I Owe it All to Flare

How I Got Here

As many of you know I am an actress who plays the part of Flare in the movie rendition of the comic books. This is my story.

I grew up in a military family of Greek immigrants. Both sides of my grandparents came to the US after WWII, so I learned to speak Greek at almost the same time I learned English. I think my parents were solid on me being a boy. Andrea is more of a male name in Greece. However, when I was born, they decided to keep it as it was very common for girls in the states. Family and friends usually called me Andy.

My father was an Air Force pilot, and we moved wherever his assignments took us. I was born in South Carolina, and we stayed there until I was 8.

Our next stop was Italy. My parents insisted we live off base, so we all learned Italian. After Greek, learning Italian was easy. So, I am fluent in English, Greek and Italian.

A quick rotation back to the Pentagon and we were off once again, this time to England. My slightly southern drawl added an English accent. I found I had an ear for languages and could adjust and be taken for a native. I could mimic an accent from almost any part of England.

Slipping back to a southern American accent was second nature as well. I have been told women should never lose their southern accent and I plan on keeping mine.

When we lived in England, I was a teen, and it was there that I grew to love the theatre. I took every opportunity to be in our school plays. I also found some opportunities to model while we were there.

Coming back to the states it was time to head to University. Deciding to use my love of theatre I decided to go to the University of Southern California or USC. They have a great film and acting program.

While there I also did some modeling and was “discovered” and did some small parts in TV and two movies.

On day shortly after graduation my agent, Roger, called. He said there was a part for a new science fiction movie, and he thought I would be perfect. The producers were going to start a talent search in about a month.

I had also been toying with the idea of getting my breasts augmented. I am small by any standard. Living in Europe gave me a pretty European view of my body. They are not at all in favor of implants the way we Americans are. But the money is in the states. I was going back and forth on a decision.

I talked with Roger about this being a good time to get it done as it might enhance my impression with the producers and director.

He made a phone call or two and called me back about a week later.

“Absolutely not”. Apparently, this character was not one of those sci-fi heroines with huge breasts. Quite the contrary. They were looking for someone with abs and legs. Not breasts.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I really didn’t want to do the surgery anyway. Now I had to impress them with my physique.

This was fairly easy for me. I am naturally athletic. I played soccer quite a bit while we lived in Europe. Roger suggested some gym work to get my abs in line.

While I was working out in the gym, I took advantage of the time to read up on this potential character. Flare lived about 100 years in the future. Mankind was out in the asteroid belt and even as far as the Oort Cloud. We were mining minerals in space instead of on earth. Earth was becoming a huge park with all of its manufacturing being done in space.

This character, I’ll just call her Flare from now on, had been altered by some substance found on one of the larger asteroids in the Oort Cloud. Her body had acquired some superhuman traits. She was still discovering what these traits were.

And there was the magic for a series of comic books. Her undiscovered capabilities. Every time she turned around, she found some new capability that had to be learned, trained, and exploited.

I was intrigued. If the first movie was anything of a hit it could mean a long-term franchise where there were multiple movies. Maybe like Indiana Jones. In my fantasies, it was more like Star Wars.

I was all into my gym routine and hired one of the best trainers available. Now, what could I accomplish in only a month?

As I said I am somewhat athletic. I stood 178cm tall, or 5’10. I weighed in at 61k, or 135 pounds. My Greek heritage gave me a fairly pale complexion with very dark, straight hair with lots of body. My boobs were nothing to speak of, so I didn’t address them at all. Although I wondered what the audience’s attraction would be if there weren’t some boobs involved. I was to find that out later.

I kind of overlooked the pictures in the comic books. I was trying to learn the character, not her appearance.

The producers called Roger back and they wanted to meet with me and do a screen test. I had been to several screen tests by now and I knew them to be difficult at best. But I felt more than ready.

The screen test went well and after a couple of more weeks the producers called Roger and me to say I had the part. Shooting began in 6 months. It was a great deal for me. I was going to make some serious money for the first time in my life. I signed a contract.

But they had several items that were non-negotiable. I had to look like Flare, and they wanted me in character about a month prior to shooting.

Now I was a little confused. My abs were rock solid. I had a legitimate 6 pack. What else was there?

I sat in Roger’s office and told him of my dilemma. Roger gave me a weird look and said, “Andy, haven’t you seen Flare’s appearance in the comic books? I thought you told me you had read the books.” “Well not really. I was more into character development than appearance.”

Roger laughed. Like really laughed and with tears coming out of his eyes he threw me a copy of one of the comic books. “Andy, here’s the comic book. Take a good hard look.”

I opened it up. And there was Flare. With dark hair. And it was cut into a mohawk. Her crest was short, and the sides were shaved to the skin.

My jaw dropped. I had to look like this? “Can’t we get a bald cap or something?” “Andy, that’s what they were so adamant about. They don’t want a bald cap or something. They want YOU to look like that. And they want you earlier than the actual shooting starts so they can get you to look like Flare. It was in the contract. I’m sure I pointed it out to you before you signed it.”

“Roger, honestly, I was 100% focused on the money. I skipped over the costume and that stuff pretty fast.”

“Andy, yeah, the money is good. Especially for a low budget film. I expect this to go into multiple movies. Better movies where the quality and production costs are higher. But we have to get this one made so the audience loves it enough to pick up the next one and the ones after that. That’s when you are in the driver’s seat on money and everything that goes with that.”

I thought to myself. The money was certainly good. And shaving the sides of my head for a while during production wasn’t that big a deal. Lots of actresses had shaved their heads for roles. This was another role that could propel me to more pictures and more deals.

But my hair had never been short. Ever.

I looked again at the comic book. I was about to lose all but a short strip of hair no more than 6cm, or 2 inches wide. It looked to be a little longer than that when it was spiked up. Maybe 7cm or 2 ¾ inches long. And it tapered in the back to nothing once it got to the occipital bone.

“Why do they want me a full month early?” “I think they want to give you the haircut and also start fitting you for your costume.”

“Great. Now I’ll have to walk around town for a month with a hat on or a wig.”

Roger laughed again. “Andy, you really didn’t read the contract, did you? It says no disguising yourself until they wrap production. They want people to see you out and about. They feel it’ll get better exposure and better anticipation for the movie to come out. You can’t do anything for the next 3 or 4 months while you’re in production. And they want you out on the streets as much as possible. It’s all about visibility.”

I grimaced at Roger and decided I was going to make the best of this.

Five months later I reported to the set early as ordered. It was in the desert of Utah. The crew was already there preparing things. I had read and reread the script many times. I felt as ready as I could be.

As per instructions, I had not had a haircut since I signed the contract.

Now for the haircut.

The costume designer took me over to makeup. It’s usually in a trailer. This time they had built a larger area. They directed me to a chair sitting in the middle of three cameras. I now understood why they had the larger area. The cameras took up a lot of space.

They wanted to record my haircut and make it available on YouTube.

The cameras started recording and a stylist came over and introduced himself. Johnny would be administering the haircut and shave.

He carefully combed out my hair. By now it had grown to about even with my smallish breasts. A slight wave in the last few inches. Even for me it was longer than usual.

Even though I had 5 months to prepare for this I was still shaking from nervousness.

Johnny made some adjustments and parted my hair on the left side sweeping the hair over to the right. He made sure the line was as straight as possible and secured it with lots of grips. He stood back and Martin, the director, came over to ensure it was the way he wanted. Everyone approved. I sat there helpless. I didn’t get a vote.

Johnny asked Martin if he was ok with how wide it would be. Martin said, “If it’s the same on the right side as it is on the left, I think that’ll be fine.”

Johnny turned and picked up a pair of scissors. Martin stopped him “Johnny, let’s use the clippers if we can. We want to use these shots as background later.”

Johnny put the scissors back and switched to a set of clippers.

Now, I had never had these used on me before. In the time between getting clarification from Roger on my appearance and now, I had gone online to see how this was all done.

I knew clippers would be used. Some women claimed they got a tingle at the feeling. Some said they were just too terrified to feel anything.

Mentally I was as prepared for this as one could possibly get. But still, the thought of being essentially bald scared the hell out of me.

I looked in the mirror. Johnny had caped me earlier on with a white cape. Now my dark hair hung down on the left side and the right was every which way. Held out of the way by grips.

Johnny grabbed his clippers and switched them on. He made sure whatever attachment would take the most hair at once was on them. They were large, with a purple plastic grip and they made a high-pitched whirring sound. He brought them in front of my left ear.

I focused on them in the mirror. He pushed them up and the hair began to fall. It was no match for these clippers. He carefully pushed them almost to the part he had created earlier. Then he pulled them away.

A long strip of very pale skin appeared in their wake. Wasting no time, Johnny did this again and again all around the left side of my head. He seemed satisfied. He looked at Martin and Martin nodded at him indicating that he was happy.

Everyone seems happy. Except me. Yes, I was getting paid a lot of money for this. But still.

Now Johnny went back to the part in the hair. Using his clippers he carefully guided them right up to the part and no further. He did this all around the left side.

Now everything switched over to the right side. Johnny carefully parted my hair ensuring the crest was exactly the way he and Martin wanted. Once they were happy, the clippers were switched on again.

And again, he pushed them up in front of my right ear. The hair here found its way down the cape. I had been so focused on this while cutting on the left side I never noticed a helper had found her way around the chair and had gathered my hair.

Using the same technique as on the left side he pulled his clippers away before they got to the part. Once he had completed the right side, he carefully went all the way to the part completing the job there.

As far as I was concerned, I was bald on the sides. There was no hair at all. Just a mane of hair held up by grips.

Johnny removed the grips and began to comb out the mane. Once satisfied, he pulled his scissors out and quickly cut the mane down to a crest of maybe 10cm or 4 inches.

My hair didn’t want to stand up. It just flopped over to the side. I looked like a Fraggle Rock character. But Johnny wasn’t done yet.

He got some kind of paste and rubbed that into my crest making it stand up a little better. Then, grabbing a large comb he held it up and an assistant handed him his clippers again. He guided his clippers over the comb cutting off another 2cm or close to an inch. These pieces fell like little logs because of the paste he’d put in there.

My crest was now about 7.5cm or 3 inches long. I thought it was short enough. And Martin seemed happy. Johnny clipped the rest of the crest down until he got to the back. I could feel him getting closer and closer to my skin until I felt the clippers on the skin and taking all the hair off below my occipital.

I thought we were done. But now Johnny brought out an electric razor and used it to shave me smooth. We’re done. Yay! Right?

But everyone looked a bit unhappy.

Martin looked at me and the costume designer and said, “What can we do about the shadow?” Shadow? What shadow? I thought my head gleamed in the lights.

Alice looked at me and said, “Let me try a few things. I think we can hide it. How many closeups is she getting?” Martin answered, “Not that many in this movie, we can try and minimize things and see how it goes.”

Over the next week, Alice experimented using a variety of makeup tricks on my head to minimize the shadow my dark hair left behind. Without caking on lots of makeup, which would become obvious to the camera, she’d done her best.

I went out and got my scalp adjusted to the sun before we actually started to shoot the film. Then filming began and things went pretty much according to the script.

Johnny shaved me every day and Alice did her best to hide the shadow. This went on for the 4 months of filming.

As ordered, once filming was completed, I went out daily to maximize my public appearances. I did the talk show circuit, and we felt the audience would come out and let us know what they thought.

We were overwhelmed with the response. It approached box office records for a winter release. Almost Harry Potter numbers.

A second movie was announced. Bigger budgets and better effects. It would start filming in a year.

I took the opportunity to let my hair grow. In that time it grew to just around 16cm or a little over 6 inches after taking into account the fact that I had cut the crest to match the rest of it.

Roger and I discussed the next movie and the fact that it looked like we were now into franchise level movie making. We were thinking maybe 4 or 5 movies.

The producers were thinking along the same lines.

One thing I had learned at USC was that the money was in the production and distribution end of things. The actors usually got paid and walked away. The producers got way more. I wanted a piece of the way more. Especially if there were going to be multiple movies made. It would mean a large amount of money.

Roger went to work getting me a piece of the production. Making me an executive producer. I even got my PGA certification.

But it would come at a price.

The shadow of hair in the first movie was something they wanted to work on with all subsequent films. They had been talking about it with Johnny and Alice. They called Roger and me in.

We sat at a table, and we discussed how things went with the first film. Obviously, things went far better than expected. Then they asked the screenwriters what they were planning for the second movie. They said the audiences wanted more closeups. We all agreed this was a good thing.

Now for the left hook.

How could they get closeups if we couldn’t hide the shadow?

Johnny said he’d done all he could with a razor. It was like glass when he finished each day. But the dark shadow of my roots remained. Alice said if we added more makeup, it would look terrible to the camera in closeup.

One of the production assistants spoke up. “Can we depilate the hair? That should get rid of the shadow.”

What the hell was she talking about? Suddenly everyone started talking about this new development. I sat there stunned. People were talking about my hair, and I wasn’t part of the process.

Roger stepped in. “Wait a minute. Are you all serious? If Andy needs to depilate her hair, she will be bald on the sides of her head for life. Is this what we’re thinking about doing? And even if she does this is there a guarantee it will work?” Thank you, Roger!

We decided to table the discussion of depilation until someone could come back with a real answer. It also gave Roger and me a chance to discuss our options.

Once back in Roger’s office we sat and talked. “Andy, this could be a big deal for you. Both financially and professionally. But the personal cost is gonna be high for you. What are your thoughts?”

I had been thinking about this since we left the production meeting. I wanted to go big.

“Roger, I think if this is a viable solution, then I am all in.” Roger’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious Andy? You will never get another role. If you do then the movie will have to accept you either being bald on the sides or with a wig.”

“You’re right. But if we do this I could be set up for life. 4 or 5 movies and I want nothing less than 20 per movie as an actor. This movie made close to 800 in the USA alone. Over a billion worldwide. And it cost less than 30 to make. Plus, I want to start my own production house, and I want more control. I figure I personally make at least 40 or 50 a picture just as a producer. Plus, action figures, the works. If we increase the budget for the next film to 100 we still stand to clear a ton. The film after this gets an increased budget and so on. Then we go into syndication and releases on streaming and then TV. Just like Harry Potter and Star Wars. What do you think?”

Roger sat there stunned. Slowly a smile appeared on his face, and it got bigger. The wheels of fortune were spinning in his head. He was beginning to comprehend the scope of what I had in mind. And what it would mean for him as well as for me.

“Andy, this is way bigger than I had in mind. But I think we can make this happen. First of all, are you serious about this? I mean the whole thing.”

“Roger, I have been thinking about my own production house ever since the movie opened earlier this year. The thing with the depilation of my hair definitely took me by surprise. But I think I can get over it. I’ll just be Flare full time with a bank full of money.”

“OK Andy. I’ll get some paperwork started and let’s see what we can do between now and the next meeting in 10 days.”

Long story short. The studio agreed to everything. Shooting was to begin in the Utah desert in 3 months. Time to get prepared.

It had been close to a year since my last haircut. I was sporting a shaggy 15cm of hair by now. And I was about to lose almost all of it. Permanently.

I showed up on set and was shown to the makeup area. It was almost the same as the last picture. Johnny was still the hairstylist and Alice was doing makeup and costume. Now there was one more person in the area.

I was introduced to Tom. He was the laser guy who was going to make me permanently bald. I didn’t know if I wanted to know him or not.

He was about my age. Mid 20s and pretty tall. He was also built like a tank. Not muscle bound but solid. I doubted he could swim if you put him in a pool, there wasn’t a bit of fat on him.

I was attracted to him immediately. I needed to see if he was interested.

I sat as usual in Johnny’s chair and he quickly caped me and parted my hair. It was about the same process as he used a year ago for the first film. Hair parted and grips holding it in place.

I had said goodbye to my hair earlier that morning. As Shakespeare said, “Our parting is such sweet sorrow.”

And then Johnny started his clippers and removed all of the hair from my sides.

It felt funny to have no hair again. I was ready for Johnny’s shaver to come to life. But he just took the cape off me leaving a bit of stubble behind.

Tom saw my look of confusion and jumped in. “Miss Petros, I need a little stubble to get the laser just right.”

Ahh. I couldn’t be called Miss Petros by someone my own age. And I prayed I would never be a Hollywood diva. “Tom, please call me Andy. All my friends do.” I was hoping maybe we could be friends.

He smiled and said, “Great, why don’t you get up and stretch your legs a bit. We are going to be at this a while.”

I got out of the styling chair and headed for the door. “Tom, if you’ve got nothing else let’s walk for a little.” He smiled again and joined me for a short walk.

On our walk we talked about the process and what would happen and how it worked. He explained that since there were no hair follicles left after he was finished I would not have the shadow each time I shaved. In fact, there would be no more shaving at all.

I thought it would be a fairly quick process. But Tom explained it would be several hours, and we would probably have to come back tomorrow to finish. He also said it might take several tries before he got everything.

That was fine with me. I enjoyed his company.

We got back to the makeup area and I took my seat. Tom prepared his laser and got some kind of pencil out to mark the areas of my scalp to be done. Looking in the mirror I could see a little checkerboard on my head where he outlined the portions of his work area.

He asked someone to open the windows and get a fan. He explained that the smell of burning hair wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good scent.

Now we were all ready. Martin had brought in a camera to record this for YouTube. Great.

Tom started. I was shaking. Even with all this time to prepare myself for this, I was still shaking and thinking it was now a forever thing. No turning back once Tom fired the first shot of the laser.

The smell of burning hair began on the right side of my head. I also felt a small snap each time the laser fired. I wondered if my scalp would be burned but Tom said not at all. Although it would take a few days to really heal after he finished.

We talked during the entire process. I asked him if he did this a lot. He said yes but not on someone’s head. He had done every other body part but not too many whole heads.

We joked about what other body parts and some were quite funny.

Then I noticed he had a bulge between his legs. I wasn’t sure if it was the talk about the body parts or what he was doing to me. I figured I would have to find out for myself later.

It took forever and we were only able to get most of the left side done. Everyone was exhausted, I just had to sit still but that is tiring all by itself. Tom said his arms were killing him.

We called it a day and I asked him if he was busy for dinner. So off we went to dinner. Just the two of us. Now it was time to see what might have caused his bulge.

We talked about a lot of things. I learned he was completely heterosexual. I was definitely glad about that. I steered the discussion around to what was happening to me and my head.

“So Tom, aren’t you a little embarrassed to be seen with a woman with her head mostly bald like this? And with a crest of hair to complete the look? Have you done this to many women?” “Actually, you’re the first for this level of permanent hair removal. And no, I think I am lucky to be here having dinner with you.”

“What do you think so far?” “I have to say I am enjoying the process. And frankly, I am glad to be the one doing it for you. There are a lot of laser hair removal practitioners in LA. I was just lucky to have been chosen to come out here to Utah and be on set with you.”

“That seems to be on a professional level. I want to know what you think. Let me ask you. How do you think I look with my mostly bald head?”

Tom sat back in his chair and drew a big breath. “Andy, I saw the first movie at least a dozen times. Professionally, I thought they should have done a better job of hiding the shadow in that movie. But I understood why they didn’t want to do anything permanent then with the uncertainty of future movies and all that.”

Then he looked me right in the eyes and said, “I think right now you look sexy as hell. When they told me about the gig I jumped at the chance.” And his face got a little red when he said this.

“So, it doesn’t bother you that this is a permanent thing? That I can never grow my hair again except for this crest?”

“Andy, I think you look stunning. Before the haircut and now that we’re doing this. I don’t see how you could be anything but what you are. Beautiful.”

And that was the beginning of our relationship.

The next day we got back to business. Tom finished the right side. We took a break and went to the catering area for some lunch. Tom said he thought it was going to be the rest of the afternoon and into tomorrow to finish the entire job.

I didn’t care. I really enjoyed being with Tom. He could take a week and I wouldn’t mind at all. I think he felt the same.

We got back to our chairs and Tom started on the left side. At some point in the afternoon Alice came in to check on our progress.

“Andy, what would you think about a different costume for this movie?”

We had used a bodysuit for the first film. Flare’s torso kind of glowed red when she was into some level of ability. “What’s the problem with what we used?”

Alice explained that she was concerned with the wrinkles showing when we did more closeups. She didn’t think a bodysuit would completely negate wrinkles.

“So what’re you thinking we ought to do?” “I was toying with the idea of using a spray painted costume. No wrinkles, we just paint your torso from the neck to just above your thighs.”

I needed some clarification on all this.

“Exactly how does this work?” “We spray your costume on you when we need those shots. Actually, it should look great, and I think you’ll like it.”

I was intrigued by this. But what would it do to my skin?

We talked about the ramifications of paint vs bodysuit. And then it dawned on me. I was going to be naked. Bare assed naked with my “clothes” just painted on me but the paint would hide everything. I had never been naked in front of people before. Alice explained, nobody would really notice my body parts since they’d be painted over.

Alice knew of a body painter who had done this to other actresses. And she had already spoken with her on what the actress needed to do.

Basically, do nothing, except that she recommended I shave my nether parts each day. If I nicked myself, then we couldn’t do the painting that day. We’d have to wait until the nick healed.

Tom had been silently working away throughout all of this. He looked up and I looked over at him. It was obvious what we were both thinking.

After the lasing of my head, my crotch was a no brainer. And actually, I had been thinking of getting it done anyway. Now I have an excuse. Plus, I had a laser expert already here and who I wanted to get to know better anyway. Tom was about to see close up what my goods were like.

“Let’s ask Martin what he thinks.” Alice looked a bit sheepish. “You already asked him didn’t you? And he thinks it’s a great idea doesn’t he?” Alice just smiled and nodded her head.

I looked at Tom. He shrugged and said, “We can do it once we’re done with your head Miss Petros.” He was acting as if we weren’t already on a first name basis. With potentially more to come.

“Tell Martin I’ll do it. Tom’s already here. But I need to talk to Roger about the body paint.” I was thinking this might be another arrow in my quiver to get more control of the production rights.

“Well Tom, are you sure you want to go out with an almost hairless woman? Again?”

He grinned. “You’re damn straight I do.”

Tom finished my head. We decided to call it a day and he would complete my crotch tomorrow.

Over dinner I asked Tom if he’d done many women’s crotches. “O yeah, they are very popular, and most women don’t seem to care if it’s a guy doing the work. I’m a professional. I don’t try and do anything with a client. I also usually have a woman in the room with me just in case the woman being treated tries to claim anything inappropriate afterwards.”

I smiled at him and said, “So do you need someone there while you do my crotch?” “That’s your call. I’ll be fine with it; we can keep the door open a little bit just to make the crew happy.”

We decided to call it a night after a quick kiss. Tom was 100% a gentleman. He was not pushing any faster than he had to. I think I wanted to move faster than he did, but I was OK with how things were going.

The next morning, I arrived at the set and went directly to our makeup area. My scalp was slick as glass. Last night I had a little tenderness after the treatment yesterday, but the lotion Tom provided took care of things overnight. I couldn’t stop touching my hairless head. I loved it and found it to be somewhat of a turn on. I didn’t know exactly how much of a turn on until later.

Tom was already in place with his equipment ready to go. Alice had thoughtfully found what appeared to be an OB-GYN exam table, complete with stirrups.

I took off my skirt and underwear and hopped onto the table. I just hoped I didn’t show Tom my excitement at having him do this for me. I was afraid of gushing while he lased me. My plan was the next time he saw my crotch, it would be in a bedroom.

In three hours, I was hairless. The only hair I had was my eyebrows and eyelids, and the arms and legs. And of course, my ever-present crest.

It felt funny to have hair on my arms and legs but nowhere else. I asked Tom how long it would take to remove that hair as well. I figured I was already in for a penny, I might as well make it all go away.

Tom said he could take care of the arms that afternoon and the legs the next morning. But it might be a long day. I readily agreed.

I was beginning to think I was developing something of a fetish for being hairless. Tom said a lot of women like the hairless look and feel because it was so easy to care for. Women enjoyed the fact that putting on lotion was a breeze and there was no longer a need to shave. He didn’t think I should worry.

But I could not stop touching my smooth scalp. It felt so slick, I loved it.

Over dinner Tom and I talked a lot. We finally made it to my room, and our night was everything I had hoped for. Tom was really into touching my head and I had no idea him just kissing and touching my scalp could do the things it did for me. Talk about an erotic turn on.

The next day Tom took care of my arms and legs. I was ready for the body paint. But Tom thought giving my skin a couple of days to fully heal before painting would be a good idea.

We took advantage of the time to drive around the desert and take in the sights. A lot of people came up to me and told me they couldn’t wait for the next film to come out. I signed a lot of autographs.

Over dinner that night Tom told me he was concerned about the difference in social distance between the two of us. I was now instantly recognizable, and Tom felt like a bit of a third wheel in our own relationship. I had sort of expected this.

I told him I had a decidedly middle-class upbringing. My parents had worked hard to ensure we were all very well grounded in reality. I just hoped that I would never succumb to the lifestyle of movie stardom and become a diva. I thought if I ever did start “acting up” as my Mom would say that my parents and brother would stomp down hard and that would be the end of that.

We drove around the desert again the next day and we were having a great time. I was falling in love.

I finally made it back to the set. I made an excuse to Tom that I might need a little follow-up in case we found any missed spots. So, he arrived on set as well.

We were trying to make it appear that we were not a couple. But I think the more astute crew members knew we were having dinner and making little side trips around the desert together.

In makeup the first day of body paint Alice found a couple of hairs that we had missed. Tom quickly took care of those.

Then the body artist, Michelle, got to work. The doors were closed, and I stood up in front of several people in my birthday suit. I had never been naked in front of more than one person at a time in my life. But I fairly quickly got over the nervousness. There was too much going on with the body paint to be too nervous.

When they got to between my legs the artist just moved things around to ensure she got all of it painted. When Michelle finished, no skin showed that she could see.

It took about 2 hours to paint my costume on. Alice went and got Martin and Tom and neither of them could distinguish between my more private parts and the paint. It really looked like a costume. Everyone was pleased.

Michelle even highlighted my 6-pack abs. I now fully understood why the studio didn’t want me to have big boobs. It really wasn’t a part of the story, and I looked exactly like the comic books had intended.

It took 3 months to shoot the film. I had managed to keep Tom on set the entire time. By the end of shooting, it was obvious to even the dullest knife on the set that we were a couple, and we were in love.

The tabloids had a field day. I also started making the rounds of the talk shows. People couldn’t stop asking about my hair, or the lack of hair. It was a sensation.

The only maintenance to my hair was a daily shower. When I got out of the shower, my crest was flat. Even as short as it was it flopped over. Tom thought it was a riot and made comments about my “friend” on my head.

I very quickly used what Johnny had recommended way back in the first film. Butch Wax and maybe some hair spray. Everyone that’s ever had a crew cut or a flattop knows about this stuff. It will stand up to a bomb blast. Especially if I kept the crest at a maximum length of 7cm or about 3 inches. Once filming stops I actually like it shorter. It’s way easier to maintain when it’s 2 cm long. Not as much product.

Exposure wasn’t a problem. Now that I was a major part of the production team I wanted to maximize my appearance at every opportunity.

Tom was also getting requests for his services. The rich and famous were coming to his studio. We made some serious improvements to attract the right crowd. He was as busy as ever.

About six months after we completed the film, Tom finally proposed to me.

Our wedding could have been the event of the season if we had held it in LA. But my Mom and Dad stepped up. After fully retiring from flying, they wanted to buy a small place in Texas.

It seems Dad had latent cowboy desires that had been in the background his entire life. Only Mom knew about them. They wanted a small ranchette south of Dallas. Complete with horses and cows. It was very private.

While they were doing their search, I had gotten involved and helped them pick a nice place. A bigger place. One that I could also escape to when I needed to escape.

They initially wanted a small place, but when I got involved, it became quite a bit bigger. Like an order of magnitude bigger. I wanted a real family retreat and ranch. A place where we could unwind and be a normal family. Mom and Dad had no problems with that.

And that’s where we held the wedding. A normal affair by anyone’s standards. Maybe 200 people and most of them were family.

Tom and I keep a small place in LA. But we make any excuse to head to the ranch, as we called it, as often as possible.

Tom decided to open a branch studio in Dallas. It immediately became “the” place to go for laser services.

When not busy with production or filming I am learning all about cows and horses. It’s been a blast. I know some of the other producers have a heart attack when I talk about riding a horse.

I take lessons from the best instructors in Texas. And there are a lot of good instructors.

I do take all necessary precautions. Even though I hear cracks about it from the cowboys. Not many people in Texas wear a helmet when riding. But I have a life that isn’t centered on horses or cows. I can endure their side comments at my expense. I know they are joking around. They completely understand and if I fall off a horse, they’re the first ones there to make sure I’m OK.  They know how the bills are paid around there.

Tom touches up my hair as necessary. I think he sometimes invents places to touch-up though. I love my unique look. And this is as far as I’m taking it. No other “work” is planned, ever.

We think we are going to finish a minimum of 5 films with the possibility of 7 if the audiences want it

And I owe it all to Flare and her slick head.

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