They held hands while looking at the photographs of themselves displayed elegantly in Maxine’s private home gallery. Most of them were in black and white in various sizes. Charlie’s hands were sweating, but the excitement on her face somehow made it worthwhile. Looking at their naked bodies on canvas was surreal, Maxine did a very good job in editing them and made it look like a professional artwork.
As if they were taken out of their bodies and looking at themselves from an outside point of view. He never knew how it looked like when he was touching Charlie’s body, when he trailed his fingers on her skin, how his muscles flexed when he climbed on top of her, how Charlie’s lean leg hung on his side, and how her fingers dug into his hair. He was seeing it all from different angles and reliving it in his head.
“Oh my God it’s beautiful,” Charlie gasped, she looped her arm around his waist.
He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. Even though all the pictures didn’t show their faces, only parts of their faces and some captured facial expressions, she was beautiful. There was one frame that showed her expression of peaked sensation where she lifted her arm and ran her fingers through her hair, her lips parted, her eyes closed, her eyebrows furrowed as she erupted with pleasure. That particular shot hit him hard. He recognized it, it was his, but now it wasn’t anymore.
He didn’t want it to be hung on the wall but he couldn’t protest. It was Maxine’s favorite, she was going to hang it on her private wall until she found another favorite. Charlie’s moment of ecstasy now belonged to Maxine, and anyone she’ll invite into her bedroom. He shuddered at the thought.
They had a quiet dinner afterwards, Deeta joined them. They enjoyed a nice meal in a light conversation, shared their thoughts on the photographs, and also some insights on how Tom’s work was progressing. When Maxine asked him about the Goldstone party, he was vague about it, he couldn’t tell her that it was nauseating yet beneficial at the same time. He was careful with his words because he wouldn’t want Charlie to be curious about it.
Charlie’s moving out of Tom’s flat came up at dinner. She told Maxine that she was occupying her family’s apartment which was closer to campus, closer to work. Maxine showed interest in the topic, but she notices Tom’s silence too.
“Closer to campus and work means less travelling time … it’s very useful in this city, traffic is not exactly kind in rush hours,” Maxine commented.
The apartment was going to save her time and money too, but Tommy didn’t think the time was right for her to move out just yet. “I really don’t want us to live separately, Charlie, not now,” he said when they were back at his flat.
“But we’ve agreed to my mom’s term, besides, it’ll be good … it gives us the chance to miss each other, we still have time until school starts.”
Tommy sighed, “Yeah, I guess so … it’s just that … the schedule Maxine’s giving me is crazy, next week alone I’ll be an extra in four different movies, two photo shoots, a game show, and auditions … there’s literally no time for anything else, gym in the morning … we won’t be seeing each other at all if you don’t stay here with me.”
She rubbed his shoulders, they were tense. She understood his frustration was building up, but it was part of the dream he was trying to accomplish. She kissed his back and hugged him from behind. “You’ll get used to it eventually, Tommy, it’s always hard at first, once you got your footing on it, it’s get easier.” She tried to ease his mind. She always made it sound so easy, he felt warm and fuzzy just knowing how much she believed in him.
He exhaled deeply, “I’m sorry, I guess you’re right, it’s been a grueling couple of weeks, I feel like I’m losing my senses … I don’t even know what’s going on with you lately …. I want to drive you back to Bluebridge to get your things, face your dad together and everything.”
She ran her fingers through his hair, “It’s okay, I got it under control, I won’t be staying there anyway, it’s a good thing Jeremy is kind enough to drive me back and forth.”
“That’s just it … I mean, it seemed like Jeremy has more time to be with you than I do, he met your mom first before I did … but I can’t get out of my schedule, I can’t imagine how it’s going to be once you start working and go to school.”
Maxine’s words were already taking shape. In the entertainment business, time is a luxury most couples don’t have, but more important than that, trust was also something they needed to build very strongly.