As we began to film take after take, Nolan and I took turns feeding each other cheese fries. Every few minutes, they’d replace our plate with a fresh tower.
“I’m never going to look at chili cheese fries the same way again,” Nolan said in between takes.
“Okay,” Gretchen said as she suddenly slid into the booth next to me. “I’ve got a thought. How do you two feel about giving us a littleLady and the Trampmoment with the fries?”
I looked to Nolan, who shrugged. “I think we can handle that.”
I pointed to his side. “Should I go over there or should...”
Gretchen stood. “Nolan, you come over to sit with Bee. God, I love her in this light.” She turned to him. “Isn’t she perfect in this light?”
He cleared his throat as he sat down next to me. “She is,” he said evenly.
We sat there for a moment, our hips brushing up against each other, waiting for direction.
“Maybe some canoodling?” Gretchen called from the other side of the camera.
Nolan nodded and stretched his arm over my shoulders. No, no, no. It was the duke. The duke and Felicity. The duke wrapped his arm around Felicity’s shoulders.
“This okay?” he asked.
I nodded because the words... they were hard to put together.
“I don’t know which fry to choose,” he said, a hint of panic in his voice.
“Better make it a good one,” I whispered as Gretchen called, “Quiet on set!”
With a devious smile, Nolan diligently pulled one fry out of the middle of the pile like he was playing Jenga.
He held it up for me to take into my mouth as he gripped my shoulder, pulling me closer.
As I did, he bit into the opposite end with a laugh. The both of us kept biting along the fry until his teeth were so close to my lips that I could feel the snap of his jaw.
His bottom lip brushed mine, and despite the chili cheese fry breath and the cameras and the prop guy whose only experience was probably with dildos and lube, I panted into his mouth.
I felt unhinged.
“Cut!” Gretchen called.
Thank fuck.
After the diner scene, Nolan and I were led around the town square by the crew. We walked the length of a sidewalk, reset, walked it again, reset, walked it again, and so on. I quickly began to see how parts of this job could be tedious. In porn, we definitely had to work with the camera and sometimes youhad to redo a specific moan or position transition so the right camera could capture it. But for the most part, filming sex was pretty straightforward. The shot didn’t have to be perfect as long as it was hot.
A little after eleven, Gretchen called it a night and sent us to get out of hair, costume, and makeup. “You’re doing great, Bee,” she whispered with a wink before I set off.
Maybe she was just being nice or maybe she really meant it, but either way her words worked a little bit of magic on me. I found myself standing a little taller as I walked to hair and makeup. My mind wandered and I let myself imagine what it might be like forthisto be my job. I hated myself for it a little bit. It felt like a betrayal in a way—to myself and all the sex workers I loved and respected—but there was something wonderfully simple about having the kind of job that your grandparents could easily explain to their friends. And that was a thought I couldn’t shake.
After I was back in my street clothes, the van took a few of us, including Nolan, back to the inn. When we arrived, Luca and Angel nearly fell out of the sliding door as soon as the van came to a stop.
“Anyone want to take a trip to the North Pole?” asked Angel.
“Me!” Luca sang. “Bee, you in?”
I shook my head as I checked the time on my phone. “Uh, it’s almost midnight and my call time is six in the morning, which means yours is at least five.”
Angel rolled his eyes and tugged Luca onto the trolley. “Exactly, which means it’s not even really enough time to actually sleep, so why bother?”
“Good evening, Ronald,” Luca said to the driver with a deep bow as the doors shut behind them.
