"Interesting, Scott. Very interesting," Harry Halliday remarked as he examined the transparencies Scott had taken of Kathy with the radio in her hands.
"Look, Harry," Scott said quickly, "I'm not going to pretend this technique is easy or inexpensive. It will take several days alone simply to set up the lighting, and as much as a day or two of shooting to get what we want. The film itself costs an arm and a leg, but I really think this will do everything we want."
"The expense, as long as it's within reason, doesn't bother us, Scott," Harry commented. "I'll certainly admit that it's different."
"Think of the prestige a catalogue built around this type of photography will gain in your industry," Scott persisted. "You won't have just another run-of-the-mill brochure. You'll have something distinctive and unique, something that sets Merrill apart from all of the others."
"You don't have to sell me, Scott," Harry chuckled. "I think I'm pretty well sold on it right now."
"Great!"
"But hold on, Scott," Harry warned. "For something as unique as this is, I'll have to have board approval."
"But you can handle that, can't you Harry?" Scott asked.
"Well, I think so," Harry replied slowly. "I've got a couple of ultra-conservative board members to hurdle, though. What worries me is that they'll probably have to see something like a finished product to understand it. How much cost are we talking about for you to set up and take some preliminary shots, Scott?"
"Preliminary shots?"
"Something I can show the board with our product and all," Harry explained. "This girl, by the way, is too young to use. She looks all of eighteen or nineteen. That's not our market. We need somebody in their thirties. Not old, mind you, but a little more mature."
"Harry, to shoot preliminary photos is the same as shooting the finals. The set-up time and all is the same."
"I understand," Harry said. "But what will it cost if you cut corners here and there and give me something to show the board?"
Scott was a moment in replying.
"I'll be honest, Harry, I don't know what corners I can cut. With luck, maybe the lighting can be set up in a day or a day-and-a-half. And maybe I can get something worth looking at in four or five hours of shooting. Look, this is a hip pocket estimate, but I might be able to wiggle in with two thousand to twenty-five hundred dollars."
"That's good enough for me, Scott. Get right on it and give me something by Monday, if you can. Our regular board meeting is Monday, and I'd like to present it then."
"Monday!?" Scott exclaimed. "My God, Harry, that gives me four days!"
"Try."
"Okay, okay," Scott mumbled as his mind worked like a computer on what he would need. "Look, I'll have to have a way to get in here all weekend, if I need it."
"I'll assign you a security man with a key," Harry replied.
Scott spent several hours in the security room where the golf cart was kept studying the best area to use for the actual photography. Harry steadfastly refused to let him take the golf cart outside, so Scott would have to create the illusion of a golf course inside the building. Astroturf would do for grass. Four pieces of sheet rock mounted on a two-by-four frame and taped and bedded could serve as a background. An artist could splash some trees and a fairway on the sheet rock. The quality of the art wasn't critical because the green lights would give a hazy illusion in the background, so an art student could throw that together for him for a hundred and fifty, or two hundred bucks.
He wrote everything he would need on a list and then double-checked himself before he climbed into his car and drove down to the photographic supply house and ordered the materials he would need. His next stop was a lumber yard where he ordered the wood and sheet rock he would need and had it delivered to the Merrill plant. After a brief talk with the manager of a building supply company, Scott made a deal to rent enough Astroturf for a week.
It was after five when he arrived back at his apartment house and as he walked around the swimming pool toward his apartment he ran into Kathy. With the fourteen-year-old girl was a very attractive woman and for a moment Scott thought that it might be Kathy's friend, Lisa. Then he saw that Kathy's companion was a woman in her thirties.
The woman was an older version of Kathy and the resemblance was striking. She had Kathy's figure, hair, even the young girl's face.
"Hi, Scott," Kathy greeted with a bright smile. "This is my mother."
"Really?" Scott chuckled. "You two don't look a bit alike."
Sandra Marsh laughed and her entire face became radiant.
"Kathy tells me you've photographed her," Sandra said. "I've heard so much about you in the past several days, Mr. Nelson, I'm glad we finally met."
"Scott," Scott said. "Mr. Nelson was my father."
"Did the man like my photos, Scott?" Kathy asked eagerly.
"You bet he did, Kathy!" Scott replied. "Here, you can have the whole set now. I'm assigned to work up some specs for him on this technique."
"Can I model?" Kathy asked quickly, handing her mother the transparencies.
"Say," Sandra exclaimed as she held the transparencies up to the light to examine them, "these are quite good!"
"I wish you could, Kathy," Scott said softly. "After all, you helped me sell the idea. But I'm afraid that they want somebody older. You see, young people don't buy golf carts."
"They can't afford them," Sandra added with a laugh.
"You know, Missus Marsh," Scott commented as he studied Kathy's mother's features carefully, "you would make a perfect model."
"Sandra. If I'm to call you Scott, you'll have to call me Sandra. I'm afraid I've never studied modeling, Scott."
"You wouldn't need to," Scott said quickly. "I think you'd be perfect! Look, this first session is on speculation and I can't pay anything, but if we use the shots, or if we get the green light to go ahead with another series, I'll pay you a three hundred dollars a day."
"Three hundred dollars a day! Wow! But honestly, Scott, I've never done anything like this before. I don't think I could do it, really. And how would I get off work?"
"Do you work on Saturday?" Scott asked. "That's when I intend to shoot, if everything goes well. And, Sandra, this is important to me, so you can be sure I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think that you'd be perfect, believe me. You never know, it might launch a new career for you."
"My, you really work fast, don't you?" Sandra commented.
"Does he ever!" Kathy said softly. Neither of the adults heard her comment.
"Are you willing to gamble a weekend?" Scott asked with a broad smile.
"Well… heaven knows, the money would certainly come in handy. Being a single parent isn't easy."
"Then it's settled," Scott said. "Look, Sandra, I'll want you in a golf outfit. You pick it out and I'll buy it. Stay away from solid white and be careful of greens and blues. A tartan plaid or something like that. Everything around you is going to be shades of green, just like the blue surrounding Kathy in those transparencies."
"I'll show it to you before I buy it," Sandra laughed. "You make the decision on the colors."
"Great!" Scott said.
"What about makeup?" Sandra asked.
"The fresh, outdoors look," Scott replied.
"Maybe I'd better try that right now and let you take a look. Scott, be honest, do you really think I can do this?"
"Sandra, believe me, I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you'd be absolutely perfect! After all, I have a lot riding on this job!"
"Okay, I'm game," Sandra laughed. "I'll put on what I think is the fresh, outdoors look and let you take a look."
Sandra walked off toward her apartment and left Kathy standing alone with Scott near the swimming pool.
"Kathy," Scott said, "I'm sorry I can't use you."
"It doesn't matter," Kathy lied. "And I'm glad you're going to use Mom. She's so pretty, isn't she?"
"She certainly is," Scott agreed. "Now, I really have to get to work, honey. I've got a million things to take care of."
"Can I help?"
"Not right now, honey, but I'll need your help tomorrow, if your mother will let you work with me on the lights."
"Sure!" Kathy cried eagerly. "And, oh, I talked to Lisa at school today. She's scared stiff, but she wants to learn. She'll come over right after school on Monday. Her mother will be over in Fort Worth Monday, and it's a perfect time."
"Kathy I'm going to be…" Scott began. He was going to tell her that he'd be too busy to play sex games with Lisa and her on Monday, but then he remembered his fantasy about balling two girls at the same time. Scott knew he might never get another chance like this. "Okay, Monday is great. But up in my apartment, not down in the shop."
"Swell!" Kathy said.