Ali and I were working long hours on our individual art pieces; she, touching up a few of the pen and ink series, and me, mounting and choosing the photo-art that I'd want to display for the Gallery's opening in a few weeks.
To make sure that we'd have a good turn-out and review, she worked her contacts within the art community of New Orleans, getting three of the better known unknowns to also display their work at our opening.
All in all, it was coming together as planned with few hiccups in the process.
~
"Okay, Sami, now move your chin just a bit higher off of your shoulder, but keep your eyes downcast," I instructed the model as she sat on the coal-black scenery drape. Her white body was in stark contrast to the blackness that enveloped her small frame.
"One more, Sami," I said, walking over to her, to 'pose' her.
I had her sit, facing the camera, one leg folded underneath, in front of her, the other cocked at an angle, her foot on the floor. The placement of her legs, hinted at, but did not show her pussy.
I had her lean back, supporting her body with her arms behind her, and put her head in a throw-back position; you could see her hair as it cascaded off of her head, hanging loose with her head thrown back, but you couldn't see enough of her face to recognize her.
Her small breasts had just enough form and shape to make this pose highly erotic, which, after all, was what I was shooting in this series.
Sami was a college student at one of the local, well-known, Universities and had answered my ad that I had placed in the student newspaper.
Seeking a self-assured coed who's not ashamed of her body; Female photographer needs models for a photo project that requires being photographed in the nude.
Applicants must be of legal age, and be willing to sign a standard release form.
Please reply, with facial photo, to the following:
I set up a separate email account at Yahoo.com, as well as acquired a P.O. Box for my photo business. I was amazed at the response from the schools, for I had placed the ad in three Student newspapers at all three leading schools in the city.
Sami was the first of three that I had chosen; she had experience, having done some local modeling shoots for the higher-end department stores in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, but none of those were nudes, obviously.
Her reason for applying was purely financial she honestly admitted when asked; though she was on a full-ride academic scholarship, her family's finances were meager at best and spending money was at a premium for Sami.
She was a body-model for the art department at school, which was her Major as it turned out, and earned a bit of spending money doing that and was very comfortable posing in the nude, very comfortable with who she was.
The fifty dollars an hour that I was paying for the student models was very welcomed by Sami, I knew that for sure.
"Okay, sweetie, that's it for today," throwing her a wrap to cover up with as I started shutting down the hot lights I used in the shoot. She went to the bathroom to change back to her street clothes so that I could drive her back to school.
"Lynn, you sure you don't mind bringing me back to campus?" Sami asked of me when she emerged from the changing room.
"Not at all, Sami; I have to pick Ali up at the gallery anyway," I replied.
Ali was at the gallery meeting with the foreman of the remodeling crew to go over a few small details.
"Well, okay, if it's not too much trouble, I really appreciate the lift," she said, smiling.
Sami was a senior in college, twenty-one, with a thick head of blond tresses; at 5'9" and 120 lbs., she was on the slender side, with small breasts, no more than a 34-B, I had judged when I saw her naked for the first time, but almost perfectly shaped, her areolas and nipples slightly larger than one might think.
Her ass was her best asset in my view, just the right size for her body-type, and so firm that you could bounce a quarter of it, easily.
"So, how long have you and Ali been together?" Sami asked me as we headed down St. Charles Avenue towards her campus.
"Almost six months," I answered, "an incredibly short six months, though it seems as if I've known her much longer than that."
"She's beautiful," she commented; Sami and Ali had met on the first evening that I started shooting Sami.
"Thanks, I think so too," glancing towards her as I drove under the canopy that the old, live oak trees provided over the roadway.
Dropping her at her dorm, we waved goodbye and agreed on another shooting date, "Probably next week," she said, "depending on my exam schedule."
It was near the end of the summer semester, and exams were looming large on the students' minds, I'm sure.
"Call me, sweets, and let me know what works for you," I reminded her, waving one last time as I drove away.
~
"How'd it go?" Ali asked, after she had kissed me upon getting into my roadster.
"Very well, Ali; Sami's a natural at posing," I answered, whipping a u-turn in front of a very pissed-off taxi driver who saluted me with his 'social finger'.
It was deserved; I shouldn't have pulled that stunt but fuck it, I did.
"Feel like a drink before we go home?" I asked as I maneuvered through the go-home traffic in downtown.
"Nope, but I will make you anything you want to drink once we get home, if you'd like," Ali said as she gave my leg a squeeze.
"Can you make a Szarac?" I asked hopefully.
"Almost as good as Nat's," she beamed.
I smiled and floored it.
Yeah, I was speeding but did he really have to give me a ticket?
Pulling under the portico at the big house, Ali and I were still laughing at my piss-poor attempt at flirting my way out of the ticket.
"Girl, if that was your best shot at flirting with a guy, it's no wonder you're fucking gals," Ali laughingly chided me.
"Hey, Bitch; I'm out of practice, all right?" I retorted, laughing with her.
It really was a piss-poor attempt.
We were playfully pushing at one another as we gathered our stuff from the car when we heard the car drive up from the boulevard. Looking, we saw it was Miriam, one of Ali's married gal-pals from college days.
"Oh good, I caught ya'll home," Miriam shouted as she got out of her car.
"Long time no see," Ali said as she and Miriam hugged and cheek-kissed, Miriam turning to hug me as well.
"Asshole is out of town, and I was heading over to Bucktown for some shrimp and didn't want to eat alone, so I thought I'd drop by to see if you two would like to join me, my treat," smiling as she made the offer.
Asshole was her husband, Clark; a dreary, but rich, son of society here in the Crescent City.
She insisted on driving, and on buying us dinner, so what the hell, we accepted her offer. Ali and I took turns keeping Miriam company while the other took a quick shower; Miriam called the restaurant, found out that they had shrimp, fresh off the boats and asked them to hold us a table.
I had fixed Miriam a fairly stiff Scotch and water, at her request, while Ali showered.
"So, Lynn, tell me, are you getting acclimated to our Southern ways," chuckling a bit as she mouthed the words.
"Yes, I am; I'm even starting to pronounce some of the Cajun names correctly," I proudly boasted, as I finished making my drink. She touched her glass to mine, congratulating me.
"Good for you, girl, I'm still fucking up those names," laughing at herself.
"Clark away on business?" I asked out of politeness.
"That's his story and he's sticking to it," she smirked, adding, "though, in truth, he's probably fucking one of his 'twinks'," spitting the word out as she said it.
What the fuck do you say to that? So, I didn't say anything, just nodded my head understandingly.
"Oh, it's alright, Lynn, I'm certainly not bothered by it anymore," she said, with just a hint of a slur.
I realized, then, that perhaps she had had a couple of drinks already, before she caught up with us.
"Listen, it's a wonderful situation," she explained; "He gets to fuck his young boys, I get to fuck whoever I want, and he gets to keep his 'dignity', as long as I keep my mouth shut."
"And as long as he continues to fund my private bank account, as he agreed to, I will keep my mouth shut," she added.
"Well," I said; that was it, I had nothing else.