Dad always told me and my brothers, "Life begins on the other side of this here thought: 'What the fuck do I think I'm doing?' If you ain't thinking that every once in a while, you ain't living."
I don't think me in a freezing studio apartment with my dick out was what he had in mind. It most definitely had me thinking 'What the fuck do I think I'm doing?' though.
The photographer was snapping away. She had me doing little poses, but this felt less like a photo shoot and more like a game of endurance.
"Try not to look so uncomfortable," Jasmine said.
"Says the w-woman wearing a c-coat."
She snapped another picture then lowered her camera. "Do you wanna stop and take a break?"
"Nah. L-Let's f-finish this."
When we finally did, I put my dick back in my boxers and redid my pants. Jasmine handed me my turtleneck and socks.
"I appreciate you helping bring my vision to life," she said.
I nodded, my teeth chattering too much to speak. She went around the apartment closing the wide opened windows while I put on my boots. When I looked up, she was in front of me extending an envelope.
I took it, thanking her.
She walked me to the front door. Words couldn't express how glad I was to be getting up out of that ice box. I grabbed my coat off the rack as we said our goodbyes, and I was off, my skin warming up at the thought of how much heavier my pockets were.
I came awake to my phone ringing. With all the anger of a single, child-free man that was rarely woken up when I was sleeping, I snatched the receiver off the hook. "What?"
"Franklin, hey. It's Jasmine."
This reminded me of years ago when I had many women calling my line in the middle of the night, their voices laced with need. This wasn't one of those calls. Not from a woman like Jasmine.
"Hey, Jasmine. How you doing?"
"Fine, thanks." I glanced at the alarm clock beside my bed to find it was ten-twenty PM. "Listen, I know this is unprofessional, but I was going through your pictures, editing them andβ"
The worst thought came to mind. "You need to retake them?" Another afternoon in that deep freezer of an apartment.
Her prolonged silence answered the question. I sighed. "Alright. I can come back tomorrow, around the same time. That work?"
"I don't need you to retake the pictures, Franklin. I need you to...come see me... Tonight."
It was my turn to be silent as I recognized that deepness in her voice.
"I know this isn't right, but I was going over the shoot and..."
"Your pussy got wet?" I finished for her.
"Yes," she admitted.
I rubbed my thigh, where moments ago my dick had been resting in a relaxed state. Now it was semi-hard as it recognized it was being summoned. "Tell me what you want."
"I want...you."
"How do you want me?"
Silence on the other line.