I extracted a promise from him to buy more condoms before I come to see him in New York. We waited until he was home before we decided when that would be, so he could look at his date book. I was glad for the delay for a number of reasons. It gave me plenty of time to schedule my vacation time at work. I don't make a lot of money as a CNA, but I've managed my finances well enough that I could afford a flight to New York, especially if I purchased the tickets a month in advance and stayed at Trent's place instead of a hotel. (My accommodations were never in question.) But the really good thing about having the conversation by phone is that he couldn't see me tracing down from the "P" on my calendar. I wasn't going to spend this kind of money only to have that time of the month fall during my visit.
I'd forgotten that our June birthdays are only two days apart. His was on a Thursday, and mine on Saturday, so we decided that I'd come in Wednesday night and leave Sunday. It was during the summer travel season but far from any holiday. By my calculations, I'd be well past the end of my last period and not close to the start of the next one, so even if I had one a little late or a little early, I'd still be okay. It also gave me plenty of time to find a birthday present for him.
Now that Trent knew about my nude pictures, I wanted to show them to him. The publishers didn't send me a copy of the magazine, and I was so ashamed of myself at the time that I probably would have burned it if they had. I got an idea. I checked the Collector's Exchange, an auction site, for any back issues of
Casanova
. The good news was that there was a copy of my issue available. (I knew it was mine because I recognized the other CIT student on the cover.) I put a $50 bid on it. The bad news was that Ginny, a woman from one of the other schools in the conference, had become a very famous actress. The bid went up many times, mostly between me and a bidder named atm1965. Within an hour I had bid $375. Anything more and I would have worried if an unexpected expense came up. atm1965 bid $420. Someone else bid $500, and I stopped looking at the bids after that.
I came up with another idea. I called Gina, a close friend of mine who lives only a couple blocks away. She knew about the pictures, and I had told her about Trent's visit. "Since I couldn't get the magazine, I want to duplicate the pictures they took and give those to him," I told her.
"I bet he'll love that," she said.
"But the timer feature won't give me enough time to get comfortable in the various poses, so here's the favor I need. Would you come over and take the pictures for me?"
There was a brief pause, in which I imagined her jaw dropping. "Sure. Do you have a digital camera?"
"What did you think, I was gonna take these pictures to Wal-Mart? I got it for Christmas last year. I'm off tomorrow night. Can you come over then?"
"Let me look. Nope, nothing going on. I'll be over after dinner."
"Thanks, Gina. You're a sweetheart."
The next day I found an old pair of jogging shorts and wrote "CIT" on the front in magic marker, doing my best recreation of the font they used in the logo when I was there. After dinner, I put the shorts on and made sure there was plenty of memory on the card. As the closing credits rolled on
Entertainment Tonight
, my doorbell rang. It was Gina. "You sure you want to do this?" she asked.
"Positive."
"Great, then I'd like you to do the same favor for me. Our anniversary is coming up and I thought I'd give Jeff the same thing."
I wasn't going to ask her to do something I wouldn't do, so I said, "Sure."
"Okay, where do you want to start?"
"Follow me outside." I picked up two pieces of cardboard and we went to the front steps.
"What's that?" Gina asked.
The two cardboard pieces were the Greek letters beta and theta. I hung "beta" on the front door of my side of the duplex and "theta" on the other door, and I stood between them. "I cut these out of the sides of a box. It'll look like I'm standing in front of a sorority house." I pulled a little at the sides of the neckline on my blouse, revealing a glimpse of my boobs that would only excite a thirteen-year-old, and I adjusted my shorts. I held still while Gina pressed the button. "Now follow me inside."
Gina followed me back inside the house and asked, "What next?"
I closed the curtains and took my shirt and bra off. I held up a CIT pennant and told her, "I got this at the flea market last weekend. How lucky is this? Take two pictures of me, one where it's covering my boobs and one where I'm holding it over my head."
I held the pennant in front of my chest, and Gina clicked the camera. "Got that one." I held it over my head and waited. She clicked again. "Done." She showed me the pictures on the viewer and asked, "Like 'em?"
"Great! It's just the right humorous look, because I obviously need to wear a bra, but I'm standing the way I would if I didn't need one. Now to the guest bedroom." Gina followed me. I picked up one of the textbooks I used when I was studying for my CNA license and stood next to the bed.
"Where should I stand?" she asked.
"A little to the left of where you are," I told her. I held the books up and she snapped a picture.
We looked at it in the viewer. "That's perfect," Gina said. "I got you all the way from your head to your shorts, and the book just barely covers your nipples."
"Yeah, that one'll go before the two in the living room." I opened the book and set it on the pillow. I took my pants off and lay on the bed. A stuffed doll of an Indian, the CIT Braves' mascot, sat against the wall near the pillow, and a teddy bear sat at the other end.
Gina knew the angle I needed. She stood facing the side of the bed, and I looked toward her, pretending that I was reading the book. "Smile!" she said. I did, and she got the picture.
"Great picture. Too bad my ass is huge," I observed.
"Yeah, it's big, but I wouldn't mind having that shape," Gina told me. "So, what did you have in mind for your big finish?"