Touch

"We're back on set in 5, people!" Petey shouted to the group.

Charley had already started packing her lunch away but Jake had much more he wanted to ask.

"Hey I know this is kind of awkward but is there any chance we could maybe talk some more after the shoot?" he asked her.

"I normally just go straight home..." she said sheepishly, avoiding eye contact and continuing to pack away her things.

"Well could I maybe buy you a drink? I'll pay for your taxi home too?"

Charley finally looked at Jake and for a moment he was certain she was going to tell him to go to hell, but she once again sighed and said, "ok, but just one and then I want to go home, ok?"

"Great!" Jake beamed.

He binned the rest of his salad and made his way back to the set with a smile on his face.

* * * * *

Jake had observed more about how Charley's abilities worked as the afternoon had gone on. The effects were only temporary, with Charley having to 'restart' both Ricardo and Leona before shooting could continue and having to top them up again as the day wore on. The change back was instantaneous when it happened, like watching air rapidly leaving a balloon and occurred once or twice mid shot, much to the chagrin of Edwin. The effects being temporary also explained why none of the actors Jake had worked with who'd done films with XXXTra before looked any different than usual.

Once they were done for the day and Jake had finished packing away his equipment after transferring the day's audio onto a memory drive, he made sure to thank Edwin for hiring him and Petey for keeping him on track as the day went on. He quickly shook both of their hands and then went to find Charley. She was waiting just beside the exit door of the studio, now wearing a worn leather jacket along with her gloves. Jake caught her eye and waved as he walked towards her to which she gave a small wave back.

"Hey!" he said as reached the door. "Thanks for hanging around for me."

"To be honest, I kind of need that drink," Charley replied grimacing a little, "things were more intense today than usual."

"Well, I don't know the area that well so the choice is yours. Where are we going?"

Charley led him to a small and very quiet bar about two blocks away from the studio. The bartender greeted her as she came in and mentioned her preferred table was free.

"Thanks Sherri," Charley said to her with a small smile. "Could I have a white rum and lemonade please and then whatever he's having."

"I'll have a beer please and the bill," Jake said.

Sherri made Charley's drink first, looking like just a normal lemonade with ice and two straws in it thanks to the white rum, and handed it to her before handing over a bottle to Jake. He paid and then followed Charley to a small table that was relatively cut off from the rest of the bar and in quite an enclosed space.

"This is cosy," Jake said sitting down.

"Alright," said Charley, taking a sip from her drink. "What did you want to know?"

"Before any of that, you said things were a little more intense today? Is everything alright?"

Jake was raring to go with his questions but he couldn't help feeling like jumping right in without addressing how stressed she'd seemed earlier would be an asshole move.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about it," she sighed.

Jake gave her a look as if to say, 'no please, go on,' to which she seemingly relented.

"I'm normally only needed once or twice on a shoot day, I wasn't expecting to have to keep going in and out. And Edwin, I mean he's a really nice guy but he has such a singular vision and just gets so snappy when anything breaks it. I sometimes feel like saying 'dude, you're making a porno, not Citizen Kane'."

Jake laughed at this which seemed to make Charley realise that what she said was funny and smiled a little herself.

"Yeah, he definitely strikes me as being someone who is very dedicated to his work," Jake continued as Charley took another sip of her drink.

"Oh completely. I've worked with directors who would have completed that shoot in a couple of hours, but then again the quality of the finished film wouldn't have been as good so I guess it sort of works out in the end..."

"I have to admit the better films I've worked on have been the ones that have taken the longest to shoot," Jake agreed.

He took another sip of his beer and noticed over half of Charley's drink was already gone. He was running out of time to ask the questions he wanted to but didn't want to force them through.

"So how did you decide to get into the industry? Excuse me for saying, but if I woke up with your abilities one day it wouldn't have been my first thought..."

"Yeah it took a while for me to think of it. For the most part I spent ages feeling really depressed about it all... but anyway that's not the point. Once I'd gotten to the stage where I understood it more and needed something to do with my life, a friend suggested I speak to the guys at XXXTra. She was a film student who had done some 'work experience', she called it, with them? And I know what you're thinking, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't that kind of 'work experience'. Or if it was, they never used it in anything, nothing I've seen. Anyway, where was I?"

As Charley was getting more comfortable, she was becoming noticeably more talkative and scatterbrained, although that may have just been the alcohol. Either way it made Jake smile.

"Your friend said to speak to..."

"Yes, yeah. So I got in contact with them, arranged a meeting, showed them what I could do and I've been with them ever since."

Charley had almost finished her drink, but as the conversation seemed to be flowing now, Jake continued.

"So that contract they get us to sign, that's all about you then really, isn't it?"

"Yeah, they say it's for my protection but I think it's just so I don't get poached by some other studio or something. I am saving them a boat load of cash in special effects, I give them something that can't be replicated and I mean they can make films no other studio can, at least not very well. I think I heard one of the marketing guys refer to me as their USB once but that never made any sense to me..."

"USP," Jake corrected her with a slight laugh, "Unique Selling Point."

"Oh well that makes a heck of a lot more sense than USB doesn't it?" Charley laughed.

She went to take another sip of her drink only to see it was empty.

"Do you want another?" Jake asked. "I'm still buying?"

Charley seemed to be deliberating for a moment before she simply said, "sure, what the hell," and Jake went to get her another.

Jake returned with the drinks and went back to his questioning.

"You said before that you were depressed about your abilities for a while?"

"Well yeah, wouldn't you be?" Charley scoffed. "I was a perfectly normal girl before this happened and overnight I went from being carefree to being terrified to touch anyone..."

"Sorry, I guess I didn't think of it that way..." Jake said with a sympathetic smile.

"It's fine, most people don't. Particularly when they've seen the 'good' side of it. But I found out about it when I washed my face one morning and all of a sudden my head was the size of an overripe watermelon."

"Oh god," Jake said, "what happened then?"

"Well I rang for an ambulance, obviously. I'd kept touching my face in the meantime so things just kept getting worse until finally I lost my balance and hit my head pretty hard on the side of my bathtub. The paramedics eventually found me but on the way to the hospital I returned to normal. They said it must have just been some major allergic reaction that had cleared itself up somehow. But then things kept getting worse..."

Charley took a large slurp of her drink before continuing.

"The doctors decided to discharge me after a few hours but when I tried to shake the doctor's hand, it just suddenly started to swell and blow up like my face had. They made me get back into bed and the next thing I knew I was being put into quarantine. They thought I had some rare and infectious disease or something that made me a biohazard risk. They very quickly came to the conclusion it had something to do with my hands so made me wear latex gloves to stop me from doing anymore damage to myself and others."

Jake was listening intently, enthralled by her story. It seemed so bizarre and so outside of reality, but he'd seen it with his own eyes.

"After a week of testing, they told me they had no idea what was causing it but that they had come to the conclusion that the touch of my hands caused humans to rapidly, but temporarily, grow wherever the contact happened. They were certain it was just my hands so they told me I'd need to wear gloves for the rest of my life to avoid hurting myself or anyone else. Apparently it has to be skin to skin contact for it to take effect. So yeah, that's why it was depressing..."

The table was silent for a moment as the two drank more of their respective drinks and let what had just been revealed sink in.

"So you have to be really careful whatever you do then?" Jake finally asked.

"Yeah, don't even think about leaving the house these days without gloves on," Charley confirmed glumly.

"At least it's just your hands though, right? I mean obviously it still sucks, but at least you don't have to worry about touching or being touched anywhere else, right?"

As Charley took another sip of her drink, she just stared over at Jake and shrugged.

"It is just your hands right?" Jake repeated, concern building in his voice.

Charley continued slurping up her drink until it was empty.

"I'm beat, Jake. It was good of you to buy me these drinks but I'm ready to go home now. Would you be able to arrange that taxi for me like you promised?"

As much as Jake wanted an answer to his question, he relented and ordered Charley her ride home. They finished their drinks as they waited for the cab to arrive and kept conversation to topics other than Charley's abilities. As the notification dinged through that the cab was here, Jake played his last card.

"Charley, this has been really good fun. If I give you my number, would you maybe consider meeting up again some time?"

Charley had considered it for a moment, looking like she was likely to say no, but then surprised Jake by saying, "sure, ok."

She passed him her phone and allowed him to enter the number before thanking him and heading out to the taxi. Jake sat back down and considered ordering another drink but then decided against it. For now the best thing he could do was go home and try and wrap his head around everything he'd seen and heard today.

* * * * *

It was two weeks later when Jake finally heard from Charley again. He'd just about given up hope that she might contact him but there was a message waiting for him on his phone after he'd finished the last day of shooting on 'Highborn Whores 3'. Shooting had overrun by a number of days but it was one of the studio's most lucrative series, an almost bizarre mix of Downton Abbey and triple penetration anal. In any case, Jake was glad for the shoot to be over and even more glad to see what Charley had messaged him.

'I've had a rough day on set and don't really have anyone else to ask. Would you mind meeting me for a drink again? Same place as last time? It's on me this time...'

He'd replied back saying he'd love to and was now waiting just outside the bar for Charley to arrive. When she did, it was in her familiar leather jacket and gloves combo but she was wearing her hair up today in a loose and messy bun.

"Hey Charley," Jake said.

"Hi Jake, thanks for coming. Shall we go in?"

Jake went and sat in the same space they'd been in two weeks prior whilst Charley ordered drinks. She brought them over to the table but along with what the order had been a few weeks ago, she brought along two shots. Not what Jake was expecting but he wasn't against the idea. Before he could pick one up however, Charley had downed both of them.

"Jeez, that bad a day?" Jake asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Charley said with a grimace.

Things were quiet for a moment as she began to sip her other drink through a straw and Jake took a swig of his own before asking any more.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Yeah, but I need more booze first. Go get me two more shots, I've opened a tab."

Jake did as she asked but was very concerned. He'd drowned his sorrows once or twice too, but this seemed excessive. He asked the barman for two more shots of whatever Charley had just had and spied that the bottle was a very high percentage spirit. He thanked the barman and took them back, but specifically kept hold of one of them.

"Maybe space these out a little?" he suggested.

"Whatever," Charley said, downing the shot to hand.

"So whatever happened must be pretty bad..." Jake began.

"I am done with that stupid studio," Charley interrupted.

"Oh?" Jake said, a little shocked as she seemed to have a pretty good thing going with them.

"I got approached by one of the higher ups today asking if I would consider taking a more 'active' role in their films. I told them no and that I was happy doing what I was doing. He tried to explain to me that the market was crying out for something 'fresh and new' and that 'seeing the magic happen' would give them something so unique that everyone would make a butt ton of money."

Charley took another large gulp of her rum and lemonade before continuing.

"He said that I spend most of my time jerking the actors off anyway, the only difference would be that it would be on film this time. I was actually considering it for a moment, being the idiot that I am, and then he added that it would mean I'd get to 'enjoy the fruits of my labour' too..."

"So he wanted you to..." Jake interjected.

"Yeah, he wanted me fucking on film too. I told him 'no way' and he just kept pushing and pushing. I mean, even without what would happen, I still wouldn't have wanted to do it, you know?"

Jake nodded but took particular notice of how she had said 'what would happen' and made a mental note to ask about it later.

"So eventually he persuaded me that the jerking off would be enough. I'd be playing the part of some sort of 'preparer' for the main character and then once I'd gotten him big enough, I'd disappear into the shadows. I still wasn't convinced about the whole thing, but then he pulled some legal bullshit on me saying that my contract stated I was willing and required to do 'whatever necessary' in my role."

"Gotta read that fine print," Jake said with a sympathetic smile.

"Uh huh. Anyway I got whisked away into wardrobe and they put me in this skin tight sort of bodice thing that covered my torso and not much else. My legs and arms were fully bare and the suit at the back basically rode right up between my buttcheeks making it look like I wasn't wearing any underwear from the back."

Jake couldn't help but enjoy imagining that for a second before giving his attention back to Charley.

"So we get to the shoot, the actor is a guy I've worked with before, not that we spoke much or anything, and the director tells me what he wants. I walk in, 'service' the guy and then walk out. Simple. He yells action and I wait for my cue. I come in, act as sexy as I can, which is embarrassing in itself, and then do what I normally do. I start to jerk him off, he grows, although because we're fully on camera, this time he's moaning..."

Charley took another sip of her drink, almost finishing it.

"Then I see the director is talking to a crew member who has this board they use to give directions. He writes on the board, spins it round and it says 'work on his balls too'. It wasn't what we agreed and I've not actually done that before, it's always just been the cock, but I wasn't exactly in a position to say no. So I keep working his cock with one hand and use the other on his balls. They start to grow, just like everything else I touch does, and this actor is really getting into it, like his moans sound genuine at this point. About a minute later and I'm basically holding two baseballs in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. Then all of a sudden the actor bats my hands away, grabs his cock and just starts jerking it himself!"

Jake was aware that Charley's voice was getting steadily louder, which given their subject matter would probably get them a little unwanted attention. It was probably just as well that they were sitting in a secluded corner of the bar.

"So I think my job is done now but as I'm about to go he shouts 'wait!' and then proceeds to blast his cum right in my face!!"

Charley had practically shouted this, but clearly she didn't care, her anger at what had happened overriding any sense of caution.

"And because I'd made his balls grow, there was tons of it. Like a completely excessive amount!"

Charley sat back for a moment as if stewing over the thought before finishing her drink.

"Anyway, I was covered head to toe in the stuff and the director yells 'cut' and starts congratulating everyone like what had just happened was some sort of team effort. He then tells me to go get ready for the next scene and I'm like 'what next scene?' Turns out the higher up I'd spoken to had told the director I'd said 'yes' to a full sex scene and had also told him that if I 'changed my mind' to tell me that I'm contractually obligated to do it. I'd had enough. I told him to stick his damn contract up his ass, went and got clean and then left."

Jake sat back dumbfounded. No wonder she was angry. He slowly pushed the other shot towards her which she grabbed and downed.

"I'm sorry to hear this happened to you Charley," Jake said. "The industry is supposed to have standards and I know that people get exploited all the time anyway, I'm no fool, but none of that should have happened to you."

"The worst of it is that I don't even know if I can back out of my contract. It was a big grand gesture and everything but for all I know I'm still beholden to those assholes," Charley replied with a grimace. "I mean so much of what I have is tied up in that contract. They bought me a fully furnished apartment, pay me really well, keep me from having every bozo under the sun harassing me for my abilities. I mean, if the contract is broken now, what happens? It's not like they'll let me keep the apartment and even if I did, I'd have no way of paying the rent, let alone any other bills!"

Jake could see Charley was beginning to get quite upset now as the reality of everything was sinking in.

"Plus what else can I do to make money? If I had balls they'd literally have them in a vice right now!"

Jake let her vent for a moment while he tried to think of a solution.

"Well, look, like you said you don't know what the situation is yet. It might be that you go back tomorrow, get a slap on the wrist and then have to go through with it anyway. Not suggesting you do, by the way, just sounding out possibilities," Jake quickly added. "Or you go back tomorrow and they say 'you're done' or fired or whatever and you find out what that entails."

Things were quiet for a moment. Jake was considering if what he was going to say next was appropriate or not and eventually decided to go for it.

"I know this will be weird seeing as I'm essentially still a complete stranger, but if the worst does happen and you find yourself without a home, you're welcome to stay with me until you get back on your feet..."

"That's... kind and everything Jake, but I don't think I could move in with some random guy, no offence."

"Don't think of it as 'moving in' per se, we're not a couple after all... but if I had a friend in a situation like yours and I didn't at least offer my support, that'd be pretty shitty of me, don't you think?"

"I guess..." Charley replied, "but there's a bunch of other complications that would cause. Like I'd have to be extra careful with having my gloves on just in case I accidentally touched you or something..."