Life after Divorce

Author's Preface: Everyone in this story is eighteen years old or older. The story is entirely fictional. Any similarities to real people or events are purely coincidental. Constructive comments are always welcome.

Enjoy

Life after Divorce - Taking Pictures of Dogs and Their Moms

Frank had been married for close to twenty years when he found out his wife had been cheating on him. Not only was she having an affair, it wasn't her first one. This was just the first one he'd found out about. There had been many men over the years. He was devastated both by what she'd done and that she'd fooled him for so long.

To make matters worse, his fifteen-year-old dog Ranger had died while he was going through all the legal procedures. The only argument he ever won with his wife was over having a dog. She didn't like dogs. That should have told him something about her. She only agreed because he wouldn't have married her if she hadn't allowed him a dog. They had two during their marriage, and she hated them both.

Frank needed to change his life after he was rid of her, but he didn't know how. He was forty-five years old, divorced, overweight, out of shape, and depressed. His self-esteem was at an all-time low. He started rebuilding his life by joining a gym, working out, and running to get rid of the fat he put on when he was married to his cheating bitch wife. In six months, he was the weight he'd been in college and had more muscles. Unfortunately, he was twenty-two years older than he was when he graduated.

As part of the divorce, he bought his exes half of the house they had lived in because he liked the house and the neighborhood. Now, he was in the process of going through some old boxes that she'd left behind when she moved, getting rid of anything that belonged to that bitch or reminded him of her. His new dog, Ruby, lay beside him as he went through the boxes.

Ruby was a cute young Lab mix, and she was devoted to him. He found her at the shelter, and they bonded instantly. If he was in the house, she was by his side.

Most of the boxes were full of the detritus that one gathers in marriage and were thrown away, but in one box he ran across some good memories. It was full of photographs he'd taken in college and had not seen since he married. He had gone to school to be an engineer and was good at it, but his passion was photography.

Engineering school took up most of his time, but he had some electives. He took all the photography classes he could in the art department and discovered studio photography. The engineer in him enjoyed studio work because of the control he had of the lighting. It was there that he developed a love for nude figure studies.

At the bottom of the box, he found his most prized possessions. 16" x 20" nude photographs of two of his college girlfriends. They were the best pictures he'd ever taken. Even his professors were impressed. As he went through them, he remembered the sessions as if they had happened yesterday. They sparked something in his spirit that had long been dormant.

Seeing those photographs gave him an idea. He now had the time, money, and space, to pursue studio work again.

Frank began planning a home photography studio without being sure what he would photograph, but he knew that he'd find something. Making money with his studio wasn't an issue, he had plenty even after his divorce. He hired an exceptional lawyer who kept his engineering patents which brought in substantial income, and he received a good-sized inheritance when his father died shortly after he filed for divorce. That money his ex-wife couldn't get her claws into.

He resigned from the engineering firm he'd founded and bought a top-of-the-line digital camera. Cameras and equipment had changed in the last twenty years, so he took courses at a nearby college to learn about the changes. For the studio, he started small. He cleared everything out of his dining room, hung background paper from the ceiling, and set up three inexpensive studio lights.

His first model was his dog, Ruby. She was the perfect model. She would never talk back to him, get bored of his fumbling, or doubt his abilities. For a small morsel of food, she would pose for him any way he asked. He posted his pictures of her in the online neighborhood newsletter. When he took Ruby on her daily walks, neighbors would stop him and ask about her and her pictures.

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While on one of his daily walks with Ruby, he met a cute young woman who live in the neighborhood named Pamala. She admired his pictures of Ruby and was the first neighbor to ask him to take a portrait of her dog, an adorable little Yorkie named Lucy. Taking pictures of Ruby had improved his skills to the point where he had confidence in his abilities, so he agreed to take Lucy's portrait the next day.

When Pamala asked what he charged for a sitting, he told her there was no charge. If she liked his work, she could donate to a local dog shelter or rescue. He had a soft spot for shelters. That's where all his dogs had come from. He also didn't want to deal with the paperwork involved in running a business.

Pamala came by his house the next day with little Lucy. Ruby was excited to have Lucy over and was mad at Frank when he put her away so he could take Lucy's picture. Lucy was a pro, and he got some great pictures of her. After they were done, he asked Pamala if Lucy and Ruby could go out and play in the backyard. She was more than happy to let them get some exercise. Ruby was ten to fifteen times heavier than Lucy, but she toned her play down for her. She'd try to keep her head on the ground so Lucy could reach her.

Frank and Pamala sat in the backyard, watching them play while they chatted. There is no better way to get to know someone than sitting with them and watching their dogs play.

They were both dog people, so conversation came easily for them. Dog people smile when they see others with their dogs. They congregate at dog parks, talk, and watch the dogs play. It's a bit like a cult. If you have a dog, then you must be OK.

Frank opened a bottle of wine for them. He and Pamala started talking about what was going on in the neighborhood, mostly centered around people and their dogs. Once the bottle was half-empty, they started talking about themselves a little.

Pamala told him that she'd been divorced for two years. He told her a little about his divorce too, but neither went into details. It wasn't a day for dwelling on unpleasant matters.

Frank said, "I've lived in this neighborhood for twenty years and I don't know most of the neighbors. Before I retired, I worked late hours and would walk my dog, Ranger, late at night when no one was out."

"What happened to Ranger?"

"He died in the middle of my divorce. He was sixteen years old."

"I'm so sorry." She saw he was holding back tears.

"So why did you retire?"

"After my divorce, I had enough money to live comfortably, and I needed a change in my life. It's nice to meet all the dogs in the area and their owners. What about you? What do you do?"

"Not much. I graduated from college with a major in English literature. That of course is useless. I got married right after college and was a housewife, god I hate that word, for a couple of years. Then came my divorce. My ex made a lot of money and came from a wealthy family, so I ended up with plenty of money to live on. I looked for a job for a while, but it seemed like an encyclopedic knowledge of English literature didn't have a lot of value in the job market. I gave up looking. Mostly, I try to keep in shape, have lunch with friends, and take Lucy to the dog park. I do some volunteer work for several charitable groups, Habitat for Humanity, the local PBS station during pledge drives, etc."

They spent a couple of pleasant hours watching the dogs, sipping wine, and talking. Pamala was going out to dinner with some girlfriends, so she gathered up Lucy and promised to bring her back to play. The dogs had given up their romping and settled in the shade. They were worn out. Lucy had her head resting on Ruby's leg.

Frank went through the pictures of Lucy that evening and took two 8" x 10" prints along with a memory stick to Pamala's house the next day. She wasn't home so he dropped them into her mail slot.

Later that day, she called to tell him how much she loved the pictures and wanted to pay him for them. He again told her to just donate to a shelter.

"I hope you don't mind but I've shown her pictures to friends in the neighborhood with dogs and posted Lucy's picture in the online neighborhood newspaper. You may get a lot of requests for photo sessions."

"That's fine. I love taking pictures of dogs. By the way, I wanted to tell you what a nice time I had with you yesterday talking and watching the dogs play."

"I enjoyed it too," she said. "We should do that again soon."

+++++

Frank was overwhelmed with people wanting pictures of their dogs and had to start keeping an appointment book. He tried to limit his customers to within a few miles of his house because he didn't want dog portraits to take up all of his time. There was no need to advertise; his reputation grew by word of mouth.

After a couple of months, his makeshift studio was not enough. He put appointments on hold to remodel his house and upgrade some of his equipment. A quarter of his house was now his studio. The studio was one large room with a small bath and a separate entrance. It was isolated from the rest of the house and looked like a professional studio.

Throughout the remodel, Pamala would drop by daily to see how things were going. Frank enjoyed Pamala's company, and Lucy was Ruby's best friend. By the time the remodel was done, if she didn't come by, Frank would worry. He'd call to see if everything was OK. She would tease him for doing it, but she loved that he did. It felt good to have someone that cared.

When the new studio was ready, he started taking pictures again. He didn't realize how much he'd missed it.

Pamala was his first customer in the new studio. On her daily drop-by, Pamala said, "Frank, I hate to impose but I've had so many people admire the pictures of Lucy that I'd like to have you take some pictures of me with Lucy. I have lots of pictures of her but none with both of us. I'd be glad to pay you."

"Pay me? You would be doing me a favor. I've been getting more and more requests for pictures of dogs with their people. I've not done that before, and it would be nice to start with a friend. Especially a friend as young and attractive as you."

"You mean I'll be your first? I'm honored." She smiled at her little double-entendre.

Portraits of people were harder for him. Getting a good portrait of both a person and a dog was even harder. Frank didn't think of himself as a people person. Most engineers aren't. Handling dogs was easy; people were hard. He wasn't sure he was ready for that yet. As an engineer, he was a perfectionist. If Frank wasn't confident that he would do an excellent job, he didn't want to do it until he could.

Pictures with Pamala and Lucy would be a perfect way to start. As his friend, he knew it would be less embarrassing if he made mistakes in front of her. She'd be patient with him if he acted unsure of what he was doing or how to get the poses he wanted. Portrait photographers can't act unsure of themselves, or they risk the client losing confidence in them.

"When can I come by?" she asked.

"How about tomorrow afternoon at about 1:00? I'm not good at this yet so it may take some time and I'll be clumsy at it for a while."

"I'll be gentle with you. We'll see you at 1:00," she said.

+++++

Promptly at 1:00 Pamala and Lucy were at the door. Pamala wore good-looking jeans that fit her curves nicely and a light blue chiffon button-up shirt. Her long auburn hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked amazing.

She held out a bottle of wine.

"You didn't need to..."

"Yes, I did. Be gracious. Why don't you open it?" she said.

They sat and talked about the pictures that she wanted. Frank poured her a glass of wine and doled out treats to Lucy. He wanted Pamala to relax before they went into the studio.

"I'm a little nervous about this. I don't look good in pictures," she said.

"I can't imagine you not looking beautiful in any picture," he said. "Of course, you may get upstaged by Lucy. She's awfully cute."

She thought, "Did he just compliment me?"

"Ready?" he asked.

Frank took a couple of pictures and said, "I think it would be better with your hair down."

"I didn't bring a brush or anything," she said.

"I'll do it. Let Lucy run around and come over to the makeup table," Frank said.

He had her sit in the chair and got a brush out of a plastic bag. She pulled the tie out of her hair and reached for the brush.

Frank said, "If you don't mind, just relax and I'll do it."

"OK," she said skeptically.

He fluffed her hair with his hands then a hair dryer. She felt the bristles of the brush on her scalp, and it felt wonderful. A man had never brushed out her hair before. When he finished, her hair looked great. She was about to get up when he held a color card up to her face to pick her skin tone.

"There was a little shine on your face I want to take care of." He pulled out a soft brush along with the makeup and put a bit of powder on her nose, cheeks, and forehead. She relaxed as he brushed it on with feathery strokes that tickled a little.

"Where on earth did you learn to do hair and makeup?"

"I took as many photography classes as I could in college, and they offered a session on doing hair and makeup for models."

"You learned well. Do you want to do all my makeup?" she jokingly asked. There was something oddly stimulating about him doing her hair and makeup.

"Let's collect Lucy and try again," he said.

He started shooting and said, "That's much better, your hair looks gorgeous down like that."

She thought, "Did he just compliment me, again?"

Frank had set up a bright yellow background that he thought would make them look fun and happy; the way he saw them. It would look great with her blue shirt and auburn hair. He planned on shooting three sets.

He started with head and shoulder shots with Pamala standing, holding Lucy up by her face. The first lesson he learned was that he should watch Pamala's face for the right moment to shoot. With humans, it's harder to capture the right expressions because we're born looking for information in faces and a subtle change makes a lot of difference.

When he was shooting, he kept the studio cold, and he noticed her nipples harden. She wasn't wearing a bra under her shirt and the material was thin. Her breasts were the perfect size, shapely, and perky. They fit her lithe body and her cheerful personality. Frank thought about what she would look like topless. He widened his shots to include her breasts in them; he could crop the pictures later.

Frank preferred smaller breasts. They made a woman look youthful and she didn't have to wear a bra if she didn't feel like it. His ex-wife had big breasts; too big. They always sagged, even when she was younger.

"OK. I'm going to rearrange the set. Grab some wine if you'd like." She got another glass.

For the second set, he had Pamala sitting in an upholstered chair with Lucy in her lap. Lucy would stand up to get to her face and touch Pamala's chest with her paws. In those pictures, Pamala would see how much her nipples showed. He couldn't crop them out easily, but he could use Photoshop to make them less noticeable. She and Lucy looked happy together.

For the last set, he had Pamala get on the floor and play with Lucy. She sat in various poses like cross-legged and with her legs out straight as they played. The cutest pose was her lying on her back holding Lucy above her. Most of the pictures on the floor wouldn't work with an older woman or anyone with an ounce of extra fat. Pamala looked perfect in them.

"Would you mind one more set?" he asked.

"Not at all. This is fun."

Frank changed the background paper to a bright pink, while Pamala went for more wine.

He had her sit on a plain wooden stool with her legs on rungs at different heights. It was a position between standing and sitting. It made her body look longer and her slender jean-covered legs look perfect. She held Lucy in her arms.

He took a dozen shots then said, "Set Lucy down. I want a picture of you by yourself."

She looked a little self-conscious at first, but after he made her laugh at a few bad jokes, she relaxed. He shot a dozen pictures, both close-up and full-length.

"If you'll grab a glass of wine for me, I'll load these on the computer, and we can look at them."

Frank went to transfer the photos from his camera to the computer while Pamala went for the wine. She came over as the pictures were coming up.

She leaned over to see what was on the screen and her blouse fell forward a little. It didn't expose anything, but it did catch Frank's eye.

He said, "Let me get you a chair."

"No, don't worry about it. I'm fine," she said.

She might have been fine, but she was driving Frank insane. He got up and grabbed her a chair. Frank knew he was being childish, but he wanted to look down her shirt. That would be wrong. He shouldn't want to sneak a peek at his friend's breasts even though he knew they would look amazing. She was twenty years younger than him. A mere child. He was an old man to her.

They quickly looked through the pictures to give Pamala an idea of what they looked like. They let the dogs out to play and finished off the bottle of wine.

Frank told her the pictures would be ready in a couple of days.

+++++

Pamala came back over to pick up the pictures. Frank had retouched them a bit, but they didn't need much. Pamala's face had very few lines or blemishes. He cropped the ones in which her nipples were the most obvious but, in some shots, cropping would ruin the composition.

He gave her four 8"x10" prints and a memory stick with the pictures on it. One of the prints of her sitting clearly showed her nipples poking out.

When she saw that one, she said, "This one is not going on the wall." She turned the picture towards him and blushed slightly. "I can't believe my nipples are showing so much."

Frank said, "I like that one. You look great in it and they're just little bumps in your blouse. I can retouch them out if you want me to."

"No. I like it, but I think I'll keep it private." She smiled at Frank.

The last print was of just her, full-length. She looked long, lean, and stunningly beautiful.

As she was leaving, Frank said, "If you don't think that you look good in pictures, look at that last print and think again."

Pamala showed the pictures of her and Lucy around to some neighbors and put them in the neighborhood online newspaper. Frank was inundated with calls for similar pictures of people with their dogs. Mostly from women with small dogs.

Between word-of-mouth and the neighborhood online news, Frank booked a lot of sessions. Ruby was happy to have some new friends.

+++++

A week later Pamala dropped by Frank's house and asked if he was busy.

"I'm never too busy for you. Come on in. Would you like a glass of wine?"

"Sure, that would be nice."

He brought her a glass and she said, "I was wondering if I could take advantage of your photographic skills again."

"Just you?"

She nodded and drank most of her wine. Frank refilled her glass.

"I'll be happy to take your picture. You're my favorite human subject. What are you looking for?"

Looking somewhat embarrassed, she explained, "After looking at those last few pictures you took of me, I wanted to ask you to take some more like that."

"If you don't mind my asking, what are they for."