I was floored by the story I'd just heard. We were on the back nine of our country club where my best friend of twenty years told me what his wife Joanna was doing in her spare time.
"You mean..."
"Yep, as the day she was born."
"Are you guys hard up for cash?" I already knew the answer to that. He just laughed at me as we walked to the next hole.
Scott was a very smart and successful guy in the oil and gas industry. He was forty two, a couple years older than me. We'd met in college when I'd pledged to the fraternity he was in, we had been friends since, even over long absences and distances. We now both lived near Pittsburgh, where they had a beautiful house on a large farm outside the city.
"No, she enjoys it." He shrugged. "It keeps her shopping habit going, not that she's ever been outrageous in that respect."
They had met at an industry event in Houston. Joanna had been a promotional model hired to mingle with the 'old geezers' as Scott called his fellow executives. They hit it off and he spent time traveling back and forth to Houston, where they spent a lot of time together, then married. Seven years later they were still going strong.
"You're quiet. I hope I didn't offend you." He said chuckling. "There is a reason I'm telling you this. I'm not bragging."
He went on to bring up my photography hobby. When I had started traveling so much for my work as an engineer for an aircraft company, I found myself filling time between meetings by exploring and photographing everything. I became good enough that when I posted my stuff online I had been approached by stock houses and printing companies to purchase my photos. It made a nice little side income for me.
"She wants to have some photos done that she can sell to her fans. The only problem with hiring a photographer is that she wants the rights to everything and doesn't want to get screwed over, which I can fully understand. She said she'd dealt with a lot of shady fucks when she was modeling. I know that you're really good from the stuff I've seen and I told her about it. She wanted me to float the idea by you and see if you were up for it."
Jo was a beauty, tall, with a cascade of platinum blond hair, pale green eyes, a smile that could melt your heart, and a figure that could stop traffic.
"I can deduce by that look on your face that you've come to the correct conclusion. Yes, she will be nude for these photos. I said to her that I knew you would be discreet. I hope I was right on that count."
I shook my head and got control of my expression. "Of course, it's me you're talking to here. We go back years. Out of curiosity, how long has she been doing this?"
"Several months, maybe a year or so now. Like I said, she gets off on it, literally." He laughed. "Here, I'll give you my account log in. She blocks this area just so she doesn't bump into some joker at the mall who's seen her online." He handed me a slip of paper with a website address, a user name, and password penciled on it. "If you're working from home and have time tomorrow before lunch, check it out. She's usually on around ten or eleven or so to catch the day crowd." Safe to say that the rest of my game went to hell. Scott beat me handily, which used to be a common occurrence. In fact recently he'd been a bit of a push-over on the course. I owed him a hundred bucks and lunch. We headed to the clubhouse to have a bite before heading home.
The next morning dawned bright and I went for a quick run to get the blood flowing. While I jogged I thought about Joanna Meadows. I was best man at their wedding. I'd seen her many times over the years, when they had invited me to parties or dinner. She was the girl that came to mind if you were asked to envision an all-American girl next door. She was smart, sweet and beautiful without having to work at it. I got a stitch in my side as I turned for home and slowed to a walk.
"Probably a pang of jealousy." I thought to myself.
When I got back home I hit the shower but I didn't bother shaving since I had decided to work from home. I made a cup of coffee and grabbed a bagel before heading into my office to check my email. I ate while filtering out the usual office chatter and left myself with the dozen or so important messages I'd need to focus on. I went and refilled my coffee before diving into those. A couple hours went by as I went back and forth with email and checked my voice mail. I decided to take a break and got the last of the coffee and checked my personal email. There was one from Scott.