him the time. Instead I'll go over to Frank's private studio to ask for some pointers. Besides, if I'm in luck maybe he'll be doing some shooting today.
Minutes later, after having checked in on his wife who lay cuddled in the middle of the bed, the covers pulled over her head to ward off the imminent morning sunlight and double-protected by Stephan's pillow hiding her blonde tresses, he slipped into the dressing room and pulled a shirt from its hanger.
Having written his wife a short note telling her he would be gone for a few hours, he slipped out of the house and into their Mercedes, a whistle on his lips and a song in his heart.
Frank was sitting having coffee with a friend of his, the owner of a film processing lab in the Big Apple, when Stephan rang the buzzer to Frank's private studio situated in a high rent district of New York City.
'Morning, Stephan,' his younger brother greeted him, following his words with a cordial slap on the back. 'Just having some coffee here with a friend of mine. Come in and meet Basil.'
Stephan noticed the deep wrinkles lining his brother's eyes and the puffiness of the eyelids-a sure giveaway for a hangover. Secretly, Stephan wondered if Frank had taken one of his instant movie cameras along to the party. It was supposed to be a real swingin' affair; wasn't that what he said? Must be great having a social life like that.
The older brother envied him.
A slender blond-haired man offered his hand to Stephan: 'Pleased to meet ya. I'm Basil.'
'Basil and I are trying to get our heads back on our shoulders after that party last night, isn't that so, Basil.'
'That's no lie,' chuckled Basil, reaching for a half-emptied bottle of brandy sitting on the end table by the sofa.
'I guess we did overindulge a little,' admitted Frank ruefully. Frank indicated a director's chair with his name written in bold letters across the back, a gift from his wife, and seated himself on the sofa next to Basil. He cleared his throat, meeting Stephan's eyes; his own were twinkling. 'Did you and Gillian, ah, try out the camera last night?'
Stephan felt heat inadvertently rise on his neck and cheeks as the remembrance of the previous evening's activities with his wife sprang full blown into his mind once more. 'Well, we…' His eyes darted over to the sofa where Basil grinned knowingly at him. Damn, he thought. I wish Frank wouldn't be so open about these things. 'We did take a few feet of film if that's what you mean.'
Basil chuckled softly between sips of his brandy-coffee. 'Ah, ha, the old movie-camera-on-the-wife trick,' he rambled sagely.
Stephan searched for words, but none of an appropriate nature came to mind. It was as if his entire thinking process had stopped. He finally managed, 'It's a great invention.'
'Yep, did you take some naked movies of your wife?' asked his younger brother with embarrassing insistence.
Stephan's face grew even darker red, even beneath his bronze tan. 'Yes, we took some of Gillian in the living room on the sofa.'
Jesus, thought Stephan, I wish Frank would leave these questions for a more private meeting. How the hell do I know this idiot Basil won't call up Gillian and spill everything. She'd be on the phone to her lawyer in a second if she knew I was telling anybody about those movies.
'Did you take any in the bedroom?' the owner of the film laboratory asked. 'That's the beauty of the timer.'
'The timer?' Stephan assumed the innocent pose.
'The fifteen-second timer, the one I left for you to try out, remember?' His brother sat forward on the white sofa, waiting patiently for an answer. Then he leaned forward even further, dropping his voice conspiratorially. 'How far would she let you go? Just a little cheesecake, or did she give you the whole pie?' He laughed heartily at his own humor.
'I…I'm not sure what you're talking about, Frank.'
'Listen,' started Basil, now on his feet, his empty coffee cup in hand en route to the kitchenette in the corner of the room. He rested his hand on Stephan's shoulder and, leaning down, said, 'There's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. Almost everybody who tries out those instant Polaroids with the timers has the same ideas and does the same things.
They're great little intimacy arousers. Gets you hornier than hell, especially if you use the timer so that you get shots of you and your cunt fucking away.'
Immediately Stephan noted the use of the word cunt instead of wife.
'…Christ, you should have seen the girls get off on it at that party last night.' He gave Stephan an extra pat on the shoulder before sauntering off for a refill. 'Sorry, I didn't ask, but anybody else for a coffee and brandy? Sure does set you straight after a hangover, kinda like a good fuck when you're all uptight and strung out.' He laughed and poured himself a cup.
Stephan stared at Basil. From the moment he set eyes on him he hadn't liked him. Well, my intuition served me right again. That man is sleazy as hell. Don't understand what Frank is doing with friends like that.
He knew that Frank was often open about his sex life, but he was never coarse like Basil. Why, he was practically suggesting that he, Stephan, engage in lewd practices like well, like voyeurism, for God's sake!
Self voyeurism was no better than jerking yourself off!
Basil settled himself back on the sofa, once more pouring a healthy shot of brandy into his steamy coffee and wincing with the scorching of the first sip. 'When I first got into the film business, I owned a processing lab on the other side of town. I was really amazed at the number of fun-loving people who shared my interest. Christ! You should see some of the photographs people come in with to have blown up to life size and hang on their bedroom walls. And the movies, absolutely wild. Hell, I figured, why should they be having all the kicks?'
'You mean you take pictures of your wife? Naked?'
'Sure as hell do, Stephan.' Basil crossed his long legs and set down his coffee cup, leaning forward on the sofa as if giving a sales pitch.
'We take movies of each other fucking almost every night. Christ! You oughta see our collection. Why, thousands of people do the same thing all over the country these days. It's the in-thing to do.' It was out of self- protection that Basil referred to 'his wife.'
Frank allowed his smile to widen. 'That's why I suggested the movie camera, Stephan. Give you and Gillian's fucking a little lift. What's it been? Three years now? Sex getting a little too predictable for your tastes, huh?'
Stephan moistened his parched lips uncertainly. His brother had put him in an awkward position: what he and his wife did in the privacy of their own home was nobody's business but their own. But then again, this whole business of taking movies was getting out of hand, Frank putting it on a masculine-pride level and, assuming the role of the elder knowledgeable brother. Stephan refused to admit his naivete.
It wouldn't hurt, really, he reasoned to himself, to tell Frank about the movies he'd taken of Gillian last night. It was all innocent anyway. Gillian would never have to know: her communication with Frank was on the level of pure cordiality, with terse hellos and goodbyes.
Stephan placed his elbows on the arms of the chair and said in a low voice, 'Well, we did get some good footage last night. Some…some cheesecake as you say.'
'Good,' said Frank with a broad grin. 'Did you get a kick out of playing movie director?'
'Sure did, Frank.'
Basil laughed. 'Nude shots?'
Stephan felt himself flushing again. 'Well, not really. More like old Coca-Cola calendar ads. Cheesecake, as you call them.'
'Got a surprise for you, Stephan.' Basil leaned forward on the sofa again. 'Now I wouldn't show these to anybody but Frank, but since you're his brother and all, and because I like you, I'm gonna give you a Sunday morning lift.' He reached down to his brief case at the edge of the sofa and clicking it open, removed a bulky white envelope.
Stephan's nervous grin gave way to a frown. This was getting out of hand. With trembling fingers he tore open the envelope and looked up to see Basil staring fixedly at his expression.
'Let me explain: these are some film cartridges taken from a different movie film. A couple people sent the film in for me to develop. I take out the good parts and take them with the Polaroid movie camera. I get all these
