Trucker Ch. 01: Lincoln

"Omigod Hal!" she squealed. She gave him a hug while heads turned. Hal was still seated and she was standing over him, so hugging her back was awkward. He snaked out his right arm to encircle her, which turned out to be her bare upper thighs right below the hem of her short mini skirt. His arm encircled her there and squeezed back. He felt the cool kiss of her bare thighs against his arm as she leaned him into him, and the hem of her miniskirt tickled the hairs on his wrist. Wrapping his arm around her bare thighs pulled her slightly off balance and she rose up on her tiptoes to compensate. The hem of her skirt popped up in the back as she placed a hand on his shoulder and then recovered. It was only a moment, and Hal couldn't see what had just happened to her skirt hem from behind, but by the looks on some faces, he knew others could. His heart was pounding as she slid back into her seat and attacked her birthday cake. Hal briefly considered taking a photo but did not.

Hal paid the bill and they returned to the rig, walking across the parking lot with Hal still carrying the camera. He slowed down to adjust the camera strap on his shoulder while Cody skipped ahead as he watched. Her legs looked so good. The breeze blew, and the back of her little skirt flipped. It wasn't much of a flip, but Hal saw the beginnings of the creases of her bum cheeks wink in and out of view before her well-practiced hand pinned her hem down. He caught his breath, and lifted the camera. She looked over her shoulder and saw the camera and smiled. She turned in profile to Hal and struck a pose, tossing her hair. He snapped another picture.

"Crouch down more," she called. "Move in a little closer and keep the lens at my waist level so I'll shoot taller."

Hal moved in and crouched and took another photo. Cody twisted her little hips and stood up on her tip-toes with her legs straight and knees locked, like a ballerina standing en pointe. Hal snapped a photo. She held the pose and pushed her bum out behind her. It caused her skirt to inch up dangerously high, but she held the pose anyway. Hal pressed the shutter again. She stuck her finger shyly in her mouth, still in the pose and pushed her bum out a little further. The wind lifted the back of her skirt up as Hal pushed the shutter button. She squeaked and straightened up, smoothing her skirt down in the back. She skittered over to Hal and crouched down beside him. "Let me see," she said.

Her fingers worked the controls expertly and they gazed at the last photo Hal had taken. The skirt was indeed blowing up, and a vast expanse of smooth, bare thigh was visible from the side. "Wow," she breathed, "that was close." She kept looking at the image.

"What was?" asked Hal. Cody didn't reply.

"You really like doing this,"he said.

Cody nodded, staring at the image. "Mmm hmm," she breathed. Then she got up quickly. "Come on, let's go," she said. "The SD card for this is full. I have a second one in my bag."

"What's an SD card?" he asked, following her to the rig.

"The thing the photos get stored on."

Hal opened her door and decided for the sake of his composure not to watch after helping her onto the ladder. He quickly walked around to his side of the rig and climbed in, where Cody was fishing in her bag. After a moment she found a small, flat object and slipped it into the back of the camera before handing it back to Hal.

"Thanks," he said and raised the camera at heragain. He wondered if it was getting to be a bit much, but she didn't protest. She put her satchel down and sat pertly on the edge of her seat, letting her heels pop up from her mules (en pointe again) and smiled seductively. Hal took a photo. He looked at the back of the camera and saw a perfectly exposed parking lot, and his new-found subject completely in shadow.

"You're all dark in the photo," he said.

"You need to put it on manual and expose for the interior of the truck," she said, leaning across to him and taking the camera. She flipped switches and took a shot of Hal before he had a chance to react. She looked at the screen, flicked a dial, and took another shot before looking at the screen again. "There we go. Try it now."

Hal took the camera back and she posed again, opening her mouth this time and holding her tongue behind her upper teeth. Hal's heart started beating hard.

"You really know how to pose," he said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"I like pin-up poses and cheesecake poses," she said.

"What are those?"

"Stuff like this," she said. She fumbled around for the recliner lever and pushed back her seat. The seatback could recline most of the way but not completely flat before hitting the edge of a counter. "Ah-ha," she said, pleased with herself. Hal watched with his jaw slack. Then she slowly and deliberately slipped off her heels into her bare feet. She nudged the heels aside with her toes before rolling onto her stomach on the almost-reclined seat. With the seat mostly reclined, her torso above her waist was forced into an upward curve. She rested on her forearms, hands out in front of her, like a sphinx. She then slowly kicked her feet up behind her, bending her legs at the knees, crossed her ankles, and began to arch her feet and point her bare toes. She pointed them harder and harder until they vibrated with tension, her toes reaching forward.

"Unh!" she said softly, from the effort.

Her toes quivered.

"There y'go," she breathed.

Cody had gorgeous bare feet.

They had just the right arch, and her toes just the right inflection by contrast. As she pointed her toes, her bare soles wrinkled.

She staggered her feet a bit, but kept them pointed. Her short skirt barely covered her behind. A suggestion of cheek was just starting to show as she dabbled her bare, pointed toes and popped a finger in her mouth. Hal's hands trembled as raised the camera tentatively. Cody didn't wait for him to take a photo. She rearranged the positions of her bare feet a little differently each time, but kept her toes pointed. Hal finally brought the camera up and looked through the viewfinder.

"Ah... you don't fit in the frame."

Cody giggled and dropped her feet. "Try moving back as far as you can, against the door," she said. "If you can't get a composition you like, don't forget to move yourself."

Hal scooted back awkwardly against the drive side door as much as he could and lifted the camera up. His more constricted position made it difficult. "Okay, do that again," he said.

Cody kicked up her gorgeous bare feet and her lips parted. "Unh," she went again as her toes pointed hard.

The sight overwhelmed Hal, but she still wouldn't fit in the frame. "Bah!" he said. "Still too close."

Cody laughed again. "Alright, I will do the pose for you later somewhere where you can get further back."

"You will?" asked Hal.

"Yeah, I will. We can practice later, k?"

"Okay. Deal." His eyes kept flicking to Cody's bare feet.

Cody held the pose for a just a pause longer. Just long enough to watch Hal watching her. Nothing was said. He could hear her bare feet brushing against each other in the silence while she chewed a nail, all the while looking at Hal. Hal nervously put the camera down and fumbled with the engine starter. Cody broke her pose and wiggled upright in the seat. Hal kept his eyes on the dash as her wriggling pulled her skirt askew.

Hal cleared his throat as he pulled the rig out onto the highway. "So, it's another four hours or so to Cheyenne," he said. "Normally I wouldn't stop for dinner until maybe about Rawlins. I normally go straight on to Salt Lake after that."

"That's a long day," she said.

"Yup."

"Well... maybe if we stop a little earlier in Rawlins I can show you more about photography."

Hal paused a moment before answering.

"Okay." he said calmly.

They continued on down Interstate 80. Hal noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced at Cody. She hadn't put the seat back up, and had rolled back onto her stomach and kicked up her bare feet again. She was reading his Black Elk book. Hal stayed silent and let her read. He wanted to blast the radio like always, but there was something soothing about her lying in the seat beside him, reading the way she was.

And again, Cody began to arch her bare feet and point her toes. She would relax, and then flex, pointing them again and again, pulling them towards her head as she read. Hal couldn't tell if she did this absentmindedly. And now that she had long since slipped off her heels, Hal noticed that the bottoms of her bare feet were getting dirty.

Hal helped himself to a few more glances at her. On the fifth glance he noticed she had fallen asleep.