Naked Portraits Pt. 12

We went to my studio. We decided to have an early lunch of fast food burgers. As I dictated my order to Neffie, a soft knock came at the door. I looked at the clock on my desk; it was ten twelve in the morning, too early for Li. But low and behold, there she stood outside my door holding two crinkling plastic grocery bags.

"Too early for bentos from Shirokiya?" the beautiful Olympian asked with a smile.

"Ohmygod! You're Li Hong!" Neffie shouted.

"And you must be Nefertiti," Li said with a smile just for her.

Neffie gaped in silence, shocked that the famous Li Hong knew her name. I never told Neffie who was sitting for the portrait.

I took the grocery bags from Li, she stepped into the room and shook Neffie's hand warmly. Li wore a loose cream shirt and jeans. Her hair recently cut, the bob from our last meeting gone, replaced by a floppy on top, short on the sides boyish do, the same cut she had at Meka's photo shoot.

I put the grocery bags on my desk and unpacked three bento box lunches, a bottle of chilled white wine, a bottle of Billano's Merlot. A six-pack of Kirin beer, a liter bottle of cola, a stack of clear plastic cups and a plastic container full of ice.

"I didn't know what everyone drank so I covered all the bases," Li said. "Hope you're okay drinking before noon."

Finally finding her voice, Neffie said shyly, "I watched you in the summer Olympics. You probably hear this a lot ... but you were awesome."

Li smiled as she twisted the top off a Kirin. "I did my best," she said and knocked back a big swallow of beer.

"A gold in everyone of your events? Yeah, I would say you did," Neffie said.

"The last one was controversial," Li said as she picked up a bento box of teriyaki chicken and rice. "Clearly, the Australian girl had a better dive." She sat down on the loveseat to eat.

Neffie looked like she about to disagreed. Sure that Li has heard all she cared on her Olympic performance, I quickly jumped in.

"Nef, show Li my idea for the painting."

Neffie took the hint and opened her ever helpful laptop. As the laptop went through its opening phases, Neffie selected one of the bentos. it was teriyaki beef, my favorite from Shirokiya so I snatched it away from her.

"Hey!" Neffie complained.

"I get the beef. I'm the boss remember?"

"But you just told not to call you that?" Neffie said perplexed.

"Doesn't mean I'm not the boss," I said opening my appropriated bento.

Neffie made a disgruntled sound and mumbled a few swear words in Tagalog. I gave her the stink eye for I knew all the choice swear words form grade school. Neffie opened the remaining bento box to see what she got stuck with.

"Smoked eel, salmon roe and jumbo shrimp sushi," she said with a smile.

"Change my mind! I want that one!" I kidded. Neffie held her bento high and away from me. I laughed and asked, "What want to drink kid?"

"White wine please," Neffie said.

Although I was sure she wasn't twenty one yet, I poured her a glass anyway, and one for me too. Wine before noon ... how wonderfully decadent.

Neffie sat at her laptop at my desk and brought up the painting I told her to research. Around a bite of teriyaki beef I said, "Renoir's Sleeping girl or more famously known as Girl With Cat.

Li's forehead furrowed. "I don't like cats," she said.

"It's not the cat," I said. "It's the pose and the Renoir style I'm using."

"Why this one?" Li asked as she bit a morsel of teriyaki chicken then followed it up with a chopstick bite of rice.

"It was controversial in it's time. Loved and scorned with equal vigor. I like the way Renoir painted the flesh and cloth and how solid the chair looks."

"The stripped socks and goofy hat?" Li asked obviously not liking those elements.

"Leaving that stuff out and putting you in a smaller skirt and no top at all."

"Sound's like a plan," Li said.

After our meal, we headed to the figure painting studio with the remaining wine, beers and soda. Neffie had found the perfect chair for the sitting; it looked old fashion and vaguely Chinese. Neffie handed Li a fluffy white robe and a light cream silk slip, both items on plastic hangers and covered with dry cleaner bags, courtesy of Cleopatra's dry cleaning service downtown.

"We set up a screen for you to change behind," Neffie said.

Li started disrobing where she stood.

"Um ... okay," Neffie said. Her cute brown face blushed bright red at the cheeks as she took charge of Li's garments one at a time starting with the sandals, then the blouse, the jeans and bra.

"You can leave on the panties," I said.

"Okay," Li said.

Li stood before us in just red silk panties, her skin pale and milky, almost luminescent. My eyes naturally fell to the swell of her panty covered pubic area between her athletic thighs.

"I did like you asked and avoided the sun." She spun so I could see that her skin was seamless with no hint of tan lines whatsoever. Facing front again, she looked right at me with a small smile. The smile (and her perky tits) were aimed right at me.

"Um, nice," I said. "Put on the skirt and let's set the pose."

This time, Neffie came prepared with plastic hangers.

After a few minutes of fussing, the Renoir pose just wasn't working for me.

"Maybe it's this?" Li said, pinching the frilly skirt with her fingers.

"Her bare legs would look better against the maroon fabric of the chair," Neffie offered

Li didn't wait for my response and simply stood and shucked the skirt. She didn't stop there and slipped off her panties too. Neffie took charge of the slip and panties, she dropped the slip on a drawing bench and reverently folded the panties and then draping them on the hanger with the jeans.

Li looked at me innocently but I could tell that she loved pointing that pussy at me.

"Can I suggest a different pose that might work?" Neffie asked tentatively.

"Go ahead. My opening idea ain't working," I said doing my best to avoid Li's eyes, which left me looking at her naked body. She does have pretty breasts, I thought, eying her perky B-cups ... maybe they were C's ... and that ass of hers was a work of art. Athletes always had wonderful asses ... and it was impossible not stare at the jet black patch of hear between her legs.

Good God, girl, my logical brain said, You're looking at her like a frat boy on spring break!

I quickly refocused my eyes on Neffie.

Neffie adjusted Li's chair so that it faced the easel full front. She then put a big red cushion on the floor, at the foot of the chair. She waved Li over and sat her down with her butt pushed to one side of the seat angling her body in an interesting way. Neffie stretched Li's legs out, feet crossed resting on the red pillow then adjusted Li's elbows on the arms of the chair. The pose was swaggering and aggressive. In other words, perfect for Li.

"I like it," I said. "Looks familiar, though. Who you ripping off?"

"Not ripping off, appropriating," Neffie said.

Her accent and seriousness made her so adorable that I had to laugh. "When did you join the post modern movement?" I asked.

Ignoring my ribbing, Neffie went to her laptop and showed me what was on the screen. Paul Gauguin's Anna the Javanese. "I know you hate the guy," she said, "but this pose is right on for Ms. Hong."

"Hate who?" Li asked.

"Paul Gauguin," Neffie said. "Gwen says he's a sexist pig with a colonialist world view." Neffie turned laptop so that Li could see.

"I like the pose," Li said. "You gonna paint in the orange monkey? I like that more than the cat."

"No monkey," I said, "I'll use the pose but I'm sticking to Renoir. His style is more suited for your skin."

"You do have very beautiful," Neffie said, as she fussed with the pillow under Li's feet.

"And so do you, Nefertiti," Li said.

Neffie, blushed and let out a honky geeky laugh.

I got to work. Neffie provided refreshments. Li stuck to the beers, Neffie kept at the wine. After two glasses of wine myself, I switched to cola to keep my head clear.

With the courage of the alcohol in her blood, Neffie was less shy and talked to Li freely asking her questions about her Olympic adventures. I wished she wouldn't, but Li didn't seem to mind so I let it go.

"The parties were wild," Li confessed, "the former eastern block girls and the the Australian athletes the wildest. I had a thing going with one of the Australian swimmers. It ended, but was fun while it lasted."

"I heard rumors that you are lesbian," Neffie said.

"NEFFIE!" I shouted shocked at her brazenness.

"It's okay," Li said with a cheery laugh. "It refreshing to meet someone with honest directness that's NOT a paparazzi." She gave Neffie a leveled look and said, "I like girls." Li's eyes sought mine and I quickly looked back at the canvas. The brief exchange wasn't lost on Neffie.

"Where exactly did you hear the rumor?" Li asked Neffie.

"From Deidre Kaahumanu," Li said.

"How do you know Deidre?" I asked, surprised.

"She was the grad that gave me a tour of the photography department."

"And she just blurted out Li's sexual preference just like that?" I asked, annoyed at Deidre's indiscretion.

"There was a photo of Ms. Hong on Deidre's studio wall," Neffie said. "The conversation sort of went in that direction. She was kind of shy about it."

I detected a tiny smile at the edges of Li's mouth. It made me wonder if the two had hooked up?I liked Deidre and I hoped that Li wasn't messing with the poor girls heart.

During a break, Li went outside in her robe to make a phone call. In her absents, Neffie said to me quietly, "I think she likes you."

"Neffie!" I barked.

"Well, she does," she persisted.

"There is nothing I can do about that. I'm not into girls so she's shit out of luck."

Neffie frowned and gave me a puzzled look, for apparently, she thought differently. Clearly, my my unintentional groping of Aly was still fresh in her head.

Li returned and resumed her pose. A half hour later, Neffie's cell rang and she went outside to take the call. A minute later, Neffie popped back in the room and said, "My sister Cleo has a flat on the H-1. She's freaking out. I have to go rescue her."

What about your dad?" I asked quickly. I didn't want to be left alone with Li.

"My dad can go on all day about Egyptian history but wouldn't have a clue what to do with a tire jack. I gotta go help."

"You okay to drive after the wine?" I asked immediately. YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THIS WOMAN! I wanted to scream.

"I already called someone else to drive me," Neffie said as she packed up her laptop.

"If you need muscle I can call my boyfriend Hawk?" I said. Neffie had met Hawk and knew he was my boyfriend. I had thrown in the word boyfriend as a warning shot over Li's lesbian bow.

"Paul Gleason is gonna drive me," Neffie said.

"You know Paul?" I asked surprised. Neffie seems to be making quick friends here at the art department.

"Yeah, he gave me a tour of the sculpture yard a couple of weeks ago. Remember? He's nice and a real handy guy."

"You dating him?" I asked astonished.

"Noway!" Neffie said giving me a shocked look, "He's not THAT nice."

Neffie turned to Li. "Nice to have met you Ms. Hong."

"Call me Li and nice to have met you too, Nefertiti."

Neffie gave her geeky laugh again and left me alone with Li.

"Neffie is very nice," Li said. "I like her."

"Yeah, she's great," I said.

"I don't have a chance with you do I?" Li said.

Her directness unnerved me and all I could do was shake my head, but my lizard brain was thinking ... why not?

Because she scares me, I said.

Only because of the stupid dream, lizard brain said.

As if responding to my thoughts, Li said, "It's more then the girl-girl thing isn't it. There's something about me that freaks you out."

Again, all I could do was nod.

"You're not the only one," Li said softly.

I was about to apologize, or something stupid like that, but she kept on talking.

"It's been like that my whole life," she said.

I wanted to tell her that she was wrong ... that I wasn't afraid of her ... but I kept quiet.

"Something happened to me that night at the pool at Meka's photo shoot," Li said.

I looked into her sad, beautiful face. I didn't know what to say.

She continued speaking in a low soft voice.

"I thought I had found something that night ... I thought that something was you."

I dropped my eyes again.

"But I'm slowly realizing that it's not is it?"

I shook my head.

"But you triggered something that's for sure."

I had no idea what to say so I picked up a brush and worked on the painting. About an hour later, I said, "We have to stop. A class is starting soon."

Li stood up and stretched. Not bothering to put on her robe, she walked over to look at the painting for the first time.

"Oh my god, you're a master," she said.

I nodded in agreement for the painting, although not done, truly was amazing.

"The rest is just background detail, your part is done," I told her awkwardly. Her nudity ... and closeness drew my eyes. She turned to face me.

Every corner of my psyche screamed out, KISS ME! PLEASE JUST KISS ME!

"I won't stop you," I whispered.

"From what?" Li whispered back. But I could tell she knew exactly what was going through my head.

The door of the studio opened and Neffie stepped in. "Paul was a great help," she said as she dropped her bag on a chair. "So what did I ..." She trailed off into silence seeing how close Li and I were standing ... and that Li was naked.

"We're done," Li said. "Thank you both." She stepped away from me and Neffie and I watched her dress in silence. As she slung her bag on her shoulder, Li said to me, "Call me when it's done?"

I nodded.

She smiled, kissed my cheek and left.

I could tell Neffie wanted to ask a million question. But the girl was no fool for she sensed I was in no mood to answer them. We broke down the set up and parted down stairs at the art auditorium.

With my mind racing as it was, I barely realize that someone was calling my name. I turned to see, of all people, Kimberly Kato, Betty's socialite friend dressed for a night out in a tight expensive dark green dress. My hackles stood up and I was ready to break skin. I've always hated the chick. And what the fuck was she doing dressed like that on campus on a Saturday afternoon?

Like she had read my mind, she said, "The business school grads have a party at the rec. I was parking my Porsche when saw you."

She had to let me know she drives a Porsche. I didn't say anything and just stared at her.

"Um ... You not with Hawk anymore huh?" she asked casually like we were friends or something.

She must have seen Hawk with Aly a few times or perhaps me with Matt.

"None of your business ... or Betty's," I said curtly.

"I haven't heard from Betty in months," Kimberly said with a furrowed brow. "She's dropped out of school you know."

I didn't know, but I did my best not to show it. Our eyes locked and she seemed determined not to look away first.

"I saw her last night at a Waikiki club," she said trying to sound haughty. "She was dressed crazy and all goth like. I called out to her but she slipped away before I got close. I was sure she heard me."

I didn't respond and just kept staring. Kimberly finally dropped her eyes and simply walked away with her expensive heels echoing in the hall. I wanted desperately to run after her and shake her down for more info, but I stayed silent and continued on to the anthropology building where I had parked Hawk's Bronco. Something was seriously up with Betty, for her parents would never allow her to drop out of school. A fresh surge of anger rippled through me. I was no longer part of her life and did my best not to care. Although, the mean part of me did enjoyed seeing Kimberly Kato in exiled too.

One odd thing Kimberly had said resonated in my head.

... She was dressed crazy and all goth like.

Just like in my dream at the psych department. How totally fucking weird.