Matt Windsor had been one of the lucky ones. A model talent scout had seen him one day, when Matt was running sprints after school. He was just a junior, but looked the slightest bit older. His dark blond hair, and a rugged face, set him apart from most of the other students. The talent scout, Bella, had approached him. "Young man, please excuse this rude old lady who's interrupting you while you're sweating and just want to drink. I'm Bella Schmidt. I work for a talent agency, and I wonder if you'd like to audition for us. " He eyed the woman warily. "Listen, I'm not asking YOU, young man, you're probably too young to make a decision on your own anyway. What I'd like to do..." She dug around in a small shopping bag she had "is this. When you go home tonight, give this packet to your folks. And give them my card. No promises, and no hard feelings, but I think you'd be great as a fashion model. Anyway, it's late and you need to get yourself dried off and home. Enjoy the rest of your evening. "
With that, Bella turned, and disappeared around a corner. Matt didn't know that he had just met one of the leading scouts in the male fashion industry. Bella was known for her eye: she could spot marketable talent, but that wasn't her strength. Her forte was finding POTENTIAL talent: young men who, if they had proper guidance, could some day be names in the field. She saw that in Matt: his looks "read" too old for teen fashion, but he was also as raw as a good porterhouse steak (at least that's the expression she used. Bella was a vegetarian, so she wouldn't know from experience). If he worked, and worked HARD, by the time he was in his early 20s, he had potential to be one of the best adult male models.
That's what she told his parents, when Matt's mom had recognized the work in her portfolio, called the number, and found out that this was all legitimate. She, Matt, and Matt's dad, were sitting in Bella's office two weeks later. Reflecting, after he had gone home after his 38th birthday party, which both his mom and Bella had attended (they drank a toast to his deceased father: lost too soon to cigarettes), women had always taken extremely good care of him: Mom, Bella, his English teacher Ms Maloney, and so many others. It was Ms. Maloney who had the frank talk with his mom and Matt: "Mrs. Windsor, a teacher is not supposed to say this. Teachers are supposed to encourage as much education as anyone can handle. " She made a tight smile. "Mrs. Windsor, I think Matt would dry up and die in college. He's not the studying sort." It was true. That day that Bella Waltz had seen him, Matt was supposed to be in the library, getting a book report and oral presentation ready. He had sat there for about twenty minutes before he got so bored, he left. He had to MOVE. None of the clubs would be opened for at least another 6 hours, and nothing good would be happening for about 8, so he went to run. His grades were ok: he was motivated when he needed to be. But... you know how there are always those students who do EVERY extra credit math problem, or spend the time coloring each country on their map of Asia a different shade? Or who read the "optional" book for that week's English class? Matt wasn't one of those. His heart just wasn't there. So when Ms Maloney had closed the door and said "Mrs. Windsor, it seems you'd already accepted that Matt was not going to be a scholarship student, and you'd be paying for his college education - or he would be. Well, the cost for those couple of years of modeling training is about the same. " She lowered her voice even more. "You must never tell anyone I've told you this. No one learns anything in college anymore. NO ONE. Your son has a chance to do something most men would give their eye teeth to do, or, as they might say - if they did - their right testicle. DO IT. If this doesn't workout, Mrs. Windsor, Matt will be 20? 21? That's not too old to go back to school. This is a chance that most boys , or young men, don't get. TAKE IT! They did. And Bella Waltz proved that her reputation as one of the best, was earned. She found a hair stylist for Matt, and a skin specialist. A personal trainer. A dietician. She found him an apartment that he shared with 5 other young models (No, readers, sorry, nothing there. They were all so tired at the end of one of "Bella's Days" that it didn't happen. Sorry). Matt began to become aware of his desires while he was in that apartment, but his clubbing days, at least for the present, were over. He laughed about that. Had he known... No, he still would have done it. He remembered Bella's call when he had his first audition. There were the photos, the grooming. His chest hair had begun to grow in, vigorously. Other agents would have had him get laser treatment so that it didn't grow back after it was shaved. Not Bella. "At some point, Matt, you'll age out of the young market, and chest hair will do you good." Of course, she was right. She had his stylist get someone in to shave him and, even though he did not get the job at that audition, he got four more. And then another four. And then, all of a sudden, he had three offers. He smiled as he remembered that day with Bella "Bella, TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS?" and her reaction "I know, it's peanuts. No , you're not taking that one, doll. Let me call them." During the call, he heard this sweet, grandmotherly lady use words his father wouldn't let him use. At the end of it, she smiled. "Now that's more like it. It's 30,000." For that job, they flew him to Acapulco. And in about four months, his picture was in ads featuring one of the countries leading female models. He was a volley ball player, letting a ball hit him as he stared at her walking down the beach. That first job got him the second one. And the third one. And his career took off. Pretty soon, he was able to pay off all the loans for his modeling education, to move his folks into a bigger house, and of course, to take his own apartment. He was 23. What most people don't know is that, in the world of modeling that Matt was in, there is a lot of lonely time. Yes, there were the jobs, the gym classes, the stylist appointments, wardrobe, but there were many evenings alone. "Touch drugs, we're done Mattie," was all that Bella had to say to him. He never touched the stuff. He thought about it, but when he saw one of the top young male models crash during a shoot, get thrown out, and never work again, he was convinced. He had too much to lose. Bella never said anything to him about sex though, and while he never said anything to her, he was sure she knew: he started being sexually active, at about 22. He had his first date with another man, then his first sexual encounter with one, and then he lost his cherry. He never discussed any of this with his folks, or Bella, but she must have known: she'd come to visit, and after she was gone, he'd find condoms in the apartment. Or a larger job of lubricant than he had. One time, when he still had the marks on his wrists from his first bondage session, Bella had ended there meeting by giving him a book. "Read this Matt. It has a lot of information on material and technique, if you're going this way." She wasn't around to see him blush. He and Bella got older together, and she was there to tell him "you know, something you have to learn. Models age out of jobs. You're just about at the point where the jobs where you are wearing as little as possible, will end. But you have a reputation, and it's a good one. You'll stop getting the chest shavings now, because you'll be moving into older roles." She was right. Rather than a "style model," he was becoming a fashion model. He did a little runway, but it really wasn't for him. Still, if you picked up an issue of "Uomo" or "Vogue Men," or something like that, you'd see him. He did several television commercials for colognes. The money rolled in. He was 28. One day, when he was meeting Bella for their every other day meetings (she met with ALL of her models at least 2-3 times a week), she had a visitor. "Matt, meet Mr. Stanton. He's a financial planner." Matt looked confused. She smiled. "Matt, here's some more news about the field. You're about to start aging into adult roles. After that, I'm afraid it's really the end of the line. It'll be time to transition out of modeling, or not. But you've made a lot of money, Matt, and you've held onto most of it. Now, Mr. Stanton is going to help you make it work for you. " She paused. "Do you know of a model by the name of Jim Hammer?" Matt's eyes got wide. Jim Hammer was one of his idols, in more ways than one. Jim was probably about 5, maybe 7, years older than him. They had different looks, and had never auditioned for the same job, but there was more than one job where Jim was hanging around, because he had been cast for another job. He THOUGHT Jim had smiled at him once or twice, but they had never spoken. He hadn't seen Jim in about 3 years. "OH SURE. Wow. He's a true star." Bella shook his head. "He is. Some would say he WAS. He's one of mine too, Matt. One of my older children. You don't see him working much anymore do you?" "No. Almost never." She smiled. "He's working. He does catalog work , commercials for the hunting and fishing commercials, he's done an informercial or two, but his career is, essentially over. And it's ok. He doesn't need to work. He works when he wants to. Mr. Stanton took care of that." "Mr. Stanton smiled. "Please call me Clarence, Matt." He sat down with Matt and asked a lot of questions. Questions Matt couldn't answer, like his tolerance for risk, how he felt about investing in munitions companies, drug companies, etc. Mom and Dad were both still alive, and he checked with them. He came back with the answers to Mr. Stanton's questions, and Clarence got to work. When Matt got his first statement, he didn't understand it. Then the phone rang. "Matt. It's Bella. I'm here with Mr. Stanton. Can you pull out the statement you got? He's going to lead you through it." All Matt remembered, from that first call, was saying "Wait. You mean my money is now 115% of what it was when we started. How did that happen?" He heard Bella laugh when Clarence said "Think of it as magic, Matt. All magic." He was 33. That's when he saw the number of callbacks decrease. He had more free time on his hands. Bella didn't call as often. She'd check in and see if he were ok. "You have plenty of money Matt. Mr. Stanton shows me the statements. Ask your dad if you want verification. Your dad is very smart." Bella didn't know that it was just about then that Matt's dad had had the x ray that showed the first spot. You may know the line from the song "it won't be long now/till you drag your feet to slow the circle down." And so it was. Matt was 38. He hadn't had a call back in 4 months. He had started taking classes. And he was fine. Just fine.
Then the call came "Matt, it's Bella. You know, your old friend Bella." Matt laughed. "My goddess. How are you? " "I'm fine darling. Are you keeping active?" Matt had just kissed a date goodbye : it was 10:30 in the morning, so he blushed. "I am Bella." "Well, if you'd like to be more active, I have a gig for you. Now, it doesn't pay what you used to get paid, but it's exposure. It's catalog work. You know, those clothing companies that appeal to older men?" "Yeah, I do. Mom used to get them all the time." "Well, they're looking for a hairy, dark blond man to do a spread with... Jim Hammer." Matt's mouth dropped. HIS IDOL? He'd do the job for nothing. He told Bella that, and she laughed. "Hon, no man is worth that. You will NOT do it for nothing. But you'll do it." HELL YEAH Bella. " "Hell Belle. I like that." She laughed. "If I ever do a drag show, remind me, love. Ok, you need to be there at..." and she gave him address and time.
Matt never lost the habit of showing up early, and he was on set twenty minutes before he needed to be. And there was Jim. Apparently, this crew knew him. He was hanging with them, laughing, drinking what looked to be herb tea. "GOD HE'S GORGEOUS" Matt thought to himself. "Do I dare? DO I?" Then Jim was waving to him. "MATT! He smiled. "I remember seeing you around. Good to see you again. So, we're gonna sell some clothes to our dad's group huh?" "Uh, uh... I guess so." Jim laughed. "SURE WE ARE. Open a few buttons, half smile, and... you've got their wives hooked Matt. " A friendship developed that day. At the end of a long day, he felt Jim's hand on his shoulder. "You up for dinner, kid?" "Uh, I haven't eaten yet, so, sure." Jim smiled. "You know , one of the good things about being in this "age cohort" as they call it, is we don't have to worry as much about what NOT to eat. So, let's go get a steak, ok?" Matt smiled. "Sounds good to me." You can kind of fill in the rest, but it didn't happen that night. Or the second time they went to dinner. Third time, Jim invited Matt over for a drink. He spent the night, and left, wearing clothes he borrowed from Jim They became a couple. Both of them were versatile, but Jim tended more to the top bunk. Matt loved it when he felt Jim on top of him, his mouth hunting for Matt's, his stubble rubbing on Matt, and most of all... when his cock found Matt's hole. (Matt learned, later, that Jim was famous for his care at lovemaking). He wasn't AS happy when Jim said something like "FUCK ME STUD," and rolled onto his back, but he did it, and thought about Jim fucking him. Or those few times when Jim would bring out the ropes and smile. "Ya game?" Matt always had the same answer "Yes sir." After about six months, they moved in together. "Makes it easier for me boys." Bella told them one night, when they took her out to dinner. "Means I only have to make one call when I have a job for the two of you. Which I do." She smiled. "This is a very well paying gig." She explained it to them. It wasn't catalog work: it was fitness magazine work: one of the magazines was doing a spread on "Men who kept in shape." "The shoot is in two weeks, so you have time to hit the gym guys. Start hitting it. " Jim and Matt had never worked out together, but Bella suggested that they try it. She knew they were both competitive, and their workouts would become more intense if they did. She was right again. All was going well, until the night when Jim worked out late. That's when things started . That's when their lives changed.