The Deal With Lara

It was the first time since we'd started I'd seen her blush. "Thank you."

After another brief pause, she spoke again. "Well, I suppose I should get going. I need a shower after that, then have some errands to take care of."

"Of course," I nodded. Then, tentatively, "At the risk of spoiling things, is there any chance at all I could ever, well...see you again?"

To my delight, she smiled. "Well, maybe. Although, being honest, I don't usually do this kind of thing for free."

When she saw my surprise, she continued. "I have an Only Fans profile. And I usually charge for Webcam shows. I'll send you a link, if you'd like?"

I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice as I replied, "Sure."

"Hey, look," she offered, "don't get the wrong idea, okay? I'm not trying to hit you up for money. In fact, I have a free profile there, plenty of fun pictures and video clips you can enjoy, if you want to. If you decide later you wanna see the more...explicit content, you can subscribe to my main account. Or not, I won't be offended."

Her kind eyes focused on me as she continued, "I had a lot of fun with you, I really did. If I had to send nudes to someone accidentally, I'm glad it was you. You're very sweet. But..."

"No, it's okay, I totally understand," I said kindly. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. I had a wonderful time as well. It was presumptuous of me to ask for more."

Lara offered me a sympathetic smile. "Hey, I get it. Gotta take your shot, right? Look, I'll text you that link. You're welcome to say hello to me there anytime, whether you subscribe or not. After that, well...let's just see, okay?"

"Fair enough," I shrugged.

"Oh, and keep the pictures I sent; I give consent for you to keep them as long as you promise not to share them anywhere."

"Thank you. And I promise; I'd never do that."

"Cool." With that, Lara blew me a kiss. Then she was gone.

---------------------------------------------

Time passed.

I spent the next several days perusing Lara's free Only Fans content. It was mostly lingerie and bikini pics, with the occasional semi-nude. Titillating and exciting, yet tasteful.

Her hard-core content was, of course, hidden behind a paywall. One I had yet to subscribe to, tempting as it was. For the moment, I still had the pictures she'd sent me to enjoy.

I had sent her a single message through her profile, simply saying hello and letting her know it was me.

Her reply had been sweet, but short: "Hey, love. Nice to see you. Hope you enjoy my content."

I decided it was best not to pester her. I didn't want to become a stalker. I'm sure she probably had far too many guys sending constant messages vying for her attention.

Plus, while I certainly had no problems whatsoever with women who worked in the sex industry, I wasn't really into paying young ladies just to pay attention to me.

So as the days turned into weeks, I gradually put the experience behind me.

Then, out of the blue, Lara texted me. "Hey, long time no see. Let me know when you have a minute to talk. I have a proposition for you."

To say I was surprised was an understatement. Proposition? I had no clue what she might have in mind.

My curiosity roused, I texted back. "I just got home from work; feel free to call whenever you'd like."

Thirty seconds later, my phone rang. Her melodious voice greeted me. "Hey, stranger!"

After exchanging a few quick pleasantries, Lara got right to the point. "So I'm sure you're wondering why I called. Basically, I was hoping you'd be interested in helping me out with something."

A warning bell went off in my head. Was she gonna ask for money? Help her move? Invest in bitcoin? I had no idea.

"I suppose it depends on what we're talking about, but sure, go on," I replied cautiously.

"I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping me make some Only Fans content."

I almost dropped the beer I had just sat down to relax with. I suppose I should have been glad I wasn't sipping it at the time.

"Hello?" Lara called, "Did I lose you?"

"No," I answered, finding my voice, "I'm still here. Just...help you...how? You mean...?"

"Yes," she replied, matter of factly. "I mean exactly what you think I mean. Making sex videos."

Before I could even begin to formulate a response, Lara continued, "Now before you answer, understand a few things. This isn't an automatic deal. There's a lot we'd need to discuss and agree on before anything else happens. But I won't waste your time with all that if you're not even interested."

"Oh, I'm...interested," I said. "But yeah, I suppose there's a lot of things I'd need clarification on, like..."

"I get it, you have questions," Lara cut in, "and believe me, so do I. But I think it would be easier to talk face to face. I'm hoping we can get together sometime, maybe this weekend, and I can go over everything with you, answer all your questions."

"I'm...I'm sure we could arrange that, but...well, where exactly are you, anyway?"

Lara seemed taken aback. "Ya know, I didn't even think about that. I assumed you lived close because we share the same area code, but...anyway, I'm in South Philly. You?"

I had to laugh. "Really? Well, hello, neighbor. Northeast Philly here."

"Wow! Cool, so I was right, you are close! Good deal. I do have a few quick questions I need to ask, though."

"Of course, go ahead."

"Are you single?"

"Yes. Divorced two years ago."

"No current girlfriend? Regular relationship kinda thing?"

"No."

"Are you drug free?"

"Yes."

You're sure? I don't mind if you smoke weed, but..."

"I haven't even touched that in years."

"Any health issues? Risk of heart attack, stuff like that?"

"I'm not THAT old."

"Okay then. Are you free Saturday night?"

"Yes."

"Cool. Like Italian food?"

"Sure."

"Great. I know a nice little restaurant we can meet at, not too far for either of us. Great food, not too crowded, so we can talk privately. I'll text you the address. Does six o'clock sound good?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Awesome. See you then. Oh, one last thing. If you change your mind, you know, decide you're not interested, just do me the courtesy of letting me know if you're gonna cancel, okay?"

"Absolutely. But you have me very...curious. I'd at least like to hear what you have to say."

My mind was still spinning as we ended the call.

It had indeed been two years since my divorce, and during that time, I hadn't dated at all. My life had been chaotic, completely uprooted, and it left no time to get out and mingle.

Now here I was, arranging a date with a beautiful young woman almost half my age. Except it wasn't really a date. And yet we'd be talking about possibly having sex.

It boggled the mind.

The rest of the week dragged, interminably slow. Finally, the weekend arrived.

I spent most of Saturday grooming myself. The logical part of my brain understood we were most likely not having sex right away, of course. Still, I wanted to look my best. And so I shaved, trimmed up my other areas, cleaned and clipped my finger and toe nails, etc. I even ironed my jeans and the blue chambray shirt I'd chosen from my limited wardrobe.

I'd texted Lara first thing in the morning to confirm our appointment, and again when I left my apartment.

Despite some traffic, I arrived promptly at six to find her already waiting in the lobby.

"Hey!" Lara greeted me with a warm hug. "Nice to meet you in person! I already have us on the list for a table; it's more crowded than I expected. Guess the word got out about how good the food is here! But it shouldn't be a long wait."

We chatted amicably while we waited, nothing more than general chit chat really. Ten minutes later, we were ushered to our booth.

We perused the menu while we waited for the server to bring our drinks. Once they'd arrived and we'd ordered our meal, our discussion began in earnest.

"So," Lara started, speaking softly so as to not be overheard by other diners, "I suppose we should just get right to it."

"I started Only Fans my first year of college. My parents don't have much money so I needed a way to help pay for things. It really is that simple. We've never been prudish about sex, and I have their blessing.

"For the most part, I really enjoy it, even with some of the creeps I've had to deal with. I shoot mostly solo content, but occasionally I've worked with others. The hardest part about that has been keeping a regular partner."

Lara paused to sip her wine. "I know what you're thinking: How tough could it be to find a guy willing to have sex with me on a regular basis, right?"

"The truth is; it's not so easy. My first college boyfriend freaked out when I sprung it on him. Couldn't deal with me being a 'whore for money.'

"I learned pretty quickly that dating while doing this was going to be tricky. The guy either couldn't handle it, or just wanted to date me because he knew it was easy sex."

I nodded in sympathy. "I suppose it's not easy to juggle sex work with a relationship."

"No, it isn't," Lara agreed. "But while my solo content does well, it's the hard-core content that sells the best.

"And so I would try to pick up random guys and just be straight up honest with them about my intentions, ya know?

"But even that's not as easy as it sounds. I'd get guys who'd wanna fuck but not on camera, or tried but couldn't perform because of nerves.

"Then there's worry about diseases, or guys becoming too attached, or jealous, or abusive.

"That guy I met, the one I was trying to text the day I sent you those pics; I met him on a dating app. I wasn't even trying to recruit him. I just wanted a proper date for a change.

"We went out for drinks, and I wound up really liking him, so I didn't even bring up the Only Fans thing til after we'd, well, you know.

"He seemed pretty chill about it at first. Said he still wanted to see me again. We'd only chatted via the dating app, so when he offered me his phone number I was pleasantly surprised.

"Of course I found out the next morning he'd given me your number not his. I should have known something was up when he wrote it down instead of sending it to my phone." She laughed at this, but her face looked sad.

"Are you sure he didn't just, you know, accidentally write it down wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm sure," she grimaced. "He blocked me on the dating app, too."

"Asshole."

"Yes he was. But no, not really. He was actually really sweet," she corrected, "I guess he just couldn't handle dating a girl who does porn for a living."

"Still, he could have been a man about it instead of giving you a fake number and ghosting you."

"True."

Lara paused her story as our food arrived. Between bites, we continued our discussion.

"So, why me?" I asked. "What made you think I'd be different?"

Lara contemplated my question as she chewed. "Well, first of all; you were just really sweet and respectful during our little...chat."

"Second; you're older. I figured you might be more mature about the whole thing. More open minded."

"Well, I'm certainly not the judgemental type," I assured her. "I was married for close to twenty years, and our sex life was pretty vanilla. And near the end, nonexistent. So I've watched a lot of porn over the years. And I have the utmost respect for the women who work in the industry. It honestly irritates me how society treats sex workers. And yet at the same time, we use sex to sell practically everything."

Lara gave me an approving smile. "Thank you, I appreciate you being an ally."

"Of course," I shrugged. "That said, I don't know if I personally could handle being in a serious relationship with a sex worker. Maybe if we did it as a couple. But I'm truly not sure about sharing her with other guys."

"Let's be clear here," Lara said firmly, "I'm not asking you for a 'relationship.' We won't be 'dating.' This will be a business arrangement, nothing more, really."

When I didn't reply, she continued, "You weren't expecting that, were you? A relationship? Because if you were, this isn't gonna work out."

I took a moment to collect my thoughts before finally answering. "No. Not really. I suppose I'll just be bluntly honest at this point.

"I think you're very sweet, and of course very beautiful. Obviously, given a chance to have sex with you, I'd take it.

"I haven't dated since my divorce, just haven't had time to meet anyone. I don't really even know where to start, I was married so long.

"So while I truly do like you and think you're a very nice, fun person to be around, I really have been thinking mostly with my dick. I haven't been with someone as young and beautiful as you in a long time, so of course I'd jump at an opportunity to get laid."

"But?" Lara asked as I paused.

"But, you're right. This wouldn't work as a 'relationship' even if you were actually interested. I'm far too old for you; we probably wouldn't have much in common. You probably like to go out and party it up all weekend; I like to sit at home on my couch and watch movies in my bathrobe."

Lara laughed sweetly. "That sounds lovely, actually. Believe me, after classes all week, sometimes all I wanna do is curl up in bed with a good book or movie myself."

"Well, maybe we could do that from time to time, just as, you know, friends? Nothing more?"

"Maybe," Lara shrugged. "Look, I appreciate your candid honesty. Especially about just wanting to get laid. But there's several more things we need to discuss before we make a decision here."

"Such as?"

"You need to get tested. It's an absolute must."

"Okay."

"Really? That easy? Do you know how many guys think that's a dealbreaker?"

"I don't understand why. You'd think they'd like to know they're safe, too."

"Yep, I was right. Definitely more mature about things," Lara smirked. "I get tested regularly too, once a month usually, if I'm working regularly with a partner. Otherwise definitely before and after every new partner. If I'm not filming with someone, we use protection, but I still get tested after. I'm a 'safety' girl."

"Makes sense to me," I said.

"Oh, speaking of protection," Lara continued, "no condoms while filming. Customers hate them. That's why I insist on regular testing. I'm on birth control, of course, but most times you won't be finishing IN me anyway."

"Ah, yes," I chuckled, "the obligatory money shot."

"Exactly," Lara grinned.

"What else?"

Her face turned more serious. "Who I see, personally or professionally, is none of your business. That said, if I decide to work with someone else, or just hook up with someone, I'll give you the courtesy of informing you so you can decide if you want to keep working with me."

"Fair enough."

"Who you see outside of our arrangement isn't my business either, but I expect the same courtesy if you're having unprotected sex with someone."

"Of course."

"Also, if you...meet someone, start a relationship; if it's casual, fine. If it becomes more...serious, she needs to be cool with it for our deal to continue. I won't be responsible for hurting someone."

"Understood."

Lastly," she said, finishing her wine, "I'm not paying you. No offense, but this is my livelihood, and I can't afford to lose profits."

I had to laugh. "I wasn't even thinking about money. This is one job I'll gladly do for free."

"I'm sure," she smirked. "Hey, the pay sucks, but the benefits are spectacular, I assure you."

"Anything else?"

Lara thought for a moment. "You'll need to sign a consent form, and give proof of ID. Don't worry, it stays confidential, but Only Fans requires it."

"No problem. Do I have to show my face on camera?"

"Not if you don't want to. Most stuff I shoot is 'Point Of View' anyway. No offense, but my customers wanna see me more than you."

"That I get."

"Oh, and don't expect this to be a super regular thing. If we decide to do this, we start slow. We do a shoot, see how it works out. If I'm happy with how things go, I'll call you again. But I don't want you texting or calling me every day, or even every week, asking about it. For now, let me be the one who contacts you.

"If we wind up getting along, working well together, that can change. But I don't want you to get this idea in your head that we're gonna text each other all the time, send flirty little messages or something. Or that I'm gonna send you nudes when we're not working together. You get me?"

"I understand."

"Look, I hope I'm not coming off as a bitch. But you have to understand some of the nonsense I've had to deal with over the years. Guys get attached. They start thinking of me as their girlfriend no matter how much I discourage it. They get angry when they text and I don't reply. They start wanting more than just fucking on camera. And I get really tired of dealing with all that."

"Listen," I said, "I can't even pretend to understand what you have to deal with in your line of work. And I've never come close to having a potential experience like this myself. So I have no idea how it will affect me going forward. All I can promise is I'll do my best to abide by your rules. If I cross a boundary, tell me. If I can't handle things, I'll bow out gracefully."

Lara nodded appreciatively. "I suppose that's all I can ask for, really. Look, let's end with this. After meeting you tonight, I feel comfortable around you. I like you, and I think we could work well together. But I still need time to think it over myself, to be sure.

"Let's give it a couple days. If you think of more questions, you can text; that I won't mind. But otherwise let's give it til, say, Monday, to make a final decision."

"Well, I was about to just say yes, I'm in. But you're probably right. Let's give it some time."

With that, our conversation turned to other things while we enjoyed dessert.

Lara did most of the talking. She was studying to get her Masters in psychology, and wanted to become, not too surprisingly, a sex therapist.

"I love the idea of helping people struggling with their problems," she explained, "and since I already obviously have a pretty healthy attitude about sex and sexuality, I think it's a good fit for me. I especially want to help women who may be struggling with their own repressed sexuality, or dealing with repercussions from abuse and need help learning how to love themselves and their bodies again."

"Sounds like a noble goal," I said.

We then talked about my much more mundane job, and also about my life during and after the divorce.

I could already tell Lara would make a great therapist. She asked thoughtful but discreet questions, getting me to open up about my feelings and goals for moving forward.

"I want to get out more, meet new people, make new friends," I told her. "It's been hard the past few years. I moved around several times, threw myself into my work to get back on my feet financially. But things are starting to look up and most of my bills are finally paid off.

"I joined a gym a few months ago to get in better shape, and to just get out of the house once in a while. And I finally bought myself the drum kit I always wanted. Well, just an electric set, one I can play with headphones on so I don't disturb my neighbors. But I've been having fun learning to play and banging out my frustrations on it."

"That's great," said Lara. "Music can be very therapeutic."

From there the conversation turned to our tastes in music and movies. We had more in common than I expected, both of us being fans of rock and Sci Fi.

When the check arrived, I reached for it, but Lara stopped me. "No, this is on me."

"At least let me pay my share," I offered.

"No," she insisted. "I invited you, let me take care of it this time. If we do it again sometime, we can split the bill."

"Well then, thank you," I relented.