Courtney took me to a very nice Thai restaurant for lunch. Her main purpose for treating was to convince me to take that weekend shoot in Vegas. "When Steve does his location shoots, he always takes his motor home so that his people can get out of the elements. The actual shooting will only take about four hours during the late morning and early afternoon."
"What sort of accommodations will I have? I hope we won't all be staying in the motor home."
"Heavens no. You'll have a room at Bally's with an open tab. Knowing Steve, he'll probably want to take you out to dinner then show you the town."
"All that and a two thousand dollar fee? Wow! How could a girl refuse? I'll bet this Steve Hicks character is an old toad."
"Are you kidding? He started off on the other side of the camera. Even in his late thirties, he is absolutely gorgeous and thinks he isn't. If I weren't married..."
I gave it some serious thought. I knew my house was going to need paint, inside and out, and I should at least carpet the living room, all of which was going to cost lots of money. "You can tell Mr. Hicks I'll do it," I said.
"That is great. Steve'll be tickled," Courtney said as she signaled for the waiter and asked for a phone. "I'll give him a call right now." She spoke to him for about a half a minute then handed the phone to me.
"Hi, Sara," he said. "I'm really glad you're going to make it. You would probably like to know a little about this shoot."
"That would help. This'll be the first location shoot for me so I'll need to know what to bring."
"A good pair of hiking boots for beginners. I found this place a couple of years ago and I've wanted to do a photo layout there ever since. It's about five miles out of Vegas on dirt road and then about a three-quarter mile hike over pretty rugged terrain to the spot. Its' all beautiful red sandstone and desert brush and there's a pretty good-sized swimming hole at the end of the hike where the rocks have caught the desert rain. A couple of my men will take all of the equipment in and have it all set up by the time we get there."
"How many models will there be?"
"I only have one other model so far. She's African American. Tisha Williams, do you know her?"
"I've heard of her."
"I hope to find a well endowed natural blond to round out the shoot."
"How does a thirty six D, twenty four, thirty eight, strawberry blond about five four sound? She's really cute, lightly freckled, a little stout without a dimple anywhere."
"Sounds perfect. When can I meet her?"
"She's my roommate. I don't know if I can talk her into doing nude modeling. She works as a nurse's aid at Memorial Hospital and she should be home about five today. I don't even know if she'll be able to take the weekend off."
"I figure to fly up Thursday night, shoot Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then fly home Monday morning, so it'll be a full week end. I'd like to see her, though. If she's photogenic at all, it would be a good opportunity for her to make some fast money."
"I'll ask her and maybe we could meet somewhere."
"Why don't you both stop by my studio, say about seven? I'll be working late. I'd like to take some test shots of your roommate to see if the camera likes her. Courtney can give you the address."
Jenifer wasn't hearing it. The thought of getting naked in front of a camera crew terrified her. When I told her how much I was getting paid for the shoot, along with three nights in Las Vegas, she started getting brave. "For that kind of money, I'd dance naked at a Baptist convention. That would be a good down payment on a new car," she said. "Little Rosie is getting real tired and is going to be needing some major work. Time to trade her in."
The Steven Hicks studios were located in a trendy little mall in La Jolla. Steve served us wine while we talked over the trip then he showed us into the studio where he started off shooting some Polaroids of Jenifer while we continued talking.
"Sara tells me that this shoot is in a pretty rough location," Jenifer said as she shrugged her blouse off.
"Oh, it's not too bad," Steve said. "There's a well marked trail and only a slight climb. Once we get there you'll see why I have wanted to do a shoot there. The hidden lake is nestled in rocks overlooking the Las Vegas Valley. You can see the entire city from there." He motioned for Jenifer to set on the barstool and lean forward. "My crew will carry everything we'll need, so all you'll have to do is watch out for snakes."
"Snakes!?"
"That's no problem," I said. "If we make enough noise, they'll just slither out of our way. They're still no worse than a convention of Baptists."
"I'd rather face a hundred rattlesnakes than ten Baptists," Steve said. "Religious zealots do not go away when you make noise. I ought to know. They are always picketing my shows. You'd think that someone who's that close to God would be able to see the divine beauty in the female form and the love that's offered in my pictures of them."