Photo Shoot

Richie was good to his word, and the next morning, the buzz at the front gate was Vincent, the driver Richie had hired for the week. Jennifer had to laugh at the monstrous stretch Humvee coming up the driveway. She certainly was going to make a statement arriving at work in THAT. Vincent was an older gentleman, very kind, and was there bright and early with a Diet Coke on ice for her. Jennifer laughed. Richie thought of everything.

Wednesday night, Jennifer couldn’t believe her eyes when Vincent handed her a large, flat box as she got to the car. When she carefully untied the wide, red ribbon and lifted the lid, Vincent had to keep her from sagging to the ground. Inside the box was a gorgeous silver gown. With shaking hands, she took it out of the box and held it up. It was a Goddess gown with an empire waist drape detail in crepe satin and chiffon. It had thin clear straps and a modest neckline, and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Under the gown was a note written in Richie’s strong, masculine scrawl.

Hi, baby...

I hope you’ll take a picture in THIS and let me see it...

I would love you to wear this on our “date” on Friday. In fact, Vincent will have a special surprise for you in the Hummer so you can see me and I can see you – I’d love to actually see you in the dress. Any chance you would be willing to change at work before leaving for the day?

I miss you and love you, and can’t wait to hold you in my arms again.

~ Rich
xx

When she got home, she read the note for the umpteenth time. She’d absolutely change into the gown for him, but she wouldn’t be all made up and coiffed like she would if they were going out. Smiling, she took out her cell phone and hit a button on her speed-dial.

“What are you doing tonight?” she asked her best friend, Krissy.

Krissy just laughed. “And good evening to you too, Jen.”

“Ha ha ha, very funny. Good evening, Ms. Krissy. Do you have plans for the evening?”

“Yeah,” her friend chuckled, “and so do you. We were going to the restaurant, remember?”

“About that...wanna help me with a project instead?” Jennifer was a little nervous, but she and Krissy had shared everything about each other over the dozen or so years they’d been friends, and she knew her friend wouldn’t judge her.

“Ooh, what kind of project?”

Jennifer told her about the dress Richie had sent her, and the picture request, and what she wanted to do. Krissy was enthusiastic about helping, and promised to be over within the hour. Jennifer took a shower and partially dried her hair, and had applied her foundation when Krissy let herself into the house.

“HELLO!” she called from the foyer.

“UPSTAIRS!” Jennifer yelled back.

Krissy came into the room and gave Jennifer a big hug. “You ready to get beautiful?” she asked, smiling.

“Absolutely.”

After pouring two glasses of white wine, Krissy worked on Jennifer’s hair, setting it in wide rollers while Jennifer applied her eye makeup. She had thickened her lashes with mascara, and tinted the lids with a vibrant coppery hue. She inserted clear lenses so her gray eyes would pick up the sheen from the gown, then lined her lower lid with Kohl. A coppery lipstick and pale peach blusher completed her makeup. The look was very dramatic and Jennifer smiled.

Amid much chatter and laughing, Krissy finished setting the rollers, then took out a small case from her bag. She had a set of tiny tweezers and a little tube of glue, and an acrylic box of sparkly body art. She laid out a pattern around Jennifer’s eyes with an eyeliner pencil, then carefully glued the dazzling jewels into place. A half hour later, Jennifer stared at her reflection in the mirror. Fat, glossy curls hung around her shoulders and were teased a little to give her hair body. Her makeup was flawless, and she was ready to get dressed.

She dropped the robe to reveal a flesh colored lace thong and fuzzy bedroom slippers. Krissy laughed at her. “Nice ensemble, Jen.”

Jennifer chuckled. “Shut up and help me with my dress,” she said. “And here,” she tossed the bra at Krissy. “Take this with you... for the next picture,” she said.

Careful not to muss the artistry the two women had created, they eased the gown over Jennifer’s head and settled it around her body. It fit her beautifully, the chiffon floating around her, and the crepe fabric drape making her look taller. What made Jennifer happiest was that it completely hid her brace, and you couldn’t tell from looking at her that she was wearing bedroom slippers. She looked longingly at her closet, where she knew she had the most perfect Ferragamo stiletto sandals, but she knew she couldn’t. Well shouldn’t at any rate. Soon though, she vowed.

“Where do you want to take the picture?” Krissy asked, distracting Jennifer from lusting after her shoes.

The women decided to go down to the pond on the back forty, and position Jennifer so you couldn’t see any of the buildings on the property. The sun was low in the sky, and there was a light breeze that teased her hair, blowing it gently toward the camera. Krissy fired of a barrage of photos, having Jennifer carefully turn this way or that. The best shot was one of Jennifer looking over the water, her arm raised to shield her eyes; the diamonds of her bracelet and the jewels around her eyes catching the sun. “That’s the one,” Krissy breathed, when they scrolled through the photos together.

“He will die,” Jennifer said, smiling. “And I can send it to the girls after, too.”

“Where do you want to do the other one?”

Jennifer blushed. “For sure, inside. I’m not that adventurous, even with no close neighbors.”

“I’ve read your stuff, Jen, and uh, yeah, you are.”

“No,” Jennifer corrected, “Hath is. I’m just her conduit.”

“Yeah well, channel her now, ‘cause outside on that chaise,” she indicated a wrought-iron chaise in the garden, “would be perfect, and if he died seeing this picture of you in the gown, the other will most certainly revive him and kill him again.”

The women walked toward the bench, and Krissy helped Jennifer get the gown up over her head. A cool breeze was blowing, and Jennifer instinctively covered her breasts with her hands. Krissy smiled and snapped a photo.

“What are you doing?”

“Killing Richie Sambora,” she said, shaking her head. “You have to send that one to him.”

“Gimme my bra,” Jennifer answered. When Krissy complied, Jennifer tucked herself into it then sat on the bench. With four rasps of Velcro, the brace was unfastened, and tossed aside. Jennifer arranged her legs so her left was straight, and the other bent at the knee. Her arms were arranged on top of her head, and she looked away from the camera, smiling.

“Nice, Jen,” Krissy said. “Now look like you’re heartbroken that Richie isn’t here.”

“That won’t be hard,” Jennifer said wryly, and relaxed her features. She remembered back to the airport on Friday, and Krissy nearly wept at the look on her friend’s face. Jen had certainly fallen hard, and the love and longing in her expression showed it.

“Now,” Krissy said softly, “don’t move.” She circled around to take a full-frame picture of her face. The edge of the bracelet hung over her forehead and some of her curls were blowing up around her cheeks. “Damn, Jen,” she said.

Back in the house, the girls loaded the pictures to Jennifer’s computer and went through them. They selected several to send to Richie, including the full-frame face. Her unmasked eyes very clearly showed Richie that she missed him and loved him and longed for him.

“I hope he likes them,” Jennifer said with an out-of-place tremor in her voice.

“Honey, if he doesn’t, then it’s because he’s been struck blind. Hell, I’m halfway turned on.”

Jennifer burst out laughing. “I so do NOT swing for pink, sweetie,” she said, “though I will give you a kiss.” Krissy touched her lips to Jen’s briefly in the way that girlfriends do.

“Hungry?” Krissy asked.

“Famished.”

The girls shared a pizza, laughing and talking until close to eleven. “Shit, look at the time,” Krissy said. “I have to go. This was fun,” she added.

“Thanks for helping me,” Jennifer said.

“Send the pictures,” Krissy admonished.

When her friend left, Jennifer went back up stairs to her computer. She composed an email to Richie and attached several of the pictures including the bare-breasted one and the close-up of her face.

FROM: TheGoddessHathor@gmail.com
TO: UndiscoveredStranger@gmail.com
Subject: Hey, Baby...


Hey Rich, baby, thanks so much for the gown. And yeah, you can have a picture (see attached). What the hell do you and Vincent have planned so you can see me? But yes, I can dress for you for Friday. I won’t look as good as I do in these photos, though. Trust me.


Hope you’re having fun at home, and tell Ava I miss her!


Love you,
~ Jen

PS, I really miss you too. That’s why I sent the OTHER attachments.... Love you

When Richie’s email pinged, he was ecstatic to see it was Jen. When he opened the email and read it, he smiled. Excellent. She’d be dressed up. He couldn’t wait. Then he saw all the attachments. There were four of them. The first one he opened made him suck in a breath. It was Jennifer in the gown, all made up standing by the water, shading her eyes. It looked like she was looking for someone, and her eyes held a touch of sadness. Richie touched the screen before he gave himself a shake.

The second photo he opened was the close-up of Jennifer’s face. He let out a long whistle and just stared. Quickly, he forwarded that photo to Jon with a simple note – “I’m one lucky sonofabitch.”

Heart pounding, he opened the next picture, and nearly fell out of his chair. There she was, reclining on a chaise, looking distracted and radiant. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her arms, raised over her head, down her neck to the barely-there bra that showed almost all of her starburst tattoo, across her toned abdomen and “his” tattoo, down across her hips and over the miles of leg. He frowned a little when he saw both her legs were naked, but got distracted by the last unopened photo.

Hands shaking, he double-clicked the little icon, and this time, leaned so close to the screen that the chair rolled out from under him, and he hit his chin on the desk. There she was, his Jennifer, standing in front of a garden with nothing on but her thong and a smile. Her hands were covering her up, but he could see the gooseflesh raised on her arms, and her hair was blowing all around her, so he knew it was windy, and she must have been chilly.

He stared at the picture for a good long while. Then he signed out of his email and picked up the phone. “Oh my GOD,” he said to her when she answered.

“So you got my pictures, then?” Jennifer answered, yawning widely.

“I sure did, and nearly bit my tongue off with that last one.” He was going to skip the question but had to ask. “Who took the pictures? They came out really good.”

Yeah, sure, Jennifer thought. THAT’S why you’re asking. “My best friend took them. She helped me with my hair and the glittery things around my eyes, too.”

“Well, you’ll have to thank her for me,” Richie said, not missing the bigger yawn that Jennifer made. “Baby, are you sleeping?”

“Not well,” Jennifer admitted. “I got used to sleeping with you I guess,” she said, trying for a light tone. “Also, I had some early days this week, and another early one tomorrow, so I’m wiped.”

“OK,” Richie said, disappointed. “Well, I guess I can let you go. Though I don’t want to.”

“So don’t,” Jennifer said. “I’ll put you on speaker, and you can talk to me until I fall asleep. I miss your voice,” she said, tears starting to clog her throat.

“I miss you too. I’ll be able to see you on Friday, though, and I’m not telling what Vincent and I have planned. That’d ruin it. Just suffice it to say, we figured out a way that you’ll be able to see me, and I’ll be able to see you.”

“I’m gonna be all dressed up,” Jennifer said, “are you?”

“Absolutely,” Richie said. He heard her moving around as she got ready for bed. The sound of running water, the setting of the alarm clock, flipping of light switches, and the rustle of bedclothes. “Are you in bed now?”

“Yep,” Jennifer said sleepily. “Before I forget, have fun with Stephanie tomorrow.” Steph was flying out to LA to visit with some of the California girls from the board, and Richie insisted she let him take her for lunch, and that she should wear her hair up. He had also lowered his voice seductively, and asked her to wear bubblegum lip gloss. It took all of 10 seconds for him to convince her to have lunch, and she and Jennifer had laughed over Richie’s other demands.

“Just do it,” Jennifer had said. “I bet you’d shock the hell out of him.” Steph agreed.

“I will have fun, baby, but I’ll miss you,” Richie promised.

He started talking to her about his day, and what he and Ava had been doing, and about T and Jon’s upcoming wedding, and before long he heard her steady breathing and knew she was asleep.

“Jennifer, darlin’, I want nothing more than to have you here with me right now,” he said. “I miss you so much my soul aches. I love you sweetheart, and will talk to you tomorrow.”