Chapter 60

"What was that all about?" Jack asked.

"I have an idea Jessica's mother came over here with her mind made up that you were probably up to no good and were after her money."

"Really."

"Yup. I had to really persuade to get her to come up and she didn't seem to think much of the setup in the garage when we passed it. I showed her the shots you took on the web page and then let her look through Maria's folder. She stopped on the picture Maria kept, then said she wanted to talk to her daughter. That's when we came in the kitchen."

"What was that about six hundred bucks?"

"Oh, I called Alex and he started complaining about all this work he was doing for nothing. You know Alex. I just told him to keep track of it and when he got close to $600 I'd try to convince you to take some pictures of his daughter. You need to find some time to do that, by the way. I've never heard him get so excited."

"That's a whole nother thing, you know. Kids can be real tough."

"If you plant them on a rug dressed in clothes that are too clean and too tight and don't let them move, sure it is. Don't tell me you couldn't have gotten a dozen great shots that first day with Laurie in the kitchen."

He looked at something inside his head, then looked at me and smiled. "Yeah, I could have gotten some good pictures. You know what the problem is. These photographers have their setups and their tripods and they've come to believe that the only place they can take pictures is in their studios. I bet I could get some good shots going over to a kid's house and having him show me his toys or his PlayStation."

"Or having one or both of his parents playing with him. Look at the pictures my mother took of Daddy and me at the playground. They weren't the best quality, but if you'd been there, you could have gotten some really good ones, I bet."

"You know, Jill, I'm going to have to take a real good look at this idea of having a studio. I can see where I may need a Christmas background for cards, but in most circumstances, I can get better shots going somewhere with the client than bringing her to the garage or even some place I rent. That fifty bucks I have to put out for each backdrop might be better spent elsewhere."

"You know what we're going to need to do now, don't you?"

"What?"

"We need to set up some accounting, fast. You've already spent money on the murals and you're going to need some more things whether you use the studio all the time or not. And you brought in $225 tonight. We need some kind of receipt and probably a work order or contract. And you'll probably need invoices, too. I'll mention you to my lawyer when I see him tomorrow and I'll talk to Daddy about meeting with his accountant."

"God, more stuff to take care of. I'm not going to have any time left to take pictures."

"Sure you will. That's why you use the lawyer and the accountant. And you get Quick Books. How would you feel about hiring somebody?"

"Isn't it a little soon to talk about hiring someone?"

"You've already got two people working for you in the garage. Here's what I was thinking. I can design an email piece that will go to anyone who inquires about your services. I can describe how you find something the person is interested in and use that to get the best picture possible. Somebody like Maria probably wouldn't tell you she's really into God, but Julie would say she wants horse shots and Jessica would have told you about Rex. So you can make an appointment where they do whatever it is, do some digging and get the shots. Even if you cut your interviews in half, it will save a tremendous amount of your time.

"So, someone else can take that over after I put the initial email together. You can make notes of expenses and income and they can enter them in Quick Books. You can show them the pictures and tell them how you want them Photoshopped and they can do that. And they can watermark the proofs and email them to the customers, then call the customers and see what prints they want. If anything needs to be signed, they can drive to the client and get that done. Once the prints are ordered, they can print and cut them and deliver them. As much as possible, your job will be figuring out where and how to take the pictures and taking them. Somebody else handles all the rest."

"What about the PhotoShopping I want?"

"How many times do you think it's going to take? It's going to be center the frame, handle the red eye, get rid of that thing that doesn't belong there. If we get the right person, she'll figure out what you want pretty soon."

"Where do I find this person?"

"I've got someone in mind. She's in my Excell class on Tuesdays."

"Is that the one you don't have to take any more?"

"No, that's HTML. It used to be Thursdays. She's in that class, too."

"Do you think you can get over there tomorrow and talk to her?"

"Sure. Don't forget, you've got two appointments, and if I go to school, you're going to have to take care of your own dinner."

"I'm not helpless. I'm sure I can figure out some way to eat."

"Sure, you can give your mother a sob story."

"Yeah, that'll work. By the way, how come you didn't go to Excell last night?"

"I figured with all that's been going on, I could get away with skipping a class."

"Oh. As long as you don't make it a habit."

"I won't."

"So, what should I do about my accounting?"

"For now, just start a new text document. Just list everything with the date, amount, who you paid, what it was for. Same with income only it's who paid you."

"I can do that."

"We'll probably have to get a checking account with a debit card. I'll ask about that tomorrow."

"This is a lot more complicated than it was mopping the gym."

"If you get it set up right, you'll hardly notice it."

"I'll believe that when I see it. Who's this person at school?"

"Her name's Myra. She's probably in her late twenties. She has two young children. Her husband was killed in Iraq. She's getting something from the government but she needs more. I think she'd do a good job for you. She can probably do a lot of it at home; you'd just have to email her the things she needs. I think she'd be willing to start real part time and grow as you do. She'd also be perfect as a chaperon for nudes."

"I'm definitely interested."

"If she's interested, do you want to interview her?"

"You said she'd be right for the job, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then hire her."

"Yes, Sir."

While Jack entered data into his computer, I headed for the kitchen. I fed Bozo, then scrounged around the bathroom and our room for a load of clothes. I started the washer and let him out to do his thing. It was getting too cold out to leave the door open. He'd let us know when he was ready to come back in.

I went into the kitchen and did some cleaning up. I emptied the dishwasher and noticed there wasn't anything that needed washing.

Bozo must have let Jack know it was time to come in because all of a sudden there was a cold nose nudging my hand. I knelt down and paid him some attention.

The washer was stopped when I came out of the bathroom after washing my face and brushing my teeth and hair. I moved the clothes into the dryer and turned it on.

As I passed by on the way to the bedroom, I said,"Coming to bed?"

"In a minute. I just have to finish entering Jessica's information."

"Did you do the money stuff?"

"First thing."

"By the way, how come you don't give your ladies something to eat or drink?"

"I don't know. Never thought about it."

"You should. It's just good manners and makes them feel more welcome, more relaxed."

I went into our room and found a silky nightgown that came down to mid thigh when I was standing up. I got in bed, made sure it was all the way down with no wrinkles and tossed the covers over me. I pulled them up to my neck and waited for him.

His computer sang its shutting down song and I heard him go into the bathroom. He was in the room with me about five minutes later. I watched as he undressed, making sure to put everything in the hamper. When he closed the lid, I flipped the cover off to the side and spread my legs apart.

"Hey, Mister. I'm horny. Get over here and do your duty, MAN."