The best thing about the neighbor's pool wasn't that it was the biggest on the block or that it had a brand new heating system, but that Barbara Hamilton owned it. Now that summer had come and her husband had gone, it was time for Barbara to make the most of the warm weather. She lay face down, sunbathing on her raft.
Thirty feet away, a shutter clicked. Steve Malone was making the most of the warm weather as well. His father had given him a two-week ultimatum to find a job, and he was damn well going to make sure he did absolutely nothing until then. He had just graduated high school, it was time for a break.
He had gotten quite a break. It just so happened that Barbara had moved in that spring. It just so happened that she was the most beautiful woman on the block. And it just so happened that she had a predilection for wearing bikinis, and sometimes not wearing them.
Steve admired her for her awareness of the new trend in fashion. Many women were still too prudish to wear bikinis. Didn't they know the one-piece was going the way of the Edsel? Didn't they realize that if they wanted to remain in vogue, they'd have to lose that pesky strip of cloth around their midriffs?
Steve brushed his fingers against the bulge in his swim trunks. He didn't know how long he had until his arousal would force him to put down the camera. During the first days of summer, he had pleasured himself to a tanning Mrs. Hamilton (she had kept her married name). Then he decided that his memories of her exposed body would be better preserved on film. He used the money he had saved up and asked his folks for the few dollars more it would take to buy a Scout 120. His dear sweet mother wanted to cultivate his interests, but she didn't realize that Steve wasn't going to be photographing landscapes or his friends.
Barbara floated on her raft toward the edge of the pool. She got up and walked toward the fence that separated her yard from Steve's. Steve choked for a moment – she was looking directly at him. But she didn't seem to notice. He did have quite a good hiding spot in the shrubs, after all. And her eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses. She was probably looking down at her discarded top.
Besides, there was no way he could move the camera off her. He was getting the best shots of his short career as a photographer. This was the closest Barbara's bare breasts had ever gotten to his camera. He reached into his trunks as the shutter clicked over and over. Then Barbara reached forward and picked up her top and sun hat.
He cursed silently. She hadn't given him the chance to get off this time. But he consoled himself with the fact that he had gotten some amazing photos. For a brief moment, he imagined sending them in to Playboy.
"Look at this, Jim. Some kid in Jersey sent us pictures."
"My God, look at these, Bob. He captures every detail of the feminine form so well. And it was all done on a cruddy little Boy Scout camera. This is the kinda guy we need working for us!"
Imagine taking pictures of the sexiest women in the world, naked, and getting paid for it! Steve did just that as he walked back into his house – Marilyn Monroe stripping down to nothing while he captured every inch of her body. Just as Marilyn let her bottoms drop, the doorbell rang. Steve stuffed his erection down the leg of his trunks and trudged over to the door, muttering.
The next thing he saw was the light reflecting off of Barbara's sunglasses. He almost jumped back from the door when he noticed she hadn't put anything on over the bikini.
"Hi, Stevie-boy."
"Um, hi, Mrs. Hamilton. What's going on?"
"I was just wondering if I could speak to your mother?" She stepped inside the house and strutted into the living room, her rear wiggling in the tiny bikini bottoms. A cigarette holder bounced against her hip, held to her body by the waistband of the bottoms. She marched on into the kitchen.
"She's not here right now," he called from one room over.
"Well, then, take a message, will you?"
"Sure, what do you want me to say?"
"Just write, 'Look upstairs.' She'll know what I mean by that."
"All right, then." He picked up a pad and wrote the two words out.
Barbara came back into the living room. "Where do you keep the cigarettes in this place, anyhow?"
"Just over there, ma'am." Steve pointed to a drawer. She pulled the box out, stuck a cigarette in her holder, and lit it. Then she tossed the box onto the table, in front of where Steve sat.
"You should have one as well. You know, to celebrate."
"Celebrate what?"
"The fact that you've got pictures of my bare breasts, of course! Not many boys can say they've got a snapshot of these things."
"Mrs. Hamilton?" He gripped the arms of his chair, his palms getting sweaty.
"The pictures, dear boy, the pictures. Don't tell me you've forgotten already."
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't take no pictures."
"Oh, really? What a shame, I do love being photographed." She took a long drag.
"Whaddya mean, Mrs. Hamilton?"
"I mean if you haven't photographed me, then you ought to."
"What is it you want? I don't understand."
"What I want is for you to take your camera up to the master bedroom and wait for me. Unless you'd rather not have my picture."
"No, I get it, ma'am. Right away." He grabbed the box of cigarettes and lighter, then dashed up to the bedroom, still befuddled by Barbara's request.
Barbara came in holding two lowball glasses. "A scotch on the rocks for my photographer?"
"Oh, uh, thanks." He grabbed the glass. "So when do you wanna do it?"
"Don't be thick, dear. I want you to take my picture right now, in this." She ran her hand down her chest and over her stomach. "Maybe less if you're good."
Steve's erection finally won its struggle against the leg of his shorts and popped upward. He had lost concern for hiding the tent in his trunks, though. He drew out his next words excitedly. "Yes, ma'am, certainly."
He got up, lit the cigarette, sipped his scotch, and then hoisted his camera up to his eye. Barbara lay back on the bed and spread her arms, keeping her legs locked. "How do you want me, Mr. Photographer?"
"Oh, any way you feel comfortable, Mrs. Hamilton." The flash went off. He had attached it for the indoor shoot. The camera was in one hand while the scotch and cigarette were in the other.
"You look like you're enjoying yourself, Stevie."
"Don't mind the man behind the camera, Missus. You just sit there and look pretty." Another flash. He took a swig of scotch. Maybe he could be a photographer. Maybe this shoot could be the start of his career.
He imagined two girls in bikinis walking into the room, grabbing at him for attention.
"Ladies, I'm in the middle of a shoot here, what is it?"
One grabbed his arm and said, "You've just got to take my picture and make me famous, Mr. Malone."