Uliana And Her Mum Visit The Studio

She had been so restless and excited the night before, she was sure her mum must have slipped something into her cocoa to help her sleep, by 7:05 she was ready, looking out over the snow and slush that had refrozen, and the sky promised a fresh fall soon. It was hard waiting for her friends the 'Goose sisters', but they were due to come over in a cab, by ten past, and all four of them would go to the studio together, but the clock was moving so slowly this morning, as if making fun of her.

At last a nice car came to a halt in front of the building, the door barely open and she was shouting to her mum to grab their coats and stuff, as they were off. It felt strange as the rough fabric of her long skirt brushed over the naked skin of her bottom, but she had taken note of Anna's advice, and read the printed notes for new models, and she was glad to be wearing her long woollen leggings that would have nearly reached her panties had she been wearing any.

The bathroom in their apartment had a toilet, basin and shower, a shower that had never worked very well, so she had taken a strip wash with a basin of hot water as they both did on most days, thankful the hot water was working so far this winter. Uliana watched the people huddled up as they passed by in the snug warmth of the car that looked to be fairly new, Marta sat in the front, and she shared the back seat with her mum and Anna.

Marta was talking to the old driver asking after his grandchildren, so she must know him quite well, but her attention kept drifting to see whereabouts they were in the city, as it gave a different viewpoint travelling in a car, lower down, and he didn't keep stopping to pick up more passengers, it was nice to travel this way. The area they were in had offices and other businesses, she thought they might be factories or warehouses, then they turned into a new business park that had more modern buildings, and pulled up outside one of the nondescript cubes.

As they approached the reception area Marta waved off any offers of payment for the cab saying it was a business expense on contract, whatever that was. The sisters got badges out of their backpacks, different packs than the ones they took to school, the laminated cards were on cords that they put round their necks, and they had little photos on them. The receptionist had cards already made up for her mum and herself with their names on, but had the words, "Accompanied Visitor" stamped in red, in big letters.

When Marta said they would get processed later, Anna joked that they weren't peas, and that was typical of the silly puns she came out with all the time. The place had a really nice canteen, and the best part was everything was free, they had been told of this the day before, with the comment about coming here first to have breakfast. Uliana didn't think she would be hungry, especially after last night, but there were so many tempting things as they moved past the hot and cold selections.

Hearing Anna ask for a freshly boiled egg, and toast Uliana asked for the same, and the lady asked if she liked the yoke runny or thicker, not having asked Anna as she probably knew how her friend wanted hers. When another lady came out of the kitchen to talk with them, she found out it was Irisha's mum, another girl who was fairly new to the school, but older, more like Marta's age.

Marta and her mum had chosen what they wanted from the food on display behind the little glass doors, but a waitress was going to bring the eggs, and the drinks they had asked for. She saw some tables had signs saying 'English only at this table' that were written in English. Most of the other people they saw greeted Anna and Marta so it seemed they were well known and popular at the studio.

The staff were very kind, even coming to ask if they wanted top-ups for their drinks or any more to eat, but their next stop was the salon, and Uliana had been looking forwards to this, as her mum had a friend that came round to do both of them, and to be truthful she wasn't that good, but she didn't charge much. She couldn't believe how luxurious the salon was, much nicer than the posh one she passed in the main road, and she had seen their prices in the window, wondering how someone could spend so much to have their hair cut.

Like at their last stop everyone knew the sisters, and they were introduced to each of the staff, and two models who were sat in the fancy looking chairs. Soon she and her mum were being pampered, Uliana laid back in the reclined chair blissfully relaxed as fingers massaged the rich creamy scented lather through her hair, saying she would rinse it out then apply the conditioner. By the time the stylist had finished doing her magic, Uliana found it hard to believe the lustrous vibrant locks were the ones she had come in with that morning. She hadn't taken much off her shoulder length hair but it now had a new shape, and looked tons better than she could ever remember.

Looking over she could see her mum was equally pleased, and - or shocked with her own transformation, suspecting that the few greys that had been making an appearance, had now been hidden by the artists that worked here. Her mum fussed not wanting too much done to her nails, as she thought she had been transformed enough, but Uliana was happy to be getting the full works, wanting to make the best impression for her audition.

While having her nails done she saw a lady come out from a side door, when she went to talk with Marta, her older friend blushed and the woman went away laughing, but Uliana had no idea what it was about over the constant chatter and noise of hair dryers.

When the salon staff considered the newcomers 'done' Valechka felt years had been removed from her appearance, wondering what they would say when they saw her in the office. The salon staff had an answer for that, it was to tell them she had won a makeover in a competition, which seemed like a good idea, as she could never afford to spend that sort of money on herself, with so many other bills to pay first.

Marta and Anna were debating whether to visit wardrobe, or to call in on costume design to see what they had available, costume design won out, and their guests were told to expect some stereotypical designer types, giggling as they both made limp wristed hand gestures, going on to say that they were very nice guys, and had a great team of women who worked there making the clothes.

Valechka looked on as the two men greeted the sisters with hugs and air kisses, unsure what to expect when they were introduced, it turned out that as friends of friends they got their hands kissed, which impressed her daughter, being treated like a princess.

In their lowly position in society, among the manual workers and wage slaves, there tended to be a hard bitten macho mindset, brought out by the struggle to survive, hence Valechka had no experience of meeting any openly gay men, her only references from TV soaps or drama programs. But she wouldn't be judgemental, after all some people would no doubt have comments about the reason she was at the studio if they heard of it.

From what she could follow, the sisters were regular visitors to this department, pleading to the men's vanity that they must have at least one of their special creations that would look divine on their young friend. A seamstress came forwards and took down all Uliana's vital measurements to determine what current items might be suitable for her to try.

As the debate raged on she could see her daughter's wide eyed expression seeing all the original drawings as they spread across the table, with reasons for and against those that might fit, meanwhile the seamstress came back to check the length of Uliana's trunk from crotch to neck, then made her own suggestion to those gathered around the work table. The appropriate sketch was found, and everyone agreed, so Anna and the lady of the tape took Uliana off to a dressing room, while they all stood waiting.

Uliana hadn't properly seen the drawing, so she wasn't sure what to expect, but the lady, called Hanna, came back to the large changing room with a box lined with tissue paper that she placed on the table. Anna folded her clothes as she undressed, it was odd having two people stand there but not much different than getting changed for gym class.

When Hanna lifted back the tissue she gasped, it was all in white, white fur, and a white satin material that had white embroidered patterns, the first part, was like a summer play suit, a sleeveless collared top and short shorts as one garment with a full length zipper. The next item was a surprise, as in the same fabric was a matching wrap around skirt, a square of fur fabric made a short cloak, and a fur headband held tall floppy silk ears, a second look at the skirt revealed a little ball of fur on the back as a rabbits tail.

While they waited around the worktable, Valechka could see through to a large room filled with cutting tables and sewing machines, where a dozen or so women were making costumes, and from what Marta had said only a few staff worked in there at weekends to cover for emergencies. Marta had been constantly on her phone talking to several people about the costume, and talking about studio numbers. Ending her call Marta said how studio four had the best backdrop for the costume, but it wouldn't be free for at least an hour, she had told the others, so they could take a tour in the mean time.

When the girls emerged from the changing room Valechka was disappointed that Uliana was not wearing the costume, she was back in her own clothes, with a few words from Marta and they were off on a tour of the studio complex, it seemed a hive of activity, and she saw other mothers in passing with their girls in tow. Many people called out greetings in their hurry to be somewhere, and Valechka saw sights from the mundane to the marvellous as she listened to the commentary from their two guides.

It was actually unfair to call the administration offices mundane, as they had nice carpets, modern furniture and lighting, and happy smiling staff, which was a world away from her own experience of office life. As for all the other wonders, it was as if the place were sprinkled in fairy dust, with bright colours, and the frequent sound of laughter. Sometimes she didn't know which way to look, as there were so many interesting things to see, and she didn't want to miss anything.

There was a place where the sets were built, and the backdrops were painted, making it hard to believe they were not in some Hollywood studio, it was just in this case all the performers were young girls. As they passed down one long corridor, pairs of doors either side were widely spaced out each with stencilled numbers and a light, and these were the studios where the photographers worked. The light above number four showed that it was not yet available, so they moved on to the IT department.

As they approached the large mostly open plan area, Anna said in a stage whisper that this was where Marta's boyfriend worked, she didn't get poked in the ribs for this, if anything Marta seemed to walk a little taller, proud to have a smart boyfriend.

Dmitri was his usual charming self, and Alina wanted to hijack Marta for a while, so Anna said they would sit and wait for her to get done. Mother and daughter stopped in unison as they read the plate on the door.

Marta - Development Consultant & Natasha's manager

Anna shrugged, she had sort of got used to it so it didn't shock her as it did the first time, but her visitors looked all round, Valechka thinking the top administrator at work for all his bluster didn't have such a smart office as this. Uliana immediately saw the chess set on the coffee table, then took in the array of foreign books and magazines, then noted the three cups which were on the bookcase. She read the engravings, 'Best new actress', and 'Best new scriptwriter', but the centre one on a plinth read - 'Lifesavers Award' with the sisters names added below.

Anna related a funny story about two of the cups, but said the third one was a private matter, and a story she couldn't tell. Valechka felt it must have deep significance, suspecting the story behind that little cup meant just what it said in the engraving.

Uliana was now sitting at the coffee table, though not much of it was visible, the board was a large one, with nice solid pieces, it seemed silly, but she was sure the game would be better somehow on this scale. She heard a woman's voice from outside the office calling out Anna's name.

"Hey Anna, haven't seen you in weeks, you got a new girl for me to immortalise on film."

"Hi Sandra, in case you've forgotten, you don't use film, come in and meet Uliana, and her mum Valechka."

Uliana liked Sandra she was really friendly, and she asked questions about her favourite subjects at school and about her hobbies, saying she would let her look at all her cameras when they got in the studio. Then Marta came in to say four was free, and Carina would pick up the costume and meet them on set.

Uliana felt swept along on the tide, glad her entourage knew where they were going as she had given up trying to keep track of where they were, she was starting to feel warm, wishing she hadn't been so frugal with the antiperspirant. It felt like she was looking down watching someone else, meeting Carina, Anna helping, and then sat on a high stool clad only in a soft white dressing gown. The colours and sounds became blurred, then suddenly there was this sharp pungent smell and she started coughing, and it was like she had woken abruptly from a dream.

Her mum was making a fuss but everyone else was calm, maybe it was the reality, or the excitement, or maybe she just forgot to breathe, but now she felt fine, and had to tell her mum several times that everything was fine. Getting up to walk round cleared her head, and although Anna had told her all about being 'on set' Sandra talked about what they were going to do and showed her the equipment like she promised.

Uliana had never worn make-up, now sitting back in the chair it was Carina's turn to talk her through a new experience, it was an odd feeling of pressure on her eyelids as the subtle blended colours were applied, then she worked on her lashes, but Carina kept talking about what she was doing and that helped. Lipstick was another new thing as well, her only other reference being balm for chapped lips during the cold winter. Looking in the mirror it was still the face she saw every morning, but not her as well, sort of more defined, Carina had made her look prettier, and her eyes looked bigger, and for once the rosy glow wasn't from the cold.

She was about to start dressing but Anna dragged her off to the adjoining bathroom for a last minute pee and a pep talk, by the end of which Uliana felt ready, it was only an audition, she was here to have fun, and learn how to respond to the feedback from the person taking the pictures.

On set Valechka was looking at the costume, finding the level of workmanship exquisite, hard to believe the number of hours it must have taken to make the play-suit alone, and to think some of these costumes were only worn by one girl for one photo set, which was a pity, but most of the costumes she had seen were hardly normal day wear. Across by the set Marta was talking with Sandra, about how they had turned an audition, stroke learning exercise for another model, into an initial portfolio, and a viable set for release, and asked if Sandra could try the same trick.

With help from Carina and Anna she was soon dressed, then the fur headband with the ears was held in place with lots of clips as that was the only item that wouldn't be coming off. For Uliana the only disappointment was that this costume didn't come with any of the fabulous shoes she had seen some of the girls wearing.

"Right, go break a leg."

"Anna, that wasn't funny, think about poor Sofia with her broken arm."

"Oops."

The set was mostly rocks of various sizes, with masses of foliage, in fact some of the plants were real, but the fake grass had been made lumpy, though it was still soft to sit on, and then Sandra was walking her round the set giving her ideas how to pose and make use of the props.

"OK Uliana I will be ready to start soon, I want to take a lot of pictures, and try out different ideas, perhaps do quite a long set so it's more like the real thing, even maybe take a break part way through. Unlike old fashioned cameras, these are digital so no worries about film, so we can take loads of pictures to get the ones we want to keep."

Having seen loads of pictures on Anna's computer gave her an idea of what to expect, and Anna had helped her do 'transitions', where she moved in stages between poses so as the camera man, or in this case woman had a chance to capture, or comment on what they were looking for. Sandra came up with lots of ideas, telling her to use the cloak more as a prop, and to think herself into the role as a rabbit, which caused her to smile, and set off a flurry of shutter action.

Once the girl started to relax into the situation, the poses got better, and Sandra thought that she had potential, and wouldn't mind working with her in the future, as anyone could see that this would not be her last visit to the studio. Marta's plan to make a set of this first outing was looking quite possible even this early in proceedings.

Uliana pulled the cord on the cloak, then played hide-n-seek behind the loose square of fur that felt so soft on her skin, as Sandra got her to think of the poses as taking on different shapes, asking her to move around the set to see if she could find the carrots. She was sure there were no carrots but played the inquisitive bunny as instructed, clambering around the set having fun. After trying to twitch her nose she bit her bottom lip to pretend she had rabbit teeth.

Four watchers in the background observed the display on set, Anna making quiet remarks on how well she was taking direction, and using her own initiative. Uliana took her time on the zipper lowering it a little at a time between poses until a narrow line of flesh was visible from neck to navel, then after highlighting the tail in a few shots she began to loosen the skirt, dropping it to the floor.

Anna smiled, Uliana was in the 'zone' at one with her photographer, mind free of any other distractions, and enjoying the role, and Sandra was bringing out the best in her model, to achieve the results that would show through in the end. She had Uliana expressing herself and thinking of topics that would bring forth natural facial reactions, rather than a strained smile that would ruin the tone of a set.

When Sandra said they were going to take a break for a drink and snack, Uliana thought she would have been happy to carry on posing, but a cool drink in this warm setting would be refreshing. She knew about the straw in her drink to avoid messing up her lipstick, so she was glad of all the little things Anna had told her about. As she wiggled on the seat to get comfortable one side of the outfit slipped off her shoulder, and Anna said that was the sort of move she needed on set, easing out of whatever she was wearing.

Uliana soaked up the praise as they all thought she was doing a good job. She was keen to get back on set, so Sandra could get enough good pictures to convince Ivan the boss that she could be one of the studio's models. She didn't know how long that would take, but then she could do some real picture sets, and perhaps her mum would worry less, and they might both be able to get new coats this winter.

Sandra was telling her to concentrate, now think of a happy memory; that would be playing in the summer when she was younger, squiggling her toes in a sand bar on the river Dnieper with the sun shinning, and thoughts of ice-cream. She rolled about over the floor and soon the suit was hanging around her waist, she looked up towards the camera, then down at the skin on show. Past her nipples that barely altered the flat plain of her chest, the most visible landmark was the dimple of her inny belly button, then the slight pad of flesh above the narrow indent of her slit that was now revealed by the open zipper.

"That's good Uliana, think naughty, think cheeky, yes that's fine."

At last she pulled off the the suit that had hung from her thighs, as she proudly stood there grinning, thinking up her next moves. As she now played about naked, she tried all the poses she had seen, even Anna's signature pose, and tried some of her own as a starfish then stretching like a ballet dancer, till she felt like trying the cloak again, then just draping it over her back so it was like a cape.

Sandra was impressed how expressive the girl could be, her pretty face going through a gamut of emotions, which was a useful trait in the younger girls, but by now she had a mass of images to select from, and decided to bring the session to a close, asking her little rabbit to lay down and close her eyes. With a few shots from various angles Sandra called it a day, although that wasn't the case, as she had three more girls booked in today.

The after shoot, clean up was the same-old same-old, as normal for all the others, but for the mother and daughter, it was part of the whole new world that they had entered, as Anna joked about fitting a seat-belt on the stool to get Uliana to sit still. Carina once again talked though the process of removing make-up, and said she would give her a book on adolescent skin care, along with some of the products she would need.

Valechka caught Marta's attention, and they moved away from the table to talk, it turned out the woman was concerned about if she would need to tip all the people who had been helping them, and how much the cosmetics Carina spoke of would cost.

"Please stop worrying, all these people are well paid by the studio, send them a card or present when New Year comes round again if you feel like it, they all want your daughter to do well. Those who work directly with a model earn a bonus relating to how well the model is doing, so if Carina wants to go on holiday twice this year she will make sure 'her girls' don't get spots. I want Uliana to do well as Ivan might give me a bonus for introducing her, so you see everyone here helps one another, as it's good for the studio and the models."

Stepping back to the table the current topic, between cleansing wipes was the choosing of a professional name, Valechka asked if it wasn't a bit premature, but Carina stated Uliana had done very well for a first timer, besides she had some powerful friends, looking up at the two sisters. Anna's Godfather impression was so bad they all started laughing.

It seemed Uliana had been through the alphabet and back, till her mum suggested Inga. She liked that straight away thinking it exotic, not a common name, and it sounded as if it could be Scandinavian, which with her blonde hair would be appropriate. Hanging up the robe she had worn at the table, Uliana pulled out a pair of panties with a flourish, stating she could now wear these on the way home. Anna's instant reply was she should wear the rest of her clothes too, as it was cold outside.

Valechka was startled by the sound of a mobile phone ringing, it was as if everybody here owned one, at work there was a tannoy system, and a few walkie-talkies that never worked that well.

"Hi, yes of course we're both here,.. No, just finished with make-up,... OK, give us fifteen minutes, and warn Tanya we're coming, bye."

Anna looked around, "Ivan, he's been looking over Sandra's shoulder at the raw set, sorry that means the unedited set, she just wanted to review it on a big screen while she was waiting for her next model."

Mother and daughter were both looking on expectantly at the mention of the studio boss, and Anna let the tension build for a moment. "Oh he wanted to know if you were still here, maybe sign a few papers, that sort of thing, you know, like they do with all new models."

From the yelling and jumping up and down it appeared that Uliana was looking forwards to a career in modelling.

Valechka found it hard to come to terms with the informality, as here even the lowest member of staff would call the boss by his first name, and no one scowled or complained, it was the total opposite of office life as she knew it. Even the work hours from what she had heard were informal, people coming and going as they pleased, both willing and happy to come in at the drop of a hat when needed.

Ivan welcomed them to his office, and to the studio, assuming Valechka would allow Uliana to become a model. Tanya was on hand with refreshments as always, and when they were all seated, he asked Uliana what she had thought of her experience, and if she would like to continue being a model. He was left in no doubt as to her enthusiasm to take part, and even learned the name by which she wished to be known, he brought up a page on screen, checked a list, then confirmed that she could use Inga as her studio name.

The sisters offered to leave while they went through the contractual, and financial papers, but Valechka said they should stay and maybe explain any parts she didn't understand.

Ivan was pleased to find out how well Uliana was doing in school, and that she was taking English lessons, and said she should enrol for the computing class as well.

At her response that the class was fully booked, and they couldn't afford to own one of their own anyway, Ivan winked knowingly, telling her things changed.

When at last Valechka thought the last piece of paper had been signed he pushed one more across the table, "That's for the sign on payment and for a set modelling payment."

Valechka wasn't sure she knew all the terms yet and asked for him to explain.

"OK, you've signed that Uliana will only work with our network, so as a show of good faith we pay you a retainer, cash in that envelope to help with any immediate expenses, second point, Sandra took a lot of pictures at the audition, as we've agreed to hire Uliana, normally you wouldn't get paid for doing an audition. But. In this case we have lots of usable material, enough for 'Inga-Set one', so you'll get a modelling fee in the next week for being in the studio, and a week or so after it gets on the web site, we will pay you dependent on the number of times it's downloaded."

Later in the administration section Uliana got her laminated card marked 'Model' and her mum's card having a picture with a dazed expression bore the title 'Chaperone'.

She was still thinking of the envelope, all those crisp new notes, it made her wonder if every department in the complex had smelling salts on hand, to think she was talking of handing out tips from her paltry earnings, she had moved into a whole new dimension.

Waiting in the nice warm reception area for the cab to come Uliana had an idea, she wanted to do something special, a week ago unthinkable, she whispered in her mother's ear, a momentary flicker of worry was replaced by a broad smile, of course her daughter was right, she nudged Uliana to go over and ask her friends.

"Marta, Anna, would you please come out with us to celebrate, I was thinking pizza."

The cab arrived and receptionist watched them rush out, eager for their pizza's, she laughed, enthusiastic kids celebrating, she expected it was the same everywhere.

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To be continued in Chapter 51.

Any comments you have would be welcome, remember you only get better stories by helping novice authors like myself with feedback. Following on from that comment I am looking into a story line of Anna exploring her new emerging feelings with Eve in a later chapter as suggested by one of my readers. (Maybe around ch 60, still working it into the plot)