Alex had the morning shift at the store. Two or three customers came in, looked at the stationery, wandered back to look at the Life Studies and left. He made one sale to a rugged Junior, taking the picture and quickly creating the graphic. When the fellow okayed the proof, Alex ran the copier and packaged the stationery. The man paid up and left.
A girl came in asking about stationery for herself, decided to wait until there was a woman on duty in the afternoon.
Shortly before lunch, a woman student came in and asked, “Do you do custom designs, or just the ones on the easel here?”
“I can do something for you. What would you like?”
“I want the graphic across the top of the sheet, like this. What´s that going to cost?”
“Mainly a matter of time. If it doesn´t take too long, probably only an extra five dollars.”
“Good. Let´s do it. Where is your computer?”
“Just a sec. You have to fill out and sign this order. ‘Your signature indicates you agree to the use of your image or images for the purpose of the order´ …”
“Okay. Okay. Standard release language, right?”
“Except we destroy the images unless you request in writing that we archive them.”
“Nice. Good idea... There.”
“Let me close up for lunch, then we won´t be interrupted. Or, would you rather I didn´t?”
“No, go ahead. You´re not going to rape me. You´re not the type.”
She wore a burgundy zip-front dress of a heavy cotton rugby knit that hung to mid-thigh. She was as tall as Alex, big-boned, with an angular face that was more handsome than pretty. Her hair was the color of horse-chestnuts, shiny, long, and loose.
“We use this room here.” Alex opened the door to the studio. “I´m Alex Jefferson.”
“Heather Huxley. Good set-up.”
She walked into the studio and looked around. One wall was hung with black cloth, one painted flat white. A low platform on which to stand was covered or painted with the same colors. A long table stood against the third wall. The computer and monitor were on a table by the door; posing stool and camera in the middle of the room.
Heather kicked off her shoes, pulled down her zipper, threw her dress on the posing stool. Naked, she walked to the table, turned and looked at Alex. Her body was strong and well-fleshed, neither fat nor thin. When she reached to gather her hair, her full, soft breasts rose strongly on her chest, her nipples erect. She pulled her hair to one side and sat on the edge of the table, then settled on her right elbow, her hair falling over her arm and flowing over the edge of the table. Her breasts swept across her chest. She stretched one leg along the edge of the table, the other knee bent, exposing her sex. She placed her free arm along her side, her hand poised between her navel and her bush.
“Take this, please?”
Alex moved the camera, focused it. Heather peered at the monitor. “A little closer. Good. Go ahead.”
Alex tripped the record button, the computer buzzed.
“Okay.”
Heather got off the table and came to look at the monitor. “Right. Can you give me a color print of that?”
“Sure.” Alex clicked the print icon.
“Now, I want another one. Over here.”
Heather stood in front of the black wall, in profile. Her breasts were balanced by strong, sharply defined buttocks. Her fine, strong legs and slim ankles made a striking picture on the screen. Alex moved the camera while Heather watched the monitor.
“That´s about right. Let me get my hair right.”
She reached up and gathered her hair in her near hand. Her breasts rose again.
“Move a little so it´s an exact profile. Good.” She licked the fingers of her other hand, tweaked her nipples. They rose sharply. She looked at the camera.
“Take it.”
Alex took it.
Heather went to the computer again. “What graphics program do you use?”
“Mostly Photoshop.”
“Can you show me what you plan to do next?” She grabbed an extra chair and sat down next to the operator´s seat.
Heather worked beside him for the next fifteen minutes, her full figure only inches from him. They took the images of her and turned them into outlines with only occasional detail. Heather knew exactly how to achieve the effects she wanted.
“You want to finish this?”
“Just let me do this,” she made her hair fade into the page beneath her body.
When they were done, Alex transferred the images to his layout program.
“Now, put the first one across the top of the page... Right... Right.”
“Where do you want to put your name and address?”
“Here, between my legs. That´s right. Looks great doesn´t it?”
“I´ll say. You write to me on this and I´ll come running.”
“Good. Now the other one. Along the left edge. Use my toes as the baseline for the type. Uh, gimme that a sec.” Heather grabbed the mouse and swiftly made several knowing changes that refined the whole image.
“Very good. You know your stuff.”
“Sorry. Hope you don´t mind. Go ahead and print them.”
Alex sent both orders to the printer. Heather showed no sign of leaving.
“I want the original image files, okay?”
“Sure. Where´s the form?... Sign here.”
She leaned over to sign, her breasts swaying toward Alex.
She looked at him. “You want to use these designs?”
“Probably.”
“Let me have my order free, you can use these images for samples. Just change the name.”
“Well, our policy is that all sample images are of Anne or Mary. Reduces our exposure. Business decision.”
“Tell me about this business, what you´re doing.” She settled back in the chair, pulled her knee to her chin and watched Alex with her level, brown eyes.
Alex explained the stationery operation briefly. Heather already had that figured out.
“Where do the Life Studies come from? I was in last week and looked them over. Who are the models?”
“The models are Anne and Mary, two of the women in the company. We do other stuff as well. I do the graphics layout.”
“Layout for what. What other stuff?”
“Our two biggest lines right now are erotic art...”
“Neat. Sorry, go on.”
“We have a bunch of Nudes of Anne and Mary and Sigrid in pastels, a series of Erotics, anonymous, non-explicit scenes of sex and a series of Explicits, which are exactly that, pretty hard core. We sell them as limited edition prints. I do the catalogs, make the prints.”
“Can I see the catalog?”
“Actually, there are two catalogs. One for the Nudes and Erotics and one for the Explicits. Also, Will does paintings of horses. That´s big ticket stuff, commissions.”
“Will who? Sorry. I´m quizzing you, but I´m fascinated.”
“I don´t mind, and I get to look at you as long as you ask questions.”
Heather smiled, a big mouth full of strong teeth. She crossed her leg over her knee, freeing her breasts.
“How´s that?... Will who?”
“Will Spector, he´s our artist. He does all the erotic drawings and he and Mary work with the horse commissions. He´s getting pretty well known.”
“I´ve seen Will Spector. We dropped a course together.”
“Huh?”
“We both signed up for a graphic design course that´s required for freshmen. We both challenged the exam, got credit and dropped the course. Beginning of the year. Can I see the catalogs?”
“Take a look at this.” Alex called an image onto the screen. “It´s the cover of our Nudes and Erotics catalog.”
“Wow. I want one. Nice work.”
“We sell them for fifteen dollars each.”
“How come?”
“Covers production cost, keeps the voyeurs away. Our market is collectors and seriously horny adults. Not college kids.”
“Smart. I want both. I´ll pay for them.”
“For you, because you are so pushy, I´ll make an exception and give them to you.”
Heather smiled again.
Alex said, “Look, I´m hungry and I´ve got a two o´clock class. How about lunch?”
Heather got up and reached for her dress. “I´m hungry, too.”
She pulled the dress over her head, settled it on her shoulders and hips with one quick motion and began pulling her hair out of the neck line. Her breasts swam and bobbed under the knit. Alex watched with a bemused grin. Finally, Heather pulled up the zipper. Her breasts were still moving.
“They´ll settle down in a while, at least until I start walking.” She grinned at Alex. “Can´t do a thing with them.”
Alex packed up her stationery with the catalogs and took the minimum payment. They were headed out the door when Sigrid came in to take the afternoon shift. Alex mumbled a quick greeting and they left. They had a sandwich nearby.
“Where do you live, Alex? Which dorm?”
“We live off campus. Out east of town.”
“We? Who´s we?”
“We all share a house. Will, Saul, Tom, Anne, Mary, Sigrid. She´s the one who came in as we left.”
“Sounds interesting. I live off, too. Got a big room on Forest Avenue where I can work in peace.”
When they had finished lunch, Alex had to rush. Heather stopped him.
“Come see me after class. Twenty-five Forest, third floor left.”
“I will.”
.oOo.
When he reached Heather´s door, Alex stopped a moment to catch his breath. He knocked.
Heather opened the door. “Hi. Mind taking your shoes off?”
Alex kicked off his loafers as Heather walked across the room. Her long hair was caught up with a wide, white ribbon she had woven loosely through it. She wore nothing else. She touched her computer keyboard, turned and walked back toward him, her breasts swaying.
“You´re a real bastard, you know.”
“Me?”
“You spend an hour drooling over my naked body and humming every time you do something with my image...”
She undid his belt and pants.
“Then you leave me for an hour and a half with the sexiest drawings I´ve ever seen...”
She took off his shirt.
“I´m going to make you pay. Right now.”
.oOo.
He looked up at her, weighing her breast in his hand. “What´s with the shoe bit?”
“Most men aren´t smart enough to know you have to take off your shoes before you can take off your pants. Saves time. You´re the first one to ask.”
“Oh... Do that again, please.”
“There aren´t too many, you know.”
“None of my business, but I didn´t think so... Keep that up.”
.oOo.
As he entered her again, he heard the computer´s hard drive clatter. He looked around at the big monitor near the bed. It showed a frozen image of him in the act.
“I love erotic pictures,” she said. “When we take a break, I´ll show you my gallery.”
.oOo.
“Alex,” said Anne at supper, “You look like a cat who just ate a dozen canaries.”
Alex shook his head, grinned. “No, Anne. Only three. And hair pie for dessert.”
“Great. Congratulations,” said Mary.
“Anyone we know?” asked Saul.
“She knows Will. They both dropped a graphics course together. She´s a real wiz with graphics.”
“Heather something.”
“Heather Huxley. She came in for stationery, created two great new designs for her own stuff, said we could use them if we like ‘em.”
“Got samples?” Anne asked.
“I´ll get them tomorrow.”
Sigrid said, “Alex, since you´ve told the story, I´ll confess. I made copies of both designs after you left. You were so lost in her, I wondered what she had that was so special. When I printed the designs, I found out. Okay to bring them out?”
“Sigrid, thanks. I´m sorry. I really was on another planet. Heather spent all afternoon bringing me down to earth, I´m happy to say.”
Sigrid went into the hall and came back with two sheets of stationery, handed one to Anne, one to Will.
“This one goes in the catalog, Alex,” said Anne.
“This one too, or I miss my guess,” said Will. “Uh, Alex, do you think...”
“Yes, Will, she´ll pose for you. I already asked.”
.oOo.
Heather came to supper on Friday. Since the weather was warm, she wore a shirt tied between her breasts, a split skirt buttoned no further than the law required and tight across her flat stomach and rounded bottom.
Tom opened the door, introduced himself and took his shoes off. When Alex came running down the stairs, he acted surprised to see her and took his shoes off before kissing her, hard. Both Saul and Will carried the gag all the way.
“What the hell are you overgrown children up to now?” Mary demanded, as Heather collapsed on a chair in a fit of giggles.
Alex explained, “The first time I met her, she told me that men are too stupid to take their shoes off before they try and get their pants off. I wanted her to know we´ve got a bunch of above-average guys here.”
“A bunch of smart asses, is what. Come here, dear. Anne and Sigrid and I will protect you from this macho hoard.” She drew Heather, still giggling, into the living room.
The other women wore short shorts and tee-shirts. Sigrid wore a tight singlet.
Heather spent the next fifteen minutes gazing at the nudes of Mary, Anne, and Sigrid that hung in the living room, answering their questions in mono-syllables. Then she turned to look at them all.
“This is what I´ve been looking for all my young life.”
“What´s that?”
“A group of people committed to art, to beauty and knowledge. And to loving each other.”
At supper, they talked about art, the business, about graphics and the work they were making and selling. Heather took part, speaking as directly as always when asked for an opinion. When they came to coffee, they took it in the living room. Alex and Heather sat touching each other all along their bodies.
“Alex, have you seen Heather´s work? What do you think of it?”
“Will, you know where I come from. Alex Jefferson, liberal arts candidate and computer graphics freak. I´m a mechanic, and that´s what I like. Heather´s an artist. A digital artist.”
Alex caressed Heather´s bare knee, “I have to tell a story on Heather.” He turned to her. “Do you mind?”
“If I do, you´ll know.”
“Well, the first time we were together, I was so distracted by this fabulous body... Well, you know. But later, I went to start in again...”
“I remember. He was just putting it into me.”
“…and I heard the drive on her computer do a write. I looked over, and there we were in the monitor. I could see everything, captured just as I was entering her. It drove me crazy.”
“Actually, I forgot to turn the monitor off. I have a trigger set up so I can capture from the camera. Really turns me on later... As you can see.” She gestured; her nipples were drilling holes in her shirt.
“What do you do with the pictures?”
“I trash most of them. Some of them, the ones with potential, I work on and improve. You know. Some I keep just for the pleasure of memory, but I try not to get too subjective.”
“You´ve seen our Erotics?”
“Yes. Mine are a little like that, just clearly computer graphics, not life studies like yours.”
“Guys, we need to take a look at these,” Saul said.
“Can we see some of your stuff, Heather?” Will asked.
“I printed a couple I like before I came. Just a second,” she ran to the entry and pulled a small folder from her bag. “The print quality isn´t anything like your machines, but you´ll get the idea.”
Anne looked over Will´s shoulder and asked, “I don´t suppose you have any model releases?”
Heather led the general laughter. “Oh, Christ! You know, it never occurred to me.” She grinned toothily. “You want me to ask for them?”
After a while, she went with Will to pose. About eleven, she and Alex came into the living room. She had not bothered to dress. Will followed shortly after. Anne and Mary were reading, Saul, too. Tom and Sigrid were in a corner, talking, holding each other close. They were all mostly naked.
“Will finished with you?” Mary asked.
“Not really. We need a couple of hours yet,” Will said.
“Tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, that´s what he said. Before he and Mary go riding.”
“Good. That means you´re spending the night.”
On Saturday morning she posed for Will again, spent the afternoon with Alex and Tom and Sigrid and stayed the rest of the weekend. At the end of the month she moved in.
.oOo.
“Heather, I want to make a deal with you.”
“Talk to me. I can be had, but it might be expensive.”
“Saul has been saying I´m not going to always have time to do both the erotic work and the horses, too. The erotic stuff takes a lot of time, and even though I´m pretty fast, time doesn´t stretch. I´m still a long way from being overworked, but I guess we need to look at the future, and right now, anyway, the future looks good.”
“That´s nice. What do you have in mind?”
“The Erotics and Explicits are our major profit lines, Sigrid says. The big ticket things and the Limited Edition Nudes are high margin, but they don´t bring in as much revenue, at least not yet...”
“Will, let me cut through the fuzz. You need to cut down your production overhead. I can do that. I can do digital photos from life (there´s plenty of life around here, God knows) and work them over. And, I´ll work up a few original drawings. I know what you want. Give me a couple of days to put some things together and see what you think.”
“Great.”
“Well, hold on. I think I´ll enjoy the work, but we haven´t said anything about what´s in it for me.”
“I take it you know what that is.”
“I want to be on the team. A partner, like each of you. I like helping with the cooking, the work around the house and grounds is fun the way we do it, and my sex life has never been better. If you want me to produce stuff for the company, too, make me a partner.”
“Sorry, Heather, I´ve been thinking you are. You want it official, I´ll bring it up, but you know as well as I do, you´re already a partner in everything else.”
“Yeah. I know. Sometimes I just need to say it out loud, so I can believe it.”