On Saturday morning Sera had the blissful peace of the house to herself. Much as she loved her brothers they were two nightmarish balls of noise and energy when she wanted to relax. They had gone with her father and Marisa to visit Marisa’s parents for the weekend, and would stay there overnight.

Sera was always welcome to visit Marisa’s parents, they treated her as though she was their own grandchild, but she wanted some time to herself and they understood that she had a lot of assignments in this final year of school.

Turning on the kettle and putting a slice of bread into the toaster, Sera considered calling Lois and hanging out later that day. They could go into town in the afternoon and go shopping and decide what to do that night: clubbing or staying in to watch movies. Assuming Lois didn’t have a date, which Sera was pretty sure she didn’t.

Sera rarely threw parties when her parents were away because the prospect of returning the house to Marisa’s exacting standards filled her with dread. It was so easy for a house to get completely trashed as well.

But having Lois over was fine. Even Lois and Joel, though he sometimes got bored when they talked girl stuff.

Sera looked outside of the window. It was grey and raining but the sky had a brightness that suggested it might clear up later. She hoped so. Going shopping in the rain was never fun, as most of the shops they liked to visit were in the High Street rather than a mall.

Still wearing her dressing gown, she was about to jump in the shower when the phone rang. It was Lois.

"Hello, you must be psychic. I was going to call you right after I shower. Want to do something this afternoon, go shopping, maybe?"

"Sure," Lois said. "I was actually ringing about tonight. My sister is going to some party and we’re invited. Some people in a huge house the other side of town. We don’t even need to bring booze, apparently there’ll be loads there."

It sounded good to Sera. Better than paying the entrance fee to Aether and being surrounded by fifteen-year-olds.

"There should be loads of hot guys," Lois said. "The guy whose house it is does Phys Ed so all these sporty university students should be coming."

Normally this would have been a big enticement to Sera but she found it hard to work up much enthusiasm. She didn’t want to admit to herself why, though her mind kept wandering to The Retro and wondering if they went there, whether they might again bump into…

The doorbell rang, shrilly.

"I’ve got to go, there’s someone at the door. Meet you by the fountain at midday?"

"Sounds great, see you there," Lois said and they ended the call.

Sera went to the door, expecting a neighbour or a Jehovah’s Witness. They’d just have to cope with seeing her in her nightwear. Her robe, although made of rather slinky satin, at least covered what it needed to.

"Hello?"

She stopped, shocked.

It was Mr Marek. What was he doing here?

He looked gorgeous but wrecked. His hair was tousled and he had shadows under his eyes. He also hadn’t shaved that morning, which made his face look darker and more angled.

"Sera."

His gaze dropped, instantly noticing what she was wearing. His eyes burned through the silken fabric of her night slip where it showed at the front of her robe. She realised how low cut it was and felt paralysed with embarrassment. If only she had quickly thrown on some jeans.

She couldn’t try and cover herself up because it would make it even more obvious.

Sera had absolutely no idea why her art teacher was standing at her door. He seemed as lost for words as she was. To bluntly ask "why are you here?" seemed rude. To say "can I help?" sounded presumptuous. But he was just standing there, staring at her.

Seconds ticked by. Sera was starting to worry that the neighbours would notice her standing at the door, in a state of near undress, with a male visitor. Enough curtain-twitching and gossiping went on as it was.

Eventually he spoke. "Are your parents in?"

"They’re away for the weekend."

Something momentarily flared in his eyes then was extinguished. "I won’t come in."

Sera stood there, awkwardly. She panicked that she must look a sight with no make-up, her hair messy from bed. She tried to smooth back a lock of hair behind her ear.

This really was the last way on earth she would ever plan to greet her art teacher.

Before she could ask Mr Marek what he wanted he spoke again, and what he said took her breath away.

"I need to paint you. I need you to pose for me. I can’t get the image of you in class out of my head, and until I have it down on canvas I can’t concentrate on any other work."

Sera was shocked. Whatever she might have expected Mr Marek to say, it would never have been this.

Pose for him? Did he mean…. nude?

She supposed the prospect shouldn’t freak her out. After all, it wasn’t as though she hadn’t done that before.

Struggling to come up with a response, she simply asked: "when?"

Relief softened his frown.

"You’ll do it? I’ll pay you a professional fee."

Sera hadn’t actually meant to agree to pose for him, she had simply wanted to ask more questions to play for time. She wanted to ask "why me?" Surely if he wanted to paint a life model he could have asked any of the actual professionals hired at his classes?

But she was intrigued.

"How long would it take?" She imagined maybe a couple of hours, like the classes.

"I can’t say. Several weeks, depending on how often you’re available for sessions," Mr Marek told her.

Several weeks? The surprise was clear on her face.

"It’s not merely for a sketch, Sera. I want to do a full canvas."

Sera had so many questions. Where would she pose? Why did he want to do this? How would it all happen? What would people say?

Before she could start to ask him, he continued. "We’ll need to be discreet about this. I recognise there are ethical issues, but it’s for art, not anything inappropriate."

"So you mean life modelling, like for the class?" Sera couldn’t bring herself to say "nude" or "naked".

"Just as you were. That exact position, in fact. I’ll fix it up the same."

She took a deep breath in and out. The world seemed at once to be moving very slowly and also rushing around her. He was the stillness at the centre.

"I guess… okay then. I’ll try." She wasn’t sure that she could pose successfully for him: just the few minutes she had tried in the art class had ended up being horribly uncomfortable. "But only on one condition."

Mr Marek frowned, concerned about what she might be about to demand.

"Central heating or a really warm heater."

His face relaxed again and she was rewarded with one of his rare smiles. "Certainly."

"When did you want to start?" She hoped not today. She needed to get her thoughts together. As well as get to some waxing and trimming.

"I thought next Saturday, if that works for you."

It was a whole week away and she usually spent Saturdays with her friends. "What time?"

"Midday? Until around two o’clock? The days being so short is limiting in terms of light. At my place, I’ll give you the address."

High noon. It sounded perfect. She’d still have the rest of the afternoon and the whole evening and night free. She and Lois never hit the town before nine anyway, it was dead before that hour. Whether she would feel like the usual pub crawl after two hours of lying naked in front of her sexy but hostile, remote but demanding art teacher remained to be seen.

"Twelve to two works for me," Sera said.

"Thank you."

At that moment she sensed how relieved yet also conflicted he was. There was still doubt in his eyes though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe he already regretted asking her, taking the risk. There were a lot of risks. She could have freaked out and reported him, though he had correctly judged that she wasn’t that kind of girl. Had she not wanted to do it she would have simply refused.

There was also the risk of being found out. Visiting a teacher in his private residence, let alone to undress and lie in front of him for two hours, would probably not be considered appropriate conduct at St Christopher’s.

Finally the risk of what her parents would say. Sera thought it best not to tell them. It would be easy to get away with it on Friday nights anyway as she was barely ever home then. She could just tell a small fib and imply she was going over to Lois’s slightly earlier than usual.

Why have I agreed to this? she thought. But looking at the tall, dark, rugged and brilliant man in front of her, she knew the answer. She wanted him. She had wanted him from the first moment he laid furious eyes upon her and made the outrageous demand that she strip.

This demand - or request - was yet more outrageous. He didn’t even have the excuse of being mistaken. He knew who she was and how old she was. And despite everything…

It was the "despite" that had pushed her over the edge to accept him. The fact that despite all better judgement, he needed and wanted her to pose for him.

As Mr Marek left, Sera watched him walk down the driveway to his car. Broad shoulders and a powerful looking figure.

She shivered. She had probably let herself in for far more than she realised. Than both of them realised.