"Curtis, Sean Richards here. Do me a favor and check who owns what rights to imagery of our sale items. We have a number of inquiries from universities and museums. Some of those might be solved, or at least mollified, by good imagery."
Phone:
You mean the Marquis letter?
"Certainly the letter and other documents, but also the archeological items. A lot of research is done long distance, with measurements and pictures. What I want to know is, who has the rights to distribute the pictures we are taking? If we can get full rights by a statement in the catalog, start drafting the statement."
Phone:
Damn, Sean. Do you have any countries you want toppled today? It would be nice to work on something easy. How long do I have?
"The catalog has to go to print this weekend."
Phone:
Oh. Nice to know there is no time pressure. I would also suggest offering to let the sellers withdraw their items if they have an issue. Failure to withdraw will constitute a waiver. I can get you that one today.
"I knew there was a reason I paid for your lake house."
Two hours later, I finally broke free long enough to go check on progress at the warehouse. Seeing Sheila's car, next to my reserved spot, was a reminder of my little errand the night before. I had tucked her into bed, like a child. Something about her stirred my protective urges.
Word from security was that Sheila had not checked in yet, but that she had requested a pick up at 11:30 AM. Til then her car was safe where it sat. I was surprised to find that all three members of Justin's group were on site. This was good news, since I figured Jason to be out of things for a day, if not longer. I checked and found that Richard and Paul were back on duty at the stairs. Perfect.
As I approached the security desk, Paul saw me and called Richard over. From their expression they knew what I wanted to know. I was terse, "Give."
Paul said, "We took them over, like you said. Mostly, we stood behind him, so there was no way to run. There were a couple of times he might have rabbited. She played him like a virtuoso. She got him nervous and sweaty, then she got him physical and sweaty, then she had him put on the gear alone, in the showers. Once he came out, he was already jumpy. We hung him on the wall and she went away to let him stew. When she came out, it was a reverse strip tease with the fancy lingerie. She never let up for a second. There is video upstairs. If it wasn't for the way his cock stayed at attention, I would have thought he was ready to plead for his life. Those videos have some good shit."
I said, "Richard, anything to add?"
He said, "Great legs. Cool. Never lost sight of the ball. Scary as hell. Never let up til he popped. Kid will recover. Not a kid anymore."
For Richard, that was a long speech. He and Helen acted as if they had to buy their words at the market, on a tight budget.
When I reached the work area upstairs, I was surprised to see Peter and Jason huddled together. Normally they mixed like oil and water. In this case, they were trying to find shots of Jason, to show Sheila. From what I could see, there was plenty to choose from.
Jason made eye contact with me, and I saw immediately what Richard meant. Jason had seen the elephant. This was not the cocky teenage kid I had seen the day before, but a young man. One glance at the screen told me why. One side of the image was of Jason hanging from his armpits. The other side was of Sheila stretching on the bar. With a start, I realized she was doing the same position, that I had placed her in the week before. Jason was watching Sheila bug-eyed, apparently unaware of the pain that had to be wracking his body. The cherry on the sundae was the massive erection, which tented an ordinary jock strap.
Peter was walking it through the stretching sequence, frame by frame. It was worth watching Sheila, but that was not why we had this scene. I could not see any significant change in Jason, and he was the reason for the shot.
I said, "That's nice Peter, but Cynthia is the director. Let's focus on the star." Peter looked sheepish and Jason actually blushed. I continued, "What are we trying for here?"
Peter said, "Cynthia wants wallpaper." I must have frowned. "That is a picture in the background, with icons or images in the foreground."
I nodded, "Then I suggest you look at more suitable images. Think torso shots. Cynthia will be here shortly and I hope you do not disappoint her." Peter looked alarmed, but Jason looked thoughtful. I left them talking and went to find Justin.
Finding Justin was the easy part. Pulling his head out of his latest shot, was difficult. He was working a multiple camera shot, positioning candles in the field of one camera, while other cameras were poised outside the frame. As I stepped into the room, Justin pulled out a lighter, lit the candles and killed the lights. He went checking spots with a light meter. Then he danced over to a big old Hasselblad portrait camera and picked up the hand trigger. For a moment he stood there, apparently frozen, then pushed the plunger. There was a cascade of clicks, and he let out a breath he had been holding.
I waved, so as not to startle him, but I need not have bothered. He said irritably, "What do you want, Sean? I am a bit busy at the moment."
I smiled. Justin irritable was Justin working. I had seen Justin not-working, and this was much better. Still, there are such things as updates and progress meetings. I needed at least some of his attention.
I said, "Sorry to break in on you, but Cynthia will be here shortly. You should try to organize a bit. I imagine that you will have something useful, from a shot like that, but it will need to be seen to be evaluated.
"However, the main reason I came is a money issue." That got his attention. "It occurs to me that these images you are doing will be useful to academia. As such, I am having my attorney draft an agreement for licensing the work you do here. Do you have representation you wish contacted?"
"Academia?" He looked genuinely surprised.
"At least." I responded. Then, I waved my hand at the pages of the letter, which he had just photographed. "These are historically relevant, the verbiage written on the page has literary interest, and biographers love to print images of primary documents. That leaves aside the possibility of someone wanting a shot, such as that one, to hang above the mantle.
"As you know, our agreement states that Richards Enterprises, me, owns the catalog shots. Past that, work product is a bit gray. I would like to reach an agreement, to append to the contract. Also, I did not think the idea of residual payments would hurt your feelings.
"Now, pull your shit together. The Mistress is coming."
Sheila:
When Russell dropped us off, there was a car in the reserved spot. I presumed it to be Sean's, which made my heart beat faster. I led CC to the security desk. "This is Christine Collins. You should have word concerning her."
The security tech checked his book. "Yes, Ma'am. I need a photo. She can check her bag here and pick both up on the way out."
I put my bag on the counter and nodded to CC, who did likewise. The tech made notes, put the bags in a cabinet and locked it, then motioned CC to a mark on the floor. While he shot his picture, I thought of the day before. Had it really been that recent? This place was already quite familiar.
I then led CC to the desk at the base of the stairs. Richard and Paul were on duty again. We nodded to each other, CC and I signed in, then Richard escorted us up. When we reached the work area, I was relieved to see Jason. He looked up to me and smiled.
There was a noticeable difference in his whole demeanor. It was both reassuring and disconcerting. I was pleased to see that he was up and running, but there was clearly a fundamental change. All I could tell at this point was that he did not come across as broken. Counting my blessings, I went over and kissed Jason on his cheek. Then I turned to greet Peter and Sean. For some reason I had trouble looking at Sean. Naturally, he spoke first.
He said, "I see we are all here. Gentlemen, this is Christine Collins. She is Cynthia's personal assistant. It is possible she will be available to play go-for. Please show her the respect you have shown us. Cynthia, your floor."
That was simple enough. "Christine prefers CC. Yes, she will be spending much of her time here this week. Please make her time pleasant. So far, she has little experience in this type of work, but another pair of hands is often welcome.
