Chapter 1

One thing that Suzanne and Andrew had forgotten that special Sunday morning was that now he had a flatmate! They had both wandered to the bathroom without a stitch on, but had managed to escape embarrassment then. However, when they walked through to the dining room and kitchen and saw Pete there, the looks were akin to deer in the headlights. Pete was trying not to laugh but suddenly they all cracked up. Nothing was said yet the silence was loud and expressive. They were about to head out for lunch when Suzanne suddenly doubled over and gasped. Neither Pete nor Andrew were sure what was wrong but Andrew saw a darkening at the crutch of Suzanne’s jeans. She had mentioned that it was due any day but it looked like it had arrived, and in force! Suzanne was horrified and rushed off to the bathroom and was there for a while. Pete had been planning to head to his parents to get some odds and ends he had forgotten so he discreetly headed off. Eventually Suzanne called for Andrew to pass her robe to her and only opened the door a crack to snatch it from his grasp. It was a further 15 minutes before she finally made an appearance, looking very wan and still embarrassed.

“Do you think you can run me over to my folks please. I need to do some laundry and rest there. I think I am going to stay there tonight. The flow is much heavier than normal for some reason and well.”

Suzanne’s explanation petered out. Andrew had been around enough women on their periods to know that it was a personal thing and Suzanne had just bled out in front of him and Pete. So he grabbed the car keys and took her over to her parents. He pulled into the drive and gave Suzanne a hug.

“I’ll give you a call tomorrow and let you know how I feel, okay?”

“Sure. Let’s go for dinner even if you want to stay here. It will be our last night this break.”

With a gentle kiss Suzanne trudged into the house, she really was suffering. Andrew grabbed some fast food on the way down to the Food Bank warehouse. He hadn’t planned on working there but would put in a couple of hours. Dave just nodded and once Andrew had scoffed down his lunch he hauled boxes of food as normal. But just after 3.00 he was parking the car and walking over to the studio. The three of them sat and chatted while Andrew developed all the negatives. Tony was going to get kicked out when Andrew started printing the photos.

“So how did it go?”

Andrew explained the three phases of the shoot and how Stacey had been unexpected obsessed about her tummy.

“What was interesting was that she was more relaxed with being naked than she was in clothes. But the way I had her posed allowed her to emphasis the parts of her body that she was proud of, or comfortable with. If you are going to photograph women who would not normally be models then you need to be ready for that. For instance I think Stacey would have been fine in a corset for example. Everything that she worried about carefully concealed. Also having a friend there also helped. Now it might not work for everybody but it definitely helped with Stacey. They had known each other for 25 years so there was a banter between them that wasn’t forced. Plus I think it is good advertising, letting someone else see what the shoot is like. At first a lot of the customers will be word of mouth. The other thing I noticed is that it forced me not to rush to the good bits. When you know the model isn’t going to get naked then it meant I posed her more in the dress, around the set, in her underwear. It is a very different way to pose someone than with a standard model.”

They both had been nodding as Andrew explained the shoot.

“It is all about relaxing the model and being ready to deal with her having a sudden concern about her body.”

“Women are all like that. I know that I pose as a nude model but it doesn’t mean that I am not happier with some parts of my body than others. Before Andrew became obsessed with photographing my arse I always worried it was too big. Three years of you standing behind me with a camera have changed my mind but I understand what you are saying.”

They all laughed but Maggie was also telling the truth. She had great tits, nice and big and still firm but Andrew was an arse man as Suzanne had reminded him that very morning. They left the negatives to dry and went upstairs for tea.

“Do you think Stacey’s friend will book a shoot?”

“I think so. She seemed to enjoy herself and was in some of the photos. She has a very beautiful face. But she is also a big woman, not a shape that is normally found on a model. I think she is intrigued by the idea but lots of women are intrigued by the idea but aren’t ready to be photographed in their underwear, or less. We will see. What is the plan for tomorrow?”

“We have directions to the starting point of the hike, there is a small car park. I checked the forecast this morning and it is supposed to be dry tonight and 3 or 4 degrees, so comfortably above freezing. It is also supposed to be dry all day tomorrow. When do you want to start?”

“Early, first thing in the morning. Two reasons, one I think it will be quieter then, but I have 10 rolls of film to print today, review carefully, select the best ones for the album, maybe enlarge one or two and prepare everything for Stacey. I only have today or tomorrow when we get back. How long does the guidebook say it will take to climb the mountain and return to your car?”

“Four to six hours.”

“Plus 90 minutes each way so between seven and nine hours. If we left at 6.30 we could start the climb at 8.00 and hopefully be back at the car before 2.00. Grab a bite to eat and still be back here just after 4.00.”

Andrew knew that the following day he would be struggling for energy after a long day in the mountains so drank up his tea and headed back down to the darkroom. While he got everything ready Maggie selected a photo album from the stock in the shop and then they got started. The chat quickly returned to the nascent business again.

“You seemed very positive earlier. You really think it has a chance?”

“I am mostly basing that positive assumption on what you are saying about women generally. If, as you say, there are a lot of women that have these fantasies or dreams of being a model, even if it is just for one day, then I think there is a very solid sustainable business there. It may take time to grow but there is an unmet demand. It is also a business that lends itself to the two of you working together. A lot of the sessions will be evenings and weekends. The prospective models will have to schedule the session round real life. And as I have mentioned before, having you be the face of it will be a huge help, probably the key difference maker.”

Maggie didn’t immediately agree with Andrew but she didn’t demur either. What he was saying was true.

“I have been meaning to ask you, were the two of them okay with you as the photographer. I don’t think Stacey’s oldest is a teenager yet but I know that Elspeth’s oldest is 16. I wondered if having someone your age photographing the shoot was awkward.”

“It might have been but I was definitely the lesser of two evils for Stacey. And you know how I can get, I go all serious and focused on the shoot. I stepped out the studio a couple of times and turned my back another couple so I kept it really professional. It is a question that is better asked to Stacey.”

“What about you? What was the shoot like for you? Different than with me?”

“Oh completely. You and I joke and banter when we are shooting, not all the time, but there is an undercurrent of friendship. With you I have started to be a little more explicit, teasing you about what Tony is seeing, things like that. With Stacey it was all endless positive reinforcement. It is the same with any photographer, there is endless amounts of feedback to the model. I was even more over the top with her. But as long as her bare tummy was not in the frame she was fine. You will see the shots in a few minutes.”

“It will be nice to work together with Tony. This is the perfect spare time hobby for us both. I will get some decent make up products and a curling iron or something like that and offer to help the model with her hair and make-up. That way I can chat to her before the shoot, get some ideas of things to focus on, areas to stay away from, little things to make the shoot go well.”

The chat and the endless conveyor belt of prints meant that neither of them were really looking at Stacey’s pictures individually. It was completing the print and setting it aside to dry before turning to the next print. Thank goodness Tony had lots of drying racks.

“You are going to take your camera tomorrow, yes?”

“Don’t worry I will be ready should the opportunity present itself. I want to capture the naked Munro-bagger in all her glory.”

Maggie giggled.

“Can you imagine the Scottish Mountaineering Club if we submitted a picture like that from the top of Schiehallion?”

“They would be worried if they printed it in their magazine that Schiehallion would become the most popular mountain in Scotland. People would keep climbing it trying to catch a glimpse of the naked mountaineer.”

Maggie was laughing but she didn’t know that Andrew had made some purchases and had a plan. They worked away and finally had all the photographs printed out. They carried the first four rolls worth through to the large table in the studio. Andrew was pleasantly pleased how well the photographs had turned out. Stacey was relaxed and there were several shots that really stood out. From the 96 prints they were easily able to select 10 for inclusion in the album. The two rolls where Stacey was out of her dress were also easy, but in a different way. The entire first roll was poor compared to the previous ones. The second roll, mainly with her arse pointing towards the mirror were better but it was only the last couple of shots that were sufficiently natural and relaxed to be included in the album. The final four rolls were just about dry but they had the exact opposite problem, finding any to cull. The two rolls of film with Stacey naked under the blanket, were just chock full of lovely photographs. They were able to select the best 12 but they could have added another 12 as well. So they had the main album of 24 shots. Andrew decided to put the more comic shots with Elspeth and the towels in a separate album. They created a sequence that flowed nicely from Stacey in her robe to Stacey with a face cloth over her arse crack. Elspeth was in six or eight of the shots. The cover photograph for that album was also easy. The shot of Stacey with her back and legs covered but her arse on display was the obvious cover shot. They chose the one from her feet with Stacey looking back over her shoulder. It was a cheeky smile. In two places. The cover photo for the main album was a close up of Stacey’s face and bare shoulders. There was something about her expression that spoke to both Maggie and Andrew and so it was an easy choice. The final photograph was Stacey’s moment as a glamour model. Andrew enlarged the shot where she was topless on the bed. He had to crop it slightly so that there were no visual distractions but it came out very nicely. He framed it in a simple but elegant frame, the sort of frame that people have on their mantelpieces. Andrew was pretty sure this photo wasn’t going to be in the living room but that was the final piece. It was late but Stacey had 10 packets of prints, less those in the albums, with the negatives, two albums, one classic and one more light-hearted, and a single portrait of her as the Friday night glamour model. Andrew was starving but pleased to have everything completed. He would be able to enjoy climbing the mountain the next day without worrying about rushing back to the studio to complete the printing.

“I think she will be blown away Andrew. It is a shame that you are not going to be here when she receives them.”

“That can’t be helped. I may give you a call during term to find out her reaction.”

Pete had only got back shortly before Andrew and they sat and chatted over a beer while Andrew ate a late fish supper.

“I was totally bummed out that I had to go back down to the house the day after moving in here but it turned out alright. Bruce has been an annoying little shit for what feels like years and so I got payback for all his crap. And once I started Fiona stuck the boot in as well. We made the little git cry. At one point Fiona asked him why he had four showers yesterday and two more this morning.”

Fiona was Pete’s little sister, and Bruce’s twin.

“Dad started laughing along with the two of us and even Mum couldn’t keep a straight face. I think he has been annoying Fi even more than me. I told him he could only spend 30 seconds in the bathroom, any more and we would get suspicious. Quick as a flash Fi says he would still have time for two wanks since he was Quick Draw McGraw, or at least so the girls at school told her. My little sister. At the dinner table. Complete chaos. Of course Fiona got a lecture about being a good girl and talk like that is unbecoming a lady and blah, blah, blah. Totally worth it. I think Bruce is worried about the tales Fi is going to tell at school when the break is over. I hope Suzanne is feeling better tomorrow and I get the chance to thank her.”