When Melissa reached home, she ran in through the door in great excitement. "Sabine! Sabine! I've just been to the Trio Gallery and they want me to put on another exhibition of my paintings."
Sabine jumped up and threw both arms around her friend's neck. "Oh, darling, that's absolutely great. I'm so pleased for you."
"And that's not all; they're giving me all three rooms. What an opportunity!"
The Trio Gallery was right in the centre of town. It was a circular building divided into four rooms. The entrance room was one segment and acted as the foyer with a receptionist and a large selection of artist's materials and prints on sale. Two pillars, five feet high, framed a taller door set behind them which led into the three gallery rooms.
Sabine seemed to catch Melissa's excitement and busied herself making coffees. "Sit down. I'll make us a drink and you can tell me all about it."
"I've only had one room before, with two other artists' work in the other rooms," Melissa said. "But they told me they want a change from the usual landscapes and still life paintings. They want this to be a figurative life exhibition."
Sabine frowned. "What's that exactly?" she asked.
"It's paintings with human figures as the main elements."
"That's great darling. You specialise in life drawing. I'm sure you'll be a great success."
"I've been thinking about it all the way home," Melissa said. "Three galleries mean three sections which will mean three themes."
Sabine handed her a coffee as she sat down on the other side of the table. "What will they be?"
Melissa stirred her coffee absentmindedly as her large shining eyes gazed in front of her. "I've decided to call it βThe Prisoner'."
Sabine looked non-plussed. "You mean you are going to paint people in prison?"
"No! Of course not. I want to be a bit more imaginative than that! The first section will be about prisoners in the ancient world - the Grecian wars and so on. They'll be wearing rough cloaks and wearing drama masks. I want the paintings to be erotic too, so some will be half naked in chains." She dramatically drew a hand across in front of her as she imagined the paintings hanging on the wall.
"Ooooh! That sounds exciting," said Sabine. "What will you do in the second gallery?"
"Mmmmmm. There, I'll increase the eroticism. The prisoner will wear just undies, rags or perhaps a bikini - some topless."
Sabine rested her elbows on the table with her chin in her hands as she gazed admiringly at her house mate pouring out her ideas.
"Then in the third gallery all the prisoners will be nude, tied and chained and so on; some in a dungeon scene."
Sabine gave an approving sigh of approval as she smiled at her great friend. "Oh, Melissa, this sounds so exciting."
Her smile slowly faded as Melissa suddenly fixed her with a deliberate stare. Sabine had seen that stare many times before. It generally meant that Melissa was about to ask her to do something she didn't want to do.
"There's just one thing Sabine."
"There. . . there is?"
"Yes, I'll need a model to help me. I want a real live model and also lots of photographs to work from."
"You. . . you will?"
Melissa stretched out her hand and placed it in top of Sabine's on the table. "I want you to be my model."
"M..m. . .me? What? In undies? Chained naked in a dungeon?"
Undeterred by the hesitant words, Melissa took both her hands and looked straight into her eyes. "You'll be great. I know it." She knew she could get Sabine to do almost anything she wanted.
"But the paintings will be on show. Me . . . in the nude. . . on sale. Someone I know might buy a painting of me . . ."
Melissa slowly released Sabine's hands and looked sadly down at the table, her long blonde hair partly covering her face. "So, you won't help me?" she said feigning great disappointment.
She knew this would make Sabine feel awful, and she knew she hated to let Melissa down. "Oh, alright then. I'll do it," she said.
Melissa stood up and embraced her friend across the table. Then she took her head in her hands and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips. "Thank you darling. I knew I could count on you," she said.
* * * * * *
For the next week Melissa was a bundle of frenetic activity. She spent hours on the web poring over articles on Grecian wars and culture, and looking at pictures of Greek vases and other artefacts. Her file of sketches and notes grew bigger by the day.
One morning she returned from her life class in a high state of excitement. She threw her arms around Sabine, lifted her off her feet and swung her around in circles.
"Sabine, I was telling one of the guys at my life class about the exhibition at the Trio. He's a photographer, and when I told him about my theme he said he had a back projection unit in his studio with several dungeon scenes. He said I could use his studio for some of my photographs. Isn't that great?" Her large round eyes shone with excitement.
Sabine only showed a slight reflection of Melissa's utter delight. She was well aware that the person in the dungeon was going to be her and she was not really relishing that situation.
"Oh . . .er . .yes. That's very good Melissa. Yes . . . er . . . when are you hoping to start on all this?"
Melissa just gazed at her entranced by this new turn of events. But she wanted her to be happy too. "We can go into town this afternoon. You can help me to sort out some material for the Greek cloak and then we'll go to the costume shop to buy a drama mask. After that I'll be ready to start."
Melissa could sympathise with Sabine's doubt about her part in all this so she became serious. She took her in her arms, kissed her and held her in a close embrace as she whispered in her ear, "And you, my gorgeous model, will be the centre of my attention." She nuzzled behind her ear; she she knew Sabine loved that.
She held her by the shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "And now, darling, I'm going to make us your very favourite Chinese, and then it's into town."
Sabine liked this loving attention and became slightly more enthusiastic. "Into town it is."
* * * * * *
They toured the art and costume shops at a rapid rate. Melissa used Sabine as her measure when deciding how much cloth to buy, how long the cord should be and so on. It was as they were passing a lingerie shop that Melissa's eye was caught by a tiny pink bikini displayed in the window. She stopped in her tracks.
"Oh look at that bikini Sabine; pink satin, with a halter neck and side ties. Just the thing for my second theme. Let's try it on you." And before she could catch her breath, she'd grabbed her hand and was leading her into the shop. There were several of the bikinis hanging up and, after making sure she had the right size, she towed Sabine into the changing cubicle.
Sabine was used to Melissa stripping her, so getting her clothes off and the bikini on was accomplished very quickly. Melissa then held her at arm's length and looked her up and down. "Turn around, darling," she said. Sabine did a twirl.