Cammers With Benefits

“Fine, fine,” the doctor says, checking something off on his chart. After a few more personal questions, he says, “Now it’s time for the physical exam.”

“Here?” Brice asks, looking around the room.

“Just a quick visual examination. Just to make sure nothing unusual is afoot.” The doctor looks between us as Brice and I hesitate. “You’re the oddest porn actors I’ve ever met. Just drop your pants and we’ll be done before you know it.”

So we do. It’s the opposite of sexy and I wish we had gotten different rooms, because there’s nothing like having your genitals observed objectively to really kill any sexy vibes between a couple, but thirty seconds later, we’re zipping our pants up again. And after another minute, the doctor has disappeared and Sally sticks her head back in the room.

“Follow me,” she says.

Brice and I follow her upstairs to a room filled with racks of clothes and lingerie, one wall covered completely in mirrors, and a desk with hairstyling products, cosmetics, and several containers of wet wipes. We’re not alone in this room.

Two women and a man, all completely nude, lounge in front of the mirror. One woman has a mug of coffee in her hand, while the other two drink from water bottles. The women are gorgeous, with perky breasts and recent Brazilian waxes. The man could be sculpted from marble if it weren’t for his tousled blonde hair. I wonder how many thousands of hours have gone into creating that body. Even though I know that I I’m staring, I can’t help it when my eyes drift down to his cock, which is larger than any I have ever seen in real life.

“Let’s see here,” Sally says, flipping through a clipboard. “Your first scene is supposed to be in a bedroom. Relaxed attire, so maybe denim shorts and a halter top for you,” she says, pointing to me. Then to Brice, she says, “And jeans and a t-shirt for you. Try to find one that’s a little too short. Midriffs are big right now.”

A halter top does not fit into my definition of relaxed attire, but I begin perusing the rack Sally points me towards, trying and failing to ignore the others in the room. They’re watching us with furtive glances until a girl with a perfect afro calls out to me. “Hey, new girl.”

I point to myself, feeling stupid even as I ask, “Me?”

She nods, a knowing smile on her lips. “What’s your name?”

“Tess.”

“No, I mean your porn name. Look,” she says and points at her co-stars, starting with the nude Adonis. “This guy is Jack Hammersmith. The lovely lady next to him is Jade Idol, and I’m Stellar Love. So I’ll ask you again. What’s your name?”

I’ve heard that porn names should be the name of your first pet and the street you grew up on, which in my case would make me Fuzzy Franklin, which is going to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. And I’m not going to use my online persona, Brightlights3249, because that’s less a porn name and more the first email I ever made ages ago. So I try to think of myself, and who I want others to see me as. What is my alternate persona?

She’s everything I’m not. While I’m poor, she’s rich. I’m too loud a lot of the time, but she’s demure. I’m not afraid to get in people’s faces, but she’s soft-spoken. The perfect sweet girl who blooms in the bedroom or on any other flat surface.

I need a name that shows this duality. It comes off my lips before I really consider it: “Tessa Bloom.”

“Tessa Bloom,” Stellar remarks. “It certainly has a ring to it, doesn’t it? And how about your lover boy over here? You two are an item, aren’t you?”

“We’re just friends,” Brice speaks up from the corner. I wasn’t sure if he’d been listening in on our conversation or not, though it would be impossible to ignore in this room where the only other sound is a radio doling out classic rock just loud enough to identify the song being played, but not enough to sing along.

“Just friends, huh?” Jack remarks. I’m hidden behind a rack of clothes, trying not to draw more attention as I step out of my jeans, a pair of daisy dukes in my other hand ready to try on. That’s when Jack appears beside me. He slaps me on the ass, just where my panties end. “In that case, how about you and I film a scene together?”

He’s raising his eyebrows in a manner that he probably thinks is seductive, but really just makes me unable to take anything he says seriously. In fact, I can’t even tell if he’s being serious right now. Brice shoots me a look that says he wants to kill me or Jack. Maybe both of us. I’m not sure. In moments, Brice is dressed and ready to go, while I’m still flicking through clothes on the rack, looking for anything that doesn’t smell of sweat or worse.

The Daisy-dukes end up being just a bit too big for me, but I finally find some shorts that hug my

hips and leave little to the imagination. They’re boy shorts, which are basically panties with short legs almost like boxers. But these are tight and stretchy and certainly sexy. I hate halter tops, but I find a shirt that’s had it’s sleeves cut off, leaving behind holes than run halfway down the sides of the shirt. I wear something similar on my cam shows. Guys love seeing ‘side boob’ as they call it. And it’s comfortable, so I’m following Sally’s guidelines in spirit if not in letter.

My outfit certainly catches Brice’s attention. I march ahead of him and out the door, feeling his gaze drift down my backside.

Jack whistles from back inside the changing room.

“Just friends, huh?” asks Jade, repeating Jack’s earlier sentiment.

That’s the last thing I hear from my co-stars before I find my way to the studio. Sally is sipping at a mug of coffee just inside. The door is cracked so I head right in. “Is this were we’re supposed to be?”

Then I see the set. If you ignore the hanging microphones and lights and cameras, it could be any young woman’s bedroom. Stuffed toys sit on bookshelves and a laptop rests on a bedside table. Posters of boy bands hang on the walls. It’s all manufactured, but if they were going for the innocent-girl-next-door look, they certainly succeeded. I’m just not used to all the fanfare. Being a cam girl meant relying on little more than my laptop. Here, the laptop is just a prop. They have professional equipment for the actual recording.

Greg is talking to the cameramen. There are two of them. When he sees us, he gives two thumbs up. “Love the fashion choices. Very natural but sexy at the same time, which is exactly what we’re going for here. So, let me explain what this scene is going to be. We’re wanting to keep your shy relationship thing going. The best friends with benefits theme. So, we’re going to have you, Tess, lounging on the bed. Getting yourself off.”

I feel my eyes go wide as I look around the room and imagine masturbating in this room of strangers. It’s a far cry from doing the same thing alone on my computer to a crowd on the other side of the Internet.

“While you’re swishing that around in your brain, just keep in mind that we’re going to have a similar scene but backwards next. So next it’ll be Brice’s turn for some self loving.” He laughs at Brice’s horrified expression, but continues on before he can interrupt. “For this one, Brice is going to hear you moaning and rush in, thinking something’s wrong. You’re roommates in this scenario, but nothing more. Now instead of stopping and covering up, you’re going to lock eyes with Brice. Really stare him down, and while you do, go at it even harder. Really sell that you’re thinking about him while you’re flicking the bean, so to speak. Brice, I want you to hesitate for just a moment. Return that gaze, and then jump in bed with her. You can take it from there, but since this is your first time, I’ll give you a tip: it’s probably going to be easier to close your eyes once you’re inside her and picking up a rhythm. That way you won’t be distracted by the cameras getting in close for tighter shots. Try to last as long as you can. Switch it up too. Don’t stay in the same position the whole time. Got it?”