Different angle

I meet Teacher for a lunch and walk. We are no longer lovers. The man who discovered and freed the natural slut in me, is now a friend.


I watch his hands (and beautiful hands they are, large with long thick, confident fingers) as he takes me through the minutiae of the workings of my camera. They are no longer fingers that left angry red marks on my bottom or pinched my nipples as I stood in front of him, dressed like a schoolgirl, with my shirt open, ready to be used. They push the camera buttons expertly, slide small latches and push little wheels, like they used to push me outside of my comfort zone, guiding me to the unexplored parts of me.

His focus and single-mindedness that I used to find unnerving and exhilarating in equal measure, are now are calming lotion for my impatient questioning.

His voice, once seeping darkest fantasies into my ear, now feels comforting as he kneels behind me, talking me through aperture settings and exposure.

I sit on the stairs in the beautiful Georgian building we are exploring together, taking picture of myself in the large Victorian mirror, my image distorted by the old looking-glass. 

When I look at the picture at home, I notice him behind me. He's kneeling, with his camera, taking picture of me. I am the Hitchcockian peroxide blonde, with big vulnerable eyes, he is a ghostly presence behind me, face obscured by the camera, ever watchful. I like him there. It feels safe. And in one epiphany moment I realise that I always felt safe with him the way I probably never felt with anyone else. And knowing that feels good.