Chapter 35

“Mandy, what’s up, love?” I asked, “What’s going on?”

There were tears in her eyes, and her body language told me she was upset. I was starting to get really worried.

“Zak, I am sorry, but I think I should talk to Sally before I tell anyone else,” Mandy said. To be fair, it was a private matter, and she was doing the right thing.

We all went and sat on the patio, all with beers in our hands.

Isabella had one more beer as she waited for a taxi to take her home. I saw Mandy slip her some cash for the fare. She gave us both hugs and kisses before she left. She whispered into my ear that she would like to see me again, in front of the camera or in private.

Toni and Troy came back just after she had left; they had walked to the beach and back. Toni got them both a beer, and we all sat on the patio, waiting for Sally to come back. It was ten minutes later that the door opened, and Sally walked in, quickly followed by Carl and Andy.

When we heard the front door open, we all went into the kitchen to meet with Sally.

Sally could tell something was up just by looking at Mandy.

“Mandy, what’s up, love?” she asked, “What the hell is going on?”

“Colin called; I think we need to talk,” Mandy said, looking around at us. “We need to talk in private, so no offence, guys.”

She looked around the room and smiled apologetically at us all.

“Right, come on, let’s go outside,” Mandy said and led Sally out on the patio.

The rest of us sat in the kitchen, and Toni made tea for everyone. No words were spoken; we just looked at each other and wondered what was happening. It was half an hour later when the two ladies came in. Mandy sat down, and Sally stood in front of us. There were signs of tears in her eyes.

“Okay, first of all, you need to know that I have not had anything to do with this, but it looks like we all might be out of a job,” she said, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Fucking hell,” Andy said, and we all looked around each other. Everyone just looked shocked.

So, Mandy told us the story. Colin had been dubious about this trip, but things had not been rosy between the two business partners for a long time. He wanted Sally to do more extreme movies, and she would not have it.

The call had been to tell Sally that he was ending the partnership. He had taken half the money out of the joint account, which was a blow, but he also owned the cameras and editing gear, as well as all the lighting and sound equipment.

He had told Mandy that if Sally wanted it, she needed to find around one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or he would auction it off. I could tell by the look on Sally’s face that she did not have that sort of cash.

For a good few minutes, silence fell over the room. Back then, one hundred and fifty thousand pounds was a king’s ransom. It also occurred to me that getting an investor to buy into a porn movie studio was not the easiest thing to do. So, I might be out of a job by the end of the week.

“So, what happens now?” Carl asked, “And what about our wages?”

I looked at him; he was talking like a complete dickhead. This was more important than our next pay packet. I really wanted to smack him in the mouth there and then.

“Okay, wages first; this month’s salary will be paid after that. I am not sure what will happen,” Sally said, “I am sorry, but if Colin has taken half the money in the joint account, there is nothing I can do. It is his, but it leaves me short of money; I have to pay for this trip, the flights, villa hire and stuff,”

We all looked at each other. I had a few quid in the bank that would tide me over for a month or two, but after that, God knows. Moving into the house had wiped me out.

“As for the business, I have no idea; I need to go back and sort that out,” Sally said and looked around the room. There was a sombre feeling in the room.

“OH, well, we need to make the most of what time we have left,” Mandy said, “and not dwell on things.”

“Okay, so there is a change of plan,” Sally said, “Tomorrow, we will do the movies with Zak and me, and at the same time, Mandy will arrange our flights. I am flying back on Monday. If we can get a flight, then you guys will film the stuff with Sue and Jo and then hopefully fly back on Wednesday”.

We chatted some more about the situation before Sally said she had some calls to make. None of us fancied going out, so we agreed to order in a Chinese takeaway.

So, food was ordered, and we all sat on the patio, drinking beer. There was little said as there was little to say. We were all in our own little bubble; the only person not in the doldrums was Troy; he didn’t have skin in the game, as the Yanks say.

Sally came out of the house and grabbed a beer.

“Right, he has agreed to hand the company over to me if I can raise the money for the equipment; he has arranged a valuation on Tuesday,” she said between sips of the beer.

“So, there is hope for us yet,” Toni said and gave Sally a weak smile.

“There is always hope, love,” Sally said, “I will do all I can to keep the studio alive!”

Minutes later, the doorbell rang; it was our food.

Andy had offered to pay, which I thought was a great offer. We all needed to do what we could to keep the expenses down. We all sat down, and the food was laid out on the table, still in the silver foil containers.

We all ate and chatted, but it was a forced conversation. After the meal, I helped Mandy to wash up.

The rest of the guys were outside smoking and drinking beer.

“This is a shit storm,” Mandy said as she washed the crockery.

“I wish there was something I could do,” I said as I dried the dishes.

“Once we are back, I will go and see my accountant. A lot of my money is tied up in investments,” Mandy told me, “I feel like I need to do something; Sally and I have been a team for years.”

“Let’s hope that the stuff we have filmed this week sells well,” I said. I knew we had worked hard, and that must be a good sign.

“We need to pray that Lorenzo likes all of the movies and buys decent amounts!” Mandy replied. We all knew that that was the make-or-break for this trip.

“So how does it actually work?” I asked. To be honest, I had no idea how the films that we made got edited or distributed.

“So, Lorenzo arranged the shoot, we do the movies, and once they are edited, Lorenzo will watch them and decide how many of each he can move on through his shops,” Mandy said, “he will get a good deal, but if he buys a fair few then we can all be happy, but if he doesn’t like then we are fucked, we will also sell them to our suppliers at home.”

Once we had finished, we took more beers out onto the patio; again, there was little being said. We all just sat and pondered life...

Toni and Troy went to bed first, followed by Carl, and a few minutes later, Andy bid us goodnight. I got the feeling that Mandy and Sally needed time to talk, so I left them to it. I went to my room and showered, then I lay in bed and pondered my life.

I had not thought about life much once I had gotten into the porno industry. An hour later, the door opened, and Mandy walked in. We kissed before she went to have a shower.

We lay in bed, just holding each other, nothing being said until we both drifted off to sleep.

I woke the following morning and rolled over to find that Mandy had left the room already. I put on my running gear and went out onto the patio to do some warm-ups. Once I was ready to go, I got some bottled water from the fridge and did my usual run.

By the time I got back, the whole team was in the kitchen drinking tea and munching on toast. It was obvious that the team were trying to put a brave face on things, but it was a very sombre breakfast table. There was none of the usual banter.

They all looked at me as I walked in; it was obvious they had been waiting for me.

“Sorry guys, I won’t be long; I just need a shower!” I said apologetically.

“No rush!” Sally said.

I shaved and showered, then dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. I went into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of tea. Mandy pushed a plate of toast my way.

“So now we are all here; I want to run you over the scenarios I have in mind for today,” Sally said, and that grabbed everyone’s attention.

“Okay, so the first film will be me coming into the bedroom, Zak will be having a crafty wank, and I will offer, as his favourite step-aunty, to help him out,” she said and looked around. Everyone was nodding. To be fair, if you browse any porn site these days, you will see thousands of videos with the same scenario.

“We need to get some sexy undies in your size, love, but the rest of the stuff is all good. We have a bedroom set ready to go, but it will need dressing.” Toni said, “We will need a girlie mag.”

“Okay, can you and Troy go into town and sort that stuff out, please?” Sally asked, “If you call a cab, we can take the minibus down to the studio.”

“Yes, love, no worries”, Toni replied and winked at Troy.

“The second scenario will be Zak visiting a hooker for the first time,” Sally said with a cheeky wink.

“Now that sounds good; that’s something new,” Mandy said with a cheeky wink.

“Again, we will need some sexy undies, please, Toni,” She smiled over at Toni, “You know my size, don’t you?”

“Yes, Sally, leave it with me,” she said with a wink, stood up, and Troy trotted off after her.

“And don’t forget the receipts!” Sally shouted after them. She has to keep the taxman happy.

“NO worries!” Toni replied.

“Right, I need to call Colin. Can someone please brew up?” Sally said and walked out of the room.

I made more tea, Mandy took some notes, and Andy and Carl went outside for a cigarette and a cup of tea.

After half an hour or so, the lads came back in, and Sally soon followed them. We were all eager to ask how the call had gone, but at the same time, we were all too worried to do so. She didn’t offer us any information, so we didn’t ask.

“Okay, guys, let’s get down to the studio and get the sets dressed and the techie stuff all set up,” Sally said. She seemed upbeat; there were no tears in her eyes, and there was a smile on her face.

She was a good actress, to be fair.

Everyone stood up, and we got moving. We all piled onto the minibus, and I drove us down to the studio. Once we were there, Mandy and I made up two of the bedroom sets.

Sally went into the editing studio and had a look at some of the stuff we had already filmed. Andy and Carl set up the lights and the sound booms before moving the cameras into place. We would use a mix of the larger trolley-mounted ones and the smaller (not much!) shoulder-mounted ones.

Sally emerged from the editing suite, her face beaming with contentment.

“The stuff we did with Isabella is bloody amazing”, she smiled, “We have enough for a long and short.”

“That’s good,” Mandy said as she put the finishing touches on the second bedroom.

“She did mention that one of her mates might be up for doing a film, “I said as I drank from a bottle of cold water.

“I have her number; I will give her a call,” Mandy said.

I looked around. We were all good to go, and we all just gravitated to the canteen. Carl made drinks. I think he was still trying to get back into Sally’s good books, and we chatted about Spain and the weather.

Andy was thinking about stopping on for another week; Carl said he might do the same. At the start of the trip, I was thinking the same, but now our jobs were at risk; I had decided not to waste any money.

I guess the closing of the studio would affect us all in different ways.

Toni and Troy arrived a few minutes later and dropped two large shopping bags onto the floor. Their arrival galvanised us, and we all got up and got ready to do some filming. I was more than prepared to get stuck into Sally, that was for sure.

I went and got showered; I had been sitting around for ten minutes when Toni came in.