The Border: The Complete Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

could always turn back at a later point. He was walking fast and didn't seem to have glanced back to check she was following, so she simply kept pace with him until he reached an open door and stepped into a small, nondescript office that contained only a desk, a camera on a tripod, and a battered-looking wooden chair, along with a plastic palm tree in a pot in the corner. It looked like the kind of office someone had set up at short notice.
    “Take a seat, uh... Katie,” the guy said, pointing at the chair as he made his way behind his desk and set his clipboard down. “And shut the door, yeah?”
    Doing as she was told, she set her bag next to the chair before sitting.
    “Did you have any trouble finding the place?” the guy asked, sitting behind his desk and not even looking at her as he rifled through some papers.
    She shook her head.
    Finally, he glanced at her.
    “I mean... No,” she said, trying to smile even though nerves were eating at her belly. “No trouble.”
    “Sorry about the buzzer on the door,” he continued, sounding a little bored as he looked back down at the papers. “Damn thing's needed fixing for months.”
    She forced another smile, but she was already feeling extremely uncomfortable. Sitting with her knees together and her hands in her lap, she watched as the guy jotted something down on a piece of paper, and she couldn't shake the feeling that he was busy with something else and could barely even find the time to see her.
    “You got some ID there?” he asked finally.
    “Oh, yeah...” Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her driving license and placed it on the desk for him.
    “Yep.” He glanced at the license for a moment, before looking down at his papers. “So you're twenty-two, huh?”
    “Um, yes.”
    “That's cool. And, uh, how long have you wanted to get into this line of work, Katie?”
    “Just... I heard about it, and the money sounded good.”
    “That's what I like,” he replied. “Honesty.”
    “Everyone needs money,” she admitted.
    “And you know it's modeling?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And you know...” He paused, before looking at her again. “You understand what that usually means in this context, don't you? There's the type of modeling you get into by going to meet someone at a big fashion house, and there's the kind of modeling you get into by answering an online ad and meeting a guy late at night in an office like this.”
    She paused. “I... Yeah. I guess.”
    “Huh.” He stared at her for a moment. “You're not flaky, are you?”
    “Flaky?”
    “Indecisive. Unreliable.”
    “No,” she replied, shaking her head. “Definitely not.”
    “That's good. 'Cause the one thing I hate is people who are flaky. If you're gonna do something, do it. If not, don't. Just make a goddamn decision, that's all I ask. I hate having my time wasted.” He continued to stare at her. “Can you stand up for me, Katie?”
    She opened her mouth to reply, before simply getting to her feet.
    “Turn around.”
    She did as she was told.
    “How tall are you?” he asked.
    “Five foot six.”
    “That's what I thought.” He made a note. “Weight?”
    “Um... About a hundred and thirty pounds.”
    “Yep.” Another note. “Glad to see you're not a stick insect.”
    “I can lose some if you want.”
    “No. God, no.”
    She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
    “Good,” he replied, making yet another note before looking at her again. “Take your clothes off.”
    “I... How far?”
    “All the way.”
    “All the way?”
    “All the way.” He looked down at his papers again and made a few more notes, before glancing at her. “Yay or nay?”
    She paused, before nodding and starting to unbutton her shirt. Her fingers were trembling and, with each button, she considered stopping and leaving, but she kept reminding herself how good it would feel if she could actually start making even half the money promised by the advert. Finally, she slipped out of her shirt and dropped it onto