My Chanteuse, Part One

Some of the days spent at the Suvarnabhumi Airport lasted well into the evening, as the sun set and the terminal, control tower, and runway lights came on the view of the unopened airport was stunning which is exactly what we were after. At the time I was living by myself with no need to return home, so on the late nights when we wanted to be back on site before sunrise I’d sometimes call my housekeeper and tell her I wouldn’t be home and then I’d stop by the nearby Sofitel and grab a room courtesy of our employer. After a shower I’d stop in the lounge and sip a cola and ask the waitress to bring a sandwich from the restaurant. I enjoyed the lounge because it had an open floor plan and they always had live entertainment. Often the entertainment was imported from South America, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and even Japan. On my third night there the Columbian crooner bid us farewell and introduced Mei-Ling from Malaysia. As Mei-Ling walked on the stage everyone suddenly fell silent as we our eyes caught a tall slender but shapely vision in a black gown with sequins. From where I was sitting I couldn’t yet see her face, but as the light came on she took the microphone and started a soft ballad and slowly turned to me revealing the largest set of almond green eyes I’d ever seen.

Her voice worked its way through me in a way that I last felt when I saw Lucinda Williams live on a small set in Canada. I’m a talent lover. Women with “talents” have an automatic sex appeal multiplier that really set them apart from the rest. My favorites are musicians and athletes, but I’ve been similarly impressed by very competent female law enforcement officers and female soldiers. This first started for me in high school when a cute 5 foot tall 80 pound gymnast with a long perm’d hair caught my attention one night at a school dance and I came to understand that not only did hours spent daily in the gym firmly tone her body, but it also meant she had learned to develop her coordination and self discipline in extraordinary ways. Mary Beth Woods was the reason “talent” became number two on my “must have” list for the perfect woman. She was the first, but the tradition continued throughout my life. If they had talent I’d notice them. My ex at one time was the 2nd rated concert pianist in Korea and I loved listening to her play the piano, even if I was outside mowing the lawn listening to her play through the windows. I’d hear the music and envision her sitting on the piano bench with her eyes closed and long thin fingers flying over the keys and could hardly wait to finish the lawn because the smell of fresh cut grass was her thing. So it came as no surprise to me that I found myself in the lounge at the Sofitel not even breathing when this beauty of a woman with the voice of a experienced chanteuse appeared on stage.

The first night I’m not sure she noticed anyone in the lounge, she was nervous and it showed in her refusal to engage the audience in any sort of eye contact. The waitress smiled when she saw me staring at her and whispered she’d be there for the next two weeks. Over the next few days I found reasons to be on the site late and check into the Sofitel for a room only stopping by my place for some nicer evening clothes. Each night I’d sit there for 2-3 hours eating my dinner, sipping my cola, and taking in her vision. Frankly I was surprised at my infatuation and it almost felt like high school level stalking, except this was a business and I was a customer. On the fourth night the waitress asked me if I’d like to meet her after her set and I told her I’d love to. Over the next hour I wondered what I was going to say to her and a few times I caught her smiling at me and the other customers noticed. Finally her show ended and she went back stage before coming out the side entrance with a wrap around her shoulders and as she approached my table I stood and pulled out a chair for her and asked her what she’d like to drink.

Now that she was sitting close I could see her face in detail and she had the greenest biggest most almond shaped eyes I’d ever seen and I almost got lost in them before taking in a perfect nose, smooth white skin, pert lips, and a finally angled chin with straight white teeth. Her face was so beautiful I almost didn’t notice the ample cleavage revealed by the cut of her gown. I suppose it was obvious I was taking her all in because she just sat there like she was on display and let me look before laughing and asking if I liked what I saw. My face turned red as I responded I liked what I saw very much, but that it was her singing that I really cared for and I asked her how long she’d been singing. Her drink came and she took a sip and setting it back down she took a breath and told me she grew up in Kuala Lumpur and attended a private Catholic school where she sang in the choir. Her English was polished and if you’ve ever heard an educated Malaysian Chinese woman speak you’d know they have an almost British accent with a French flare. She went on to tell me how she loved singing in the choir and that during high school she’d sneak out of the house and make extra money singing in the nearby clubs. She was 28 and had been singing for about 12 years and she loved to talk about it. Hours passed and the waitress brought the check over and told me they were closing the lounge in a few minutes so I said goodnight to Mei-Ling and she asked if she’d see me again. I promised I’d be there the next night and we said goodbye.

The end of the workday couldn’t come soon enough and soon I’m back in the lounge watching her sing as I ate my dinner and relaxed. Once more we ended up talking until the lounge closed and I learned a lot about her and her about me. She was very interested in my photography and asked if I could bring a portfolio the next time I came and I promised I would. The next night and the entertainment started right at the moment the waitress brought me my sandwich. Looking up I saw an act with three Thai ladies, one singing and the other two dancing around her totally out of sync to the music and Mei-Ling wasn’t to be seen anywhere. The waitress told me it was her day off, so I decided to ask her to send my sandwich up to my room and I went upstairs and took a shower. About an hour after I finished eating there was a soft knock on my door and when I opened it Mei-Ling was standing there in jeans and a tee-shirt with no makeup. She looked totally different, but even more fresh and pretty if you can imagine. We sat there on the small sofa going through the portfolio picture by picture.

My “general” portfolio has a little bit of everything in it, but at the end are about 20 fine art nudes in black and white and as she turned the page to the first one she blushed a bit and regaining her composure turned the next page over and soon she’d been through all of them. We got into a conversation of what it was like to shoot such a session, where I did them, what kind of equipment, if the lady wore a robe between getting undressed and posing, and where they changed from outfit to outfit. I went over all of it but never asked her if she wanted me to do her pictures because frankly it’s a lot of hard work and if I did such a session for every lady that asked I’d not have time for much else. Instead I asked her if she wanted to go for a swim in the indoor pool and she said she didn’t have a bathing suit. Grabbing a couple robes from the bathroom I told her she could swim in her tee-shirt and panties and not giving her time to protest I grabbed my room key card and down the elevator we went to the pool floor. Almost midnight the pool area was totally deserted so we had it to ourselves. I was wearing shorts already so I jumped in and pretended not to watch as she wrestled with whether to join me or not. Finally she quickly stepped out of her low heels, peeled down her jeans, and turning from me I was really surprised to see she was wearing a thong. Women usually only wear a thong if they plan on showing it off to someone so to me this was very telling. I couldn’t help but notice she had a firm rear end and long very smooth legs. Reaching under her tee-shirt she unfastened her bra and slipped each strap through the arms of the shirt and folding it on top of her jeans she came over the pool and slowly walked down the steps checking to see what the water was like.

The steps are in the shallow end and soon she was up to her belly and then she slipped and recovered but not before totally soaking her white tee-shirt. Now as she stood with the water at her belly I could clearly see through her tee-shirt where her nicely rounded breasts showed off her cold nipples and I wondered if she realized just how hot she looked. Not giving her time to think about it I swam over and standing up right in front of her splashed some water on her and all of a sudden she freaked out and grabbed me and held on tightly. A few seconds later when she realized she wasn’t drowning she was a bit embarrassed and told me she’d never learned how to swim. Offering to teach her we started by showing her how to float on her back while I helped hold her up. Getting her to lean back and put her head in the water tool some time but soon I’m looking down on a beautiful lady with a see through white tee-shirt and really nice figure with these big green trusting eyes looking back at me. We practice some more swimming techniques and I ask her if I can pull her through the deep end, I lay on my back in the water and get her to lay down the same way and with my arm around her chest slowly pull her from one end of the pool to the other. She relaxed fairly quickly and soon she was laughing and having a good time, but she never let go of me and soon we’re holding each other and I’m standing there at chest level with my hands on her rear holding her up as her legs wrap around my waist and her arms around my neck and the green eyes come closer and don’t stop until they close.

We’d had enough of the pool and standing behind her as she climbs out I couldn’t help but notice just how nice the view is. I climb out a bit and ask her to throw me a towel and she just holds it and says I have to come and get it. Now it’s my turn to be embarrassed as I quickly cross the two meters to where she’s holding the towel. We both dry off and donning the robes head back to the elevator. She tells me it’s late and she’s going back to her room and asked me to come up after I took my shower and got dressed. 45 minutes later I knock on the door and she’s dressed in some sort of long silk night suit and lets me in and she has more questions about what it’s like to pose for fine art nudes. This time I go over it in detail and she asks me directly if I’d take her pictures, and if I did if I’d guarantee not to show them to anyone else. I assured her I did this all the time and that while legally she’d have to sign a model release, that I wouldn’t use them for anything without her permission. Satisfied she started showing me some lingerie and asking my opinion on if each piece would be appropriate. Finally we get to the “where” question because I no longer have a studio. She tells me she could probably get one of the suites at the Sofitel if that would be big enough and we agree that with the next day being Saturday we’d meet and have the receptionist show us the room.

We met in the restaurant for breakfast the next morning and after we ate went to the reception desk and I learned she’d already talked to the receptionist and she handed us three sets of keys with the room numbers marked and we went to the one on the closest floor. We let ourselves in and it was nice but too small. I explained I needed at least 8 meters from camera to subject for best results so we headed to the next room which was much the same. The last room was on the top floor and it was huge with a fountain on a raised level over by the windows looking out over the city, a sunken type living room, and two nice bedrooms with one having a kind size four poster bed with a lace canopy. The big bed really caught my attention because the lace coverings could untie and enclose the sides of the bed. This would make a superb place to do the shoot and I told her as much and she asked how long it would take. I was honest with her and told her with all the great light coming in that we should start in the early afternoon and change sets and clothes as the sun set and end up with strobes and shots with deep shadows towards the end of the evening. She liked the way I described it and asked if we could do it tomorrow because it was her day off. I said we could, but I’d have to spend the rest of the day at home getting gear together and charging battery packs. She said that would be great and told me she was “going shopping” for some interesting things to wear for the shoot and pecking me on the cheek she was out the door and into a cab and gone.

That night I returned home for the first time in about six days and my housekeeper teased me about being gone so long. After resting I started to get my gear together and once everything was packed and ready I laid down on m couch and went over the events of the last week in my head. There’s no doubt, I was infatuated with this young chanteuse and very taken with her lithe shape and bold demeanor. I closed my eyes and started to picture her in poses that I thought would look best and soon I fall asleep making up for all the sleep lost over the last few days. The dream comes easily and in the dream I’m holding my largest camera with the big white zoom lens and she’s standing by the fountain in front of the window in only a thong and wet tee-shirt slowing turning in time with the sound of my shutter.. Dreams are great but since you rarely reach the ground when jumping off a tall building they tend to leave much to be desired and desire was what I was feeling. Saturday morning came quickly and after showering and packing my gear I left for the Sofitel and arrived right after noon. As agreed I called her and said I’d be on the way and she met me in the parking area to help carry up the bags. I packed everything in the nondescript duffle bags I use to avoid theft and soon we have them in the elevator and are standing there smiling at each other as it climbs to the top floor. As soon as we get the bags inside she announces she’s off to the hair dresser and tells me she put some sandwiches and drinks in the kitchen and is then out the door and gone. I go to the kitchen to grab a cola and I see a few covered platters in addition to a plate with sandwiches. She went all out, there’s a shrimp and crab platter, a fruit platter ,and a few bottles of wine being chilled. I take the cola and looking forward to later go out to the main room and start assembling the light and reflector stands and running extension cords to the areas I’m going to use. Carefully rearranging the furniture I make room for each set that I planned and then move into the bedroom where the four poster bed is. Laid out on the bed is an assortment of outfits and lingerie and a small black gym bag. It’s closed but I take a peek anyway and I’m a bit amused to see some leather cuffs and other toys. This is going to be more fun than I thought.

Until next time..

Stickman's thoughts:

I'd love to see those photos!