The Photographer 32

When I finally left the house after making sure Penny had the costume on perfectly —and wasting a few extra minutes enjoying the opportunity to fix the costume— Nancy was glaring daggers. “You’re late,” she growled, but considering she was glaring daggers at poor Penny rather than me, it wasn’t hard to guess that her annoyance was less about the delay, and more about the activities that spanned the said delay. 

She definitely had the famous explosiveness of the redheads. 

“Sorry about that,” I said, with absolutely no hint of repentance. “It took a while to make sure the costume fitted well,” I said, gesturing at Penny, whose body was on delicious display thanks to the already-deficient design of the armor before I had removed a couple of extra key pieces, creating a masterpiece in the process. 

It wasn’t revealing to a point of being obscene. Just a nice deep cleavage enhanced by the pressure of the armor, and tight pants displaying her assets in the best way possible. A picture of her could easily be used in a public advertisement campaign without bothering the censors, even in the seventies. 

Still, that didn’t change the fact that it would drive the nerds in the convention center crazy. 

“I can see that,” Nancy murmured, deciding to target the costume for her dissatisfaction. “You clearly took liberties with my design.” 

“You shouldn’t give lip about that if you actually want to sell your books,” I countered, not trying to cater to her jealousness. I was experienced enough with casual relationships —if what we have could even be counted that— enough to know that trying to do so would only embolden her further. 

So, after throwing a self-satisfied smile to her way, I opened the passenger-side door for Penny, not bothering to hide the appreciative glance to her ass as she tried to squeeze herself, the thong I made her put peeking sexily.

After watching Nancy swallow a bunch of angry remarks, not wanting to scare the model whose existence was critical to save all the investment she had made for the marketing of her books. That didn’t prevent her jealous glare, trying to dig the back of her head, of course. 

She was lucky that, after our little session, Penny was far too dazed to notice her hostility. 

The next hour passed calmly, the rumbling of engine mixing with Nancy’s pen dancing on the books as she signed them one by one. Of course, the silence didn’t prevent Penny from throwing shy glances to my side, and me responding with caressing her thigh. 

“We need to take a break, I’m finished with this batch,” she said, her tone still chippy. “Why don’t we stop at the next resting area.” 

“Sure,” I said, and without saying anything. A minute later, we were in a parking area of a gas station, which was mostly empty thanks to the early hour. It was a nice thing, because the few people that were around, both the visitors and the employees, turned to watch Penny as she left the car. 

Not that I blamed her for staring. Penny was beautiful enough to turn heads before putting her into a sexy armor. I was just glad that there weren’t a lot of people, preventing a mob. 

“So, why don’t you girls go and put on your make-up while I handle the books,” I said, when I saw Nancy trying to pull the books from the backseat, and in her innocent attitude, Penny immediately moving to help. As much as watching them struggle with them while trying to keep their costumes in order, maybe even with a camera ready to take a bunch of photos, I decided to be merciful. 

Nancy earned that by limiting her annoyance to her sharp glares, and Penny earned that… Well, Penny earned a lot more than that with her impeccable performance… 

“Isn’t it a bit early for the makeup?” Nancy asked, her tone tense. It was a familiar tone of a girl hoping to create an argument. “Shouldn’t we wait until the convention area?” 

“There’s no harm in multitasking, but if you want to be recognized the moment you leave the car…” I said, reminding Nancy about her decision to keep her identity concealed rather than trying to defend my point of view. Why would I indulge her desire to have a fight when I didn’t really care about the decision one way or another. 

“Right,” Nancy stammered immediately, her determination evaporating in an instant. After one last glare, she took her makeup bag and walked toward a small room that functioned as a resting area, clearly a better location to put on makeup than a public bathroom. 

“Why don’t you follow her as well, sweetheart, so that she can put the correct makeup on the character,” I said to Penny. 

Still, that didn’t mean I wasn’t curious what these two might talk about when they were alone, so, I shuffled the books as quick as I could manage even if it made me sweat, then followed them. Nancy was fun, but she had a temper. I wanted to be around in case she blew up too aggressively, breaking Penny’s trembling self-confidence. 

I got nearer, but there was no sound coming from the room, which was a positive thing. Maybe I had underestimated Nancy’s self-control. So, rather than entering the room, I decided to peek through a small window, curious what I would find. 

Penny sat on her seat silently, not making the slightest move while Nancy applied her makeup carefully. However, I instantly realized that I had been giving Nancy a bit too much credit. Yes, she wasn’t shouting, but that didn’t change the tightness of her fingers around the brush, nor her excessively harsh movements, enough to make Penny shuffle in pain. 

However, Penny was just silly and well-intentioned enough to miss the intention behind Nancy’s harsh makeup, squeezing her teeth tight to suppress her reaction, trying to look like she was a good sport. 

That would not do, I decided even as I knocked on the door, but then entered without even waiting for a response. “Damn, Penny, you look beautiful,” I said. Penny blushed as she avoided my gaze shyly, and I used the opportunity to send a warning glare to Nancy. “You seem a bit tense, do you want me to take over the makeup,” I offered. 

“No need, it’s easier for me to handle it alone,” Nancy said, but when I decided to take a seat next to her rather than leaving, she started to be more careful not to hurt Penny. 

She might have a flaring temper, but she certainly lacked the determination and willpower to enforce it directly while I was in the room. Especially when we were the ones that were doing her a favor rather than the opposite. When her makeup was finished, Penny excused herself to visit the powder room, her face covered with a complicated pattern. 

Combined with the silver wig, she was just different enough for people not to recognize her, but not too different that we couldn’t use them for her portfolio. 

“Let’s handle your makeup,” I said the moment the door closed. 

“No need, I can handle it on my own-” Nancy tried to argue, only to stop when I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her onto my lap. 

“I insist,” I said even as I took her makeup bag. One of the first skills for any aspiring photographer was to know how to apply professional-grade makeup, even for the ones working with big-budget studios. Under ideal circumstances, a professional makeup artist would accompany the shoot, of course, but it was interesting just how quickly things could pass a point that could be described as ideal, even in the most professional environments. 

Once again, her willpower proved weaker than her aggression, and she fell silent the moment I pressed the brush on her chin, sliding gently on her skin. I let the silence stretch for a minute. “So, are you going to tell me why were you torturing the model I had called in as a big favor to save your poorly planned business venture, or would you prefer if I take her and go back, leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere with more books than your body weight.” 

The way she stiffened on my lap was simply beautiful. “No, you can’t,” she whispered in terror. 

“Why not?” I said, but I didn’t stop applying makeup. The threat was effective enough without enhancing it like that. “We woke up even before the dawn, just to make sure your work goes without a hitch, but you’re still being ungrateful. Don’t you think you deserve it?” 

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, surrendering immediately, the implications of my justified threat far too much for her to lash out.  

“It’s good that you apologize, but I don’t appreciate that I had to force you for the apology,” I answered. “Certainly not when we are sacrificing our whole day to help you.” She dipped her head down. I decided to deliver the final blow. “I understand that you’re feeling jealous after watching us back in Penny’s house, but you shouldn’t try to lash out to her.” 

“What! You knew-” she stammered before changing her direction. “I mean, I don’t know what are you talking about!” 

“Of course,” I said with a chuckle. “And the redhead I had seen in the window was completely unrelated to you, or anyone else, right?” 

“Maybe,” she whispered. I was about to give her an answer, when I noticed another presence in the small window I had been using to check the room earlier, recognizing that as a very familiar blonde. 

It was good that Nancy was looking at the floor, because she missed the sudden calculating expression on my face. After all, what better way than making Nancy pay than reversing the earlier situation, I decided. A moment later, my fingers were under her chin, raising her head up, stealing a kiss before she could respond. 

Ready to provide an amazing show to Penny.