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."
"You are never closer to the Power that runs the Universe than when you are practicing The Arts of Pleasure," I said.
"I could not agree with you more," Steve said. "And your friend here looks as if she were created for Divine Pleasure. I am more than happy to say that the camera is able to pick up on that. Jenifer, you're hired! These test shots are magnificent!"
"I can see that it's time to burn some vacation days and romp naked in the Las Vegas Desert," Jenifer said.
"In front of my ever watchful camera," Steve added, "So that I can share your divine beauty with the world."
Jenifer had about six weeks vacation on the books so she didn't think there'd be a problem taking the week end off as emergency leave. She told the floor supervisor that her aunt 'Rosie' was dying and she had to go south to help out her family, which was essentially true.
Jenifer and I were met at McCarran International in Vegas Thursday night by a chauffeured limousine and taken to Bally's Resort Hotel where we were given adjoining rooms. There was a message in the rooms for us to meet Steve in the lounge after we were rested for drinks and dinner. I was too excited to spend any time resting so I grabbed a quick shower and dressed in this neat little trouser suit I picked up on one of my shopping trips with Jenifer. It had a soft belted jacket with a shawl collar and French cuffs along with relaxed fitting pleated trousers. Worn with nothing on underneath, it felt like pajamas. A pair of gold lame' sandals set the outfit off perfectly.
Jenifer met me wearing a shorts suit with a sleeveless jacket and matching shorts that showed off her shapely legs and generous cleavage to perfection. Steve looked stunned when we showed up in the lounge. "You ladies look great!" he said. "If you ever need a reference for fashion photography, just let me know."
A few minutes later Tisha walked in and Steve introduced us. She was a tall, ebony, Nubian Goddess with a bright friendly smile. As we talked, I found out she was a simple girl raised in Kansas who just happened to be extremely beautiful and photogenic. She and I hit it off right away. I could also tell that Jenifer was the type of girl that Steve was attracted to. He had a big day planned for Friday, so after drinks and a sumptuous dinner, we retired.
Wake up call came at oh-six-hundred hours and we only had time to grab a quick breakfast before Steve's camper van met us at the front door and carried us out into the boondocks. The desert was beautiful and still cool that early in the morning. The paved road turned into dirt as we climbed higher into the mountainous terrain surrounding Vegas. After about an hour on the dirt road we parked next to a flatbed truck and a couple of jeeps.
The terrain was beautiful with all of the red sandstone and the early spring flowers, but the trail back in was a little rougher than Steve let on. It was a dry wash lined with rough gravel and large rocks that had to be climbed like stair steps. We made plenty of noise, laughing and kidding Steve about what he thought an easy trail should be. He and his assistant, Ken, led the way, tapping a walking stick on the ground ahead of them to clear the snakes. I didn't remember having a dislike for snakes but I had a healthy respect for the more aggressive sidewinders. Tisha said that she had kept a gopher snake as a pet when she was a little girl but Jenifer was scared to death of any kind of snake. We saw about four regular mountain rattlers during the hike, but none close enough to be any threat to us.
When we got to the top of the trail, we saw that Steve was right. The view was spectacular. A small lake, about thirty five yards long by twenty wide, was nestled in where two gigantic slabs of redrock met, one nearly level and the other overhanging it at about a forty five degree angle. The upright slab was on the west side of the little lake, shading it from the afternoon sun so the water was nearly icy. The lower slab of redrock ran out nearly a hundred yards with wind sculpted potholes in it that were filled with water from the recent spring rains. They looked like scattered hot tubs and the water was hot from the sun-warmed rock. Where the sandstone broke up were several large mesquite bushes and a sprinkling of numerous types of brush and cactus. The greenery set against the red sandstone made a real pretty picture.
Steve introduced us to the other two of his helpers who had come up earlier and set up all of his equipment. Max, the video man, was busy recording the proceedings and Kevin, who looked about college age, put down what he was doing and came over and shook our hands.
"Here's the setup," Steve said. "I want you three girls to act like you are up here alone and just do what comes naturally. Pretend like we're not even here."
Even though it was still early morning, the air felt like it was approaching ninety degrees and we were all hot and sweaty from the hike. "Hey, I don't know about you guys," I said, "but that swimming hole looks mighty inviting. I think I'll just get naked and go for a swim."