The first thing I did the next morning was to reconfirm with Faith that it hadn't just been the alcohol speaking when she had suggested the whole seduction thing. After establishing that it wasn't, I then approached Melinda to ensure that she was still comfortable with the scenario. It was probably a silly question, but I had to ask and she confirmed that she was in.
Over breakfast we agreed that we should make the phone call today, and that if Leah was interested, then we would book the hotel for the following afternoon. We wrote down a few facts for Melinda's phone call, so that if Leah started asking questions then she would hopefully have the answers ready. We decided that the name of the magazine would be Real People Monthly. No distribution in Australia and it was available in England and Germany only. Melinda was to be a freelance photographer named Samantha, the name supplied by Faith. The photo shoot was for a line of suits that was to be available for men and women. On the day, Melinda was to reveal that all the accessories were part of the shoot, including underwear. If Leah asked, she'd simply state that at this stage she was not aware of anything else being considered.
The shoot was to centre on a couple coming home after a night out, still in party mode. They would dance together, pose for the cameras as individuals and as a couple. It would be easy to lead it from there, and again Melinda would deny anything further.
We discussed a few more possible questions then it was off to the telephone. After much discussion Melinda decided that she wanted to make the call alone, the presence of us in the room would be either off putting or make her laugh. Faith and I decided to go for a walk and left her to it.
We walked from the house into the cool outside air. The sun cast long shadows from the roofs of neighbouring houses onto the ground as we walked down the line of new buildings, their designs neat, compact and similar.
'You really sure about this?' I asked. In the broad light of day I was no longer sure that I was.
'I said yes.' There was a trace of annoyance in Faith's voice.
'Okay then,' I replied, deciding to drop the subject. We walked hand in hand down the street until we reached an intersection, then turned and walked back. On reaching Melinda's house I knocked softly and was pleased to see that she was off the phone as she opened the door for us.
'How'd it go?' Faith asked immediately.
'Oh, I was a bit nervous after you'd gone,' she said, 'which was strange really, seeing as how I don't know Leah. I rang and she answered almost straight away. She was really cautious at first, then accused you two of planning some prank call.' We exchanged a grin at that. 'Anyway, she was in the process of refusing when I made a decision on the run and offered her five hundred dollars if she agreed to pose.' Melinda's eyebrows shot up as she said that and again we looked at each other. Faith shrugged which I took to mean that she didn't care one way or the other.
'That's fine,' I said.
'Good, well I have to meet her for lunch to finalise the details.'
The Proposal
We decided that Faith and Melinda should head into town to hire some suitable clothing, while I tracked down the apartment and some photographic equipment to ensure authenticity.
Faith suggested that Melinda tell Leah that the model's name was Stefan or some such, and that I would be substituted at the last minute. As devious as we were being, none of it convinced me that we would be able to take it to the next step and convince Leah to have sex with me. Apart from the obvious issue of whether she wanted to, there was also the factor of Melinda being present. Again, Faith came up with a plan that if it seemed the only restraint was Melinda's presence, she could phone Melinda during the shoot so that she could make a quick escape for "half an hour or so."
I agreed that this was a good plan. During our walk we had decided that we would buy an infra red transmitter for our handycam and set it up so that Faith could watch the proceedings from the second bedroom. This also gave us the option to capture the event on video, and now gave Faith the ability to know when to make a call to Melinda if needed. If I ensured that the apartment was a ground floor unit, we could also find a way to smuggle her back inside through a window if she wanted to watch what went on, which I was sure she would.
At around ten-thirty Faith and Melinda headed off to shop while I began walking the yellow pages for the apartment. It took me less than an hour to find a suitable apartment not too far from either Melinda or Leah's house at a reasonable rate. I spent the next couple of hours relaxing reading the newspaper until the bustling sound of the interconnecting door to the garage announced the arrival of the women.
Melinda had selected the lingerie in conjunction with Faith. I eyed off the lacy set of underwear, jade green and cut high on the hips, that would make Leah's legs look longer and murmured my appreciation. They had also decided to pay for a full beauty treatment at one of the health spas in the city.
The lunch between Leah and "Samantha" had started slowly, with Leah slow to admit that she was genuinely interested in the proposal. Samantha had worked her charms and reassured Leah that nothing in the photo shoot would occur without full agreement and that Samantha would respect whatever Leah wanted to do, or not do. When Leah had blushingly asked for a copy of the photos for herself and Clay, Melinda knew that she was hooked. Leah accepted the offer of three hundred dollars for the base shoot, and an additional two hundred for the lingerie shots. No negotiation had been needed.
'It's still some way from her agreeing to have sex with me,' I pointed out.
'It's a lot closer than yesterday,' Faith rejoined, and Melinda smiled in agreement.
The Preparations
That night we were all somewhat wired as we prepared for dinner in the Apartment. We had decided that it would be a good idea to stay there overnight and party down. We had the suits and camera gear and spent some time setting that up so that the first impression when Leah walked in would be of a serious studio. Once that was done we found a hiding place near the window for the video camera that would provide an all room aspect for Faith as she watched from the next room. We were able to run the power cord from the shelf it sat on down alongside a lamp power cord, which meant that it could be left permanently on. I hooked up the infra-red transmitter and then attached the receiver to the video recorder in the second bedroom. We would keep this door locked and in the unlikely event that Leah asked, we would tell her that we were paying the one bedroom rate on condition that we didn't use that room.
In a rare moment of technical supremacy for me, the video hook up worked on the first go. I sat watching the picture on the TV. Melinda sat opposite Faith at the small breakfast table on which were three whisky glasses, two one-litre bottles of vodkas, a bag of limes and a bag of sugar. I decided that the picture overall could be in a more close up mode and tried using the camera's infrared remote control. Unfortunately, after several attempts, I discovered that it would only work from within a few feet of the camera, so I decided that the view would have to remain fixed.
Happy with the set up I left the bedroom and came out to find my vodka waiting for me. The sweet liquid slid down dangerously fast and spread warmth through my body that became a heat. Seeing that both women were on their second, I suggested that we eat before we became too drunk. It was advice that was ignored.
Within an hour we were all giggling like school kids and I for one was experiencing a delicious lightness in my head. It was like an out of body experience that was neither strange nor uncomfortable.
'So tell me Melinda,' Faith asked, 'did you enjoy our show last night?'
'Ohh yes,' she murmured, 'I hope you didn't mind, I sort of decided that if the door was open then the invitation was there.'
'Exactly,' Faith replied, reaching into her now empty glass to pick out a lime rind to suck on. 'I wasn't sure whether or not you were going to join in.'
Despite being drunk I suddenly felt a new tension enter the room. It wasn't uncomfortable, but was sexual, and having spent most of the day thinking about tomorrow, my libido was high and the alcohol was stimulating it further.
'Well, I wasn't sure that's what you wanted,' Melinda answered. Her eyes had locked onto Faith's and I wasn't sure whether either of the women were aware of my presence in the rapidly developing sexually charged atmosphere. I opened my mouth to speak, then snapped it shut, deciding that in my light-headed state I was probably going to say something that would break the spell. It was Faith who finally broke it, placing her glass onto the table with a bang.
'We should play cards,' she suggested, reaching for the vodka bottle. The memory of us doing just that one night so many years ago with Melinda and her now ex-husband Toby flashed into my mind.
'I've got some in my bag,' I mumbled as I stood on unsteady feet and headed for the bedroom. I threw the clothes from my case all over the floor before finding the deck in a side pocket, then returned to the living room to hear laughter as Faith refilled all the glasses.
'What're you girls laughing about?'