Chapter 18

"Hi Barb. You know that trip from last Monday, I want you and George to use it." Marnie told her friend.

"Marnie, you won that fair and square. You and Roger have a good time. No ill feelings here, believe me."

"Barb, I don"t think I can handle it. My life seems so off kilter. I"ve got to do something special for Brenda"s sixteenth birthday, and I just can"t seem to stay focused on what"s important in my life."

"Marnie, believe me I understand, we all do."

"You do? Who, how... ?"

"Well, maybe I misspoke. I just understand there are things and people that you can"t completely control in your life, and I want you to know that I am here for you if you need me."

"Barb, you"re the greatest, but really, you should take George and have a great time. We can watch Susan for you. You won that trip just as much as I did, maybe more. I had no idea you could still do those things, and in front of an audience, my god woman, you were fabulous."

"Thanks Marnie, I try to stay stretched out. You know, the fair thing to do, is for you and I to go together, and let our husbands have some father/daughter bonding time. It would be great, a couple of "Blues Sisters" with sunglasses on the loose in the south of France."

"That does sound like fun."

"Remember, we"re turning forty, and you"re always telling me to lighten up and live a little before its all behind us. The more I think about it the more it seems perfect." Barbara said with confidence.

"I might have been wrong about the adventuresome spirit talk. It is starting to seem to me now, that there is a great deal of comfort in simplicity and routine." Marnie said with slight melancholy.

"Snap out of it Marn, let"s go the day after Brenda"s birthday. She"ll be able to drive herself then, and you can celebrate that milestone as well."

"Okay, I"ll ask Roger tonight."

"That"s the spirit. Call me later."

"Okay, bye"

Marnie vacillated the rest of the day between excitement, guilt, apprehension, and dread in a carousel of emotions until Roger got home. After greeting him warmly, and while still in each other"s arms, Marnie said, "Sweetie, Barbara has invited me to join her on a trip she won for seven days to the south of France. How would you feel about my accepting it and joining her?"

"If you convince me that you don"t find her as tall and handsome as me, I can"t see where I could object. When is the trip planned for?"

"I told her that I couldn"t possibly leave, of course, if it was okay with you, until after Brenda"s sixteenth."

"That seems like it would be okay. She"ll not be needing me for rides, and she is really growing up quickly these days. If it is what you want to do, we"ll make it work out." Roger said, giving her a peck on the lips.

"I"ll go up and talk to Brenda about her party." Marnie said.

"Brenda, what do you want to do about your birthday this year?" Marnie asked.

"I"ve asked six friends if they would like to slumber over here this Friday, if that would be okay with you. I really didn"t want to do anything big."

"So you"d rather have it the weekend before than the weekend after?"

"Sure, if that"s okay with you and dad."

"Sure Dear, that would be fine. Only six friends?"

"That"s all I think I can squeeze in my room, don"t you?"

"Well, I"ll see to dinner, cake and ice cream. Your Father and I, and maybe Ron and Sally, can celebrate it with you on the actual day, Wednesday. How will that be?"

"Sure Mom, and pizza would be just fine. We"ll rent some videos, stay up late, talk, and sleep late Saturday morning. We"ll try not to be any trouble for you."

"Don"t worry honey, I want you to have a good time." Marnie said.

When Marnie called Barbara and told her the news that they could go together, Barbara said, "Great, you call the resort company and get the information from them tomorrow, and I"ll see what I can do about the plane tickets."

Marnie called the number on the travel voucher. There was no problem with Thursday through Wednesday. It coincided with their regular bookings. The next day she received the brochures and travel information in the mail. "Club Mediterranean Adult Resorts and Cruises," it was called. It didn"t occur to Marnie at this point that it didn"t just call itself, "Club Med".

Barbara said over the phone that she had been trying to get affordable flights for hours, but on such short notice, all she could get was on a chartered flight that was willing to open a couple of seats up to passengers outside their group to cut down on expenses.

"It"s just the transportation. Our fun will be when we get there." Marnie said consoling her for the effort well done. Then she went to explain the features and procedures. For the list of what to bring and what not to bring, she asked, "Do you want me to just make copies and send it or get it to you tomorrow?"

"That will be great. I can"t wait. We are going to have just the best time." Barbara said enthusiastically.

On Friday, six of Brenda"s closest friends assembled for her birthday slumber party. Marnie and Roger tried to make it as fun for her as possible, but the girls started to hint that they would have more fun by themselves. When they started dressing down to panties and tops borrowed from Brenda and a few of Roger"s shirts, Marnie and Roger decided to take in a late movie.

After the first video, they started to talk about boys. The other five couldn"t believe Brenda and Susan"s account of Jeff and "Libido Falls". Brenda picked friends who were generally less adventuresome than she, people who looked up to her for examples and guidance. She pulled out a box she was using to contain the beginnings of a collection of items on her road to becoming a model. She showed them her profile card, then some portfolio shots.

Jennifer, the shyest of the group said, "Brenda, but you don"t have your breasts covered in some of these."

"That"s right Jen. If you are going to be a model, you are modeling your body, with whatever the photographer decides to have draped on you, no matter how much or how little. Think of those swimsuit models in Sports Illustrated, Playboy Magazine, the Victoria Secrets catalog. They all get paid the big bucks and they have little or nothing on." Brenda explained. "Look, here are some things thrown away from my first modeling job." Brenda pointed out, showing them artist sketches that only made it to the floor.

Rosemary, the second shyest of the group said, "But Brenda, you were completely naked in front of all those people, while they drew and painted you?!"

"It was figure drawing, what do you expect, they have to see your figure to draw it. Besides, it was a famous artist and only his students in his studio. It was all on the up and up. I"ll tell you about the unusual technique they used another time, when I"m sure you won"t faint on me."

"God Brenda, you can"t leave us hanging like that, come clean with it girl." Susan demanded.

"Well, this famous artist, Mr. Dix, he has this speed drawing technique he calls something like, "Kino-mapping", where the artists close their eyes, they"re supposed to close their eyes, and they touch you all over your body to get a second picture of you through their body in addition to their eyes. Then when they paint or draw you, they do it quicker than if they just looked at you to do it." She explained. "Chrissy, you"re good at drawing, you want to try it?"

"Brenda, I don"t know. Do you think I should?" Chrissy said.

"Sure, it will give everyone a good idea of what I"m talking about. Now who wants to be drawn?" Nobody volunteered. "Susan, I know you"ve got the guts now to do it, give it a try."

"Brenda. I don"t want everyone to see me naked." She said softly but insistently.

"Come on someone"s got to do it. I already know what it is like." Brenda pressed.

"I"ll try it, I suppose." Lauren volunteered. Then she removed her shirt and bra, her nipples erected instantly from her excited anticipation and the room"s air cooling them. She stood demurely waiting, with her hands fiddling with each other in front of her panties.

"That"s the spirit, Lauren. I just need to get something for Chrissy to draw with." Brenda said, as she searched for suitable paper and a soft pencil. "Here ya go. Now, if I remember it right, you get kind of meditative. Try to forget about the rest of us and think about nothing but Lauren here, the volume she takes up in the room, the texture of her skin, like this," Brenda said as she started at Lauren"s face and gently guided her fingers over it, then down her neck, "her height, width, depth, and so on." Lauren took in a deep breath and started to step back when Brenda was at her breasts, then stopped herself. "You do this for the entire area that you are going to draw or paint, and you will draw it better and faster. Here, now you try. Everyone back up and be quiet so Chrissy can concentrate."

Chrissy advanced to Lauren, looked at her seriously, then closed her eyes and put her fingers on her face. Lauren closed her eyes, she knew how good this was going to feel, and she wanted to hide her enjoyment from the others. Lauren"s face started to turn red as Chrissy"s hands left her face and traveled down her neck and shoulders on their way to her breasts. She shuddered when Chrissy mapped the fullness of her new firm breasts and the texture and tumidity of her excited nipples. Moisture appeared on her forehead, as Chrissy"s hands traced down her curved sides and flat stomach. When her hands left Lauren"s hips and she placed her fingers flat on Lauren"s pubic mound, they both opened their eyes wide in surprise. Chrissy broke the momentary stalemate with, "I think I"ll just do the waist up."

Chrissy began drawing while Lauren held her standing pose, trying to look on the outside, what her mind inside imagined a professional model would look like. Chrissy"s assessment of her own experience with it was, that it could have been faster, and that it did seem easier.

"You know, I think I could do that now, if someone wanted to try and draw me." Susan volunteered.

"Well, I could see if I could draw better than a stick figure of you, if you want me to try." Said Ronnie.

Susan shucked her top and bra in half the time Lauren had. Lauren sat next to Chrissy looking at and commenting on her drawing, sitting with just her top on, unbuttoned. Ronnie tentatively started to place her hands on Susan"s face, and as soon as she felt Susan"s skin, she pulled her hands away as if it was red hot. Then she reapplied them and mapped Susan"s body down to her toes. Susan hadn"t given her any signal or reason to stop. She really didn"t care about how well Ronnie did with it, being Kino-mapped was enough.

"So does anybody want to experience what it would be like to be a model like am?" Brenda asked.

"How do you mean?" Jennifer asked.

"You know, like I take your picture and you move into positions that I tell you to move into, and I tell you when you are doing it right or wrong." Brenda offered.

"That doesn"t sound too hard." Rosemary challenged, uncharacteristically.

"You first then." Brenda directed. "Everybody off that couch, and help me move this one back out of the way. Now Rose sit on the couch. I"ll use this camera here, it doesn"t have any film in it, but if you believe it does, then you will see how difficult this modeling is. Okay, now I"m a guy, all right? You"ve been hired to do a shoot. You get there and someone tells you to get down to your bra and panties."

"I can"t do that."

"I thought you said that it would be easy. Okay down to your bra and panties. You"ve been made up and,... Come on, off with the shirt. It is just us gals. That"s better." Brenda encouraged, as Rosemary covered her breasts by placing her hands on her opposite shoulders. "Now support yourself with your right hand on the couch, the other hand on your left thigh. Look left, SNAP, that"s it, now look here, SNAP, very good. Now put your hands on the clasp of your bra in back."

"Brenda, I can"t do that."

"Rose, this is how it is done. There is no film, you"re here with friends, and I"ll give everyone a shot at it. You can all feel what it is like to be a model, except for the paycheck." The last remark got giggles. "Okay, SNAP, now unclasp the bra, but don"t take it off." Rosemary liked that it wasn"t coming off. "Good, SNAP, now peel it off and dangle it in your fingers."

"Brenda!"

"This is what it is like. Just do it, like the shoe slogan, and see what it feels like."

Rosemary"s tits were white as snow, in contrast to her tanned skin. It was obvious that she only wore one suit all of the time because of the strict tan lines. Her snowy breasts were firm like the others, still stretching the skin as they grew, no sports or babies to let them give in to gravity yet.

"SNAP, SNAP."

"Why two pictures there?" Rosemary asked self-conscious.

"Oh there would be a lot of pictures here probably, but I"d be asking you to get those nipples hard for them." Rosemary blushed beet red, the blush showing streaky red between her breasts as well. "Now you could kind of pinch them, or maybe Jennifer, or someone, could get a cube of ice."

"Brenda, really, I get the idea about this model thing, really I do. It"s someone else"s turn."

"Okay Jen, you"ve got the ice now, why don"t you pick up where Rosy left off." Brenda suggested.

"Oh, I don"t plan on being a model. Someone else try it."

"You first, you can"t say you would never be one, unless you"ve tried it out. You can try it out here among friends and then say it"s not for you. Hurry, you are losing that perfectly good piece of ice in your hand." Brenda said, as she advanced in Jennifer"s direction and started to unbutton her shirt for her.

Jennifer stood in shock and terror, as Brenda slid the shirt off her shoulders and down off her arms. "Still have some ice left there?" Brenda asked. Then she unclasped the bra, as Jennifer gasped in a sudden breath.

"Please, no, I don"t think..." Jennifer was saying, frozen in place holding out the piece of ice away from her body so it wouldn"t get her wet.

"Here let me do it for you. I"ll be your makeup lady a moment." Brenda said taking the ice from Jennifer"s hand and applying it in circles on the mortified Jennifer"s virgin nipples.

Jennifer wanted to cover her nipples with her hands, but Brenda was also pinching and tweaking them to make sure they would stay up for a couple of shots. "Okay now, leave that hand out like you are holding something and put your other one on your hip, yeah like that, SNAP. You"re doing great."

Jennifer was almost in a trance from shock.

"We"re going to need a smile. SNAP." Jennifer gave her a plastic attempt at a smile.

"Okay, I tried it. It is great for you, but it isn"t for me." Jennifer said determinedly.

"Okay whose next?" Brenda asked.

Brenda worked it out so each girl had a turn at it. It went easier as they went along, and it became more fun for them. They sat around and watched another video in open tops, or no tops, until they were surprised by Marnie and Roger coming in the back. They scurried for their clothes and ran screaming upstairs and into Brenda"s room, panting and praying at the door, that neither of her parents would come in to check on them.

"Brenda, is everything all right?" Marnie said from the door.

"Yes Mom."

"Are you all having a good time?"

"Yes Mom."

"Goodnight. Please don"t make it too late tonight."