Yes, it’s a Skaldthetical with storytelling OP. If you don’t like 'em, there’s the door. There may be a poll, but then again, there may not be. I never know till I hit submit.
Today’s story is about** Micheal **and his wife Hope. He’s in his late 30s; she’s in her late 20s. Michael’s a physics professor at a private university. He met Hope in the university library, when she commented cruelly but amusingly on the book he was reading, Lewis’s The Monk. At first he mistook her for a grad student or young professor, but in fact she was a model working for one of the school’s art classes, in between assignments just as he was in between classes. They hit off immediately, dated briefly, and a married little over a year ago.
Hope has done a great deal of modeling, both clothed and nude, for painters, photographers, and occasionally film; some of it was fetish work, though it ever reached the level of porn. The idea of so many other people seeing her naked form bothered Michael a little, but he always kept that to himself; and, in fact, he was a sometimes excited by it, and it definitely stroked his ego that this smart, beautiful woman had chosen him. Moreover, he knew her career was probably winding down. Hope told him early in the courtship that, practically speaking, she knew she’d be working less and less as her fourth decade approached, so soon she planned to stop modeling and return to grad school her MBA after hitting the big 3-0. In short, he never saw a point in messing with a good thing by opening his mouth.
Hope’s grad school plans have been put on hold for the time being. Shortly after they married, she got pregnant; now she’s in her last trimester with their mutual first child. That’s where the trouble comes in. You see, Sean --one of the photographers who most often employed Hope in her single days wants to use her again for a series of photos – mostly nude and often fetish – with the twist that at least one of the models in every picture would be pregnant. Sean wants Hope to the the center of this series, much of which will certainly be on the net and which may well be made into a book.
Seeing this as her last hurrah, Hope is thrilled by this project. Michael is not. In fact, he’s had difficulty sleeping ever since Hope told him about it. For Hope to be photographed naked while heavily pregnant seems, to him, to be exposing a more private and intimate part of her–of their life together–than her prior nudes ever did; morever, he doesn’t like the idea of their child seeing those pictures in the future. He doesn’t think he has the right or authority to tell her not to accept this job, of course; but the thought of it is highly disturbing.
Hope hasn’t yet signed any contracts or made any firm commitments to Sean about this series. Should Michael share his concerns? Shut the hell up? Something else?
Poll in a moment.