It was 6am. Holly lay there, unable to sleep. It was hardly surprising, given the last 24 hours. Firstly it had been revealed to her that she had inherited a million pounds, but subject to the condition that she must visit each of her five ex-boyfriends and complete a mystery task with them. Then she had returned to catch her then boyfriend Ryan in bed with her best friend.
In an hour she would have to get up and start getting ready for work. She couldn't bear the thought. An hour later, she phoned in sick. Just as she put the phone down, Mr. Pointer, the lawyer, called. He asked whether she was available that day to complete the first task. She decided that now was as good as any time to get started and said that indeed she was.
He gave her the details. The first ex-boyfriend she was to meet was Matt, Holly's third boyfriend. He passed on the address and told her to be there by 10am. Matt had been informed of the situation and agreed to participate.
Holly turned up at Matt's house just before 10am. It was a large house out in the suburbs. An expensive car sat on the driveway. That was what had attracted Holly to Matt -- his money. He was a banker somewhere in the city and always had plenty of money to spend.
To tell the truth, that was all the Holly had ever wanted Matt for. After her previous relationship had ended, she had decided that she was tired of going out with people for love -- she wanted someone who would buy her anything she wanted.
Matt was easy to exploit. He hadn't even had a proper girlfriend before Holly. Though Holly may only have been using him for his money, he had fallen in love with her. He adored her. She had him wrapped around her little finger. Anything she wanted he would buy for her. She loved how easy he was to exploit.
Although his friends warned him that she was only after him for his money, he wouldn't listen. He loved her, and thought she felt the same.
Eventually however the relationship had ended in a massive argument at one of the most exclusive (and expensive) hotels in the country. Holly had not been adverse to using sex, or at least the prospect of sex, to get what she wanted from Matt. Whenever he was reluctant to buy her something, she would always say how grateful she would be if he bought if for her, and say something like she was "sure she could find a way to show just how grateful".
But the implied promise never materialised. For one, she wasn't really attracted to him, and she wasn't prepared to sleep with a man she wasn't attracted to, even if it would encourage him to buy her more things. Secondly, she knew that the more she got him excited and then dashed his hopes, the more keen he became on her. He never learned.
This one weekend she had asked to be taken to the hotel in question, and had told him that whilst it might be expensive, "at least you'll only have to pay for one room". She kept telling him how much she was looking forward to their "dirty weekend". But when they had arrived, she had feigned ignorance of any plan for them to sleep together, and had forced him to sleep on the sofa. It had been the last straw. Matt had stormed out, she had enjoyed all the luxuries of the hotel for the weekend, and they had never seen each other since.
Holly approached the door and rang the bell. Whilst she waited, she examined her reflection in the glass part of the door. She had dressed quite conservatively: pair of jeans, top showing no cleavage, but had at least made effort with her hair and make-up to show Matt what he was missing.
Eventually Matt opened the door. It was clearly going to be awkward between them, but they managed to both say "hello" to each other. He showed her in to the living room, where Mr. Pointer the lawyer was already waiting.
There was an awkward silence, which was soon broken by Mr. Pointer.
"OK, then, you both understand the rules?" he asked. "Neither of you are obliged to participate."
They both nodded.
"If you fail to fully fulfil the task," he said, turning to Holly, "the million pounds will be split between your ex-boyfriends."
She nodded again.
"If you choose to drop out of the task at any point," he said, turning to Matt, "then Ms. Thornley will be automatically deemed to have fulfilled the task."
He nodded.
"OK, then," Mr. Pointer said, producing the sealed envelope, and handing it to Matt.
Matt opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper which he read in silence. As he did so, a smile came across his face. Having taken his time to read it, he handed it back to Mr. Pointer. Mr. Pointer read it himself, his face expressionless. Then he handed it to Holly.
"Matt," the letter began, "I know Holly treated you badly, and I think it's only fair she makes it up to you. I know you are a keen photographer, and we both know that Holly is a very attractive girl."
"To complete this task, she must let you take as many photographs of her as you wish. Use your imagination. You can photograph her wherever you like, wearing whatever you like (or not wearing as the case may be!) and in any position you like. Have fun!"
Holly stared at the paper for a good minute after finishing reading it. Her mind was exploring the wide range of possibilities that this opened up. She thought about complaining to Mr. Pointer straight away, but decided against it. Matt was a nice guy. He wouldn't abuse this. He would probably just take some nice photos of her, and that would be it. No problem.
By the time she looked up, Matt had already been to get his camera and come back. He turned to Mr. Pointer, unsure as to what to do next.
"Do you accept the task, Ms. Thornley?" the lawyer asked.
"Yes," answered Holly.
"Then begin," Mr. Pointer said to Matt.
For the first half an hour or so, Matt was the perfect gentleman. He took various photographs of Holly around his house, and they made reasonably friendly small talk. Matt admitted that he preferred photographing scenery -- sunsets and the like, and that Holly was his first live model. He showed Holly some of the shots on the screen on his camera, and she was impressed. She even asked if he could make copies for her to keep, which he agreed. Mr. Pointer watched on from a distance throughout.
After a while, however, Matt made a statement that Holly had been dreading.
"I think it might be nice to take some photos of you in your underwear now," he said.
Holly thought about protesting, but decided that the request was not really unreasonable enough to justify calling on Mr. Pointer's arbitration, especially given the wording of the letter from Simon. Pleased that she had put on a good set of underwear that morning, she pulled her top off. She made a real effort of folding it and putting it down on the table, trying not to think about the fact that her ex-boyfriend would now be looking at her bra-clad chest. Next she removed her jeans, again concentrating hard on what she was doing -- unfastening the belt, undoing the button, pulling them down, stepping out of them. She folded these too, placing them on the table next to her top. Only once this was done did she look back at Matt.
Matt was making no attempt to pretend that he was not admiring her body. During the time they had been a couple, she had never even let him see this much. A glance over at Mr. Pointer confirmed that he too was enjoying the view, though his professionalism at least led him to be a little more subtle about it than Matt.
At first Matt restrained himself to tasteful shots, and she relaxed a little. However, slowly the shots became more revealing. At first it was just him having her lean forward a little, revealing a little more cleavage than she would have liked. Then he had her kneel down, letting him point his camera straight down at the exposed top of her breasts.
Next he had her bending over, forcing her to progressively protrude her bottom closer to his camera. He gave each instruction in a polite but increasingly confident manner. Holly hated being exploited like this, but kept thinking of the million pounds it would put her one step closer to earning.
Eventually Matt had had his fun, and declared a break. He made them all a coffee, and they sat round drinking it, a rather awkward silence between them, accentuated by the fact that Holly was still in her underwear. After a few minutes, Matt said casually, "Holly, take your bra off."
Holly looked at him in shock. It was the casual way he asked more than anything. She had knew this was a possibility as soon as she read the task, but had been hoping that Matt would either be too polite, or not confident enough, to make the request.
She turned to Mr. Pointer, who's eyes quickly left her chest.
"I don't have to do that, do I?" she asked.
"No, you don't," reassured Mr. Pointer.
Holly visibly relaxed.
Then Mr. Pointer continued: "but if you refuse, you will fail the task and will not get any of the money."
Holly was about to protest, but realised it would do no good. She decided it was best to get it over with. She reached behind her back and quickly released the clasp on her bra. She removed her bra as quickly as she could, throwing it to the side, making no attempt to hide her breasts. She knew it would be useless and just add to the humiliation when Matt ordered her to uncover them.
Holly stared defiantly at the two men, hoping to embarrass them into keeping their eyes away from her bare chest. It sort of worked with Mr. Pointer -- he allowed himself nothing more than a brief glance before pretending to find something very interesting to look at over the other side of the room. Matt had no reservations.
"Wow, those were worth the wait," he exclaimed, eyes fixed on her breasts. Holly did not reply.
Matt made the most of the pair of breasts that had been entrusted to him. He had started by allowing her to cover her breasts, first with her arm, then with her hands. Slowly he increased the exposure, making her spread her fingers to reveal her nipples, then remove her hands completely. He took shots from every angle: straight on, from the side, from below and above. He made her lean forward and backwards.
Small talk was now non-existent. The only sound to break the silence was Matt's ever more assertive orders as to the positions he wanted her in. His orders became ever more specific, and he made her comply with them exactly. The smile on his face and the bulge in his trousers showed that he was very much enjoying his role in this task. It wasn't just an opportunity to photograph an attractive woman naked -- it was a chance to get his revenge, exactly as Simon had intended.
