by Mia Ford
“I have, so that shouldn’t be hard.” She says this almost like a snap comment before realizing what she’s done. “I mean… okay, let me try again.”
We work on her words for a while, before moving on to the way she carries herself. I get her to hold her head higher, to roll her shoulders back, to push her boobs out, I get her to walk with her hips swaying, to flick her hair as she flirts… I turn her into the version of herself that she wants to be.
The funny thing is in that moment I find myself liking her more and more. Even when I’m out on dates with clients I don’t ever feel like I know them. They might tell me things about themselves but I don’t really take any of it in, I simply answer in the way that I’m supposed to. But with Avril, I like her sweet, funny nature. I enjoy bantering with her. She’s nice. If I met her in any other way I would probably actually want to take her out on a date. A real one.
“I think you’re doing much better,” I tell Avril as a wave of sleepiness overcomes me. “I think now you’re actually acting like someone whose life is filled with passion.”
“You think?” Her eyes almost bug out of her head with excitement. “Thank you so much. Of course, that’s all because of you so I’m very grateful, thank you.” Her cheeks flush with utter joy, she looks so beautiful that I almost want to lean down and kiss her. “Things will probably be much better tomorrow and now, I can’t wait to get on the set and kick some ass.”
I rub my eyes, the sleepiness getting the better of me. “So, I suppose I better go…”
“You can stay here with me if you want?” Avril leaps in eagerly. “I don’t mind, it’s easier than leaving at, what is it? Three in the morning, ooh sorry about that I didn’t realize it was so late.”
I want to. There’s a part of me that’s yearning to cuddle up next to this girl and hold her, but I can’t. It’s dangerous, I’m working I can’t overstep any boundaries and get too close. That’s a recipe for disaster. I don’t want to go anywhere at this time, but I have to. It’s the smart thing to do.
“I really better go,” I tell her regretfully. “But I really have enjoyed my time with you.”
She hands me a wad of cash, one that’s much too big to be anything like what we originally agreed and I must give her a curious look because she explains how she has so much.
“My father runs a really successful business and he… he gave me a bunch of cash to move to the city to start my acting career. I don’t think he intended me to spend it like this but…”
“Call it an acting class,” I retort with a cheeky grin. “He can’t be mad at that, can he? And it’s sort of right. And you know, if you ever need any more just give me a call.”
“Call the number that Carly called?”
I don’t know what possesses me to do it, I act crazy out of character risking absolutely everything that I’ve built up, but it just feels like the correct thing to do in the heat of the moment.
“No, here’s my cell phone number.” I take out a piece of paper and scribble it down for her. “Call me directly on that.”
Chapter Five – Avril
“Yes, yes, yes!” Lee declares with utter glee. “Yes, Avril, this is amazing. Where have you been hiding this side of yourself?” He pats me on the back and beams down at me. “If I knew that you were going to pull this out of the bag then I never would have yelled at you all those times.”
“Oh well.” I blush and shrug. “I’m just glad that I got it right today.”
“That kiss… man, that kiss was something else! Wow. It was pretty much real.”
As my lips connected with Buzz’s in that scene, he vanished and became nothing. It was only Owen in my mind, kissing me and holding me close, just like he did last night. The memory of him kept me going in a way that leaves me with a deep thrill even now. Carly was right, experiencing real passion in my own life has made it so much easier to convey on screen. I’ll never forget that lesson.
“You know, I was going to cut it from the script, but I think we can do it now. A sex scene.”
In any day before today, those words would have filled me with dread. I might’ve actually been sick, but now I’m kind of excited. It’ll be quite cool to push myself in that way and it also means more screen time. The more that people see me, the wider my career will ultimately spread.
“Okay yeah, so when do you want to film that?” I ask Lee. “Today?”
“Yes. Let’s get all the costumes changed around and we’ll give it a go today. It might take a few takes because it’s something that we haven’t rehearsed, but yeah. We’ll try.”
I bound over to Carly, barely able to keep my feet still as I walk and her face breaks out into a giant grin once she spots me. The happiness radiates off me in a way that seems to be infectious to others. For the first time since we started this movie, I’m the ray of sunshine.
“Oh, my God,” Carly hisses to me as we make our way into my dressing room. “That was incredible. You were phenomenal today, that chemistry was sizzling. How the hell did you manage to do such a one eighty? Was my plan really that brilliant? I thought it would help, but…”
“Oh, my goodness, Owen was incredible,” I hiss to her once the door has closed behind me and I’m certain that we’re alone. “He helped me in so many different ways, I feel so lucky.”
“Wait, Owen? You got the guy’s name? I don’t think that’s normal, unless it was fake.”
“No, it wasn’t fake. We sort of became friends.” I beam even brighter at the memory.
“Please tell me you at least had sex with him!” Carly tosses her hands in the air in frustration. “That was half the point, for you to get some action. It really seems like you did…”
I bite down on my bottom lip, smirking. “Yes, we did and oh my God, it was off the scale.”
“Ooh that sounds so exciting. Tell me all the details.” She sits down in front of me, spinning the chair to face me dead on. “I want to know everything. Was he truly amazing?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” I slid my eyes closed and remember the sensation of his lips all over me. “It was like I was a virgin, I didn’t know anything until he came along.”
There’s a yearning in my chest that I won’t admit to Carly. I wish I’d met Owen under different circumstances and I could see him again. His cell phone number feels heavy in my wallet, all I want to do is pull it out and call him. And not just for his body, although that side of him was phenomenal. No, because I actually enjoyed spending time with him as well. He’s a nice guy, one I surprisingly got on well with. There wasn’t any point in which he made me feel silly or worthless.
“Wow, he sounds like an incredible lover. Maybe I should hire him for the night…”
There’s reality hitting me in the face. Carly’s seemingly innocuous statement reminds me that he’s paid love, not someone I can actually date. The only way I’ll see Owen again is in a professional capacity, and to be honest with the way that things have gone today, that isn’t going to be necessary at all. I shake off her words and I brush my hair out of my face as I try to get myself stoked.
“Right, you better make me look sexy now, I’m about to do my very first sex scene.”
“How naked are you going to be?” Carly runs her eyes up and down me in a way that’s reminiscent of last night. “How much of your body do I need to cover in make up?”
“I don’t think too naked.” I hope not, I might be ready but I don’t know if I’m that ready yet. “But you better do it all just in case. I don’t want to be unprepared for the worst.”
***
I flop onto my bed with exhaustion washing over me, every scrap of confidence zapping from my body as I do. Filming a sex scene is incredibly hard, much more work than I thought it was going to be. I assumed me and Buzz would have to get a bit frisky with one another and it would all simply fall into place. How wrong I was! It’s so technical and complicated, and as I now realize I don’t know how to move my body in a way that looks good at all. Even the fancy lighting
can’t help.
I twist onto my front and shove my head into my pillow to scream silently so the neighbors can’t hear me. The noise is a real issue in this apartment block, I really need to move somewhere better but since the money is slowly depleting and I haven’t got anything solid to replace it yet, I don’t want to take on that risk just yet. Maybe if I get this right, but I’m not there yet.
“What am I going to do?” I mutter morosely to myself. Every time I get something right, I fuck something else up instead. It’s so messy, I hate it. Maybe I should do the dreaded thing of calling Buzz and arranging out of hours’ rehearsal with him until we get this right. I know the offer is there, he said it when we first started filming together, but I’ve managed to put it off until now.
Spending time with his arrogant ass on set is bad enough, I don’t want more.
I stare at the screen of my cell phone, willing myself to just do it already, but I can’t. I really don’t want to see that dreadful look of disappointment crossing his face every time I screw up. No, I think I need someone a bit more independent to tell me what looks good, someone who’s seen my naked body already and that I haven’t spent all day hating.
This isn’t an excuse to see him, I tell myself as I consider the only person who fits that description. I don’t want to see him, I need to. This is all business, nothing more.
As I dial out the numbers that Owen gave me last night my heart hammers anxiously in my chest. I think I must be going crazy, I cannot believe I’m doing this. Not only did I allow myself to get swept up by craziness last night, I’m inviting in to my life again. Who the hell am I?
“Hello?” Oh wow, that smooth voice of his makes me melt into a puddle. Just that one word is enough to have me pulsing with need all over again. “Who’s there?”
“Oh.” I suddenly realize that I’ve been silent swooning for far too long. “Right sorry, it’s Avril. From, erm, last night.” This is a mistake, why am I doing this. “You said I could call you?”
“Oh right okay sure.” He sounds uneasy which only confirms my stupidity. I squeeze my eyes shut and wish I could hang up without it being weird. I shouldn’t have spoke at all. “Yeah I said to call me if you need any help again. Do you? Need help, I mean?”
I sigh loudly and run my hand across my sweaty forehead. This is a desperate situation, that’s why I’m doing this, there’s no other reason at all. If I had any other choice I’d do that instead.
“Yeah, I do need help. I mean, I nailed the kissing scene today, I did everything that you suggested and it went really well. So well that they decided to add in a sex scene. Apparently, I’m not very good at that because I don’t know how to move my body in a flattering way.”
I should’ve called Buzz, I should have contacted Carly, anyone but Owen.
“Yeah okay, sure.” Owen doesn’t sound phased which relaxes me just a little bit. Even when I’m at my craziest he isn’t judging me. “Did you want to meet at the same motel again?”
“Yeah,” I agree because that actually sounds really smart. “Sure. Are you sure you don’t have any other work?” As I say that my gut twists with jealousy, which I need to disguise. “I understand if you do. I don’t want to get in the way of anything… I’ll pay for your time, obviously.”
“I’ll see you in an hour,” he chuckles. “Don’t panic, we’ll get this right, okay?”
His words relax me, and as I hang up the phone I notice that I’m breathing a lot easier. I don’t know what it is about Owen, but he has this knack of making everything feel much better. There’s something about his calm nature that compliments me well. I’m looking forward to working with him again because I know he’ll make it fun. But it’ll be purely acting today, nothing more. I don’t want to end up catching real feelings because then I’ll only end up with a shattered heart.
Chapter Six – Owen
“That’s better,” I say appreciatively as Avril listens to my suggestions. When she first called me, I thought this was going to be really awkward, but because we have such a good relationship it isn’t really. We’re laughing and joking and managing to make it fun. Maybe if the guy she had to do all of this with acted in a similar way then she wouldn’t be in this mess. “Really sexy.”
“You think?” As she peers over her shoulder to confirm my reaction, I feel a stirring in my pants. Her hair flickering over her back while her butt is in the air is too much. This isn’t about this today, as far as I can see it really is just acting coaching, she just wants me to assist her.
“Oh yeah I think.” I lean forward, trying to cover up the steel rod in my pants. I need to keep myself under control. “I think you look really good. I can’t see any way the director can kick off.”
She twists her body round into a sitting position and pouts out her bottom lip. “But how will it work with him underneath me? Will it still look as good? I don’t know if it’ll be the same.”
“Hold on!” I hold my finger up in the air to stop her as an idea comes to mind. “I have a plan.”
I grab the full-length mirror in the corner of the room and drag it to a position where Avril will be able to see herself. Then, without a moment of hesitation, I whip my clothes off down to my underwear, hoping that she doesn’t notice how turned on I am, and I slide beneath her.
“There,” I gasp, suddenly realizing how dangerous this is. Now that I’m here I can see that I’m far too close to Avril, especially since I’m all worked up already. “What do you think?”
She drags her eyes off of me for a moment to glance in the mirror and as she looks back at me I can see a flush to her cheeks. There’s a heavy, dark desire behind her eyes, she’s feeling this as much as I am which only intensifies everything. I’m buzzing all over, I don’t know what to do with myself. If Avril is in a similar state to me then there’s no helping either of us. We’re in too deep.
As our eyes connect, it’s as if there’s a powerful magnet between us, dragging us together, refusing to let us go. Her mouth slowly moves towards me and I watch it happening with awe. There’s a little voice in my head screaming at me that this is all wrong, but I’m entranced. She’s fascinated me, got me hooked and reeled in too, and I feel like I’ll give her absolutely anything.
What is it about you, Avril? I think as she nears me. There’s something addictive…
Then her lips crash into mine and everything transforms. The world vanishes from around us and it’s only me and Avril left. All the reasons this definitely shouldn’t be happening dissolve. It doesn’t even matter if this is an accident, if I shouldn’t have sex with a client that hasn’t been discussed beforehand, this is Avril and I want to give myself over to her completely, if only for a moment.
“Oh, Owen,” she gasps while rolling her hips towards me. “This is crazy, isn’t it?”
I trail a finger down her body, loving the sheen to her skin as I go. She’s actually trembling, the need inside of her is so intense that she’s physically pulsing. I don’t know if I’ve ever had an effect like that on a woman suppose, at least as far as I can remember. Then again, it’s all been pretty clinical and business for a long time now, so I haven’t looked out for things like this. It feels good.
Just as I reach the waistline of Avril’s barely there G string, Avril yanks her body away from me and she unexpectedly slides down my body until her butt is hovering below my knees. I push myself up to see what she’s doing, but she lies a palm flat on my chest and pushes me back down.
Holy shit, I think as my eyes roll backwards into my head. She’s too much.
Avril dips her hand into my boxer shorts and she pulls my thick erection free. As she runs her hand up and down my length, brushing her thumb over my tip as she goes, one thing is very clear. This isn’t a business thing, not anymore. When I’m an escort, it’s never about me, my pleasure hardly matters, but the way that Avril is holding onto me and touching me, this is about me.
“Oh fuck!” My hips buck right off the bed as she shocks me by t
aking this one step further. I wasn’t expecting it because my eyes were closed, but now she has the warm wet heat of her mouth all over my hard on. Her lips have clamped tightly around my shaft and her tongue is flicking all over me like I’m a damn lollipop. I glance down to see her gorgeous eyes looking at me. “Oh, Avril!”
I fist my hands up into her hair as she pushes me right down to the back of her throat, taking almost every damn inch of me in. I haven’t been touched like this for as long as I can remember, there aren’t any women that pay to pleasure the escorts, not in my experience anyway, so this is off the scale.
My breaths are ragged, my heart pounds wildly in my chest, I know if I’m not careful that I’m going to explode and lose myself already. If we’ve come this far I want to go all the way…
“Stop.” I pull her head off me gasping. “Not like this, stop.”
Avril gives me a cheeky smirk, she isn’t hurt by me pulling her off me because she knows the reason why. It’s only because it’s too intense and I can’t hack it. I push her back off me and I reach into my trouser pocket to grab a condom. Because I didn’t originally know what I was coming here for tonight, I came prepared and now I’m glad for that. This would be a mess otherwise.
I roll it down over myself, keeping eye contact with Avril the entire time, then once it’s on I yank her back to me. I sit on the edge of the bed and pull her onto my lap so we’re both facing the mirror to watch ourselves. This isn’t something I’ve ever done before but I’m sure it’ll be awesome. It might even help Avril with her work, killing two birds with one stone.