The Hottest Babe Pt. 15

Meet Anita Olsen. The most popular girl in high school, she ruled as president of The Hot Babes Club - and as a bully who tormented Freddie Simpson for being a nerd. Freddie grew up to be a tech billionaire who invented a system of mind control, and life got very different for The Hottest Babe.

........................................

It was a lovely autumn day in New York City. From their hotel window, Frida and Anita saw the red and orange foliage in Central Park. There was a blue sky with a few fluffy white clouds. The city could be inhospitably hot in summer, and uncomfortably cold in winter, but on days like this, in the spring and fall, it was a glorious place to be.

It was their day for sightseeing, when they forgot they were in town for an art gallery opening. They acted instead like two tourists whose only goal was to enjoy themselves. They had a list of places to go, things to do, and sights to see.

They had both been to New York before, but always on business. They'd never had a chance to see things like the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, or Broadway. Frida insisted that they go to the Empire State Building first. She happened to know all about fabulous art deco ornamentation in the building's public spaces, and she wanted to see it in person. Frida told Anita the names of the individual artists who'd created each stunning piece. Then they went up to the observation deck, looking out at the heart of Manhattan, when Frida took Anita's hand and gave it a squeeze. She was so happy. They both were. They embraced and kissed like two young lovers on vacation together.

They bought matinee tickets to see a schmaltzy Broadway musical. It was wonderful. They rode the Staten Island Ferry. Frida had another request that seemed strange. She told Anita she wanted to visit a planetarium. A planetarium?

They walked into the massive American Museum of Natural History, which was a masterpiece of traditional classical architecture from the mid-19th century. They walked through magnificent old galleries full of dinosaurs, whales, and panoramas of early humans. "This looks familiar," Anita said. "Is this where they shot that movie Night at the Museum?"

"They shot a lot of movies here," Frida said. "That's just one."

At length, they walked through an area that seemed to take them from the 19th to the 23rd century. Gone were the stone walls and Greek columns. They had arrived at The Hayden Planetarium.

It was a stunning piece of a completely different kind of architecture. At its heart, it was a giant white room that looked like a scene from the future, with sweeping ramps and massive white columns connected to an impossible large white sphere that seemed to float in the center of the vast open space. The exterior walls were glass, with so few metal structural elements that you could see the park-like grounds of the museum with almost no obstructions.

"This looks like a scene from a science fiction movie," Anita said.

"That's exactly what it is," Frida said. "This was designed by a famous architect named Jim Polshek. When Polshek was a little boy in 1936, he saw a classic movie called Things To Come. It's on cable all the time. The script was by H. G. Wells, and predicted the future of mankind on a grand scale. The end of the movie takes place in a city in the far future, when people drive around in flying cars, through a cityscape of beautiful white geometric shapes with huge glass windows. Polshek designed the planetarium and the glass enclosure to look like a set from that movie. Isn't it beautiful?"

They walked through the giant room, with Frida examining the architectural elements while Anita looked at the displays of the planets floating in mid-air and things like a giant iron meteorite the size of a compact car.

At length, Frida was ready to leave. "I'm about ready for lunch," she said.

"Wait a minute," Anita said. "We came all this way to see the planetarium. Don't you want to see the show?"

"I'm really more interested in the architecture," Frida said.

"I want to see the show. It won't take long," Anita said.

The pair entered the theater, which was inside the giant white sphere. It was a huge room with a planetarium projector in the center. It projected the stars on the inside of the sphere, creating the illusion of a starry night sky. When the lights went down and the projector turned on, the illusion was staggeringly lovely, showing what the night sky looked like before light pollution destroyed it. The most amazing part happened when a series of 3D projectors made it appear that Frida and Anita were traveling through the universe at stupendous speeds, taking a tour of the sights of the Milky Way. There was a marvelous soundtrack that shook the room and enhanced the effect.

When it was over, they walked unsteadily outside the theater and into the light of the giant white room. "Wow," Anita said. "That was like taking a ride on the starship Enterprise."

"It would be a lot of fun having sex in there," Frida said.

Anita laughed. "You are hopeless," she said.

They were leaving the building when Frida's cell phone rang. It was from Mari. She said that an art critic who'd been given an advance look at Aphrodite planned to do a review, and he wanted Frida and Anita to pose for a photo illustration. Could they come down to the gallery that afternoon?

"Sure!" Frida said. "I'm surprised to see this level of interest so quickly. The show hasn't even opened."

"The gallery owner has a habit of inviting a few of her favorite art critics for advance looks at a show," Mari said. "I think it's a good sign that they are in a hurry to get a photograph of the artist. And the model. They want to shoot you and Anita together."

"They can shoot whatever they want if they plan to say something nice about Aphrodite," Frida said.

"No promises there," Mari said. "But they wouldn't want a photograph if they didn't think the show was important enough to write about."

Frida and Anita had just enough time to go back to their hotel, relax for a bit, then change clothes and go back to the gallery. Frida was excited. Her show hadn't even opened, and it was already creating buzz! Her excitement increased when she got to the gallery and saw the photographer assigned to shoot them.

"Tony? Tony, is that you! My God, how are you doing!?" Frida asked.

A bald man with a long white beard and a big smile opened his arms and swept Frida into a big hug. "Hello, child. It's so good to see you again. I was glad to discover that the up-and-coming photographer I'm supposed to shoot is none other than Frida Ramos. I'd ask how you are, but I guess I know the answer to that."

Anita saw that Frida and the man were obviously acquainted, so she waited quietly for an introduction. "Anita! This is Tony Caruso. He's the most important commercial photographer in New York."

"Arguably," Tony said. "Arguably most important. There are a few other photographers who would disagree with that."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Tony," Anita said.

"And I'm pleased to meet you. I've been admiring the photographs Frida did with you. Beautiful. Perceptive. Insightful. The prints seem to shimmer with life. They make me wish I was a young man again."

"I seem to remember that lots of things make you wish you were young again," Frida said.

"Guilty as charged," Tony said.

"My God, who commissioned this assignment? There aren't many art publications that can afford your fees," Frida said.

"This is for the cover of ArtForum International," Tony said.

Frida was struck silent. The silence went on, and on, and on.

"What's happening?" Anita said.

"Ah. I see you weren't told," Tony said, chuckling. "Anita, ArtForum International is the most important art magazine in the world. Arguably. Other art magazines would disagree. This means dear Frida is being mentioned by the mentioners. I haven't read the review, but I know they are excited because they called me in a hurry and they want these pictures immediately. I mean, today. After I leave here I've got to go straight home and labor over a hot PhotoShop and email the images tonight. Frida, you know how clients act when they are fighting a deadline? That's the vibe I got when they called. You can't believe how happy they were to learn I could drop everything and shoot your cover. They are paying extra for the rush."

"This is for the cover? Of ArtForum International?" Frida asked.

"It had damn well better be," Tony said. "They're paying for a cover, and that's what I damn well expect they'll deliver. I don't rush around and do work like this for anything less than a cover. They told me they are tearing up their layout for next month's magazine and re-doing it to put your review on the front."

"Oh. My. God," said Frida. "Oh. My. God."

"It's understandable," Tony said. "Aphrodite is marvelous. Never seen anything quite like it. Nothing less than perfection. Did I mention how proud I am of you, Frida? I'm proud of you. Now, shall we get to work? Did I mention I'm on a brutal deadline?"

Tony had already decided what kind of photos he needed to illustrate the review. The image he envisioned for the cover was set in front of one of Frida's photos. Tony placed his tripod, then had Anita sit on a stool directly in front of the camera. Frida stood above Anita's left shoulder. The two women were strategically placed to block the most explicit parts of Frida's print in the background. The magazine would show the naughty bits on pages inside.

"Why am I in the front?" Anita said. "Frida is the photographer."

"Apparently, the critic sees Aphrodite as a creative collaboration between the model and the photographer," Tony said.

"That's very perceptive, actually," Frida said. "It was a collaboration."

"There's another thing," Tony said. "You've made Anita into a goddess. Magazine editors don't get too many opportunities to turn goddesses into cover girls. It will look irresistible on the newsstands."

Frida was very quiet as she walked back to the hotel.

"I guess you can stop worrying about how the art community in New York will receive your work," Anita said.

"I guess so," Frida replied.

The silence went on, and on. "What are you thinking about?" Anita asked.

Frida looked at her. "I think my life is about to change," she said.

Anita put her arm around Frida's shoulders. "You say that like it's a bad thing," she said.

Frida smiled. "No. It's a good thing. It's what I've always wanted. This is just very sudden. Things have been moving very fast since Aphrodite opened in San Francisco. It makes me . . . anxious."

Anxiety had always been Frida's weakness. Anita worried that Frida might not sleep for a few nights; that's how she usually reacted to stress. She decided that she needed to do an especially good job making love to Frida before bed; it was the only thing that could distract her enough to get her to go to sleep.

They had dinner in a restaurant that was famous for its giant corned beef sandwiches. Frida wanted to eat one, but Anita insisted they split it. Otherwise, Frida would suffer from swallowing such a big stomach bomb.

From the restaurant, they walked hand-in-hand to Times Square, gawking at the oversized illuminated advertising signs, known as "spectaculars" and "jumbotrons." Frida was familiar with classic old black-and-white photographs of Times Square from various eras in history. It had always been a place of gaudy bright lights and billboards; the only thing that changed was the technology. Both women were glad to finally get a look at a place they'd heard about since they were little girls.

They were tired by the time they reached the far end of the tourist zone. "What now?" Anita said.

"I think I've done enough walking for one day," Frida said. "I'm ready to go back to our hotel."

So that's what they did. Without being asked, Anita mixed a cocktail for Frida, then made one for herself. Frida found it hard to stay engaged with Anita; she kept getting quiet, with a faraway look on her face.

"Are you going to be OK in time for the opening tomorrow?" Anita asked.

"I think so," Frida said. "I'm sure I'll adapt to this eventually. So much of my career has been one long fight to get what I want. I'm not sure who I am if I'm not fighting anymore."

"I just realized something," Anita said. "You got a huge number of orders of prints from the show in San Francisco. It sounds as though you're going to get a lot more here."

"I thought of that," Frida said. "I'm going to have to get an assistant for Leonard. My assistant needs an assistant."

"That's a good problem to have," Anita said. "I'm sure Leonard will be thrilled."

"No doubt. He's an excitable boy."

Anita could see the stress drain from Frida's face as she drank her cocktail. She mixed a second round of drinks, and the two women looked at each other longingly as the alcohol took effect. At length, Frida relaxed enough that she finally began to smile.

"This has been a very good day," Frida said.

"And it's not over," Anita said.

She drank the last sip of her drink and moved to sit next to Frida. Taking Frida's face in her hands, Anita began gently kissing every part of her face. Her cheeks. Forehead. Eyelids. Chin. Nose. It was a long time before she gave Frida a delicate kiss on the lips, then another, and another. Each kiss was more passionate than the ones before. Frida let Anita take the lead, deciding what they did and how they did it. Frida wanted this to be a night when she would submit to Anita. Her Aphrodite would take charge.

Anita became increasingly comfortable taking control that night, caressing Frida's neck and touching her breasts through her clothes. Frida sat there passively as Anita undressed her. She didn't move much, and she said nothing, but Anita could tell that Frida was very, very aroused.

At length, the two women removed the last of their clothes and got into bed. Anita pushed Frida on to her back and began kissing her everywhere. She started with Frida's breasts, moved to her belly, then spread Frida's legs so she could go down on her. Frida's arousal was so strong that Anita's fingers encountered a very, very wet pussy when she finally touched her there. Frida wriggled and writhed in response, exhaling a satisfied breath.

It took a while before Anita finally began licking and nibbling Frida's wet, pink inner folds. She avoided the clitoris for as long as she could, but finally gave Frida that reward after Frida reached down, put her hand behind Anita's head and pulled her closer. "Ahhhhhh!" Frida said when Anita finally licked that sensitive little spot.

Anita had become familiar with Frida's body, and she knew how to excite her. She used that knowledge now, driving Frida to greater and greater levels of arousal, always backing off just before causing a climax. Her aim was to get Frida so excited she was eventually overcome with a long, explosive orgasm.

It took some time, but it finally happened. Frida's entire body went stiff, then began to spasm as she shook from a strong climax. She wailed as the feelings rippled through her. Anita was glad to see that Frida's orgasm lasted a long, long time. Maybe it would clear her mind and help her sleep.

After taking some time to recover, Frida moved to pleasure Anita. "That's OK, honey. Stop. I'm good. I just want to hold you in my arms," Anita said.

"Are you sure?" Frida said.

"I'm sure. I want you to relax and sleep."

Frida giggled. "You use sex like a sedative."

"That's because I'm in love with a woman who has trouble sleeping," Anita said. She thought Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and you need to sleep tonight. But she knew that if she said those words, Frida would start thinking about everything that would happen tomorrow, and soon she'd be pacing nervously.

So she said nothing, and waited for Frida to fall asleep. Surprisingly, it happened quickly. Anita listened to Frida's slow, measured breathing, and she hoped Frida managed to sleep through the night. She'd need all her energy to get through the opening without panicking.

.............................

A new opening. A new friend. A new day dawns in Chapter 16.