Page 44 of Dirty Chorus

There’s a pause. “Oh... well, you haven’t really messaged me. So it depends... What kind of project?”

“A music video, but it’s up to you. I don’t want to ask you to do anything you might be uncomfortable with.”

“Sure, where do I meet you?”

“The record store.”

“Give me twenty minutes.” She hangs up.

I stand outside with arms crossed, watching each car pass by. When a silver car emerges around the corner, my heart speeds up, and I have to wipe my face of sweat skating down my temples. That one isn’t hers as it makes a right turn.

Then, a white muscle car revs its engine as it cruises down the street. The window rolls down as a stocky blond glares straight at me before hacking and spitting. A hot foam wad of spit lands near my feet. I stare back at him with no expression before he flashes me a middle finger and speeds off.

That’s California for you. I ignore him and continue checking the time on my phone. Impatient because each time I glance back at my screen, barely a minute passes. Then I spotted the Civic parallel parking on the opposite side of the street. My eyes locked on her.

As she steps out, shutting the door behind her, my breath hitches. Her dark curls tumble down her shoulders, shimmering in the sunlight. Those grey eyes glue onto me like a predator, and she's smiling, chewing on her gum.

I’m daydreaming as she gets closer, and all I want to do is run a hand across those high cheekbones and kiss her dimples that cave in as she smiles. Her shorts hug her curves, and her breasts bounce with each step. She’s wrapped a cord around my neck, and my heart is in trouble. Her hot-pink nails scream at me. I’m in danger, my head goes fuzzy as she clenches on her purse, and what I wouldn’t give for her to dig those claws into my back.

“Hey you,” she pushes me on the shoulders playfully.

A stupid chuckle comes from my lips as I compose myself. “Hey... Uhh let me show you what we are doing.”

“Okay.” She seems hyped up, leaping between each step as we go inside the store.

I explain to her what we planned, and I watch the glimmer in her eyes shine as I tell her about the python we want to wrap around her shoulders. About her holding the apple. Once I tell her we want her top off and mainly naked and that we plan on drowning both of us in mud, her mouth gapes open.

“Wow.” She chuckles in between heaving in uneven breaths.

“We are putting a blindfold over you. No one is really going to recognize you. There might be one snapshot of zooming out of your eyes. We’ll see how it goes.” I attempt to swallow, but it’s bricks in my throat. “I also bought these.” I dig through a grocery bag, pulling out the black X pasties for her nipples. She takes them into her hands, licking her rosy lips.

She blows out a shallow breath. “This will be fun.” She scrapes the tape off the box with a nail and asks, “So you were going to have another girl do this?”

“Yeah,” I say, and she rolls her eyes subtly. A tight band squeezes my chest. “She’s a bit complicated.”

Charlie’s quiet, ripping the box open and pulling out the pasties. Her jaw clenches, the muscles twitching, and my ears ring, a high-pitched whine heightens the silence between us. “I’ll go change.” She struts off to the bathroom and my head fills with static.

When she emerges from the bathroom, she’s only wearing her silky underwear. Her arms are pinned to her chest, bunching up her breasts. My mind goes blank, my vision blurring. I shouldn’t be this stupidly nervous. I massage my face with both hands to wipe away the tightness in my chest.

The guys finished setting up the set. “We finished getting some shots outside.” Tony comes into the store, adjusting the smoke machines pooling out a white mist casting an eerie glow on the black backdrop. Charlie takes the stage, a vibrant green python draped across her shoulders. It seems rather relaxed as it flicks its tongue out. Tony gives her some instructions, such as not smiling, as he does a few quick shots. Then he hands her a crimson apple, having her pretend to take a bite almost two dozen times, before he tells her to actually take one.

It took almost forty minutes to get the damn shot.

The snake wouldn’t stop moving. It was all muscle and instinct, constantly trying to slip away. Even the snake got a break. Fifteen minutes of freedom before we reset everything.

Charlie sat off to the side, wrapped in a towel, her hair sticking to the back of her neck. She watched quietly while Tony took a few shots of me alone, running through the song again and again, the mic stand being my only prop. My voice felt like sandpaper by the time he finally said, “Alright. Let’s bring her back in.”

The track loops again. The same haunting melody, the same pulse of drums vibrating in my chest.

Tony positions us carefully. He tells me where to stand, where to look, how close to get. Then he reaches out, grabs my wrist, and guides my hand to Charlie’s shoulder.

She’s blindfolded, standing perfectly still. Her skin is warm beneath my fingertips.

I brush my fingers down her upper arms, slowly, soaking in how soft she is. Her breath hitches, the air between us thickening by the second. The mic’s still on, the track bleeding into the speakers, but all I hear is the sound of her breathing, it’s shallow, trembling, uneven.

I lean in, close enough that my mouth grazes the shell of her ear as I sing. The lyrics roll off my tongue like a confession. Goosebumps rise along her skin. Her lips part. A small sound slips from her throat. It’s not quite a moan, not quite a breath, but it hits me like gasoline on fire.

I move behind her, sliding my hands across her chest, feeling the thrum of her heartbeat under my palms. Her pulse races, wild and frantic, like she’s fighting not to lean into me.