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An Adventure of Mine*
The Model Secretary
THE SUMMER JOB
I went to college to become an Electrical Engineer. Between my Junior and Senior years at college, I had a summer job as an intern with the telephone company. The idea was to introduce a future engineer to the work environment of industry, and to the telephone company in particular.s
I was assigned to the district offices for the Northeast portion of the state. They gave me a desk on the third-floor of a modest office building. My desk was one of six in a large room. The desks were arranged in two rows of three. In each row the three desks butted up next to each other.
I had the center desk in the front row. To my right was Ron, who would be my mentor for the summer. To my left was Noreen, one of the office secretaries. s
In the back row, the desk to the left was occupied by Sue, another secretary. The desk to the right was where Bill, the office manager, sat. The middle desk in that row was used by Barbara, the stenographer, who only came in during the afternoons. (We used an Electronics Secretary. It was large telephone answering machine into which we could call at any time of day or night and dictate letters and reports. They would be typed up later by Barbara.)s
Our office also served as a secondary "command center" for the district during major storm outages. Down the hall was the office where the Engineers sat. Across the hall were the accounting folks. (The operating department, or "Traffic" - was located down the street in another building.)s
I was given a one-line work statement as a summer project. It was largely up to me how I spent my time and structured my project. (That was both fantastic - and a bit frightening.) The only firm requirement was to present a report at the end of the summer at the state-level office.s
THE SECRETARY
Noreen was a model secretary. She was friendly and efficient. Sitting right next to each other, she and I more or less "rubbed elbows" during the day.
Noreen was there essentially all of the time to answer any questions I might have. Ron, my official mentor, on the other hand, was out of the office much of the time working on his own projects.
Noreen was rather attractive. Although not a "Spring chick" - being a married woman and all - she was one of the younger looking women in the office - perhaps in her late thirties. (I inherently knew it is unwise to ask a woman's age.)
Noreen had a nice laugh and we enjoyed many jokes and other light conversations together.s
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
While my college major was engineering, one of my major hobbies was photography.
During the school year, my partner and I ran a dance portrait business. We photographed couples at formal college dances, as well as fraternity and sorority parties. I had a set of flood lights, and a large seamless backdrop which I hung from two tall pipe-stand assemblies.
I was living in a furnished apartment for the summer. It was actually rather large, occupying almost half of the first floor of a big house. There were three smaller apartments upstairs.s
I had my own kitchen with a good collection of pots and pans, dishes, and silverware. The bathroom was roomy enough that I considered using it for a darkroom. For the most part, however, I was left to having my pictures processed commercially.
THE TRIP HOME
After a month or so, I decide it was time to visit my parents. "Home" was a three to four hour drive. Plus, I wanted to get some more of my photography equipment - since I had plenty of room in my apartment.s
I had been doing a lot of thinking about my upcoming trip and by the time Friday afternoon rolled around, I had an idea. s
Gathering up as much courage as I could, I turn to Noreen. I told her about my planned weekend trip. And as casually as I could, I suggested, "I could bring back my flood lights and backdrop if you would be willing to pose for me."s
She gave me this surprised look and promptly said, "No!" (I don't remember her exact words. I just remember her saying it so rapidly and emphatically, it made my head spin.) It made me want to crawl under my desk and disappear.
You would have thought I had asked her to take her clothes off right there in the office. (Taking clothes off is not required for portrait photography, and the kind of modeling I had in mind was more about putting on various outfits.)
THE TELEPHONE CALL
As I was planning to leave early in the morning, I went to bed very early that evening. I had just gotten to sleep when the phone rang.
"Hello," I managed as I glanced at the clock to see that it about 9 o'clock.
"Hi," said the voice on the other end of the line. "This is Noreen."
Now, "Noreen never calls me at home," I think to myself. "Oh," I said.
"Were you serious about wanting me to pose for you?" Noreen asked.
"Of course," I said.
"Well," said Noreen, "after you left I got to thinking about it and I'm interested. I thought I had better call you before your trip, if it is not too late."
You could have pushed me over with a feather. "It's never too late," I laughed.
THE PHOTO SHOOT
I make the trip home. I had a nice visit with my parents. And I picked up some of my photography equipment, including my flood lights and backdrop gear.
When I got to the office on Monday, Noreen was smiling. We arrange that I would go to Noreen's for dinner Thursday evening and we would do pictures afterwards.
Did I mention that Noreen was married? Dinner was for the three of us - Noreen, me, and Bob, Noreen's husband.
It turns out that in his younger days, Bob has dabble with photography. He dug out some of the pictures he had taken overseas while serving in the military - before he was married. Hummm!
Bob, located his old 35-millimeter camera while I set up the backdrop and flood lights.
Noreen modeled various outfits. Bob and I shot lots of pictures.
EPILOGUE
We all had a grand evening. More importantly, I came away with beautiful and delightful memories.
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