Upon a Wishing Flower Read online

When I come downstairs, Hannah is sitting on the edge of the sofa twisting her hands together and juggling her legs on her toes. I laugh a little and she looks up with a big grin.

  “Nervous?” She stands and shakes her head. “No, excited. What do you want me to do?”

  “We’ll start here on the lounger. Just give me one minute.” I open the packaging of a brand-new memory card and write a H with a heart on the little plastic case for it. I don’t want Hannah’s pictures on any cards that someone else may accidentally see.

  Hannah is wearing a pair of my dark gray lounge pants and a slightly fitted white baby tee. She looks sexy just like she is. For her first pose, I have her lounge on the lounger with her arm propped on the arm of the sofa, her long golden hair brushed back, but flowing over her shoulders, and her tee pulled up just enough to reveal a hint of her slim waist and the delicate curve of her hipbone.

  I take a few shots and swallow hard when I review the pictures on my camera screen. She is so beautiful. I reposition her a few times with her still clothed with just small parts of her luscious skin revealed.

  After I review the last photograph, Hannah asks, “Are you going to take me in the nude now?”

  “If you’re ready.”

  In answer, she starts pulling her top and pants off. My mouth immediately salivates and my stomach flips in a happy way. Without my prompting, Hannah positions herself in a beautiful pose on the lounger. She’s slightly on her side, with her top leg bent to hide her center, but not her stomach. Her torso is turned straight, however, so her full breasts are facing me with the line of definition down the center of stomach shadowed just perfectly. She lays her head to the side with her hair laying over her chest. One arm is up, just behind her head, and the other is laying lazily to the side.

  “You look exquisite, Hannah.”

  Just a faint smile toys at the corner of her mouth as she tries to suppress the grin that is dancing in her eyes. After she has tugged the smile down and her face is expressionless, I start taking pictures from a few different angles and then get several close-ups of various parts of her body.

  We take a few more poses on the sofa, on the back porch, and then we move to the spiral staircase. Hannah is a natural at modeling. I have very little say in what position to put her in because Hannah seems to know just the best way to stand, lean, lay, or bend over. I only have to make adjustments to her body or her hair a few times.

  Hannah is currently standing right at the twist in the spiral stairs, with her back and elbows leaning against the rail, head falling backwards, chest popping out, one leg straight, and one on the step above, slightly bent and hiding her center. It’s a stunning image. I take at least a dozen pictures of this pose from a variety of angles, in addition to many close-ups. One of my favorite close-ups I get is of her arched back silhouette against the sharp lines of the staircase.

  The last series of pictures I take are of Hannah laying on her stomach on the plush window bench I have in my office. My favorite angle in this series is taken from her lower back across her cheeks with her legs bent and crossed in the air and blurred in the background.

  After my last picture, Hannah sits up and pats the bench next to her for me to sit down. I hand her the camera and she starts reviewing the photos. I can’t help but watch her face as she looks at herself on the camera. Her smile is broad and her cheeks are blushing. A few times, she giggles or looks at me biting her bottom lip.

  When she gets to the last photo, she hands me the camera and kisses my lips.

  “You made me look really good. That was fun. I can’t wait to see them larger than this three-inch screen.”

  “You made me look better than I am. Hannah, you are perfect and gorgeous. You are my photography fantasy fulfilled.” Hannah grins and pulls me into a sweet beautiful kiss. “I love you, Brooke.”

  “I love you too. Seeing you laying on this bench completely naked makes me wish I worked from home every day. You would be one sexy little pussy cat sunbathing in my office window while I work.” Hannah giggles and smiles broadly. She puffs her chest out and leans back some. “Could you really concentrate to get any work done with this body lounging around you?”

  Hannah reaches up and glides her fingers down her breast and down her stomach. I swallow hard and try to speak, but my words fail me. Hannah laughs and straightens back up, gently kissing my cheek.

  “I think I’d get you fired very quickly if you worked from home, baby.”

  I nod as I stare at her hard nipples and erect breasts. She lifts my chin, stealing my gaze away from her body. The amused smile on her face makes me blush beet red.

  “So, are you going to show me how to use this thing one day so I can take pictures of you?” My cheeks blush darker and hotter. “I, uh, um… I don’t know.” Hannah laughs and shakes her head. “You did not hold back one bit in letting me have my way with you all weekend in the most amazing sex I’ve ever had, but you are going to get shy about letting me take pictures of you naked? ”

  “Pictures are different. A moment is locked in one’s mind, but a picture is visual evidence of that moment. A moment that now anyone that had not been present in the moment can now be witness to.”

  “No one needs to see these pictures. You can lock them in a safe that only you and I would ever have access to.”

  “What is it about you that makes me willing to do whatever you want? It’s probably those lapis lazuli eyes of yours. I get lost and confused every time I look in them.” Hannah grins wide and flicks the tip of my nose with hers. “All those many books you read turned you into quite the romantic. If you had been a man during the Renaissance, I think you’d have a flock of fillies after you everywhere you went.”

  “Good thing I wasn’t because I prefer the one sitting next to me.”

  Hannah smiles and stares in my eyes. Oh god, those eyes. Hannah gently presses her lips to mine and holds them there for a moment. When she pulls back, she stands and lifts me up with her.

  “How about we get some lunch now?”

  Chapter Twelve

  It’s not company policy, but it is a practice of mine to meet with a client a couple of months after the start of their advertising campaign, even if it hasn’t expired yet. I like to touch base with my customers in person to see if they are happy with the results and discuss any possible changes we need to make.

  So, I’m sitting in the reception area of the Bamboo Spa, waiting for Mr. Shiro so we can go over his campaign. We had a meeting scheduled for 9am, but he’s running late with an acupuncture patient. He’s already ten minutes late for our appointment time. I knew from experience with Mr. Shiro that this would most likely happen, so I didn’t book any other appointments today. Each time I’ve had to meet with him, he has either pushed me off onto Hannah or has had to reschedule and has still been late each time. Mr. Shiro is a very nice man, but not very dependable. He really needs a real office manager who can handle the administrative tasks for him. Hannah does well for the most part, but she doesn’t really have the time either since she’s typically booked solid all day every day.

  The spa door opens with a chime, causing me to look up from the news stream I’m reading on my cellphone. Isabell is just walking in with a few bags in her hands. She spots me and tries to wave, dropping her purse in the process. I quickly leap up to help her because some of the contents of her purse have spilled out. I feel weird about touching her things, but her arms are too full to manage the task. I quickly toss some lip gloss, gum, a hairbrush, and a change purse back in the bag. Just as I’m lifting what I think is her driver’s license, Isabell quickly bends down and snatches it from my hands, but not before I get a good view of the name and picture on the fake ID. She tries to play it off with a little laugh and thanks me for the help before saying something about being late and sorry she can’t stay to chat.

  The hairs on the back of my neck are sticking straight up. Something is very off with her. That ID was a picture of her, but with a black wig cut in a bob,
green eye-contacts, and a fake nose piercing. The name on the ID was Natasha Watson. Why would she have a fake ID? And why the disguise?

  Hannah has been really worried about her. She said Isabell has been acting really strange the past few weeks and has been distant.

  Suddenly, I have a hunch and do a quick internet search on my phone for Jared Coffman. The top search result is advertising a fine art and photography gallery at the Manchester Symposium Center in a week. That’s only about an hour away. My stomach churns with unease. Isabell must be planning something. But what? I have a sickening feeling in my gut that tells me I should get tickets for this gallery to keep an eye out for her, but the thought seems completely irrational at the same time.

  “Miss. Dunning, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Please come back to my office. Can I offer you some water or tea?” I smile and stand to greet Mr. Shiro. “No, I’m fine, thank you. How is your wife?” I learned a couple weeks ago that his wife is six months pregnant with their third child. “Her belly is growing every week! She looks like a bikini model with a beach ball under her tee shirt! ”

  He lets out a hearty laugh and I chuckle at his little joke.

  When we get back to his office, he pretty much gets right down to business telling me about his response from the campaign.

  I’m grateful that the meeting goes well, and quickly because after my brief encounter with Isabell, I’m very unsettled and nervous. Mr. Shiro is extremely happy with the advertising campaign and says they’ve received new clients from every advertising channel we’re using. His bookings have increased twenty percent with most of them returning for follow-up appointments.

  When he follows me back out front to see me off, Hannah is sitting in a chair by the door with a smile on her face. She looks adorable as always in her scrubs. She’s wearing pale lime green scrubs today. They make her skin look tanner and her hair look more golden. She stands and holds the door open for me.

  “I’m going to walk you out.”

  She has a cute mischievous grin on her face that makes me forget all of my worries and feel giddy inside. When we reach my car, she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me firmly on my lips for a moment.

  “How was your meeting?”

  “Great. By what Mr. Shiro told me, it sounds like you have been busier than you let on.” She laughs a little. “Yeah, thanks to you, I leave this place exhausted and sore every day.” I frown and pull her closer. “I’m sorry. Maybe I can make it up to you by pampering you. I’m not a trained professional like you, but I can try to give you a massage later. Maybe run you a nice hot luxurious bubble bath.” Hannah moans and smiles in a drunken way. “That sounds amazing. Can I come tonight?”

  “Of course. I’ll fix you dinner too.”

  “You are making me fall in love with you all over again. ”

  “Well, I am a bard; that’s what we do.” Hannah laughs hard and kisses my lips. “I can’t wait to see you later. I’ve missed you this week. I need you to hold me.”

  “I’ve missed you too. Tomorrow is Friday. Do you have plans or can I take out?”

  “Nope, I’m all yours. I guess I better get back; my next appointment should be here soon.”

  “Ok. Have a great day. I’ll see you later.”

  “You too.” Hannah gives me a quick, but wonderful kiss, and then releases her arms from around my neck. She takes my hand and starts to step backwards. “Ok, I’m going now.”

  She’s far enough away that our arms are stretched taut and we are only hanging onto each other by two fingers. She pouts and takes another step back, causing our link to break and our arms to drop lifeless to our sides.

  “I love you, Hannah.” She smiles broadly and seems to pep-up a bit. “I love you. See you later, baby.”

  Just as I’m pulling out of the shopping center, my phone rings with a call from Felicia.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Are you on your way back in?”

  “Yeah, just leaving now.”

  “Ok, can you stop at Lucky’s Diner first? George called and said he had new ad materials he wants used, but his computer crashed, so he can’t email them. He has everything on a flash drive he wants you to pick up.”

  “Ok, sure. Let him know I’ll be there in about fifteen.”

  “Great, thanks. See you soon.”

  Lucky’s is a great breakfast and lunch diner that is extremely popular and their lot is always packed. Thankfully, after my third loop around the lot, someone pulls out and I’m able to take their spot. On a couple of occasions, I’ve had to park in a neighboring business’s lot after circling for ten minutes .

  George doesn’t really need to advertise for this location because it has a very loyal customer base and great reputation, but he’s opening a larger sister-diner twenty-miles from here that he’s advertising for so that his opening goes well.

  There are at least twelve people waiting upfront for a table and I’m barely able to squeeze through them. I tell the hostess who I am and why I’m here and she pages George on the speaker that can only be heard in the back kitchen and office.

  George is a very tall trim man with a crooked nose that looks like it’s been broken and reset a few times. He has army cropped gray hair with a matching mustache and goatee. His eyes are light gray and almost match the white of his eyes. If he’s not smiling, he looks fierce, but he has a very kind smile that rarely leaves his face.

  When he reaches the front to meet me, he’s flashing his warm smile and has a plastic to-go bag holding a brown paper bag loosely closed at the top. He holds the bag out to me with one hand and the flash drive with the other.

  “House made doughnuts and the ad art. Thank you for stopping by. My brother will be by after hours to look at the computer, but I wanted to get this to you as soon as possible. I need to change the menu in the yellow pages, and I need to update the offer on the meals deals website you have us on. Everything is on there; just call me if you have questions. Don’t worry about getting the flash back to me any time soon. Those are the only items on there.”

  “Ok, thanks. We’ll take care of this and get you proofs out as soon as possible. Thanks for the doughnuts. These will probably be snatched out of my hands and devoured before I even get to my office.”

  “Is there something else on the menu that might survive your walk through the office that you would like?” I smile and shake my head. “This is perfect, thank you. ”

  “Ok, thanks again.”

  When I get back to my car, I can’t help myself and have to eat a doughnut immediately. Lucky’s has the most incredible freshly made doughnuts in the area. They are one of the biggest reasons for the restaurant’s success. When they started splitting them and making sandwiches with them, customers were flocking in by the dozens for the sweet, salty, and savory creations.

  These doughnuts have the perfect amount of light and fluffy texture with buttery, sweet taste. The only bad thing about these doughnuts is they don’t keep well. They need to be eaten soon after being cooked, or they become very dense. I would like to save one for Hannah, but I know it won’t be the same later. I’ll have to bring her here one morning for breakfast.

  As I start to walk down the rows of cubicles towards my office, heads start to pop up like the moles in the carnival game, Whack-a-Mole. Soon, they’ll all be fighting for the half dozen or so doughnuts remaining. I plop the bag down on Felicia’s desk and she moans dramatically as she wraps her arms around the bag as if it is a lover she hasn’t seen in weeks.

  “I was hoping George would send you back with a bag of these.” She looks at my face and gives me a mock look of betrayal. “Bitch, you already had one of these!” I laugh and nod. “You think I’d actually get one if I didn’t eat it before I got back here?”

  I nod upwards, looking behind her, where there’s a group of giggling anxious looking faces making their way over here, just as I expected they would be.

  “You better get yours quickly and toss the bag on the co
mmunal table over there.”

  Felicia quickly digs out a doughnut and places the bag on the table just as the greedy horde arrives. Felicia and I laugh and she follows me back to my office .

  As I set my bags down on my desk, she takes a seat in front of my desk.

  “So, did you get to see your girl?”

  “I did. Did you get to see your girl this morning?” She smiles really big and nods as she chews a large bite of doughnut. “She walked me out after making my coffee and gave me a hot kiss on the sidewalk. We’re going to the movies Saturday night. You and Hannah should come along. I don’t think Belinda will mind doubling up.”

  “Ok, I’ll ask Hannah later. Anything I need to know about?”

  She holds up a hand as she chews so I settle in behind my desk and wait. Felicia has been on several dates with Belinda in the past couple weeks. They really get along great and like each other a lot, but neither of them has said, “I love you”, yet. I’m pretty sure Felicia loves her though. I think she’s just afraid to say it because being with a woman is new for both of them. But, of course, they may not have developed that level of emotion for each other yet. Just because Hannah and I fell in love quickly, doesn’t mean that will happen for them.

  Felicia swallows the last bite of doughnut and takes a tissue from the box on my desk to clean her hands and wipe the non-existent crumbs from her lips.

  “We received some contracts back. I’ll bring those in to you in a few. Sunbelt News is increasing their Sunday rates. Those go into effect next month and will be applied to anything scheduled after the effective date, regardless of when we placed the ad order. I researched and we have twelve customers that will be impacted. We received a scripted email from management to send out to our customers to let them know. I can send it if you want. There’s a car show in Manchester in a few weeks that’s looking for advertising sponsors and have discounted their rates for a final push to fill all of the booths and such. I’ll email you the updated rate card. I also put together a list of customers that may be interested. I can start making calls to sell the packages if you want.”