The Photo Shoot (Minerva & Sweet_Sara)

[Minerva]

Lydia strolled along the stained concrete floor of her new flat, surrounded by naked, tall windows. The new site was an unnecessary expense, but her marketing acumen told her the abundant natural light would pay off in the long run. Theirs was top floor of the tallest building for miles around, allowing them to leave the windows unadorned without fear of peeping neighbors.

Rose rolled a rack of little black dresses into the bare living room. Without saying a word, she sneered at her sister in disapproval.

"Don't worry," Lydia said, "we have to deal with our new clients at their comfort level. We'll move on quickly enough. In the meantime, though," she ruffled one of the shorter black skirts, "I think you underestimate the appeal these will have on some of our more attractive models."

"I'm not going to spend months on end convincing cloistered housewives that they can hike their skirt past their knee," Rose complained.

"I think we both have more confidence in your charm than that," Lydia smiled. "Now go get the lighting set up. One of those 'cloistered housewives' should be here in the next half hour." She slowly slid a manila folder across the coffee table and turned towards the dining room. Rose saw the blatant temptation for what it was, but chose not to resist.

Rose opened the folder and took her first look at the housewife's head shots. She caught her breath, "Wh . . . where did you find her?"

"She was the one who found us," Lydia grinned. "Her partner lost her job, and now she is looking to earn some extra cash. Desperation. Beauty. I'm assuming you want to photograph the first shot?"

"Let's keep our roles straight, sis. I'll take the pictures, you find the buyers. We'll stick to what we both do best. But something tells me we both have our work cut out for us."

 

[Minerva]

Rose was still admiring the folder of head shots when the doorbell rang, and didn't look up until she heard her sister call from the bedroom, "I'm getting changed. Can you get that?" Rose placed the folder on the dinning room table and slowly approached the door while smoothing the front of her blouse.

She practiced smiling before opening the door to greet their guest. She leaned against the door frame, her low cut, shoulderless black top and tight jeans accenting the way she rested her hip.

"Come on in," she said, but paused for a moment to appraise the woman's dress before backing away enough to let her in. Behind her, a series of lights illuminated an exquisite leather couch. A camera rested on its tripod facing the couch.

"You can take a moment to freshen up if you want, or we can chat for a while if you have any questions."

"Is she here?" Lydia called from the bedroom. Before waiting for an answer, she paraded herself into the living room in an outfit that put Rose's to shame, eliciting a glare a glare from her younger sister. The extremely low cut top was tucked into a turquoise pencil skirt, but the way Lydia wore it commanded respect. She walked as if she could stand in front of a boardroom wearing this without batting an eye.

"Jessie?" Lydia extended her hand to greet the new guest.