__________


Vanetta heard the phone ringing.

"Oh no," she thought to herself, "Not now, Kelly!"

"Shouldn't you answer that?" asked Bobby lifting his head from
her damp curls.

"Damn it, Robert!" she said swinging her leg over his head.  "I
was so close!"

Still nude she padded across the office floor, reached across her
desk, and picked up the private line.  "Yes, Kelly?" she asked.

Kelly laughed on the other end of the line.  "Did I call at a bad
time?"

"More than you'll ever know," said Vanetta starting to smile.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Because Todd never calls on this line," Vanetta said, "and I
don't think Laura knows this number yet."

"I'm sorry about that," said Kelly, "I'll let you go back and try
to finish what you started.  I just wanted to let you know that
we'll be back before noon tomorrow."

"Okay," said Vanetta.  "I'm sure that Bobby won't mind starting
over.  By the way, that special shipment you were expecting
arrived Friday afternoon."

"Great!" said Kelly, "say hi to Robert for me, and I'll see you
tomorrow."

Vanetta laughed.  "Right!  Let him know that you know he's here.
I don't think so!"

"Have a good night, Vanetta," said Kelly warmly.

Vanetta hung up the phone and walked back to the studio couch.
She had turned on lights in Todd's apartment earlier to give the
appearance he was home, but downstairs in the studio, a dozen
coconut-scented candles cast a warm glow over the cream satin
sheet covering the couch - and Bobby, waiting for her and wearing
nothing but a smile.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

Robert Payne had been her boyfriend for nearly a year.  She had
met him two years ago at the university when he was a TA for
one of her business courses.  He had shown an interest in her from
the
start, but Vanetta had been leery of his attentions.  During her
few years in North Carolina, she had twice dated white boys
only to find their interests no deeper than the allure of her coffee
colored skin.  It brought back disturbing memories of the rich
men who visited Jamaica to rent young dark girls.

Her mother had warned her about dating outside of the still
visible color bar, but for some reason that bar had never
excluded Todd and Kelly.  It was through Kelly's help that her
mother had
managed to secure landed immigrant status, and allowed Vanetta
and Delton to follow shortly afterwards.  With the help of Todd,
Vanetta had been accepted to UNC and Delton had been able to
start his own business.

Todd and Kelly, what a combination.  Not once in all the time she
had known them or worked for them had she felt or seen any
signs of being different.  Todd had never once suggested anything
sexual
towards her, though she knew she was not unattractive.  Actually,
Vanetta was very attractive, but Todd treated her more like a
sister than an employee or even a co-worker, and Kelly had always
been just like a sister to Vanetta.

Vanetta remembered fondly the "family" trip Todd and Kelly had
taken them all on to visit "The Home of the Rat," the first year
they had been in Charlotte.  Before Vanetta had taken on such a
heavy course load at UNC, she had gone with Kelly on trips to
Canada, New York, and even California.

Perhaps it was the fact that Robert reminded her of Todd that,
after a year of excuses, she finally accepted a date with him.
Robert had picked her up at the door of her mother's house and
taken her to a movie followed by a pizza.  He had been fun to
talk to and after the date officially ended, he had walked her
back to
her door and hesitantly placed a small kiss on her cheek.

Vanetta couldn't understand why Robert had persisted in asking
her out when he could have his choice of women.  Two years older, he
was over six feet tall and weighed in at all of 145 pounds.  He
had thick dark hair, which he kept fashionably short, and a neatly
trimmed beard.  Like her, he was an honor student bent on doing
his best, and had a thirst for knowledge.  He was in his final year
at the University and planned on teaching high school business after
he graduated, but for the time being worked part time for a
realty firm.

They had dated all of six times over a two-month period of time,
and he had never tried to go further than the kiss on the cheek
at the end of each date.  After the third month he had brought her
home to meet his parents for a holiday meal.  His mother was a
teacher and his father an editor for the North Carolina Nation.
After a few more visits with his parents and seeing no sign of
being anything other than a girl whom their son was seriously
pursuing, Vanetta eased her guard.

Vanetta had expressed her concerns to Kelly, who had really
listened.  Kelly had said, "You can't love if you're afraid of
being hurt."  Two weeks later after another movie, Vanetta had
slid closer to Robert and instead of a pizza they had gone parking.
He gave and received a lot more than a kiss on the cheek that night
and afterwards they had both laughed about how they were acting
like teenagers necking in a car.

Though it was obvious that they both intended and hoped to take
their physical relationship farther, they had still taken their
time.  Robert was fun to be with and the two of them spent many
hours just talking and laughing.

In the month that followed their first serious necking session,
Robert had moved slowly and carefully.  His first foray had
been to slip his hand on to her hard and flat stomach, stroking it
slowly
and had lovingly played with her belly button, which had given
her the giggles.  On their next date he dared to venture his hand up
farther and had cupped her breast in his hand over top of her
bra.

Vanetta took the initiative that night and undid her bra to give
him free access to her 36C breasts, her nipples the size of
pencil erasers and hard with desire.  She... the memory still made
her
nipples pucker thinking about it. she had gently pressed on his
head letting him know she wanted them suckled.

Things had heated up from that point and they started to date
weekly, sometimes skipping the movie all together.  In time,
Vanetta had allowed Robert to go farther and the night he finally
slipped his hand inside of her jeans and panties it took very
little manual stimulation from him to bring her to a climax.
That was the night she first undid his jeans and let his rock
hard cock spring forth to her gaze.  It looked so needy, all pink
and
with a ruby red head that she took it in her hand and gently
stroked it.  She was not prepared for how quickly he ejaculated
or how strongly.  Some landed on her blouse and some on his shirt,
before she tried to stop the flow by placing her palm over the
top of it feeling more spurts hitting her hand.  As he slowly
breathed back to a semblance of consciousness he started to
apologize, but
she hushed him with a kiss.  She looked at her dark hand holding
his baby pink cock and laughed at the cum seeping out over and
through her fingers.  Cream to go with her coffee colored skin.

Robert had confessed that night to Vanetta that she was the first
girl to ever have seen or touched his penis.  "I had once
promised myself I would be a virgin on my wedding night, Netta."

She had smiled at him.  "I understand Bobby.  You're the first
man who has ever touched my boobs much less down there!  I wasn't
saving it for marriage, but I promised myself that my first time
would be with someone who loved me, and who I loved."

"And I do love you, Netta," he had said.

They continued the weekly visits to their private lovers lane for
another month, necking and petting, masturbating each other to
the point of climax.  They were comfortable with each other at this
point in their sexual discovery, and often had multiple
climaxes in an evening.  The time in between was spent snuggling
and hugging
and making sweet love talk.

While they had both been total virgins, they were not stupid and
knew what the next step would be.  Nearly nine months after their
first date, Robert asked if she would consider spending the night
with him at a Holiday Inn.

The virginity she had protected for so long she surrendered to
Bobby that night, a special night for both of them.

Bobby took her out to a fancy restaurant, and then dancing.

Shortly before midnight, they arrived at their room and stood for
long minutes kissing just inside the doorway, neither wanting to
rush the moment.  Robert slowly undid her top, kissing each
square inch of skin as it came into view, then helped her out of her
shoes and nylons, leaving her clad in just her lacy black bra and
panties.

Vanetta pressed him back towards the bed, slowly undoing his
shirt buttons, slipping it from his shoulders, tossing it aside then
undoing his belt, unzipping his pants.  He stepped out of his
slip-on shoes as she slid down his pants to join his shirt in an
untidy pile.  She had pressed him back on the bed and pulled his
socks
off, and then reached forward to pull his shorts off.  He
actually blushed.

"You're going to blush now?" she had asked in surprise.  "I've
seen him in all his glory and he sure is in his glory right now!"
she said as she looked at his obvious excitement.

Vanetta sat down next to him on the bed and after a few more deep
soul kisses she moved back and gently nibbled her way down his
chest.  "I know guys are supposed to really like this," she had
said as she raised her head over his throbbing cock, "but while I
have an understanding of what I'm supposed to do, you'll have to
let me know if I'm doing this right."  With that she lowered her
lips to his cock which twitched wildly in response.

"Oh God, Netta," he moaned.  "This is my first and I don't know
what it's supposed to feel like but whatever you're doing, it
feels so good!"

Vanetta had heard enough talk from the girls in her classes to
know she should wet her lips and suck and slide on his shaft and
swirl her tongue around the head.  All this she did to please
him.

"Oh Jesus, Netta...  I can't hold back," and no sooner were the
words out of his mouth when he fired his first load into her.

The first splash of his thick hot cum nearly gagged her but she
instinctively swallowed.  She found that aside from tasting a bit
salty, she didn't mind it at all and continued to suck on his
cock until it softened in her mouth.

Bobby clasped her to him and kissed her deeply whispering
repeatedly how much he adored her and would do anything for her.
They lay together for a while letting Bobby get his bearings back
and then he undid her bra and slid off her panties, seeing her
nude for the first time ever with the lights on.  He was
transfixed by
the darkness of her desire-puckered nipples against her skin, and
laved his tongue across the nearer, then sucked it gently.  The
other received the same attention, and then each firm globe was
subjected to his butterfly-light kisses.  He slowly kissed his
way to her navel, her moans, and quickened breathing encouraging his
efforts, then on towards the source of the musky aroma filling
his nostrils.  He nipped at the short crinkly hair of her mound with
his lips, then changed position and was facing her pussy for the
first time ever.  Gingerly he spread her labia with his fingers,
gazing in wonder at the moist complication of her pink center,
and then touched his tongue to the wetness of her arousal.  The
taste
of her, along with the pheromones inflaming his senses finished
him and he dove right in, licking from her oozing hole to her
swollen
bud.

That first lick nearly lifted her off the bed!  It was so much
better than his fingers.  And then he did it again and again!
Vanetta was bucking her hips off the bed to meet the flat of his
tongue as he slid it from her vagina across her clit in steady
long strokes, until finally she could take it no more and grabbing
his
head ground her pelvis against his face until she saw fireworks!

Bobby continued licking, avoiding her sensitive clit until her
breathing quieted, his cock engorged almost to the point of pain,
and was surprised when she pulled him up to cover her.  She
kissed him deeply, tasting herself on his lips and tongue, then
pushed
him away a little to look into his eyes.  "It's time, Bobby.  Tell
me
you love me, and then fuck me.  Take my virginity, drive your
wonderful cock into me and make me cum!"  Bobby reached down to
socket himself in her hot hole, smearing their juices onto his
stiff shaft, then pushed in a little until the head of his cock
was pressed against her maidenhood.

"Darling, I love you with all my heart," he whispered, then
with a single slow stroke drove his manhood to its full depth into
her,
feeling her hymen tear and coming to rest with his mound tight
against hers.  Vanetta's eyes opened wide at the fleeting pain,
but it quickly faded at the sensation of her virgin sheath stretched
around the shaft buried deep within her.

He looked down at her, concerned, but was relieved when a smile
of lust spread across her face.  "Oh, yes, Darling, fuck me!"  She
wrapped her legs around his hips, feeling his cockhead pressed
against her cervix deep inside.  With painstaking slowness, he
pulled back until the head of his cock was once again spreading
the lips of her cunt, and without stopping slid back into her.

"Oh, God!  That feels incredible!" she exclaimed as her hips
swiveled, trying to get him deeper.  He withdrew again, and then
pushed into her faster, mashing her swollen clit between them.
Having cum earlier from her oral attention, Bobby's climax was
slow in building but Vanetta quickly found herself climbing toward
another orgasm.  His powerful, rhythmic thrusts never stopped as
she writhed beneath him, gasping for air, then as he approached
his peak, his grip shifted to her shoulders pulling her down onto
his
steel-hard shaft as he lunged into her.  She soared toward
another peak, even higher than the last, wrapping her legs tight
around
him as her greedy cunt tried to suck him in.  Her moans were words
now, a chant of "Fuck!  Fuck!  Fuck!" in the same cadence as his
balls-deep strokes, getting louder as she got closer.

Then he lost it.  He was MAN, and nothing existed in the world
save for the woman beneath him, slamming into her and locking her
body to him as he spurted his life-giving essence into her
sucking cunt, frozen in the endless instant of their shared nirvana.

He collapsed panting onto her, the blood roaring in his ears,
then after a few minutes pushed himself to the side still sheathed
within her so he could see her eyes, and the love they held for
him.

"Oh fuck!" he whispered when he could speak again.  "That was
incredible!"

Vanetta smiled weakly.  "That was way beyond expectation," she
whispered in return.  "I love you."

"I love you," he said, and pressed his lips to hers in a long,
loving kiss, then they lay for a while just looking at each
other, caressing and sharing little smiles and kisses.

His cock eventually shrunk from its warm nest, to a disappointed
"Ohh!" from Vanetta.  "Never mind Darling," he smiled, "Give it a
few minutes to rest, and it'll be as good as new."  He reached to
grab a handful of tissues from the bedside cabinet and gently
cleaned their combined juices from her as he looked closely at
her swollen mound.

"Mmm, that smells good!" he exclaimed.

"What?"

"Fresh-fucked woman!" he grinned up at her.

"Oh, you!" she laughed.  "C'mon here!" and pulled him up to kiss
him fiercely.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

They made love twice more that night before they were both too
exhausted to try any more and went to sleep cuddled against each
other.

That night had confirmed their true feelings for each other and
they dated as frequently as possible.  While making love was not
always possible, they did it every opportunity they had.  They
sat in the library at the university, sitting on the floor in the
back rows looking at sex guides and manuals, making mental notes of
what they wanted to try next.  They still went to the movies and had
their pizza nights, but neither had much spare money.  It had
been Vanetta's idea that Bobby come by the studio on those nights
when
Todd and Kelly were out of town.  While he left at a reasonable
hour, Vanetta remained the night, sleeping on the couch where
they had made love earlier.

Tonight was the first night the phone had ever rung.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

"Anything important?"  Bobby asked as Vanetta slid back on the
satin sheet.

"Just Kelly letting me know that they'll be back around noon.
That means you can spend the night if you like," she added shyly.

Bobby smiled at her.  She was stunning.  Her skin was flawless
and looked darker and richer on the cream colored satin.  "I'd love
that, Sweetheart," he said as he bent over her to suckle on her
firm breasts and large puckered nipples.

She gently pressed on his head reminding him where he had been
when the phone had interrupted them.  Licking his way down her
flat stomach he soon slid back between her spread legs and deftly
parted her labia exposing the pink tender flesh inside.  He loved
the
taste of her and eagerly worked his way into her with his
tongue.  Soon she was gasping for breath as Bobby took her over
the edge
twice.

Vanetta was kissing Bobby, tasting herself on his tongue.  "I
love you, Bobby," she said.

"And I love you, Vanetta," he said with the tenderness that comes
with sincerity.

Since they no longer had to worry about Bobby leaving, they took
the time to fix something to eat from the studio kitchen,
listened to some music, and cuddled.  They had time, and the
tender and
loving words and gestures and touching stoked their fires again.

Vanetta gently pressed on Bobby's chest until he was reclined on
the couch.  Kneeling between his legs, Vanetta took his semi
stiff cock in her hands, the pale skin of his cock contrasting
with her
dark skin.  As she gently played with his prick it began to swell
and Vanetta slipped it into her mouth.  She loved to feel it grow
and brushed the tender glans with her tongue, sucking as much of
him into her mouth as she could before he was fully hard.

Her hands moved down to stroke and caress his scrotum and thighs
as his cock became fully rigid.  Allowing her teeth to gently
scrape his engorged member she alternated between wrapping her
lips around and sucking as she slowly bobbed her head, and teasing
him
with the scraping of her teeth, swirling her tongue around his
glans.

Vanetta could feel his balls tighten and she knew he was close to
coming.  Gently cupping both his balls with one hand she wrapped
the other around his pulsing shaft and slowly pumped it up and
down while she sucked on him wetly.  She had learned it was his
favorite way.  Soon he was moaning out his love for her and his
total
devotion as his hips bucked and he let loose with a torrent of
cum that she eagerly drank.

As Bobby lay there panting in the afterglow of his climax,
Vanetta continued to gently pump his semi-engorged prick with one
hand as
she straddled him, rubbing the head of his cock against her wiry
pubic hair.  She knew that he especially liked that and soon his
cock was almost as hard as before.  Vanetta continued to stroke
his cock against her cunt with one hand making sure that she
brushed it across her clit as well.  Moving forward she slipped
his new
erection right inside of her hot vagina and she rode him until
she climaxed, falling forward on him and planting kisses all over
his
face and neck, and of course nibbling on his ears.

Bobby loved the feeling of Vanetta's tongue in his ear and it
brought him close to another orgasm.  Wrapping his arms around
her he thrust up with a manic pace as his breath became ragged.
Vanetta herself was rapidly approaching another climax as well
and ground her cunt against him on every stroke until both of them
crossed the point of no return.

Moaning softly, Vanetta let her legs splay out keeping him
trapped in her hot box, her tits mashed against his chest.  Wrapped
together, they fell asleep to the sound of each other's gentle
breathing.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

Todd woke up early Monday morning and quietly slipped out of bed
leaving Kelly and Laura clutched in an embrace.

After relieving himself, he splashed his face to finish waking
up, and then packed up the last of his camera equipment and moved it
and the girls' packed cases to the door.  They were leaving with
considerably more than they had brought with them, most of it
Star Trek T's.  Laura had refused to pack the dolphin he had bought
for her, insisting that she wanted to see it through the night.  He
smiled at the thought of how pleased she was with small mementos
that would remind her of special times.

Todd brushed his teeth and took stock of the suite.  No visible
damage, but he left a sizable tip for the housecleaning staff,
much larger than the day before.  The Hampton had been good to them
and he intended to spend more time there in the future, especially
if
this deal with Al went through.

Satisfied that he could do no more, he returned to lean on the
balcony, looking at the island.  It was still early, but he could
see the golfers heading out for an early morning start.  Unlike
the previous night, Todd had slipped on a pair of scrub pants and
one
of the new t-shirts.  All the dirty laundry was in a bag waiting
for the last items that Kelly or Laura might add.

Though he didn't want to leave, Todd knew that IC was depending
on him to deliver, and he would.  He was anxious himself to see how
the shots turned out, but his thoughts drifted to what he had
said to Kelly.  He had the love of two beautiful women, and this
last
month had been the happiest of his entire life.

"Hey sailor!  Looking for a good time?"

Todd laughed as Kelly joined him on the balcony.  He gave her a
kiss.  "Nope, sorry lady," he said.  "It can't get any better
than what I have now!  This is as good as it gets!"

Kelly smiled at him.  Like Todd, she had cleaned up, brushed her
teeth, and for the first time since they had arrived at the
Hampton she was on the balcony dressed.  Barely.

"I could get used to this," she said to him.  "I'm thinking of
asking Al about buying a cottage out here if we land the job.
What do you think?"

"I think the chances of getting a cottage here is going to be
somewhere between none and not a chance in hell!" he laughed.
"But it wouldn't hurt to ask him.  Maybe if we suggest opening an
office down here the chances would improve though."

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Not really," he said.  "But it would be a nice place to come to
when we want to escape."

"Yeah, it never hurts to dream does it?  I see you left a nice
tip for the staff, and all the packed stuff is by the door.  Are you
getting psyched to start printing?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said.  "I've got a lot of film to process,
from Regan's to the bubble bath pictures.  Might as well run it
all through at once, it won't take much extra time."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Kelly said.  "When I was talking to
Vanetta she said our Canadian beer had arrived."  She took out a
cigarette and lit it.  "Just in time too.  I was nearly out of my
favorite vice supply."

"When will the plane be here?"  Todd asked.

"In about an hour.  I figured I'd let Laura sleep a bit longer
and then if she hasn't woken on her own, I'll just have to help
her."  Kelly smiled.  "She's a real sweetheart isn't she?  I can't
remember ever being so happy."

"That's funny," said Todd, "I was thinking the same thing before
you came out.  I can't remember ever being so at peace with
myself."

"Are you guys talking about me behind my back in front of my
face?" came a sleepy voice from behind.

"You bet," said Kelly as she gave Laura a good morning kiss.

"We were just saying how lucky we are that you came into our
lives," said Todd as he kissed her.

"Luck?  Or Kismet?"

"Maybe a little of both," said Kelly.  "Are you nearly ready to
take another flight?"

"Yep.  Got all my stuff ready to go.  You think the pilot will do
what Chris did for me on Friday?"

"If he does," said Kelly, "he'll never father another child!
Speaking of flying, I better take a Gravol now."

Laura looked out to the pier hoping to catch sight of the
dolphins once more before they left but it was a bit late in the
morning.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart," said Todd reading her expression,
"next time we come, we can get up really early and go down and visit
your friends."

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

Half an hour later, a bellhop came up and carried their bags down
to a waiting golf cart.  Kelly settled the bill for the room and
asked the manager about the availability of rooms should they
land the contract to do the new brochures.

"Well, we always keep a few rooms open all the time just in
case," said the manager.  "Like when Mr. Regan called.  Some
people you
never want to turn away.  I'll be sure to add your name to the
list."

Kelly thanked him and left a few business cards for him.

She saw Todd and Laura waiting in the cart wearing the cowboy
hats Laura had bought them and remembered to slip her own on.
"Might as well go in style," she thought.

Kelly recognized the pilot who had come for them as the same one
who had taken them to Laurel Canyon to visit the Prevans.  He
gave a friendly smile and wave as they pulled up, and helped Todd
stow
the luggage on board.

"I've just got to top up the tanks," he said, "So we should be
ready to take off in about 15 minutes."

Laura went with him, fascinated by the bigger plane.  Kelly moved
off the runway and parked herself in the grass lighting up her
last before she would be airborne.

Shortly, the pilot motioned them over, and, after an uneventful
flight in smooth air; they landed in Charlotte shortly after 10
o'clock.  Kelly couldn't hide her smile at Laura's enthusiasm for
flying, feeling some of her lover's excitement herself, and saw
the same smile on Todd's face.

While Laura fetched her car from the parking lot, Kelly went to
talk to Chris about another round trip to Laurel Canyon on
Wednesday for Laura to pick up the two girls.

Laura parked the car close to the office and Todd shifted the
baggage from the plane to the Honda.  Laura dashed in long enough
to thank Chris once again for the fantastic flight he had given
her on Friday, and then they drove back to the studio.

Vanetta was waiting for them.  Bobby had left before eight.  She
had arranged for Delton to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables and
he had dropped them off that morning.

While Todd unpacked his camera and carried the film into the
darkroom, Kelly and Vanetta set about making a large pitcher of
juice and Laura made a phone call to her mother letting her know
she was back safe and sound.

"So the weekend was successful?"  Vanetta asked.

"Very," said Kelly, "Probably as good as last night was for you!"

Vanetta ducked her head slightly.  "Hush now, Kelly.  That's
supposed to be a secret."

Kelly laughed.  "Don't you worry, your secret's safe with me."

Laura came back in time to help clean fruit for a midmorning
snack.  "I've got all the dirty clothes in a bag," she said to
Kelly, "can we wash them at your place?"

"Of course," said Kelly.  "I've just got a few things to take
care of here and then we can head out.  I'm sure Vanetta's anxious
to
get home as well," she said with a smile.  "There's nothing else
planned for today, and Todd's going to be in the darkroom for
quite a while.  We'll stop and get you a cell phone of your own, and
come back after supper to make sure that Todd has something to eat."

Todd came back out after 15 minutes, just in time to join the
three girls for a morning juice break.  Laura got the vitamins
and the go-juice out and the four of them discussed the day's
activities.

"I've got about 100 negatives to develop," Todd said, "so if
Vanetta is heading out, could you forward the calls to your
phone, Kell?"

"No problem.  Laura and I are going to stop off and get her a
cell of her own, and then we figured on doing the laundry.  How long
do you think before you'll be able to come out and eat?"

"Hmm, fresh soup, developing time, drying time... give me about
two hours, okay?"

"It might take a bit longer than that before we can make it
back," said Kelly, "but if you print the contact sheets, we should
be
back in time to feed you and to take a look at the master's work!"

Todd laughed.  "I can only hope I got a few decent shots out of
the whole weekend."

"Now you're just being humble," said Kelly.  "I'm looking forward
to seeing the ones you did of Anna and Laura."

After drinking a double serving of the fresh juice, and downing
the vitamins chased back by cold fresh fruit, Todd gave his two
lovers a kiss.  "See you guys around 2 then."

"I should get running too," said Vanetta, "I might make it in
time for afternoon classes."

"You go then, girl!" said Kelly.  "I can tell you all the sordid
details of Todd's strip dance tomorrow."

Vanetta raised her eyebrows at Todd who just sighed.

"You might not have time tomorrow," said Vanetta.  "There's a
note on your desk about a big shipment of equipment coming tomorrow
afternoon along with some burly men to unload it all and set it
up.  I guess it's pretty heavy."

"Perfect timing," said Kelly.  "Thanks, Vanetta."

"Oh, and I filled the fridge with beer, the rest is in the back
room along with your cigarettes."

"What a wonderful way to start out a new week," said Kelly.
"I'll have to take a couple of cartons home with me!"

"And on the subject of good news, Delton left a package for you
as well, Todd.  It's in the crisper in your fridge upstairs."

Todd gave her a big smile.  "Be sure to thank him for me if I
don't see him in the next few days."  With that he turned and
headed back to the darkroom.

"Did I leave enough money for the Canadian delivery?"  Kelly
asked.

"More  than enough," said Vanetta.  "Remember their dollar is
only 62 cents US."

"And you made sure his trip was worthwhile?"  Kelly asked.

"He was more than happy," said Vanetta.  "I asked him to stay for
lunch and I cooked him up one of those nice thick steaks from the
freezer."

"Was that a smart idea?" asked Kelly.  "Being alone with him in
the studio?"

"No worries, mother dear," laughed Vanetta.  "He called ahead to
make sure that somebody would be here so I had Delton stop by and
he helped unload the truck while I was cooking lunch.  After he
finished eating he stuck around a while to chat.  He said it was
nice not to have had to run down empty.  Said his next stop was
to
pick up a trailer full of oranges.  Would you believe he gets
seventeen dollars wholesale on a ten pound bag?"

Kelly laughed.  "Yeah, 17 Canadian!"

"Still, it's a worthwhile trip for him," she said.  "But, I have
to run.  See you tomorrow!"

"Have a good day, Vanetta," Kelly said.

Laura said goodbye to Vanetta as well and silence descended in
the studio.

"I've just got to check my email," said Kelly, "and then we can
head out ourselves."

"Okay," said Laura.  "I'm going to put my dolphin in the bedroom
upstairs and I'll be ready."

Kelly quickly skimmed through her mail and email, entered the
numbers from the last few days on who had been where and the
feedback.  There were no complaints and more than a few
compliments towards clients from the models.  Kelly brought her
database up
to date and then shut off the computer.

Setting the studio phone to forward calls to her cell, she and
Laura left the studio locking the door behind them.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

"Kelly, I need to stop at a drugstore as well," said Laura as she
eased her car out of the parking lot.

"I should stock up as well," said Kelly.  "I shouldn't need them
for another week or so, but it's not like they'll go to waste.
There's a good store near my place so we can stop there on the
way home.  First let's head into town and get you a phone."

Laura found a parking spot near the corner of South and Euclid.
Locking the doors, and dropping money in the meter, the girls
entered the At-Comm store that serviced TKO's cell needs.

"Hiya Kelly!"

Kelly turned to see Benny coming out of the back office.

"Hi Benny," she said.  "We need to get a third cell on our plan
for Laura here," introducing Laura to the manager.

"Okay, something small and compact?"

"Preferably."

"Well we have a special on right now on this Sony Ericsson T68i
with a camera attachment for only $199.99," he said lifting a
small palm size phone from the display stand.  "The T68 is a triple
band phone with a full color screen and is packed with features.  It
has GPRS, Bluetooth, and EMS and the T68 has advanced calendar and
contacts features that you can synchronize data with your PC.  It
comes complete with a hands free ear bud, an in-car charger and a
belt clip."

Kelly laughed.  "Now don't try too hard to sell us on it, Benny!"

"But Kelly, this is a great phone!  Color display with voice
activated dialing, voice recording and voice command.  The
Lithium Ion batteries will let Laura talk for up to six hours
without
recharging or stay on in stand-by mode for 144 hours!  It's even
got a 500-name phone book and an additional 250 on the included
SIM card."

It was Laura's turn to laugh.  "I don't even know 100 people!"

"My dear girl, someone as pretty as you will soon need all 750
slots!"

Kelly sighed.  Benny was really into the latest electronic gear.

"You've not only got text messaging, but predictive text input!
An internal antenna, an alarm clock with a snooze button, a
silent vibe mode, but best of all, it weighs only three ounces."

"Okay, enough already," Kelly laughed.  "How long will it take
Laura to learn all the features?"

"About an hour, if she's half as smart as she is good looking, to
get the basics, and then the other features will come quickly as
she needs them."

"Do you like it, Laura?"  Kelly asked.

"It's beautiful," said Laura.  "I've never seen anything like
it."

"Okay Benny, we'll want a message center for her and call waiting
as well.  Can you set it up so we can walk out of here in the
next half hour?"

"For you, Kelly, I can walk on water.  Let me get right to it.
And you want this as part of the TKO plan?"

"Yep."

"Give me 15 minutes, and I'll have it all set to go."

"That's great, Benny, we'll be back shortly then.  We're going to
grab something to drink from the deli across the road."

As they headed out of the store, Laura asked about the silent
vibe.

"You use that when you're someplace where you don't want the
ringing of a phone to interfere with whatever is going on around
you.  It's quite a powerful vibrating unit too!"

"Maybe I should slip it into my panties and have you call me a
few times," sighed Laura.

Kelly laughed.  "Don't you have a regular vibrator for those
special times?"

Laura looked dejected.  "I bought one of those 'pocket rockets'
that were all the rage a couple of years ago, but it irritated me
more than it ever gave me pleasure."

"Ah, I know the one you're talking about.  Trust me, if you want
to enjoy a vibrator, you are better off with one that will
guarantee results!"

"And do they come with a written guarantee?" joked Laura.

"Not quite," said Kelly, "but Carol Queen endorses the one I use
as does Dr. Betty Dobson, author of  'Sex For One:  The Art Of
Self Loving' and you can't get higher endorsements than from those
two
ladies!"

"I'm surprised you use one, Kelly."

"Before you, Sweetheart, I didn't have much fulfillment from my
partners.  I read Betty's book and learned that I could and
should take matters into my own hands if I didn't want to settle for
being a frustrated sexual being."

"Well, who's this Carol Queen you mentioned?"

"Ah, she's one of the founding members of 'Good Vibrations', a
minority and women owned company that specializes in the sale of
aids for females.  They also give lectures.  I've had the good
fortune to meet both Betty and Carol over the years attending
their seminars.  It looks like we'll have to get you the Cadillac of
personal fulfillment for those times when you want to just have a
solo session or when neither Todd or I are around to fill your
needs."

They entered the deli and ordered a Hero, which they split, and
two iced French vanilla cappuccinos.

"It's the 'Hitachi Magic Wand' and I just happen to know a store
downtown that stocks them!"  Kelly said as she sat down.

"Kelly, I can't walk into an adult store here in Charlotte!
Somebody might recognize me and tell my dad!"

"Don't you worry, Babe.  It's a special lingerie shop that just
happens to carry toys for grown ups!"

"But if it's so good, why do you want a partner?"  Laura
whispered.

"Oh Laura...  As good as the results are, and let me tell you
they are really good, there's nothing that beats sharing sex with
someone you love."

"Yeah, I can understand that.  One of the things that made the
last few nights so special was being able to cuddle next to my
lovers."

Kelly smiled.

They finished their drinks and sandwich and headed back to At-
Comm.  Benny had the phone programmed and had even entered some
quick dial numbers for TKO for Laura.

"Do you want that wrapped or are you going to start carrying it
now?"  Benny asked.

"I might as well get used to keeping it on me," said Laura as she
clipped it to her waistband.

"I thought as much.  I've got all the instructions in the bag
with the warranty."  To Kelly he gave a few cards that had Laura's
new
number written on them.

"Just bill it all to our account, okay, Benny?"

"Will do, Kelly.  If you need anything else, you know where to
find me!"

"Thanks Benny," Kelly said as the girls left the store.

"Since we're downtown anyway, let's drive over to the lingerie
shop before we head home."

"I'm going to feel so weird shopping for a vibrator," said Laura.

"Relax Sweetie, you'll see real quick that they treat this very
seriously, and nobody is going to give you a second glance."

Twenty minutes later they were driving back to Kelly's, Laura
still blushing from the experience, but she had a Hitachi Magic
Wand of her own.

They stopped at the drugstore in the strip mall where Kelly
bought her supplies and after stocking up on some essentials and a
couple of boxes of panty liners and four boxes of Tampax Compak
Multipax, the ones that fit discreetly in the palm of the hand,
the girls
returned to Kelly's.

"I like the multipax," said Kelly.  "I don't have to bother
buying separate boxes for heavy days or light days or for through
the
night."

"I'm just glad we both use regular absorbency," said Laura.
"Otherwise we would have had to get two stashes and we wouldn't
be able to help each other out."

Kelly and Laura tossed the dirty clothes into the washing machine
and then retired to the kitchen with a bottle of mineral water.

"What should we fix Todd for lunch?"  Laura asked.

"Hmm...  He'll probably end up snacking all night on it so how
about we make him some chicken fingers on a bun and leave him
enough chicken so he can snack when the urge hits him?"

"That sounds good," said Laura.

The buzzer went off on the washing machine and Laura went to
transfer the clothes to the dryer.  Kelly had taken a few cartons
of her Cameos from the studio and packed them away in her closet
after taking a couple packs out for her immediate use.

The girls sat and waited for the dryer to finish and then folded
the clothes and sorted them.  Laura packed most of her new
clothes with Todd's to take back to the studio but left some at
Kelly's
knowing she would be spending a lot of time here.  She also left
her Magic Wand in the other nightstand beside Kelly's bed.

Kelly and Laura stopped at the supermarket where Kelly did her
grocery shopping and picked up a large package of fresh boneless,
skinless chicken breasts and a bag of Kaiser buns before they
headed back to the studio.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

Todd had processed the film and the negatives had looked
promising.  He set up his large trays for printing and ran off
contact sheets of everything he had shot.  He knew that Kelly
would like to see them when she and Laura came back.

While the contacts were drying Todd got on the phone.  He had
done a shoot for a diamond wholesaler a year back and had been
fascinated with the entire process of the cutting and polishing.
He had absorbed enough information about the four C's of diamond
quality that he could speak about them with some knowledge.  He
called the president of the company and laid out his request.

"That's an unusual request, Todd," said Johan.  "We've never
tried mounting three hearts on a ring before.  If the stones are too
small, you won't be able to see the cut, and if you make them
large enough to see that they're hearts, you'll be looking at a
mighty
big ring.  I like the way you think though."

"Damn," said Todd.  "I really want something that says 'I love
you' but not garden variety."

"Ah, I must have misunderstood you when you first said what you
wanted.  I could have sworn you said two engagement rings,
identical."

Todd laughed.  "That's what I did say, Johan."

"And do you plan on marrying two girls?"

"I'm not planning it, Johan, I'm going to do it!"

Johan laughed at the other end of the line.  "Then might I
suggest you get a set of three rings?"

"I only need two," said Todd.

"No, my friend," said Johan laughing.  "I meant two sets of three
rings:  One engagement ring with two interlocking wedding
bands.  I could design you a custom set that would have a large
heart on
the engagement ring with small stones on the sides and for the two
wedding bands we could put a smaller heart on each of them with
say a cascading cluster of stones falling away from them.  That way,
when your 'brides' are wearing all three rings you would have a
diagonal line of hearts."

"That would work!" said Todd.  "How long would it take you to
make that up?"

"We could probably make them in about a week depending on the
size of the stones.  We can mount them here and I can give you the
name of a good jeweler who can size them for you in Charlotte or you
can send me the sizes and I will have them made right to size here.
What kind of band were you looking at?  Did you want to go with
the platinum?  It's quite popular right now."

"No, I think I would prefer to stick to 18 karat gold bands,"
said Todd.  "Platinum is nice, but I want something a bit more
traditional."

"You want traditional?  And you plan on marrying two women?"

"Yeah, I know, so I'm an oxymoron in the flesh," laughed Todd.

"And how large would you like the main diamond?"

"What size would you recommend, Johan?  You're the expert."

"Yes, I suppose I am," he sighed.  "For a heart shape I think you
will have to go at least one carat to show the stone off
properly. But you realize this is an expensive cut."

"How about bigger?"  Todd asked.

"If we go much bigger, they won't be practical to wear, Todd."

"Okay, you got the idea of what I want.  I'll get their sizes
here and let you know by the end of the week if that's okay."

"That will be fine.  Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind me
asking, is one of the brides to be Kelly?"

Todd laughed again.  "Yep, sorry Johan, but I am taking her off
the market!"

"Congratulations, Todd.  I'll send you over a copy of the design
once I have it drawn up.  Then you can tell me if you like it or
want to change it in any way."

"That would be great, Johan.  Do you want the number of my bank?"

"Todd, I know you, that's good enough for me."

"Thanks, Johan.  I'll look forward to the artwork and I'll get
those sizes to you this week."

After he hung up the phone, Todd was humming to himself as he
slid the negative of Chuck into the enlarger.  Seeing it in full
size,
Todd knew he had really captured the real essence of Chuck.  He
maneuvered the sliding table around until he had a cropped
image he felt would do the most justice and still humming turned
off the
lights and pulled out a sheet of 8 x 10 matte finish paper.  As
he looked at the picture of Chuck caught unawares with that
thoughtful gaze, Todd remembered the man who last Friday had said
he would
be proud to call Todd his son.  Todd slid the exposed print into the
developing solution and reached for his special 11 x 14 stock.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

"Oh Todd!  She's gorgeous!" said Kelly.

"Wow... look at her eyes," said Laura, "they totally dominate the
picture!"

Todd was smiling.  Taking a drink from his mineral water he
asked, "What feeling do you get when you look at her?"  By "her"
he was
referring to Anna.  He had finished the pictures of Chuck and
Anna first.  He wasn't sure why he wanted to do these first, but it
seemed more important to him than InterCoastal's paying job.

Kelly and Laura had arrived back at the studio a bit later than
they had expected.  Their two-hour trip had turned into a four-
hour excursion, but Kelly knew that Todd would not be waiting to
eat.
He was more than capable of finding something to snack on if he
got hungry, but she also knew that he probably would continue
working
in the darkroom till they got back.  And he had.

Todd had printed 8 x 10's of Chuck and Anna and 11 x 14's on his
special stock.  He hadn't even bothered to start printing any
other pictures until he had the 11 x 14's mounted on a foam core
back.

"I'm not sure," said Laura.  "I feel like I'm looking at a
beautiful young girl, but those eyes... they're haunting.  It's
like she knows something I don't and she's telling me with her
eyes."

Kelly rubbed Todd's shoulders as he took another bite of the
chicken breast bun.  "I feel a bit sad," she said.  "Maybe sad
isn't the right word but solemn, serious.  What ever did you
say to that girl to get that expression?"

Todd was smiling from ear to ear.  When he took a picture that
could evoke such emotion, he knew he was in his groove.  He
pointed to the one of Chuck, making sure he didn't touch any of the
finished prints.  After he had heard Kelly calling him to come
eat, he had finished off the Cuddy shots and hung them up to dry.
He
had covered his chemicals and come out of the darkroom carrying
the finished pictures between two hands, touching only the sides and
stood them up on the display case in the reception area of the
office where the lights were set for best exposure.

"And this one of Chuck, the profile, it's something else
altogether.  When did you take that one?"  Kelly asked.

"While you and Brenda were making supper Thursday night.  Chuck
and I were just making conversation, talking about Brenda and the
rest of the 'James Gang' and I was just cleaning my camera.
Amanda was kind of cuddled up to him and he was just sitting
there, calm
and serene, just as you see him.  Something we were talking
about, times changing, or something and he got that look of a man
deep
in thought.  Actually he was so deep in thought, he didn't even
see me raise the camera or focus in!  I doubt I could get a look
like
that if he knew a camera was around."

"Well, I think we should pack them up proper and ship them down
to him with a personal letter of thanks for his hospitality and
kindness," said Kelly.

"That's what I was thinking as well, Sweetheart."  Todd finished
his second chicken bun and headed over to his workbench where he
had the contact sheets of all the film he had exposed that
weekend.  He washed his hands and picked up the red wax pencil he
used to write on the 16 x 20 thin glossy sheets.  Using the
larger sheets he could put a roll of film on each sheet and after
he was
done with them, they would get stored along with the negatives
in a fireproof cabinet.  After a year, they would be transferred
to an
old fur storage vault he and Kelly had bought.  With fur being
out of politically correct season, they had really lucked into the
purchase and it was located in a warehouse they had bought
outright.  The space they didn't need they rented to out to Steve
who had bought a very large old safe and placed it in the
building to house his important legal documents.  Through Steve
they had
rented out more of the space to other legal firms that wanted to
keep important papers like wills, or in some extreme cases,
valuables that belonged to clients.  The other renters paid for
the elaborate security system and Steve and TKO split the small
profit.

Todd picked up the sheet of the two girls in the bathtub from
their Friday night romp.  He had already circled four shots
that he thought were exceptionally good, but none of them would
ever be
seen by outsiders.  They were just a bit too revealing.  Kelly
and Laura looked over the sheet with the large round lighted
magnifier mounted to the bench and finally decided on one that
would be
appropriate for Ray from the T-shirt shop.

"That's another one to mail out," said Kelly.  "Laura's going to
sign her first autograph!"

"Here's some that Laura hasn't seen," said Todd pulling another
sheet out.  It was the pictures Todd had shot from the balcony of
their suite of Laura and the dolphins.  The water, though a
beautiful array of blues and greens, seemed transparent and
glistened from the early morning sunlight.  The sun also picked
up the golden highlights in Laura's hair.  They were beautiful shots
and innocent, the model not even knowing she was being watched.
Todd had selected a few that would be good for stock photos and
ones to add to Laura's portfolio.  Her expression told an entire
volume of stories.

Next they looked at the pictures of Laura taken at "Reliving
History."  They agreed with Todd's choice of pictures,
including a fabulous one of Laura in a confederate soldier's
uniform standing
slightly sideways, rifle in hand with the butt grounded.

"But what about the ones for Peter?"  Kelly asked.  "That's
what I thought you would get to first!"

Todd had purposely left this one turned upside down on the table
and with a smile turned it over.  Because of the set up time for
each shot he had only shot off one roll of film that Sunday.  Of
the shots he had taken, all were good, but four really stood
out.

The first was a close up of the wing as it cut through the wake
the tug had generated, the silver gleaming in the sunlight.  The
second one Todd had circled showed the wing exposed but the bulk
of the
hull out of the water, but it was the third that made the girls
laugh.  It looked like Sara had been skating with the boat and at
the last moment turned her blade to send a cascade of ice slivers
flying.  Except in this case it was a side view of the Cuddy as
it skidded towards them and the wing, the hull and the screws were
exposed through a sheet of water that was crystal clear in the
focus.  Individual drops seemed to blast out of the picture
towards the viewer and the girls remembered Peter and Al's
response to
Sara's little stunt.

As they laughed with the memory, Todd pointed to the one he
thought was the best of the bunch.  It had been Sara's last run
and with the power opened up on the Cuddy, after the tug had totally
churned the water, the Cuddy was captured in all its glory with
the entire hull out of the water as well as the wing and screws,
water running off the side of the hull and from the wing.  The
boat was
literally flying much like a dolphin breaking surface on the run.

"That's a great shot, Todd," said Kelly.  "Peter should be real
happy with any of these, but I think this one is the one they'll
use."

"Am I missing something?"  Laura asked.  "You don't seem as
excited by these pictures as you do about the ones of Chuck and
Anna."

Todd gave her a sad smile.  "This is my work, Honey, I liked the
ones I did for Regan's more because they didn't put the
pressure on me like Peter did.  From the beginning when Peter
called, this
was a production shoot with deadlines and lots of pressure.  The
ones I took of Anna and Chuck, that's my life.  When we were at
Chuck's,
the first time, it was also a paying job, just catalog work, but
Chuck left me alone and didn't ask for anything special.  Then
when I got the shot of Sara, it was unique and special and made it
all
worthwhile.  And Chuck was as thrilled with it as I was.  I can't
impress Peter because he expects more than the best, and
specifies exactly how it should look.  It doesn't leave much room
to be
creative."

Laura thought about that for a minute and slowly nodded her
understanding.

"Anyway," he said, "I've printed these four on good stock so you
can call Peter and tell him that they're ready."

Kelly looked at the time.  It was only four o'clock.  "If they're
dry, I might be able to get them to him with UPS or Fed-Ex
overnight.  Let me call him and see where he wants them sent."

Laura and Todd went back to the kitchen to clean up the remnants
of their late lunch.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

Kelly lit up a cigarette as she sat down at her desk.  She dialed
in Peter's cell number and waited for an answer.

"Hi, Peter," she said when he answered.  "How did the press shoot
go today?"

"Poorly," he said.  "We'll get the headlines for setting a new
speed record, but they were more intent on shooting the boat as
it broke the speed record.  It doesn't show the modifications of the
boat, so for all intents and purposes it just looks like a boat
in the water.  I was watching the photographers and it could just as
well have been going 50 and nobody would know the difference.
I'm really starting to appreciate Todd's vision.  Dare I ask how
things are coming at your end?"

Kelly took a deep drag and said, "You not only may dare, but I'm
pleased to tell you that Todd was so thrilled about our vacation
courtesy of IC that he went right at it and he has them done.  I
was just calling to see where we should deliver them?"

"They're done already?  Damn, Kelly, if I can get my hands on
them now, I can get them digitized and sent to the papers.  How do
they look?"

"Better than even you could have hoped for, Peter.  Todd got four
really excellent shots out of the day, and if you want them
digitized, we have the equipment for that here."

"Well I was just getting ready to fly out myself and head back to
Rhode Island but I'll need to catch a local flight to get to a
major airport.  Any chance I can fly to Charlotte and send the
digitized images out from your end and pick up the finished
prints?"

Kelly looked over at Todd who was smiling, talking to Laura.  "I
think that would be safe, Peter.  We'll get them digitized so all
you have to do is contact the various papers and send it out from
here.  Call me when you land and I'll come and pick you up at the
airport."

"Thanks Kelly!"

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

"So his newspaper photographers didn't quite deliver on what he
wanted to sell eh?"  Todd smiled smugly.

"They didn't know anything about the boat or the wing, Todd.
They thought they were just looking at a boat that went faster.  Can
we get the negs scanned in Tiff format so he can send them to the
papers from here?"

"Are we going go get the credit for the photographs?"

"I'll insist on it," Kelly said.

"Sure.  I can fire up the Nikon transparency scanner and give him
high resolution images."  Todd said.  "You know, as much as he
pissed me off, I wouldn't want his job.  I promise I'll be nice
to him!"

Kelly laughed.  "What, and spoil your reputation?"

Todd fetched the dried prints and the corresponding negatives and
started to scan them into files.  Kelly and Laura took the clean
laundry upstairs and put everything away.

They were going to sit and watch TV while Todd finished his
printing when Kelly thought of something and headed downstairs
again.

"Todd, when you finish scanning the prints of the boat can you
scan the ones of Anna and Chuck for me?  I told Jules I'd send
her copies of the Cuddy but I think they'd like to see what you did
for Chuck and Anna as well."

"Sure, once this workhorse starts going, it's no problem doing a
few more scans."

"And I might as well get the ones of Chuck and Anna packed up now
and call for a pick up.  There's still time to get them out
today."

Kelly sat at her desk and wrote a nice personal note to Chuck
thanking him and offering these pictures as a way of friendship.
She prepared the shipping box and packed the pictures so they
wouldn't be damaged and then called Fed-Ex to come pick them up.

Laura was starting to miss Kelly's company and came downstairs to
offer to watch for the courier if Kelly was called to the
airport.

Todd returned to the darkroom to print out the one for Ray and
another of Laura with the dolphins that he would send to Al.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

Peter hadn't called yet when Todd emerged once again from the
darkroom.  He had the picture of the girls in the tub for Ray and
the one of Laura's early morning close encounter.

Kelly and Laura both laughed as Laura practiced signing her name
on photographs with a special pen.  When she finally had it right
she and Kelly signed the one to Ray with "Love and Kisses."  Todd
scribbled underneath their signatures, "Live Long and Prosper!"

Kelly got out another shipping envelope and wrote a note to Al
regarding the picture of Laura and asked him to deliver the
bubble bath print to Ray.  She simply addressed the envelope to the
Mayor of Brookhaven.

The envelope had just been sealed when the phone rang.  Peter had
arrived.

"I can pick him up," volunteered Laura.  "I'm getting to like
that airport!"

"That would be great, Laura.  That way I can write up a contract
for him to sign about our vacation."

Laura had just pulled out of the driveway when the Fed-Ex truck
pulled in.  Kelly signed off on the shipment and for a moment
there was silence in the studio.

"What have you got left to do, Honey?"  Kelly asked Todd.

"Just the ones of Laura from 'Reliving History,' but you know
Kell, all of a sudden I'm just beat."

"I know, Sweetheart.  You push yourself too hard.  Look...
there's only the three prints you want, you've got the chemicals
out now,
why not run them off and then pack it all away?  I'll even give
you a hand."

"Thanks Kell, but you've got to write up a contract for that
vacation, remember?"  Todd smiled.  "I guess that's incentive
enough for me right now!"

Todd went back to the darkroom once more.

Kelly returned to her computer and pulled up one of the standard
contracts Steve had created for them, changed the fee from
dollars to "two week vacation in Jamaica via boat large enough for
seven
passengers, all inclusive."  She added a line regarding time and
with proper notice as she had promised Peter.  Satisfied this
would more than cover their needs, she printed off three copies, one
for Peter, one for their own records, and one for Steve.

Laura still wasn't back from the airport so Kelly took the time
to convert the Tiff files Todd had scanned to smaller Jpegs, and
then composed an email to JulieAnn.



Dear JulieAnn,

As promised, here are the pictures that Todd got of the Cuddy
with the wing.  I'm sure you and the rest of the gang will be as
excited with these shots as Todd and I were.

I've also attached two pictures that Todd took while we were at
Chuck's.  These are two of Todd's best shots in the last year.  I
know you guys are pretty involved with Chuck, so I thought you
would like to see them.  We've already sent the originals to
Regan's.

I hope that now the speed trials are over, you can relax a little
bit, but knowing the "James Gang" I'll bet you are already
working on another project.

Best of luck and much success in your ventures.

Hugs to all!

Kelly



Kelly had just pressed the send key when Laura pulled in with
Peter.  It would be cutting it close, but if Peter called the
papers first and told them he was sending the files, they
should be able to replace the pictures to go with the story.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

"Hi Peter," Kelly said as he entered the studio.  "Care for a
drink before you get on the phone?"

Laura smiled.  All Peter had talked about on the drive over was
the pictures.  He so badly wanted to get something that would
boost interest in the boat, and had been disappointed in the news
photographers who were more interested in the speed than in the
stability.  Though Laura had been there, she really didn't
understand the reason for his concern, but she did realize this
was an important thing for Peter.  She had tried to assure him
saying
how impressed she was with the pictures, but Peter wanted to see
for himself.

"Please, Kelly," he begged, "Let me see at least one picture that
will show the wing.  It's the most important part of the boat and
what allows it to utilize the full power of that monster motor we
put into it."

Todd picked that moment to re-emerge from the dark room, having
cleaned up his chemicals and washed and put away his trays.  The
last pictures he had developed were in the dryer.

"Hi Peter," he said, "Want a beer?  It's the good stuff."

"No thanks, Todd, all I really want is to see a picture that will
capture the boating world's imagination, then I can catch the
next flight out and report with good news to the board."

Todd laughed as he pulled one of the Molson bottles out of the
fridge for himself, asked Kelly and Laura if they wanted one,
which they declined, and said to Kelly, "Why not give him his
package,
Honey?"

With a smile Kelly handed Peter the protective shipping
envelope.

Peter opened it with shaking hands.  His hands steadied, as did
his breathing, as he saw the first picture.  By the time he had all
four spread out on the desk he was beaming from ear to ear.

"Thanks Todd," he said.  "You've saved what was nearly a
disaster.  And you have these scanned already?"

"They're all set on the computer," said Kelly.  "All you need to
do is call the papers that were there this morning and get their
email addresses and you can send them out right from here."

"Maybe I will have that beer after all," said Peter.  As Laura
went to get him one, Peter got on the phone and started to call
the big daily papers that had shown up at Brookhaven that morning.

Before he could get through to the first paper, Kelly slid him
the three contracts for the vacation as well as a note stating that
Todd would receive the credit for the photos.  Peter signed the
contracts with pleasure, and as he spoke with each of the papers,
he made it perfectly clear that the photos would be credited to
Todd Ayres.

Kelly helped him enter the various newspaper emails and they sent
one different picture to each of them.  Most would run similar
pictures, but this way all four pictures would show up in
different papers.

As he sat back, finally satisfied that only good pictures would
be shown in the papers, he took a long swig of his beer and leaned
back in the chair.  "So," he finally asked, "When did you guys
buy in?"

Kelly laughed, said it had been Todd's idea, and told Peter of
the Friday morning decision.

It was Peter's turn to laugh.  "Al was a bit pissed that he
didn't get his buy order in until just before the market closed
Friday.
I'll bet he paid a lot more for his shares than you did.  I'm
nearly certain that between last Friday morning and this Friday,
the value will double.  That Cuddy was nearly a white elephant
until JamPC fixed the problem.  We couldn't do a thing with it,
and we had some of the best engineers working on it."

"They are an amazing group," Todd said.  "They seem to brainstorm
as one and find alternate solutions to conventional problems.  I
wish they were a public company!"

"You and me both!" said Peter.  "Thanks for getting this done for
me so fast, Todd.  I'm really sorry for being so callous back at
the island.  Sometimes I open my mouth before my brain kicks
in.  I hope you understand that I have a board to answer to."

"It's okay, Peter," said Todd.  "Kelly helped me to see what kind
of bind you were in.  I only have to answer to these two women.
I'd hate to have to answer to a board!"

"And speaking of the Board," Peter said, "I'd love to stick
around for a while but I have a meeting with them first thing
tomorrow
morning.  I better get on a plane."

"We'll drive you back to the airport."  Kelly said.

"No thanks, Kelly, if you can call me a cab, that will do just
fine.  I'm not in panic mode now, so I can relax and fly home."

Laura called a cab for Peter and fifteen minutes later he was
gone with the pictures and the contract Kelly had drawn up.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

"Anybody hungry?"  Todd asked.  "I'm beat and I thought we could
order something in and go sit on the roof and pretend we're still
at the island."

"Miss it already, Sweetheart?"  Kelly asked.

"I think it's all the fresh air I miss," laughed Todd.  "I've
been in the darkroom since we got back this morning!"

"This is shaping up to be a busy week," Kelly said.  "The gym
equipment will be coming tomorrow, and I have to clean up my
guest room for Cara and Ami."

"I'll be glad to give you a hand with that, Kelly, if you can
wait until after my morning classes.  God, I'm going to have to
really
study now!"

Kelly laughed.  "It's okay, Laura, you just take your time and
get as many hours in as you can.  Gloria will be there to give me a
hand, and I don't have that much to move."

"No kidding," said Todd.  "I think half of your stuff is here
anyways."

Kelly pouted.  "Just my sports equipment."

"Are you guys sure you don't need me tomorrow?"  Laura asked.

"Baby, we want you," said Kelly, "but we think your studies
should come first."

Kelly phoned in an order for a bucket of chicken wings and a
large pizza then went out to pick it up.  While she was gone, Todd
rolled a couple of joints and then with Laura's help, wiped down the
patio furniture on his roof.

When Todd had remodeled the upstairs into his personal living
quarters, he had replaced the large window at the end of the hall
with a solid, steel cased fire door.  It opened onto the fire
escape that ran across the back of the building, ending on the
flat roof.  Over the years he had built a small, enclosed sundeck
with
screening to keep the mosquitoes at bay, and furnished it with
comfortable patio furniture, though he hardly used it.  On those
occasions where he had wanted to enjoy the outdoors he had mostly
gone to Kelly's house where the back yard had been transformed at
the hands of G and Delton.

Kelly returned with the chicken wings and pizza.  She knew that
Todd wanted to light up and mellow out, which is why she had
ordered the chicken wings.  Laura helped her carry the food up to
the roof and Todd brought along an Eskimo chest filled with cold
beer on ice.

Todd opened the beers and passed them around and then proceeded
to light the first joint.  After taking a deep hit of the potent
grass, Todd said, "This would have been good in Brookhaven!"

"Yes it would have been, Todd, but we have our own rules to
follow."  Kelly gently reminded him as she took the joint from
his hands and took a deep hit herself.  Rather than exhale she
moved to Laura and with an open mouthed kiss exhaled into Laura's
lungs.

"Wow!  That's a turn on by itself!" said Laura after she exhaled.

They passed the doobie around and around until there was nothing
left but a small roach that Kelly shoved into the end of one of
her cigarettes.  Then they dug into the pizza.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

By the time the pizza was demolished they were feeling a nice
buzz and Todd opened another three beers.

They nursed the second beer as they watched the stars brighten
the crisp, clear North Carolina sky.  They talked of life and love
and the important things that lovers often do.  An hour passed and
Todd lit the second joint. By the time the roach had found its way
into another of Kelly's cigarettes, they were all pleasantly buzzed
and soon the munchies hit.

Between chicken wings, Todd mentioned how quiet and peaceful it
was.  Even though it was a weekday, the industrial park was
pretty well deserted this time of night.  Regrettably, they all had
early morning schedules and decided it would be smarter to call it
an
early night.

Cleaning up went quickly and without effort.  Todd locked the
sundeck and the door to the fire escape making sure to turn the
alarm back on, while the girls disposed of the garbage and put
the empty bottles away.

They had a communal shower that night, all three of them trying
to fit into the shower at the same time.  After the other two
promised not to look, Laura pulled out her tampon and quickly
wrapped it
in toilet paper and tossed it into the wastebasket.

Though it was crowded with three bodies, they managed to soap
each other up and Kelly and Laura managed to have a mutual climax
through their locked legs.  Todd's erection was at full mast, and
shyly, Laura invited him to slip his hard cock into her wet and
very juicy cunt.  As they were all still nicely stoned, Todd was
able to hold back on his own orgasm and lifting Laura so that her
legs encircled him drove her over the crest again and yet once
more.  His stamina was flagging though and he let her down gently
on quivering legs.  It had been the first time she had been loved
while on her period.  Both Kelly and Laura noticed that Todd was
still hard.

Turning Todd into the water, Kelly washed off his prick and then
sat on the side of the tub to suck him to a well-deserved climax.
He was a good man.

Todd was the first to dry off after stepping out of the shower
and after he left the bathroom, Laura inserted a fresh tampon and
slipped on a pair of panties.  Not wanting Kelly to be left out,
Laura led her to the bedroom and proceeded to give her a wicked
tongue-lashing that left Kelly writhing and clasping at the
sheets.  A few more minutes of kissing, and the fatigue that had
followed them all day took its toll, and soon all three were fast
asleep, the two girls cuddled to Todd.  It was just 10 o'clock.

~~~~~ // ~~~~~

The alarm went off at 8 the next morning and after they brushed
their teeth, dressed and had their vitamins, go-juice and a
simple, very healthy breakfast of raw vegetables and mineral
water, Laura
offered Kelly a ride back to her house.

"I can walk, Sweetheart," Kelly had protested, but Laura had been
adamant.

"Nonsense.  I know you can walk it and usually do, but you have
work you want to do and I have to leave anyway or I will be late
for class.  You said yourself there was little to do right now,
so why not let Todd get his equipment set up?"

Kelly relented.  Though she had slept well, she was still a bit
tired and a ride sounded real good.

Laura made sure her new phone was turned on and attached to her
waistband, grabbed her books and after she and Kelly had given
Todd lots of kisses to last him the day, they took off.

Todd settled back in Kelly's office chair and waited for the
delivery van to bring the equipment.  He was glad there were
professionals coming with the delivery to set it all up as he was
not quite caught up on his rest.

Laura dropped Kelly off at her house and they shared a few quiet
moments necking in the driveway before, with a deep sigh, Laura
said, "I love you, Kelly."

"I love you too, Laura," said Kelly.  "Try to get done what you
can because you'll be off flying again tomorrow."

"I will, Kelly, I promise.  I haven't forgotten that this is my
chance."

Kelly rewarded her with a big smile.  "I know you haven't
forgotten, Honey, I just think that we sometimes expect too much
from you."

Laura's eyes misted.  "You could never ask too much of me,
Kelly.  Love has no limits."

Laura backed carefully out of the driveway and Kelly waved at her
as she drove away.


To be continued.
__________________________