Breaking the Rules by Barbara Taylor Bradford Read Free Book Online Page B

picked up his camera and stepped away from her. ‘It’s okay, practise for a few seconds. Don’t look so worried. Smile, M, give me a few dazzling smiles.’
    She did as he suggested, and proved so adept he started to shoot immediately, constantly throwing out encouraging words. ‘That’s great! Right on! Now turn left, move your body more. Hey, honey, you’re a natural. Wow! That’s great! Hold that pose. You’re fabulous!’
    He went on photographing her for half an hour, exclaiming encouragement and praise, only stopping to grab a different camera, or reload film. Finally he stopped, sat down on a tall stool, and beckoned to her. ‘Stand here, M, stand here in front of me.’
    ‘Was I all right?’ she asked quietly. ‘Did I move the way you wanted?’
    ‘ Absolutely. And you’re great. But I need to ask you something…have you ever had bangs?’
    ‘Do you mean a fringe?’ She ran her first finger across her forehead. ‘That’s what we call it in England…a fringe. And no, I haven’t.’
    ‘What about short hair? Or have you always worn it long?’
    ‘Mostly, but it was short when I was much younger—when I was a little girl, actually. Why? Don’t you like my hair?’
    ‘It’s magnificent. Beautiful. So long and glossy, and yes, evendramatic. There’s a lot you can do with long hair.’ Frankie pursed his lips, held his head on one side, and then, suddenly turning away from her, he shouted, ‘Caresse! Come on in here, would you, please?’
    A moment later the petite red-headed pixie was running into the studio. ‘Yes, Frankie, here I am. What do you need?’
    ‘Where’s Agnes? Is she here?’
    ‘She said she’d arrive by two. With Luke Hendricks, remember? He’s doing that shoot for the ad agency with you.’
    Frankie looked at the big round clock on the opposite wall. It was almost one. Turning to Caresse, he said crisply, in an urgent voice, ‘Find Agnes. Try her mobile. Ask her if she can come in a bit earlier, as soon as possible, in fact, and locate Marguerite Briguet, please. Tell her I want her to do a very special makeup job. Okay?’
    ‘Right away, Frankie!’ Caresse scooted off.
    Leaning forward, Frankie Farantino gave M a hard, penetrating stare. ‘I need to give you a whole new look. It will be wonderful for you, but we might have to cut your hair.’
    M gasped, taken aback, then stood there gaping at him, her dark eyes widening. She was momentarily speechless. Cut off her hair?
    Frankie murmured in a gentler tone, ‘I promise you it will change your life. And it will be a truly unique look, very special to you—’
    ‘A reinvention?’ she asked, cutting in. ‘Is that what you’re suggesting?’
    He nodded, continuing to stare at her speculatively. ‘That’s what I mean. Will you go for it?’
    ‘ Absolutely. I love reinventions, Frankie.’
    ‘I really don’t want to cut this hair,’ Agnes Manton said softly, smoothing one hand down the long black hair that was one ofM’s great assets. ‘Look at it, Frankie, it’s like a…a mantle of shining black silk. It would be criminal to cut this off, truly a criminal act.’
    ‘Don’t be so melodramatic,’ Frankie shot back, a brow lifting. ‘It is only hair, for God’s sake, and so it will grow back again, Agnes.’
    ‘I don’t mind,’ M interjected, swivelling her head to look up at the hairdresser. ‘And Frankie’s right, you know, I can grow it back if I want to.’
    Agnes nodded, but remained silent, studying the young woman carefully, liking her.
    Frankie said, ‘I want to show you something. Just a minute.’ He stepped away from the dressing table in the hair and makeup room at the back of the vast studio, headed for the bookcase at the far end. Taking down a picture book, he flicked through it, quickly found the photographs he wanted, and walked back to the two women.
    ‘Look at these, Agnes, and you’ll better understand what I’m aiming for. Here.’ He handed her the book, indicating several