Julia's Second Collection

by Bridy McAvoy

  “Hmm…”

  Julia could see her friend was lost in thought. Josie was up for anything, but the idea of video was a huge step, even for her.

  “And the deal would be for the three of us?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I take it that’s not negotiable.”

  Julia shook her head. “From what Steve said, no, I don’t think so.”

  “Would you do the solo deal if we weren’t there?”

  Julia paused for a moment. “I don’t think I’d have the nerve.”

  “But you would if we did.”

  “I think so. Yes, the idea has kind of grown on me.”

  Josie chuckled. “What you mean is you’ve masturbated yourself to sleep a couple of times thinking about it. Does Max know?”

  “No. I’d want it to be a surprise for him.”

  “So, how…?”

  Julia shrugged. “Max is away for almost two weeks from the middle of next week, goes on Wednesday, home on the Tuesday. That leaves two Saturdays. We could catch a late night flight to Chicago on the Friday night, shoot the video on the Saturday and fly home on Sunday morning.”

  “You’ve already got this worked out.”

  She sighed. “Well… I did have a second conversation with my pervert neighbor to firm up the details. They’ll even pay the flights and for two nights in the hotel, as long as the three of us share a suite rather than separate rooms.”

  “So who would you be sharing with?”

  “I wouldn’t. You and Karen would.”

  “Hmm…”

  They both fell silent for a minute. Julia could see Josie was giving it some serious thought. She eventually broke the silence. “Why are you telling me this on my own, rather than talking to Karen at the same time?”

  “Well…I am her supervisor. It kinda feels wrong.”

  “So you want me to talk to her?”

  “Would you?”

  “I don’t know, but I will think about it.”

  * * * *

  For the third time in five minutes, Julia checked her watch.

  “Will you relax, girlfriend.”

  “Why?”

  After breakfast they’d all quickly packed a bag with makeup and essentials and wandered down to reception. They’d managed to grab a corner table in the foyer and refused coffees, telling the waiter they were expecting a car to pick them up in a minute.

  Julia checked her watch again. One minute to nine. They’d been asked to be prompt. The hotel, old style and quite grand, was a little run down, but they still had a doorman, complete with long maroon jacket, peaked hat and white gloves. He came in through the revolving door and made a beeline for them.

  “Are you three ladies expecting a car from Coverstone Studio?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s waiting outside.”

  Julia forced a smile. “Thank you.”

  As they walked out of the air-conditioned coolness of the hotel, the muggy heat hit them straight in the face. The doorman walked up to a big black stretch Cadi and held open the door for them. Julia stepped into the car and slid over to the far side, clutching her bag on her knees. Karen followed, and Josie brought up the rear. The doorman had only just closed the door when the car pulled away.

  “Sorry for the speed, ladies, but the traffic cops are hell on wheels around here, so we couldn’t linger. I’m Clarke and this is my cameraman, Grant.”

  Julia introduced herself and her two friends, noticing the way Josie and Karen were trying to discreetly check out the two men.

  “We’re going to go straight to the loft we’ve rented.”

  “Loft?”

  “Yeah. We got a short term, a couple of weeks’ lease on a loft apartment, over toward the west side. Nothing tall near us, so we can film with natural light.”

  “Oh. You never said we’d be shooting outside.”

  Clarke chuckled and shook his head, although didn’t turn to look at her, instead keeping his eyes on the insane traffic of the city center. “No, not outside. What I meant was we don’t need to shut prying eyes out. We can keep the drapes open and use less lighting. That’s good, because the last place we had to run with only artificial lighting, had no air-conditioning, and, believe me, those lights get hot.”

  “I see. I think.”

  “Listen, see it when you get there. Honestly, you’ll be fine.”

  “I guess.”

  Josie chimed in. “Don’t worry about Julia. She’s just shy, that’s all.”

  “I am not.”

  “Yes, she is.”

  “Karen, keep out of it.”

  “Okay. We totally get you three are comfortable with each other. Now, it’s going to take us about forty minutes to get there, so why don’t you start relaxing with us too. Have you all got your notes?”

  They all replied with yes.

  “Good. I suggest you get them out and double check you’ve got your legends right.”

  “Legends?” Karen seemed puzzled.

  “Yeah. Your fake bios for the cameras. You’re going to use your real first names, but in Julia’s case we don’t want her naming her husband, nor do any of you want to name where you really live and work. The ages are fudged a little too. It’s kind of hot the three of you really work together too, so we’ve built that in and kept it. We call that your legend.”

  “Sorry. Kinda guessed what you meant, but wasn’t sure.”

  “That’s all right. You’re Karen, obviously. How tall are you?”

  “Six-two.”

  “And you’ve got a pair of heels with you as well?”

  “Yep. Four inches.”

  Julia watched as Clarke seemed to shiver. She was watching his face in profile and it very much looked like he muttered Fuck to himself, but he didn’t say it out loud. It made her wonder if she really was going to be the central figure in this three-ring circus, or if they were really after Karen instead. Their email exchanges had stressed how much they’d liked the idea Julia was married. Still, there was no way out, not now they were committed.

  * * * *

  Grant, the quiet one who’d hardly said a word to them in the car, opened the apartment door and, cancelling the alarm on the keypad, opened the door wide, allowing them to enter. “Welcome to our temporary studio.”

  The place was open plan, with one area set up as a bedroom, an open plan kitchen-diner and, along the glass wall on the far side of the room, a couple of large couches. Julia sensed the couches had been moved specifically for the purpose of the shoots. They were probably more usually in the middle of the room. Not that you could call it a room, not really—it was a huge space. Her house was large, but could probably fit inside this loft and still leave room.

  One of the couches, the one in the corner, had a battery of stands lined up in front of it. There were video cameras mounted on three…no, four of them…and lights on the others. Facing the couch was a small desk with a standard typist’s chair behind it, and a handheld camera lying on the desktop.

  “Five cameras?”

  “We get all possible angles at once, cuts down on the number of takes.”

  “I see.”

  “The bathroom is through here, ladies.” He indicated a door off to their right. ”Why don’t the three of you freshen up, touch up your makeup, and we’ll reconvene out here in say…fifteen minutes. You can leave your bags in there—cuts down the clutter out here.”

  * * * *

  Josie led the way out of the bathroom with Julia bringing up the rear. She was nervous, and she was sure her friends were. For them, it was about the money first, the experience second. For her, it was the other way around. If that made her less nervous or more nervous than her friends she didn’t know, she could only guess.

  Watching Karen tower over everyone in her four-inch heels was a novel experience too. She often wore short heels or flats to deemphasize her height, but not today. She even seemed to have to keep chopping her stride so as not to walk all over Josie as they walked acr
oss the room in single file.

  Grant was busy checking out one of the cameras, but Clarke turned to watch them.

  “Wow, you three are a sight for sore eyes. Fantastic, beautiful. I can’t wait to get this shoot underway. You ready?”

  Julia smiled as the three came to a stop. “I guess.”

  “Right. Now I’m going to shoot a solo introduction. Grant will interrupt me by knocking on the door, then we’ll pause, you’ll go outside the door and close it, then I’ll open the door with the camera in my hand and get you to say hello.”

  “Why don’t we start outside the door in the first place?”

  He shrugged. “This way you get to hear the intro, and know I’m not being snide or sarcastic or calling you bimbos, when you most certainly are not.”

  Julia frowned at him. “But you could dub in another piece later. Is that the right word?”

  “I think you mean cut. Dub is just audio over the top, which we don’t do. To answer your question—yes, of course we could, but we’d have a problem with the light.”

  “You would?”

  “At the moment the sun is there in the sky.” He pointed out the window. “By the time you leave it will be way over there. He pointed to a different area. “Since we’re shooting with natural light, the light would be different and the shadows would be in the wrong place. We like our videos to look natural and as non-fake as possible, so that would be a giveaway. Now, before you ask another obvious question—if you look out the windows you can see there’s no tall buildings on this side anywhere near us. The tallest is that one right over there, about a mile away.” Again he pointed. “If someone has a high-powered telescope they might see something, but other than that, not a chance. So, the only people going to see you nekkid today are the five of us. Happy?”

  “I guess.”

  “Good. Then I’ll get us started.”

  Grant moved to the door, and Clarke picked up the camera and started talking into the lens.

  “Well, gentlemen, we’ve got a real and very rare treat for you today. I’m going to be doing a casting interview with Julia, an accounts office manageress from right here in Chicago. She’s a stone fox, but she’s a bit nervous, so she’s bringing a couple of her work colleagues and friends along for moral support. She sent me pictures and they are two beautiful babes as well.”

  Grant knocked on the door, the sound reverberating around the room. Julia almost let out a squeal as the noise startled her, and she saw her two friends flinch too.

  “I guess that’s them now. Let’s go and see, shall we? I’m hoping…it’s a long shot, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to persuade her friends to join Julia in auditioning, but we’ll have to see.”

  He put the camera down and turned to them. “That’s the spiel, so I want you to go and stand outside the door. Grant will hide in the bathroom out of the way. That way I can pan around the room as I walk to the door, pretending I’m on my own. Then I’ll open it. Julia, please be front and center with your friends right behind you. Okay?”

  They all nodded.

  “I’ll introduce myself to you and don’t act too surprised if I stick the camera into your face as you say your name. That’s kinda normal for this genre—the big facial close-up to start and finish the video. Then you’ll all walk across the room together with me behind you, and sit on the couch. Don’t look around. In case you wonder what I’m doing, I’ll tell you now. I’ll be focusing the camera on your butts as you walk, so try and make your walk sexy, but don’t overdo it. Sit on the couch with you in the middle, Julia, Josie to your left, and Karen on the right. I’ll call cut and you can relax for a minute while we get properly set up for the interview phase. Okay?”

  “Sure.”

  * * * *

  They walked outside and Grant shut the door behind them. Julia turned and faced the door, taking a deep breath. Josie lined up just behind her on her right, Karen the other side, towering over both of them.

  “Calm, girlfriend, calm, and smile, remember?”

  “Easier to say than do.”

  Karen squeezed her arm. “Relax and enjoy. This could be fun.”

  “Again, easy to say. I’m married, remember?”

  Josie giggled. “It hasn’t stopped you before.”

  Julia was about to turn and say something but at that moment she heard the door handle rattle. She guessed Clarke was giving them a split-second’s warning that he was about to open the door. Then the door was pulled wide open.

  “Hello. You must be Julia.”

  She smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

  “I’m Clarke. Pleased to meet you. These are your friends we talked about?”

  “Yes, this is Josie…and Karen.”

  Clarke did as he had warned them, moving the handheld camera right into their faces as Julia performed the introductions.

  “Please, come in ladies. Come in. If you would make your way over to the couch we’ll start the interview.”

  Clarke panned the camera away from them as if he was using it to point toward the couch. That enabled Julia to relax a little and she blew out a soft sigh before following the instructions. Her friends kept pace with her, even drawing level with her. They didn’t exactly walk in lockstep, but they all put that little extra strut into their walk, knowing he was following behind with the camera trained on their butts as they moved across the room.

  She desperately wanted to turn around and ask a question, but she’d been told not to, so, in the end, she followed those instructions and, walking past the camera stands and lights, sat down in the middle of the couch. Her friends followed suit, although the couch was a little low for Karen—her knees seemed to stick up in the air. Clarke seemed to be focusing the camera on the taller woman for a couple of seconds longer then called for, “Cut. Okay, ladies, relax for a minute. That was brilliant, by the way. We got that in one take. Often we have to reshoot that a couple of times.”

  Julia suppressed the sudden tang of jealousy toward her friend. Sure, Karen was taller, and that height seemed to all be in the legs but Julia had her own advantages. She wasn’t that insecure, was she? No, she wasn’t.

  Grant re-joined them and fussed around with the other cameras and turned on one of the lights, but not the other one.

  “How’s that?” The taciturn engineer seemed to leave the talking to Clarke who seemed to have the perfect patter.

  “Looks good to me.”

  Grant disappeared into the bedroom end of the cavernous open plan loft, and wheeled a clothes rail toward them. Julia could see the first couple of outfits on it were the skimpy outfits they’d be changing into. Over the email, Clarke hadn’t gone into much detail, but she could see they were basically baby-doll sets with the addition of garters and stockings. She allowed herself a shiver and, glancing to both sides, saw the other two were also looking at them. At least the first outfit was black, and she was pretty sure, as the central character, she’d be the first one getting changed. At least it wasn’t red. With her red hair, most shades of red clashed horribly and she rarely wore the color, unless it was a really dark shade.

  “Right, all of you, look toward the camera. Thank you.” He shifted in his seat and looked straight at Julia. “In a minute we’re going to start running. From here on, the cameras run automatically, so don’t break out of character, and remember your cues. Don’t worry. I’ll guide you through the whole process. I’ll phrase instructions as questions and my job is to make it as natural as possible.”

  “You mean, while you talk us into stripping naked.” Josie looked at the rack of clothing. “Twice.”

  “That’s about it, yes. Just remember, though, it’s going to be one at a time.”

  Julia gulped. He was looking at her. She’d already guessed she’d be first. By the way he was looking at her, the predatory look in his eyes, she knew she was right—she’d be first.

  “Cameras running?”

  “Sure thing.” Grant had taken up a position a few feet behind Clarke, his a
rms folded and his eyes seemed hooded as he stood there watching. She knew he had no intention of missing one second of their exposure. A perk of his job, she guessed. No doubt, seeing as they’d rented the loft for a couple of weeks, they’d probably already processed one or more girls through their video debuts, and would, come Monday if not tomorrow, be doing more.

  “Action.”

  “Thank you for coming, Julia. Are you glad you did?”

  “Not sure.”

  “So you’re a bit nervous?”

  “Yes, just a bit.”

  “Which is why you brought your friends with you? A bit of moral support.”

  “Yes, I…didn’t feel I had the nerve to come on my own.” She remembered her script, one of the few questions she was supposed to ask him. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Why the cameras? Why film this interview? I mean, it is just an interview, right?”

  She tried to keep the soft smile on her face. Inwardly, she was wincing at the clichéd question. Surely the men watching this wouldn’t be that dumb they’d fall for the lame lines.

  “Good question. This film is both for my, and your, protection. Nothing can later be said about anything that didn’t actually happen because we have the video evidence of everything that happens in this room.”

  “I see.”

  “Happy now?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “Right. Well, try and ignore the camera. Just talk to me. Keep looking at me the whole time.”

  “Okay.”

  Keeping her eyes on him and ignoring the cameras all pointing at them wasn’t easy. She guessed it was in some ways easier for her friends. They didn’t have a lot to say or do at this stage.

  “So, your name is Julia.”

  “Yes.”

  “And how old are you, Julia?”

  “I’m twenty-seven.” She wasn’t. She’d turned twenty-eight two months earlier, but it was part of the deception over her identity.