Scarlet Rendezvous

She told me to follow her back into her office.

"Are you from the Tampa area?" she asked.

"New York," I told her.

"Wow, that's quite a distance. You must be pretty serious about investing. Did you fly down here?"

"Drove," I said. "Nineteen hours. I did it straight through."

"By yourself? That's impressive."

"Not a big deal. I'm ex-military."

"Really? What branch?"

"Navy," I said, before I could stop myself. I knew I needed to shut up but I couldn't. "I was a specialist. Now I run a security company. I served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Four tours."

Mandy stopped, right in the doorway of her office. "Oh my god, that's incredible. I'm so happy you made it back safely." She touched my arm. "I want to thank you for your service. Seriously. You guys risk your lives to keep us all safe. My older brother was a Marine. He was in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2010."

"I take it he's no longer active?"

"He died in 2011. Suicide."

"Shit, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Me too. But you know what they say -- freedom isn't free." She pulled a chair up to her desk. "Here, take a seat. I want to go over some basics of our company first, so you know more about us. Feel free to ask me any questions. This shouldn't take very long."

She opened her laptop and brought up the Scarlet Rendezvous website. The main page had two dozen video clips, showing different hardcore sex scenes -- anal, double penetration, lesbian, toys, interracial, etc. The site was high quality and professionally designed, and the clips were high def and quite sexy and appealing, as far as raunchy porn went. I wanted to reach over and play the videos, which was a good thing. Or should I say would have been a good thing, if I was truly interested in investing, which I obviously wasn't.

"So this is our website," Mandy said. "We make our money from both subscriptions and advertising. The free section is where we place ads. Basic, non-paying users have limited access to pictures and video clips. They can also watch our live cams, where our models perform for fans. They depend on tips and donations from users, and will take requests in the chat for money."

She clicked on the link to the live cams, and dozens of girls came on the screen, all performing remotely from their own homes and bedrooms. All were live at that very moment.

"Right now, we have about 750 models from all over the world who do live cams for us," Mandy told me. "They each average about 20 hours per week, and perform whenever they want during the day or night. For most it's a part time job. There's a small group of performers who have built a big enough following where they can do it fulltime, and make real money. Our website keeps half of all money earned. We provide the platform and access to horny users, they provide the content. It's a win-win."

There was one model with reddish hair and blue eyes who looked like Karina, but she was too curvy, and didn't have the high cheekbones.

Mandy clicked on the link to the videos. "Here's the paid section of our website. Users can sign up for a 30-day, 60-day, or annual subscription. Paid users have unlimited access to all of our website's content -- the pictures, the movies, and video clips. Some of this content we create ourselves -- the Scarlet Rendezvous videos -- but much of it we lease from other producers. We currently have 25,000 subscribers. And that's pretty much the gist of it. I'm sure you knew most of this already, or you wouldn't have driven 19 hours from New York to Florida."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with your website."

Mandy laughed. "I'm sure you are. Do you have a subscription? I'm just curious?"

I didn't. I'd thought about it, but I was too paranoid about coming across a video of Karina.

"Yeah," I lied. "I have a subscription."

"Right on. I have one too. I'm not kidding. I like to experience the page from the user's point of view, just so I can keep an eye on things. But that's not the only reason." She leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "I enjoy looking at porn sometimes. It's definitely a turn on for me."

She winked at me.

I swallowed, trying to keep a poker face.

I caught a glimpse of her lace bra through her open blouse. I quickly averted my eyes to her computer screen. There was a video teaser of a blond chick in pigtails rubbing birthday cake all over her naked body. She had a butt plug up her ass. The scene cut to her rubbing cake all over a giant flesh-colored dildo, and then shoving it in her mouth. Then she was mounting the dildo and riding it anally.

Mandy smiled. She was an authentically beautiful woman, even with her hair pulled back into the ponytail, and the fact that she had on minimal make up.

She clicked off the Scarlet Rendezvous page and opened an article on her computer from Forbes.

"Did you know the porn industry is worth $97 billion globally?" she said. "Obviously, adult VHS tapes and DVDs are ancient history. So are pornographic print magazines, and pay-per-view movies. Everything is done through the internet now. The biggest player is MindGeek, whose branches include Pornhub, RedTube, and YouPorn. These are free sites that make their money off advertising, because they get a gazillion clicks an hour. We are basically subscription only, with some free content, like I said. But our stuff is quality, and we are growing. Not super-fast, but we are showing promise. We've been around now for three years."

"The three year hump," I said. "That's great. That's one of the reasons why I drove all the way down here. Because your company, Scarlet Rendezvous, shows real promise."

"Thank you." She put a hand on my shoulder. "Can I offer you anything to drink? Carol is probably back from lunch by now. I can call her and she can bring in some coffee or a bottle of water."

"I'm fine," I said. "But thank you."

She was leaning close, and I could smell her perfume.

"Of course." She opened a spreadsheet on her laptop. "Do you want to go over our numbers now? Like I said, we're not taking the porn industry by storm, but we are steadily getting bigger. Our subscriptions have quadrupled in the past six months, and our website traffic is booming. Here. Take a look."

She rolled her chair next to mine, so that our thighs were touching. Her skirt was riding up on her tan legs, and she pulled it down and straightened it. She took her hair out of the ponytail, letting it spill down over her shoulders.

I pretended to study the various numbers in the spreadsheet on the screen. I even took the laptop from her and went through the charade of scrolling up and down the document, nodding and trying to sound impressed. It was just a blur, of course. All I could think about was how good she smelled, how good her legs looked in that short skirt. She had on these incredible open-toed black stilettos, too.

"Yes," I said, handing her back the computer. "This looks great. I'm feeling good about this. Totally."

"I'm so glad," Mandy said. "It would have been a shame for you to drive all the way down here for nothing."

"I agree."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"How many investors do you have?" I said finally.

"A little over 200," she told me. "We take all our money through a crowdfunding site called StartUp. This platform requires a minimum investment of $500. Your maximum investment is based on how much money you make, and your net worth. Some of our investors put up the minimum, and a few have given us five figures. One has given us six figures."

"Shit," I said. "Six figures?"

"Six figures. Obviously, you saw our bottom line on the spreadsheet. Well, that's where we get half of our money. We're looking to expand our website and increase our content, both by producing more of our own videos and leasing content from other sites. We're growing. We're definitely worth investing in. Numbers don't lie."

I hadn't seen the number on the spreadsheet, actually. I wasn't paying attention.

"So yeah," Mandy said. "That's how it works. We're not big enough for stocks yet, so basically, your investment is treated like a loan. You earn interest on your money. Right now, our investors are earning around 8 to 10 percent, which is the same as the S&P 500. If we do ever get purchased by a big site or go public, your investment could eventually convert into shares. But that's a long way away, obviously."

"Obviously," I said.

"Don't feel pressured into deciding how much to invest now, by all means. Take some time to think about it. I'm going to give you the information to set up your account on StartUp, and you can figure out the rest later. The app is so user friendly, you can make payments whenever you want, as often or as little as you want. You can also track how Scarlet Rendezvous is doing financially. There are no guarantees, of course. Investing in new companies is a risk, as you very well know."

"I'm definitely going to invest," I said. "No doubt about it. I was thinking about starting with an even $50,000."

Mandy's face lit up. "That works," she said, trying not to giggle. "I'd say that's a good start."

I was literally opening my mouth to ask about Karina -- could she give me her contact information? -- when Mandy invited me out to dinner to celebrate.

"There's this great fusion sushi place five minutes from here," she said. "They have a kick ass happy hour tonight, too. We should go. That's if you don't have plans already. Do you have plans?"

"I don't have plans," I told her.

"Awesome. Let me give you the address. We can meet up and have a few drinks, and talk porn. It'll be fun."

"Okay," I said, and wrote down the information.

***

I had to slow my drinking down, because I was starting to tie one on. I wasn't a sushi fan, and instead ordered teriyaki chicken and broccoli. I was still hungry. I sipped on a glass of water, crunching the ice cubes in my mouth. It had been over a month since I had a drink, and promised myself I wouldn't imbibe until I found Karina and made things right. It was another slip-up in a long line of slip-ups. So went my addictive personality.

Mandy was tipsy and having a genuinely good time. I still hadn't brought up Karina, or Sasha, for that matter. I was waiting for the right moment.

"Did you know," Mandy said, "that 35 percent of all internet downloads are related to pornography?"

I didn't know, but it sounded about right.

"Seriously," she said, sipping her glass of chardonnay. She was wearing make-up for dinner, and some of her red lipstick smudged on the rim of the glass. "It's crazy. One in four search engine requests are porn related. It's true. We have the industry data. About 40 million Americans regularly visit porn websites, and 70 percent of all men aged 18 to 24 visit adult websites at least once per month."

"How about men in their mid-40s?"

"Half of porn consumers in the U.S. are 35 to 49."

"Shit," I said. "I'm in good company."

Mandy laughed, and some of her wine went down the wrong pipe. She stared coughing. I softly patted her on the back. She was wearing a skimpy black V-neck dress that was open in the back. Her hair was down, spilling over her delicate shoulders. I was wearing a black dress shirt and gray slacks. I left the two top buttons of the shirt undone. My sandy blond hair was messy, and my beard was thick and gnarly. It still seemed sun-beaten from the desert, though that was over two years ago. I had my usual summer tan, which brought out the green in my eyes.

I kept my hand on her back, holding her as she coughed. "You okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Tell me more," I said. "About the porn industry. Lay some more facts on me."

She cleared her throat. "There are over 4.2 million adult websites on the internet."

"Wow."

"These make-up 12 percent of all websites."

"So Scarlet Rendezvous is one of 4.2 million porn sites?"

"That it is."

"Tell me more."

"Well, here's a little fun fact I bet you didn't know. Almost 2 percent of adult women have worked in the pornography industry at some point in their lives."

"No shit."

"Uh-huh."

"Have you ever made a porn video?"

"Excuse me?" she said, pretending to sound offended. "I can't believe you just asked me that. Is that what I look like to you? A porn star? Well, maybe that's a good thing. I'll be 40 next month. I guess I still got it."

"You don't look 39," I said. "You look way younger."

"Why thank you. You're sweet." She ran her fingers through my hair, and cupped my face with her hands. "What's your taste in smut? What do you like to watch?"

It was a bold question. But Mandy had invited me on this date to talk porn. I knew what I liked to watch -- all things anal, and facials. But I wasn't going to share that with her.

"I don't know," I said, softly rubbing her back. "Normal sex. Maybe some toys thrown in there." We were sitting in a corner booth, and she slid all the way over next to me.

"Toys? Hmm, okay. I can see that. What kind of toys?"

"Chicks with dildos and vibrators. Some lesbian stuff, I guess." This was a lie. I'd outgrown my taste for lesbian porn in my late 20s. There was no closure with lesbian porn, no culminating cum shot. It all seemed to be much ado about nothing.

"You like butt plugs?" Mandy asked.

I started blushing.

"You do!" she said. "I knew it. You totally strike me as an ass man. So I guess you like anal porn?"

"I like watching anal, sure."

"Lesbian strap-ons?"

"That's okay. But I mostly like anal between a man and a woman."

"When a chick fucks a guy with a strap-on?"

The thought of Mandy fucking me up the ass with a strap-on popped into my head, and a tingle went through me. I kept a poker face.

"When a guy fucks a chick's ass," I told her.

"Which position? Bent over doggie-style, or riding his cock cowgirl?"

"Reverse cowgirl," I said. "You know, when a chick sits on a guy's cock facing away from him, and she rocks back, and her legs are spread and you can see a close-up of the dude's cock up her ass."

"I know what reverse cowgirl is, dear."

"Okay, so that's one of my favorites."

"I guess you like ass-to-mouth, I'm assuming? ATM?"

I did. One-hundred percent.

"Why do you assume that?" I asked.

"It goes with the territory. Very Freudian. Lots of childhood hang-ups in the psyche, and lots of oral/anal fixations."

"If you say so."

Mandy brushed my cheek with her hand. Her silver bracelets clinked on her wrist. "You know I'm right," she said.

"You make some valid points."

"Have you ever been fucked up the ass?"

"Whoa, what? Seriously?"

"Yes. Have you?"

I hadn't. But I felt that tingle again when she asked the question.

"No," I told her.

"But you want to? Am I right?"

"Not really."

"You've never thought about it? Fantasized about it?"

"No."

"Bullshit. Guys who get turned on by anal ultimately want to try it themselves. It's a fact of nature, sweetie."

I sipped my water. She was right again. I'd thought about, even used a butt plug a few times in my 20s. But I was a Navy SEAL and military defense contractor, and it didn't go with the territory. Better to put my energy into things that didn't involve sticking things up my ass.

"So what do you like?" I asked. "In terms of porn?"

"I like anal," Mandy admitted. "Totally. I like to watch it, and do it. With the right person, of course."

"So you've had anal sex before?"

"Of course. It's an acquired taste. Not watching it, but doing it. It takes time to get it right. It's kind of like drinking and smoking. The first time you do it, you don't really like it. That first cigarette makes you cough your ass off. That first drink burns your throat. But somehow, you keep coming back for more. Something keeps calling you back, until one day, you hit that sweet spot and you realize yes, this is what all the hype is about."

"Have you ever done ass-to-mouth?"

"A few times, sure. Everything has to fall into place for that to happen. The mood, the buildup of the orgasm, and of course, the hygiene. Anal sex can be messy, if things don't check out beforehand. There's definitely planning involved. In porn movies, all this is arranged prior. Some actors even do an enema before the shoot, to make sure everything is ready. There's also preparation behind the scenes, where an actor will wear a butt plug to get things lose and warmed up. It takes some girls -- and guys -- a good month to get themselves ready for anal sex, working their way up with bigger and bigger plugs, until they are ready for action."

"Interesting," I said. "Do you produce any of Scarlet Rendezvous movies?"

"Yes, absolutely. I'm involved in every aspect of our business. I do some directing and filming, too."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." Mandy drank the last swallow of her wine. "So, what do we do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Should we keep things professional, and go home to our own beds, or mix business with pleasure?"

"That's your call," I told her.

"The fuck it is. You're planning on investing $50,000 in a business that I manage, which is a big deal. If I fuck you tonight, that could give you a bad impression of me. Scarlet Rendezvous is my fulltime job, and I care about its reputation. We need to think carefully on this matter."

I sipped my water. The glass was empty, so I ate some of the ice. "Let me see your apartment. As an investor, I'd like to get a feel for the way you live."

"I don't fuck my investors," Mandy told me.

"What, seriously?"

"Seriously. Plus, you need to shave. Big time."

I put a hand to my beard. "Huh? I thought you said --"

She wriggled onto my lap and started French kissing me. "I'm fucking with you, Chad. I love your beard. It's so fucking hot. I want to feel it between my legs. Let's get out of here."

We paid the check and left.

***

We drove to Mandy's apartment. In the 10 minutes it took for us to get there, she proceeded to give me a hand job through the zipper in my slacks, bringing me to the edge of orgasm twice, then backing off before I came. It was excruciating.

"You can park in the driveway," she said when we arrived. "I don't have a car. I take an Uber everywhere."

"Okay."

We went inside and both freshened up. We met on her living room couch and kissed for 15 minutes. My dick was rock hard for the third time that night.

"Go ahead," Mandy said. "Ask me the question again."

"What question?"

"If I've ever been in a porn video."

"Have you ever been in a porn video?"

"Yes. But not since 2015."

"No shit. Really?"

"Really."

"I bet your movies are really hot."

"Some of them are. You want to watch one with me? For investment purposes?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Sure."

"Awesome. But no judging, okay. Some of these videos had a goofy script, and they definitely don't age well."

She pulled up a video from the internet on her smart TV. It was a 23 minute clip, where Mandy taught a 20-something babysitter how to do anal sex. We sat on her couch and watched it, Mandy putting her feet in my lap. The story was ridiculous, just like Mandy said it would be. In the scene, Mandy and her husband came home from a night out to find the slut babysitter anally masturbating with a dildo in the living room. They grab her, and explain she's out of line, and not going to get paid. The girl pleads with them, and they work out a deal: they'll have a three-way upstairs in the master bedroom.

Mandy takes the dildo, and tells the 20-something skinny blonde in pigtails that she doesn't know what she's doing, that there's a special technique to sticking a medium-sized pink rubber dick up your ass. Mandy takes off her clothes, unhooking her bra and stepping out of her panties, and lays down on the bed. She gets on her hands-and-knees, and tells her husband to demonstrate the proper technique for using a dildo.