I hardly ever sleep on my stomach, but I must have been so exhausted that I just passed out. My body ached. And yet, there was also this overwhelming sense of exhilaration or… accomplishment maybe. I rolled over and stared up at the ceiling and without thinking I reached out and found the white lace panties with the faint yellow stain. I put them to my face and inhaled. More than anything, they always seemed to relax me. I had become very familiar with their scent. I closed my eyes and just relaxed.
Sometime later, I awoke. Well, I don’t think I slept long if any, and decided to get up. My lip was still swollen and my earlobe hurt, but for the most part I was fine. I loaded up the pics from the prior day’s shoot, I think it was yesterday, onto my computer and sent them to Ivan. I thought they had turned out very well. I enjoyed working with the DICE, even more so now that we were friends. At least, they said we were friends. I couldn’t help, but look over the previous shoots. The first hotel shoot where they were just in lingerie. I remember being in shock at what … they did to each other. Even now, part of me questions whether their behaviour then and now is even normal. And, whether my photographing them is acceptable. But then, what is normal? And as I look at the photos, I see them as not a fantasy, but human beings. My friends. And although I am more comfortable speaking and interacting with Piper and Josie, I have gotten to see a sensitive side to Aurora. I don’t think a razor has ever touched her. She has no tattoos. Wears no make up or jewellery. Not even perfume. And yet, I always felt this disconcerting power emanating from her. Aggressive. Maybe that really changed when we went to the cabin in the mountains. She clearly displayed a vulnerability. It made me look at her differently. More human. Of course, we did sleep together. Not SLEEP sleep, but just sleep. Twice in fact. She smelled nice and she was warm. I remember her heart beating against my chest and my hand on her chest. And her kissing me when I carried her from the lake… in her drug addled state though so it really meant nothing. Then, there was the baseball pics and the soft serve vanilla ice cream cones. The melted ice cream all over the back seat of my car while the ladies… did what they did. My car still has that smell. And that is when I found the white lace panties with the faint yellow stain. I did plan on returning them. Did Aurora leave them on purpose? She has never brought them up. Part of me thought she just forgot. But what if she hasn’t forgotten about them? Well… that just doesn’t make sense. So much has happened. I was honestly going to quit after the first hotel shoot until I was paid and then the contract was even more and I couldn’t refuse the job. I remember at the time thinking, I will just take the photos and complete the project and keep things professional. But now, we’re friends… I look forward to seeing them. I enjoy working with them, but I also enjoy laughing with them. They have become part of my life. I guess to a certain extent… I care about them. Unconsciously, I continue to look through the past photos. It seems like a dream now.
About a week later, I was sitting on my couch thinking about watching… anything on TV, just to pass the time, my lip and earlobe were much better, it was raining outside, and a strange thought crossed my mind. I really don’t know what made me think about it, but I remember when I was younger asking my parents how they had met. I guess at some point everyone wonders the same thing. Where did we come from? I asked my Dad first and his explanation was a little far-fetched even hearing it as a kid. He said that he had discovered Mom in the woods while searching for foxes. And he thought she was quite a fox. So, he clubbed her over the head and dragged her to his man cave where he dazzled her with his intelligence. And they have been together ever since. Right. I then asked Mom. She said ask your father. I already did. Oh, did he tell you that he clubbed me over the head. Yes. She laughed. Mom, please. Okay, it wasn’t quite like he told you. We were at a high school dance and I had noticed your father talking to a couple of his buddies. He looked handsome. I had seen him before. His buddies left him alone to go talk to some girls. He seemed so alone. By himself. So, I walked over and I asked him if he would like to dance. And he danced with you? And that was it? Do you want to hear this or not? Yes, sorry. In fact, he turned me down. I didn’t think he liked me. But I was determined. Later in the summer, I saw him in a hardware store looking at fishing gear. I asked him if he remembered me and he looked a bit sheepish and said yes. He then asked if I liked to fish. Which I didn’t. Of course, I said yes, would you take me fishing? We ended up going out on his parents’ boat. It was a beautiful summer day and I had absolutely no interest in fishing. We anchored out into a little cove and set about fishing. I asked him if he would like to kiss me. He was shy. but do not tell him I told you that. Okay, then what happened? We kissed and I can still remember that first kiss. So, when he tells you he clubbed me, it was in fact the other way around. We never did dance, but we fished a lot. And, we have been together ever since.
Funny, the things we think about. My memories. Their memories. I wonder what Aurora thinks about.
Ivan finally called. He said the last photos were very racy and the investors really liked them. I didn’t admit this to him, but I couldn’t recall much of the photo shoot so, in fact, they must have been racy they were such a blur. He said the next photo shoot was being arranged right now. He thought I would really enjoy it. It was going to be in a saloon/pub. The down side was that the shoot would have to take place in the wee hours of the morning when the place was closed. There would be animal trainers and a couple actors as well. Animal trainers? Yes, for the dogs. I am to photograph the DICE at a saloon with dogs… and actors. Yup! Don’t worry about anything. I worked everything out with Aurora and she will fill you in. A couple days later, Ivan called back and gave me the date and location. He said the ladies would meet me there so I could just go directly to the shoot and use my own car. Okay.
I arrived at the pub, called The Sensational Pub, at about 3 am. Everyone was already there. Piper, Josie, and Aurora all seemed very concerned about my well being. I’m fine. Are you guys okay? They nodded and said they were okay. Great. The bar was incredible. A lot of wood and polished brass and leather covered bar stools. The lighting was perfect. The entire atmosphere gave a sense of an old English pub. Aurora took my hand and walked me through the bar. She introduced me to the dog trainers and the dogs. There was an English Bull dog, of course, a Beagle, and brown Labrador retriever. I still had no idea what the dogs were for. Aurora laughed. She showed me a poker room that was located in the back of the bar. Interesting. The “actors” were a burly bartender and an old man that was to be a patron. I began to get the picture. No pun intended. I laughed. This was going to be a fun shoot. Aurora said she was glad I liked it. With a smile. We soon got down to work.
The ladies were dressed in evening dresses. Very expensive and yet, obviously revealing, dresses. Aurora wore white, Piper had red and Josie wore yellow. They had on high heels and Aurora wore lipstick and earrings and even a necklace. I was somewhat surprised since she hated that stuff. I guess she was going all in. I would soon find out that they had matching panties, but none of them wore bras. They began by posing at the bar on the leather bar stools. The old man patron was at the far end of the bar acting oblivious to the women. The bartender’s part was to pretend to polish glasses with his back to the women. It was awesome! And the dogs were lined up staring at them while they posed! So funny. And they posed. They posed with their legs spread. Cupping their … well, upper endowments. The dogs licked their lips and the old man patron drank his beer. They hiked up their dresses to their waists and dropped their panties to their knees spreading … the dogs were great sports and stared fixated up at their … parts. The bartender kept cleaning his beer mugs. And I kept snapping my pics. The dresses were soon off and the ladies drank beer from beer mugs and poured beer on themselves and the dogs licked up any beer that was on the floor. You cannot make this up! We then went back to the poker room … with the dogs. What was going to happen here? Aurora smiled. She, at least, appeared to be coordinating everything. The trainers got the dogs dressed up in like gambling outfits and sat them interspersed between the ladies who were still naked. Oh! I get it! The idea was that they had been playing strip poker and the dogs were winning! Wow! This was great and I kept snapping pics. The dogs would look at the women and the women would look somewhat defeated. It was a lot of fun.
Finally, it was over. The DICE took selfies, with their dresses back on, with the dogs and their trainers, the old man and the bartender. Everyone had a good time.
Aurora came up to me still smiling. Did you have fun? Yes, it was a lot of fun. She said she really wanted to do a more professional shoot and she hoped that she did all right. I then said, words which I will never forget, like ever, You all did really good work, kiddo. I said it with a smile on my face. But… her smile slowly faded. What? Whack!!! She slapped me! I mean she hit me so hard my head spun. It stung! I had to blink quickly having lost focus. I heard the front door of the bar open and close. The dogs started barking and howling! The trainers and actors were trying to calm the dogs down! I looked at Piper and Josie. They asked what I had said? I told them. They shook their heads and said I shouldn’t have said that. Said WHAT? Should I go after her? They put up their hands and said emphatically, NO!!
And that was the end of one of the best shoots we have had. I still have no clue what I did or said that upset Aurora so much. She is so strange. I will never forget her sting. I hope I don’t get fired. But here is the thing I really don’t understand, the slap didn’t bother me or the thought of being fired, no, the thing that really bothered me the most was upsetting Aurora. And I don’t understand why?
Badger Unfiltered 