The Circle Ch. 32

Renee and Ellen looked at each other. Ellen said, "Good questions; I'm on it."

Ellen typed madly on her iPad for a few minutes and then had some interesting results. She said, "All sorts of supermodels have appeared inPlayboy at all points in their careers: Kate Moss, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and Elle MacPherson to mention only a few. They're still in the news, and still on the A-list, and so are some others. I'd have to talk to their agent to find out if there were any economic impact."

Alex asked, "What do they pay for the privilege?"

Renee smiled, "Four-hundred-fucking-thousand dollars." She looked at the email to be sure.

Alex whistled, and several of the others gasped.

Bob said, "Sounds like a no brainer to me. Do you have to sleep with Hugh?"

Ellen scolded, "It's not about the money, it's about the image and publicity. She'll be featured, so the magazine will want to get pictures of her in informal situations at home – with all of us, and then a description of how she lives, probably hyped up a bit to make it sound sexy, except in Renee's case her life is already sexy and erotic. Hugh will have to stand in line."

Ellie sat nursing little Patrick, "Does that mean we get to appear inPlayboy?"

Ellen laughed, "Maybe. You'd better hurry and get your pre-preggers figure back."

Ellie flipped Ellen the bird, but with a snarky smile. Since there were both some of the youngest in The Circle, they'd bonded. Despite the crude gestures, there was an air of love between the two.

Bill said, "I recommend you acceptPlayboy, but turn downPenthouse. The image you've been cultivating is of a sophisticated supermodel who is the go-to person for fashion, make up, various products, and even resorts. If you look at the career tracks of many of the models they remain popular in those areas for a decade, and then branch off, some end up on television, others take up writing, and others disappear but seem happy."

He continued, "Penthouse is much further along the scale of erotica thanPlayboy. I bet you won't find many fashion models who've been in there. You don't hear of many of their models after the fact either."

Ellen looked up from her iPad. "He's right. None of the A-list have posed; not even the B-list."

Renee said to Ellen, "That settles it. Email Rhonda that I'll do thePlayboy shoot, but not the other."

Ellen smiled, "Oh, boy. This is going to be so much fun."

Several of The Circle wondered just what it was about doing aPlayboy photo shoot that made it 'fun' for Ellen.