Mr. Vissel said, “This is Janice Littlejohn. She’s doing a piece on me for Esquire magazine. Say a few words to her for the article.”

I smiled, but I didn’t know what to say. Marcus was putting me on the spot. I said, “I thank Mr. Vissel for taking a chance on me years ago when I was just a college student with a handsome face and a still developing body.”

The reporter nodded and recorded my comment on tape.

She asked me, “So, what do you think about the Model Mansion and all of his ideas for the fashion world?”

Since I wasn’t totally informed about everything, I said the only thing that made sense.

“Well, Marcus always had great ideas, ever since I first met him, so it was only a matter of time before we saw some of those ideas come to fruition.”

Marcus nodded to her and said, “Janice, if you’ll excuse me for a minute, I’ll be right back out.”

“Oh, no problem. I’ll just sit here and enjoy the view,” she told him.

Marcus stood up and looked at me through his dark sunshades. “Terrance, follow me into the guesthouse,” he told me.

Billy put a hand on my shoulder and said, “I’ll see you later on, man.”

I followed behind Mr. Vissel, feeling like the man of the hour.

When we got inside the guesthouse, he led me to a quiet study with a small library and closed the door behind us. We sat in comfortable wooden chairs next to a long wooden desk, where Marcus took off his sunshades and looked me in the eyes with compassion.

“How’s life been treating you, Terrance? How’s business?”

I nodded. “It’s still paying the bills.”

He just stared at me. He said, “Is that all you want to do with your life, pay the bills? What about your goals and aspirations?”

I really didn’t have any aspirations anymore. I just liked keeping my life simple. I shook my head and said, “I don’t need or want any extra stress in my life, so I just like to maintain what I have.”

He nodded to me. “Are you still single?”

“Yeah,” I told him.

“Any kids yet?”

“Nope.”

“You still don’t have a family?”

“Nope.”

He nodded again. “Perfect,” he commented. “That’s why I called you out here to have this chat.”

I grimaced. “So, there’s no real shoot at the Santa Monica restaurant tomorrow?”

“Yeah, there’s still a shoot for tomorrow. I’m shooting that one myself. I just had some other things I wanted to chat with you about while you’re out here.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

He said, “You really could make a lot more money if you remained with one agency. But I respect your independence. A lot of models would never last as long as you have on their own, but things are changing, Terrance. Things are really changing.”

I said, “I see. I really like what you have going on here. So you just use your own premises to shoot models, clothes, scenes, spreads, the whole nine?”