She hated my job. As a photographer, I wasn't able to spend much time with her, and we drifted apart. I would spend hours hiding in my darkroom, the hours turning to weeks, then to years. But technology may have saved my marriage. I bought a digital camera and matching printer. Now, what used to take me four hours, I can do in five minutes. She was thrilled with the time I could now spend with her, until I started taking on more jobs with the extra time I now had.
I guess the only thing she hates more than my job, is sports. She refuses to watch them, and can't see the point behind them. This leads us to a very interesting situation.
This Saturday, our house is to be fumigated, meaning we will have to be out all day. And I have to cover a barbecue. A sports barbecue. We only have one vehicle, and being new to the neighborhood, she doesn't have many friends yet, meaning she will be stuck with me all day.
"Hey, you always complain that we don't spend enough time together!" I said, trying to lighten the situation.
"Yeah, but you'll be working, and I'll have to put up with those smelly jocks." I guess that could have been taken two ways, if my mind was in the gutter. Which it usually is.
"There will be booze." I added.
"OK, so maybe it won't be too bad."
++++++++
When we arrived, the party was in full swing, and it was a challenge finding a place to sit. It seemed to be my lucky day, as the only seats available were at the same table as the new star forward. He was chatting with a couple of his team mates when we sat down. They all turned to acknowledge us, then politely turned back to their conversation.
"Gin and tonic?" I asked Donna as I stood to seek out the bar.
"That would be fine." she responded, flashing me a fake smile.
I returned with her drink and a club soda for myself, noticing she was engaged in small talk with one of the players at our table. I figured I would make the introductions so she would at least know who she was talking to.
"Oh Donna, this is-"
"Kungi, I know."
"Oh, you already introduced yourselves?"
"No, I know who he is. He's a first round pick, and the leading scorer."
Leaning over to her, I whispered in her ear, "I thought you didn't like sports."
"That doesn't mean I don't know anything about them." she flatly responded. I was impressed, but wanted to see if she really knew anything.
"OK, you know his name, but do you know what it means?"
"Sure, I think it means 'the long one'. When he was born, he was the longest baby ever delivered in his hometown. Now he stands seven foot six, and the name still holds true."
Soon, several journalists gathered around, to take pictures and write their stories. As norm with basketball players, they wanted pictures of them standing with an average height person to show the contrast in size. And of course they looked in my wife's direction, after all, she was beautiful, and very photogenic. I thought she would turn them down, but the gin was working overtime, and she agreed.
First Kungi stood, towering over the crowd in his uniform. Some of the players came dressed casually, but many wore their uniforms for crowd recognition. As he stood there looking around, smiling for the cameras, he reached his hand out to Donna. As she stood, the crowd gasped, I was intrigued by the contrast in the skin color, he was coal black, and she was alabaster white. But the crowd was taken by something else. Oh, I forgot to mention, my wife stands only four foot six. If it weren't for her thirty six inch bust, she could have been mistaken for a little kid. Her head barely cleared his waist, which sent erotic ideas throughout my body.
Well, after they all got their pictures, the crowd began to dwindle. I went around and took pictures of the rest of the team while my wife talked more and more to Kungi. I had an idea, and I approached them with it.
"I would like to take more pictures of you guys, but more as an art, rather than a sports thing." They thought it would be fun, so we headed outside. I found a somewhat secluded part of the park that I thought would be perfect. I had brought my "equalizer" with me- a plastic milk crate I use to adjust the height of "normal sized" people when I photograph them together with the taller players. Even with Donna standing on it, she appeared to be of normal height, not the image I was looking for, so I reversed the pose, with Kungi on the crate and Donna standing on the ground next to him. This was perfect, as he towered over her like a tree.
I had an inspiration; an artistic vision, and set up the pose. I had Donna wrap an arm around one of his muscular legs. Her lily white fingers undulated over his jet black skin, traveling dangerously close to the hem of his shorts.
Donna was overly relaxed, but Kungi seemed very tense, not the self confident player we usually see. After a short session, Donna wandered off to freshen up and grab another drink.
"So Kungi, what's up? You don't seem to be yourself."
"Well, actually your wife was making me a little nervous."
"How's that?"
"Her...her hand was...was getting a little close, if you know what I mean."
"I would figure that you would be used to women crawling all over you, I guess my wife is too old for you, sorry I didn't have a young sexy thing here, but I didn't really plan this."
"Oh no, it's not your wife! She's stunning. Perhaps a bit too stunning, it gives me strange thoughts when she touches me. You see, contrary to rumor, I don't have a girlfriend. I haven't had time with practice, games, and legal stuff. And when I'm not involved in any of that, I'm flying home to visit my mother and father."
Donna came back with a drink in hand, and asked to see how the shoot was going so far. I cued up the last few images on the back of my digital camera, and they both gathered around to see. I didn't say anything, but Donna could see the strained look on Kungi's face.
"You don't look relaxed." she said. "Maybe it's the environment. Maybe if we moved to different location, things would be better." Kungi nodded in agreement, but I was not sure if that would help.
"How about if you come over to our house for dinner? Then afterwards we could continue this." I can't believe Donna would actually invite a jock to our house, but I think she knew he would be too busy.
"I would love that, what do you think?" he said, turning to me. I was caught off guard with his answer.
