Brian: Taking Courage - 22. Plans

"How did the meeting with Russ Kahn go?", Hugh was almost leering, you could hear the way he put the word ‘meeting’ in inverted commas.

Brian rolled his eyes, "We did get some business done, and it's all sorted. Just one thing, do we trust the guys to sort their own uniforms?"

"Uniform? I thought…"

Brian laughed, "It's still a bloody uniform and they are representing the firm. So, do we trust them to sort out their own jock-straps and boots, and not come out looking like tits?"

Hugh laughed, "I think that they'll look like tits anyway, the thought of Warren and Arnie in nothing but a scrap of fabric is a sight for sore eyes, and I understand that Kyle's tattoos are quite extensive."

"Oh, joy. So, we leave it to them?"

Hugh shrugged, "We trust them normally, and I don't think we want to get into having a team jock-strap fitting session, do we?" Brian laughed. "And the rest of your evening?", Hugh raised one eyebrow.

"Russ provided some great entertainment for Toby and his mate, Noah."

"Noah, Kostas' work-experience boy?"

"Yeah, the two have got friendly, and turns out they have the same interests. Noah was as keen as Toby to go to the Wetlands Centre, which is where Russ arranged for them to go."

"Not my idea of fun, but if the boys enjoyed it. And Kahn arranged for this, all last-minute?"

"Yep. And he entertained us royally as well."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not. But it was fun, and we might be doing it again."

"Bloody hell, so you're becoming mates with Russ Kahn?"

"Not mates really. Sort of fuck-buddies if you get my meaning. We get the impression that, work apart, he's a bit of a sad bastard."

"O. K.", Hugh was thoughtful. "No problems there, but look, if this ever risks impacting work here, then let us know?"

"Don't worry, we will. Having a bit of fun with an uptight business-man isn't important enough to fuck up this job. Besides, we've Russ' event to do that."

Hugh sighed, "Don't." He moved away from the desk but stopped. Gordon had just come out of a meeting with Damian, so it ended up with the three of them near Brian's desk.

"Have you any idea who'll be at this party of Russ', presumably all blokes and all gay, if he wants big boys as a muscle show?"

Gordon wrinkled his nose, "Don't bank on it. We reckon that it won't just be gay boys, there will be plenty of guys on the down low."

"Ones who like blokes but pretend otherwise?"

"Yeah. After all, I don't know whether it’s generally known that Russ likes guys."

Brian smiled, "So, the guys have to keep their mouths shut as well keeping their legs crossed so to speak."

Hugh shook his head, "Oh joy. Look, I'll go over their contracts and see whether I need to tighten up the non-disclosure aspects of them." He rubbed his hand against his jaw. "The fee better bloody be worth it."

Damian grunted, “Any problems with press or unwanted visitors.”

“Russ reckoned not; they’ve never had problems in the past.”

Hugh snorted, “Haven’t bloody had blokes cavorting in jock-straps before.”

Gordon gave a wry smile, “But the entertainment’s usually been a bit raunchy, so this isn’t that different.”

Hugh stared at him, “Raunchy, do I want to know?”

Brian shrugged, “All organised through some sort of entertainment contractor, waiters clad in not much more than an apron and strippers.”

“Male.”

“Yep. But definitely look but don’t touch.”

“Fat chance of that. What about photos.”

“Definitely a no photo zone. But it relies on staff noticing and applying preventative action.”

Hugh pulled a face, “So the problems might come afterwards, if someone smuggles photos out. Bugger.”

“Russ said that’s never happened.”

“Bloke live in cloud cuckoo land?”

Gordon shrugged, “Most of the guests are there because they want something from Russ, money, support for a project, or simply because he’s a valuable client. If someone fucks it all up, then that wastes everyone’s time.”

Brian nodded, “And he doesn’t reckon on being noticeable enough for the press.”

“Guys parading around in the altogether are noticeable enough!” Damian stood up, “Look, we need to keep a handle on this. Kahn might be right, but I don’t won’t it coming back to bit us. Brief all your guys, zero tolerance of pictures and double-check anyone coming and going, all the usual and a bit more. OK?”

They nodded, and Hugh continued, “And we’ll have a de-briefing session with all the guys, see what went wrong and what can be done better.” Then he grinned, “And if anyone’s taking photos of you lot, I want copies for the office.”

---

By the end of the day, both were feeling pretty nervous. They sloped off early, showered and shaved, then drove to a converted barn where Marcus' son Edward had his studio. It was pretty impressive, a stylish modern conversion of a barn surrounded by a small terrace in a village close enough to Parborough that it was a dormitory, certainly property prices were high in the area, so the barn conversion must have been quite an investment.

"I wonder where the money comes from?"

Gordon shrugged, "Not from doing arty photographs, that’s for certain. And his Father has a good reputation, but I wouldn't imagine he makes that much money either."

"Probably find Edward does corporate photo shoots or something entirely boring."

"Or disreputable?", Gordon grinned.

"What, you mean porn?"

Gordon shrugged, "Dunno. But getting known for nude art photography makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

They parked in the parking space, next to a rather battered van. Brian laughed, "Well, his studio might be impressive, but his wheels are hardly top of the range."

The studio was one large space where there was a camera set up against a plain grey background, with a casual seating area to one side and then a wall with a pair of doors which led off. Edward offered them a drink but apart from water they were not bothered, both wanted to get things started. Edward showed them to the seating area.

"I'd probably better fill in a bit of background so that you know what to expect. You're familiar with my Dad's work."

Gordon laughed, "Yeah. A huge nude of my Dad hangs in my parents’ house."

"Of course, that's right. And you two are wanting something similar?"

Brian shrugged, "We're not sure what we want. It was Drew and Evie's idea, they're Gordon's Mum and Dad, and we're happy to try. We know it won't be an ordinary studio portrait. We’re definite on that, we’re not looking for something boring."

Gordon snorted, “Besides we’re terrible in front of the camera, Mum says she’s got hardly any photos that actually look like me.”

Edward rubbed his hands together, “Well, I like a challenge. I studied photography, but I also studied painting with Dad. I have a commercial career which is, as you probably guess, lucrative", he waved a hand around the studio, "but it is other aspects that interest me. Nudes, mainly men and artistic. I won't put you in any situations where you feel uncomfortable, but I am the one guiding the shoot. You understand, these pictures are about my artistic visions."

Both of them nodded, "OK, I think's that's what Mum and Dad want."

"Good. Now, are you both comfortable without clothes?"

"Yeah, we've spent a lot of time wearing very little."

"Good. What I'd like to do is take a few of you just to get a feel of things. Will you get undressed here, or do you want to use the changing room?"

Brian shrugged, "We may as well do it here, being as you'll be seeing everything."

Edward went to adjust the camera and the two of them undressed and then walked over towards him. "My, my gentlemen. I have to say that fit ex-military men are not my usual subjects, we will have to see. Now, tell me about yourselves."

It felt stupid, standing there, bollock naked against at plain backdrop and trying to chat about themselves. But Edward was encouraging, asking all sorts of questions, and soon Toby and Russ Kahn and the Wetlands Centre and the jungle and the bug hotel and everything else came out. Edward adjusted the lighting so that it was progressively more and more dramatic, and bits of the backdrop seemed to almost fluoresce, but it wasn't possible to pay too much attention as they had to keep concentrating on what they were supposed to be doing.

Every so often they would have to turn, put a hand on the other's shoulder or some such thing. All the time chatting away and often hardly remembering that there was a camera. At one point both started laughing.

After what seemed like an age but was probably only half an hour, Edward called a halt and let them have a rest. They pulled on their trousers and sat down whilst he looked at the images. They had two more bouts, one where Brian spent rather a lot of time being carried piggy-back-style by Gordon, which caused endless amounts of laughter and even a tumble. And then they were set to wrestling, though neither was particularly good at the sport.

Finally, he said he was satisfied.

"We have a question for you. It's more of a favour than anything else?"

Edward looked at them quizzically, "I'll see if I can help."

"When we saw you at Mum and Dad’s we mentioned about having a photo with the three of us. Toby as well.”

"How old is he, please remind me."

"Going on 15 so having him around for this picture is a no no. But if the three of us pitched up one weekend, would you be able to do something with all of us? With our clothes on."

"Mmm. Interesting. It wouldn't be conventional."

Brian laughed, "Don't worry about that. If it's to go on Drew and Evie's wall, the more distinctive the better. If we want something boring, we can have one of the school photos."

"OK, leave it with me."

---

"How was the photo session, Dad?"

They were having a late supper at Brian's Mother's. Toby had gone directly from school, and Brian was pretty sure that his Mother had kept the boy well fed, but he insisted on joining his Dad and Gordon as they ate the cold meat, pie and salads that his Mum had got for them.

His Mum pricked up her ears, "You having a portrait done? I wouldn't mind a copy."

Brian laughed, "I'm not sure that you'd want a copy of this one, Mum. The guy is the son of an artist that Gordon's parents know. The artist did a nude of Drew years ago, but he's stopped painting now because of arthritis. His son does arty photos, nudes generally."

She stared at them, "And you two were having your photograph done in the altogether?"

"Yes, and not hiding anything either. But it won't be an ordinary photo, something a fancy."

She smiled, "Well, neither of you is deformed, so I don't see why I shouldn't have a copy, even if I keep it hidden."

"What's the photo going to be like, Dad?"

Brian shrugged, "I've no idea, sport. We spent ages messing around doing all sorts, including Gordon giving me a piggy-back and wrestling."

Gordon grinned, "Proper did me back in."

"Less of that, I'm not that heavy."

"We even fell over at one point. Stupid, we sat there laughing. If he photographed that we'll look like a right pair of tits. We'll have to see what he comes up with."

Brian looked at his Mum, "He does real artistic photos, gets them in exhibitions and museums. We don't really get a choice what it looks like."

His Mother nodded then smiled, "Well, let's hope it turns out well."

"And what about me, Dad?"

His Mum looked startled and was about to say something, but Brian interrupted her, "Edward doesn't really do ordinary portraits."

"You mean people with clothes on?"

"Got it in one, sport. But he promised to have a think. OK. And if he can't do it there'll be someone else. Right?"

But his Mum was fetching pudding, a lemon tart, which stopped all rational conversation. Only later, when Brian was helping her with the washing up, she returned to the subject, "This here photo session, you didn't get up to any mischief, did you?"

"Mum! I told you; it wasn't like that. And we didn't, it was all quite harmless."

"I wouldn't have thought you two would make good models."

"Well, he didn't have us standing around, we were doing stuff and he kept us talking."

"About what, may I ask?"

"Mum! About our life, Toby, his projects, work that sort of thing, anything to keep us busy."

"Doesn't sound like when your Dad and I had a photo taken?"

"I'd hope not. Gordon and I would look terrible in one like that."

She gave him a smile, "Well, I'll reserve judgement then, shall I?"