“Hey, Dad. Is there an old wooden queen size bed frame anywhere I could use?” Brian asked as he stared at the vista of his father’s collection filling the old sales floor of the closed down hardware store.

His father let out a hum as he thought, and then said, “There’s a queen you could use over in the northwest corner, as long as you don’t scratch up the head and footboards. That’s real wood, not the particle board garbage everything is made out of nowadays. One of these days, I’m going to find someone who will pay me what it’s worth.”

“I’ll be careful with them,” Brian said as he wandered through the maze toward where his father had indicated the bed frame was hiding.

His father asked, “This for that horror flick you’ve been talking about?”

“No, this is a commission from a historical channel that wants a short reenactment piece to put in one of their videos.”

“Well, be sure to send it to me when it goes up. Just grab a mattress and box spring from the stacks. Leave the plastic on them.”

“No problem. They mailed me a period recreation quilt that will hide the mattress anyway.” Upon reaching the indicated spot, he saw the headboard wrapped in shipping blankets. He was always amazed by how well his father knew where every single item in the chaotic jumble resided. A person less familiar with the space could get lost for an hour trying to find the door. “Found it. Thanks, Dad.”

“Can’t argue with making something off it until I can sell it. Got to get back to work.”

“Me too. It will take me half the day to carry this through the maze back to my studio.”

His father laughed and said goodbye. Brian put his phone in his pocket, and went to work extracting the pieces of the bed frame. Upon taking off part of one of the shipping blankets, he was pleased to see that the headboard was moderately ornate - exactly what he was looking for.

He grunted as he lifted it on his shoulder. Even with the shipping blanket as padding, it wasn’t going to be pleasant to carry alone. He made his way through the narrow aisles, and then pushed through the double doors to his abode. In sharp contrast to the chaos only his father could understand, Brian’s studio space in the back was perfectly ordered - everything in its place.

Ad revenue from short films on video sharing sites - and commissions such as the one he was working on - had allowed him to up his game with good cameras, lighting, and a green screen. Having just finished his first year of college, he hoped to expand his passion into a real career in filmmaking. He leaned the headboard up against a wall, and headed back out into the jumble.

After a few trips through the winding corridors of accumulation, he finished unwrapping the bed frame and assembled it in front of the green screen. It wasn’t a period piece, but it would pass well enough for the average person with the accurate quilt on top.

Fortunately, the mattresses and box springs were stacked very near the door to his studio. While they were bulky and awkward, the shorter, straighter path made bringing them in no more difficult than packing in the pieces of the frame. With the bed fully assembled, he put on a sheet to cover the plastic, and then draped the quilt over the bed. It barely overlapped one side once he pulled the camera side down to where he wanted it, but it was enough.

His phone sounded off, and Brian pulled it out to see a text that read, “What’s up?”

He grinned and sighed. The text was from his oldest friend, Heaven. Though she went by her middle name - Anne - he thought her given name suited her far better, and it was how he thought of her. Ever since she’d broken up with her boyfriend, Heaven had been spending a lot of time with him. It was always bittersweet.

“Just setting up a shot,” he replied.

“Guess what? I’m outside. Mind if I hang?”

“Be right there,” he answered, and headed that way.

The two of them had grown up next door to each other, and their parents were best friends. So, they’d been spending time together since before either of them could remember. Since they were the only two kids of similar age in the neighborhood, they had gravitated toward each other in school as well.

Brian had developed a crush on her in about the third grade.

He finally screwed up his courage to ask her to a dance in middle school. Unfortunately, someone else had already asked her, and she told him that she didn’t really think about him that way.

Ouch.

As familiar and comfortable as their friendship was, his feelings were always lurking. They hadn’t cooled in the slightest in all the years since. Some days, he was perfectly fine just being her friend. Other times, a whiff of her perfume or a little too much exposed skin left him aching.

He wondered which it would be today. Odds are it would be the painful latter, because he had spent so much time with her of late. Every time she went through a breakup, she leaned on him, and the closeness made it more difficult to ignore his inner desire for more. He did everything in his power to suppress it and hide it from her - and had never made her uncomfortable by asking her out again.

She waved as soon as she saw him - which was only a few steps from the door thanks to the walls of his father’s collection. It was definitely going to be one of those days. Her shoulder length auburn hair rustled in the breeze with just a few strands covering the side of her face. She was wearing a pair of shorts that showed off her legs, and a tight, sleeveless top that left her midriff bare.

Brian unlocked the door to let her in. “Hey, you,” she said, and then leaned in to give him a brief kiss on the cheek.

It gave him chills.

“Let’s go. I’m always afraid all this stuff is going to collapse on us,” she said, and let out a little laugh.

He chuckled as he locked the door. “Want to lead the way?”

She shook her head. “I’m already lost.”

As they walked through the cluttered store floor, Brian thought he noticed something pensive in her expression. “Everything okay?”

“Hmm? Oh. Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered.

It sounded a little forced to him.

Once they passed through the double doors, she looked surprised by the bed.

“I’m doing a commission for a history channel,” he explained. “The background will be green screen, but I’m going with as many practical props as I can.”

She nodded and said, “I didn’t think it looked like something you would put in one of your movies.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Brian asked, thinking she still looked anxious.

She glanced down for a moment, shrugged, and offered a half smile as she asked, “Is it that obvious?”

“Well, a little,” he answered.

“I kind of want to ask you something.”

“Like what?” he asked. He noticed that her cheeks had turned a little red.

“Well, there’s this contest.” She paused for a second, and then continued a little more quickly, “There’s a five hundred dollar prize, and I was hoping you might help me win it.”

“How can I help?”

“Well, it’s video...” She pulled out her phone and said, “Let me show you.” Heaven tapped and swiped on her phone, then held it out to him.”

Brian’s eyes widened when he saw the advertisement of a five hundred dollar prize for the winning amateur masturbation video on a porn sharing site.

Heaven quickly said, “I figured, you’re a guy, and you make movies, so you could give me advice on what would be hot, and how to make it look totally awesome.”

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

“I know. I know. It’s soo awkward, but I really want to win that money. So, do you think you could help me out? Pretty please?”

He couldn’t resist her. Those big, expressive eyes, the flush in her cheeks, and the playful lilt in her voice was too much. “I can try,” he answered.

“So, what do you think?”

I think I just graduated to the King of the Friendzone. Concentrate. Pretend it’s any other movie, he thought, despite knowing it was anything but. “Do you have any idea ... Have you watched any videos like that?”

She said, “I watched a few, and they all seem to be the same. She’s only wearing panties, then takes them off, and diddles herself, with lots of screaming and moaning. It just seems so fake and boring.”

“You want to do something different?” Brian asked, still in complete disbelief that he was having the conversation with her.

“Mmm hmm.”

“Let me think a second,” he said, stalling for time. The fact of the matter was, he couldn’t think of anything except her playing with herself.

“If it’s too much, that’s okay.”

There was only the tiniest hint of disappointment in her voice, but that was enough. He latched on to her comment about the videos she watched feeling fake. “Maybe start it out more naturally. Come into the shot wearing normal clothes.”

“Just like, what I’m wearing now?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Like I just came home feeling horny and have to do something about it?”

Jesus. He nodded and said, “Uh huh.”

“So, kind of like there just happens to be a camera there, and I don’t know about it?”

“Sure.”

“Maybe...” She stopped, pointed at the bed, and asked, “Can I sit down and try something? See what you think?”

He barely had time to nod an acknowledgment before she walked over to the bed, paused a couple of steps from it as if hitting a mark, and then continued on to sit down.

She let out a sigh, ran her fingers through her auburn locks, and then reached down to slip off her right shoe. It landed on the floor with a quiet thump, and was quickly followed by the left. Next, she pulled off each sock in turn, and dropped them on top of her shoes.

Heaven sighed again, scooted backward, and then turned so she could lie down on the bed. Once reclined, she briefly caressed her bare midriff, and then slowly slid her hand up to her breasts. A quiet moan escaped her as she squeezed one of the big, beautiful mounds.

Brian was mesmerized. His cock stiffened rapidly as he watched the sexy display.

Heaven suddenly dropped her hands to the bed, sat up, and asked, “Something like that? Is that hot?”

That is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, he thought as he tried to ignore the throbbing between his legs. “Yeah. That’s good.”

“It’s not too slow? I was thinking I would play with my boobs through my top for a while, and then slowly pull it up to show off my bra, and then pull them out. You know, a lot of teasing.”

“That should work,” he said, and inwardly winced as his voice cracked.

“What do you think is hotter - just fingers, or a vibrator?”

He absolutely had a preference. Articulating that he would prefer just fingers was a different story though. “Uhm ... Well ... I guess just ... You know.”

“It would seem more spontaneous without a dildo or anything, wouldn’t it?”

He gave a quick nod, hoping he wasn’t showing the mix of anxiety and arousal he felt in his expression.

“I like it,” she said, a smile spreading across her face. “I don’t really want to record it on my phone, though.”

“If you want to borrow a camera-” he began.

“Do you think you could record it and edit it for me? I just know it will be amazing if you do it.”

Correction, you’re Emperor for life of the Friendzone, he thought. Stop it. She’s your friend, and asking you for a favor.

She said, “I know it’s a lot to ask.” Once again, there was just a touch of disappointment in her voice.

“I can do it,” he quickly responded.

A wide smile spread across her face. “No time like the present. I mean, you even have a bed set up. It’s perfect. Just need to put one of my comforters on it or something.”

This is actually happening. Right now, he thought in disbelief.

She asked, “Do you think you could find a nightstand or something?”

“I think I know where I can find one out there.”

“Maybe a lamp ... I could bring my phone dock from home too.” She gestured toward the green screen. “Can you work your magic with that and make it look like my bedroom wall? What about the floor?”

“I’ve got some carpet sections and mock-ups of hardwood.”

She giggled and said, “Hardwood. Why don’t you get things ready while I go home and pick out a few things to make it look lived in? I’ll need to wait an hour and a half or so until Mom leaves, so she doesn’t ask why I’m putting stuff in the car.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you so, so much,” she said, and then walked over to hug him. “Let me out, and then I’ll see you in a little while?”

“Sure.”

Brian waited for her to put back on her shoes, walked her to the door, watched her drive away, and then slumped against the glass door with a groan. He was committed, even though he was certain it was going to be the death of him. Concentrate. Set up the shot, he told himself.

First things first, he located the nightstand he’d mentioned. It was a modern piece that was part of a lot his father had picked up. It was nice, but nothing special. It was in the resell part of the collection near the front door, but despite that, it had been there for a couple of years already. He set it up next to the bed, and then returned for a nice lamp.

Upon running an extension cord and planning how to hide it, he found that the lamp worked, and the bulb was even good. Another outlet would provide power to her phone dock on the nightstand.

The technical work actually managed to calm his nerves, allowing him to somewhat forget the truth of the shot he was setting up. He assembled a second green screen, allowing for an angle shot from the foot of the bed. Then he put down the hardwood flooring sections, which were actually veneer over plywood.

He brought in lights, and used filters to give the scene a bit of warm ambiance. Then he set up two cameras, with one shooting from the foot of the bed, and another coming from the side. He was deep enough into his director’s mindset to even grab a dolly a friend had made for him, in order to have an overhead angle coming from the foot of the bed.

Thinking about that shot was what broke him out of his forced disconnection from reality. He could imagine her naked and masturbating, with her face flushed and tight with pleasure. He squeezed his throbbing erection through his jeans as he fantasized - which was all too familiar to him.

His face burned when an alert from his phone interrupted the fantasy, announcing that Heaven was on her way. He desperately turned his thoughts toward the most disturbing things he could think of, trying to calm down his raging erection. He’d mostly succeeded by the time Heaven sent a message saying she was outside.

She was dressed in the same outfit as before, but with a backpack slung over her shoulder.

“Could you grab the comforter out of my car?” she asked when he unlocked the door.

“Uh huh,” he responded, and then slipped past her. He saw the comforter in her back seat, and picked it up. The faint scent of lavender coming from the comforter caused him to break out into gooseflesh. The aroma came from the lotion she used, and he’d come to associate it so strongly with her that he couldn’t smell it without thinking of her. His last girlfriend had used a similar lotion, and he knew without a doubt that it was what had attracted him to her more than anything.

Her inability to understand that his relationship with Heaven was completely - regrettably - platonic was what had caused her to break up with him. He hadn’t been out with anyone since, and it had been a couple of months.