having seen several of the close up shots from the test shoot, and remembering some of the intelligent and insightful questions Anna had asked.

"To stop you messing with my table layout in future, when we work together I will place a spare tin in the cupboard under the bathroom sink, you're a bright one, I cant think of any of the other models your age coming up with such a smart idea, and I won't tell OK"

Anna thanked Valya for all the help and advice she had given her and said that she was filling in a small notebook with all the tricks and information and stuff that she was learning about being a model, by this time her mother had returned, stating when she saw it, she was sure it looked like the book was already half full. The conversation continued between the three for some time as Valya packed away her things into a large trolley with lots of drawers, and the costume and accessories were folded and put away, then the subject moved on to what might happen tomorrow.

Valya told them that the 'Natasha' web entry would be uploaded at some point tonight if the editing didn't take too long, so by the morning they would have some feedback as to how well the set had started off, then the admin people and sales team would decide on the next move. As it was nearly six in the evening they had planned on calling a cab, to go for a meal before heading back to the apartment, but as they crossed the reception area, they heard someone shouting for them to wait.

It was John rushing down the corridor towards them, " Hey you have got to come and see this, 'Natasha' has only been on line for an hour, you would not believe how well her first set is going down, her name has been popping up all over the members forum, and the downloads are picking up at quite a respectable rate, I wouldn't be surprised if they change schedules tomorrow so that Anna can do another set."

Valya cut in "I didn't think you had access to real time download stats in the editing suite, how come you know what's going on?" "Well you guys may only see the creative or artistic side of us photographers but we can be a little competitive too, I'm not that conceited, I realize I need a good model to start with of course like Anna here, but one of the tech geeks changed some settings so that I can see other parts of the network, you must take a look."

As they followed him, he told them how hard it had been to keep down the set size, but it had been agreed to release 'Natasha Set 1' with 122 images which was large for a first set, but there was no padding they were all good shots. Anna was curious to know how the web page with her photos could be made so quickly, and John went on to explain that they had empty templates just like a ready built framework, so that once the images were chosen it only took minutes to set up, then upload to the main server.

At John's workstation in the editing room they gathered around an enormous computer screen, and he said he would show them the site as the customers would view it. Anna watched spellbound, the first obvious thing was that all the writing she realized was in English, she could only make out very few words, but John gave them a rough idea of what it was saying as they moved through the site. The introduction page showed the faces of some of the most popular models, and shots of some girls fully dressed in their colourful costumes, with an invitation to take a limited tour of the site, that showed some teasing pictures with the girls undressing with all of the girls nipples and pussies hidden behind shiny stars, which Anna thought was quite funny.

They returned to the main page, and John clicked on the 'members only' icon, then on the next page they saw there were boxes where the member had to write a user name and a password, John told them all the admin and design people in the company had passes so that they could do checks after they had made changes to the site.

The first members only page had five choices in order to move on, - Meet the Models - Pictures - Videos - What's New - and Members Forum, John clicked on 'What's New'. The screen changed to show the faces of two girls, Anna's heart was beating so hard she was sure everyone next to her could hear it, 'Natasha' was one of the featured girls, under her picture was some writing, John handed her a sheet of paper saying that was a translation of what it said on the screen.

Natasha - 10 years old, lives on the Black sea coast, she has a dog and two cats, she likes western pop music, dancing and horse riding. Her dream job is to be a vet when she grows up. So far the lovely Natasha has one photo set for your delight - but if you like her as much as we do we'll be sure to invite her back.

"Well Natasha's 'life story' is different from mine, I've never even seen the Black sea, I do like animals, and I would love to ride a horse, I'm sure Marta my sister would love that too."

Although there was a link through to 'Set No.1' John went back to the other page to click on 'Meet the Models' - here were pictures showing the face of each girl, with their name, age, and what looked to be the number of photo sets, Anna asked why some girls also had a little winking star with their details, and found it was because those girls had also done videos. The girls were listed in alphabetical order, and as John scrolled down they passed the picture of the other new model, the coloured frame around her picture was flashing with a sign which apparently said - 'New Model added this Month', when they finally reached 'Natasha' with a similar frame John asked if Anna would like to click on the picture.

With an effort to keep from shaking Anna moved the little cursor over her image and clicked, the page was topped with the same photo and writing from the 'What's New' page. Below there was some more text that related to set number one, then three medium sized images from the set, including the picture she thought of as her signature image, she very slowly scrolled through line after line of little thumbnails, studying each one, trying to decide what she felt, knowing hundreds or even thousands of men could right now be looking at these naked pictures of her.

She felt - happy, surprised, proud, wet, WET!!!

Where did that come from, she and Marta were close and her older sister had been trying to explain to Anna how she got all these strange mixed up feelings, also about how sometimes she felt the need to rub herself 'down there' at night, something Anna could not miss as they shared a bed, and about feeling horny, saying that in a few years Anna might better understand.

"Anna honey, are you OK" her mum's question broke the spell, she had been paused on one line for a while, "Yes mum, just a bit overwhelmed, so many pictures, also I could use the bathroom before we continue."

Valya gave her directions to the nearest one, and Anna set off realising she needed to add several new notes in her 'modelling book' including to always carry a pair of panties to wear, for after a modelling job, she was worried the tops her legs might start to get wet, this was something she felt she needed to talk about with Marta, she loved her mum but sometimes it was just easier to talk with her big sister.

In the toilet she investigated the 'wetness', it was kind of slippery, and wetter than she normally felt down there, maybe this was the "wet pussy" look that Valya had spoken of when they had first met. After peeing and wiping real good she was glad they had soft toilet paper, that was something that was going to have to change when they got home, definitely no more newspaper in the bathroom.

Anna was still trying to come to terms with how different things were in this world of modelling even the office floors were covered all over in carpet squares and between each workplace in the large office were dividers covered in soft material so each person had their own quite space to work in, therefore no one heard her approach as she returned.

Her mum was saying how relived she felt that Anna had been so calm, and appeared to be really enjoying herself, and that Igor and she herself had spent many sleepless nights worried how Anna would cope with the reality of the modelling sessions.

Anna ran around the edge of the dividing screen to hug and kiss her mum, "Everything is fine mum, you and daddy don't need to worry, I'm having the best time ever, I'm sure if I had any more fun I might burst with happiness, so when you phone daddy tonight make sure you tell him that, I don't want him to worry any more OK."

With mum and daughter still holding one another they returned to looking at the web site where they had left off, when Anna reached the bottom of the page she thanked John for showing her and for taking such nice photos, John was a little embarrassed by the girls praise and suggested they move on to the 'Members Forum' page.

To Anna this looked like several text conversations at once, between dozens of people in 4 or 5 languages, but most of it was in English, but she found one or two in Russian that she could make out, the one thing she could see in a lot of them was the name 'Natasha'.

"I am going to spend my summer holiday learning to read and speak English, and I think I should practice using my Russian more as well, that's when I'm not modelling of course, do you think I could get Marta to learn with me? We could practice together and I would hate for Marta to feel left out" her mum squeezed her tighter saying she thought that was a lovely idea, she would be so proud that both her girls could learn such useful new skills.

"There are several people working here who speak English, after all they do all the writing on our web sites, I'm sure a few of them will be able to help you start off, and lend you some books to take home, I'll ask the tech geek I work with, now let's leave the web site and take a look at our stats page on the company network."

Anna thought these screens weren't colourful or pretty like those on the model web site, just page after page with set numbers and model names, followed by boxes that had slowly rising numbers, other boxes were showing percentages of something she didn't understand, though she did understand percentages because they had done them at school. At last they got to the the 'Natasha' page, and John explained the various parts, one box showed the number different people who had visited her page, another showed how many times her page had been visited, so from those two numbers they could see some people had looked at her page more than once. The percentage box was about how many of those visitors paid to download the set, and he said that 83% was a very high number.

"You done good kid" said John as he pointed to the total sales box which showed numbers moving in fits and starts, which Anna tried to read, - two thousand seven hundred and thirty two, - fifty one, sixty nine ..............! "That's the best part of a thousand an hour, you went live about five this afternoon, it's almost eight now, that's about half one in the after-noon over in New-York, should speed up later as the office workers get home, then things will tail off over the course of the first week, then just slow steady sales to new members followed by the odd peak when you bring out a new set."

Anna wanted to know why sales would go up on set one, if she brought out a new set, to which John told her if guys found they liked her second or third set, they might then decide to buy one or more of her previous photo sets as well.

She was pleased to think John thought she would go on to sell more sets.

To be continued in chapter 3