Chapter 37

Next morning; a new day and a new year, 1975 is finally with us. I was feeling pretty good, Trish not so much; I got her a big glass of juice and a couple aspirins as first aid, then rejoined her in bed. She definitely wanted to cuddle, and seemed to want to talk; I just held her and waited.

“I’m sorry about last night; getting carried away like that,” she mumbled into my chest.

“You did nothing bad or wrong, baby;” I replied. “Maybe a little too much to drink, but that can sneak up on anyone.”

“The drinking was a little bit on purpose. I was jealous of all the women wanting to dance with you; then I remembered I was the one taking you home with me, and I could rock your world so you wouldn’t think of them anymore. Part of that is insecurity, part is that you are so good to me and for me I don’t want you to go. And the sex with you is so incredibly good! That got further complicated by knowing I might not ever see you again, or at least not for a long, long time.”

Damn! I know women are always thinking, always worrying over the smallest details, and not very confident at times; I’ve got to reassure her somehow, but what to say?

“Honey, I’m sorry I’m the way I am; if I wanted the picket-fence house and kids and pets, you would be on the very short list of women to do that with. You are beautiful, intelligent, talented, sexy; the list goes on and on. There are other guys like me out there, better guys who you can count on to be there for you and with you. And if you can tell and show them what you like in bed, or against the wall or bent over the couch; that part of your life will be great too.”

That last part got me an embarrassed giggle; “I don’t know what got into me last night, but I really, really wanted you to just take me, ravish me, dominate me. Which you very thoroughly did; thank you very much. It’s not all I think about when I’m with you, but it’s close. You turn me on with just a look, then you put your hands on me and I melt.”

“You know I read a lot; part of that is what’s known as the ‘honeymoon’ phase of a relationship. It’s all so new and exciting that it’s all special, all the time. If we stayed together long enough that would fade a little and become more comforting and reassuring, instead of thrilling.”

“I sort of know all that, but I’m all caught up in the moment” she whispered. “I can easily fantasize us spending the rest of our lives together; I know that’s not really possible; but I can still dream.”

“You know, sometime when you least expect it you are going to stumble into a guy that will help you make all your visions come true. One of my ladies as said she’s willing to meet a lot of frogs before she finds her prince, but she’s not happy about it.”

“That’s me,” she laughed. “I’d probably have a great time spending an afternoon talking with your ladies, comparing notes.”

“A lot of them know at least a couple of the others and seem to be fairly close friends; I’m still not sure how that happened.”

“It’s that you are one of the ‘good guys’, in most ways; and you’re an open book about everything, we just need to ask you what we want to know, and you’ll give us an honest answer. Even if it’d not the answer we’re hoping for. I love you; but in some ways, I hate you too.”

“I love you, as much as I’m able; and I hate that I can’t be the kind of guy you need.”

After that rather dispiriting conversation; we decided to go out for breakfast. Brunch, if we can find one; it is a major holiday in the middle of the week.

We did find a champagne breakfast at one of the fancier hotels, I splurged on that and then we headed to her apartment. More talking, comfortable this time; more living room dancing, which she really liked; more cuddling on the couch and foot rubbing. We kinda watched a couple NCAA bowl games on TV during the day, but the Orange Bowl that night turned out to be the best game. Alabama had been undefeated, but #9 Notre Dame held on to upset #2 Alabama, 13 to 11.

The next couple of days are going to be focused on me modeling for Trish’s class. I had splurged food-wise while visiting and hadn’t exercised; so Thursday morning I got up for a serious run. It was right around freezing so I had a couple layers on; I went out for a solid hour, running a quick pace for me, with a stop for some calisthenics every couple of miles. I’m pretty sure I covered almost 10 miles; like I said, a quick pace and I was running, not jogging.

Back to Trish’s apartment to get cleaned up; she watched me for a little while doing sit-ups, then decided to join me; saying she needed to exercise more. I got her to do 1 for every two of mine; she’d had enough long before I got to 100. She was a little disappointed in herself until I explained I had been exercising hard for 1-2 hours a day for almost 2 years.

“I know you like this body,” I told her; “but it comes at a price. Diet will do a lot, but you’ll never have the muscles a guy can develop. Just eat healthy and stay active at a lower rate than I work at, you’ll be fine.”

“Do I have to give up pizza?”

“A couple pieces at a time, once or twice a month is okay.”

“I don’t think so!”

We got out of the apartment and to the studio by 9; a bigger setup this time with close to 30 students setting up sketch pads and canvases. After talking to the professor a couple minutes I headed to the locker room to get down to loose running shorts and a baggy t-shirt; we don’t want any lines on my skin due to tight clothing. No woman model yet, but we’re a little early. I checked with the professor and she gave me a quick once-over and smiled, then had me take the shirt off.

“Carl, I probably don’t want to know what you do to stay in this shape, or how little you probably eat; but you are an impressive example of a young man,” she said, giving me a couple pokes. “We’re going to be doing much the same as last year; so just relax for a few minutes; hopefully the woman will show up soon.”

I got up on the small stage and just sat on a bar stool; I did a couple goofy body-building poses for fun and the students immediately went to work. I got to talking with a couple of them about how I got in shape and stayed there, a couple others had a few comments and suggestions; and Trish was taking a little bit of good-natured ribbing back in her corner. It looks like we are going to be able to relax and have a little fun doing this. It didn’t take long before the professor started moving me around and having her assistants’ shifting lights; the photographer was doing his thing; okay, we’re working now.

The woman model showed up ‘only’ 30 minutes late, and then needed another 30 to prepare; the professor was not pleased. She finally came out of her locker room in a robe and watched me for a little while, then talked to the professor in a corner for a couple minutes. The professor isn’t happy, now the woman doesn’t seem to be happy about something; I just moved as a couple of the students asked, and waited to be told what to do. One of the things a Marine does best; hurry up and wait.

I was finally told to take a break for 10 minutes, maybe ‘pump-up’ a little; while the woman took the stage and the students worked on sketching her. She was attractive without being beautiful, a little skinny, I thought; petite with good proportions but unremarkable, in my opinion. Of course I was biased, I had been out with the most beautiful woman, just the other night.

I got back up on stage and the professor started moving us around as she wanted; I don’t know why but the model didn’t say more than a couple words to me. That’s okay; I don’t need to make friends with her, just be a living, breathing accessory for her. I still had on my gym shorts, she took the robe off to reveal some nice, loose-fitting undergarments; we moved and posed as the professor directed, nothing very demanding yet. Mostly I was just standing near her and loosely holding her in my arms, nothing remotely intimate. We finally got each other’s name; she was Erica and I was Carl; and she started talking to me a little. She eventually relaxed and loosened up, and everything started flowing better. Just before lunch another woman showed up with a couple big bags; turns out she’s Erica assistant, and mostly why Erica is not happy. A little bit of adjusting, and we’re back at work; I guess somebody would call this work.

Lunch was interesting; an hour break and many of the students went to a local cafeteria to eat; the professor and us worker-bees stayed and had some Chinese food that was brought in. Trish and I sat together with some of her fellow students and friends, who mostly brought bag lunches and snacks; she showed me her sketches; again, what a talent. The professor stopped by and commented when I barely touched any of the food.

“I’ll eat better, later today,” I told her; “I’m not expending hardly any energy up there, and have been mostly a pig the 4 days I’ve been here.”

“I thought the ball was a big success,” she commented; “and you move very well on the dance floor. We’re going to try a couple ‘action’ poses in a while, trying to simulate movement; we’ll have the two of you move a little, then ‘freeze’ the action. You’ll have to support Erica for a minute or so while the students make quick sketches.”

“She’s probably less than a hundred pounds; no problem.”

“I keep forgetting those aren’t ‘show’ muscles; but ones used to do real stuff, move real objects.”

“Body-builders have real muscles; they usually don’t have much real stamina. They pose for a few seconds, then relax a couple seconds before taking up a new pose. I could probably hold Erica over my head for 5-10 minutes without much stress.”

She just laughed and patted my arm. “You know I’m going to ask you to shave your body tomorrow, and oil you down? Oil both of you down?”

“I’m ready, just don’t make me try to hold her over my head then.” More laughter, this time from everyone.

It went a lot better after lunch. Erica and I lost the rest of our clothes; when I hammed it up and did an ‘o shit, I’m naked!’ pose everyone laughed, then insisted I hold it while they sketched. Erica laughed too; then got up next to me with her hands on her hits and a disgusted look on her face, looking at me. Suddenly we’re really having fun; it took a few minutes for us to stop clowning around.

That seemed to break the rest of the ice around Erica. We got into some more interesting poses; her standing in front of me as I caressed her and held her breasts, simulating a couple kisses; that sort of thing. She started talking with me, asking questions and such; she didn’t know I was a Marine, or that I was intimate friends with Trish and staying with her for the week. I asked what the problem was earlier; at first, she said that the whole morning had gone wrong, then admitted to being a little intimidated by me.

“I’m just a pretty woman willing to take her clothes off, and I’m used to modeling with a pretty man who usually isn’t very big. You aren’t tall, but are a very, very real man.”

“I’m sure you are not just pretty; just making good use of one of your assets to make money. A part of me wishes I could draw a little; these students are a little intimidating to me.”

“I need to talk with your Trish,” she laughed; “to see if you’re real.”

Not sure I want that to happen, but it’s not something I have control over. We did a little work with props, and some very skimpy costumes; I kept talking to and with the students, treating them more like an audience. That got a couple questions from the professor; when I revealed I was an amateur musician and was on stage a couple times a month making some extra money; that generated a bunch more questions. Easy to answer while posing; but just when we were set, someone would ask another one. Half the time it was the professor, so we all ‘got away’ with it.

The action poses went well; we would pretend to dance or something and I would spin Erica away or lift her a little and stop action so the students could work. It was rarely for more than a minute or so, and not very demanding; but I was finally exerting myself and my muscles started expanding; showing up for work, I guess. We got to the end of what turned out to be a productive day, when one of the students asked if I could really hold Erica over my head.

“Pretty sure it wouldn’t be hard; I’m sure she’s around a hundred pounds; the hard part would be getting a good hold of her.”

That got me the first inkling of Erica’s personality; “A hundred pounds on a fat day,” she smiled and smacked my arm. “And, with all respect to Trish; I’d let to take a hold of me any way you want. I’ve seen ice dancers and the like do it, but I’m pretty sure those girls were even smaller than me.”

I was surprised when Trish came forward and the two girls started discussing how it could be done; with some comments and suggestions from everyone. I added that it would be easier if done as a ‘clean and jerk’ lift; that led to some discussion about weight lifting styles and lifts; pretty soon Erica wanted to try it.

Okay, but we’re not doing it naked.” I told her to laughs from the crowd. “Go put something on, shorts and a t-shirt maybe; getting a good grip on you is going to be key, and I don’t want to drop or squeeze you too hard. I need to be able to get ahold of your skin, not a bunch of shifting cloth.”

Trish, Erica, and her assistant headed for the locker room, giggling and chatting all the way. I cleared the stage, put on my shorts and loosened up a bit; then did some slow-motion simulation of how I would try this. I didn’t understand why several of the students started laughing; then I turned and saw Erica in a very sexy bra and panties, swaying her hips, heading toward me. Both her and Trish were giggling, the assistant was out-right laughing.

“Come on; you’ve got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed.

“Suck it up buttercup; you’ve been with me naked all afternoon, you can handle this,” she smiled.

“Yeah; but before we were naked, now you’re almost nude. And; those are the kind of underwear women wear when they expect them to be removed at some point.” Now everyone is laughing at me.

“You can do this baby,” was Trish’s contribution. “Just pretend she’s a barbell; and not a beautiful woman, putty in your hands.”

“You’re having a lot of fun with this, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea.” she chuckled.

We gave it a try, experimenting with a couple things to get it to work. Finally she laid on the floor on her side with her legs crossed at the feet; I was able to get ahold of her under one arm and at the junction of her legs, and slowly roll her up my arms as I stood. Then it was a fairly simple matter of pressing her up over my head; as long as she held herself rigid, it was pretty simple. I wasn’t going to just stand there to see how long I could do it; once I made sure she was steady, I did a few up and downs with her. Kind of the jerk part of the lift; without the jerk; a pull-up in reverse.

Getting her down turned out to be the hard part. She ended up laughing so hard I just dropped her to my chest, then shifted my grip so I was holding her under her shoulders and legs, then set her on her feet. Everyone started applauding; when I mentioned feeling like a silly circus strongman, they all laughed.

“This ends the entertainment portion of the day;” the professor laughed as she stepped forward; “you all go home and try not to tell anyone.”

Then the photographer said his first words of the day; “Don’t worry about that, I got it all on film. I’ll develop those rolls tonight; I’m sure you can make some pretty cool sketches from them.”

It took an hour to get out of there, the students commenting on how it was the best class ever; everyone agreed to be a little early the next day. Turned out Erica had taken the bus to the studio; another surprise when Trish offered her a ride home. That turned into the three of us doing dinner out together; the ladies chatted about everything, I pretty much just sat there and listened; something I’m good at. Eventually we took Erica home, and then headed to Trish’s apartment; with a funny smile and look on her face.

We got inside and she carefully closed the door; then laid a kiss on me that would have melted steel, let alone ice. Whatever brought this on is good; she’s obviously completely out of her mood from yesterday.

“Okay, no questions, not right now,” she said. “You go get naked on the bed; I’ll be right with you. I’m going to ride you like a bucking bronco, and I plan on breaking you!” she giggled.

Fun and games; I’ll figure out what brought this on later. I hit the bathroom first; when I came out, she went in with a handful of stuff and a smile. I turned the covers down and got comfortable on the bed. It took her a little while, and I could hear an occasional giggle; when she came out it was in a garter belt, stocking, and her heels. And a naughty smile this time; I couldn’t explain the difference, but it was.

“I know you like me almost dressed like this, and I feel really sexy in it. Today was such a turn on; I don’t think you heard the comments from the other female artists, but here was a lot of moist panties in the crowd. Then you man-handling Erica like that at the end; a lot of those panties ended up wet, not just moist. Including mine; but I’m the only one that get to satisfy myself with you tonight. Ummm; can I ask a crazy question of you?”

“Of course, honey; I’m all yours.”

She went to her dresser and came out with another pair of stockings; “Can I tie your hands to the headboard?” she asked with an embarrassed grin.