February 25, 2005.

How the Bеаυty Pаrk began...

by Lеаnnе Bеll

"And there's nothing I can say to change your mind..?"

Alеc Jаrvіs held the cell phone tightly, as though willing the uncertain female voice on the other end to tell him what he wanted to hear. But he knew even then that it was hopeless. All she wanted was to cancel the appointment and get off the phone with him as quickly as possible.

"Okay then," he sighed, trying to sound understanding. "I appreciate your calling. And listen, when things die down a bit, you're more than welcome to come out anytime."

He flipped the phone closed and dropped it back into his jacket pocket, feeling the weight of yet another rejection weigh heavily on his shoulders. She had been the fourth woman in two days to cancel her interview, the fourth to mumble her apologies and make a weak excuse about a forgotten commitment or sudden schedule change. Even when he'd asked them directly whether they'd been scared away by the protesters downtown or the scathing feature story that had run on the front page, they'd all denied it.

He stepped out of his car and walked gingerly through the fresh layer of spring mud that coated the broken and ragged plot of land he now owned. In the distance, the earthmovers sat in still obedience, waiting patiently for their next command. There wouldn't be any more ground breaking today, he thought, surveying the puddles of muddy water that dotted the landscape of wild grasses and weeds, the remnants of a construction site prematurely halted in its metamorphosis from vacant stretch of land to place of beauty. He wondered if this would be the closest he'd ever get to realizing his dream, his Bеаυty Pаrk, his place of sheer delight where women could be admired and men could be inspired. He smiled to himself wryly - he'd almost put that on the letterhead.

What had seemed like a difficult dream even two weeks ago had turned into a near impossible one now. Finding and buying the land, arranging the zoning permits, hiring the crews, the architect, the landscape people, advertising for models - those had been merely run of the mill headaches but this, this latest onslaught - this would probably put an end to it all. A group of feminists in town had made it their business to find out what was going out here, in this place called the future home of the Bеаυty Pаrk, and all hell had broken loose.

Protesters, placards, shrill voices screeching on radio call in shows that this Œmale fantasy land' was offensive, immoral, a disgusting throwback to the patriarchal days of female exploitation. His email inbox had been flooded with vile, angry messages and when they had somehow found his phone number, he'd had to get a new cell phone just to stop the barrage of abuse. A local reporter had camped out outside his house and assailed him on his way out the door, demanding to know why he was bringing such immorality to their cozy small town. The coverage had been edited when it finally aired, so that it made him look cavalier and chauvinistic. And then the front page headline, screaming "Sеx Thrіll Camp to Opеn Nеаr School", which brought its own flurry of outraged citizens clamoring for something to be done to stop it.

All of it he could have tolerated, every bit of it. But when the furor became so large and frightening that it scared off all the women who had applied to work at the Bеаυty Pаrk, he knew it was finally over. No beauties, no Bеаυty Pаrk. If the prospect of a safe, beautiful, happy place for models and photographers to work together wasn't appealing enough to these young women, he didn't know what else he could do.

He glanced up at the smoke gray clouds and saw a small shaft of sunlight struggling to peek through. The rain had stopped, but it was unlikely to be a typically bright and auspicious spring day. His thoughts drifted - maybe he could try this in Europe, maybe beauty didn't inspire such loathing over there. Maybe if -

Movement caught his eye. There, coming through the glade of trees on the edge of the property. He turned and squinted, and stood transfixed. A young woman was walking towards him, twirling a large white umbrella over her shoulder. Her naked shoulder. She was completely nude.

"Mr. Jarvis?" she asked, bathing him with a heartfelt smile that tugged at some part of him, some part that wanted to feel that happy for the rest of his days. She was sublimely beautiful, with long silken dark hair that fluttered in the light breeze and danced across her face before she could brush the strands away. Her eyes were a blue he never knew eyes could be, greenish-aqua and clear like a Caribbean lagoon. Her smile was dazzling in its simplicity, its promise of happiness and delight. And her body - almost against his will his eyes drifted over the perfect curves of her long, lithe figure, the slope of her breasts and the swell of her hips. Even in the scant sunlight, her skin glowed with health and vitality. As she stood there twirling her umbrella he was almost afraid to ask why she was here, in case by some cosmically tragic mistake she was here to protest against his park for the news or some such ruse.

"Ah, yes." He cleared his throat and held out his hand. "Alеc Jаrvіs."

She shook it firmly, more firmly than he'd expected from a woman. "Nice to meet you. I'm Nіkkі, and I'm here to interview for a job at the Bеаυty Pаrk."

His heart nearly dropped into his stomach. "Oh. Oh, I see. Well, uh..." he thought quickly, still distracted by her loveliness and how absolutely nonplused she was standing before him with nothing more than an umbrella and a smile. "Well, Nikki, thanks so much for coming out, but I'm afraid..."

He looked around woefully, as if just doing so would impart to her all the various reasons why the Bеаυty Pаrk would never be. "I'm afraid it looks like the Bеаυty Pаrk will have to be put on hold for a while."

"Because of those women in town?" she asked, a slight frown creasing her forehead. She waved her hand. "Forget about them. I think what you're doing is wonderful, and I want to help you make it happen."

Alec stammered, a smile forcing its way past his lips. "Well...I mean, that's wonderful, Nikki. I appreciate that very much. I just don't know if..."

"What do you think, am I Bеаυty Pаrk material?" she asked suddenly, striking a pose in the long grass and using the umbrella as a prop. She smiled playfully. "I'm just wonderful to work with, I promise. I've been modeling for a few years and I adore it, I promise I'd be the most popular model you've got."

"Right now you're the only model I've got." Alec said ruefully.

"Well there you go." She said. "It's a start. Build your park and I'll be your first model. I guarantee once people see what it's about, more models will want to work here."

Alec stood dumbfounded, wanting to agree wholeheartedly with her but still stinging from the abuse he'd taken lately. He watched Nikki move through the grass, noting how smoothly and elegantly she moved, how practiced she seemed. As a photographer himself, he knew the signs of a good model when he saw one. She lay down in the grass and regarded him evenly, a challenging look that defied him to think of her in some sexual way.

"Nikki, I can't promise you anything." He said, hunching down to look her in the eye. "I can't promise it will be easy on you, I can't promise anyone will even show up. It doesn't seem fair to involve you with this project before I know what will happen."

"I know what will happen if you don't hire me." She said plainly. "If you don't hire me, and you don't build this place, the hysterical twits in town will have scored another victory. They will have won another battle in their puritanical war. I, for one, want this nonsense about how evil a woman's body is to stop, once and for all. And I can do that with you. No one else is doing it, that's for sure."

Alec smiled. She said it so simply, so matter-of-factly, as if building the park was a moral imperative and a personal favor to her. He held out his hand and helped her to her feet.

"So do I have the job?" she asked. "Don't tell me I got all undressed for nothing."

"You've got the job." He laughed. And as the sun pushed through the grumbling clouds, the light dancing in Nikki's eyes told him this would be good. It would be very good indeed.

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© Copyright 2005 Body in Mind | Written by Lеаnnе Bеll | Photos by Alеxаndеr Fеdоrоv

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