Chapter 27: A New Sideline

Crystal came racing into the house from where she normally parked at the end of her business day. Carol was close behind her. Both had big smiles on their faces.

Crystal screamed just inside the front door, “WE SOLD ONE. WE SOLD ONE.” We all knew what she meant. “WE’RE PRODUCERS!”

Crystal had done months of legwork to get a foot inside the door of the adult film industry. Outsiders thought it was no big deal: film some people fucking and sell the video. Turns out the community is pretty tight knit and also warry of newcomers.

Crystal had even gone to the January AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. The AVN or Adult Video News is to porn, what Billboard and the Oscars are to the rest of the movie-making and entertainment industry. She’d spent hours talking to porn stars of both sexes, producers, directors, equipment and toy manufacturers and wholesalers, website designers and operators, and anybody else with the possibility of helping Crystal Blue Photography get an edge in the adult business.

Crystal had come home with a not only the suitcase she took, but another bag she bought that was full of handouts, samples, business cards (with notes on the back that she’d made), and other paraphernalia dealing with sex in some way.

Crystal had taken an iPad loaded with various versions of the demo videos she’d made with some of us and a thousand business cards. I was one of the major male leads in her vids, but Ross, Derek, Paul, Doug, Mitch, Greg, and others had also contributed on the male side of the equation so she could show the diversity of the CBP actors. All of the women in our group, including Carol and Crystal, had at one time or another been featured in one of the demo videos.

Crystal had one, two, five, ten, and twenty-minute videos on that iPad to show the versatility of Crystal Blue Photography or CBP. She also had business cards galore and a one-page handout emphasizing the point she wanted about the quality of CBP’s work, the editing, new talent with males and females, and the range of plot options in the videos.

Kim had mentored Crystal and Carol as they put together their PR materials and prepped for the big trip to Vegas. Crystal hadn’t expected immediate business in Las Vegas, but her trip was necessary homework to get known.

Also, on her trip to Vegas, she’d gone to one of the parties thrown by PornHub – perhaps the most aggressive porn producer and global distributor in the world.

Crystal’s description of the party was amazing. She’d ended up fucking three different guys, but that was the standard behavior at the expo’s parties she had discovered. Being a willing player in the industry was an important reputation to develop. Given how hot she was, that really put a good stamp on what she was trying to do.

Ross, Trish, and I rose and met the two of them as they bubbled into the house. “Tell us. Tell us. Tell us.”

Crystal slowed down, but she was still jumping up and down. “We just found out as we were leaving the office. ADS – Adult Distribution Systems – phoned right at five o’clock. We talked for a half-hour. They’ve gone over everything we gave them and even been on CBP’s website to see all of the videos we left behind the fire wall. They want us. They want us as one of their main producers of fine pornographic videos. WE’RE IN!”

“They bought the video we had as a trailer on the website for $5,000. Moreover, they want the rights to sell it forward to other distribution channels, and for that they’ll pay us thirty-three percent of net unless there’s editing involved. If that happens, we get a larger percentage.”

We all gave our congratulations and shared in the joy of the deal with Crystal and Carol. Ross broke out a bottle of champagne.

As we sat around in the living room, I asked, “So, what now?”

“Well, right off, the want a steady stream of video from us in whatever genre we want to provide. Of course, they have the right to reject them, but with this move, they won’t reject many if any. We have about a dozen videos ready to go, but we won’t send them all at once.

“I can now also provide more certainty to the people for whom we’ve done private porn to see whether they want to put their videos in a more public slot and make some money. Nominally, we’ll get about $5,000 for a one-hour video, plus a share of profits over the first $20,000 that video makes. This is like opening the door to the bank. I think ‘ADS and CBP have a long future together’ – those were the words that Matt Volpetti used. He’s now our contact and essentially our boss, along with a couple of his sidekicks.”

Ross asked, “What videos do you have ready to give them?”

“The best is the one with Kim Stanley and you. We had portions of that on our demonstration videos. Then we have Allison’s second video, and another one each by Molly and Sheri. We then have one with each of the teens – Wendy, Lisa, and Madison, and then if she’ll let it go to market, we have one we assembled from what Stacy did with you months ago. We have the one from the Jade and Carl’s wedding, plus the video that you did with her alone a month later. There are a few others.

“I’m sure that we can get some of the private porn customers of Crystal Blue Photography to go public with their videos. I made a list a week or so ago of the ones that Carol and I thought were the best, so I thought I’d go after them first and try to get them to release them to the public. That’d be easy work. Matt, our contact, suggested a ‘Cheating Wives’ theme with some of those.

We had a festive time at dinner celebrating CBP’s good news.

Late in the meal and before our after-dinner coffees, Crystal pulled me aside as we carried some dirty dishes inside to the kitchen. She shared with me her thoughts about Carol’s contribution to the business and wanting to upgrade her status in her business. I wholeheartedly approved and urged her to say something soon.

Thus, over coffee and a batch of cookies that Trish had baked, Crystal went public with her idea. “Carol, we need to talk, and since these kind people are all part of what we do, I thought they should be here, too.

“Fundamentally, I would like to make you a partner in the business – in Crystal Blue Photography. From the day you took the job to today, you have acted more like one of the owners than an employee. You always go above and beyond my expectations, and your economic impact on the business, including our new business, has been profound. Thank you.

“I would like to make you a one-third partner in the business. I base that in part on all the effort that I made to start the business and get the equipment, and then on what has happened since. I think what I propose will about double your yearly earnings, if my calculations are good. The financials and everything about the business are now completely open to you. Whether you work on a job or not, you’ll get a third of the earnings.”

Carol started to cry and lunged into Crystal’s arms sobbing wildly. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You’re so nice. I love you so. I love all of you. You are all at the core of my existence. I do everything I can to please all of you.”

Crystal asked almost rhetorically, “So, do you accept my offer?”

“YES!” Carol screamed as her tears stopped and she started to focus on the full implications of what had happened. She was suddenly the part owner of a successful business.

Of course, there was more to the offer than the business stuff. Acceptance. Love. Inclusion. Belonging. Permanence. Carol got a foggy look on her face as all the implications of her new status washed over her.

We all made love to Carol that evening, just about turning her inside out with the most loving sex that four people could deliver to another. By the time we went to bed, Carol was just glowing. Crystal was doing pretty well, too.

Over breakfast, Carol was again exceptionally grateful to Crystal and the rest of us for loving and appreciating her. She promised to redouble her efforts for Crystal Blue Photography and for all of us.

Carol did say one thing that surprised me, “You know, I’ve never been in any of the porn videos. Oh, I’ve played around and been in some of the filming, but I’ve never appeared in a final product.

“You’ve all told me that I’m cute, and when I’m in a narcissistic mood I agree with you. Ergo, I should become a porn star, at least to the extent that any of the other women in our group have.”

Carol’s idea sat on the table, happily bubbling away while we all looked at it. I just shrugged. What she proposed worked for me. I might get to fuck her in a sexy video. I had told her a dozen times that she resembled the porn star Lily Rader.

Crystal was protective of Carol. “Are you sure?”

“Oh, yes,” Carol stated with broad grin. “Moreover, I know you’d all expect me to fuck with Dave, but it could be with anybody we think would be good in a video – even some man that we don’t know yet.”

I commented, “We need more men in our circle of friends.”

Carol jumped up and down a little, “Why don’t I find one or two? That can be my contribution to the video and also to all of you to thank you for your support.”

Ross said, “Well, you just don’t walk up to somebody and say, ‘Hey, would you like to fuck me in a porn video and become my friend so you can also fuck a dozen other women at our random sex parties’. You need to screen them and have some criteria.”

Carol said confidently, “I get it. Leave it to me.”

Carol did all the dishes and kitchen clean-up before she left for work in her own car. I had begun to wonder about her newfound enthusiasm.

My day consisted of half phone conversations and half analysis of a new virus one of my clients experienced over the previous night. I solved the client problem with a systems security patch that neutered the virus, and also submitted my find to Microsoft, since it had been one of their servers that had been hacked. If they thought the contribution was important enough, I’d get a check in the mail from them as they issued a security patch to their customers.

We all did cocktails and dinner and home, but Carol was missing. Crystal did not know where she went, but knew that she’d diligently worked all day doing her editing, and then headed off someplace in her own car.