“It’s you, isn?
??t it?”
Greg doesn’t look offended. I’m not sure this man can be offended. If our first meeting hadn’t been on a cam sight where he paid for Brice and me to have sex on camera, I might have viewed Greg as an affable uncle who has delved a little too deeply into geek culture for a man of his age. He has that doughy figure of someone who spends most of his days behind a desk. His clothes are ill fitting, the t-shirt he wears advertising some Japanese animation aimed at an audience much younger than him. While Brice breathes fire behind me, Greg returns his clipped greeting with a confused smile.
“Yes, it’s me.” He then brings his gaze down to meet mine, which is off to the side, boring a hole in the wall, wishing I had never agreed to this. “Didn’t you tell him we were meeting?”
“You agreed to this?” Brice is at my side now. He’s taken my wrist in his grip. “You mean he didn’t follow you here?”
“I believe we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” Greg says. “I’m no stalker. I’m just a humble businessman with a little proposition I wanted to run by the two of you. That was the reason I asked your little lady here for a meeting. Now, I can understand that you’ve been slightly blindsided, but for a man who just got some last night, you’re in a much fouler mood that one might expect.”
Brice’s grip on my wrist tightens. “I don’t want to listen to any of this. Let’s go.” He begins to pull me up from my chair, but he stops mid-motion with Greg’s next announcement.
“Ten thousand for your first month. Each, mind you. So that’s twenty all told. And that’s only a trial rate. After a month we can talk about upping your salary.”
Brice is no longer yanking on my wrist. He hasn’t sat down either, but this is at least a move in the right direction. But to be completely honest, Brice isn’t the only one with a slack jaw at this announcement. I was half expecting this man to blackmail us. For his offer of a business opportunity to be a sham. At the very least I never imagined a deal even half as nice as this.
“All you have to do,” Greg continues now that he has our attention, “is repeat performances of last night. I mean, obviously, not the same thing every time. We’re going to need some variety out of you two, but of a similar vein. We’re going to try out a few different angles, but we’re mostly going to stick with the ‘friends falling for each other’ theme you guys had going on. Which, by the way, I must say was a masterpiece to behold. I mean, what a way to scoop up some donations from regulars who might be getting tired of the whole thing. I applaud the two of you for coming up with such a brilliant scheme.”
“It wasn’t a scheme,” Brice says, his teeth practically grinding together. “We really are best friends.”
“Still just friends?” Greg asks. He looks from Brice to me. I stop myself from biting my lips. I’m still not sure of Brice’s true feelings about what happened last night or where he wants to go from here. Maybe it was all just weird for him after the fact, and he just wants to go back to the way things were. If he does want a relationship, I’d love to try. But I’m not ruining the one good thing going for me in life by pushing him anywhere he doesn’t want to go.
“Best friends,” Brice corrects him. My heart drops into my empty stomach. I clutch at the hem of my shirt under the table, desperate for anything to hold onto as it feels like an amazing future has just slipped out of my grip.
“Well, that’s even better,” Greg says. “No silly emotions to get in the way. Now, before I ask if you’re both interested, let me lay out a few ground rules. I’d rather scare you away now than waste either of our time. Sit down, sit down.” He motions to Brice who takes a tentative seat beside me. Then Greg slides menus over towards us. “Order whatever you like. I’d recommend the brunch. After the night you two had, you need the calories.”
The waitress brings us cups of water after we order. While we wait for the food, Greg explains the details.
“As I said before, it would only be one month, initially at least. But I’m not going to lie to you. They’re going to be long days. Sure, lots of videos, but also photo shoots. We’re going to try a few different scenarios that I’ve already got cooked up, but mostly were going to play off of the best friends angle. Try to make that a new category, with you two as our headliners. ‘Best friends with benefits’,” he says, holding up his hands as if outlining some imaginary marquee. “Of course, this is going to be physically exhausting. There will be chafing and other unpleasant effects you’ve never considered. But there will be pleasure too, when you can manage to forget about the cameras, that is.
“Speaking of pleasure, I’ve only outlined the negatives. There are some positives too. First, like I said, the money. Ten grand each. We’ll also provide you with meals. You’ll get a free health screening before we start filming too. It’s mandatory these days, but it’s just another little perk.”
“So what do you two say?” Greg asks, taking a large gulp of water. “Want to go into the erotic film business?”
Chapter 4
I was sure that I would have to answer first and convince Brice to go along with me. But the past twenty-four hours only bring with it surprise after surprise.
“I’m in,” Brice says far too easily. As soon as the words are out of his mouth he takes a huge bite of a piece of the French toast that has just arrived.
“Are you sure?” I ask him. “I mean, I’ve been doing cam work for a while, but this is all new to you.”
“Like you said before,” he says through his full mouth. “We could both use the money. That’s why we agreed to sleep together last night, right? Money.”
Brice is strangely detached from this conversation. I can’t decide if he’s hiding something or if he’s just angry with me for agreeing to this meeting. But he isn’t the type to agree to something so huge simply out of spite. There has got to be more going on here.
Greg takes a sip at his steaming coffee. “And how about the lady of the hour?”
A glance over at Brice shows that he’s absorbed in his breakfast. I’ll need to discuss this more with him later, but if he’s agreed to it, I can’t see any reason that I would turn it down. “When do we start?”
Greg slams his fist on the table, shaking the utensils and plates. A bellowing guffaw of laughter erupts from his mouth, flecks of half-chewed bacon bursting out right behind. “That’s the spirit! I only hope you can keep that energy up on the camera. First filming is this afternoon. Eat as much as you’d like though, because we have a bit of paperwork and a quick medical to get through before we can get rolling. So don’t worry about full bellies. You’ll be working off those carbs soon enough.
A suffocating silence hangs over the rest of the meal. Brice is right beside me, but he might as well be on the other side of the planet. He does not speak to me or look my direction until we’re leaving the diner.
“If you two would wait right here, I’ll pull my car up,” Greg announces before trotting away towards a parking garage. Brice scuffs the toe of his shoe against a light pole at the edge of the sidewalk. He’s avoiding me.
“What’s going on?” I ask. This is Brice. I don’t need to dance around the topic. We’ve always been straight with each other. But for once Brice isn’t answering. He’s just focusing on the light pole, keeping his kicks in a rhythm that only he knows. “Brice, talk to me.”