Chapter 16: Back to Marysville

At the end of their contracted rental, a couple of days later, the four residents met and agreed to invite Sheila to join them back home in the 1905 Victorian. After just a few days, Sheila had become part of the family, along with her sexual escapades with the group.

All five of them fit comfortably in Paul’s big Oldsmobile for the long drive from Santa Cruz County back up to Marysville.

“So, along with the giant car, I inherited this giant old house, as well,” explained Paul.

“Let me give you the tour. You’ll notice there’s no air conditioning, but we do have the pool in the backyard to cool off. The first floor has the parlor, the kitchen, the dining room, and an auxiliary room Talia and I use for our home network and our business purposes.

“The second floor has three bedrooms, the largest one is for me and Talia. The yellow bedroom is Kerri’s, and the pink bedroom was Talia’s. I think it would be best if you stayed in that room since it’s vacant now.

“The third floor has Ric’s bedroom and our guest bedroom for when Kerri’s parents come to visit. You know Kerri and Ric are a couple, but they sleep separately because he snores loudly.

“So are you OK with staying in T’s old bedroom, Sheila?”

“Absolutely. Although I might want to repaint it if I can stay with you guys long term. Pink walls are not ideal for me with my complexion.”

“I’m sure that would be fine. I remember you wanted to set up a photography business, right?”

“Yes, Paul, I need to find some commercial space where I can set up a studio, and also create a darkroom to process the images that I can’t send out.”

“So, I do ask for a nominal rent, say, $100 a month. But I can delay the start of that for five months to give you time to get established. Is that acceptable to you, Sheila?”

“Of course, Paul, you are being generous, and I appreciate that.”

Integration

In a few weeks, Sheila was fully part of life in the Victorian. Not being skilled at cooking, instead she became responsible for cleaning up the kitchen and washing dishes after almost every meal. Part of that included taking out all the trash and dragging the bin out to the curb for the weekly pickup.

Socially, although the core relationships were unchanged (Talia and Paul, Kerri and Ric), the household found a way to include Sheila in the mix. Saturdays were designated as “Orgy Day” for the household. Or, as Kerri liked to call it, “Dog pile on Sheila” Day.

Otherwise, Sheila was completely focused on creating and building her photography business. In Marysville, it turned out that (because of the heat) outdoor weddings were very infrequent. Consequently, she found herself shooting indoor weddings once again.

Often there were children at these events, and she made sure to always include candid photos of them. When she would meet with the newlyweds to go over the proofs, she would mention that if they successfully referred her to the parents of the cute kids, they would get a discount on their wedding albums.

Also, some newlyweds were interested in getting some sexy photos too. Sheila had a portfolio of these. The clincher was an image showing a pretty young bride wearing only a veil on her head, in the arms of her new husband.

Soon, she had more business than she could handle. Technology had at least improved to the point where she could simply upload her images to a $1500 commercial-quality photo printer in her office for top-quality prints, with complete privacy for the subject couples since no outside lab or service was needed.

One afternoon, Sheila was meeting with new clients, Marisol and Carlos. She had just finished explaining how the couple could pose with their privacy assured since the image files and prints would stay inside her establishment.

“Then, there’s no reason we should stop at nudity, right?” asked Marisol.

“I suppose not. What did you have in mind?”

“I want you to photograph me and Carlos having sex. Explicit, X-rated sex. We can pay you $1000 for one session, say, 15- to 25-minutes, and then more for the prints to take home with us. Is that acceptable to you?”