I woke up on Wednesday morning at 7 excited to get on with my day. The new job was invigorating to anticipate. I, of course, had an appointment with Priscilla. We had agreed to meet at the student center for coffee.
I decided I wanted to wear the BenWa Balls until the first class, so I put them in and squeezed them about ten times. I felt tight. Then I put on a pair of my daisy duke shorts and a halter top. I decided to wear the one that was skimpiest. It had just triangles that covered my areola but not my whole breast. I felt very sexy not for Priscilla, but I knew I'd see Jaxson later.
I rode my bike to the campus, locked it up outside Jaxson's building and walked to the student center. Priscilla wasn't there yet, so I went ahead and bought two coffees and got some sugar packets and cream cups and found a place to sit where there were no students or faculty yet.
Priscilla showed about the time I got settled. I stood and she hugged me and thanked me for seeing her. She was a pretty girl but dressed very conservatively, so I wondered if she was from a fundamentalist background. We sat close so we could talk discreetly.
"We don't have a lot of time, Priscilla, so can I just pry?"
"Sure!"
"You say you have trouble with being nude. Why is this a problem for you?"
"Well, my boyfriend is constantly pushing me to go naked around his apartment or mine when he is there. The problem is that I don't feel comfortable being naked regardless."
"Even when you are alone?"
"Even then."
"Do you find being naked erotic at all or even pleasurable?"
"I do if he and I are making love, but not when we are just sitting around or eating or watching TV."
"But you want to?"
"I do because he wants me to."
"You dress very conservatively. Is there a reason for that?"
"Yes," she responded and looked down as if embarrassed. "I grew up in a very conservative home. We weren't religious but my father was very conservative. I don't think Mom was but he was very strict. For as long as I can remember, we were not permitted to walk around in our pajamas. We had to wear a robe out of our bedroom. Even when it was very hot, we had to wear pajamas that covered more than most kids wear now in public. We never wore bathing suits and were not aloud to go swimming even in clothes."
"I grew up almost as restricted. In fact, until about two weeks ago I dressed as you do."
"Yes, but now you wear clothes my father would kill me for wearing."
"You say now that your boyfriend almost demands you be naked around the house. What else?"
"He bought me a bikini, not a way out there one, but a bikini and wants me to wear it. All I can think when I try is that Daddy would kill me."
"I think I hear what you're saying. You have two men in your life who want to dominate you. One is your father and the other is your boyfriend. Do you think you were meant to be dominated and why?"
She lowered her eyes in thought. "Well, no, I'm not supposed to be dominated but that is the way it is. Men are strong and women are weak."
"I used to think that also and Jaxson and a few of my women friends have helped me see differently. I escaped that attitude about two weeks ago. However, I don't think my childhood was quite so overwhelming as yours. Dad was kind hearted and Mom and Dad didn't say anything about wearing a robe until I was reaching puberty, then Mom told me I should wear one over my pajamas. In the summer when it was warm, I wore shorty pajamas."
"Oh, not us. They were long and they were not cool. I couldn't wear a nightgown because it might pull up and show me off while I was asleep. If my parents knew I was having sex with my boyfriend, they'd take me out of school and take me home. That's why I dress like this. I think they have eyes on campus. Even talking to a girl dressed like you would get me in trouble."
"We're running out of time, Priscilla. I wouldn't mind talking to you more but I'm not a counselor. I don't even have a real degree from anywhere. I'm just a sojourner trying to figure life out for myself. I'll bet if we look, we can find a group for girls with similar struggles. There are posters all over campus for this and that groups. Why don't we look for something that may help? Is that a deal? Maybe tomorrow we can talk some after class."
"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you for talking to me, Layla. Have a good day."
I hurried to the fine arts building to meet Hank. He was already in his office but didn't appear to be waiting for me. He seemed busy. I knocked.
A few seconds went by before he responded. Then he turned and said, "Good morning, Layla. Have a seat."
I sat in the only available chair. There were two others stacked up with books and papers.
"Good morning, Hank. You said I need to fill some papers out?"
"Yes, you need to fill this out. It is a W4 for tax withholding. This is an application for employment. We have to have one for every employee whether they are actually applying or not. You're hired so that's no worry."
"Thanks, Hank. I appreciate this opportunity."
"No problem. I'm glad to have a pretty young woman model. We get other women but often they are not so pretty. Many are over weight. I don't care. A human body is a human body and the students need to learn to draw or paint or photograph or sculpt or whatever the hell they want to. But the students complain. Anyway, fill the app out and the form and then we can talk a bit until class starts."
I sat there and filled it out using a book for a platform. I'd done a W4 before when I worked for a diner at home when I was a senior. The employment application wasn't complicated. I was finished in about 5 minutes and handed them to him.
He scanned them and thanked me and said they looked fine. Then he said, "Here is a schedule that I worked out assuming you want to work as much as possible until you start school in January. You need to know the poses become more difficult as the term progresses. Beginner classes are mostly sitting and standing but when one has to stand for a couple of hours, it gets tiring. You need to find a physical activity to work the kinks out."
I looked at the schedule. Tuesday and Thursday were pretty much the same as yesterdayβthe three classes. Monday was two 50 minute classes and one 75 in the afternoon. Wednesday included the night time class and the same classes as Monday. Friday only had two classes. There were no afternoon classes on Friday.
"That looks good to me, Hank."
"Now, Layla, note that the Wednesday afternoon class is a 75 minute class like on Monday. The reason is we do not have Friday afternoon classes anymore."
I looked at the schedule. "Thanks for pointing that out. So today I essentially work about six hours?"
"More or less. Just to be sure, you find modeling good for you."
"Yes, I'm not sure why, but I feel perfectly fine being nude even with others. It seems to come naturally for me."
"So would you be interested in me giving your name and number to artists I know."
"Sure. Please do."
"OK. I also know two people who have modeling agencies and schools. Would you be interested in them?"
"I think. What do they do?"
"The schools are designed to teach models things like how to walk correctly, how to progress in the field, how to interview or audition and the like. However, the two I recommend are very good at booking all their models for shows. So they do as much agency work as any thing and want their models to be well respected as being prepared for the work."
"That'd be great."
"I do that because I often lose models to them and will probably lose you in less than a year but I like to see good models succeed also." He looked at the clock. "It's close to time for class."
"Thanks, Hank, I appreciate the help and the job."
"No prob. Have a good day."
I went to the dressing room and got undressed but almost forgot the BenWa Balls. It wouldn't have looked good having a string hanging out of me. I put everything in the locker and used the bathroom. I went to the back of the studio and got a cup of coffee and a doughnut. I realized I was hungry.