“Oh stop it.” This time her cheeks blushed. “I was just having fun.”
“We could tell,” Kelly chimed in, leaving the television on some late night comedy channel which was ignored by us all.
“It was fun, wasn’t it?” I said taking another sip. “Actually, I’m kinda’ curious… Would you be interested in doing another shoot sometime? I feel like it’s great practice for me.”
She smiled and shifted in her seat. “Of course I would. Any way I could support you I will.”
Kelly tilted her head. “I don’t have anything that is ready right now though. I put all my work into the one we just did.”
I nodded. “That’s true, but I was thinking it didn’t have to be a fashion shoot but maybe something different. Something that might be new and fun and would help me out a little.”
My sister’s eyes narrowed as Mom asked the question.
“What were you thinking?”
“So, both of you were just talking about how I am very comfortable behind the camera, like, that’s my zone. And when it comes to relationships, there needs to be away that I can merge the two together. To somehow bring more intimacy into my photography.” I swallowed and continued. “And so, because I trust you both implicitly, I figured you would be an incredible resource for me to stretch my legs and try something more… provocative.”
Mom took sip as Kelly now asked her question.
“More provocative? Like what?”
“I would say kinda like what you asked in the car a while back. I think I should start dabbling in boudoir.”
“Seriously?” Kelly’s eyes narrowed.
I nodded.
Silence filled the room as the two leaned back, their faces reflected no emotion.
“So you want our input?” Mom asked.
“I was actually hoping for your participation… as my model.”
She took a deep breath, leaning back as she recrossed her legs.
“Jason, I don’t think-”
“Before you say anything,” I interrupted, “Let at least tell you why.”
“… Okay,” she said slowly nodding. “Go ahead.”
“Thanks Mom,” I said as I leaned forward. “For the past couple weeks, I’ve been continually reflecting on our shoot. I know we all had a great time, because it was just that: a great time! We trusted each other, it was fun, and we got great shots out of it too.” Their eyes were fixed to me listening to each word with intense fixation.
“Now I know we are all aware it started taking an interesting turn in the end, but the more I have thought about it, I feel I was starting to tap into something else, something that’s obviously a bit more risky. I mean…” I was struggling to find the right words. “What I’m trying to say is that I want to explore a different avenue or direction here. Something that can elicit new emotions, cause hey, that’s what photos do. So I know this sounds weird, and probably inappropriate, but the way I see it, it isn’t that different from the photo shoot we just did. It just has different… subtext, so to speak. And to do that, well, I need a model and an assistant and I can’t imagine anyone better than the two of you.”
The air was thick with tense silence as they pondered the words. Kelly’s eyes turned back and forth from Mom to me, eager to hear her thoughts.