Chapter 24: Afternoon of a Faun

I MANAGED TO GET Rachel squeaky clean—at least she squeaked when I cleaned her—but I didn’t fuck her. By the time she was scrubbed, the tub was such a mess that I spent the next half hour cleaning it. I’d learned with Min’s makeup not to let it sit in the tub. What we needed was an industrial shower and I was glad the next rehearsal was in the theatre.

I rushed to get ready for dinner and the theatre and we took Kat and Julie out for a celebratory burger at the pub up the street from us. It was their choice as it had become their favorite place to go out. Melinda came in to sit with Toni for the evening so we could all go. Toni thought Melinda was basically part of the family, since she saw her in the store almost every day.

After the show we went out to the bar where the cast often gathered and everyone got to wish Kat and Julie safe travels. By this time, Kat and Rachel had exchanged contact information and even had a phone call to Rachel’s parents Saturday morning.

We didn’t stay out too late because the girls had to drive early in the morning, but we had a good time and they were invited back to do more paintings next year.

We decided to do the rehearsal Sunday without the base coat, which would speed things up and would simplify cleanup a little. This was the first time the musicians would be with us and John would be assessing what scenery would be best.

Not having the base coat certainly sped things up, but the stark contrast between the painting and Rachel’s pale skin color really skewed the whole design. Nothing looked right.

“This is obviously a bacchanalia setting,” John said as he spent a few minutes just appreciating Rachel’s body in the quickly arranged lights. “Her skin is really going to glow, though. Do you want me to tone it down with some amber and rose gel in the lights?”

“We need to keep that as an option,” Kathleen said, “but we are definitely going to use the base coat for the show. Do you guys know how long it takes just to have her ready for the painting you did today? It was still a little long.”

“I think we’ll speed up the painting,” Leanne said. “We’re going to rehearse just the paint and costume again on Thursday. We’ll time the base coat process so we know how much time to allow before the show to get her ready. There are a couple of places I think we can speed things up in the makeup if Judy can pick up some of the lower body work as I do the face makeup. I believe we’ll cut another fifteen minutes off the performance time.”

“How about having her enter through the shrubbery,” John suggested. “I’ll build a little gateway where it looks like she just emerges from the bushes. It will be like she’s just being born.”

“I like that,” I said. “The whole idea of entering in a robe seemed to disrupt the continuity. And then we had to figure out what to do with the robe.”

“Then I’ll just walk on stage naked?” Rachel asked.

“The base coat covers you almost as well as clothing,” Leanne said. “But basically, yes. It makes it look less like a striptease.”

“I guess I get that. What time does the pub open in the morning? I might need to start drinking early,” Rachel laughed.

“We’ll work out some things to ease your discomfort.”

“How about easing me out of this makeup now?”

“I’m leaving you to Leanne and Judy today,” I said. “I need to talk to Kathleen and John.”

The girls headed to the showers and I turned to the director and scene designer.

“Do you guys know anything about this Carmen Knight? I have her scheduled for a studio session on Tuesday. I don’t have much information other than portrait and Attic Allure,” I said.

“Carmen is actually going to do it?” Kathleen asked. “She asked around the theatre a lot after she saw the photos you’ve taken. That’s going to be a real challenge.”

“What gives?”

“Carmen is a stage manager. She’s not an actress,” John said. “And ... um ... I’d guess she weighs 200 or 220 pounds. She carries it well, but she’s a really big girl.”

“Don’t assume that’s all just fat,” Kathleen said. “She’s six feet tall. I think your big challenge is not to make a caricature out of her. She deserves as glamorous a photo as any actress.”

“Wow. Any suggestions for setting?” I asked.

“She’s a real Amazon. Wonder if she’d go for a warrior look. It suits her personality,” John said.

“I’ll talk to her,” Kathleen said. “She manages There’s One in Every Marriage.”

Monday afternoon, John arrived with a couple of backdrops and some props and costumes.

“Kathleen talked to Carmen,” he said. “I guess it was quite an emotional purging. Carmen said she just wanted someone to see her as beautiful and strong and capable. When Kathleen suggested the Amazon warrior, her eyes just lit up. I believe Carmen is a powder keg ready to go off if you light her fuse.”

I wasn’t sure how to interpret that. It sounded a little dangerous and I hoped, as Olivia put it, it didn’t get messy. I decided to play it by ear and that I’d work alone on this one. I wanted to protect the family from any explosions if that was what John meant.

“Hello, Carmen. Welcome to Attic Allure,” I said when she arrived Tuesday at noon.

“Hey.” She looked around and saw the props and costumes, walking over to touch them. “You work alone?”

“Unless you’d prefer there be someone with us,” I said.

“No. I’d prefer no one else was around. I ... uh ... am a little body shy around other people. Fewer the better.”

“Okay. I’ll try to be as discreet as I can be and we’ll get some great photos of you.”

“Kathleen and Leanne said I could let my inner fantasies out here,” Carmen said. I raised an eyebrow.

“Uh ... Mostly that’s true. Did they also mention there’s no sex in the studio?”

“Intercourse. They specifically said there was no intercourse allowed. I’m glad. I’m pretty picky about who I allow that liberty to. But ... Well, I’m picky about everything, but maybe not quite as picky.”

“You’re a beautiful woman, Carmen. I’m sure we can get exactly what you want today.”

“I have a beautiful face, since Leanne spent an hour making it up this morning. But if we do the Amazon thing, she suggested you might want to change the makeup a little.”

“Why don’t we focus on a great portrait first and then think about what we’ll do with the Amazon setting. John brought over some costumes and props and a couple of backdrops to try out, but I don’t want to overwhelm the image with a lot of background stuff. Thank you for the release. Come over here and have a seat on the stool for a nice new portrait. This will be suitable to send to a friend or family, or to use as a publicity portrait in a playbill.”

Carmen was really quite lovely. Unfortunately, she was the kind of girl who had probably heard ‘Oh, you’ve got such a pretty face,’ as a way of complimenting her without mentioning her size. I was pretty sure she never wore high heels. She was dressed for the theatre, which meant she wore black slacks and a black turtleneck. It was the usual outfit for stage crew. She probably had a dozen identical outfits.

“This is going to be interesting,” I said. “I’m going to shoot a red background first and then pull a black background. The red will give just a modest contrast between your clothes and the background when we do black and white shots. The black would make you disappear, except that I’m going to backlight you to put a highlight all around your head and shoulders so you stand out of the background. I’m going to try lighting it in blue. We’ll do both black and white and if I get the effect I want, I’ll shoot a nice color portrait, too.”

“You sound like John explaining the subtleties of the lighting on one of his sets,” Carmen laughed. It was good that she was loosening up.

“Techies all have to explain what they’re doing to make it seem like we know what we’re doing,” I said. “Now lift your chin a little. Over here.”

I guided her pose and we used different expressions. She did have a nice smile, too. I got exactly the pose I wanted with the black drop and the blue backlight. She was heavenly.

“Now join me over here at the gallery and tell me what jumps out that you really like,” I said.

“I like that they’re all so beautiful, but it makes me insanely jealous. Can you make me just a little beautiful?”

“Carmen, from everything I’ve heard, you are an extraordinary woman. Damien said he could never have done either Macbeth or There’s One in Every Marriage without you. John thinks you walk on water.”

“Fat floats.”

“Carmen, look at me. I’m going to tell you you’re beautiful and by the time I’m done with you today, you will absolutely believe it. And when you see our photos, you’ll know it is all true. Can you trust me to do that?” I asked.

“Kathleen, Leanne, Olivia, Rebecca ... They all told me I need to just put myself in your hands. I’m afraid you won’t find a svelte beauty when you undress me like you found with Rebecca. But you can mold this body into any shape you think it will hold. And if I tense up a little when you touch me ... in uh ... certain places, it’s just because I’m not used to being touched there, not because I don’t want you to.”

“Be very clear with me anytime you want me to back off or not do something. I want you to enjoy this experience, even though we’re going to do a lot of work this afternoon. Now let’s give you a little stronger makeup job instead of one so glamorous.”

“Just don’t make me look like a freak, okay?”

“Spoil the look of this beautiful face? Not on your life,” I said.

I led her into the dressing room and had her take a seat while I fixed her makeup. It didn’t take too long. If Leanne had really worked on her for an hour this morning, she’d think I was a novice. Which, I guess, I am. I’m getting better all the time, though. When I had the makeup finished, I brushed out her hair and tied a leather headband around her head. Then I turned her toward the mirror.

“Wow! I look almost innocent,” she giggled.

“Now, Carmen, I’m going to ask you a very important question. I have several costume pieces I want to put you in. Do you want me to lay them out and then leave so you can do it yourself, or do you want me to dress you?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and then looked up at me in the mirror.

“I knew it would come to this. Please ... dress me. And I guess that means undress me, too,” she said.

I kissed her on the forehead and went to get the costume pieces I’d chosen. I had her just stay sitting so I could reach everything and then pulled on her turtleneck. She raised her arms so I could pull it over her head, then I quickly adjusted her hair back where I wanted it. She sat there in a fairly heavy bra, which I’m sure was necessary just to provide support for her chest. She had a chest as large as one of my first models in Tenbrook. Maggie had complained that it was a pain to lug her breasts around and she planned to have reduction surgery after she turned eighteen. I wondered how that went. I unfastened the bra and slipped it off Carmen’s shoulders. She sighed.

“Beautiful. Just beautiful,” I said as I massaged the marks from the shoulder straps. “We’ll hope the rest of these marks fade before we get into a position where we’ll see any of them. Now, I hate to see them go, but this is a leather vest that will be your armor. In true fantasy art mode, though, it’s only going to cover what’s necessary and leave a lot of cleavage on display.”

“Will it fit?”

“Cleverly designed with an elastic expansion in the back,” I said.

I pulled it around her and laced the front together between her breasts. Then I stepped behind her and reached into the vest to position her breasts correctly for maximum exposure.

Next, I removed her shoes and socks and spent a minute massaging her feet as her eyes drifted closed. I had her stand and unzipped her slacks. I decided not to make her suffer through multiple rounds of reveal and just slipped my hands inside the waistband of her panties and took them down with her slacks.

“The next piece is a loincloth,” I said, fastening a leather belt around her waist. Then I pulled a strip of fabric through the belt, passed it between her legs, and through the belt at her back.

“You didn’t just dive in and grab my pussy, like you did my breasts,” she sighed.

“It wasn’t necessary to position your pussy correctly,” I laughed. “But don’t worry, there’s still time.”

She caught her breath in a little gasp that let me know she was open to the possibility. I smoothed the loincloth over her generous ass and then straightened it down the front. I had a feeling this whole outfit might have been worn by a man in a show like some Greek drama.

“Have a seat again. It’s legs next,” I said.

There was a wrap that went around her calf and was fastened in place with leather greaves. Pretty ingenious design and it looked very realistic. When I had both legs done, I had her stand again.

“Okay, shoulder armor next. Did you ever think how ridiculous women’s armor looks in comic books? Maybe you never look at comic books, but Leanne brought me a whole selection of comics with art by Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. Granted, even their men usually have a bare torso with more muscles in their abs than I have in my entire body. But they have good shields, sometimes leggings. Metal plates like some world champion wrestler’s belt. The women, though, are considered well armored if they have a couple coin-sized bits to cover their nipples and a bikini bottom that is held up by faith.”

Carmen started laughing. And it was good to see as I fastened the shoulder plate to her.

“Is that how you imagine me?” she asked. “If I wore a bikini like that you wouldn’t see it at all. I’d suck it right up inside. And it would take more than a coin to cover these nips.”

“I think your nips are luscious, and when it comes time, I won’t want anything covering them at all,” I said, giving her breasts a squeeze. “Now, gauntlets.” I fastened the leather wrist-guards to her arms and handed her a shield and sword. Magnificent! I turned her to the mirror.

Her breath started coming faster and was in little gasps by the time I got her seated and she started relaxing.

“I ... don’t look fat in this outfit!” she said. “I look ferocious.”

“Strong, capable, and beautiful,” I said. “Let’s get some pictures.”

I worked with her for quite a while, mostly in black and white, but eventually I changed to color in the 4x5. I had some ideas of how to really change this picture up using a color filter, even though I’d never done it before. And eventually, I did let one breast out of her armor. She looked magnificent!

I took her back into the dressing room and began removing her armor.

“Will it really show me the way you described?” she asked as I massaged her breasts and she panted with the exertion of our posing time.

“Carmen, this picture will be held up as the very image of what a stage manager needs to be. We got the beauty, strength, and capability, but we also uncovered the fierceness and determination it takes to hold a show together. Honey, you are wonderful.”

“Keep doing that a little before I have to put my other armor on. Please?” she said. I pulled her over to the couch and stretched out with her so I could appropriately love her breasts. We didn’t go further than that. She pushed me back. “Thank you. I can get dressed from here.”

I gave her a little kiss and left the dressing room.

Part of the slow-down in getting Rachel ready for performance was that we only had one spray brush. So, Thursday morning, Rachel and I went to the studio and she stripped so I could start painting her before Judy and Leanne got there. Rachel threatened to delay things a bit at the beginning. As soon as she was naked, she wanted some loving and kisses. I sucked her nips a little and dragged my fingers through her wet pussy, but I really needed to get the base coat on her before my partners arrived.

“You never try to get your dick in me,” she sighed. “Even when we showered together, you got me off but never gave me time to even suck you. Are you ever going to make love to me?”

“Rachel, you know the rules. I don’t have sex in the studio and I don’t fuck models.”

I was sure I would go to hell for the number of times I’d broken those rules, but I always started there. Would I like to fuck Rachel? Well, she was female. I enjoyed teasing her nipples and her clit. I’d made her come several times. Her pussy was always wet when I went exploring. But I’d noticed I wasn’t automatically hardening as soon as she undressed. In fact, I was often less aroused with models than I used to get—even when I played with them. I couldn’t even count the number of nipples I’d sucked or the number of wet pussies I’d put my fingers in. Pam had told me years ago that I was getting jaded, and maybe she was right.

“I know when we shower, you get hard,” Rachel continued. “I feel you bumping against me. What difference would it make if you bumped up in me a little? And you know, I’m not just suggesting it out of a perceived obligation. I really enjoy sex and I like you. I don’t sleep around that much, but we’ve been so intimate. You’ve touched me like no one else.”

I ran my finger through her butt crack and pressed against her asshole out of some perverse impulse to torment her.

“Like there!” she gasped. “Judy says it’s really a treat to have you fuck her butt. Is it different? I mean for you? I know it’s sensitive, but the idea of having a whole cock up in my butt makes me shake. I don’t think I could do it, but I’d take you in my vagina any day. You could do it right now if you wanted. I’d just bend over a little and you could slide right in.”

I finished her ankles and turned her around so I could do the front of her legs.

“You like my breasts, don’t you? You’ve been very careful to paint all my body except my breasts so far. Are you saving them for a little snack before you paint them? Come ahead, baby. Suck on my little nipples while you play with my clitty some more.”

I was expecting Leanne and Judy shortly, but I actually had saved her breasts for last so I could suck on them a little before I sprayed them. I bit down on a nipple as I pushed a finger into her wet channel and she gasped out a mini orgasm.

“It would be so nice with your cock,” she sighed.

I circled her clit a few times with my wet finger and she moaned out another orgasm before I withdrew and sprayed her breasts with paint. That’s when Judy and Leanne got there. We set straight to work doing the painting and costuming. Rachel quit her narration.

We got the time down to an hour and ten minutes by having all the base work done before we started. We carefully examined our work, turning Rachel around. I put her in front of a plain backdrop and took an entire series of 35mm color slides from every angle, just to record the project in a way that would not be possible during the performance.

When we were finished, Leanne and Judy removed all the pieces of her costume that were not painted on, including the jewels on her forehead, the horns and ears, the vines and the leatherwork. I took Rachel upstairs to shower and scrub her.

“Nate, you need to call Professor Hyatt in Chicago,” Ronda said as soon as we walked into the apartment.

“Okay. I’ll call as soon as I get Rachel cleaned up,” I said.

“No. You need to call right away. He said it was very important and I promised to have you call as soon as you got in. Rachel, I’ll take care of you. I know you like to have Nate do it, but this is really important.”

“Oh, sure,” she said. “You know, as long as I get clean.”

“I know,” Ronda said, taking the painted girl into the bathroom. “I’ll get you really clean, and oil your skin afterward, too. I have a new body lotion that is just to die for.”

I headed to the kitchen to make my call.

“Nate, I’m glad you got back to me. I’ll get right to the point. We need you in Chicago for a symposium the thirtieth of the month through the first of September. This is important. It has to do with the ID system we use and whether we should continue.”

“Um ... Thanks, Professor, but you know I’m not able to continue working with the system this year. My class schedule is just too heavy. The upper level classes are all three hours long. I have one Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then I have a lower level costuming class on Monday and Wednesday afternoons,” I said.

“I’m aware of that and we’ll miss you for the work study, but this is more important than that. The equipment we use, you know, is from Polaroid.”

“Yes, it’s a pretty good system. And I’m behind the ID program. It really makes simple tasks easier—like cashing a check.”

“Well, we weren’t following the news closely enough when we installed it and started the ID system last fall. There is a group of workers at Polaroid who have called for a boycott on the company because of their involvement in South Africa.”

“South Africa? I don’t get it.”

“Did you read Cry, the Beloved Country?”

“No. I think it’s on the reading list for my Media and Social Justice class this fall.”

“It should be required reading in high school. South Africa is ruled by a system of apartheid. That means that only the white minority is considered citizenry. The black majority are held under a thumb only slightly removed from slavery. They can’t vote. They have no real civil rights. They earn about ten percent what their white counterparts do.”

“And Polaroid is helping them?” I asked in disbelief. I had a lot of respect for that company and it was hard to believe they were supporting a segregationist system.

“That’s part of the issue. A couple of Polaroid employees uncovered the use of the same camera we use for IDs in South Africa for the creation of passbooks for blacks in South Africa. Without a passbook, blacks can’t move around in the country, can’t enter white areas for their jobs, can’t even buy food. The contention is that the ID2 system we use was built with a boost button to make it possible for the South African government to get better instant ID photos of blacks.”