Thanks for all the reviews. I've got maybe 35 people with some kind of alert now. Wow I'm impressed.
You know what I'm going to say here, I DON'T OWN ANYTHING. On with the show.
The next morning Effie bounded into my bedroom hollering that it was going to be a big, big, big day. She stopped short when she was us lying naked in bed.
"Get out Effie." I yell at her, she hurriedly leaves the room and I could hear her high heels clicking against my hardwood floors. I hoped she wouldn't scratch the surface. I heard her yell to someone that she found Katniss too.
Katniss woke up and asked if Effie was really here or if she had dreamt it. I mumbled that she was really here.
We dressed quickly and headed downstairs where Effie and Haymitch were drinking coffee waiting for us.
I pour us both mugs of coffee as Katniss sat at the table and glared at Effie.
"You ask them," Effie said to Haymitch.
"Ask us what?" I asked as I handed Katniss her coffee with 3 creams and 3 sugars. Katniss was having a staring contest with Haymitch. Haymitch looked away first and of course, Katniss won.
"Effie was just telling me she walked in on you two naked in bed. She said we'd definitely have to get a topless shot of Peeta and she really wants one of the two of you in bed. Not having sex or anything, just together in bed." Haymitch explains.
We all waited for Katniss' answer.
She shocked all of us when she replied "I suppose that would be ok."
Haymitch choked on his coffee and I almost dropped my mug. Effie looked excited and soon after she was hurrying us off to get ready for the day. We quickly packed some comfortable clothes and the four of us headed to the train station. We spent most of our time on the train watching old movies from the 21st century. Her favorite was a comedy called Zombieland and I loved Fast 5. Then we went to our room to sleep and fucked like rabbits on the floor, against the wall, sitting in a chair and finally on the bed. I was insatiable and she was willing. The next day went by fast. We arrived in the Capital to be quickly whisked off to be prepped and dressed for lunch at an amazing restaurant way at the top of a skyscraper. It slowly spun around so from our table we could see not only the capital but all the way to the ocean in the west. We ate an amazing lunch of medium steaks, baked potatoes and garden salads. We followed that with delicious chocolate chip cookies topped with vanilla ice cream and when Katniss asked for more whipped cream the waiter brought out the entire can, and she managed to swipe it and shove it in her purse before anybody saw.
Afterward, we went on a tour of the Capital, seeing all the majestic sites hand in hand while a camera crew and two photographers followed us around. We stopped to eat dinner at another fabulous restaurant then after that we went to a club for a few hours and danced.
We were all having a good time and Haymitch even managed to get Effie to dance with him.
After several hours of drinking and dancing we finally decided to call it a night and head up to our rooms. When a very drunk Effie and Haymitch stumbled out of the elevator neither one of us bothered to tell Haymitch he was getting off on the wrong floor. Something about the light touch she gave him told us not to bother. Hopefully they'd sleep well tonight.
Katniss and I retired to our penthouse suite and used the entire can of whipped cream and soon after, fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
The next morning, we were up and ready to go before Effie or Haymitch. Together Katniss and I went to the lobby and demanded to know Effie's room number. One our way back upstairs Katniss stopped and bought a disposable camera. We went up to Effie's room and I rapidly pounded on the door until a very gruffy, half naked and angry Haymitch answered the door Katniss quickly snapped several pictures then took off running down the hall.
"Sleep well?" I asked and before Haymitch could grab me and kill me I took off running back down through the hall slamming through the elevator door.
Katniss and I laughed the entire trip down to the dining room and tried to decide who their children would favor more. We decided that if their kids had Effie's hair and face with Haymitch's eyes we would be happy.
Cinna and Portia found us in the dining room, shoveling pancakes into our mouths, and sat down to eat with us while we discussed the photo shoots for today.
They had scheduled three full days for the photo shoot and directly after breakfast we would have to endure a couple hours of prep work to bring us to Beauty Base Zero. There would be dozens of outfits, ranging from a replica of the uniform the tributes wore in the Games to swimsuits, then onto formal wear. We'd each have separate shoots, for our individual profiles, the shoots with each other. At some point Haymitch and Effie would join in for a few pictures.
"So Haymitch is going to be brought down to Beauty Base Zero?" I ask suddenly. Something about the fact that he'd be slathered in oils that remove all his facial hair, then plucked and massaged make me want to laugh.
"Yes, same with Effie," Portia said to me smiling.
"I'll give you $100 dollars if I can watch that."
Portia laughed, "You don't need to pay me, I'll let you watch for free."
Katniss seemed equally entertained. We continued our conversation.
Cinna started by telling us all the different locations we'd be taken to for the shoots. All were within a short hovercraft ride so we'd easily be able to handle all shoots in the time allotted.
After Breakfast we headed back up to our room and Cinna and Portia quickly separated us. Portia took me to a room on the 17th floor and my prep team immediately began working on me. It started with a bath and ended with me standing stark naked in front of Portia as she examined me. She walked around and around for a few minutes and I did my best not to shiver too much against the cold air in the room.
Finally she tosses me a pair of black silk boxers and an identical robe then leaves the room for a few minutes. I quickly dress and she comes back in with a rack of clothes, with everything I would be wearing in the next few days.
She picks up the phone on the nightstand and dials 4 numbers and speaks rapidly to Cinna for a minute. It sounded like they were deciding what to put us in first. She returned to the rack of clothes and pulled out pants and a shirt that were identical to the uniform for the Games. I dressed in the pants, pulling on my shoes and socks last and she requests I leave the shirt off for now. She examines me for a minute.
"You've grown, and you've been working out haven't you?" she asks me.
"Yes," I answer.
"Can you flex for me?" She asks.
I do and she looks pleased.
"We'll definitely have you take off your shirt for some of the pictures."
She hands me my shirt and I pull it over my head. As soon as I'm done she begins applying make up to my face, making me look like I just stepped out of the Games, she rips off a portion of my shirt and smears dirt on my pants. She steps away and looks satisfied.
There's a knock on the door and Portia goes to answer it and Cinna walks in followed by Katniss, wearing the tribute uniform.
Hers is ripped at the sleeve and diagonally across her midriff. She's got dirt smeared everywhere and she looks beautiful even though all the dirt.
Cinna explains that tomorrow they'd do the more formal shots, with Effie and Haymitch but for today we'd be traveling to a site near the Arena were we could have our shoot.
An hour later we arrived at a location with the same topographical views as the arena just in time to see the last of the camera crew setting up.
They want me first.
I go in front of the cameras and wait for them to position me however they want.
They hand me my knife, I can tell it's my knife because it has a small knick in the blade from where I hit bone. The head photographer directs me to stand in front of a tree, and simply look at the camera, I do this and continue to follow directions as she positions and repositions me, snapping rapidly away with her camera.
At some time she says she wants me to take off my shirt, lean against a tree and pick at my finger nails with my knife. She doesn't even want me to look up, just lean against the tree, try my best to look bored and clean my fingernails with the knife. I do my best to look as casual and nonchalant as possible. I lean against the tree so that only my back is against it and cross one ankle over the other and bring my hands up and begin cleaning my nails with the sharp edge of the knife and she squeals happily and snaps at least 20 pictures of me in this pose. She snaps pictures from ever direction and every distance before she finally settles in about 15 feet in front of me and sets her camera on a tripod. I freeze my pose as she walks up to me studies me for a second. She holds a small object in front of my face measures the light around me then goes back to her camera. She snaps a few more pictures then tells me to look at the camera. I do and the camera rapidly snaps several more shots. I hear Effie squealing and chattering on about how good of a photo that last one was, and that this one would be on the walls of every teenage girl in the country.
I smile, thinking about what it means to be a heartthrob. I'd be able to get any girl, but I already had the one I wanted.