Chapter 2: Picking Up the Pieces

The next day saw me get up very early, at least for Lou and me. I got dressed and headed out, giving Lou a kiss as I left the bedroom. When I got to her office door, I made a detour into her office and left her a note. I was sure she’d see it right away because as agitated as she was the night before, she’d be in the office making phone calls as soon as businesses would be open.

It was still dark when I got home. Jake (my dog) was happy to see me and I thought I’d give him a quick turn around the neighborhood before I got showered and headed into the studio to get my day started. So, I got his leash and a poop bag and we headed out the door.

Walking with Jake, I was able to look at things and let my brain settle a bit. There was a lot going on, after all. I let my mind just wander a bit, fantasizing a little about being a father. My own father was about as good a father as could be expected of his generation. He worked two jobs putting food on the table and making sure the family had a roof over our heads, as well as clothes on our backs. He was often too tired to play games with us, but we always went on some sort of vacation every summer. He wasn’t really distant, and he was usually in the moment when he was with us, but there were times when he was detached. Being somewhere between lower class and lower-middle class could do that, I guess.

That made me wonder what kind of father I’d be. I knew that I wanted to really be a part of my child’s life, teaching him (or her?) what I knew. But what would be best for a child? I didn’t have an answer and figured we’d have to play it by ear if and when there was a boy or girl to call me “Daddy.”

With that much figured out, I got home, unpacked, took a shower and then got me some breakfast. Before I headed out to the office, I took the time to sort my laundry and stuck some of it in the washer. I could dry it when I got home. I left a message for Jenny, my next-door neighbors’ girl, about Jake, then took off for the office.

When I got there, I saw Naomi’s car and she was already hard at work sorting through the messages. She and I sat down and went through them. There were, of course, the usual number of junk calls, but there were still a bunch of legitimate calls that needed to be returned. I told Naomi to find out what each person wanted and to get them on the calendar before they changed their minds. With that done, I looked over my schedule for the day. One high school senior this morning and another for the afternoon. Easy-peasy day.

I took the one message from Harold and figured I could call him at 9, as my first senior wasn’t until 10. Those sessions were about three hours each, so I could get lunch around 1, and then at 3 do my other senior, after she got out of school. If I couldn’t reach Harold at 9, then I could try again during my lunch.

I called promptly at 9. I got put through to Harold and he was very enthusiastic when he answered. “Jon, my boy!” he yelled down the line. “How’s it hangin’ buddy?” He didn’t give me time to answer, but continued on. “Man, I have a client who is just jumpin’ up and down wantin’ ta get ya to do some of your fancy photographs for a promotional calendar he wants to do! Think ya can handle it?” He finally paused for a breath.

“Whoa, slow down,” I said. “Let’s take this a little more slowly. I just got back into town from a long, hard weekend! What’s going on?”

Harold took a breath and started talking slower and quieter. He also lost the colloquialisms “I’ve got an account with a very rich beer distributor who wants to make an old-fashioned pin-up calendar,” he said. “We’ve got some ideas. He’s got an art director, but they don’t have a photographer, which is where you come in. I’ve told them that you’re the best, and I showed them some of your work, including that spa you photographed. They’re sold on you, but want to meet with you and see what ideas you might have. Can you do lunch or dinner today? There’s something of a time crunch because they want it out by mid-December. Whatdaya say?”

My first response was to reject it out-of-hand. I mean, yeah, it’s only mid-September, but getting models, taking pictures, retouching, then the layout and printing would be a heck of a crunch. But then my little bit of greed kicked in. “What are they paying on this?” I asked.

“Funny you should ask that,” Harold said. “I’m told the sky’s the limit, but they want only the very best for the best price. There’s a kicker, too, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. So, lunch or dinner. On me, of course!”

“Well,” I said, “since you put it that way, how can I refuse. Lunch is pretty much taken up with previously scheduled appointments, but dinner might work. What time, and can Lou come along, or is it strictly business?”

“Of course, Lou can come!” he boomed. “I’ll bring Marsha and tell the client that their wives or girlfriends are welcome. How about Alfredo’s at 7?”

I agreed to that, called Lou about it and secured her for the date. The day was looking up!

My senior for the morning was pretty routine. I did my standard poses (I had about twenty in the studio, and many more outside, so people had lots to choose from) both inside and out in one of the parks. Back at the studio, while having lunch, I put the pictures into the computer, editing the ones I didn’t want anyone to see and setting up a slide show for the proofing, which was when the parents came to see what their little darling looked like all grown up.

Naomi came back to have lunch with me and we discussed how her morning had gone. She’d returned about two-thirds of the calls and made appointments for them. Some of them were going to require me to go out-of-town, but she gave a quote for the sittings that included mileage reimbursements. She had made those appointments for later in the year, when things quieted down a bit for me. After all, the seniors would pretty much be done by mid-October when the weather started turning colder.

I, in turn, told her about Harold and his proposal, or what I knew of it. She was skeptical, but then that’s kind of part of her job, to slow down my enthusiasm. That keeps me out of all sorts of trouble! I also gave her a synopsis of the wedding, and when she heard about the second wedding in the nude, she laughed and laughed. She then said she was glad she wasn’t there because she couldn’t have handled the nudity, not with her post-partum body. She still wanted to lose another ten pounds before she’d be anywhere near happy.

My afternoon appointment was going fine, but the young lady seemed a little dispirited and lethargic. Finally, I asked the mother (I always had a parent present when I did senior girls; you never take chances with the emotions of teenagers. I tend to flirt with the girls and I don’t want things taken the wrong way!) what was wrong, why was I having so much difficulty getting much emotion out of the girl.

“Well,” she said, “this just isn’t the Tammy we know. She’s seldom so sedate!” To say I was taken a little aback is an understatement.

“What can we do about this?” I asked.

“It’s her clothes,” her mother said. “She doesn’t like what I picked out for her.”

“Well,” I said, “if she brought something else, tell her to put it on and we’ll do something more to make her happy!”

Mom went into the dressing room with my suggestion. I think you could have bowled me over with a feather when Tammy came back out. She was wearing a tiny bustier with push-up cups and showing off her belly-button. Her jeans were very low-rise and it seemed obvious she wasn’t wearing underwear because you could see the crack of her ass when she turned around. To top it off, she had a cowboy hat and boots and was carrying a quirt and a lasso. Urban cowboy chic for sure!

The biggest difference was the big smile she now wore. I immediately directed her to our barn set, complete with hay bales and split-rail fences. I really put her through her paces on that set, including poses in which I felt for sure her mother would object. Mom did not object; in fact, she started gushing how much more natural Tammy looked.

Believe me, that girl was showing off more cleavage than most other 17-year-olds would have found comfortable. There were a few times when nipples were not just hinted at, but actually came out to see what was going on. When that happened, Tammy nonchalantly put them back and just as nonchalantly made adjustments to the bustier. And, she had several changes of them, so we spent a good hour-and-a-half on those poses.

Then, we went out to the abandoned rail line just outside of town. She had on a leopard-print bustier, with a deep “V” that went almost to the bottom edge of the bustier. It was very low cut in the back, and I did a couple of poses with her looking over her shoulder that made it look like she was wearing nothing at all. I was clever enough to show Mom what they looked like in the previewer on the camera, and Mom just loved them! We were getting near the “golden hour,” where the sun is low in the sky, and Tammy positively glowed in the photos. I sure hope Dad loved them just as much as Mom and didn’t want to take a shotgun to me. The pictures were almost over-the-top sexual in nature, but she looked so natural in the viewfinder that I couldn’t stop taking her picture. Oh, well; the viewing appointment was going to be interesting.

I finished up with her around 6:30 pm and I realized that I really had to scramble if I wanted to make Alfredo’s on time. I put the pictures on the hard drive and scooted out the door. I had called Lou earlier asking her to meet me at the restaurant. I hoped that the client wouldn’t mind me coming to the meeting in jeans and maybe just a little dusty. It was a last-minute meet after all; I come as I am!

At Alfredo’s, I was met at the door by the maître d. He looked a bit down his long supercilious nose at me and sniffed. He asked my business and I told him I was with the Admunson party. He sniffed again and said, “Please come this way,” and led me to a semi-private area off to the side.

Sitting there, entertaining the others, was Lou. She was dressed in the quintessential LBD, or Little Black Dress. And, believe me, it was little! It was just enough to cover her breasts and ass as she sat there, talking with the others. Luckily, there were two little spaghetti straps to hold everything up or else her breasts would easily become uncovered. She heard the maître d sniff again, saw me and jumped out of her seat, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a really smoldering kiss.

She stepped back and, with a big smile, introduced me to everyone with a “Everyone, this is Jonny!” I noticed she did not give me any kind of title, like husband or fiancé, but in the press, I didn’t mind. She went on to introduce me to everyone. I was kind of amazed that she could and did remember all of the names and relationships. One more thing at which she was good. Maybe she should be a politician? No, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, especially someone I loved as much as I loved Lou!

Next to Harold was a pretty blonde I knew was his newest wife, Marsha. Yes, Harold had been married several times, but that was his nature. Next to Holly was the art director for the distributor, a guy by the name of Jim Wallis. He was slim and dark haired, pale and fairly small, especially sitting near Harold, who, due to his Nordic genetics, was something of a giant of a man. Sitting next to him was Jane, a mousy, brown-haired little woman who looked totally out of place. I immediately categorized her as “Plain Jane.” She was shy and looked down and away from me as I took her hand.

The last pair of people at the table were a fairly large man and a stunning redhead. His name was Alexander (“call me Alex”) Topham and the redhead was his girlfriend, Ginger. Talk about stereotypes! He was, as I said, fairly large, but also with an impressive gut, and the toupee on his head was not exactly top-of-the-line. He was dressed conservatively, but his tie was pretty loud.