"Look, I can't blame ya, girl. I don't know what job you've got, but you're being smart. As we all need to be. Nothing's guaranteed in this business." Lydia goes right back to her lipstick. She's so misguided. I need to end this shit now.
"Do you guys actually think I'm leaving? I mean, I know I have some down time right now, but really?"
Lydia and Jane give each other that look again, but Jane is beginning to break a bit. She realizes how flimsy their premise is, but she's not ready to give up yet.
"Why do you seem so, you know, sure about everything? And now you're over-the-top happy for some reason. You're actually glowing."
"Why do you think I’d be glowing, Jane?"
The realization hits her right away. Lydia sees Jane's expression and finally turns away from the mirror. Jane’s trying to hold back an out-of-character laughing fit.
"Some fuckin' tour, huh? I guess you're a pretty good guide."
Lydia finally gets it, and she looks like she's about to keel over. This is the first time I've ever seen her grin like that: stunned and a bit giddy. Lydia busts out in peals of laughter, and this breaks Jane down into her own flood of giggles.
I feel the tension drain from me, and I start laughing myself. These moments are rare, but they feel fucking great.
Jane stops laughing as soon as she can, and I can tell that she's dying to say something snarky.
"Even for you, that's a good catch."
Damn. As much as I want to lob back a sharp retort, I can’t. She's right.
"Backhanded, much?"
That's just about as well as I can do. Jane ignores me. Now that the anxiety's drained from the room, she can go back to adjusting her glittery silver corset.
Let me just take a minute here and tell you about Jane. I don't care who the fuck you are, the first time you see Jane's signature costume you can't help but feel like you've stepped into some futuristic, sci-fi utopia where people are—on average—about a thousand times sexier. Guys are ready to cum all over their keyboards the second Jane appears onscreen, but she doesn't let her audience off that easy.
To watch one of Jane's cam shows is to take a captivating journey down a modern art-inspired rabbit hole that you can’t tear yourself away from until it's all over. With props like black lights, glow-in-the-dark body paint and Mylar balloons, Jane gives her fans an experience like nothing else online.
I look over at Lydia looking at herself in the mirror, inspecting her eyeshadow. Lydia won’t go on camera without carefully checking and rechecking every part of her makeup about a billion times. I think that she's done talking to me now that she's in serious prep mode.
That is, until she blurts out her take.
"I guess you found another job after all. Hope it pays well."
I don't even know what to say, so I keep my mouth shut for a second.
Lydia has no big gimmicks, just a crazy work ethic, and a face and body that has driven many of her fans literally insane. The type of insane that empties savings accounts and IRAs, penalties be damned. The type of insane that maxes out credit cards and applies for payday loans and second mortgages.
Logically, Lydia should be Darcy's favorite. But this isn't about logic.
"No pay, my dear. Just pure bliss."
"Good for you."
Lydia's response is immediate. I know she believes me. Why wouldn’t she?
"I'm happy with it so far. But it has to end soon, right? We can't stray from the rules, and Darcy knows what he's doing. I mean, in a business sense."
Shit, as soon as I start voicing my concerns, I get even more worried. This can't continue while Darcy's actually running the ship.
"Hey, it's fun now, right? When it's over, just choose any other dude in the world to fuck."
Jane's applying her own silvery makeup, and I know she’s trying to be as sweet as she can. But to me, it sounds fucking heartless. I try to explain things calmly.
"I don't want to fuck, or even talk, to any other dude. It’s not about that. There's…I don’t know. There's just something about Darcy. And I feel like I haven't even started. He's like a mystery with a million layers that I want to peel back one by one."