Get That Cat Off the Set

Abby stood at the base of the stairs and looked up. In the middle of the staircase sat a stunned young man. He was a little short compared to the rest and wore thick glasses. He's light complexion would have labeled him mulatto in Abby's heyday but now such terms were archaic. 'Bookish' would no doubt still apply, she thought as she watched him drink her image in. She wondered how she looked — she must be fairly messy with jizim from five lovers. She had left the robe open. Oliver would have loved it; this boy seemed unnerved.

She took a couple steps toward him; his eyes never left her. "You know, this was one of the hardest scenes to film." She paused then took two more steps. "The shadows were terrible and we had the worst time getting the camera in for the tight shots. We spent half a day trying to get it right."

"You have to light from under." He said in almost a dazed voice. "So the shadows are above the shot."

Abby looked over the railing and pointed to a spot. "From down there?"

He looked over as well. "Clamp a series of lamps along here. Erase the shadows in all directions. Then used three handhelds with headlamps." He stared at her again. "It was pretty badly lit on the tape."

She looked at him as he looked at her. After a long moment, she began to tie the robe shut.

"Wait." He said suddenly. He got up and pushed past her down the stairs. She watched him as he rearranged the living room lamps — including taking the shades off and putting them back upside down. When he was done, she had to admit that the stairs were much, much brighter. He pushed past her again and sat on the stairs in front of her. He frowned. "Is there a light upstairs?" He asked. He seemed to be looking less at her the person and more at her the object. She told him where the hall light was and smiled to herself as he hurried off to adjust it. She had seen some of the better techs with that kind of focus. They always seemed to move on to more legitimate cinema. But they did excellent work while they were available.

He came back and sat on the stairs again. "Hold the robe open for me." He asked, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. He shook his head. "It won't work."

"What won't?" Abby couldn't believe a naked, jizz-covered woman was standing in front of the boy and he had no response at all.

"The lighting. It's too dark."

"For what?"

"To film."

"Are we filming this?" She knew they were but she wondered if he knew it.

"What, this? Well, no. I mean, it can't be done the way you did it the first time and there's not enough light to do it the right way."

"We could find a few more lamps."

He shook his head. "They won't be bright enough. The trick is to keep the lights bright enough on you but not wash out whoever's with you. You're pretty dark."

It had been a long time since anyone had been crass enough to remark on how dark Abby's skin was and she bristled a bit at the comment. But as the boy went on about the lighting issue, she realized that he was more interested in how the light affected color than the actual color of her skin. Finally, she touched his leg. The boy jumped in surprise.