Kassandra, Chapter Four, Things Get Complicated
Our lives change as people endanger those we love.
Friday morning, Traci and I woke up early in each other's arms. We made love, took a bath together, dressed for the day, and went across the street for breakfast. At 8:00, we were in Dr. Kelso's outer office, waiting for Traci's interview with the professor. When it was her turn, Joyce, Dr. Kelso's secretary invited me into the inner office as well.
I sat quietly and listened as the professor explained what hours she would be working, (3hrs in the morning starting at 7AM and 3hrs in the afternoon starting at 1PM with 15min breaks every hour), and that she could chose to pose fully clothed ($4/hr.), partially clothed ($7/hr.), or fully nude ($12/hr.). He asked her if she had any questions, and before Traci answered, I whispered in her ear, "If you request to work with the photographers only, you will never have to pose for Eldon."
When she asked the professor if she could only work with the photographers, the professor smiled and said, "I was hoping you would ask that. Since I saw how comfortable you seemed to be in your photos, I had decided to put in a request for you to be one of our fully nude photographic models. I hope you will accept my offer."
My sister grinned from ear to ear and said, "Thank you Dr. Kelso, I know I am going to really enjoy this summer."
Joyce handed Traci the papers to fill out and as they were busy with the paperwork, Dr. Kelso pulled me aside and asked, "Mr. Magnussen, not that it makes any difference, but why did your sister ask to be only a photography model?" When I told him about my old friend Eldon, and how Traci thought he was creepy, Dr. Kelso laughed, and said, "So you know the hippie, eh?"
I said, "Professor, I've known Eldon since the third grade." We both had a laugh at that.
Then, Traci tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I'm all set, Big Brother." When I turned around, I saw she had a handful of papers, and we left the office.
As we walked down the hall, I asked her, "Will you be alright alone until afternoon? I have some things I need to attend to."
She smiled and said, "Todd, I'm a big girl now, I'll see you when you get home." I kissed her, and we parted company. As I watched her body make her short dress swish back and forth as she walked down the hall, I visualized her beautiful round little bubble butt under it, and my cock started to get hard. When I noticed six other guys staring at her ass, I got jealous. Then I realized, 'Yes, she's my sister but I get to fuck her every night, and they don't', and grinned.
The first item I needed to attend to, was the independent study program I had applied for, and I needed to submit my syllabus to the professor. I was planning on using the free time it would provide me this summer to travel to Northern Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan, to photograph wildlife in their natural habitat. I had already written an outline and a travel route with the parks and animal refuges I wanted to visit. The main focus of my trip was to photograph endangered species and offer proposals as to how they could be saved.
Anticipating my proposal being accepted, I had packed my camping gear in the well under the back seat of the Travellall and had strapped a tent to the roof rack before leaving home. Luckily, there was enough room for Traci's stuff, and nobody had noticed except for my father, who had helped me load it.
I walked into Dr. William Burdette's office, and found him alone at his desk smoking his meerschaum pipe. Although smoking was not allowed on campus, the administration gave Dr. Burdette some leeway because he was the published author of a dozen wildlife photography books, and he had an exhaust fan installed in the window of his office.
I introduced myself to the grey haired, bearded man who resembled Ernest Hemmingway and handed him my folder. He didn't say a word as he put his pipe in the glass ashtray and read through my papers. When he finished, he spoke in a voice that sounded gravely asking, "This is a very good plan young man, what do you plan on using for equipment?"
I took my FM-2 with my 35-105 Ais Nilkkor attached out of my backpack and laid it on his desk. He picked it up and looked it over, and as he set it down, I said, "I am renting a 300mm Nilkkor from Central Camera and a tripod for the trip as well."
He picked up his pipe and asked me, "What kind of film do you plan on using?"
I answered, "I will be carrying four 36 exposure rolls of TMax 400, and four 36 exposure rolls of Ektachrome 200. I was also thinking about taking a couple rolls of Illfochrome as well.
He smiled and said, "Very good, I'm glad that you are rebelling against the Rochester giant's stranglehold on our school. I saw your work last fall at the exposition and overheard that you pushed the envelope by making your prints on Illford paper."
I grinned and said, "Yes sir, and during the Spring semester I worked with Dr. Kelso, making prints from Ektachrome on Chibachrome emulsions."
He smiled and said, "Mr. Magnussen, as long as you check in with me every month with your progress reports, that will be the only contact you will need to satisfy the terms of this program. Also, I will expect your finished project on my desk some time during the last week of August. If you need any assistance, I will be in my office every Wednesday from nine to noon."
We shook hands and I left his office. I walked down the hallway, and went up one floor, down the hall, and entered the student photolab. I knew that I had only taken 20 exposures of the 24 exposure roll in my camera, but there was an important photo on that roll I needed to make a print of. Once in the lab, I rewound the roll, took it out of my camera, and loaded it into the automated E6 developing machine. Twenty minutes later, the processed transparency film came out the other end of the machine. I looked at the results with my magnifier with close attention to the last exposure.
I was very pleased with the result and decided since this would not be an image I would be displaying, I would use the automated Kodak process to make a print. I put the transparency into the projection slot, selected 8"X10" and pressed PRINT. Fifteen minutes later, the finished image slid into the tray at the end of the machine. I was pleased with the result and slipped it into a manila envelope.
I picked up my things and soon after leaving the building, I coincidentally ran into the person I was looking for. I walked up next to Eldon as he was waiting at the crosswalk of Fullerton and Halstead. I put my arm around him and said, "How've you been, old buddy?"