Storiesonline.net ------- Beth 2 by Svengali's Ghost Copyright© 2009 by Svengali's Ghost ------- Description: More of Beth and Tommy's adventures. Codes: mf rom ------- ------- Chapter 1 It was Summer! School was out and we could spend all our time at the beach, swimming, lying in the sun, roasting hot dogs over a fire on the beach and... "HEY! RANDAHL! HERE COMES ANOTHER ONE!" I raised my eyes. All I could see was a shadow of my next victim at the mouth of the tunnel where I stood, wand in hand, ready to do battle. Top, sides, front, back ... oh, and don't forget wheel wells and tires! If there's a more mind-numbing, soul-robbing job than working in a car wash I hope I never have to do it, I thought to myself as I engaged the track to pull the car through the rest of the wash. This was the second summer I'd worked at the local carwash and I was starting to hate it—the same routine a hundred times a day. It wasn't all that bad on a busy day, but on a day like today when there could be ten or twenty minutes between cars? Deadly. The only relief today was when a Mustang came in carrying four girls—all in bikinis. Just as I hit the windows with the spray the driver pulled off her top! Unfortunately, by the time the water sheeted off the window the chain had already started the car through the Tunnel of Suds. I looked at my watch—forty-five minutes to go, and then I'd be free! I looked down the lane—not a car in sight. Those forty-five minutes were going to seem longer than the last two minutes of a pro football game. Finally the clock hit two-thirty and I could turn the job over to Louis and escape. I drove home for a shower and then over to pick up Beth. She was working in her parents' shop for the summer and she'd arranged it so our hours pretty much matched. When I got to the shop I got out of my old beater and walked in through the door next to the loading dock and stopped to talk to Bud, the foreman. "Hey, Tommy! How's it going? Enjoying your summer?" "Yeah, except for my job it'd be perfect. Is Beth around?" "I'll call up front and let her know you're here." "Thanks, Bud," I said as I leaned against the loading dock railing and looked into the production area where a line of CAD/CAM machines were performing their ballet, turning metal blanks into hydraulic pumps, valves and fittings. There must have been twenty machines in the shop, all run by only five guys. I'd finally found out what Beth's parents' business was: they made mainly high pressure parts for hydraulic systems—all custom work, no assembly line drudgery here! "Hi, Tommy!" I turned around to see my lady walking out of the office area. "Hey there, Beautiful. Ready to go?" "Can you come up front for a minute? Dad's got a question for you." "Sure." Hmmm, what was this about? "Hi, Tommy," Beth's dad held out his hand. "How's your summer going?" "Oh, not too bad. Beth said you wanted to ask me something?" "Yes. I've got a photography problem and I thought maybe you could help me." "Sure, if I can. What do you need?" He took me over to a table with some parts sitting on it. "These are some new valve bodies we've just started making. They're the most complicated parts we've made and I was wondering if you could tell me if it was possible to get pictures to show some of the details. I've tried two photographers in town, but all the pictures are just a bunch of reflections. I'm looking for some detail, but neither photographer could come up with anything decent." I picked up one of the parts and turned it over in my hands, looking at it from different angles. It was easy to see what the problem was: every surface was mirror smooth, not something that would be easy to light in a way to get any definition. "Wow. I don't know. This is some pretty tough stuff." "Could you do me a favor and maybe take one of those along and think about it?" "Sure. I'll be real careful not to scratch it or drop it or anything. These look expensive." He chuckled, "Don't worry about it. Those are all rejects. We can't use them for anything—just think of them as big shiny paper weights." "Okay, I'll see if I can think of any way to do it. Just don't expect miracles!" How in the world can I take a picture of something that was all shiny sides and angles? We stopped to say hello to Beth's mom and then headed to my car. I turned to Beth as I got in the car, "Where to, dollface?" "How about a picnic at the farm?" she replied with a resigned expression over my bad Bogie impression. It was a beautiful June day and the idea of visiting the farm seemed perfect—for a picnic or anything else that popped up. We stopped at home to find that my thirteen-year-old brother Kevin and his girlfriend were there—also trying to figure out how to spend a perfect afternoon. "How would you guys like to go for a picnic?" Beth offered. Well, there went my plans for a little afternoon delight... "Oh," Gail jumped up, "That sounds like fun! Let's go, Kevin." My brother looked about as enthusiastic as I did. The four of us piled into my car, hit the local deli, and drove out to the farm. "Where are we going?" Gail asked. Beth looked over the back seat, "My folks own some land west of town. It's nice and private." I saw the wink she gave Gail. Ever since the day we found Kevin and her humping away on our living room couch Gail and Beth seemed to be more like sisters than what—girlfriends-in-law? Soon we were through the gate and up the hill to the field that Beth and I considered "ours." We unloaded the car, spread out blankets and dove into the food. It's amazing how much four healthy teens can scarf down. After we ate, Gail looked at Beth for a second then jumped up and turned to Kevin, "Let's go explore!" "Can't we just sit here and let lunch settle," my brother grumbled. "C'mon, who knows what might happen out in the woods," Gail wasn't being particularly subtle, but then she was talking to a thirteen-year-old boy. "Oh, all right," Kevin grumped as he got up. "Have you got everything you need?" I asked. Kevin thought for a second and then nodded with a blush as he figured out what I was talking about—I'd been his condom supplier since he and Gail got together last fall. After the pair were out of sight Beth hopped up and started pulling her clothes off. "What are you doing?" I whispered, "They could be back any time!" "Why are you whispering?" Beth laughed as she skinned down her jeans and panties. "Afraid your brother might figure out you're gonna do the same thing he is? And if I know Gail, they're not going to be back soon." Well, since she put it that way ... I stood up and started stripping. There's something about alfresco sex—the feel of the blanket, the sun flashing off the body of your lover, the freedom to make as much noise as you want to... Beth was stretched out on the blanket with that smoldering look in her eyes that was full of promise. I leaned over her, dragging a long blade of grass down her body, watching her nipples crinkle in anticipation as it wound its way past her navel, down one leg and back up the other. When the blade got to the junction of her thighs, it started back up again, this time circling up one breast, back down, then up the other to caress her nipple before continuing the journey slowly to her shoulder, up her neck, onto her cheek, then tapping her on the nose. "Roll over," I whispered. When she lazily complied, the journey began again, this time with a different destination in mind: lazily drifting from one side to the other as it wound its way down her back and sides, working slowly as far as her knee, then starting back up the inside of her thigh, caressing up to circle first one cheek then the other, ending at the base of her spine. When I started to drag it down the valley between her perfect cheeks, Beth turned her head to face me, "Is that trip almost over?" I could hear her voice catch as that lucky blade of grass reached its destination. I moved her legs apart and raised her hips until I could slide into her hot, wet core. "Oh, god!" Beth groaned as her first orgasm caught her by surprise. I continued stroking slowly until she started pushing insistently back against me, a little faster with each oscillation. I could feel her muscles tighten as she got close to her next peak. I grasped her hips and sped up to take her over the top. "TOMMY!" She screamed as we both released before collapsing back onto the blanket. As we lay together trying to get our breath back, Beth turned to me, "You're going to kill me," she murmured. "But what a great way to go," she finished as she drifted off. ------- We were gently enjoying our second round, with Beth moving lazily over me, when I glanced behind her and saw Kevin and Gail spying on us from the bushes at the edge of the field. "Don't look now, but we've got an audience," I whispered. Beth got an evil grin on her face, threw back her head and started rapidly bouncing up and down on me, screaming, "Oh, God, Tommy! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh, I'm gonna come! Oh..." She was hamming it up so much I would have started laughing except her energetic movements had brought me close to the edge—for real. I grabbed her hips, pulled her down on me and exploded into her with a roar that echoed off the trees. That was when I realized that her acting wasn't all acting either as she tightened up on me and delivered a flood that drenched us both before she collapsed on top of me. When we'd caught our breath, I looked at the bushes where the two voyeurs had been hiding. I didn't see them and assumed they'd backed into the woods to give us time to get dressed before their official re-appearance. When Beth and I got cleaned up—Wet-Wipes are great—and finished dressing I looked toward the trees and didn't see Kevin and Gail. Had they figured we needed more time—or had our little show turned them on again? "I think it's time to go find our peeping teens," I told Beth. "What? Do you think our little show got them started again?" "I know it did me!" I said with a quick grab. Beth snuggled back against me as we stood there watching the trees. After another five minutes we looked at each other. Beth shrugged, "Well, if we catch them at it, it'll only be payback after all." So we strolled down the path our two wayward charges had taken. It didn't take too long before we heard familiar sounds from a clearing just ahead. "We should just go back and wait for them, I suppose," I said, taking another step forward. "You're right, we should give them their privacy," Beth replied as she took a step past mine. Soon we could see the couple on the grass in a small clearing: Gail on top of Kevin, her hips moving in a circular motion as she brought him closer and closer to that special moment. "Oh, Gail! Oh, that feels so good, I can't stand it!" Kevin moaned. Beth turned to me and whispered, "What is it with you guys always wanting us to be on top?" "Hey, we're guys, just naturally lazy," I whispered back with a grin. "Besides, if we're on top it's harder to hang on," I said as I nodded toward Kevin who had his hands on Gail's breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers as his hips rose off the grass to meet hers. Beth and I backed up and walked back toward the car. Just before we got there we heard, "Oh, Kevv..." followed by a pair of loud moans. "Another happy customer, I'd say," Beth grinned. A few minutes later the pair appeared from the trees, both with that well-satisfied look that only comes after great sex. As we picked up the picnic remains I looked at my brother, "You used protection, right?" He turned a little pink—like he was surprised we knew what they'd been up to! "Oh, yeah. Every time!" He assured me. "What'd you do with the ones you used today?" Kevin looked at me, "I tossed them in the bushes, why? You didn't expect me to keep them did you?" "No, but I don't want you littering up this place either," I said as I pulled a baggie off the roll I keep in the car and handed it to him. "What! You expect me to go back and find them?" "Well, you can always ask Gail to help," I said, trying to keep a straight face. He grumbled, but took the plastic bag and stomped back into the woods. Gail looked up just as he disappeared into the trees, "Where's Kevin going?" "Oh, he forgot something. He'll be back in a minute or two—" depending on how good his throwing arm was, I thought to myself. By the time he got back we had everything cleaned up and ready to go. He snuck the baggie into the larger garbage bag and glared at me. I could see a brotherly conversation in our future. By the time we got back it was almost time for dinner. Gail asked us if we'd drop her off at home. "Um, Tommy? Could you let me off with Gail and tell the folks I'll be home later?" "Sure." What's the matter? Didn't get enough thus afternoon? I thought, but because I'm such a sterling example of an older sibling, I kept my mouth shut. We dropped the pair off and headed for Beth's house. "So what should we do tonight?" I asked her. "Didn't you get enough this afternoon?!" Beth said with feigned exasperation. "What? You think I'm thirteen or something? I CAN think of other things, you know!" "Do you think they'll try it at her house?" Beth snickered. "Kind of depends on whether her folks are home, I suppose," I said, trying to imagine what it would have been like when I was Kevin's age, to have a girlfriend that wanted sex as much as I did. ------- Chapter 2 I was sitting in Beth's family room, remote in hand, trying to find something worth watching on the tube when Beth walked in from the downstairs kitchen with a couple of Cokes for us. "You seem to get along with Gail pretty well, almost like you were sisters," I said as I took the offered can. "Yeah, she's a nice kid. Too bad her folks are so conservative. She's kind of latched onto me like I was her big sister." "I noticed a lot of glances between you two today. It almost looked like ESP." "Oh, you noticed that? Yeah, we've talked enough to get pretty comfortable with each other. Gail's called me several times, just to talk." "What do you talk about?" I was curious. I've never been able to figure out how two girls could talk on the phone for hours at a time—I'd figured they were talking about us guys, but, hey, we're not that complicated. It shouldn't take too long to dissect us. "Oh, a lot of stuff. Things she really should be talking to her mother about, but it sounds like Gail has a hard time talking to her. Even talking about, you know, girl-stuff." Girl-stuff? Oh, yeah. I wasn't going there! All I knew was that sometimes a guy shouldn't even HINT about doing anything. I figured that was enough. Don't need any details. "We've talked a lot about Kevin. She seems to think he's a pretty nice guy. I figure he got that from you," Beth said as she snuggled a little closer. "From me?" "Yeah. He's a pretty observant kid and I guess he's seen the way you treat me and figured out the right way to treat Gail just from watching you." "Hey, I just try to treat you the way you deserve." What else could I say? "That's what I meant," she said with a grin. I carefully put my can of coke down, took Beth's out of her hand, placed it next to mine, and turned to her, "You realize comments like that can't go unanswered, don't you?" "And just what would your answer be?" she grinned. I pulled her over on top of me and started kissing her while running my hands up under her t-shirt. Beth just purred as I flipped the hook on her bra and ran my fingertips inside the cups. "Now that's what I'm talking about," she giggled as she ground her pelvis into mine. "But maybe we should go up to my room? You know, just in case my folks come home early?" I don't always understand feminine logic, but sometimes it's hard to argue with their conclusions. Beth hopped off me and sprinted up the stairs with me in hot pursuit. I was halfway up the stairs when I heard Beth's dad from the living room, "I remember having that much energy once." "Yeah," her mom replied, "And I remember you being that horny, too." Oops. We didn't realize her folks were home from work early! "Uh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, I was just, ah, we were just..." I ran down, I mean what do you say in a situation like this? You'd think they'd cover things like that in school. What kind of an education are they giving us, not covering basic social skills like this? They both laughed and Beth's mom said, "Go on, Tommy. Although some day I would like to hear how you'd explain it." So would I, I thought as I finished climbing the stairs in a more sedate way. I made it to her room only to find Beth rolling around on her bed, holding her stomach as she laughed until she started to hiccup. "You know you should be holding the other side," I said as I plopped down at her desk. "W-why?" she giggled. "Well, if you're gonna laugh your ass off..." I noticed her Nikon sitting on the desk and it reminded me of the favor her dad had asked me: how can you take a picture of something that's shiny all over? I thought about it a few seconds, then fired up her computer to see if I could Google an answer. As I pounded away at the computer, Beth lay on the bed looking at me. "Are we going to go through this again?" she said. I thought back to our first Saturday photo session. "Well, maybe if you put your bikini on..." "Argh! Men! What's so important anyway?" She said as she got off her bed and leaned over my shoulder to see the screen. "Photographing shiny objects? Why the sudden interest in that?" "Remember what your dad asked me to do? I'm just trying to get some ideas. It looks like a light tent might work," I pointed to the screen. "And where do you get one of those?" she asked. "Well, it looks like I could just make one up using a sheet or shower curtain." ------- Beth's mom came up an hour later to find a couple of folding chairs covered with a white sheet in the middle of the room and Beth and I crawling around on the floor. "You kids planning on camping out in here?" Beth looked up, "Just trying to solve Dad's problem." "He's got a problem that camping out in the bedroom will fix?" I spent a couple of minutes explaining how using a translucent tent to defuse the light might let us get the pictures of parts he wanted. "Oh," was her response as she backed out the door. "Think she's gonna call for the wagon?" I said. "You mean the one that has the nice men with the wrap-around canvas jackets? Yeah, probably." I folded up the sheet and stacked the chairs in the corner, "Maybe I should wait until I get home. My folks are used to Kevin and me doing strange stuff around the house." "Yeah, maybe, but right now I'm hungry. Where are you going to take me so I can buy you dinner?" "Palace?" "Why did I bother asking?" she sighed. ------- Jeanie met us at the door with a big grin, "Hi you two. Your usual booth?" There was something about that grin. Jeanie walked us to the back booth, then stepped out of the way. "Tommy?!" "Kevin?!" My little brother and Gail were sitting in OUR booth! And Jeanie was trying not to laugh out loud. "What ... How did you get here?" "Gail's folks brought us over, they're sitting out there someplace," Kevin waved toward the main room. "Jeanie?" I looked at the traitor whom I thought liked us, "What's going on?" Still grinning from ear-to-ear, she looked at the four of us, "Well, when these two came in and asked for the snuggle booth I had to ask where they heard of it. And when he—" she pointed to Kevin, "—said his brother told him about it I had to ask who his brother was. "But having you stop in tonight is just a bonus," she chuckled. "So, you going to flip to see who gets the booth?" "Nah, they were here first. I suppose we'll just have to sit out with the plebs," I sighed. Meanwhile Beth and Gail were leaning on each other with tears of laughter rolling down their cheeks. Jeanie showed us to a booth in the main room and walked back to grab us a couple of Cokes. "Did you know anything about this?" I looked at Beth, who was still trying to get herself under control. "N-no. I promise," she said as she dissolved into giggles again. I just shook my head—I couldn't really be mad at anybody. But my LITTLE BROTHER in the snuggle booth? That just wasn't right! Just before our food came, a couple came up to our booth. "Are you Tommy Randahl?" the woman asked. "Yes?" "Hi, we're Gail's parents. I thought you might be Kevin's brother and you must be Beth, Gail's talked so much about you." "Um, hello," Beth said. She didn't sound comfortable meeting the Hansons. We were saved by Jeanie as she came around the corner with our pizza—with onions this time, damn it. After the Hansons had collected Gail and Kevin and left, I looked at Beth, "What the hell was that all about?" "Can we talk about it later? When we're alone?" "Sure." What was going on? We were driving back to Beth's when I turned to her, "What was with you and the Hansons?" "They just make me feel uncomfortable, I guess. "They're so darned conservative," she continued. "I'm sure if they knew what Gail and Kevin were up to they'd put her in a convent. And they're not even Catholic!" I thought about my brother and Gail and once again felt very lucky to have Beth in my life. And extremely lucky that her parents weren't like Gail's! ------- Chapter 3 The next afternoon I got home from work and set up a table in the basement, surrounded by a frame I'd knocked together out of some two-by-fours and electrical conduit I'd found in the garage. Over the frame I'd spread a shower curtain for a tent. I put the part I'd got from Beth's dad in the tent and took a drop light and moved it around the tent trying to come up with an angle that would give me what I needed. Nothing looked good—just a bunch of shiny spots. After trying a bunch of other ideas I gave up for the day. It was time to meet my lady anyway. Beth's mom was in the yard as I pulled up. "Hi, Tommy, Beth's up in her room. I think you know the way," she chuckled. When I walked in, Beth was lying on her bed reading Tolkien, "Hi, Tommy! D'you have fun this afternoon?" "Nah, I fooled around with that part your dad gave me, but I'm not having much luck with it." I sat down at Beth's computer and started searching for some more ideas—continuing the search I'd started at home—while Beth went back to her Hobbits. Sometimes I marveled at how easy we were with each other. Some couples we knew had to be talking or touching each other all the time. It was almost as if they were afraid if they didn't they'd lose each other. We didn't seem to need that constant reassurance—which was kind of reassuring in itself. ------- The next day I was back at work and had just started another car down the tunnel when I glanced up and saw a rainbow in the mist left from the spray. It seemed like it should remind me of something but I couldn't pin it down. After work I drove home, showered and debated calling Beth. With a sigh, I decided to head downstairs instead to see if I could come up with a way to photograph the parts that were starting to drive me nuts—there had to be some way... Suddenly I remembered the rainbow I'd seen at the car wash. Would different colors give me some definition to the different sides and angles? I rummaged around until I found the box of gel cutoffs I'd collected during the shows I'd worked on. After an hour of trying different colors I realized that while shiny surfaces will reflect colors, you can't see the colors on the surface itself. Another good idea down the drain. Later that evening I called Beth and invited myself over. Beth was waiting on the front step as I pulled into the driveway. She jumped up and was next to my door before I could even get out of the car. After kissing her thoroughly we walked over and just sat on the step for a while, not talking, just enjoying each other's company. Finally Beth stood up, "Want to go eat?" "Sure. Where would you like to go?" "Tonight, I'm thinking something besides pizza!" Beth chuckled. We walked in the house to tell Beth's folks we were going out for dinner then Beth started for her room, "I'm going to change first. Wanna help?" You'd think a smart girl would know better than to ask silly questions. She had her t-shirt off by the time I got to her room. I walked up behind her and reached around to unsnap her jeans. "Um, I was planning on just changing tops, Tommy." "Oh," I said as I slid my hands up to cup her bra-covered breasts. "Good, I don't want you to ever change anything down there," I said as I moved my hands down to her hips. She playfully slapped at my hands. "You goof! Let go, I want to comb my hair," she said as she walked to her bathroom and flipped on the lights. "Dammit, I hate that hairspray!" "What's the problem?" I walked up behind her. "Look at my mirror. That new spray I tried just fogs it up." I looked and, sure enough, there was a slight coating on the glass. And suddenly there was light! I grabbed Beth spun her around in a happy dance and kissed her—hard. "You, my love, are a genius!" "Tommy! What are you doing?! What are you talking about?" "Beth, I think you just solved my problem with the pictures your dad wants!" "I did? How?" I sprayed some more of the hairspray on one end of the mirror, grabbed the flashlight Beth kept in her nightstand, turned the lights off in the bathroom, and shined the beam from the flashlight across the mirror. Eureka! Where the beam hit the hairspray-covered mirror I could see the beam, something I couldn't do with a clean mirror. "You see the beam where it hits the mirror? That's the answer ... I think." "That's great! Now can I get dressed so we can go eat?" I let her go, and started thinking how I could best use my new idea. ------- Later that night we were snuggled up on Beth's bed, still dressed, but thinking impure thoughts. At least I was. "What'cha thinking?" she asked, rolling over to face me. "Oh, just your usual run-of-the-mill dirty thoughts," I said as I ran a finger around one of her breasts. "Ohh, I LIKE those! But just run-of-the-mill? Nothing new?" "Welll ... If you've got a kitchen mixer, two bottles of olive oil and a ferret..." Why don't I see those elbows coming? Later we both drifted off. I woke up during the night to find Beth's mom had tossed a light blanket over us as we slept, spooned together, still fully clothed. I smiled and fell back to sleep. Perfectly content to be wrapped around my lady. ------- Saturday! I woke up still wrapped around Beth and feeling like doing one of Snoopy's happy dances. No work today! Unfortunately, if I was going to get anything done on my photo project from Hell I was going to have to move. I tried to get up without disturbing my girl, but as soon as I pulled my arm back, she rolled over. "Where are you going?" "I want to get to work on the pictures for your dad and that means I've got to go home for a while." "So I'm going to be abandoned? Oh the shame of it all! Whatever shall I do?" Beth was holding me with one hand while clutching her chest with the other, looking like a silent movie heroine. Two can play that game, "Alas, my darling, duty calls and I must go!" We fell against each other laughing. "Seriously, I want to try your hairspray on that part from your dad and see if it'll solve my problem. But later this afternoon I'm taking you on a picnic!" "Oh, so then you'll be able to tear yourself away to spend a few minutes with me?" Beth tried to pout while the corners of her mouth were turned up in a grin. I kissed her hard and escaped before I could consider the possibilities of staying. ------- I'd brought Beth's hated hairspray home with me and started by lightly spraying one section of the valve—just enough to take some of the shine off but not so much that you couldn't see the mirror finish on the part. It took a couple of tries to get just the right amount of spray, but finally I thought I had it. I dug up a couple of flashlights and taped different colored gels over the lenses, held my breath and shined the lights across the metal from different angles and almost ran around in circles when I could see slight tinges of color where before there had just been mirror-like reflections. IT WAS GOING TO WORK! I spent the next couple of hours experimenting with different light angles and gel colors until I thought I had some shots that would show off the precision machining that went into the parts. ------- I was getting ready to head off to the local hardware store to pick up some more flashlight batteries when Beth pulled into the driveway in the Austin Healey with the top down. "Hi, Tommy! I thought I'd surprise ... EEK!" One of our older neighbors was walking past just as I picked her up out of the driver's seat and swung her around laughing, "It works! You're a genius and it works!" I put her down and gave her a big kiss. "Hey! You kids! Don't you know you're supposed to do that in private? You youngsters don't have any sense of propriety anymore!" "Sorry, Mr. Jeffers!" "Wow. I don't know what I did, but I hope I can do it again!" she giggled. "What are you talking about?" "Your hairspray! It was exactly what I needed. I tried it this morning and it works!" "You mean on Dad's part?" "Yeah. C'mon down, I'll show you!" We went downstairs and I showed Beth what I'd found. "Is that going to be enough to see?" she asked. "I think so. Can we bring your camera back here so I can try some shots? I'd use my old Canon but it's not digital and I don't think I could stand the wait to get prints back." "Sure ... After our picnic," she tried to look stern. "You remember your promise about this afternoon?" Oh, yeah, the picnic. "Sure." I nuzzled her neck, "Especially with you for dessert!" We stopped at the local deli and loaded up on picnic supplies—corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and all the other fixings for Reuben sandwiches and aimed the Healey out of town. Beth's suggestion was to drive south on the River Road and soon we were motoring along the river. "I wonder what Mark Twain would say if he could see his river today," Beth mused. "Probably something about how the river will be here long after we silly humans are long gone." We drove along until Beth spotted a dirt road that led right down to the river itself, "Shall we explore?" "Sounds good," I said as I turned down toward the water. Close to the bank someone had set up a couple of picnic table and a fire pit. I stopped the car and we unloaded our goodies. It was a perfect day—sunny, with just a few puffy clouds and just enough of a breeze to keep things comfortable. I was just starting to throw together my Reuben when Beth started to strip and was soon down to her little black bikini. My favorite! I looked at her and then my sandwich, "Hmm, which one should I nibble on first? Decisions, decisions!" Beth made the decision for me by grabbing MY sandwich. "Thanks, Tommy, I'm starving!" she said with a grin as she sat down at the table and took a big bite. With a resigned sigh I started to construct a second sandwich. As we ate we watched the river. A few boats were out: some fishing, others pulling skiers, everyone enjoying a perfect summer Saturday. One or two houseboats motored stately by and a couple of idiots on jet skis roared past—one half-submerged log and the water patrol would be picking up pieces for a week. After we finished our lunch I took a blanket out of the trunk and laid it out right by the water's edge and we stretched out to let the world drift by. "Do you remember our last experience by the river?" Beth asked after a few minutes. "You mean when you and Cindy ended up off the road last winter? Yeah, how could I forget the day I almost lost you?" She rolled over and snuggled up close to me, one thigh across mine, "I'm sure glad you came looking for us. I can't believe I pulled such a stupid stunt." "Hey, in stressful situations people sometimes goof. I'm just glad you're still here," I said as I pulled her down for a kiss. One thing led to another and soon Beth was mooning anyone on the water who cared to look. We had just finished when she looked up. "Oh, oh, a car's coming down here!" she said as she grabbed the bottom of her suit, tied it on, and was just trying to get her top tied when the car stopped by the second table. A couple and two small kids got out. The woman threw us a nasty look while the guy just grinned, "Nice day, isn't it?" I agreed and stood up to distract them as Beth finished getting her top on. We packed up soon after that and as we were pulling out I heard one of the kids ask, "Mommy, why did they have their clothes off?" I wish I could have heard her answer! ------- After driving back to town and grabbing Beth's Nikon, we headed to my house and spent a couple of hours trying different combinations of light positions and gel colors. When we'd printed off a couple of shots that at least showed what I was trying to do, we stopped by the house to show Beth's dad. "Tommy, these are great! How'd you do it?" I explained what I'd done and asked him if he'd like to keep the print to show his regular photographer. "I don't understand, why can't I use these?" he asked. "Well, these are just something Beth and I were experimenting with. A regular photographer would have the equipment to produce much better pictures," I explained. "Could you do it if you had the equipment?" "Well, yeah, I think so." "Okay, give me a list of what you need and I'll see what I can do." "Mr. Jones, you're talking about a lot of money unless you just rent the stuff." "Okay, that's what we'll do. Tommy, why should I pay a pro to do something when you've shown you can already do it?" "Um, okay," I said as I sat down to come up with a list of what I'd need to rent. This was going to be fun—the chance to use some real pro stuff! When he looked at the list he looked at me, "Tommy, I don't know what half this stuff is. What's a barn door? A strobe? Why don't I call the photo shop you mentioned and set things up so you can just go in and rent what you need?" Oh, please don't throw me in the briar patch!, I thought. "I could do that, the guys there might have some ideas I could use too." "Okay, that's what we'll do! I can't wait to see the final results!" he said as he reached for the phone. ------- Chapter 4 Beth and I exchanged the Healey for the Jeep—more room to haul the equipment—then off to the pro photo shop. I felt like a kid at Christmas! An hour later we were back at my house and had everything set up in the basement. Beth threatened to slap me just to wipe the silly grin off my face. I never thought I'd have the chance to use gear like this! After several false-starts we figured out how to set the strobe lights to get the effect we wanted. I put Beth's camera on the tripod and shot a few samples—not quite what I was looking for so we fiddled some more until we got what I thought were acceptable images. Then it was back to Beth's house to run them through Photoshop. Two hours later I had the final pictures up on Beth's twenty-four-inch monitor. "Tommy, those are amazing! Dad's going to go nuts when he sees what you've done!" She threw her arms around my neck and all thoughts of photography were wiped from my mind. "Beth," I asked when I finally got my breath back, "Could you grab a fancy top? As long as I have the strobes I'd like to take a portrait of you." "Could you do one of the two of us?" "Um, sure. If I use the remote release. We might have to try a few to get the pose down, but it shouldn't be too bad." "Great! Let's do it!" I motioned toward the monitor, "Let me print these off first. Then we can stop at the shop and show your dad." ------- Beth's dad almost drooled over what we'd done, "Tommy, these are fantastic! I can't believe how you managed to use colors to show the different angles and sides. I was beginning to think it was going to be impossible to get pictures of these things. Son, I owe you big time." "Mr. Jones, you already paid for the equipment rental and I used Beth's camera so let's just call it even." "No, Tommy. I'm going to out-stubborn you on this one. You've done a professional job on these and you deserve to be paid. We can deduct the rental costs if you insist, but I'd like to order some large prints of a couple of these and also get the rights to use the JPGs on our web site." "Oh, as far as the camera use—well, it's Beth's camera so you two will have to work that out," he grinned. "Okay. How about if I find out what a couple of sixteen-by-twenty prints will run. Do you want me to check on framing, too?" "Oh, good idea. See if you can get some brushed chrome frames. I want those to really stand out!" We got back to my house and ran up to my room to change for the portraits. For some reason that seemed to take a long time. Back in my "studio" I had Beth sit on a stool while I tried several poses and lighting ideas. Using four lights was something new to me and it took some experimenting to get the effect I was looking for. When I finally had what I wanted I shot several pictures and then moved things around so both of us would be in the frame. Again, there was some adjusting to do before I got it right, but finally I got a couple that looked good—on the camera's small monitor anyway. Now for the hard part. "Beth you remember last Christmas when you gave me the pencil set and a figure study was mentioned?" "Yeah..." I could hear the trepidation in her voice. "How about if I do one with the camera?" "You want me to pose NUDE?!" "Only sort of," I temporized. "'Sort of'? How's THAT going to work?" I explained what I was thinking of and then cajoled, wheedled, and begged until she agreed—with rights of final refusal. If she didn't like the photo she could erase it off the camera's memory card. After she stripped—excuse me, disrobed—I had her sit on the same stool we'd used for the portraits, except this time facing partially away from the camera and with her face turned even more away from the lens—you could still tell it was Beth, but only if you knew her. I moved her arm until it fig-leafed her breast. All that showed was a small part of her left butt cheek, her back and shoulder and a quarter profile of her face. I stepped back to the camera and took several exposures, some with a soft-focus filter for a more ethereal look. Then I had her turn her head for a straight profile shot, had her look down and brushed her hair forward—partially masking her face and breasts. When I was done she came back to the camera and we went through the photos. "Tommy, those are beautiful! I really like the soft-focus ones, but what are you going to do with them?" "If I promise no one else will see them, can I surprise you?" "Well ... I suppose," she hesitantly answered. I turned off the strobes and we headed back to her place. ------- A couple of days later I stopped at the shop after work and took Beth back to her house. I had three large flat packages with me. I left two of them by the hall table and took one upstairs. Beth was bouncing from one foot to the other with curiosity. When we got to her room I had her sit down and handed her the package. She tore the brown paper wrapping off and saw the picture I'd had made up as a sixteen-by-twenty. A friend of my dad owned a frame shop and he'd let me make up a special frame for it. Beth just stared at the photo for what seemed like several minutes, then I saw a single tear splash on the glass. "Oh my God, Tommy. It's beautiful," she said in a hushed voice. "I can't believe it's me." She got up and propped the picture up on her pillow, right under the professional oil portrait hanging over her bed. There they were—the two contrasting images of Beth—one as a young girl and the other as a beautiful nude. We both stood there and just looked at the them then she turned to me, "Tommy, I don't have words to tell you how much I love that picture." "I'm glad you like it. Now, where are you going to put it?" She reached up and took down the original portrait and hung mine in its place. "How does that look?" she asked. "I think it's perfect, but what are your folks going to say?" "Don't worry, I can take care of that. But what are the ones downstairs?" "You'll have to wait until your folks get home. Can you wait that long?" "Well ... Maybe if I have something to distract me," she said as she reached for my zipper... ------- Beth's mom spotted the packages as soon as they walked in the door, "And what do we have here?" "Oh, just some pictures I had lying around," I said with a grin. "You got them? Already?" Beth's dad sounded like a six-year-old on Christmas morning. He grabbed both packages and almost ran to the living room. We sat down on the couch and he was ready to tear the wrapping off when I stopped him, "You might want to open the other one first," I said, pointing to the thicker of the two packages. He tore the wrapper off and saw the two framed pictures of his valves, "Tommy, these are great! They look even better than the proofs you showed me, and you even found the perfect frames!" He spent a couple of minutes comparing the two shots, trying to figure out which one he liked better, when Mrs. Jones grabbed the other package, "And what would be in this one? Another of our products?" "Well, you COULD say that," I grinned. She pulled the wrapping off and gasped, "Tommy, it's beautiful! Where'd you get it?" She held up a sixteen-by-twenty portrait of Beth—one WITH clothes. Beth's dad looked over, "Holy shit, Tommy! And you say you're not a professional photographer!" "You took this?" Beth's mom said. I just nodded. I was really proud of that picture. I'd added a light red gel to the light on her hair to really make the light-brown pop out—that and the back light that separated her from the background. I'd spent a lot of time getting the lights just right and was really happy with the result. Beth's mom looked at her dad, "I think it's time we had a family portrait taken, don't you?" "You bet! Tommy, could you do that for us?" "Sure, but I'm supposed to get the rental lights back tomorrow. So we'd almost have to do it tonight." "Then let's do it tonight!" Beth's dad responded. I went home to pick up the lights and stands while Beth and her folks got ready. By the time I got back they were all ready to go so we chose a place in front of the living room fireplace, rearranged some furniture and I set up the lights, posed the three of them and started shooting. Then Beth and I went up to her room to print a set of proofs and we were done until they decided which images they wanted as prints. ------- The next day Beth's mom called, "Tommy, you're a nasty person!" Oh SHIT! She'd seen Beth's nude! I was dead. "Um, Mrs. Jones, I'd like to explain—" "—Tommy, there's nothing to explain. We just can't make up our minds." Make up their minds? About what? Which body part to deprive me of first? "We've looked at all the proofs you gave us and we just can't decide!" Proofs? "Oh, the portrait! Well, you could always get several and hang them in different rooms," I joked. "Tommy! What a great idea! Let's see ... one in the living room, and one in the dining room, and ... Oh, we're going to have to decide all over again!" "Well, there's no rush. Take your time and let me know, oh, and don't forget to keep track of how many of each size you want." I could see there was more to this photography than just taking pictures. If this kept up I was going to need price lists, order forms, who knew what else. Maybe the library had some books I could go through... ------- Cindy called me the next week, "Tommy, could you do a picture of me? Like the one you did of Beth?" "Sure, but I don't have the studio lights anymore. How about if we shoot outside? There are some nice spots in the park." "Um, well, I, um, isn't that kind of public?" "Why should that make a difference?" "Tommy! Just because you've seen me half naked doesn't mean I want everybody to!" And Thomas sucks on his size twelves again! "Cindy, I'm sorry! I thought you were talking about a portrait!" "Um, no. I meant one like the one Beth has in her room," she giggled. "Ah, no I guess the park isn't the best spot, then. Wait a minute, how about Beth's farm? It's certainly private." "Yeah, that would work. When can we do it?" I thought for a second, "How about Wednesday afternoon? Beth and I can pick you up. It should only take about an hour." "Um, Beth? I thought it would be just you," Cindy sounded like she was disappointed. "Well, I was thinking Beth could help hold stuff." Cindy giggled, then broke out into laughter, "Why, thank you, Tommy! I'm flattered that you think I'm sexy enough to cause a problem, but couldn't you just bring another tripod to rest it on?" "No, Cindy," I chuckled. "I'm talking about camera stuff—diffusers and things like that. By the way, is Greg going to be there or is this a surprise?" I knew Greg's birthday was in a couple of weeks. "No, I don't want him to know about this! Promise you won't say anything! Please, Tommy?" "I promise. Planning a surprise birthday present?" "Um yeah, so please don't say anything!" "I won't," I said as I started thinking of what I'd need to bring. ------- Wednesday after work Beth and I packed everything we'd need into the Jeep and drove over to Cindy's. She and Beth kept up a constant chatter as I drove to the farm. I could tell Cindy was a little nervous and having Beth to talk to took her mind off what she was going to do. After we got to the farm I asked Cindy what kind of nude she wanted. Something like Beth's—technically nude but not showing anything—or more along the Playboy line? "With or without bush?" as Beth put it. "Like the one you did of Beth." Cindy said as she started pulling off her t-shirt. "Whoa, Cindy! You don't have to undress yet. Let's find the right spot and try some poses first." Cindy flashed me a grateful look, "Okay. Thanks, Tommy. Maybe I'm not as ready for this as I thought." "No problem. I've got an idea. Why don't we start with just some outdoor portrait shots and go from there?" Cindy agreed, so I sent the two of them off to find some good spots while I got all the gear out of the Jeep and set up. The diffuser was the biggest item. I'd put together a conduit frame and Mom took a shower curtain and sewed pockets all the way around to fit the conduit. All I had to do was thread the conduit through the curtain's sides and put the ninety-degree fittings on the conduit ... bingo—an almost-six-foot-square diffuser that would let the sunlight through while softening the shadows. Beth and Cindy came back having found some good spots. The first one was a tree with a big limb that had grown almost horizontally about three feet off the ground. I had Cindy lean on it while I took some test shots. I'd never used a diffuser as big as my home-made monster before so I wanted to see just how well it would work. "Beth, if the wind picks up make sure you drop that thing or you'll be visiting the Wizard!" I told her when she first held it up. That got Cindy giggling and gave me a chance to get some candid, un-posed images. Next I had her stretch out on the limb in the pose I thought of for her nude. When I had her posed right I looked at her, "Cindy, you ready to try it for real?" "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am." She sounded almost as if she were talking herself into it. After pulling off her t-shirt and jeans she climbed back onto the limb, "Ouch! this bark is rough on bare skin!" I stood behind the camera and had Beth help Cindy with her position, "Cindy, move your arm just a little closer. Up just a bit—don't want to show too much!" That got a nervous giggle out of her and gave me a chance to snap a couple of casual pictures. Then I had her lay her head against the bark. Surprisingly, my home-made diffuser did a perfect job of softening the light, removing the harsh shadows and giving me a more even exposure between the light and shadows on her skin. After taking several shots with slight changes in her position, I had Beth help Cindy off the limb. "Tommy, can you do some of me like that?" Beth asked—as she was pulling off her clothes. "Ah ... sure!" And that started the free-for-all. After I got a few images of Beth in the same pose, the girls started trying poses all over the place, getting more risqué as they went. Two hours later—with both girls back in their clothes, all the equipment back in the Jeep—and three memory cards full of pictures—we were headed back to town. After dropping Cindy off—with a promise to get her proofs tomorrow—Beth and I drove to her house. "I can't believe the two of you this afternoon—running around like you were at a nudist camp! Not that I'm complaining, you understand," I said as we pulled into her driveway. "Cindy looks pretty good in her birthday suit, doesn't she?" Beth snickered. "So do you," I responded, not sure the conversation was going in a direction I wanted to explore. "Yeah, but she's got boobs," Beth responded. "Hey, I like your handles just fine," I said and threw in a quick grab to prove it. Beth just laughed and playfully swatted at my hands, "You letch!" "True, too true." "I'm surprised you didn't suggest a threesome," Beth said quietly. I stood there, rooted in place. A threesome? I was so busy chasing them around with the camera that the idea didn't even occur to me! I must be slipping. ------- After culling the obvious rejects, we were in the process of separating the pictures into groups: Cindy alone, Beth alone, and the two together, when Beth's mom knocked on the door and came in, "Hi, Tommy. Dinner's almost ready, you want to stay?" "Sure, that sounds good. Thanks!" "That's a good picture of Cindy," she said, motioning toward the monitor. My heart froze until I remembered the picture was one of the early ones I'd taken, when she still had her clothes on. "Ah, thanks. She wanted a picture to give Greg for his birthday," I said as soon as I remembered how to breathe. In, out—really easy once you get the hang of it. After she left Beth and I looked at each other and broke out in laughter. "Can you imagine what she would have said if it was one of the other pictures that had been up there?" Beth hiccupped. "Or how about one of the two of you?" I added. Beth sobered up, "Tommy, what are you going to do with those pictures?" "The ones with both of you? I don't know ... They're your pictures, well, yours and Cindy's. I guess it's up to the two of you. For now let's just put them in a zip file with a password and erase the cards for the camera." After we had the files copied onto Beth's PC we separated them into different directories. Two for Cindy—one g-rated, the other not, one for Beth alone, and the encrypted zip file with the images of the two of them together. By then it was time for dinner. Most teenagers hated the idea of sharing a meal—and conversation—with their girl's parents, but I didn't have any problem talking to Beth's folks. As we were eating Beth's dad looked at me. "Tommy, I might have some more work for you. The head of the company we're making those valves for is thinking of getting some pictures and asked where we got the ones you did for us. I told him I'd check with you. Are you interested?" "Um, sure, Mr. Jones. But I don't have any idea what to charge or anything." "Well, let's sit down after dinner and see what we can come up with," he replied. Later we were back in Beth's room. "Holy shit," I said, "I can't believe the numbers your dad came up with. I can't give somebody a quote like that! They'd never go for it!" "Tommy, they will. Remember, Dad was using numbers from the stuff he's had other photographers do." "Yeah, but I'm just an amateur, not a pro!" "Dad seems to think your work is professional quality. So why not ask for pro prices? Business people are going to pay for results—if you can deliver they're not going to care that you're still in high school." "Well, I suppose, but it's going to take a lot of guts to quote someone the numbers your dad and I figured out." "Well, look at it this way—the worst they can do is say no." Beth said. "Yeah, I suppose you're right, but, damn, that's a lot of cash!" "So what'cha gonna buy me?" Beth chuckled. "With those numbers, the Hope diamond or the moon, your choice." I still couldn't believe the figures Mr. Jones and I had come up with. The next day we got together with Cindy and I handed her a CD, "All your pictures are on there. The first directory is the 'safe' one. The second is a password-protected zip file. The password is your birthday." "Oh, thank you, Tommy!" Cindy said as she grabbed my face and laid a flying lip-lock on me that had me thinking maybe being a photographer has some definite fringe benefits! I asked both girls if I could enter one picture of the two of them in a local photo contest. It showed them nude in knee-high grass standing back-to-back with their near legs forward enough to effectively fig-leaf them and their faces turned far enough away from the camera that neither could be identified. I thought it was a good study in contrasts—Beth's height and small bust versus Cindy's large chest and short stature. Both girls thought about it for a while, then agreed, as long as I promised not to identify the models! Unfortunately, when I read the fine print for the contest I found out any nudes had to be over eighteen. Damn rules! Cindy said she wanted a day or two to pick the best picture for Greg when Beth suggested a two-for-one, just as she did for me—a sedate, safe outdoor portrait of Cindy on the front and one from the locked file on the back, covered by the backing paper. Cindy loved the idea and promised to have her choices as soon as she could decide. That's when the trouble started. "How much do I owe you, Tommy?" Cindy asked, and tried to hand the CD back to me when I said she didn't owe me anything. "Tommy, you spent a lot of time on this. I know what a regular photographer charges for just a straight portrait and you did more than that. Either you come up with a price or just keep these!" We hemmed and hawed back and forth for a few minutes until I agreed to figure out what to charge. Cindy took the photo CD and told me she'd make up her mind tomorrow and let me know which pictures she wanted. After she left Beth dragged me back upstairs. "Tommy, you just don't get it. Do you?" "What do you mean?" "Trying to give your work to Cindy. Don't you see? What kind of a gift is it if it doesn't cost anything? Cindy wants this present to be special and part of that is paying for it!" That pulled me up short and reminded me of Kevin paying me back for the book he gave Gail for Christmas. "Okay, you're right, but it still doesn't feel right to take money from friends." "Kind of like my dad not wanting to accept those pictures you did for him without paying for them?" My lady fights dirty—she uses logic. "So what are you going to do with your pictures?" Beth asked. "MY pictures?" "Sure they're yours until I've paid for them," she grinned. "Your folks went out for tonight, didn't they?" "And they're not going to be back until eleven at the earliest," Beth replied. "Are you open to a bit of bartering?" I said as I backed her up toward the bed. "Just how open do you want me?" she said as she reached for the hem of her t-shirt. I grabbed her hands, "Not so fast. I want to inspect the merchandise before we can reach a deal," I said as I pulled her shirt over her head. "Well, it's not new. But it's been gently used," she grinned again. After I pulled her jeans and panties off I did a complete inspection and found she was telling the truth. What followed was a most thorough test-drive before the deal was reached. ------- A week later I had Cindy's prints ready. As with Beth's prints, I had these done at a commercial lab I trusted—I didn't want either picture showing up on the Web. Then I stopped at Dad's friend's frame shop and did the framing myself. "Damn, she looks good, doesn't she?" Beth said when I showed her the pictures before I glued the backing paper on. "Yeah, she does. Greg's a lucky guy." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah ... not as lucky as I am, but..." I kidded her. "By the way, what are you going to do about the lead my dad gave you," she asked. "I called him this afternoon. The company builds the stuff your dad supplies the parts for. He wants to have me look at some of the final pieces and give him a quote for some pictures. "Um, would it be okay if I use your camera for the pictures?" I asked. "Of course! Tommy, why did you even ask?" "Beth, the other pictures have been for your family, except for Cindy, and she's a friend. But this would be strictly business and I didn't want to just assume..." "That's my Tommy—The No-Charity Kid! Of course you can use the Nikon. I don't use it anyway, so somebody should get some use out of it. "Now, as to the rental cost..." Beth said as she pushed me toward the bed. ------- Chapter 5 The following day I met George Stankovich. "Tommy, good to meet you! I was impressed by the pictures you did for Chuck Jones." "Thank you. Mr. Jones said you were looking for some pictures of the final parts?" "Yes, come on back and I'll show you." We walked into the assembly area where all the parts came together to produce the final part—in this case a high-pressure valve of some sort. George showed me one of the pieces they'd just started producing. "These are for an aerospace company. I'm sure you recognize the body. After all, you're the one that produced those great pictures! "What I'd like is a picture that shows the completed unit and the internal parts. I don't know how you'd do it, but you want to take a stab at it?" "Sure. Do you have one that's a reject or something I can play around with? And do you mind if I take it apart?" "Got one right over here. Do you have an idea already?" George sounded surprised. "Well ... I'm not sure I can do it, but how about if I can get a picture that shows the internal parts and still shows the cover in place. Sort of as if it was half-transparent?" "You can do that?" George sounded impressed. "Well, like I said, let me try a few things, but I think I can." "How much is this going to cost me?" he asked warily. We discussed exactly what he wanted and I was stunned when he accepted my estimate. Maybe Beth's dad wasn't so far off on prices after all! I drove home to try out a couple of ideas and read through "my" Photoshop manual—hoping I hadn't promised something I couldn't deliver. Beth had convinced me to unload the program from her machine and put it on mine. With the warning that it better not mean she'd never see me anymore! The next afternoon I stopped at the photo store where I'd rented the strobe lights. "Hi, Tommy, back again, I see," Joe, the manager, greeted me. "Hi, Joe. I'm going to have to rent that same strobe set as last time, if it's available." "Sure. Have you ever considered buying a set?" he asked. "Yeah, but three grand is beyond my budget right now." "Well, I might be able to help you out if you don't mind used equipment." "I'm all ears." "We're going to update some of our rental stock in the next month and I know the unit you're renting is going to be on the list for replacement. I can cut you a good deal, if you're interested." We talked options for a while and I left with all sorts of things to consider—I could buy the rental set for about what it would cost me to rent it two or three more times. The real question was if I'd be able to come up with enough work to pay for it. Sounds like a conversation with Dad was due. I set up the strobes in my basement "studio" and started to work on some of the ideas for the valve pictures when my phone rang. "Hello?" "Tommy, did you forget?" Beth asked. "Forget? Oh, about dinner tonight? No, why?" "Because it's six-thirty and dinner is in half an hour," she explained. I looked at my watch. Shit, I'd been working down here for almost three hours, not the half-hour it felt like! "Oops. Lost track of time. I'll be right over!" I said as I turned everything off then charged up the stairs to change. ------- "Tommy, what's going on? It's not like you to be late—especially for food!" Beth chided me. "Sorry, I got busy on the pictures for your dad's friend and lost track of time." "The forgetful genius, huh?" she smiled. "Well, you're half right anyway." Beth's dad walked in, "Well, Tommy, keeping busy?" I explained what I was doing with the valve. "You can do that?" he asked, "Isn't that like an x-ray?" "Not exactly. I'll take two pictures—one of the cover and one of the rest of the valve, then use Photoshop to make the cover almost transparent and just add it to the other picture as another layer. At least I HOPE that's what I'm going to do." "Well ... I'm glad you know what you're doing, because I don't understand it! "By the way, I think we've got a list of prints we want from your portrait shots." "Oh, great! I'll e-mail them to the lab tonight. Do you want me to order frames and matting or do you want to take the prints in to the frame shop yourself?" I asked. "After the great job you did on those shots for work and Beth's portrait, I'm tempted to just let you do the whole thing, but I think we'll take care of it ourselves if we can get the name of your frame shop," he replied. "Hi, Tommy," Beth's mom came in. "We showed your pictures of us to some friends and you may have some more work coming." "Great! If you keep drumming up business for me I'm going to have to start giving you a commission," I laughed. "Just keep up the good work," she replied. "And now how about dinner!" After dinner we went for a ride. Beth next to me, a beautiful evening, the top down on the Healey, what could be better? I know modern cars have better suspensions and safety equipment, blah, blah, blah, but there's something visceral about being behind the wheel of a piece of classic British iron. As usual, we ended up at the farm, lying on a blanket, trying to get our breath back when Beth jumped up, "I'm all sticky! Time to wash off!" With that she ran down the hill toward a clump of bushes. Well, nothing to do but follow her, I guess. As I got to the bushes I heard splashing. Following the path, I came to a small pond inhabited by a water sprite who looked familiar... "Come on, Tommy! The water's fine!" Beth yelled from the middle of the pond. It may have been fine but from the look of her nipples, it was also cold! I walked to the water's edge and stepped in. Well ... not too cold. I waded in until I was waist-deep then swam out to where she was floating on her back. "How come you didn't mention this before?" I asked. "I don't know, it just never occurred to me, I guess." "Just think, we could have gone skinny-dipping with my brother and Gail," I chuckled. "Oh, so you prefer younger women?" Beth responded with a grin. That required a ducking, which led to a water fight, which led to some energetic rolling around on the shore, which led to another quick dip to clean up—again. Back up the hill, we lay back on our blanket watching the sun head for the horizon. "Remember our last time out here?" Beth asked as she snuggled closer, her naked body molding itself to mine. "You mean the day I spent chasing you and Cindy around? How could I forget that!" I responded. "Tommy, why didn't you try to start something when you had both of us out there with our clothes off?" "I don't know if I can answer that. I know I was surprised later when you asked why I didn't try for a threesome. I guess the idea never occurred to me." "Okay, where's your pod and what did you do with my boyfriend? You're not going to tell me you don't think Cindy's sexy, 'cause I'm not buying that!" "Oh, Cindy's sexy enough! I guess I was thinking of her as my friend's girl and off-limits. Besides, you were there." "You expect me to believe you find me sexier than Cindy? C'mon, Tommy!" I just sighed. Even now the old Beth still popped up sometimes. "Really! If I'd been with Cindy by myself, well ... maybe I would have been tempted. I guess that's why I automatically assumed you'd be with us—sort of a chaperone. I didn't count on the chaperone getting as bare as my subject! "Or," I looked over at Beth, "were you hoping I'd join the two of you?" "Well..." she said after a few seconds, "Maybe I was a little. Oh, not at first, but later, when Cindy and I were chasing each other around, I guess I kind of wondered what it would be like with the three of us together." Suddenly my favorite appendage stuck his head up. "Are you saying you'd like to try a threesome?" I asked. "Oh, I think most girls have thought about it at one time or another, at least the ones I've talked to. "Tommy, you look surprised! Or is it shocked that the thought of having someone else involved isn't just a guy thing?" Beth was clearly enjoying this. "But, I can tell you like the idea," she said as she started stroking me. Obviously my body liked the idea, I wasn't so sure of my mind. I mean what guy hasn't fantasized about being with two girls—especially two beautiful sexy girls? But— Ah, there's always a but. Mine was that little imp hiding in my head that told me I'd be unfaithful to Beth, even though she'd be one of the girls, and, the imp continued, what about Greg? Would it be fair to him? Beth giggled, "I know what you're thinking!" She sing-songed. "So why don't we invite Greg along?" Invite Greg? Hey! That would work! Except ... did I want to share Beth? More giggling, "I'll bet you're thinking about Greg and me together, weren't you?" Damned ESP! "Yeah, how'd you know?" "Tommy, you're a great lover and a super photographer, but don't ever try to get a job as a negotiator! Your face gives you away every time. Not to mention what my left hand is telling me!" I realized that as soon as I thought of sharing Beth with Greg my periscope became a torpedo. "Tommy, don't worry about it. I'm just kidding about an orgy! Just pulling your chain, so to speak!" I rolled over, grabbed Beth and rolled back so she was lying across my lap, her perfect ass in just the right position. "OUCH!" Beth started wiggling around on my lap, trying to get free—at least until I moved my hand between her thighs and started rubbing. "Mmm, that feels good," she purred. "But if you really loved me you'd kiss it and make it better." I bent down and deposited a kiss on each cheek, followed by a lick right up the middle. "Ohh, that makes it better," she giggled—and wiggled. And suddenly any thoughts of Cindy and Greg were gone. I rolled her off me, onto her hands and knees, and slid into her. "Oh, that really makes it better!" Beth purred as she rotated her butt and pushed back against me. ------- I lay on the blanket, watching the sun sink in a pyre of red and gold, Beth cuddled up to my side, and all was right with the world. "What should we do for the Fourth?" she asked. "Hmmm, I haven't thought much about it. Do your folks do anything special?" "Not really," she responded. "Some years we'll watch the fireworks in the park, but that's about it. This year they probably won't even do that—Dad snuck over the state line and bought all sorts of goodies." "If he's willing to share why don't we grab some, put together a picnic and invite some of the gang out here. We can go swimming, stuff ourselves and then shoot off the 'works." "Mmm, sounds good! I'll call Cindy when we get back and we'll come up with a list." After the sun was gone we packed up and drove back to town. I dropped off Beth and the Healey, drove home in my old beater, and buried myself in the basement for a few hours trying to figure out the best way to get the pictures I needed for George. I finally figured out a way to use Photoshop's opacity function to make the image of the top of the valve look almost transparent and then copy it as a layer into the original picture of the valve—the one with the top off. Since I'd taken both shots from the same camera position they matched up perfectly. Then it was just a matter of fiddling with the amount of transparency to get the right look. I made several JPGs with slight variations, e-mailed them to George for approval of the idea, then crashed for the night. The next morning I called George about the proofs I'd e-mailed him. "Tommy, how'd you do that? No, on second thought, don't bother to explain—I probably wouldn't get it anyway. But the pictures looks great! Can you do that with any part?" "Pretty much—as long as the pieces can be taken apart." "Well, I might have some more for you to do. But as far as this one is concerned, I'd like to get a big print of the second one you sent for the office and..." After a half hour on the phone, I knew what George wanted and promised him final prints by Friday. Something else Beth's dad mentioned was to not deliver things too quickly—most people have the feeling that quality takes time. Kind of like good sex. ------- The next Friday I delivered the final prints to George along with a CD with the JPGs he'd ordered. He had talked about having someone design a web site for his company and I'd mentioned Jim Wilson and Dan Dierdorf, two guys from school who'd put together their own sites as well as working on the school's web pages. "Tommy, if their work is as good as yours I'll hire them right now. It's about time I got dragged into the twenty-first century!" I walked over to his computer, started Firefox and showed him the sites they'd designed and how they'd incorporated photos into the pages. "I suppose I'll need to get some more pictures too, right?" "Well, would pictures help show prospective customers what you can do and how you do it?" "Yeah, I think it would, especially if you can give me some more like this," he said as he pointed to the 16-by-20 print he was holding. "Do you want to see the rest of the shop and maybe get some ideas?" I nodded and he showed me through the areas where white-coated technicians were in almost clean-room conditions as they assembled and tested everything. "Can you take some pictures of this and the rest of the facility? I'm proud of what we do here and I'd like to show it off if I can." We set up a time the next week to get shots of the two areas and anything else he thought would look good for his site. I called Jim and told him what George was looking for. He sounded excited, but wanted to talk it over with Dan before he made any decision. Jim called me back in about ten minutes and said he and Dan wanted to talk to George to get a better idea of just what was needed. I gave him George's number, "Jim, it's probably better if you talk to him directly rather than going through me, less chance for getting things screwed up, but I'd say you and Dan have got yourself a job!" Over the next couple of weeks I shot the pictures for George and worked with Jim and Dan on some web page layout and picture ideas. I was reading a book I'd gotten from the library on the business side of photography when Jim called, "Tommy, are you close to your computer?" "Yeah, what's up?" He gave me a URL and when I brought it up there was my picture of George's valve on the company's home page. I clicked through the site, impressed by what Jim and Dan had put together and how they'd incorporated my pictures. "Jim, this looks great! What did George think?" "He loved it! As a matter of fact, he gave us a couple of names of other companies he thinks might be interested in getting sites designed! I gotta thank you, man, this is turning into a GREAT summer!" "I'm glad it worked out. By the way, if those other companies need any photography—" "Don't worry, Tommy. We'll be suggesting they call you, and we'll mention that you did all the pictures on George's site. I know we put a credit line with your name on each shot, but it never hurts to remind people. We asked George if he'd mind if we use his pages as an example of what we could do and he was more than willing! "By the way, have you come up with a business card yet?" Hmm, something else to talk to Dad about. We talked for a few more minutes and promised to keep the other in mind if any more work came up. ------- In the next couple of weeks I shot three more family portraits and learned something about what happens when things don't go the way you planned. The first two portraits were pretty much what I expected. The first was a couple that had seen Beth's family picture and wanted something similar. I rented the strobes—again!—and used the fireplace in their living room for the backdrop. When I e-mailed them the raw shots they immediately called me with an order even bigger than the one from Beth's folks! The second was an outdoor session in one of the local parks. The couple had two small kids and wanted a family portrait that fit their active lifestyle. I suspect they also knew getting two active pre-schoolers to sit for a formal portrait was impossible, but out in the park the kids were a joy to work with. Beth came along as a "kid wrangler" but spent most of the time making funny faces at the kids to keep them smiling. It took that couple almost two weeks to decide which poses they wanted, but I ended up with another order that made my head spin. The third session was a mess. According to the books I'd read a good portrait should show the personality of the subject. The problem was, this couple was the most poisonous pair I'd ever met. They had the personalities of snapping turtles with sore feet and I knew right away saying "smile" would be met with a venomous reply. I spent more time with them than the other two sittings combined—and that was by my watch, it seemed to be five times as long—and dreaded what I was going to see on my monitor when I got home. What I saw was a pair of very attractive people, serious to be sure, but otherwise a normal couple, none of their poisonous attitudes showed through the pictures at all. I was dumbfounded, how could these two look so normal? As an accurate portrait, the session was a bust but they seemed happy with the results, even though they ordered only one eight-by-ten and a few smaller prints, then took almost a month and several phone calls before they paid up. NOTE TO SELF: Start collecting a deposit! I had another product shoot set up and another family portrait—all from people who Beth's folks had sent my way. I guess that's why everyone is so hyped about networking these days. It pays to have an "in." My photography "sideline" was doing well enough that I decided to take Joe up on his offer to buy the used strobe set, so now a good chunk of our basement was my "studio." I'd bought a mottled brown backdrop for portraits and after looking at it decided I could paint a couple of my own in other colors—after I conned, er, convinced Mom to help with the sewing. A couple of white umbrellas and stands to use with the strobes and I was ready to go. After talking it over with Dad, I decided that my photo work was keeping me busy enough, not to mention bringing in enough money, that I could afford to quit my job at the car wash. Hallelujah! ------- Beth and I had about twenty friends lined up for our Fourth of July bash at the farm—mostly from our Friday night "coffee shop" group, but Steve Watkins and a couple of the other guys from the football team and their dates were also coming. Beth was a little nervous over how the geeks and the jocks would mix. "Do you think there'll be any problems?" "I don't see why, although it's going to be interesting to see how somebody like Deb gets along with Sherry," I replied. Steve had been going with Sherry Wilson, the head cheerleader, since just before school was out. Deb Andrews was as anti-jock as you could get while Sherry was one of the more vocal of the "jocks versus geeks" gang. I hadn't heard Sherry give Steve a hard time over his appearance in The Music Man, so maybe things would be okay. We were both hoping the fireworks would be of the sort lit with a match, not a comment. ------- The Fourth started out as a beautiful day—sunny, with the promise of temps in the eighties and even the bugs were cooperating. The summer had been fairly dry so the mosquitoes weren't out in great numbers, it looked to be perfect for a day with friends. I got to Beth's about nine and we started loading the Jeep with goodies. Her folks had offered to supply the food and drinks so we had several coolers to load along with blankets, volleyballs, nets, and all the other paraphernalia that goes with a picnic. Oops, almost forgot the fireworks! When we got to the farm I stopped at the gate and set up a sign so everyone would know where to turn. Greg and Cindy were right behind us and we had everything unloaded and ready to go when everybody started arriving about noon. Jay Stevens showed up with Kelly Sanchez, one of our Friday night regulars. Ever since Beth and Cindy's incident with the Jeep last winter Jay and I had become, if not the best of friends, at least closer than we had been. Deb Andrews showed up with Chris Johnson just before Steve and Sherry pulled in. Beth and I braced ourselves for a cat-fight but the girls greeted each other like old friends. Go figure. The last car in the parade held two girls I didn't recognize at first. They both wore fairly conservative bikinis. Even with long t-shirts covering the suits they looked a bit uncomfortable. Then it hit me, "Sharon? Chris? You two look great!" Sharon Thomas and Chris Hanson were two of the "mice" that gravitated to Beth after her transformation and a couple of more quiet and shy girls would be hard to find. To see them here like this was amazing. They both relaxed when Beth walked up, "Hey, you two! Glad you could make it!" Nothing was said about the girls being alone when everyone else was paired up, but I was sure it got noticed. Luckily, about a half-hour later a couple of the guys from the school band showed up solo and the four of them seemed to be happy to spend time together. Beth had a smug look on her face and I figured the arrangement was exactly what she'd planned. Of course, she hadn't bothered to let me know what she was plotting. I caught Beth as she started to unpack the food, "Wow, I can't believe Sharon and Chris. What a difference!" "So you thought I was the only one who could change like that?" she challenged. "No, I just wasn't expecting it. I mean when school let out they were still just a couple of your 'mice.' What a difference. Have you been tutoring them?" "Well, every girl need a hobby to keep her busy while her boyfriend is too occupied with other things." Ouch! I guess I had let photography kind of take over a little too much. I was ready to start apologizing when I saw the grin on my lady's face. "Gotcha!" she caroled. I was ready to give her a swat on her perfect derriere when everybody noticed the food was out. An hour later the food and drink supplies were going downhill fast. We'd set up two charcoal grills and a couple of the guys were helping me keep the burgers, brats and hot dogs sizzling. After everybody had eaten their fill and lazed around in the sun enough to let their food settle, someone yelled, "How about some volleyball!" Most of the group got up and started to separate into teams. I figured it would be jocks versus geeks, but the sides were pretty evenly split. As we gathered on either side of the net, Sherry hollered, "This is going to be skins and shirts, right?" and, before anyone could remind her S&S was mainly used in football and soccer, she pulled off her t-shirt. The rest of the girls on her team looked at each other, shrugged and started stripping off their tops. This was going to be an epic volleyball game! Beth looked relieved that we were both on the "shirts" side of the net and just shook her head in wonder—was there something about being at the farm that stripped away inhibitions? Even Sharon the ex-mouse was on the skins side! An hour later, everyone agreed they'd had enough. The girls were getting sore from all the bouncing and both teams agreed the distractions were, well, distracting. As Greg said later, "That wasn't the best-played volleyball game I've ever been in, but it was the GREATEST one!" Beth looked around at all the sweaty bodies, "Anyone for a swim?" Chris Johnson, Deb's date, looked up, "You have a pool? Out here?" "Why do you think I told everybody to wear suits and bring towels? Of course we do!" With that Beth pulled her t-shirt over her head and slipped out of her shorts, leaving her in my favorite black bikini. "C'mon. Let's hit the water!" she said as she headed for the bushes that surround our little swimmin' hole. Several people looked at me, but I just grinned, pulled off my t-shirt, and followed my lady. Chris, Deb and several others followed. As we came around the bushes Chris looked at the water, "That's not a pool! A pool's made of concrete and stuff. That's just a hole in the ground full of water and who knows what else!" Deb looked at him as if she'd just seen an alien, "Oh, it's a pool, all right. And I can prove it!" With that she gave Chris a quick shove and laughed as he landed in the water with a big splash. Her laughter was short-lived however—it's hard to laugh when you're under water too. Steve just grinned after giving HER a push to follow her date. Soon everybody was splashing around, dunking each other and grabbing quick feels under the water. Beth and I just watched the others, remembering our time alone in the pool. A few couples decided that swimming wasn't the only bucolic activity available, grabbed their blankets and headed off into the woods. Jay hollered at Beth as he and Kelly joined the exodus, "Hey, Beth. Where's the barn with the nice hayloft?" Beth just laughed, "Talk to my grandparents!" About nine Greg, Steve and I began to set up the larger fireworks. Beth's dad had bought enough to recreate the D-Day invasion so we had plenty to choose from. As soon as it was dark enough the first rocket went up. Soon we had people running around with sparklers and a couple of the guys had found two cans that nested together and were shooting can rockets skyward. There's just something about fireworks that brings out the kid in everyone. By midnight the food and fireworks were gone and the party started breaking up. Beth and I grinned at each other when we saw Sharon and Chris leave with the two band guys—a couple in each car. Looked like the farm was working its magic. Soon, with the exception of a couple of cars and our Jeep, the farm was back to normal. Beth and I were stretched out on our blanket admiring the starry sky when Jay came stumbling out of the woods, naked. "Damn, these theater people are insatiable!" he muttered to himself as he headed for his car. I assumed he was on a condom hunt. I turned to Beth, "Looks like Kelly's got Jay a little frazzled." The thought of our one-time quarterback being worn out by the shy, quiet Kelly had both Beth and I chuckling quietly. As Jay headed back to his doom we heard giggling and splashing from the pool. Sounded like Greg and Cindy were taking advantage of the solitude for a little skinny dipping. "A pretty successful Fourth, wouldn't you say?" Beth said as she ran her hand up the leg of my trunks. And going to get even more successful, I thought to myself as I reached back to slide my hand into her bikini bottom. Soon we were both bare to the air and oblivious to the rest of the world—until an engine started and headlights caught us on our blanket. "Sorry 'bout that!" Jay yelled and I heard Kelly giggle as he drove off. Beth and I looked at each other and broke up laughing. "I guess we got a little too occupied," I chuckled. "I'm not complaining," Beth replied with a purr. It was getting a little chilly so we rolled ourselves in the blanket and dozed off. ------- Having spent so many sunsets at the farm it was disorienting to have the sun show up from the other direction. At least that's what I felt until I realized what I was seeing was dawn, not sundown—we'd slept under the stars all night! I sat up and saw Greg and Cindy were wrapped up in their own blanket about fifty feet away. Still oblivious to the sun rising in the east. Beth stirred next to me, "Hey! It's cold out there! Come back here!" I always do what I'm told. We lay wrapped in the blanket quietly talking when Beth snickered, "Looks like our roomies are moving." I glanced behind me to see Cindy headed for the pond—bare as the day I did her birthday portrait for Greg. The gentleman in question was still wrapped up in their blanket, hands behind his head as he watched his girl casually saunter towards the water. I was about to shout something to him when Beth poked me in the ribs, "Be nice!" Beth and I had managed to get dressed and had started to pack up the Jeep when Cindy came back up the hill, hair wet and water droplets sparkling on her bare skin. I glanced over at Greg and didn't need Beth's ESP to know what he was thinking. Cindy had climbed back into their blanket cave as we finished picking up. As we got in the Jeep Beth waved and hollered, "Don't forget to close the gate when you leave!" The last think I heard was Cindy's giggle. As I pulled on to the county road that led past the farm, I turned to Beth, "So when do you think they'll get up?" She snickered, "I'll bet Greg already is." ------- Chapter 6 Back to town and back to work. George Stankovich had left a message with a name and phone number of a company that produced complex molded plastic parts and mentioned what they were looking for might be right up my alley. I called and talked to Nils Johansson, the owner. "Tommy, we've got the same problem Chuck Jones had: High-gloss parts with little surface detail, except ours are black plastic. Can you help us?" "Well, I can't really say without seeing the parts. Can we set up a time when I could come out and look at what you've got?" "Um, sure. Do you mind if I ask how much you charge per hour?" I told him what my normal rates were and assured him that I wouldn't charge for the trip out to look at his problem. We agreed on the following afternoon and I dragged myself downstairs to clean up my "studio." The last week had been kind of hectic and things had gotten a little messy downstairs. Beth called as I was sweeping the floor. "Tommy, can I make a deal with you?" I immediately went into letch mode, "Depends on what you're bargaining with, little girl." "Wellll ... I think you'll like my offer..." "Hmmm. This sounds promising. Tell me more." "How about over dinner?" "Oh, a BIG favor," I chuckled. "Oh, not that big ... just burger-sized." "Okay, I'll pick you up as soon as I get myself cleaned up." I hung up and headed for the shower. I picked up Beth and we stopped at a local mom-and-pop restaurant. "All right," I said after we placed our order. "what's the favor you want. If it's not too much I'll consider it." Yeah, like I could refuse Beth anything! "Tommy, I want you to buy me a camera." "Um, Beth, you've already GOT the Nikon. What more do you want?" I asked. And, more to the point, how was I going to afford it? "I just want a small point-and-shoot camera—its what I've wanted all along. And then you won't have to feel you have to keep bringing the Nikon back all the time." "Beth! I can't take your camera. There's no way I can afford it!" "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, you're doing it again." "Doing what?" "Thinking you have to pay for everything you get! I didn't say I was giving you the camera, just that you wouldn't have to bring it back all the time. I just want a camera I can carry around with me and I figured that if you bought it for me you wouldn't feel so guilty about ... about..." Damn, she knows me too well. I WAS feeling guilty about using her camera and making money from it. "Okay, I'll get you a camera. Do you have one in mind?" "No. I don't now anything about cameras, that's why the Nikon was sitting in my closet!" Our food came about then and it gave me a chance to think about what Beth had said, and what she hadn't. She was right, I was uncomfortable taking anything that smelled like charity. My dad had told stories of growing up in a poor family and how much his father had hated accepting handouts and I guess the idea of paying for what I got carried through the generations. I thought I was past that with Beth. I guess not. "I'm sorry. Remind me to tell you what it was like for Dad growing up. But something else is going on here. What is it?" Beth chewed her bottom lip for a minute—always a sign she was nervous about something, "Tommy, do you think I'm a spoiled rich kid?" That stopped me cold. Did I? "Do I think you're spoiled? No. But you've got to admit, you're luckier than most of us." "And that bothers you, doesn't it, Tommy?" I thought about it. "It did at first. I mean we all thought of you as the ice queen, always above us. We couldn't figure out why you didn't hang with the other rich kids. But you don't flaunt it. I mean think about the parking lot at school—brand new Jags, Porsches, Mustangs. You could have had a car like that, but you're happy with your three-year-old Jeep. You don't have that I'm-better-than-you attitude. "There is one thing that's bothered me, though. Why me?" Beth looked at me as she considered my question, "Because you're you." "Beth, that's no answer! I really want to know. I mean I'm happy we're together, but I've always wondered—did you plan that Friday night meeting?" She looked down at the table, "Yeah. Yeah, I did." "Why? I mean why me?" "Tommy, I'd been there for a few Friday nights and I saw what you were like, I mean you'd give the guys a lot of grief, but it never seemed mean, it was just kidding. And remember the Friday before we met? The day Deb's boyfriend dumped her? She needed a shoulder to cry on and you were there. I talked to her later and she said at first when you offered to take her home she was thinking you were just out to take advantage of her feeling sorry for herself. She said you took her home and just held her for an hour until she stopped crying then walked her to her house and left after you knew she was okay. I'd say that was being a pretty good guy. "That's when I realized you were somebody I'd like to know better. So the next Friday I got a ride to the café hoping you'd offer a ride home to anybody who needed one. I'd heard you do it several times and was just hoping..." "How about later," I asked quietly. Was the whole night, hell, the whole weekend just a plan to seduce me into liking her? Did I really want to know? "You mean when we got to my house? Did I mean for you to stay? N-no, I thought I'd just use the ride as an excuse so I could build up the courage to talk to you in school. When I heard myself ask if you had to go right away I about died! I couldn't believe I'd said it!" "So you were really planning on watching Sherlock Holmes. You weren't just making that up?" "No, I really wanted to. When you said that was what you were gong to watch too, I took it as a kind of a sign. After that things just kind of happened." They sure had! "And when you took you bra off?" "Oh, god! I couldn't believe I was doing that! But it felt so good to have you hold me, and when you acted so scared when you realized you had my boob in your hand, well, I guess I felt safe with you, and I was sure of it when I asked you to stay and you offered to sleep on the couch!" Hmm, I wasn't too sure how to take that. "And when I heard what you whispered after you thought I was asleep. Well, I think that's when I first realized I loved you. I just didn't know what to do about it!" I had to chuckle, "We're quite a pair, aren't we? I mean we could have ended up going all the way through school and never have met. I'm glad you took me up on my ride offer that night." "So am I," she said. "So am I." ------- I met Nils Johansson at his factory the next day. He showed me the parts he wanted photographed, and this was going to be a challenge. The parts were molded from a shiny black plastic with several threaded holes on three sides. "What I want is to be able to show all three sides at once and I can't figure out how to do it. Maybe mirrors? I don't know!" He gave me a sample piece and I headed home to see what I could do. "Tommy, it's time for dinner!" That was Mom. "Okay, just a minute!" I turned off the light and headed up the stairs. After dinner went I back downstairs and dove into my latest project. There had to be some way to get what I wanted. My brother Kevin followed me and after we got to my studio area he asked, "Tommy, can I talk to you for a minute?" "Sure. What's up?" Kevin blushed, "I-I need some more rubbers." "Oh, so that's what's 'up'." I chuckled. "Tommy, cut it out. I'm serious. Gail thought she could get some, but it didn't work out and I, well, I don't think the store would sell me any." "Not to worry, I'll have Cindy pick some up." "Thanks! Here's the money for them." Since Kevin became a teenager last year, he'd gotten real serious about not owing anything to anybody. Hmm. Where had I heard that before? "What are you doing?" he wanted to know. I explained what Nils Johansson was looking for and what I'd tried—and rejected—so far, "I can't figure out how to get light inside these threaded holes." "Hey! I was in the surplus store the other day and they have some lights that look like fiber optics. Would they work?" I thought about it for a minute, "You know, that might work! Thanks, Kevin! I'll run over there tomorrow." Maybe having a younger brother wasn't such a bad deal. I was waiting at the door when our local surplus store opened the next morning. I found the lights Kevin mentioned—they looked like fiber optic threads bundled together with a penlight flashlight on one end. With a little 'adjusting' I thought I could make them work so I bought half a dozen of them. At $3.95 each I figured I could splurge! I dragged my new goodies home and started fiddling. If I pushed a fiber optic bundle into one of the holes I could light the one on the other side, but that would mean I'd have the battery pack in the way on the other side. ARGGH! Beth saved me a couple of hours later. "Tommy, it's too nice to spend the whole day stuck in your basement! I'll be there in fifteen minutes so you can take me for a ride ... in the Healey, you letch!" she giggled. I was waiting on the front step when Beth skidded into the driveway. "Jeez, woman, where's the fire?" "I want to go swimming!" "Okay, let me get my suit." I stood up just in time to see that look that said I was being dense, again. "Oh, you mean at the farm!" Beth had hopped out of the car and slid in the passenger seat. Obviously, I was driving. We got to the farm only to find Greg's car already parked in the field above the pond. I looked at Beth, "Looks like we're not the only ones with the idea of taking a dip. Should we let them know we're here?" Beth got that look on her face that said our friends were in for a surprise. She jumped out of the car and started pulling her clothes off. What could I do but join her? As we got near the bushes screening the pond we could hear Cindy's giggle. Beth peeked through the bushes and saw our friends at the far end of the pool with Cindy floating on her back as Greg licked one of her prominent nipples. Beth looked at me with an absolutely evil grin, "Let's go." She darted around the bush and yelled a she dove in the pond. I was a couple of steps behind her—just enough that I saw the result of her charge. Greg whipped his head around, lost his footing and fell back into the water, pulling Cindy under with him. They both came up sputtering. "God damn, son-of-a-bitch! Who was that!" Greg yelled, then he saw who it was. "I should have known. Lookin' pretty good there, Beth," He leered. Beth realized she was standing in water only up to her knees. She turned around and looked ready to bolt back to the bushes when she stopped. "Oh, the hell with it. We're all friends, right?" With that she waded out and swam across to our friends. I joined them a couple of seconds later. "I hope you don't mind us being here," Greg apologized. "Greg, I said any time," Beth looked at our friend. "I hope you don't mind if WE'RE here." I could hear the grin in her voice. "Ah ... um, no, of course not!" Greg stammered as he looked at Beth standing in water that JUST reached her hips. My lady might not be as well-developed as Cindy, but she looked damn good in her skin. Cindy looked at me and winked. Obviously, she had no problem with Greg leering at Beth. Did I? I'd spent a lot of time thinking about that. Ever since the day Beth and I were here and she had kidded me about an orgy I'd often thought about seeing Beth with another guy. I realized that I was still very uncomfortable with the idea. Cindy waded over to me. "Tommy, don't worry, Greg's just looking—just like you are." Damn, I was! Here I was thinking bad thoughts about my best friend looking at my girl and I was doing the same thing! That snapped me out of it. "Sorry, Cindy. My head's not screwed on too tight this afternoon, I guess." "Hey, it happens. You know Beth's been a friend of mine for a long time. Well, except for a few minutes at the café when I realized the two of you had set me up with Greg, but, hell, even that worked out! Don't worry about the two of them. Nothing's going to happen." We made our way over to where Greg and Beth were standing. Cindy grabbed Greg's arm. "Remember me?" she kidded. He wrapped Cindy in his arms, "Always, babe, always. Even if I do get distracted sometimes." I looked at Beth and saw the red creeping up her throat. Greg turned to say something to me, lost his footing on the bottom and fell face-first in the water, almost taking Cindy with him again. By the time the laughter stopped, all the tension was gone. We were back to just a bunch of friends hanging out. We swam and goofed off for a while then climbed out and grabbed our towels. I was drying Beth's back when I heard, "CUT THAT OUT!" I turned around and saw Greg trying to dry a spot between Cindy's thighs. The problem was ... he'd forgotten the towel! Beth and I just laughed as we started up the hill to the cars and our clothes. We left as soon as we got dressed and took the long route home, letting our hair dry in the breeze. ------- The next morning I tried to work my way around my lighting problem. I figured if I could just... "Hi, Tommy!" After some serious mouth-to-mouth to get my heart going again, I showed Beth what I was trying to do and the trouble with the fiber lights. "Tommy, those colors will really show off everything! I'll bet Mr. Johansson will love the results." "I hope so, once I figure out how to get a big hole in the bottom of the piece. "What brings you over here so early? Not that I'm complaining or anything!" "Oh, I just missed you and thought I could tempt you with lunch." She purred. "Sounds good. Time for a break anyway. So where are you taking me so I can buy you lunch?" I asked as I climbed in the Jeep. "Well, we haven't seen Jeanie for a while." "Great. The Pizza Palace it is!" "Hi, kids!" Jeanie said as she led us back to our favorite booth. "The usual? With or without onions?" "Well," Beth looked at me. "Since he's buying I suppose without." Her little pout didn't fool me. As we waited for our pizza I told Beth what I wanted to do so I could get the fiber optic lights into the part. "Looks like I'll have to get the old electric drill out and try not to puncture myself—too often." Beth sat there with a funny little grin on her face. "Okay, lady, what's so funny?" "Oh, just a way to save your hide from becoming too holy," she chuckled at her pun. Just then Jeanie came around the corner with our pizza. And that effectively tabled any further discussion. As I bit into the last slice of our lunch, Beth brought up what should have been obvious, "Is he going to use your pictures on his web pages too?" Dope slap! I hadn't even asked him if he had a site! Better call him and find out. If he didn't maybe I could steer some more work in Jim and Dan's direction. As soon as we got back to the house, Beth grabbed my problem piece of plastic, one of the fiber optic lights, and started for the door, "Follow me!" "Where are you going?" "Where WE'RE going is to work!" Work? I realized what she meant as we turned into the parking lot at the shop Beth's folks owned. "Beth, I don't want to bother your parents with this." "Oh, we won't be bothering anybody!" She laughed as we walked toward the loading dock door. "Hi, Bud!" Beth greeted her parent's foreman. "Hey, kiddo. I didn't know you were working today. Oh, hi, Tommy. You two up to something? Should I call the fire department now or wait 'til I smell the smoke?" "Bud! Won't you ever forget that?" He just grinned. "Um, Beth, what's he talking about?" I felt like I was missing something. "Oh, nothing. Right, Bud?" I was glad my lady wasn't glaring at ME like that. Bud just chuckled. We walked through the shop itself, with its double row of CNC equipment. "Ah, Beth, all I need is a hole in the bottom of this piece! Isn't this a little over-kill?" "This stuff, oh yeah. That's why we're not going to use it!" She said as she led me over to a stairway leading down to a basement I didn't even know the building had. She led me over to what looked like the only piece of equipment in the whole place that wasn't numerically controlled—an ancient Atlas milling machine. Beth was obviously no stranger to the mechanical beast that was taller than she was. She had the plastic piece fastened down on the table and all the cuts made before I figured out what all the wheels on the machine were for. "How does that look? Do you need anything cut out on the back?" "N-no, that should work great." I took the fiber optic head and tried a couple of angles. Everything was perfect. "How did you know how to do that?" I looked at the mill that looked like a huge drill press on steroids. She just laughed, "Tommy, you don't think I could grow up in a place like this without learning how everything works do you? Especially with parents who are both mechanical engineers!" I just stood there wondering how much else I didn't know about my princess. When we got back home I wanted to try out the modifications Beth did right away. I threw together a small stand that let me put the fiber optic lights under the piece and use the strobes to light the sides. It took a lot of fiddling around with positioning and a couple of changes of gel colors before I got what I wanted. Beth just lounged on our basement couch and watched. "Hey! I could use some help as long as you're here. Just grab that reflector and..." An hour later and we were done. A little Photoshop touch-up and I could get the JPGs to Nils. I called him to get his e-mail address. "Um ... how long before I can get the pictures, Tommy?" "I'll have a set of proofs by the day after tomorrow. Is it okay if I e-mail them to you and you can choose which pictures you want?" "That sounds great! I can't wait to see what you've done!" Beth was sitting on the couch with a little smile on hr face, "Following Dad's advice, I see—'Never deliver things too soon.' I've heard him say that more than once." I plopped down next to her, "Fire department? Sounds like a story in there somewhere." "Well, when I was learning to use some of the equipment I forgot to start the coolant flow until I was almost through drilling a piece of steel, and when I remembered the metal was so hot there was a cloud of steam that filled the whole shop. But Bud was exaggerating about calling the fire department—and it only took a couple of hours to air out the shop!" Beth had me laughing my head off by the time she was done. "It wasn't funny! My dad spent the rest of the afternoon lecturing me on how NOT to drill steel! "Well, yeah, I guess it was pretty funny after all," she admitted with a grin. "I learned my lesson, though. I NEVER forgot after that day!" I leaned over and kissed her as my hand found its own way under her t-shirt. "So how's your coolant flow now?" I murmured as I tweaked a nipple. "Mmm, probably enough, but I can't promise no steam," she purred as she reached for my belt. It didn't take us too long before I was able to check for myself. "Tommy, don't tease me like that!" I licked her once more, trying my best to raise some steam. "Thomas George Randahl, get up here! I'm dying!" I slid up, kissing my way up her long, lithe body until she was vibrating under me—when suddenly I was on my back and Beth was guiding me into her. "Ooh, that's what I need," she purred as she rose and fell over me. I knew this was Beth's favorite position, ever since she got over the idea she wasn't endowed enough to make a guy happy. I reached up to cup her breasts and she leaned into my hands as she picked up the pace of her gyrations until we both exploded. I was drowsing in that just-after-great-sex daze when I heard feet pounding down the stairs. "Hey, Tommy, you down here?" Kevin burst around the corner and dead-stopped when he saw us on the couch. "Oops, sorry!" he said as he started backing out of the room. "Hey, Kevin! Don't worry about it!" Beth called out. "Um, I guess we're even now?" he said, referring back to the day we caught him and Gail on the couch upstairs. It was funny watching my little—er, younger—brother trying not to stare at my lady. Being polite in the face of temptation like that was a bitch. Once we both got cleaned up we adjourned to my room to Photoshop the sample shots we'd got. "I think he'll be happy with these. At least I hope so." I said as we looked at the pictures on the monitor. "Tommy, they look great! I can't believe the way the colored light brings out the threads in those holes. He's going to love them!" Nothing like encouragement from my love to brighten my day! I sent Nils the JPGs the next day and called him to set up a time to get with him to decide on the final cropping and what formats he needed—and to remind him to call my friends about setting up a web presence. I decided to stop at the photo shop and talk to Joe about some filters I was looking at. "Hi, Tommy! What's up?" "I just stopped in to see if you had any kind of filter that I can use to cut down the sensitivity of my camera. I was trying to get some pictures of running water, something to show the movement, and no matter how much I fiddle with the ASA and shutter speed I just can't get a long enough exposure." "Sounds like you need a neutral density filter. You can get them everywhere from one f-stop up to twenty or so. I'd suggest you start with one that will give you a three f-stop reduction." He grabbed one of the Nikons on display and showed me what the filter would do. "Sounds like that's what I'm looking for. "Oh, almost forgot! I need a point-and-shoot camera for my girlfriend. What would you suggest?" We talked cameras for a few minutes and I ended up with a Nikon S220—a ten-megapixel camera that would easily fit in a pocket but still be able to produce good pictures. Beth seemed happy with her new camera, at least until I took it away from her for the night. I mean, how many pictures of me does she need?! ------- "Tommy, can I ask you to do me a big favor?" We were just lazing away a nice early-fall afternoon when she got that little-girl sound in her voice that always meant I was in for it. Ah, well, might as well have some fun while I could. "Um, sure you MAY." "And you, my dear are a floccinaucinihilipilificator," she fired back. As a joke, I had bought her a book: Increasing Your Vocabulary, One Day At A Time and now it was obvious the domesticated fowl had returned to their domicile. "My grandparents are coming for a visit and Mom wants me to pick them up at the airport. Would you come with me?" I could hear the pleading in her voice. "Are these Joan and Hank, your Mom's parents, right?" "Yeah." "Sure. You need me along for the heavy lifting?" "Well, no ... It's just that if I'm by myself they'll give me the third degree all the way home." Beth was doing everything but scuffing her bare toes in the grass to convince me she was just a helpless little girl. "Oh, ho! So you want me there to act as a decoy, huh? So they can grill me about how I'm treating you or if I'm trying to do unspeakable things to you." I really shouldn't pick on Beth, but it's so darn much FUN! "Um, sort of. I'd be REAL grateful if you'd come along." "Well ... I suppose ... Do I get hazardous duty pay for the trip?" "Sure! With overtime and everything!" "Everything?" I said with a leer. "Well ... almost everything." "Okay. When are they going to be here?" "Um, three this afternoon." I looked at my watch. We were going to have to hustle. ------- We met them at the baggage carousel. Her Grandmother Joan reminded me of Beth's mom while her Grandfather Hank looked like a tall Arte Johnson, with a twinkle in his eye that made me think it would be a good idea to keep my eye on him. "You must be Tommy," he boomed from twenty feet away. "Um, yes, sir." "Son, I've never been knighted, call me Hank. It's really Henry, but don't bother asking if I'm an archeologist." He shook my hand then turned, grabbed Beth and twirled her around. "Hi, Beffy!" Beffy? I filed that away for future blackmail. Beth reddened as her grandfather lifted her off her feet, "Hi, Grandpa. I'm glad you guys could make it!" "Grandma Joan, this is Tommy," she said after Hank put her down. "Yeah, I think I heard that somewhere," she chuckled, throwing her husband a knowing look. "Hi, Tommy, I'm glad to meet you finally. We've heard a lot about you." "I deny it all!" I laughed. "I wasn't there and besides that, all the charges were dropped." Both Beth's grandparents exploded in laughter. "We're going to get along just fine!" Hank laughed as he slapped my shoulder. "Let's see if we can find our bags and get out of here—too many people!" "Er, Hank, why shouldn't I ask about you being an archeologist?" "Son, do I look like Sean Connery?" Sean Connery? Archeologist? What ... Suddenly the light came on—Henry Jones! But Jones was Beth's dad's name. Beth came to my rescue, "Tommy, I'm a Jones on both sides. Different families, before you ask!" ------- We got the suitcases and headed for the parking lot. As we walked up to the Jeep, Hank looked at Beth, "Nice vehicle, makes it easy to get around on the farm doesn't it?" There's a particular shade of red that appears no place in nature except on my lady's face. Joan's looked at her granddaughter and then at me and chuckled quietly. "We want to buy you dinner," Hank said as we pulled out of the lot. "How does pizza sound? I know of this little place that used to have the best pizza! I hope it's still there." Beth had already aimed the nose of the Jeep west. As we pulled into the parking lot for the Pizza Palace Hank looked at Beth, "So much for showing you something new..." We walked into the Palace and Jeanie's eyes lit up, "Joan! Hank! Good to see you again!" "Hi, Jeanie. How you doing?" Hank hugged her. "Just fine you horny old bastard! You want your usual booth? It's open." "Sure, I think Beth's old enough to learn about our special spot." Beth and I exchanged grins as we both stifled laughs. After we got to the booth and Jeanie had our drink orders Hank put his arm around his wife and whispered something in her ear. Joan elbowed him playfully, "Hank! Beth and Tommy are here, be nice!" "Um, we already know about your snuggle booth," Beth said with a grin. The look on Hank's face made me really sorry I didn't have the Nikon handy. "You do, huh. I guess you're not my little girl anymore." He shook his head then looked at me. "You have anything to do with this, Tommy?" "Well ... I guess so. We ah, sort of found this booth one night not long after we started going together. I was really surprised when both Beth's folks and mine knew about it too." "Keeping it in the family, eh?" Joan chuckled. "By the way, Tommy, I hear you wish we hadn't torn down the old barn." Now it was my turn to turn into an infrared source. Hank's and Joan's laughter didn't help. "How ... Who?" was all I could get out. "Oh," Joan said. "Beth and I talk a lot." Damn, it was getting hot in here! After the pizza arrived the conversation switched to safer topics—much to my relief. ------- After we dropped Beth's grandparents off she drove me home. "Tommy, can you come back for dinner tonight?" "I think so. The folks don't have anything special planned. I'll just have to leave a note." "Good! Aren't my grandparents great?!" "Yeah, but it takes a little to get used to them," I said with a little grin. "I probably should have warned you about that," Beth said with her own little grin. "I thought I was going to fall through the booth when your grandmother mentioned the old barn. Is there anything you haven't told her?" Please say yes. Please say yes. I prayed. "Oh, yeah, there's lots of things I haven't mentioned ... yet." Yet? I suddenly felt this sinking feeling. I'm not used to grandparents who are privy to private stuff like that. I looked over at Beth, only to see a huge grin bisecting her face while I tried to remember how to breathe. Dinner that night was something else—Hank and Beth's dad spent most of the meal trying to out-innuendo each other while Joan and Beth's mom tried to keep things under control—with little luck. "So," boomed Hank, "Did you get the spare room cleared out or are we going to have to sleep on the couches downstairs—assuming all the wet spots are cleaned up!" Joan elbowed her husband, "Hank! You're embarrassing Beth and Tommy, why, just look at them!" I guess it IS possible to blush down to your toes—at least that's the way it felt. After dinner Beth and I escaped, pleading plans with Greg and Cindy. "An orgy, huh?" was Hank's response, earning him another poke in the ribs. Apparently sharp elbows run in the family. ------- We were sitting in Greg's family room talking about Beth's grandparents. "They sound like quite a pair," said Greg. "Yeah," Cindy added. "How do you do it? I'd die of embarrassment before I could tell my grandmother some of the things you've talked about." "Well, I guess it's just a matter of getting used to it. I've always been able to talk to Grandma Joan, even more than my mom. "As far as Grandpa Hank goes, well remember, I've listened to him and my dad my whole life. I could tell when I hit puberty—it wasn't acne or getting my boobs or anything like that. It was when I started blushing at their conversations. "I asked Grandma Joan about growing up in the Sixties once and she was ready to drag out the photo album and prove that she DID wear flowers in her hair and swam nude at Woodstock. I'm not sure I have the guts to ask them what dating was like back then." "Just think," I mused. "When we're their age what we could tell our grandkids about when we were that age." I got a look from Beth that was a combination of Oh, no, you won't! and He's talking about grandkids again! The next day I was at Beth's for a family picnic. Beth's mom and grandmother were ferrying food out from the kitchen while Hank and Beth's dad argued over the best way to start the grill. The two of us shared a lounge chair as we watched all the action. We'd offered to help but got shooed out of the kitchen and neither of us were brave enough to try to referee the great barbeque debate between the Jones boys. Once the fire was going well Hank plopped down in a chair next to us, "Well, summer's almost gone. Back to school soon, eh?" "Yeah. Only two more weeks of freedom," I responded glumly. "Tommy, quit yanking my chain. Beth's told us how much you enjoy school." Rats, ratted out by the girl I thought loved me! When caught with your fingers in the cookie jar, confess immediately, "Oh, school's not that bad, just not as good as having the summer off. Besides, this year Beth and I get to share at least one class." "Really, which one, English? History?" "No, Drafting." Hank had a surprised look on his face, "Drafting, huh? How'd you work that?" "Well, Beth wants to get some CAD experience before she starts engineering school in college and I want some extra credit if I end up in art school." "Art school?" "Yeah, I want to get into photography as a profession and one of the local schools has a bachelor's degree in digital photography that I'm looking into." "Well I guess that makes sense and I'm sure Beth can use all the credits she can get—even if she's only going to the U here." "C'mon Grandpa, just because I'm not going to Boston and that trade school on the river you went to." Hank bristled, "Bethany Anne, MIT is NOT a trade school. I don't care what those Cambridge snobs say!" Beth just leaned back against me and chuckled as her grandfather realized he'd just had his chain pulled—royally. "You better watch out for this one, Tommy, she's given me more trouble than any of our other grandchildren!" "Grandpa, I'm your ONLY grandchild," Beth reminded him. "So, I'm right. Right?" I could see the grin of grandfatherly pride at the edges of Hank's mouth. "Grr..." was the only response from his favorite granddaughter. I figured a diversion was in order, "Hank, how did you and Joan meet?" I saw a look of fond memories come over his face, "Tommy, if you go west on Highway Seven, right on the southeast corner of the lake there used to be a big amusement park. They tore it down in the Seventies. Now it's just a couple of restaurants and some condos, but back when we were kids it was a wonderful place to go—and to meet girls. "A friend of mine and I were waiting in line for the rollercoaster when these two beautiful girls came up to stand in line behind us. I was tongue-tied but my buddy, Earl, started to talk to the brunette, leaving me to stare dumbly at her ravishing blond friend. "Eventually, she took pity on me and introduced herself as Joan Swanson. We must have ridden that 'coaster together a dozen times that night..." I could see the memory of that first night in his eyes. "Anyway, that's how we met. I got her phone number and built up the nerve to ask her to dinner and a movie the next Saturday night. As a matter of fact we ended up at the Pizza Palace." "In the snuggle booth?" Beth asked. "Um, yeah," he responded with a hint of a blush as he looked at his granddaughter. "How come you've never talked about this before, Grandpa?" "Well, I was waiting until you grew up a bit. I guess I'm a bit late, huh?" Beth got our of our chair and knelt down to give Hank a big hug. "Oh, Grandpa, it's never too late for a story like that!" He told us about sneaking off on a road trip with Joan, ending up in New York just in time for Woodstock. "Tommy, I wish you could have been there. After the festival we camped by a lake near there. Early one morning I walked down to the lake at dawn just in time to see Joan coming out of the water. When Beth showed us the picture you took of her in the Caribbean I remembered that morning. I always wished I had something better than an Instamatic camera with me that dawn by the lake." Hank seemed almost to drift away as he re-lived that day. Beth looked at me and I wondered if we'd ever have memories like that. "Dinner's ready!" We all looked up with a start. Beth's dad was pulling the steaks off the grill. I'm ashamed to say we all stuffed ourselves, but that's what we did. I could hardly move when I finally pushed myself away from the table. Soon we were all stretched out in lawn chairs sound asleep. ------- We drove Beth's grandparents to the airport the next Thursday. Joan hugged me, "Tommy, it's been so good to meet you. After everything Beth's said, I wanted to see what a real prince looked like." What could I say? I just stood there trying not to blush. "Don't pick on the boy, Joan! "Tommy, it's been good to know you. You take care of my Beffy, you hear?" "Yes, sir, er, Hank. I'll do my best!" One last hug all around and they were on the way through security and I knew life was going to be a lot quieter without them around. ------- The last Sunday before school started. Where had the summer gone? It seemed like only a couple of weeks since we'd last been in class. I walked in the family room and saw my brother sitting on the couch, his head hanging down. "What's wrong, Kevin. You look like you just lost your best friend." He looked up at me with red eyes, "I have. They're moving, Tommy!" ------- The End ------- Posted: 2009-12-03 Last Modified: 2009-12-29 / 11:03:30 am ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------