Chapter 23

Joe and Connie skipped their early morning exercise ritual, sleeping in on the large master bedroom bed at the mansion and waking up with the heavy heads of hangovers, Joe’s definitely worse. Lindy provided aspirin and water, the other two lovers downstairs making breakfast from a pitcher of pancake mix the cook had left.

“Freja left a message,” Lindy told Joe, handing him his phone.

“She must have come to Connie’s this morning,” Joe figured, “and wondered where we were.”

“Likely since it’s nearly noon.”

Freja and Greta had decided to celebrate with the rest of the Swedish coeds, picking them up at the glass house via the fixers’ limo service and going clubbing. A few of their friends were envious that they would stay while others felt ready to return home soon. Four of the young women found young men to go home with, a couple meeting their dates, brief affairs during their vacation, and so the limo had less people in it when returning the coeds to the glass house or to Dave’s or Connie’s apartment.

Connie’s absence when Freja arrived she figured meant Connie would be sleeping at the loft or something, but her concern increased waking up alone, which she expressed in her message.

“Sorry Freja,” Joe immediately said when she picked up. “A long night and I got kind of drunk and slept in with Connie and Lindy at Johanna’s place.”

“I figured you would be here early.”

“I know, but...”

“No, I understand. When will you be home?”

“If you want I could pick you up. We’re having breakfast here.”

“Breakfast,” she laughed. “Okay.”

After he hung up, Lindy offered to give Freja a ride. “You’re still in recovery,” she smirked.

“You still have my keys?” Connie asked.

“Yep.” Since she’d already showered and wore her shirt and panties from the night before, Lindy just put on her pants and shoes and headed off.

Joe and Connie shared the complicated shower Joe finally figuring it out. They mostly cleaned themselves while enjoying the view of the other, but ended it with an embrace of wet warm bodies, the result extended his half hard erection. “I’m wet too, inside,” Connie giggled, rubbing her abdomen against his hardness. “But we should head down to breakfast.”

“I guess we should,” Joe reluctantly agreed, the pleasurable contact and the sensuous if short kiss after seemed to salve his hangover as much as the aspirin and water.

“Hello sleepyheads,” Johanna grinned at the table in the servant’s kitchen. She stood and took hers and Brit’s plates to the sink. “There’s plenty of pancakes in the warming pan, and sausage in the other one. Coffee’s relatively fresh and juice is in the fridge.” They’d already put out settings with mugs and glasses and silverware, Joe and Connie grabbing the plates from there and bringing them to the counter.

“So,” Johanna continued while Joe and Connie grabbed breakfast, “I called Kate and Soledad, and they’re both coming over.”

“You talked to Tom?” Joe asked.

“Left an email with the itinerary and a by the way at the end. He’ll be cool with it and fuck him if he’s not. But Kate’s excited. It seems she’s written some songs and never dared to present them to Tom. Hopefully they don’t suck, but we’ll do them anyway I think.”

“So she’ll do hers instead of Tom’s?”

“Both I think for her to sing. I think she should do Stains in the Alley.”

“Tom seemed pleased it will be the theme song for the animation.”

“As much as Mr Cool can seem pleased,” Johanna chuckled.

“Yeah,” Joe chuckled with her.

Freja and Lindy arrived then, both Joe and Connie greeting their Swedish lover with a hug and kiss, Joe apologizing again.

“I should have figured,” Freja responded.

“Did you guys have fun?” Brit asked her while she and Lindy filled their plates.

“It was fun if loud,” Freja grinned. “Since Greta and I no longer stay there, we hardly ever see them, but with the loud music mostly we could talk only in the limo really. We had fun dancing together.”

“You just danced with them?” Brit asked.

“I did. Greta danced with a few boys but only one dance each, her way of saying no while I just said no right away. If they tried sitting with me I told them the seat was taken. The hardest was when one of the girls had her sort of boyfriend, some guy she had been sleeping with, arrive with his friends, probably telling them Swedish girls are easy. These,” she lifted her c cup breasts, “tend to attract predators, so most of them tried hitting on me, offering me a drink or a dance or attempting to talk, which was basically not possible. One even stood in front of me with his genitals practically in my face. Once they got the message they let me be. But a couple of the girls might have proved at least some Swedish girls are easy, ending up staying with their boy when we left. The other three boys went off to try their luck somewhere else. I never saw them again.

“It seems strange trying to start a relationship when you can’t hear each other. All you have is the physical, are they attractive? Or maybe dancing with them as a seduction, getting close and rubbing against each other like the mating dance of animals. Perhaps all they want is a drunken fuck for a night, because how would they knew if anything else works? If there is anything compatible besides the physical attraction? And after they fuck, then what happens? Do they try to communicate, to have a different sort of intercourse? And if they discover neither of them care what the other says, do they get back to fucking? Or do they just gaze at each other, at what attracted them originally and what they hoped to see and now can see, what was beneath those clothes.”

“Men don’t care about that other stuff,” Johanna decided. “They just want their dicks wet with some new pussy.”

“And how would you know?” Connie smirked.

“I can tell from their eyes stripping me, fucking me in their imagination.”

“And you don’t fantasize about women? I know when I look at men, I check out the face, the body, what they’re packing.”

“But when you’re actually naked,” Lindy put in. “When it actually gets real, no longer imagined, how many things can go wrong? How they smell? How they treat you? Whether they appreciate you or close their eyes and get off? When you’re lost in it, your clit buzzing, your juices flowing, maybe none of that has to matter, just pleasure, maybe enough that you don’t even really have to cum. Smelly bodies don’t matter, the messiness doesn’t matter. But how easily it is for that to be interrupted. Maybe the guy just says something stupid and you realize you’re fucking a moron, a cruel thought, but it just happens. Or he kisses you and his breath smells horrible. Or...” she sniffled, “he hurts you.”

“Lindy?” Joe murmured.

“Just give me a minute.” She calmed herself with several steady breaths. “I guess what I’m saying is Freja’s right, a woman really should know the man she fucks, enough to like him and trust him. Things can still go wrong, but mostly there’s a better chance it won’t, and if it’s friends maybe easier to tell him it’s not working. But for a man...”

“It’s true men seem built to pursue strange,” Joe said carefully, “to just get their dicks wet. And pleasure pretty much terminates with a much easier climax, which, by the way, is the woman’s advantage. It may take them longer to cum, but there’s no real need for a reset for most.”

“Energizer bunnies,” Brit laughed.

“At the same time, attraction, rubbing bodies and going to bed without any real intimate connection can feel as empty for a man as it does for a woman, and even though we cum, maybe quicker than we hoped, the aftermath can be just as uncomfortable.”

“Sometimes,” Connie argued, “we just need to get laid. That’s true of women as well as men. For whatever reason, a dry patch and you need to confirm your attractiveness, or some kind of spring fever where you’re just plain horny, or just for some fun, a night of mindless sex can be quite enjoyable and even memorable sometimes. It’s true there’s risks, women tend to be much more vulnerable, but there’s a lot less psychos out there than the media would let you believe, and even if there are probably a lot less of them, women can be pretty scary crazy too. But if it’s not about cheating, and by the way women cheat too, maybe not as much as men, but a lot of women do, it can be harmless fun.”

“Perhaps I had no interest because of you and Lindy and Joe satisfying me,” Freja realized.

“Especially Joe,” Lindy laughed.

“I suppose because I never thought I would like a woman to be my lover, but I have found much pleasure with you and Connie.”

“Back at you babe,” Lindy responded.

“I guess you got my inner feminist reacting,” Connie explained. “Not the man hating feminist but evening the field. The notion of women being sluts and hos while men are playboys or playas. The male predator and the female prey, the wolf devouring the innocent lamb. It took so long to get rid of the notion of the impropriety of female lust, hysteria, that is a horny female, a classification of madness last century, fucking cutting off our pleasure with the monstrous clitorectomy, the shaming of our natural instincts, of getting wet so the man can penetrate with his hard cock, and wanting that to happen, enjoying it in order to procreate. Things have definitely improved at least in the non-Islamic world, the vote and women accepted as professionals with genderless professions finally and so forth. And yet those double standards remain, girls are still shamed while boys are celebrated, the macho and the gentle feminine still the polar classifications of male and female, the boy plays with soldiers and trucks while the girl plays with dolls and dainty tea parties. The boy gets a rifle from his dad while the girl sneaks her mother’s make-up. And if it goes the other way, the boy liking dolls and make-up and the girl preferring war games or hunting, preferring to dress in camo instead of dresses, then they’re faggots and dykes. Maybe we’ve gotten more accepting of cross genders, but I imagine the bullying is just as fierce. Ultimately a man is still supposed to act like a man and a woman like a woman.”

Everyone around her laughed. “What?” she asked.

“Of course we agree,” Johanna explained. “But I don’t think I’ve seen you declaiming like that on a soap box.”

“Sorry,” Connie blushed.

“Don’t be,” Joe insisted. “We get where you’re coming from, and it’s definitely worth saying. It’s just as confident and competent as you are when you work, like Jo said, I’ve never seen you so serious or passionate. I guess it surprised us.”

“I guess it is something I’m passionate about, a pet peeve when confronted with the boys’ clubs and the arrogance and the condescension, but so often I keep it stewing inside me having to deal with roles men expect, the passivity in order not to make waves, to be thought of as a bitch, more double standards.”

“You can call me on it anytime you want.”

“I know, and by and large it would be venting about someone else.”

“Like Henry?” Lindy asked.

“Part of the charm of taking the reins, of guiding rookies, is I can call them on their shit and they just have to take it,” Connie laughed.

“I guess I’m a bit like that with Henry. But Henry as director I imagine I’ll be more respectful.”

“No calling him Chubby in front of his crew,” Brit agreed.

“I think he deserve that kind of respect,” Connie agreed. “Partly being in the precarious position of directing his first Hollywood film and should get as much support as possible to keep his confidence, but also that I think he’s a real talent, who, I think, as long as he keeps his drug intake in control, has a bright future.”

“From what I’ve seen,” Lindy said, “unlike when he directed commercials and really didn’t give a shit, he’s kept his cocaine use out of his directing. Even when he directed Joe and me in our little scenes that promoted his abilities, he kept the cocaine for after.”

“I put my foot down about getting stoned and working and he had no problems with that.”

“He definitely understands the importance of being clearheaded,” Joe nodded.

“What was he like when you worked with him on his college films?” Connie asked.

“I wouldn’t exactly say clearheaded,” Joe chuckled. “I think he was already dabbling in cocaine by then, but I don’t think it fueled him. Mostly we’d get stoned on pot, but it sort of made sense with what we were working on. It was kind of psychedelic, visionary stuff. In a way it was expected, no mainstream drama or comedy. Arty.”

“I can see that,” Connie agreed.

“Despite getting a couple awards, that’s probably what held him back from having Hollywood knock at his door. He ended up having to use his father’s connections just so he could keep directing, and all commercials, local at that. I think he did well with the little he had until he stopped caring and just did his job.”

“I hope he doesn’t get jaded like that,” said Connie. “Few directors call the shots, get their names atop the title like a movie star. Most become journeymen, working from project to project, television, rock videos, b grade films, even commercials. But however it works for him, he needs to keep it professional, as high quality as possible and without any major trouble. He does have the advantage of working on an unconventional film that still has commercial viability.”

“And Joe’s awesome script,” Lindy added.

“That too,” Connie grinned. “But it’s the old Hollywood tale: you’re only as good as you’re last picture.”

“The Cimino effect,” Joe nodded. “A huge hit followed by a bomb, not that he’s creating a hit. But however well it does either commercially or amongst the Hollywood elite, he has one advantage.”

“What’s that?” Connie asked.

“Maybe call it the Corman effect. He knows how to work fast and efficiently and more than likely under budget and still produce high quality stuff.”

“I agree,” Connie smiled. “At the same time, he may still have to struggle with a sophomore slump, possible success with failure. If he can take that, take one step back but keep up the passion and professionalism, he could really make a successful career here.”

When her phone chimed, she grinned, “Speak of the devil.”

“You can say that again,” Lindy laughed with a touch of bitterness.

For privacy, Connie walked into the mansion proper with her phone.

She remained on it, sitting in a chair towards the back of the audience area of the music room which adjoined the servants’ quarters when Joe entered carrying the huge upright bass. After setting it on the stand Johanna had brought out, he went to Connie, sitting with her and waiting for her to end the call.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Henry finally took my advice and asked for an assistant director. I think he had in mind a second unit director, which he most definitely doesn’t want at least in this picture. I told him who might be available and went through my list and descriptions until he finally told me to choose the best.”

“Which he has mostly so far,” Joe smirked.

“My mistake with the casting director made me think he’d be more reluctant and I pointed that out. He suggested I planned the whole thing so I’d be doing the casting. I’m not that clever.”

“Maybe you are but didn’t realize it.”

“Like subconscious? Maybe. I need to meet with her before bringing her to Henry.”

“Her?”

“Similar to Henry, she did impressive work as an undergraduate back east before getting a masters of arts at USC. She’s been a glorified gopher since then, script girl and assistant editor. She’s itching to get at least close to the director’s seat.”

“Is it a job that needs experience at least with a first time Hollywood director?”

“There’s advice involved, mostly Henry bouncing off ideas, but a lot of it will be when Henry can’t be two places at once, like when actors are preparing for a scene, for instance the fight training, while Henry’s busy shooting, and Joyce can be a sort of stand in for him or at least let them know to get ready. But Joyce does have experience. Her work at USC was close to professional level.”

“You keep track of people like her?”

“Looking for talent, especially untapped talent is what I do.”

“You mean cheap talent.”

“That too,” she laughed. “But if I can give them their first step up...”

“I understand. What you’re doing for Henry.”

“And for you Joe,” she added, standing and settling into his lap for a kiss. “I should go.”

“Her being a woman won’t be a problem with Henry being... ?”

“A misogynist? I’m hoping he’ll keep the professionalism he’s showed me so far.”

“And if not?”

“I’ll let her know to call me if anything happens, and it won’t hurt her chances if she’s feeling abused.”

“Is she at least unattractive?”

“She tries to be. Dressed frumpy and wears glasses I don’t think she needs.” Connie showed Joe a head shot.

“She’s hiding a very pretty face,” said Joe about the fair skinned, dark haired, rounded faced woman.

“Her clothes too. Her voluptuousness she hides with drapy shirts over full breasts.”

“You’ve met her.”

“A couple times at USC events, and she invited me to the showing of her graduate thesis. And I’ve kept an eye on her since. I really should go.” She gave him a lingering kiss before starting to leave.

“Drive me to my car?” Joe asked.

“Oh right. Sorry.”

They laughed and took hands as they walked into the servants’ area, Johanna nodding at them while she tuned her bass.

“Be back soon,” Joe told her.

Another nod.

As they got into Connie’s car, Kate and Soledad arrived, dropped off by Soledad’s boyfriend in his pickup truck. He helped Soledad bring a three piece drum kit, a tom tom, a snare drum and a high hat before giving her a quick kiss and taking off. Kate carried a guitar case with a really nice Martin inside it, a gift from her father who tried making up his absences with money and extravagant gifts like that, absences when married becoming monthly visitations with the divorce which as often as not he’d miss.

“I should talk to Kate about that A and R guy,” Joe muttered to Connie once they headed down the alley.

“What A and R guy? Never mind. Fuck.”

“Exactly.”

“Do you know which one?”

“I think one of the majors. Dick Cock or something.”

“Richard Koch,” she corrected, pronouncing the last name like coke.

“Yeah I know. Just seemed appropriate.”

“Can you blame the guy?”

“If he’s married. If he made promises in order to fuck her, which is why I need to talk to her.”

“It may be mercenary but it could be a good thing.”

“Why would you say that?”

“She did pick the biggest dick so to speak. Perhaps use it to your advantage since it sounds like you’re asking for a lot.”

“Especially from a major label. Getting the video and a single, a vinyl single from it out immediately, and then artistic autonomy. Grace will make sure it’s a fair deal financially.”

“And you have an enthusiastic A and R guy on your side, one who’s had a decent track record.”

“Unless Kate stops fucking him or worse.”

“She makes fun of Dick’s dick.”

“Yep.”

“Then you need to strike while the metal is hot.”

“On a Saturday? And Monday I start shooting with Lindy.”

“How about I take care of it? With Joyce in the picture I won’t need to be, and I made sure everyone has me on speed dial if they have issues. I set up a meeting ASAP.”

“Let me talk to Kate to find if she promised anything. And I should be there along with Grace, Tom and Jo.”

“Talking to Kate makes sense, but scheduling everyone for a meeting can only delay things. Tell me what you want and I can do this.”

“It would make things easier, but it’s matter of trust, not from me but from the band, and though I know how smart you are, Grace has to be there to deal with the contract. It’s what I hired her for. I can call her to find out her schedule. A later meeting might be best, somewhere around five, for both my shooting schedule and Grace’s schedule. Jo should be done fairly quickly with her scenes. I’ll call Grace Monday to find out her availability and I’ll know my availability as well.”

“So you still want me to schedule a meeting?”

“Once I find out everything, why not? Like you said we do have to deal with some urgency. I may get some calls from the other labels on Monday, so the competition we hope for might start happening.”

“Alright,” she smiled, leaning to Joe and giving him a kiss. They had arrived at Joe’s car.

“I’ll be with Lindy probably through tomorrow working on her lines,” Joe told her.

“I figured.”

“But I’ll see you early tomorrow morning.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Connie met with Joyce, the potential assistant director for as long as she thought would be possible, about two hours, so that there would still be time for Joyce to meet with Henry. Joyce surprised her looking nothing like Connie was used to seeing her, wearing a clingy shirt tied below her full breasts to show her abdomen which had some thickness to it but little fat, letting Joyce see a demonstratively curving waist, and shorts that clung to her full but firm and well-formed ass, exposing full and well-formed thighs tapering to subtle knees and muscled calves, her lack of glasses proving their use as disguise rather than necessity revealing a beautiful face. Her dark brunette hair which she often seemed to hide behind had been secured into a pony tail somewhat high at the back of her head.

They sat at the kitchen table with room for four at best, covered by an off white lacy material, plasticized place mats with bright funky maps of LA on them protected the lace from the plates of avocado sandwiches in fresh wheat bread, the logo on the coasters for the fresh brewed coffee familiar to Connie, being from the lesbian club they had visited the night before, information complete regarding Joyce’s provocative attire.

Connie decided to ignore the provocation until later, handing Joyce the script and letting her read the conceptual statement Henry had written, the description of the cast and the first scenes, quietly eating and drinking and examining the voluptuous beauty of the woman sitting kitty corner to her.

“It’s good,” Joyce smiled when she finished.

“Joe’s definitely talented,” Connie agreed. “As is Henry. Both are rookies as far as creating a full length, somewhat fully financed Hollywood film,” they both chuckled at the somewhat, “but don’t let that fool you.”

“Henry did spell out his vision quite succinctly and confidently.”

“He did need my help in steering through the treacherous waters of Hollywood, but he accepted my guidance with remarkable maturity. That said, he does have his demons.”

“Tell me.”

“For one, his confidence borders on arrogance, and often steps over, especially concerning his misogyny.”

“Don’t worry. I plan to change before we meet.”

“Good idea,” Connie left it at that for the moment. “Like I said he has remarkable maturity for a young director, so a lot of his demons he keeps at bay while working, including his enjoyment of cocaine. I warned him right off the bat to be sober while working and so far he’s done that. Hopefully he continues to be, and I think he will because of how important this is to him as a first film here. But Joe, to whom I’d describe as a longtime colleague rather than a friend, and especially Lindy, the lead actor of the film, have both seen him indulge himself when shooting commercials, his work before getting this job. They both believe, and I agree, it came from frustration, being stuck for several years doing those commercials to the point he could basically direct them in his sleep or fucked up on cocaine. Are you familiar with the effects of cocaine?”

“Hard not to in this town.”

“Good. I want you to let me know when you notice him being high.”

“Will do.”

“And if he starts hitting on you.”

“I will only if it makes me uncomfortable. I want to keep this job.”

“I want you to as well. But I never want you to feel obliged to do anything sexual with him in order to keep it.”

“Believe me, I would never let that happen.”

“I don’t think you would either.”

“You’re worrying me.”

“This has been a problem?”

“Too many times. I’ve lost jobs because I wouldn’t submit, the last one just recently. Fortunately I haven’t gotten blacklisted yet, probably because I’ve gained some respect for my diligence from people who I can use as references, but also because I let the predatory assholes know I wouldn’t have a problem finding other victims. Even more fortunately getting let go early from my last job made me available for this, except...”

“I actually don’t think Henry will be a problem. He may make your hackles rise with his condescension, but that might not even happen because he wants to show himself to be a dedicated and consummate professional. Just accept him as your boss, give advice only if asked, and let it slide off your back if he ignores it. That said, you’re not there to be his servant fetching food and drink, there’s people for that including a girl named Holly who’s his lover, the stand in for Lindy, whose probably going to end up doing just that. If he consistently ignores you, gently remind him you’re there to assist.

“But if he does become a problem, let me know. I’ll take care of it.”

“How?”

“I have ways of cutting off his demons,” Connie grinned malevolently.

“Okay.”

“Good. Let’s go through the first days’ shooting and how I think you can assist.”

Multiple things would be happening at the shoot simultaneously, including fighter training and preparing for the next scene, which Connie recommended to Joyce getting any advice from Henry to bring to these things.

After that they went farther into the script, Connie telling Joyce any specific notes she remembered Henry making.

“We should probably get going,” Connie decided about halfway through. “You definitely need to change.”

“Want to watch?” Joyce asked hopefully.

“I noticed the coasters,” Connie responded. “Are you as devoutly lesbian as most of the rest of the crowd there?”

“Yes. I think when I was young I felt more attraction to girls than boys, but boys didn’t exactly turn me off. That changed when my cousin and his friends decided to rape me.”

“I’m so sorry, Joyce. Why I’m asking is I’m in a polyamorous relationship with a man, Joe actually, and two other women, sometimes three. Joe’s essentially my fiancé to whom I hope to get pregnant, and since I’m missing my period this very moment, it appears we’ve possibly been successful. I haven’t tested yet, but I will this evening I think. One of the other women was Joe’s girlfriend before we met. It’s complicated why I ended up with him, and unfortunately involves Henry. Bottom line, I think you’re beautiful and have a luscious body, but prefer sharing Joe rather than just being with you. My sexuality is definitely towards males, but more towards Joe, since he’s the first person I’ve met to whom I feel a real bond. If I propose you join us, I can imagine you wouldn’t be the least interested, but Joe isn’t anything like your cousin or the predators you’ve had to encounter. He’s the most caring man I’ve ever met, and would give up his left nut if he ever did anything to hurt me or any of our lovers, at least sexually. And he gives head as well as any woman has.

“But there’s also the misgivings about how you’ve come on to me, showing me how truly desirable you are. Is this something you’ve been interested in, or is this as a favor for giving you a job you’ve wanted for a long time? If it’s a reward, maybe you should wait until I get you your first directing job,” Connie laughed.

She’d actually followed Joyce into the bedroom and watched her strip, but just to panties and bra, seeing the soft yet firm flesh at both tits and ass, though any view of nipples had been concealed by the necessarily hard working industrial strength bra, added to the provocation.

“To be honest,” Joyce said as she pulled on a much looser fitting pair of pants, faced away from Connie so Connie could watch the flex and the bend at her ass before the attractive flesh disappeared, “A bit of both. I always found your interest in me flattering, especially when I learned how you work behind the scenes to pull crews together for independent films, especially those who deserved better than they’ve gotten and people like me just starting out. I admired that bit of power you had and how you used it really to better people’s careers. I thought you were a cute little dynamo, and that made you even hotter. And I did notice you checking me out, almost like a man but much more acceptable since it was you, trying to see beyond my disguise to what I kept hidden. So partly I thought I’d show you what you’d tried to figure out, but mostly that cuteness and power turned me on, that chance you’re giving me just doing what you do. I suppose that makes this a reward, but definitely not a reluctant one.” She hid her torso under a loose shirt, her breasts tenting it over her abdomen once she’d buttoned it up. She grabbed a pair of black framed glasses, obviously unaltered glass, and put them on, completing her disguise. “Ready,” she pronounced.