Chapter 6

Kelly woke first in the morning and found she had moved through the night ending on her back with Laura's arm draped across her. Finding her resolve, she kissed the beautiful girl quietly sleeping beside her.

"Good morning sleepy head," Kelly said. "Time for us to get up and go see if Todd is hard at work yet."

Laura smiled at Kelly before reaching up to give her a tender kiss.

"My god," Laura said suddenly, "It's Monday already. I have to go to work this afternoon."

"No problem" said Kelly. "It's still early and we need to have breakfast."

"Hmm, sounds good," said Laura getting out of bed. Pulling on one of the multitude of T-shirts Kelly had in her closet, Laura followed her to the kitchen where Kelly was setting out two bottles of juice, a fist full of vitamins, a few stalks of celery, a carrot and an orange.

Laura groaned. "Don't tell me this is your idea of breakfast."

"Chew slowly baby. It'll last longer that way."

Laura swallowed the pills and drank the juice and sat forlornly chewing on the celery and carrot when all of a sudden she felt her stomach growl in a menacing way.

"Ah Kelly. I think I might have eaten something that disagreed with me last night. I'm getting cramps."

"Well it wasn't me," Kelly said with a pretend pout. "But seriously, you might want to think of moving to the bathroom. The first few times with the 'go-juice' can be an experience on its own!"

"Oh no!" screamed Laura as she made the dash for the bathroom. "Argh... I should have known... Prune juice..." Her voice faded away as the bathroom door slammed shut.

Todd woke up to an empty apartment and an empty feeling. It felt strange, because for Todd, women had come and gone from his life on a regular basis, but he had never felt empty in the morning. He loved women. He treated them right and never made any promises. In the years since his sexual awakening, he had never had to look far for female companionship. The strange thing was as his reputation as a photographer grew he looked less and less, though the opportunities increased. He had convinced himself he would remain a bachelor for life - he liked his life and had rationalized that a woman would crowd it, but so much had changed in the last week.

First there was Kelly. She had changed since their encounter with the "James Gang" at Regan's. For the first time in a long time he had seen her really happy, and then these last few days, she had taken a nose-dive. He felt her pain and wished he could do something to take it from her, but she didn't want to share this with him. Todd knew she had spent the previous night with Tony, and tried to call him at his hotel. Todd knew Tony well enough to know where he would be staying and was surprised to hear he had checked out already. And Todd was not one to pry. If Kelly wanted to tell him she would do so in her own good time.

Then there was Laura. There was no denying she was a beautiful girl, but beauty did little for a photographer who had made so many models famous. It was the rest of her that captured his heart and mind. She was a free spirit who had been wounded, but still had managed to keep her pride and sense of humor. He loved the way she could read his thoughts and her playfulness - she laughed with him and her laughter was contagious. He could see himself spending a great deal of time with her, possibly the most time he had ever considered spending with a girl, but she had brought up the one secret love in his life. Laura had seen through his façade and made him admit his feelings towards Kelly. In a matter of just three days, he found himself in love with two women. One he had loved for years but had never acted on because he feared it would end their friendship and another who he had known just a few days but with an adventurous streak to match his own.

Finally, the call from Kelly last night, freely admitting her love for him, had boggled Todd's mind. Laura had made it clear she didn't expect him to be sexually faithful and had more than hinted she might have feelings towards Kelly herself. There was a lot of love going around right now and yet Kelly was still hurting.

Shaking his head he climbed out of bed. A quick shower, his vitamins and juice and in his usual attire of scrubs, he headed downstairs. While the studio hardly ever had any walk in clients, especially since Todd stopped portrait work, Gloria's daughter Vanetta would be coming in to take care of the phones while Todd worked in the dark room or dealt with advertising clients.

New York would be calling with their reports and questions and then there would be the inevitable calls from their models with the usual complaints or complimentary remarks. He hoped Kelly would show up soon - he really didn't like this part of the business, preferring to stay behind the camera and create art. Yet he still felt concerned about Kelly and if need be, Vanetta could route any important calls through to him on his cell or to Kelly's.

Vanetta had been a godsend. Todd and Kelly had been in business just over a year when Gloria had called Kelly out of the blue saying she was in Charlotte. Todd remembered Gloria from the swimsuit shoot in Jamaica and knew the ever-outgoing Kelly had made friends with the older woman.

Gloria had eased a lot of Kelly's problems with the house during those first years when Kelly would be gone for days at a time. Then, about a year later, Gloria's daughter arrived. She wanted an education and Todd had pulled a few strings at the University of North Carolina, and Vanetta was enrolled in a MBE program. Her grades put her in the top of her class and everyone was delighted with her. When she mentioned wanting to find work to supplement her allowance, Todd had suggested to a willing Kelly that Vanetta would be great for handling the phone and correspondence. For a 22-year-old student, she was level headed and goal oriented. Now Todd and Kelly could easily leave for days at a time without worries about answering services or call forwarding.

Delton, her brother arrived a year later, and Todd had helped him set up his own landscaping business, something the 20-year-old seemed to enjoy very much. Again, using contacts Todd and Kelly had made in the Charlotte community, Delton had quite a few corporate clients. Delton also had a real knack for growing things and had a small greenhouse outside of the building where he kept his equipment parked. Delton grew a wide assortment of vegetables, and to Todd's delight, some of the best medicinal marijuana to be found in the southern states. Delton only grew a few plants each year for his family and for Todd. Boiling the seeds made a great pain killing tea, though Todd was less interested in headache relief than he was in the buzz he got from smoking the leaves.

Seeing it was nearly 9 o'clock, Todd grabbed an apple from the kitchenette in the studio and unlocked the door just in time to see Delton dropping Vanetta off. He often felt envious of the close family relationship Gloria had with her kids. Todd gave a wave to Delton as he pulled away.

"Good morning Todd," said Vanetta, smiling as she entered the studio. "Mom sent some muffins for you this morning, in case you were hungry."

Todd laughed and thanked her.

Vanetta dropped her schoolbooks on her desk, turned the studio phone on and checked the answering machine while the computer booted up. Ten minutes later she had a stack of neatly written notes from the answering machine, and a larger stack of email printouts. "Do you want to look through these Todd?" she asked. "Mom said Kelly might not be in this morning. Is she feeling okay?"

"Just put them on Kelly's desk," he said. "There can't be anything too important or the phone would be ringing off the hook by now. If Kelly doesn't show up soon, I'll give them a look over, but thanks for asking about her. She has a friend staying with her right now who will see she gets feeling better, though I'll probably give her a call and check how she is feeling if we don't see her in the next hour."

"Okay," said Vanetta as she walked back to her desk. "By the way," she said with a coy smile, "Mom says you've got a new girlfriend and this one is special."

Todd blushed. Vanetta laughed.

"Oh, and before I forget," she added, "Delton is going to tear out his ganja this week and wants to know if a pound will last you till the next time he plants some."

Todd smiled. His one small vice and this past weekend had been made more memorable because of the high quality pot.

"That should be more than enough," Todd said. "Just tell Delton to let me know when I should come around to pick it up, and no arguments about me paying for it either this time."

"You just don't understand do you Todd?" Vanetta said with a hint of impatience. "Delton grows it for Mom and the family. You've become part of the family, so Delton doesn't mind giving it to you. Otherwise, what we don't need, he would just burn. If he takes money from you, it would make him a dealer, and that goes against everything Mom ever taught us."

Todd held up his hands surrendering. "Okay, enough already," he said laughing. "I see your point. Now since the phone isn't ringing off the hook, don't you have some home-work you could be working on?"

With a self-satisfied smirk, Vanetta turned in her seat and opened her books. Her mind though was on Todd and Kelly. She couldn't understand how these two had managed to survive without family support, and keep their sanity. But what she had said to Todd was true. They had become part of Gloria's family by way of an unspoken adoption. They were nice people and went out of their way to help. She knew the studio was not so busy that they couldn't take care of the phone calls, except for those rare times they were away on the road. She had promised her mother she would not let this opportunity go to waste and studied extra hard to make both Kelly and Todd proud of her.

Todd, after minutes of indecision finally picked up the phone and dialed Kelly's number.

Kelly answered the phone on the first ring. An ashen-faced Laura sat across from her slowly sipping a cup of herbal tea with honey.

"Hi Todd," she said. "I was wondering when you would call."

"Is everything okay?" Todd asked, concern in his voice.

"Well," Kelly laughed, "I'm feeling better, but I'm afraid Laura has a minor problem."

Laura quickly shook her head no. She didn't want Todd to know she had spent 20 minutes on the toilet.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

Being tactful, Kelly asked him if he remembered the first few days after she had started him on the go-juice.

"Oh, god... How could I forget?" He said. "Hey, wait a minute, you didn't give her that stuff did you?"

"Not to worry Todd," Kelly said. "I just started her on a regimen of proper herbal care. She's taking something right now that will make her feel better in a little bit. We'll be in as soon as she is up to it, but I think I'll call her boss and tell him that she won't be able to come in to work today. You won't mind if she spends the day at the studio will you?"

"Of course not," said Todd.

"Good, then you should see us in about an hour." Kelly said. "We both send our love! Oh, and while I think of it, Laura said you shot some good pictures of her in some lingerie. Could you be a sweetheart and scan some of the film? I was thinking about Jorge's idea of expanding his catalog to include his new lingerie line and I think she would be the perfect wholesome model for the catalog. Of course I haven't seen the prints, what do you think?"

"Hmm..." said Todd thoughtfully. "You're right. I've made some prints and she would be ideal for his catalog. Besides, Mike is his studio photographer and last I heard Marge was still doing make up for Mike. This could be a decent way for her to break into the business. But how does she feel about it?" Todd asked.

"I already told her that she wouldn't be showing anything in print that she doesn't want seen and I said the same thing about Mike and Marge that you did. I just think she needs a bit of prep work and some confidence building."

"Okay" said Todd, "I'll get the scans done and sent off to see how interested he is while I wait for you two to make it in."

"Sounds like a plan!" Kelly said. "See you when we get there."

"Oh god," Laura said. "It's happening again," and with the words trailing behind her she dashed off to the bathroom.

Kelly had suggested to Laura, after her first unexpected encounter with the porcelain seat of relief, that she call in sick, but Laura had refused saying the assistant manager who was in charge of the shift she was on would turn nasty and cruel. He liked to belittle the staff in front of customers. Seeing that Laura would not be able to handle an eight hour shift, when Laura had left for her second run, Kelly decided to call Arby's herself.

Someone obviously in a hurry answered the phone brusquely.

"May I speak to the senior manager in charge please?" Kelly asked nicely.

"You're talking to him," replied the voice on the other end. "No, we aren't hiring, no we don't deliver, and no, you can't talk to any of the staff. Any other questions not covered by those three answers?"

Kelly was a bit put off by the man's demeanor, but since she was calling on Laura's behalf, decided to bite her tongue.

"Actually I'm calling on behalf of Laura Williams who won't be able to make it in to work today," Kelly said. "She's feeling a bit under the weather."

"Listen lady, I don't care if she's feeling under a hurricane, you tell that little tart to haul her cute little ass in here on time or she's fired." And hung up the phone.

"Well," thought Kelly, "so much for the friendly call."

She punched in another number on the phone and after letting the receptionist know who was calling was immediately put through to her favorite lawyer.

"Kelly," said a warm voice, "what can I do for you today?"

Kelly and Todd had met Steve, a bright and ambitious young lawyer, when they first settled in Charlotte. At the time he was struggling to build up a corporate clientele for himself, as he didn't want join an established firm. He was the self-confident type who knew what he wanted in life and would work hard for it. Steve was just the kind of person that attracted Todd and Kelly, quick to cut to the heart of the matter, not interested in wasting time, meticulous in his details and careful in his research. Steve was the one who had finally come up with a suitable name for their new business venture. Now he was paid a yearly retainer by "TKO Inc." and made a healthy income keeping all contracts legal and enforced. In the years since they had opened, Steve had moved to a larger office, and gotten himself a partner who specialized in entertainment law. Between the two of them, they made a formidable team.

Kelly quickly explained her phone call to Arby's leaving not a single detail out.

"Hmm" said Steve after a few minutes thought. "Does she want to go back to work there?"

"No" said Kelly. "She probably would have given her notice today anyway, but she really is under the weather. I can get medical papers to prove she is quite dehydrated right now and in no condition to work."

"No, I don't think it will go that far Kelly," Steve said. "And he referred to her as a tart and said to get her cute little ass in?"

"Yep!" said Kelly with a smile he couldn't see. Steve could be ruthless, and many of the people who knew him regarded him with a mixed amount of fear and respect.

"I happen to know the owners of that franchise," he said. "I guess the question is, do you want to make an issue out of this?"

Kelly laughed. "No, no issue Steve. Laura herself didn't hear it and she was going to give her notice, but I think a written apology would be nice and a severance check would fit the bill. I'm sorry I can't tell you which assistant manager I spoke to, but from what Laura has told me, this is not his first time badgering female staff."

"It's okay Kelly," Steve said with that confident tone. "You asked to speak to the senior management and he said he was it, right?"

"Yep."

"Are you going to be at home for a while?"

"Probably for the next hour anyway," Kelly said, "then we'll be at the studio.

"Okay, leave it with me. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"You're a sweetheart Steve."

"How about you tell my wife that next time I'm working late?" he said.

Kelly laughed, said she would and said goodbye.

Just as she hung up the phone she could hear the toilet flushing, and a few minutes later Laura walked back into the kitchen on shaky legs.

"God," Laura said, "I have to be 50 pounds lighter now. I'm not sure if I like this healthy living stuff."

Kelly put some ice in a zip lock bag and wrapped a tea towel around it and placed it on Laura's forehead.

"Hold that there," Kelly said. "It will break the sweats down. Actually, it's only the first day that you get this reaction. After today you will be as good as new, and this will only be a memory. What you are losing now has been sitting inside you for some time. Stick with this program, and you will lose some weight, but not 50 pounds." Kelly said laughing.

"Now, I need to get some fluids into you, and then I can tell you how long before the worst of it is over."

"How can you tell that?" Laura asked.

"Easy" said Kelly as she lifted half a watermelon out of the crisper. "This will give you vitamins and fluid and you will swallow the seeds. When you see them come out, you will know that you have been thoroughly cleansed!"

"Ugh" said Laura. "I never swallow the seeds."

Kelly arched her eyebrows at Laura and said, "Never?"

Laura realizing what she had just said laughed. "Well, almost never."

With a bit more herbal tea and honey to help the watermelon and seeds go down, the color started to come back to Laura's cheeks. Assuring Kelly she was feeling better, the two girls got dressed and ready to head to the studio.

"I usually don't drive down," Kelly explained, "I enjoy the nice leisurely stroll, but considering your 'condition, ' a ten minute walk might be too long, so I thought it might be safer if I drove."

"Well, I hope I'm through this cleansing soon," Laura said, "I have to be in to work by five."

"Oh," said Kelly. "I'm sorry but I forgot to tell you that you have the day off. I called in for you when you were occupied."

"And Tim didn't put up a big stink?" Laura asked amazed. "He can be such a prick."

"No," Kelly lied, "He was the perfect gentleman and hoped you would be feeling better soon."

"No way did you talk to Tim then," Laura stated.

"Oh" said Kelly backing the Elantra out of the driveway, "I can assure you that I definitely talked to Tim."

"Hello Vanetta," said a smiling Kelly as they entered the studio. They had arrived just before lunch.

"Hi Kelly," came the lyrical response.

"Laura, this is Vanetta," Kelly said making the introductions. "Vanetta is G's daughter and works us to the bone!"

"Hi Laura," said Vanetta rising to shake her hand. "I've already heard about you," she said with a big smile. "And don't believe a word Kelly says about me making her work, she barely stops moving long enough for me to catch her!" she added with a laugh.

Kelly looked at the stack of notes and letters on her desk. "No rest for the wicked," she said with a smirk. "By the way, speaking of the wicked... where's Todd?"

"After he called you, he said he had to make some scans from the negatives of Laura," Vanetta said. "He had me email them to Jorge and then went back into the darkroom. He said he wanted to run some more prints."

Kelly looked at the light above the darkroom door; turned and said to Laura, "See... I didn't barge in Saturday, I'll bet the bulb is burned out on his busy sign!"

Vanetta looked curiously at Kelly while Laura blushed.

"Laura, would you mind telling your man that I'd like to see the pictures as well, and then tell him to fix his light?"

Laura's face lit up with a smile as she headed for the darkroom.

Kelly got herself a bottle of mineral water from the well-stocked fridge and asked Vanetta if the herbal store had delivered on time that morning.

"Yes they sure did!" Vanetta laughed. "Poor Todd didn't realize you always tip the delivery guy for bringing it all in and the guy stocked the fridge and the closet and then stood there while Todd thanked him for being so courteous!"

"Oh God, he didn't?" Kelly asked. "I can't believe he's been here this long and has never seen me tip for delivery. I know he does with his food delivery..."

"It's okay Kelly," Vanetta said. "I took ten dollars out of petty cash for the poor guy and then tried to explain it to Todd afterwards. But I'm still not sure if he got it."

"I know," sighed Kelly, "he's a genius with a camera but sometimes he can be so immersed in his work he forgets the rest of the world."

Kelly asked Vanetta if she wanted a drink.

"Diet 7-Up please," she replied.

Kelly pulled a cold one out of the fridge and a glass for Vanetta and set it on her desk as she sauntered over to her own.

It took Kelly about half an hour to go through all the messages. None of the phone calls required return calls, and with her own computer fired up she responded to a few emails from clients and a few from models. She kept a database of all complaints and compliments her models gave regarding assignments they had been on. Too many complaints and the client would end up on their 'unwanted work' list. Good clients who treated her models like people with feelings always got the best service. Although the New York office sent her weekly updates of who had worked for what company, Kelly kept a personal log of models reactions and experiences. Once a year she would compile the information and update her preferred client list. These people would receive a personal letter from Kelly thanking them for treating her models well, and advising them of their preferred status. It also helped to cross-reference how much work each client had provided in the year, and which models they preferred. Kelly had seen the change in models requested over the last few years. It helped her when people applied for work or when, as in the case of Laura, she met someone who would be perfect for a client.

Kelly was just finishing her last response when the phone rang. Vanetta answered, "TKO, how can I help you?" Looking up at Kelly she put the caller on hold and said, "It's your lawyer. Are you free for him?"

Kelly nodded as she hit the send button on her email and heard Vanetta say, "Just one moment sir, I'll patch you through."

Kelly picked up the phone and pushed the blinking button. "Steve, what have you got for me?"

Steve laughed. "Well Kelly, if it's okay with Laura, there is a letter of apology waiting along with a check for six months wages if she signs an agreement not to pursue any further action, AND, Tim Blake, that's the Assistant Manager's name, will have to attend 'sensitivity classes' if he wants to keep his job. Standard restrictions of course will apply to Laura not discussing this incident with anyone or disclosing any details of the settlement. If she's agreeable to this, we can have this wrapped up before the day is over."

"That's great Steve!" Kelly said. "I'll have to pass it by Laura, but I'm pretty sure this will be more than satisfactory."

"I'm glad to be of service," Steve said with a laugh, "I'd like to have gotten more for her, but I think this is the best we can expect without taking it to court. I didn't think you wanted to go that route. This is a very fair settlement and she gets the money immediately without any mudslinging."

"You're right as always Steve. It's fast and fair, and there's no reason to make this some titillating news filler."

Steve just laughed.

"Just one more thing Steve," Kelly said. "Don't take your fee out of her settlement okay? Bill TKO for it. Laura is one of our special people."

"Not a problem Kelly." Steve knew about Todd and Kelly's special people, after all, when he was a struggling young lawyer he had been one of them. Although he had told them his idea for TKO was an abbreviation for "Techno-graphical Knock Outs", the idea had come from their contagious enthusiasm and had sparked the idea of "Todd and Kelly Overwhelm."

"Great," Kelly said. "Love and hugs to Melanie."

Kelly sat back in her chair well satisfied with Steve's results. It was the 21st century and no one deserved to be treated like property.

She wondered for a minute what was taking Todd and Laura so long, and then slapped her forehead. "Duh Kelly. Where have you been?" she thought to herself.

Vanetta finally closed up her books. "I'm sorry there isn't more I could do today Kelly. I always feel like I'm getting paid to study. The least you could do is let me clean up in here."

"Oh" Kelly said. "Now I'm forgetting things. You've got classes this afternoon right?"

"Yes, right through till eight tonight," Vanetta said.

"Okay, but I want you to understand something Miss Etta. You are doing a great job doing just what you do. So today was a quiet day, and I wasn't here most of it anyway, but you know there are days when things aren't so quiet, and neither Todd nor I are free. You do a wonderful job of making our clients feel important and they know their messages will get through. We have someone come in to clean the studio once a week, and you know there are times when we're not here for days. It makes both Todd and me happy, and secure, that you're watching out for our interests when we're on the road. As for you studying... If there is nothing happening, you might as well get in all the study time you can. God knows you've taken on a course load that would make the average student cringe. You just keep on doing what you've been doing, and everybody's happy okay?"

Vanetta leaned over and gave Kelly a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks Kelly," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Todd knew that Jorge would want to see real prints of the model that might introduce and represent his new lingerie line.

Jorge had wanted to expand his catalog into this market for some time, but had been reluctant. His clothes were meant for real people, and though Todd and Kelly had a fine group of models, none had captured his eye as being "the" one. He didn't want a standard fashion thin thing, he wanted to appeal to the young newlywed wives, so the model could not make his lingerie look like it only fit the "beautiful" people. He wanted a wholesome "girl-next-door" but with just the right spirit.

Todd knew what Jorge wanted and was quite sure that Laura would fit the designer's needs. After he had scanned some of the less revealing negatives and given them to Vanetta to email to Jorge, Todd had brought out his trays and started to print up a storm of 8 x 10 glossies. Those that were a bit too daring, he dodged by hand to blur details until he was satisfied he had a dozen good quality prints. Laura looked sexy and exciting in the photographs and Todd was getting aroused remembering the day he took them. Todd wished he could be the one to do the shoot for Jorge, but the bottom line was that besides not being able to pay Todd what he was worth, it would also infringe on Mike's bread and butter. Mike was the catalog photographer who did all of the shoots for Jorge. Still, Todd thought, it would be a great thrill to be the one who brought Laura into the public eye. He was wondering how Laura was feeling when he heard the darkroom door spin around. There she was, the woman of his desires.

Todd quickly threw the last of the prints into the rinse water and after rinsing and drying his hands he took Laura's head in his hands and kissed her like he hadn't seen her for months.

Laura melted like butter in his embrace and as their tongues dueled her hands slid down the front of his pants, feeling his stiff cock swell more at her touch. His hands moved down to cup her unfettered breasts and as she slid down, he lifted her t-shirt over her head. She returned the favor, pulling his scrubs down, then taking his ever-growing cock into her eager mouth, kissing it all over from the head to his balls before sucking on the helmet and slipping her tongue under his foreskin swirling around and around while her free hand cupped his balls. She could feel him approaching his critical peak and pulled her mouth back just before he shot, reliving the moment they had shared on Saturday. She caught most of his spunk in her mouth, which she eagerly swallowed before latching her hot mouth back on his twitching cock. Todd shook and groaned as her hot tongue washed the last of his seed away, his fingers locked in a white knuckled grip on the counter's edge.

Todd wanting to reciprocate tried to lift Laura on to the counter, but she held him back saying later would be better. They held each other close for a little while, as Todd regained his breath and his heart slowed back towards normal.

Seeing he still had all the chemicals out, Laura asked if he would make an 8 x 10 print of her "best" pose for Kelly.