Chapter 12: Decisions

The lights were out. They snuggled together under a duvet in the big new bed.

"Anne?"

"Umm?"

"Can I meet Saul?"

"Yeah, you never. You've never seen him. Sure. Lunch tomorrow?"

"Good. We've got some things to work out about our new guys."

"Uh-huh. Just wait to meet up with us until he has his food on the table. He's dangerous when he meets new girls. Assuming you like him, what do we do next?"

"We've got four guys now. First question is, are they the right four? Then, can we get them all together without a ruckus?"

"Missed a step. We need to get Saul and Will to go foursies. Won't be a problem for Will, I guess," Anne said.

"No, but what about you? You get that crack this morning about two kings?"

"Uh-huh. No problem for me if Saul screws you. I found out — well, I've always known — I love watching. Inspiring."

"So, we need to find out about Saul. I hope I like him. I hope he goes along... But, are they the right four?"

"I don't know. Ask me tomorrow. Turn over. I'm wiped."

"Love this bed."

"Love your guy, too. Put your hand on me."

Saul had a bowl of soup and a sandwich for lunch. His pack of books on his back, he managed his tray easily though the crowd at the Union and set it down opposite Anne.

"Congratulations."

"Aw, I'm only clumsy when I'm meeting a new girl."

"Well, sit down and put your hands in your lap. Here comes my roommate."

Saul did as he was told and looked toward Mary, who walked through the tables carrying her own tray-full of food. She wore a short, flared blue skirt and a snug red polo shirt. Her legs attracted almost as much attention as her firm breasts.

Mary set her tray on the table. "You're Saul Katz. I'm Mary Travis. It's nice to meet you." She went around the corner of the table, took Saul's face in her hands and kissed him on the lips. Saul turned bright red. Mary sat down and began to eat.

"Mary, don't do that to my guy. He'll have a heart attack."

"Sorry, hon. Spur of the moment. He's a lot cuter than you told me. Saul, you've got a great bod. Can you talk, too?"

With a struggle, Saul found his voice and his hands at about the same time. He grinned back at Mary and started his soup without spilling a drop.

"Yes. And thank you for kissing me. I think you blew all my clumsy fuses. You are fantastic looking, you know."

"Thanks... Anne, Will called. I was in the room just now and he called. Said he'd put in our names at the Art School and they have this crisis today. They need someone at four o'clock. I told him one of us would be there."

"Are you guys taking Art? Anne never mentioned it."

"No, a friend of ours is an art student. He put our names in as figure models."

"Well, which one of you is going to jump into the breach? Makes me wish I was an art student, too."

"Will says Life Studies are advanced stuff. All you'd get would be a pair of oranges and a banana," Anne said.

"I know," Mary said, "let's go back to the room and get some work done. We can decide who goes later."

"Join us, Saul?"

"Sure."

When they walked into the room, Anne noticed the pictures on the wall. Their tattered posters were gone. She looked at Mary. Mary avoided her eyes.

Saul noticed the pictures, too. There were two or three of the better sketches of the girl riders, Mary's showdown with the bay, and the two nude pastels, all mounted in sandwich frames. He looked at them closely.

"All the same guy. Is this your friend Will?"

"Uh-huh," said Anne.

"Good work. Really good. He must be more than a green freshman art student. Takes a lot of experience to handle pastels like that. And the pencil stuff is wonderful."

"I kind of thought so, too," said Mary.

"Does he sell his stuff?"

"I don't think so. He says you can't make any money except in commercial art," Anne said.

"That's true for most people, but I think he could be an exception."

"You seem to know about this stuff," Mary said.

"My dad collects some. Drawings, mostly. And he likes to talk about them with me. We spend a lot of time at the Chicago Institute of Art. He's on one of the committees... Now, I'm only telling you what I think. I'm no expert."

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you're not upset that I posed for him."

"Oh, come on, Anne. Don't give me that. You don't have any trouble taking your clothes off for anyone you like. If you haven't been to bed with him, I'd be really surprised."

"Mary, should I be insulted by that?"

"Not unless you get insulted by the truth. Takes a smart man to see the truth, though."

"Look Anne. I like you a whole lot. You could even say I like you better than a bucket of ribs..."

Anne laughed, and Mary grinned broadly as she watched them.

"... but I wasn't born yesterday. You took me home and jumped me the first time I met you, and you knew what you were doing. I liked that. You are smart, sexy, and a good swimmer, too, if that makes any difference. A really, truly woman. I plan to take you as you are, cause that's the way I like you."

Anne wrapped herself around him, hugging. "Thank you, Saul... Mary, you want some of this, too?"

"Only if he does."

Saul reached out a long arm toward Mary, who let herself be folded into a three-way embrace.

When they broke apart, Saul said, "Where did you find Will? Tell me about him."

Mary told the story while Saul and Anne snuggled on the sofa. When she was done, Saul said, "I want to meet him, see some of his other work. He sounds like a nice guy. I think I'll like him."

"Good," said Anne, "now, I've got work to do. Mary, please pass me that history book."

Saul dug in his pack and pulled out another copy of the freshman American History text, went to work in it. Mary turned on her computer and got her own things going. They worked comfortably together. Anne looked in Saul's book and pointed to a passage of text. They murmured comments, went on reading.

When the phone rang, Mary picked it up. "Mary Travis. Hi, Will. Yes one of us will be there, we just haven't picked the winner yet. Just keep guessing. 'Bye.

"Getting late. Who goes? You want to do it, Anne?"

"If I do, will you take good care of Saul? Maybe you should show him what Will made for us yesterday."

"Don't mind if I do."

"Then I'm off."

Anne grabbed her jacket, kissed Saul soundly, and sped out the door.

At the Art School, Anne went to the office. "Hi, I'm Anne Stilwell. I'm supposed to model this afternoon." The secretary gave her directions and a smile.

In the classroom, the students were just gathering. Anne introduced herself to the instructor, who showed her the changing room. Anne explained that she was new at this.

"I know. Will Spector said you were helping out. Just take off your clothes and put on this robe. We'll probably use it as a drape. Uh, the earrings, too. I'll ask you to wear jewelry another time. You pose for 15 minutes, take a break for not more than five minutes, then resume. The class is 90 minutes, but you only have to pose for four periods. Okay?"

Anne nodded agreement, and put her earrings in her shirt pocket. She dropped her skirt and turned to hang it on the stand provided. The instructor quickly left the room. When she was naked, she put on the robe and went out into the classroom. She mounted the pedestal and waited for instructions.

In the end, she spent the time standing. The robe was draped over a post next to her, her right hand resting on the top. She stood hip-shot, her left hand at her side. She posed looking down and to her left. The students worked busily, the instructor walked around giving advice and assistance.

At her first break, Anne simply stepped down from the platform and strolled around, looking at the students' work. Most of it was routine, but one or two studies were very good. At each break, Anne roamed around, looking at how the work progressed, saying nothing.

After her fourth posing period, she took up the robe and put it on, making another tour of the room before dressing. When she was ready to leave, the instructor came to her.

"Thank you, that was very good. You pose well. And, thanks for not moving the robe between poses. People use that time when you're not there to get the drape right. I forgot to tell you that. Sure you haven't done this before?"

"No, I haven't. Tell me, what happens to the completed work?"

"They keep it in their portfolios, usually until the end of the semester. We mark their stuff as it gets done, so they don't really need to keep it, but many of them like to look back and see how their technique grows."

"I liked some of them. There are one or two that I thought are quite good."

"I noticed you looking at them. Thank you for not commenting. Yes, some are very good. Can you come again? Wednesday?"

"I have a class Wednesday. Would it be all right for my roommate to come, instead?"

"I guess so. Let's do that, then. You come Mondays, she comes Wednesdays. Would you tell the secretary that? And she'll want you to sign some paperwork so we can pay you."

Anne did as he asked, and walked back toward North College.

"Beer?"

"Thanks. What are you working on?"

"Starting a paper for Humanities. 'Social Attitudes at the Beginning of the Age of Enlightenment'. Just an excuse for making me prove I've read the material."

"How else are they going to know? Classes are too large for anyone to know from what you might say."

"Yeah, problem of the system, I guess. Shame they gave up tutors."

"Too many students... You want to show me what Will made?"

"Tell me first what you think about these two pictures," Mary pointed to the corral scene and to the pastel of her.

"I've told you what I think of the work. You want me to tell you what I think about the person in them. You want me to tell you what I think of you."

"That's right."

"Let me ask you something else, first. At lunch today, you came up and kissed me. What was that about.?"

"I asked Anne if I could meet you. So, we set up lunch. Anne told me you get clumsy when you meet girls, so I wanted to do two things. First, to get your attention, I decided to wear something a little more noticeable than I normally do, also to see your reaction. Then second, I wanted to knock you back some so you'd forget to be clumsy. It seemed to work."

"Thanks. Now, about the corral scene. Will shows you as strong, knowing, competent, fearless. I suspect some of the fearlessness I see there is cover-up; anyone doing what you were doing ought to have some fear, it's a survival matter. But you come across that way in the picture.

"In the pastel, Will shows you as beautiful — which is evident from looking at you — and warm. Affectionate and fun-loving — which is evident from what you pulled on me at lunch today.

"For me, Will's view of you in the nude is accurate. So, he's almost certainly right about you in the corral. There's only one thing."

"What, for heaven's sake?"

"I don't make up my mind about people from pictures. I like you because I like what I see and what I feel about you."

"Thanks... Let me show you what Will made for us. It's in here."

I have to say this about Will. When Mary took off her clothes, everything I saw, I'd seen in the nude he'd drawn. Long and gorgeous, strong and loving. We hugged and kissed and necked for a while. I tasted all of her I could reach and then she moved so I could reach that, too. Silken skin underlaid with long, firm muscle. Legs that could crush your skull — like Anne's, only longer.

When the time came, I entered her — or, she drew me into her. Hard to say who did what. She was warm and eager and absolutely wonderfully horny. We thrust and bounced and rolled around on that big bed until we couldn't last any longer and we both came. She howled with laughter, then told me that's how it is with her orgasms. Pure joy. For both of us.

Somehow, I managed to stay hard and we rested for a while before we started again. It just went on and on...

When Anne got to the steps of North College, she heard her name. It was Will, loping along the walk from the other direction.