Chapter 75

On Thursday night I called Crystal, and confirmed when I would be picking her up on Saturday. And on Friday, when I got there the receptionist at the front told me to wait there. And a minute later Sherry came out from the back and smiled at me.

But instead of going in the back, I followed her as she left the building and walked to a warehouse next door. We went inside, and I realized after we passed some storage rooms that this was the studio. There were two sets of metal bleachers set up at one end, with four flat screen TVs suspended from the rafters for the audience to see.

And in front of that was the stage itself. The biggest one in the center was in some ways a mirror of that from Three’s Company, with a bedroom on the right. And I saw that the bedroom set was made up like a guy’s room. But on the left side was a bathroom, and the door to enter the apartment.

Sherry called out that we were there, and I saw Keith and Linda step out from behind one of the false walls a moment later. He said they were exploring the back, and Sherry smiled. And she walked me through it. The walls of the bathroom set could be reversed, and with a few changes to the furniture the bathroom would change into the girls bedroom.

And with about twenty minutes the main area could be changed to the set of the “Pampered Persian”, the bar set for the show. When Sherry said that Keith started laughing. “What, so no ‘Regal Begal’?”

“Nope, that was for another show. We have the Pampered Persian. Lin here came up with that.”

“Yep, I realized we needed a bar, so that’s what I came up with. Rocco was against it at first, as he said it sounded like a lezzie bar.” Linda grinned as she said that. “But I told him that was nonsense, as the guys would be ‘cool cats’.”

“Well, other than Ron that is, who’s a dork.” Sherry added that, and I realized that the two of them did make a good team. And could probably get Rocco to agree to almost anything the two of them wanted.

The others started to show up, and that is when I noticed the large table on the side of the living room had Keith’s D&D stuff on it. He directed us over to the table, and said we would likely play there from now on.

We all took our seats, and Sherry said it was to get everybody to get more comfortable on the stage, and to check placement and blocking of everybody. And I noticed that Keith was at the head towards the back of the set, and the table was actually at an angle. This time, I noticed there was no flirting or playing coming from Gina, and during the break I asked her how she was doing.

“Oh, I’m fine. Just a little nervous, it’s been a while since I’ve performed in front of an audience. We’ve been rehearsing most of the day, and I just wanna get home and take a long hot soak in the tub with a bong before bed.”

And I actually for a moment thought of asking if I could join her, then quickly changed my mind. Not only because she did not seem like she was inviting me, but because I had given that all up for flying.

When the game ended I joined Keith and Linda for our now normal after-game smoke, and Jen joined us. She hugged each of us, and pulled out a cigarette I had never seen before. It was incredibly long, and skinnier than any I had ever seen before. I asked her what it was, and she handed me the pack.

Linda saw that and laughed, and said she had not seen those in ages. “George, those are ‘Virginia Slims’, they were big when I was your age. A ‘woman’s cigarette’, I did not even know they still made them.”

Jen smiled, and said she smoked them on occasion. And she did look rather sexy, it reminded me of those women in the old movies with cigarette holders. I then smiled and looked at her. “Jen, have you ever used a cigarette holder?” She gave me a funny look, and shook her head. But Linda picked up on it right away.

“Oh Georgie, that might be perfect! Jen, think about it. You told me a couple of days ago you wanted something to make you stand out a bit more. How about that? Tomorrow before final rehearsals, I’ll stop off and get a couple. Now you use filterless cigarettes with them, but it would really make your character stand out.”

Jen cocked her head to the side for a moment, and nodded. “In fact, you can even play with it a bit. Imagine during the game, you are not doing anything so sensually run your fingers up and down the shaft. Do that while say looking at your boyfriend, do you think he won’t pop a boner thinking of you doing that to him with his fingers?”

Jen grinned at that, and turned and hugged me then Linda and said it was a great idea. And even I was popping a boner then, especially feeling her press her boobs against me.

Keith also laid out that this campaign would run for two more games, and asked if she wanted to keep playing. “Actually, I do! I did not get it at first, but I really like this! And it’s a great way to relax at the end of the week.” She then asked if she could bring her boyfriend, and Keith said it was not a problem.

“But after that, I’m going to be doing it more like a real game. You all are making up your own characters, and the gloves are coming off. This was mostly run easy, so you all could get used to the game and rules. But after this, no more babysitting.”

Jen asked what that meant, and Linda smiled and rested her hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Oh, let’s just say that Keith here has been taking it easy on you all. None of the monsters were really much of a challenge, and nobody died.”

Jen blinked at that and asked if people actually died in the game. “Oh goodness yes, it’s almost expected! We generally had at least one death every couple of games. Now we sometimes could get together enough money to pay and have them resurrected, but most times you would just have to make a new character.”

“Tell you what, how about this? After I wrap up this campaign, we have a movie night? We’ll set up a TV, and show one or two of Pete’s videos.” Linda actually looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded.

“That’s a good idea, Keith. How about this, use the original ‘Chaos in the Capitol’, and maybe the one with the undead army after that. They’ll even get to see you singing then.”

Keith laughed and hugged Linda, and said that was a great idea. “Jen, that you will have to see to believe. We were still in High School then, it was quite a group we had. Me, my girlfriend, Linda, and her boyfriend. Well, he actually writes these professionally. And the guy that publishes them had this promotional video made of us at a convention playing it on stage.”

Jen looked at him and asked if he was serious, and he nodded. “Well, Pete took off for a few years in the Marines, then came back and we started doing it on a real stage. Myself and a bunch of others playing music, we even played the Pangateous a few times.”

“Wait, really? You played the Pantageous?”

Linda laughed and nodded. “What was that, twice? Oh, not a big running show, they would rent it out for a one night show between plays. Then they moved it to the Wiltern, and a few others in the area. Now, they mostly do them once a year at an Indian casino in Idaho.”

At that I had to nod. “Jen, I grew up seeing those. And it’s not much different than what we do here. Mostly it’s for promotional purposes. But they have become their own thing over the years. Think of it as ‘geek porn’, where people like Keith and Linda will actually go somewhere to see a bunch of people on stage playing a game. Or buy a video and watch it at home.”

Keith nodded, and said the music part started as a joke, but since then has become its own thing. “Me and mostly the band I was in during High School do it as ‘The Geek Crusaders’.” And at that Linda smiled and Jen started laughing. “But they are really popular in the community. Go to any game store and ask, they will know who Pete Culver is. One of the first to put his name on his creations, kinda like Sid Meyers and Will Wright in computer games.”

And even I was surprised when she nodded at that, and said she owned most of the Sid Meyers games. But Jen hugged us all again, then with a wave took off. And she did have a nice ass as I finally looked at it as she walked away. Linda reminded me to be here at six, and that the presentation started at seven.

The next day I mostly took it easy, but I did make sure my trailer was clean. And at five I went to get Crystal. I had worn slacks and a button down shirt with a tie, and was a bit surprised to see Crystal had her hair brushed straight, and was actually in a pretty green dress. We got some tacos on the way, and she told me she was excited to see this.

And when we arrived, she held my arm as we walked up to the front. There were already about fifty people waiting outside the door, some of them I recognized. We took our place at the end of the line, and a few minutes later I heard my name. I looked around, and saw Sherry at the front waving us over.

“Gary, this is George. Consider him part of the crew as he essentially created this. You can come on in.”

I introduced her to Crystal, and she looked at her closely. “Wait, Crystal Levin? Keith’s daughter?” She smiled, but politely asked her for her ID. Crystal handed it to her, and Sherry checked it, then smiled and thanked her when she handed it back. “Sorry, I had to check, you understand. You can come on in also, come on.”

She brought us inside, and the change surprised me. There were three camera dolly’s in front of the stage, and I could see a couple of people doing last minute things all over. Sherry explained that everybody was in their dressing rooms getting ready, and showed us around. But from the back I heard “Crystal?” coming loudly.

I saw Keith with a rather gruff look on his face, and Linda right next to him. And he came right over and demanded to know what she was doing there. Linda had a kind of smirk on her face, and Crystal simply said she was there as my date.

“George, what in the fuck were you thinking of!” Keith almost roared. “Bringing my daughter to a porn taping?”

I did feel a bit intimidated, as I had not expected this. This was the first time I had ever seen Keith angry. But Linda simply rested her hand on his arm. “Keith, you know there will be no actual sex on the set, right? Hell, what she will see here on stage is no worse than she would see on TV. Oh, and we have never actually been formally introduced, I’m Linda Carol. I’ve been friends with your dad since we were in school together.”

Crystal smiled and shook her hand, and I could tell that Keith was still pissed. “And daddy, it’s not like I’ve never seen porn before. Hell, I’ve even borrowed some of your tapes from time to time.” He looked surprised at that, and she nodded. “Hell, I knew what this was. Don’t forget I was there when we did the music. I even sang when they put down George’s vocal track, remember? Singing that I wanted a boyfriend with a big schwantz! And when you didn’t invite me, I got George to. I admit, I want to see what this is like. And as I’m involved in the music, I think I have a right to do that.”

Thankfully he looked a little less mad, and nodded. I saw about half the people standing around had been watching this, and when Linda took his arm and led him to the far side of the stage I let out a sigh of relief. “George, I’m sorry. I thought Keith might be a little upset, but I never thought he would actually get mad.”

I looked at her, and nodded. And realized that while she was trying to calm him down, she called him “daddy”. But now that he stepped away he was back to being Keith. We went and sat in the bleachers, and I asked her about that.

“Well, I guess you can say our relationship is a bit unusual. I do call my mother’s husband ‘dad’, he has been there for me since I was five. Keith, he was in and out for years. And then when I got into guitar he was more my teacher. Then when I joined his band he was more like my boss. I love him and know he’s my father, but in most ways he’s more like an uncle you might say.”