Living in Triple X

The waitress stood near the table and handed Jasper a green slip of paper. He glanced at it and then with his free hand palm up motioned toward her while looking at Vernon. "Yeah. Yeah. See? Whatcha think?" The waitress looked at him quizzically then turned to Vernon. Vernon shrugged and the waitress shrugged back."

"Is everything fine here?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, go on," said Jasper, "I'll wave if we need something." She left the table.

Holly stood at the front of the cafe in front of the "Wait to be seated" sign. It was about a quarter till eleven. She had slept in. There were a few open booths near the window. It looked like all the waitresses were busy. She took in the scent of sausage and pancakes. The faint smell of butter and syrup made her mouth water just a bit. She was hungry. She watched one waitress's back; she looked like she was holding a pad of paper. "Please be giving them the check," she thought. When the waitress walked away a young man was staring right at her. He had a very handsome face. He was pale, but had a rugged look with his whiskers. She instantly wanted to run her hands through his hair. And his eyes-- what about his eyes? She was suddenly aware of his gaze and then looked down and turned.

"Do you even hear what I am saying?" Jasper said in a mildly exasperated tone.

"Huh. . ." Vernon looked at Jasper. "What were you saying?"

Jasper began talking again as he turned to see what Vernon was looking at. "I said doesn't that waitress have a cuuuute, fa-fa-fa- hollllyyyyy shit. . . That's the whole package there."

The two men stared at the woman waiting to be seated. She was wearing a grey outfit, a formal women's suit with a pencil skirt and a fitted jacket. They could see the white ruffles from her shirt and black bow sticking out from the full collar that rose from her chest. Their heads went up and down in unison. She had on a pair of black spiked heels and black stockings with the seam up the back. She held a pair of white gloves in her hand along with a black bag.

"Jesus Christ. They don't make'm like that anymore."

"They do now," said Vernon. "She looks like something out of an old movie and I mean that in the most respectable way."

"I used to jerk myself to sleep dreaming of women like that."

"You used to sleep in your own cum and do it again dreaming of women like that."

"Well there's fifty bucks for you kid. I bet you wish you would have primped yourself up good now."

Vernon buttoned up his shirt. He looked at Jasper and pointed at his own face. "Do I have anything on my face, my teeth?" He held his hand up to his mouth and breathed in it and took a sniff. "You got any breath mints?"

"You look good kid. Here, here's some Certs."

Vernon took the roll and popped a couple in his mouth and crunched them up with his teeth.

"Hi Ma'am, do you know where you would like to sit?" the waitress asked Holly.

"Yes, Over there near the window please." She pointed at a booth that was kitty corner from the man she was staring at. She tried not to make eye contact with him again. The waitress escorted her to the table and handed her a menu.

"Would you like to order now Ma'am?"

"Yes, I would. Could I have a short stack of blueberry pancakes with strawberries and cream and a side of sausage and some black coffee?"

"Coming right up Ma'am."

"Thank you."

Vernon watched the beautiful woman as she pushed her long red hair back in front of him, exposing a perfect white ear with a diamond gleaming in the lobe. It appeared to him like a white rose with a sparkling drop of dew. He could see her neck and he swallowed feeling stiffness in his own neck. His cock and his balls were light as feathers and he tried not to think about them because of the thin silk pants that he was wearing. That was all he needed, to walk up to a beautiful woman with a full tent and make some snide remark before he could even ask her out for the fifty bucks. He took a breath and stood up. He could feel his brain telling his body to move while keeping its social response center on autopilot. What would she say?

The young man that had caught her eye sat down in front of her. She looked up from her menu. She seen his eyes quickly look down to the left then they met with hers. He said in a calm and controlled voice, "Pardon me miss, but my name is Vernon, and I was wondering if you happened to have a match."

"A match? Do you smoke?"

"No. You see that man over there looking at us?"

"Yes."

Vernon wiggled his fingers at Jasper. Jasper wiggled his back. "Well, that is my friend Jasper and he cut the worst fart that I think I have ever smelled in this cafe."

Holly let out a burst of giggles. "Maybe you should call the paramedics. He may be having some internal problems."

"Nothing a little Pepto can't handle. I'm having some internal problems of my own, you know, butterflies in the stomach and all. I was wondering if maybe I could take you out for dinner sometime?"

"Wow. . . You don't even know my name."

"Oh. . . I feel so foolish. Uh, what is your name?"

"Holly, Holly Chaffee. I'm pleased to meet you Vernon. . ."

"Oh yes, Vernon Cooper." He took her hand and gently shook it. "I didn't mean to rush you and all. I just had to get the hard part over with first."

"You have sure done that. Would you like to sit with me for breakfast? I am by myself and I could use the company. You can invite your friend Jasper over if you like."

"That's great. Jasper, over here."

Jasper got up from his table and walked over with the check and a fifty dollar bill in his hand. He handed the fifty to Vernon and said, "Here's fifty for the bar tab last night. Make sure the bar tender gets that. I'll call you tonight."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay and join us," said Vernon taking the bill.

"Absolutely not. I have an appointment at eleven-thirty and you folks look like you could use some time together." Jasper winked at Vernon. "It's a pleasure to meet you miss. . ."

"Holly, Holly Chaffee. It's been a pleasure meeting you Jasper. . ."

"Collins. I am a fine art dealer and agent. Here is my card if you're ever in need of some decorating or become aware of any talent."

"Why thank you Mr. Collins. I'll keep that in mind." Jasper shook Holly's hand and went to the register to pay the bill. "Is he your agent?"

"Yeah. When he's not sucking up to my relatives or the public to keep me out of debt."

"The artist's life I suppose."

"That's me. I definitely keep busy though. I was supposed to talk to him about an exhibition at this new gallery, but I guess I was distracted."

"Nothing serious I hope."

"Well, nothing I can't fit into my schedule."

The waitress set a large circular tray on a folding stand. "You were the short stack with the sausage?"

"Yes."

"Heeere you go. Please let me know if you need anything." The waitress picked up her things and went to the next table.

"Would you like something?"

"Oh no. I'm a little under the weather today. I've had enough thank you." Vernon watched as the beautiful woman began to eat. He thought she was like a hungry chipmunk, only slower, chewing with her mouth closed. After she put some food in her mouth, she would look at him. Her blue eyes radiated in the noon sun like ice sculptures beneath Christmas lights. He thought that he could see the world cascading into them and felt a childish spirit filling in his chest. She smiled big and swallowed and then stifled a laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"Your eyes. What color are they?"

"I think they're hazel, but people tell me they're gray. Have you ever heard of anybody having grey eyes, really?"

Her face became serious and she looked directly at his eyes. She nodded. "They might be gray. I could live with that."

After she finished eating and talking a little, she wiped her face with a napkin. "So do you want my number or what?"

Vernon blinked and looked dumbfounded. "Duhhh. Yeah, please, I would like that."

She opened the black purse she had been holding and removed a white card and handed it to him. He held it and read it to her. "Bonnie and Clyde's Vintage Clothing. Holly Chaffee: President. So is this your direct number or will I get a secretary or something?"

"That's it just leave a message."

"Are you busy tonight?"

"I don't know. Why don't you give me your number and I'll call you?" She removed a pen and matchbook from her purse and handed them to him. They both laughed as he wrote his number inside the matchbook.

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Heath, Ortiz, and Ernie were sitting in the warehouse around a card table in folding chairs beneath a lightbulb in front of the bedroom set where they had shot earlier. A cheap bottle of whisky was on the table, along with three short glasses, and three cheap cans of beer. Each man was holding a hand of cards. There were three groups of four cards by rank on the table and the pack consisting of what was left. "Three," Ernie said to Ortiz.

"Go fish." Ernie took a drink from his beer and drew a card from the pack.

"Six," Ortiz said to Heath. Heath handed him a card. "Nine."

"Go fish." Ortiz took a drink. "Eight."

"Shit!" Ortiz passed the card to Heath.

Heath laid down four eights. "Drink up boys." He handed the whisky bottle to Ortiz, who poured a shot into his glass and passed it to Ernie.

"Boss?" said Ortiz, hoping to delay his buzz. "How old is Joy?"

"She's 37."

"That's older than you boss. How many movies have you made with her?"

"Three, including this picture. She had one scene in the first picture I did with her and she starred in the second."

"Did she do blow jobs in those movies?"

"Nope."

"That's why we're waiting for Dodge Chastity," Ernie said to Ortiz. "She's going to do the blow job scenes."

"No shit Sherlock. So, boss, if you started making pictures after your discharge then she's been in the business longer than you."

"Yup. So has Ernie."

"How long have you been working for the boss Ernie?"

"Five years. You stick with the boss Ortiz. He is a good man."

"Who did you work for before?"

"A whole bunch of guys. They didn't do things like the boss. Sometimes I didn't get paid."

"Did you make movies with Joy before?"

"Nope. I never seen her until I started working for the boss."

"How many movies has she been in boss?"

Heath was still for a long moment. He took a long drag off of his cigar and then blew a cloud of smoke out over the table. He knew where this was going, eventually any man interested in Joy would find out. He set his cigar down and took a drink from his full glass. "She's been in the business since she was a teenager. If you want to know what her early work is like watch 'London Britches Falling Down' or 'Chesty Long Legs and the Savage Seven.'"

"Are they hardcore boss?"

"London Britches is your average vanilla porn with some bad acting and a workable story, but Chesty Long Legs is hard core. It has full occupancy and then some. I imagine London Britches was one of Joy's first movies. That's back when they told young women that taking their clothes off was a way to break into show business, before they got them started in stripping and in the brothels. I imagine there is still some of that going on, but it's usually low budget, illegal or both. I just call the production company and they send over a porn star or find a stripper or a prostitute who wants to break into the business."

Ortiz and Ernie were looking at each other. Ortiz said, "We're going on a mission my friend." He looked back at Heath. "Boss, is Joy going to be in our next film?"

"I don't know. She only contracts for one film at a time. I haven't asked her about it. Three Ernie." Ernie passed the card. "King."

"Go fish," said Ernie, smiling. "Jack."

Heath took a drink from his glass and then puffed at his cigar.

"How old are you Ortiz?" Ernie asked.

"I'm nineteen, twenty in November."

"You have a little over a year before your legal. If you stick with the boss you'll be around a long time."

"I'm going to start making my own movies when I get enough experience. I'm going to be the boss."

"People don't last very long in this business."

"You started out doing squat shots. How long before you moved to the big camera?"

"I switched between both after a couple of years. I did whatever I could until Heath kept me on regular."

Heath let out another puff of smoke. "How do you like doing those close ups Ortiz? It doesn't keep you up at night does it?"

"Hell no! Why would it keep me up at night, besides my dick-- ha- ha?"

"When you're in bed and you close your eyes at night, don't you see disembodied cocks, cunts, asses, and tits floating around? Can you keep your little pecker soft enough to fall asleep at night?"

"Shiiieeet-- what do I care? There's nothing wrong with seeing people fuck. I just go wake up one of the fluffers when I need some action."

Heath let out a burst of laughter and raised his glass at Ortiz and finished what was left, then he refilled it. "You see Ernie, there is something you can learn from this kid. I think I'll keep him around a while."

"Who do you fuck?" Ernie asked, attempting to interrogate Ortiz.

"I fucked Thumbelina last night!"

"The little Asian woman?"

"Hell yeah! I fucked her twice and then she kicked me out because she needed some sleep."

"She's a pretty little woman Ortiz," said Heath being serious. "She would be a porn star if her pussy wasn't so small." Ernie started laughing now.

"That's not funny Pismire!" Ortiz yelled. He was standing up looking at Ernie in an offensive position. His fists were clenched and he looked ready to punch the sloppy little fat man.

"It's not funny," said Heath, still being serious. "Those big studs the company sends over are lucky to get four inches in her without her screaming bloody murder. I think she's deeper than that, but with the girth those guys have it hurts her." Ernie stopped laughing and Ortiz sat down.

There was a long silence and then Heath handed Ernie a card.

================================

Holly entered the library carrying her laptop in a shoulder bag. As she was looking the place over, searching for a quiet table where she could plug her computer in, she happened to notice two unlikely individuals sitting at one of the library's computers. She found a table and set her computer down and put her dress jacket on the back of her chair. Then she went to where the two short men at the computer were. She could see the thin dark haired man pushing into the balding fat one to see the screen. The two men were whispering and when one began whispering too loud the other would elbow him. She walked up behind the two cantankerous figures until she could see the screen over their heads. She reached out and firmly grabbed each one by the shoulder and said in her most formal voice, "Should you two gentlemen be looking at that kind of material in a public library where there are children." She had felt them jump beneath her hands before she spoke and her chest was tight from restraining her laughter.

The two men slowly turned and looked up. They were instantly relieved when they saw Joy's face. "You scared the shit out of us," whispered Ernie.

"I wasn't scared," said Ortiz.

"I felt you both jump. You should have seen your faces," Joy said, keeping her laughter low. "What happened to Dodge? Did she show up?"

"Hell no," Ortiz said. "She never shows up on time. She's always late."

"It looks like you have another day Joy," Ernie said.

"That's good. I need it. What are you two doing in here looking at pornos on the Internet anyway? Don't you guys get enough of this stuff?"

"What else are we going to do?" said Ortiz. "We never have enough money or stay in one place long enough to meet people and get established. We're always moving from one place to another to avoid the crazy paranoid people who associate adult movies and sex with god knows what perversions they dream up. You know, the psycho parentssss-- sss."

Ernie put his elbow down and said, "It's not our fault Joy. What are we going to put on our job applications? Sex industry cinematographers seek fry cook position."

"Yeah," continued Ortiz, "look at all them old people working in fast food places now anyways. We're better off where we are."

"Yeah," said Joy. "Look at where you are. You're in a library looking at porn. I would think you two guys could do something more constructive. There's a whole treasure trove of knowledge here, books of every kind not related to porn. You guys really need something to take your minds off of the job. You two should get a hobby or take up a sport or something, like golf or bowling or jogging, anything but searching for London Britches Falling Down!"

"Shhhhhhhhhh," the two men hissed together. The three of them cautiously looked around.

"Have you two clowns been talking to Heath? I suppose he put you two up to this. I suppose your next search will be for Chesty Long Legs and the Savage Seven."

The two men looked Joy up and down. "You got to admit, they got the first half of the title right," said Ortiz.

"You are looking very beautiful today Joy," said Ernie. "Where do you find such pretty clothes and how come the other women don't dress like you?"

"The boss says she's a special lady," said Ortiz. "He says they don't make them like her anymore."

"Thank you boys. Now if you will excuse me, I have some business I have to take care of. And boys, if you do happen to find a bootleg copy of Chesty Long Legs, keep it to yourselves will you?" Joy opened her mouth wide and winked at the two men. They chuckled and turned around.

She walked back to the table where she had set her things and sat down. She plugged in her laptop and opened it up. Then she logged onto the library's wireless network and began going through her email messages. Most of the emails were just congratulations and compliments on her new fall line up. There were a few suggestions, which she read and sent thank you replies to, but none of them were worth using. She always tried to answer people because she never knew if they may be important in the clothing business or may be important in the future. After finishing with the small stuff, she began balancing the books (spread sheets) of her online business. Her sales were larger than she had anticipated so she had to increase her order for material and contact her retailers to see how much more stock they needed. This was a time consuming process. She also had to IM her manufacturing partner to get caught up on everything that was happening and make sure that they would be able to keep up. It had only been a week since she contacted her business associates and made sure where everything stood. She never went longer than a week. Things moved fast in the clothing business, especially since her fashions had gained notoriety last fall. This fall her clothing was sought after and her sales figures were the biggest that she had ever seen.

When she finished her business, she decided to have some fun. She opened up a program called Google SketchUp and began looking at different clothing designs. She had started out in 1990 by altering other people's patterns and quickly began drawing her own designs using pencil and paper. Creating new patterns for her designs was time consuming. When she found out that she could sell things online, she began putting her designs on the Internet. It was hit or miss for a few years. She soon began to figure out which patterns and clothes sold well and was able to sustain her hobby and create a business which broke even. She was then able to buy her own laptop and save some money by keeping her own records and accounts where ever she went, along with updating her website. One day she downloaded a free drafting program from Google called SketchUp and started teaching herself to use it. After three months she had learned it well enough to start drawing basic designs and after six months she became proficient enough to stop using pencil and paper. Her last two seasons of designs were now on her laptop in SketchUp files. She was now able to create an entire seasonal collection on her own and distribute it by fashion industry deadlines while maintaining her own personal life. Her personal life. She hadn't really had one since becoming a porn star. She still did movies to supplement her business, but now things were different. A personal life. She remembered looking into Vernon's eyes, how soft and deep they appeared, the warm feeling she had when looking into them and the effort she needed to look away.