On Monday afternoon, Anne was ready to leave the room. “Mary, you want to come to the figure class?’
“Watch you stand around bare ass for an hour? Sure, why not?’
At the Art School, the instructor, Henry, met them. “Ah, is this Mary Travis? Are you posing today? How are you, Anne?’
Mary laughed. “I hadn´t planned to; I was going to watch Anne. But what the hell, why not?’
Mary went into the changing room, emerging shortly wearing the robe Anne had used. For Anne, it had been skimpy. For Mary, it looked silly.
“If you ask me, this robe is almost obscene. I´d feel better not wearing anything. If I do this again, should I bring my own?’
“Perhaps. I´m sorry, not many of our models are your size. That´s why I´m glad you´re willing to pose. We need practice with the extended form.’
“I think he means fantastic long legs, Mary. Sometimes he talks funny.’
“Well, I sure don´t want to be accused of sexism, you know. Have to watch what you say.’
“Oh, I know I´m a long drink, and my legs are the reason. You know, when we sit down together, Anne and I are the same height.’
“You´re right!’ said Anne. “I hadn´t really noticed, but you´re right.’
“Another thing that´s interesting about your legs is their strength. We don´t often see such powerful legs.’
“I´ve been on a horse every day since I was six, Henry. That´s where the muscles come from. I´ll bet you like Anne´s abs and shoulders, too.’
“You are both beautiful women. It´s just that I like to give the students something challenging to draw. Yes, Anne, I admit I like your ‘abs´. From the smooth but powerful musculature, I´d guess you are a swimmer.
“Everyone looks at you differently,’ Mary said. “Some people just see the breasts, some the legs or the ass. Interesting. Guess that, around here, Anne´s Ms. Smooth. I´ll be Ms. Legs.’
Anne laughed, “Speaking of smooth, have you noticed, Henry, that some of the students have given me pubic hair?’
Henry laughed. “Yes, I think some of them, the women particularly, are diffident about drawing the @mons#. I don´t care about that, it´s not important.’
The class was beginning and Henry set Mary a pose that focused on her legs and the balance between her legs and her strong, but more compact, upper body.
At the first break Mary walked around, looking at the work in process. In the corner, Anne spoke to Henry.
“Would it be all right if I asked the students to let me buy their work? I mean, maybe $10 a pop for the ones I like. And only ones of myself or Mary?’
“What do you plan to do with them?’
“I´m not sure yet. It´s certainly not that we want to sit and admire ourselves. I´m thinking I might use them in a show or maybe sell them cheap for wall paper. You know, for room decorations. I don´t mean to put anyone down, but these are simple studies, not really finished works.’
“No, I agree. I think that could be arranged. Why don´t you make up some cards or something explaining what you want and what you´ll pay? You´ll have to assure the artists they can sign their work, if they want. And you should be clear that you are buying all rights to the drawings. Why just you and Mary?’
“I´m not sure yet what I have in mind. But if I were to buy stuff someone else posed for, I´d have to pay the model, wouldn´t I?’
“I´m not sure. Our models, like you, work for the school, not for the students. For the amount of money you mention I don´t think it´s an issue. In any case, it would be between the artist and the model.’
Mary completed the session and agreed to pose again. Henry indicated he would like to have Anne pose for a different class. She declined but promised Monday and Wednesday the following week.
“I can´t promise to be available every week,’ Mary said. “Someone´s asked me to teach riding, and I may be busier than I can see right now.’
“Just let me know,’ said Henry.
.oOo.
Mary put down the telephone. She´d called her mother briefly, then called Aunt Bessie and talked for an hour. She sat quietly for a while, then walked into the bedroom where Anne had moved to read while she talked to Bessie.
She gazed out the window at the fields, frosty in the moonlight. “You know what´s incredible?’
“Mint-flavored Raisin Bran with chocolate-covered almonds?’
“Gee-ZUS... Uh, may I rephrase that?’
“Please.’
“I find it incredibly wonderful to go to sleep at night skin to skin with someone. And what´s even better is waking up in the morning with someone still inside me.’
“I love it, too. I guess it´s new to you.’
“Until I started sleeping with you, I only slept once or twice with Beth or Dan. And never overnight with a guy, even with Dan. I hope I never miss another.’
“Hadn´t thought about it till now. I´m the other way around.’
“What do you mean?’
“I mean I haven´t hardly slept alone since I was a baby, and I´ve had a guy in my bed since I was, oh, maybe five.’
“Yeah, that´s different, all right. Actually, I´m not having any trouble getting used to it.’