Episode 22

Kelly, Jill and I, giving the two women the privacy they needed, started gathering the art supplies and the foodstuff together. While Kelly and I carried the materials back to the van, Jill went around and gathered up the two women's swimwear. Finally, when Jacqueline had recovered her spirits, Kelly repeated her request to reproduce the portrait before giving it to her and, giving out her business cards, asked September and Jacqueline to come model for her some more, should they feel like doing it again.

After the two women had pulled their swimwear back on, the five of us walked back to the car park together and, once we arrived, Kelly wrote down Jacqueline's and September's addresses and phone numbers. After that, Kelly dropped Jill and me off at Jill's home before returning back to her place. We had agreed to come back to Kelly's the following afternoon as Kelly had wanted the morning off to recover from the emotional overload.

That evening, after Lisa's pancake supper, Jill and I were lying out on the patio under the full moon.

"What did you say to September to make her change her mind about posing nude?"

"I told her my parents had died and that, if she didn't tell her mother she loved her while had the chance, she would regret it the rest of her life."

Impulsively, Jill hopped over onto my lounging chair and stretched out, full length, against me. "You know, Joe, I love you."

Slowly, I released my arms from around Jill's naked body and said, "I love you too but I'd better get dressed and go home while I ... ahem ... still can." And I struggled to rise, bending over slightly to hide my erection.

The following morning, I woke to discover my bed completely disheveled ... I had some vague recollections of dream snippets of Jill and myself posing for a very intimate sculpture in the middle of a football field with fifty thousand people watching ... Shaking my head, I stumbled to the bathroom and, after taking care of the necessities, shoved my head under the cold-water tap. Passing my fingers through my hair and over my face to shake off the excess water, I entered the kitchen to see Aunt Jane, totally relaxed and nude, reading the paper over a coffee.

"Morning ... Aren't you going to work today?"

"It's Sunday, Dummy," said Aunt Jane with a smile. "Last time I looked, that was my day off."

"Oh ... Yeah, right."

"How's things in the modeling business?"

"Oh ... good," I still had that dream in my mind.

"Aunt Jane ... How was it with you and Peter... ? I mean ... HOW was it ... you know ... Did you live together? And why was it that you finally separated?"