"I see your point, Scott," Harry Halliday commented, rubbing his chin with his hand. "I must admit, however, that I have mixed emotions about it."
"From every standpoint, Harry," Scott insisted, "it makes sense. It gives us glamour where we need it. Brings the product alive, so to speak, and makes for an identifiable market. It'll sell, Harry, you know it will. And we can cover up the instrument panel without being too obvious."
"But at the same time, Scott, we'll be bringing somebody else into the act and thereby increase our security risk," Harry remarked.
"A professional model, Harry, for God's sake!" Scott said. "Professional models don't have brains. They have bodies and faces."
"Just the same," Harry Halliday persisted, "it is a security risk. Look, Scott, I understand your problems. And, to be perfectly honest, I like your new approach. Just give me some time to chew on it and get some reactions from the powers above, okay?"
"Okay, Harry," Scott said with a sigh, "but please give it the old college try. I need all the help I can get. Say! The instrument panel is our one risk, right?"
"Right."
"Well, how about shooting without the panel on the cart? Or maybe with a mock panel?"
"We thought of the mock panel, Scott, and decided it was too much of a risk. Our competitors will put anything we put out under a strong magnifying glass, and if they see that we're using a mock panel, they'll know something is up. We know how they think because our people think the same damned way."
Both men laughed and Harry assured Scott he would consider the use of models for action photographs of the new golf cart. Scott went back to the tight security area where the new golf cart stood waiting teasingly for him to solve its problem.
Scott walked around the golf cart for the better part of a half an hour, studying it from every angle and trying to tune in the possible solutions to his problem. Then he shot two rolls from a variety of angles he hadn't shot the day before. He did a series from on top of a ladder to see if shooting down would help.
He could tell from his view finder that the above shots helped glamorize the golf cart, but they were also critical as far as exposing the instrument panel.
His frustration grew as he finished his third roll of film for the morning. Scott even toyed with the idea of using a critical focus that would throw the dash area out of focus in the photograph, but the size of the golf cart and the distances involved made that all but impossible.
It was when he was sitting on a crate sipping a steaming hot cup of coffee that the idea hit him. He remembered a technique that had been pioneered by a famous photographer in Dallas many years ago. The famous photographer had died and his technique was little used because of the patience and time required for the intricate lighting and critical exposure, but Scott became excited as he thought about it because it might just work.
The idea was simple. You lighted the entire setting with blue lights, like a Hollywood winter scene. Then you used a high powered bird's eye with a white light to spotlight the area to be emphasized in the final photo. The bird's eye had to be powerful enough to wash out the blue in that one spot, and that spot shouldn't be more than twenty percent of the total photograph.
In the final print you had a dramatic effect. The photo was in tones or rich yet subdued blues, and the spot area was in full, bright color.
Scott remembered that the technique had been employed to dramatize a line of sporting goods, an auto air conditioner, and even stereo components in a living room. The more he thought about, the more he was certain it would work.
The problem was that he'd never be able to explain it to Harry Halliday. Harry would have to see it to understand and appreciate it. The beautiful point was that the blue lighting would obscure the instrument panel to the point that an industrial spy with a microscope or loupe would climb a wall!
Scott finished his coffee and once again began pacing around the golf cart. There was an excited spring to his step now. The possibilities were endless with this new technique he had in mind! It wasn't really necessary to use blue. Green or red could be employed with the same effect. In fact, green might be better. Green had an outdoors connotation that would compliment the golf cart.
At noon Scott received word that Harry would be tied up in a conference until late in the afternoon and the photographer decided to call it a day and develop the rolls he had taken and work on his new idea.
On his way back to his apartment house, Scott stopped and bought a roll of special color film and some blue gels for his lights. He wanted green, but the film he'd have to use was a special order item and had to be refrigerated, so he decided to use blue for his tests.
In his small lab in the storage room at the apartment house, Scott set to work. First, he loaded the rolls he'd shot into the developing machine. Then he began setting up a small studio in the corner of the room. Using four pans and two kliegs, he lighted the corner in subdued blue. Then he set up his most powerful bird's eye. He placed a portable radio he'd brought down from his apartment as the test product on a small table and concentrated the white spot on it tightly. The damned bird's eye tended to bleed back on the wall and Scott borrowed a ladder from the storage room next door to raise the bird's eye as high as he could.
The result was far from perfect, but it was the best he could do with the low ceiling. In the Merrill factory, he would have a twenty-five foot ceiling to work from.
Scott was loading the special film into his camera when the door opened quietly and Kathy Marsh walked in.
"Hi," she said a little shyly.
"Hi, Kathy," Scott responded in a preoccupied tone of voice while he finished loading the film.
He wasn't at all comfortable about having her here in his work room after the close call they'd had yesterday. Scott had spent a somewhat sleepless night worrying about what would happen if his escapade with the fourteen-year-old girl ever got out.
Scott was about to tell her that he was busy, but he reminded himself that it certainly wasn't the little girl's fault.
"What are you doing?" Kathy asked.
Kathy was afraid to mention what had happened yesterday. She wanted to talk to him about it, tell him how much she liked everything they did, but instinct warned her to let him bring it up. When old man Wilson had knocked on the door, Scott had been in a true panic and she knew that he was worried about the fun they had enjoyed together.
"I'm still trying to solve that damned problem," Scott replied. He went on to explain the technique he was testing.
The young girl didn't understand everything the older man told her, but she nodded her head as if she did. It was so complicated!
Scott set his camera on a tripod and focused on the radio. He shot a time exposure, but wasn't at all satisfied.
"That damned light is bleeding all over the wall!" he sighed.
"Would it help if I held the radio?" Kathy offered.
"Hey, that might work!" Scott exclaimed. "And it will give me something to use to argue with Harry about using a model."
"Should I run upstairs and change clothes?" Kathy asked.
"No," Scott responded quickly. "These are just test shots. What you're wearing is fine, Kathy. Here, we'll get rid of this table and have you stand in a three-quarter profile and hold the radio."
Scott positioned the girl and then climbed up the ladder to set the bird's eye spot. Kathy was wearing a short miniskirt that accentuated her legs and a tight sweater that showed off her lusciously ripe young tits.
"Hold that radio up to your chest, Kathy," he called down as he set the spot. It wouldn't hurt to catch the ripe points of her tits in the photograph next to the radio. He tightened the bird's eye until just the radio and part of Kathy's left tit were in the spot. The girl's body behind the radio caught the spot and kept it from bleeding on the wall.
"Now, Kathy, you'll have to hold perfectly still," Scott said. "I'm going to use a slow shutter, so don't move. I'll count to three. Hold your breath if you can. And smile, Kathy. That's better. Lift your chin a little. A little more, honey. That's it. Now get ready."
Scott counted to three and pressed the shutter control.
"Before you relax, Kathy, let my try one from over here. Now smile. That's it. Get ready."
Scott shot six exposures from various angles, then climbed the ladder to take some shots from above the young girl. This angle was even more dramatic and Scott was anxious to see how they turned out. He finished the roll moving the ladder around and shooting down from different heights and angles.
"Okay," he said as he shot the last exposure on the roll, "let's see what we've got. First we'll have to get the other rolls out of the tank and set up for this film. The temperature is critical on this type of film."
They turned off the special lights and Scott took the print strips out of the machine and set the special temperatures that would be needed on this roll. When the lights activated on the panel, he loaded the special roll and closed the machine.
"This one will be slow," he remarked. "We won't be able to see anything for about an hour. Come on, I'll treat you to a Coke. We'll leave these others here until we come back."
They left the dark work room and walked over to the laundry room where there was a Coke machine. As usual, the apartment house was completely deserted in the middle afternoon.
Leaning against the row of empty washers, Scott took a deep breath and broached the subject of their escapade the day before.
"We were very lucky yesterday not to be caught," he began. Choosing his words carefully, he continued to explain to the young girl that they could both get in a lot of trouble if they weren't very careful. "If you ever hinted to anyone what we did, Kathy, they could put me in jail."
"I'll never say a word!" the young girl protested. "You should know that."
"But even if you just made a slip…"
"Didn't you like what we did yesterday?" the fourteen-year-old girl asked, tears beginning to well in her young eyes.
"Of course I did!" Scott assured her. He could see that the child was close to tears and he spoke softly, explaining that a relationship between them was almost impossible because of their ages. He explained that if she somehow fell in love with him, or if he fell in love with her, they would never be able to do anything about it. He spoke slowly and logically and was pleased to see that she both listened and understood what he said.
"So, sex between us can only be for fun," he said.
"I understand that!" the young girl exclaimed. "I'm mature enough for that! But is there any reason we can't have fun together and like each other? I like you very much and I want you to teach me things," she added urgently.
Kathy wasn't telling him the truth. She knew that she was in love with him, but she also knew that what he said about their ages was true. They could never be married. They couldn't even go places together, not as lovers. But she wasn't going to give him up. Deep in her heart she thought that maybe by some miracle they could find a way.
"Of course not," Scott replied with a smile, "as long as we both understand the rules."
"I understand," she said in a small voice.
"Hey, the film should be ready," Scott remarked as he looked at his watch. "Let's go see what we have."
They returned to the work room and Scott retrieved the roll of transparencies from the tank and spread the strip out on his light table. Together they bent over and examined the photographs. Scott felt an exuberant excitement building inside him as he looked at the transparencies. They were far from perfect, but the results were much better than anything he had hoped for.
"Gee, they're good!" Kathy exclaimed excitedly.
"Damned good!" Scott replied with a triumphant chuckle. "I told you you'd make a hell of a model!"
It was true. Kathy photographed beautifully. In the blue light she looked much older and her smile was radiant.
"Look at my… my tit sticking out in this one!" the young girl cried with a giggle.
"If these don't convince Harry I'm on the right track," Scott said, "nothing will! Of course the golf cart will be a lot more difficult than the radio, but these prove that my idea will work. He should eat these up!"
"Can I have one for myself?" the fourteen-year-old girl asked eagerly.
"Sure, but not until after I've shown them to Harry. Then you can have all of them."
"Gee!"
"Let's see what I got this morning," Scott remarked, turning on the overhead light and picking up one of the strips of film he'd developed earlier.
Kathy reached out and picked up one of the other strips on top of the machine and glanced at it idly. The sight that greeted her eyes made the young girl gasp! She had picked up the roll he had shot of her yesterday.
"Look!" she exclaimed as she examined the strip. She glanced quickly at the photos he had taken of her naked, then gasped again when she saw the ones he'd shot of her playing with and sucking his cock.
Scott moved over next to the pretty young girl and glanced down at the strip. He felt his pulse quicken and his halls churn when he saw the photo of her slowly taking his rigid prick into her sweet young mouth.
"Wow! Aren't these something?" Kathy remarked excitedly. "Look, in this one I have your cock all the way in my mouth!"
Scott followed her pointing finger and saw a close-up shot of his balls resting on her pretty chin as she swallowed his dick. In a photo earlier on the strip he saw her holding his rigid prick in her small hands while she pursed her lips to plant a loving kiss on the tip.
There was no denying the stirring in his loins as he looked at the erotic photos. He could even feel her sweet, warm lips surrounding his prick as he examined the shots.
The forty-eight-year-old man was also very conscious of the fourteen-year-old girl's nubile body as he stood beside her.
"And look at this one!" Kathy exclaimed eagerly. "It's so clear I feel like I have your cock in my mouth right now!"
"Does looking at the photos make you hot?" Scott asked, reaching over and casually placing his hand on her cute, round bottom.
"Oh, yes!" Kathy replied honestly. She had felt those warm sensations flowing through her body from the moment she began examining the film strip. The feeling of his hand on her tail made her entire body tremble. "You know what?" she said quietly, boldly reaching over and placing her hand lightly on the growing bulge in the older man's pants.
"What?"
"I'd like to feel your cock in my mouth right now!" Kathy said. "Is that bad?"