Chapter 16: The Invasion Begins

WE DECIDED on a 10x15 print for Kathleen as a token of our friendship and appreciation. I printed an 8x10 for Dave at Pro Photo Source and, just to test the range, I printed a 12x18 print for our gallery. That was definitely as large as I wanted to go with a 35mm slide. I thought it got a little soft around the edges, but it wasn’t too bad. Anna proudly hung a sign on it that said “Signed Art Print, $500.” And I signed it.

I took the 8x10 to Dave and he was very pleased. I gave him a stack of our brochures and he hung the print where people could see the list of his color services. When it was late enough that I thought she’d be up and about ... never call actors early in the morning ... I called Kathleen and told her I had her print ready. She said she’d be down soon.

She looked at the print and started to cry.

“It’s so beautiful. I’m going to go have it matted and framed at the frame store and give it to Damien tonight,” she said. “He’s going to love looking at it as much as I loved posing for it.”

“I hope you’re both very happy with it,” I said. “When we get settled a little more, I’ll have you back for another sitting. We’ll come up with a good concept. Leanne, the makeup artist I work with, will be here all next week. You should stop in and meet her, even if we don’t do photos next week. She has some interesting concepts that I think you’ll like.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you, Nate. Thank you, Ronda. Thank you, Anna and Patricia. I’m just so in love with this photo!”

We wrapped the photo between sheets of cardboard and she took off.

“We should look up that frame shop she mentioned,” I said. “Maybe we can work out an arrangement with them so customers can get a discount on framing when they take one of our photos with them.”

“That’s one possibility,” Patricia said. “We should look into providing the service ourselves. I’m not sure about framing, but I know we could provide mattes for the photos. It wouldn’t take much to get a cutter and some stock.”

“Maybe instead of offering them a discount, we work out a wholesale agreement with the frame shop and send the photos to them for framing, but mark up the finished product for the customer,” Ronda suggested.

Anna was busy writing down the suggestions.

“I’ll get on pricing out the alternatives and talking to the people in the frame shop,” she said. “These are good ideas and they all spell profit.”

“Are we ready for company?” I asked, looking at my calendar. It seemed that no matter where I went, I lived according to my calendar. It had been that way since I started doing sittings in high school. Everything went on the calendar. “Leanne and Min are supposed to be here Saturday sometime. You’ve all met and know Leanne. I think you’ll really like Min, too. She’s a great model.”

“I think we should have a cleaning day for the rest of the day and make sure the apartment and the studio are ready for company,” Patricia said. “Do you think we need to put a bed in the spare room? Even if they are coming together and say it’s okay, we shouldn’t force them to sleep together if they prefer private space.”

“That might be true. I haven’t heard Leanne talk much about actually having a relationship with Min other than doing a good job of feeling her up when she does makeup trials,” I said. “I think Min is fine with that, but might prefer a man’s touch to a woman’s. She certainly made it sound that way when we were working together. She actually caught me after class one day and said she hoped she could model for me some more. There was no mention of Leanne at the time.”

“Why don’t you go get another bed and bedding ordered for delivery tomorrow,” Patricia said. “Anna is heading for the frame shop. Melinda will be in at one to mind the store and we can focus on cleaning. Oh, and I’ve got an appointment this afternoon at three to talk to a daycare center. I know it’s not like we can’t look after Toni ourselves, but the daycare in Chicago did great things to advance her socialization with other children her age. She should have some Canadian friends.”

We all headed out on our assigned tasks.

The bells hanging on our front door rang about eleven on Friday and Kathleen came dancing into the store. Really dancing. She spun around and bowed to Toni behind the counter. Toni thought that was great and started dancing with her.

“Wow, you look happy today!” I said. “Of course, you always seem to be happy, but especially so this morning.”

“Damien asked me to move in with him!” she declared, smiling. “And he absolutely adores the photo. He took me home with him last night after the show and hung it in his house immediately. Then he took me to bed and— Oh, yeah!”

“That’s wonderful,” Ronda said, giving our friend a kiss on the cheek. Kathleen turned her face and met Ronda’s lips with her own for a more personal gesture.

“I’m not giving up enjoying the company of my friends,” she giggled. “Oh, now Anna told me that you usually go out two at a time so someone has company when they’re home with Toni. So, I have two sets of tickets for Merchant. A pair for tonight and a pair for Wednesday. Can you come?”

“That sounds wonderful,” I said. “Anybody want tonight’s tickets?”

“Why don’t you take Patricia out tonight,” Anna said. “Seems like Ronda and I have been having a good bit of special time with you lately and Patricia needs a break from childcare for the night.”

“Patricia, my love, would you like to go to the theatre this evening?”

“Oh, yes! That would be lovely.”

“Stick around after the show. As soon as I can get free, I’ll slip out to get you and take you backstage. I want you to meet Damien,” Kathleen said.

“Sounds great,” I said. “See you tonight.”

The Merchant of Venice is not one of Shakespeare’s funniest comedies, I’d say. But the production was fantastic. I guess the period was Elizabethan, but I didn’t realize women showed so much cleavage in that era. All the gowns had square-cut or scoop necklines that showed bosoms that were elevated and pushed together. Yeah. That’s what I noticed most about the production. It was fun to see Kathleen as one of the attendants, though she didn’t have a line.

I had to wonder if Shakespeare had a notion that the play would come off as a condemnation of Christians’ degradation and forced conversion of the Jews, or if it would contribute to the stereotype of greedy and moneygrubbing shysters. In this production, Shylock was actually quite a sympathetic character. His motivation was his mistreatment by Antonio, not his love of money. The Christian merchant Antonio had spit upon Shylock only days before he was forced to borrow from Shylock to help his friend. One rather thought Antonio should have lost the pound of flesh that was owed to Shylock.

Patricia was dressed in a lovely party dress and I was in my grey flannel suit. We were probably among the most dressed up at the show, but it was a big occasion for us to go out. We waited in the theatre until nearly everyone had left and Kathleen came out from backstage to take us with her. She’d stripped out of her gown and brushed out her hair, wearing a pair of bellbottoms and a sweater. She still had her theatrical makeup on, though.

“I’m so glad you came to the show!” she said. “Did you like it?”

“Oh, yes!” Patricia said. “You were so beautiful. I can’t wait to see you in Cymbeline.”

“I was scarcely in the show, tonight,” Kathleen laughed, “but thank you for your compliment. Over here. Damien, I’d like you to meet Nate, the photographer, and his beautiful companion Patricia. These people have just been so wonderful to me, ever since I arrived in Stratford. Nate and Patricia, may I present our director, Damien Rogers.”

“It’s a pleasure,” I said, holding out my hand. He shook it and then pulled Patricia to him to kiss on both cheeks. Very European of him. Patricia blushed.

“The pleasure, I assure you, is mine. The photographs you’ve done of Kathleen are just heavenly. I want you to photograph everyone in my cast. Of course, I’m not asking that specifically, but it’s how that photo makes me feel,” he said.

“Thank you. It was great to work with Kathleen. As I’m sure you know, she takes direction extremely well.”

“Yes! My opinion exactly. We’re going for an after-show snack. Would you join us?” he asked.

I glanced at Patricia and she looked bright and willing.

“We’d love to,” I said.

I had been under the impression that Damien was asking Patricia and me to a snack with Kathleen and him. It turned out that half a dozen other members of the cast joined us on a short walk to a late-night diner near the theatre. Apparently, some portion of the cast often went out after the shows.

“Lovelies, this is Nate Hart, the photographer who took that wonderful portrait of Kath that she showed last night. And the vision of loveliness next to him is Patricia. I’m willing to bet he has many photos of her. How could he help but take her picture?” Damien said by way of introduction.

We greeted the actors who gave the names of their parts as well as their real names. It was helpful, because none of them looked anything like they had on stage.

“I’m insanely jealous,” Bridget Gray said. She’d played another of the attendants. “I want a regal portrait like Kathleen’s. And just as racy. How did you manage that? The image speaks of royal power, but also a seething sexuality that the rest of us know lies beneath her demure façade.”

“Wow! That is quite a description,” I laughed. “I hadn’t thought of Kathleen as having a demure façade.”

“You must have some tricks,” Daniel Fournier said.

“I guess, if you want tricks, it is simply to expose the model for who she or he really is. I’ve found ... especially with actors ... that the real person is concealed beneath many layers of the roles you’ve played. I simply try to strip away the shell and reveal the true character.”

“The operative word there is ‘strip,’” Kathleen giggled. “I dare anyone to go through a portrait session like I did and keep his or her clothes on.”

“I’m on,” Bridget said. “Though if Patricia doesn’t mind her man stripping other women, I can’t say I would object.”

“I’m one of four girlfriends,” Patricia said. “We all started with Nate when he was beginning in photography. We are used to him— revealing the best in women.”

“Ooh! Now even I am intrigued,” said Olivia. She was one of the principals, though I’d forgotten the name. “I’d be afraid for my chastity, if I were you, Bridget.”

“No, no.” I said. “The photo experience is intimate and sometimes very sensual, but we have a hard and fast rule against screwing in the studio. I’d never get any work done!”

That got a laugh, thankfully. We had a great time with the cast and then a lovely walk home. We got in quite late, so after we’d looked in on Toni, I took Patricia to the new bedroom and quietly made love to her for another hour or two before we fell asleep.

Leanne arrived at noon on Saturday. With her was the lovely vision of Min. Okay. Maybe I would slip into their bed once while they’re here. Or twice.

Of course, they wanted to see the new studio first thing. They were suitably impressed, though Leanne really knew very little about the darkroom equipment. On the other hand, she knew the most recent images of Kathleen were something special. Min stared at all my color images. I could almost see her heartrate increasing. She spent less time looking at the picture of Kathleen than at the one of Missy, sprawled over the back of the loveseat.

“I very much want to have the body painting that Leanne has designed,” she said to me when she thought no one else was near enough to hear. “I hope that you will take some pictures of the real me, too. I want to feel what it is like to be in your hands for a portrait. I believe these women each had a very special experience.”

“I’ll do my best to make your experience special as well, Min,” I said. “I know we’ll take a lot of photos this week. I want to expose the real you.”

“Yesss,” she hissed.

They loved the apartment, too, and opted to occupy just one room. It might have been an agreement Min made with Leanne. I needed to go over the contract with Leanne to be sure Min was being compensated for her work as a model. It was unusual to bring a model in for an entire week of work and not have a healthy compensation involved. I hadn’t agreed to any fees as yet, so I had to depend on Leanne to pay her.

The arrival of Leanne and Min staved off other conversations as we unloaded the costumes and props and body paint from their car and found room for them in the studio. Leanne had brought some impressive bits with her. We went out to dinner and then crashed.

That’s when Ronda and I crashed as well. I took her to the spare bedroom where I’d taken Patricia the previous evening, and held her as we both cried quietly.

Christine ... the girl we thought was our forever love ... had just married someone else.

It was a purging of our spirits ... a catharsis of sorts and we each tried to make sure the other knew how much we were still loved. I worshiped Ronda. I didn’t just focus on her incredibly beautiful figure or silky hair. I made sure there was not a bit of her body I didn’t kiss. And I found out something new. Her toes were an incredibly sensitive erogenous zone. As I sucked and licked between her toes, I could see her milky juices begin to pour from her vagina.

“Now! Now! Please, Nate, make love to me now!” she cried. I moved up into her arms and slid effortlessly into her steamy center. Ronda was coming as I soon as I entered her and I felt the wonderful contractions of her vagina on my penis. There was no holding back as I pressed into her as deeply as I could and began to spray her insides with my semen.

“We have— lovers— and a family— and we have each other,” Ronda gasped as we came down. “We don’t need the fantasy of any other girl to weigh us down or hold us back. I love you, Nate. Now and forever, you are in my heart.”

We didn’t do any work Saturday or Sunday, really. The store was open, but Melinda took care of Sunday, so we had the opportunity to take our friends out and show them Stratford. I guess we showed it with the pride of new residents. Leanne asked if we were coming back to Chicago.

“You know how cold and snowy it gets in Chicago in the winter?” I asked. She nodded. “Double that for here. This is our summer home.”

“It’s certainly more pleasant here than there right now. Chicago has entered the rainy season. Seems like wind and rain are blowing off the lake constantly,” Min said. Leanne nodded.

“Of course, I haven’t been around the past three weeks,” Leanne said. “I went home as soon as you guys left. I’m still dormitory-bound so I didn’t have any place to crash once the dorms closed.”

“I told you, you can live with me,” Min said.

“Yes, but you don’t mean it,” Leanne sighed. “I love you for who you are and the way you are. I’m not going to ask you to be more than you are to me.”

“I still like you,” Min whispered. “Isn’t that enough?”

“For now. For this week, at least. I’ll accept that and give you all of me you will take.”

“I could hardly ask for a better or more creative friend,” Min responded.

I began to see the relationship as it was. Min was happy to be Leanne’s friend and model. Happy, I surmised, even to share her bed and body. But Min did not have the feelings for Leanne that Leanne had for Min. Still, they were happy with what they had, even though they knew it would change over time.

“Nate,” Leanne whispered to me later, as we walked near the lake. “I hope that sometime this week, you will fulfill Min’s desires if you can. She has been very reserved around men for quite some time because ... as I understand her ... she was not at all reserved in high school. But her hunger for a man has sharpened to focus on immediate satiation by you. She won’t attach herself to you. No more than she’s attached herself to me. But she has fallen deeply in lust with you. You can take her to your spare room, or satisfy yourselves in bed next to me. Maybe you can spare some for me. But if you can find it in your heart to do it, make love to Min.”

The problem would not be whether I could find it in my heart to make love to Min, but whether any of my girlfriends would leave her alone. I’d talked to Ronda the night before as we lay in each other’s arms. She said she certainly understood Leanne’s infatuation with her and wouldn’t mind a journey between the girl’s legs herself.

Min was definitely a wet dream.

We planned to do a shoot on Monday, but paying customers take priority over our experimental art photography. There was no way to consider taking pictures of Min as anything but art ... and pleasure. We did a little sample of the body paint on Min’s right arm, which necessitated her being topless. I took several opportunities to caress her small but succulent breasts. I had to hold steady with a hand on her bare back as I followed Leanne’s instructions for painting the scales that would adorn Min’s body.

Leanne’s concept was for an alien body. She described it as being what Anne McCaffrey’s dragons of Pern would look like in human form. She considered the link between humans and dragons in the books to be highly sexual, and had both books with her, with passages marked that would support her theory. She said Min the Gold would be a dragon every man would want to ride.

We were practicing painting the scales, and keeping Min stimulated, when I was called to the front of the store to talk to a couple who had seen the photo of Kathleen at Pro Photo Source where they’d stopped to buy some film.

“Can you do some kind of photo that makes it look like we were in a play here in Stratford?” Sam asked. He was a nice-looking guy with long sandy hair and beard, and a muscular build.

“We want to tell our friends back home that we just came up here and because we knew the parts, we were asked to step in as understudies when some stars got sick,” Rachel said. “We’re theatre majors at the University of Washington and are here for a whole week of theatre.”

Rachel was a good-looking woman, about five-five with brown hair. She was pretty well-stacked, but was a lot like Kathleen, which gave me an idea.

“We don’t have much of a stock of costumes here, but I think I see what you want,” I said. “Let me make a phone call and see if I can get a couple of costumes for you. Would you like something a little Avant Garde or Elizabethan? Sexy or reserved? What is your image?”

“Oh! Something like an Elizabethan version of Hair!” Rachel said. “You know, the feel of Shakespeare, but as racy as a rock musical.”

I looked at Sam again and his hair and beard. Yes, it could go in either a rock musical or a Shakespearean production. I wouldn’t mind at all getting Rachel into an Elizabethan gown that couldn’t quite contain her boobs. I had them sit down and look through the portfolios as I ran upstairs to make a phone call from the apartment. I flagged Min and Leanne and said we would probably be needing the studio for a paying customer shortly, so they should move upstairs. I told Leanne I might need her expertise with makeup.

When I got to the phone, I immediately called Kathleen. When she heard what I wanted, she got very excited and said she would grab some things and be over within an hour. I had no idea what she would come up with in that time, but I trusted her. I went back to talk to Sam and Rachel.

“These are exciting photos,” Rachel said. “Anna was kind enough to explain how you work and how you get these pictures. She said with two of us, you’d need at least one and possibly more assistants to get us ready.”

“We’re here on a study grant with all expenses paid, so we can spend the money my grandfather gave us for the trip on a really great souvenir,” Sam said. “When we’ve chosen a picture, we’ll want two color 8x10s. We’ll pay the sitting fee and sign a model release so you can display and sell the photo if you want.”

“I can’t imagine anyone wanting a photo of us when they could have their own,” Rachel said. “Anna said you’d do makeup and everything for us.”

“To me, it sounds like $400 is a bargain,” Sam said.

$400? I guess. Two 8x10 Cibachromes would be $198. Anna must be charging them $100 for the sitting ... each. Hmm. I guess we were providing a lot of stuff for them if I got costumes and we did makeup and props. I’d have to talk to Kathleen about what to charge for the costumes.