2019-03-01ReadersDigest_AUNZ

March• 2019 | 13

READER’S DIGEST

inpose.“Herarmwasata45-degree

angle before, now it’s more like 35,”

he’d regularly complain, compelling

metowonderifallthishardwork

wasreallyworth£2.50anhour.

Half the class were amateur

artistswhotooktheirworkvery

seriously.Theotherhalfwerejust

localfolklookingforanewhobby.

Theywereallveryrespectfulbutone

elderly gentleman was particularly

solicitous.He’dalwaysaskhowIwas

andwhetherIwaswarmenough.It

was the winter term so I was often

freezing. His wife was

taking the jewellery-

making course at

thesametimeand

occasionally, I’d have a

cupofteaatbreak-time

with this lovely couple.

After a few weeks,

Igotusedtobeinga

bitofanoveltyatthe

night school. “Oh, so

you’re the model,”

people would exclaim

andlookatmeineitherdisbelief

or admiration. Nevertheless, I felt

alittlewaryofrunningintoanyof

the art students outside the class. I

wasn’t terribly comfortable with the

idea of having a public conversation

with them, aware that next Tuesday

evening, I’d be in front of them

without any clothes on. Of course,

beingasmalltown,itwasjusta

matter of time before it happened.

I was walking up the high street

needsamodel,”explainedStewart.
“It’sonlyonceaweek,seventillnine,
fora12-weekterm.Pays£2.50an
hour,but,Ihavetotellyou,it’salife
class.”
“Inwhat?”Iquestionednaively.
“It’salifeclass.Theydrawnudes.
Areyouupforit?”
“Oh,well,Idon’tknow,”I
stammered,wishingIhadn’tasked.
“Imean,I’mnotaprudeoranything
but...”
Stewartleanedacrosshisdesk
with a desperate look on his face. The
job had been advertised
forweeksandsinceI
wanted to stay on good
termswiththebloke
whoalwaysgaveme
first pick of available
jobs,Iagreedtoatleast
consider it.
IspoketoGreg,a
localartistwhoalso
taughtartatthelocal
secondary school. He
wasverypersuasiveand
I found myself agreeing to show up to
thefirstnightclass.
The embarrassment I felt at being
completelynakedinaroomfullof
strangersquicklyfaded.Forallthe
classcared,Icouldhavebeenabowl
of fruit and as it turned out, being
nude was not the difficult part of this
job.Sittingstillforlongperiodswas
notaseasyasIthought,especially
whenonefinickyindividualwould
always point out the slightest change

“Oh, so you’re

the model,”

people would

exclaim and look

at me in either

disbelief or

admiration