Through the open door, he heard Alexa calling an end to the scene and voices raised as the actors went off to shower, all laughing and chatting. He would miss the camaraderie, his colleagues. Then he recalled a few of his scene partners through the years.
Maybe he wouldn’t missallof them.
Mike sat quietly, recalling some of the great guys he’d filmed with, some of them still close friends.
“Hey, Scott, I’m glad you’re early.” Tony entered the room and pushed the door shut behind him before sitting at the table with Mike. He glanced at the sheets in front of him. “Oh, good, you got your paperwork,” he said absently.
First the door, now the distracted air. “Are you okay?” Mike asked him. “Because you don’t seem yourself today.”
Tony took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I wanted to catch you before the shoot to have a talk with you.”
“Yeah, about that. I?—”
“Sorry, but this is important.” Tony leaned on the table, toying with the arm of his glasses. “The parent company who owns ManFactory made an announcement last night, which wasthen sent to their three studios in an e-mail. There’ll be a press release later this week when they’ve had the chance to talk to all the models. Soon as I heard, I knew we needed to talk.”
All the hair stood up on the back of Mike’s neck. “Go on,” he said slowly. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.
Tony fidgeted, now rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s been decided that ManFactory will become a bareback only studio.” He swallowed and then fell silent, his gaze flickering up to catch Mike’s, his breathing quickening.
Mike stared at him, lost for words for a moment. Then he began to laugh, softly at first but growing louder and heartier, until he was wiping the tears from his eyes. Tony gaped at him, bewildered. When Mike finally regained his composure, he nodded, smiling.
“Thank you. Seriously, thank you.”
“What… I don’t….” Tony sat back, speechless.
“I walked in here this morning, ready to tell you this was it—I was retiring. I was gonna do this last shoot, because I didn’t want to leave you in the lurch.” Mike pushed the clipboard toward Tony. “But you know what? In the light of what you’ve just told me, I have no qualms about telling you to find someone else. After all, you just fired me.”
Tony sat bolt upright. “What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t fire you!”
“No?” Mike folded his arms and regarded Tony steadily. “You know how I feel about bareback. Hell,everyonehere knows that, because I’m not exactly quiet on the subject. So you knew damn well that if this studio goes down that route, there was no way in hell I would follow.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Oh, come on, Tony, be honest. Look how nervous you were, telling me. You knew how I was gonna react. Well, you did me a favor. You just confirmed that I’ve made the right decision.” He gavethe director a sweet smile. “Okay, so maybe you didn’t fire me exactly, but the end result is the same—I quit.”
Tony sagged into the chair. “Honest, Scott, that wasn’t my intention. It was the owner’s decision. I?—”
Mike straightened. “Yeah, and we both know why ManFactory has done this, don’t we? It’s good business. Bareback sells better than condom porn these days. Isn’t that right?”
Tony nodded, his gaze locked on Mike’s face.
Mike clenched his fists. “I can understand a company deciding to make a move that brings in more money. That’s the nature of business. What Ican’tstand, frankly, is the hypocrisy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do studios make condom porn in the first place? Most of them started out just taking care of their stars, which is fair enough. But that’s not what ManFactory—and a few others I could name—said, was it? Iremember, Tony. I remember the line about the studio ‘setting a good example.’ But now we have the situation where they’re editing out the rubber, which does seem to negate everything they’ve been saying for more than a decade, doesn’t it?” Mike rose to his feet. “I guess that’s just the way this business is going. And you know what? I actually feel relieved to be out of it.”
“You’re quitting?”
Mike turned toward the door at the sound of a familiar voice. Four men stood in the open doorway, staring at him, Dino among them, looking shocked. Mike gave them a relaxed smile.
“Hey, fellas, good to see ya.” He stepped away from the table to hug his friend. “You just missed my retirement speech.”
“I caught enough of it,” Dino said with a chuckle, and Mike could feel him smiling against his cheek. “You never were one to hold back, were ya, Scott?” He released Mike and moved aside as the others stepped forward, hands extended.
“Aw, sorry to hear that, buddy.”
“Glad we got to film together.”
“I can’t believe it! Scott Masters, retiring!”
Mike accepted the handshakes and hugs from his now former colleagues, guys he’d filmed with on more than one occasion. Then he remembered Tony, who was still sitting at the table, looking like a train had run him over. Mike held out his hand. “It was good knowing you, Tony. You were always great to work with, y’know that? And I’ll send my resignation in an e-mail once I get home.” He had a few of those to compose.
