Cross-fade to Set Two

"Me." A nervous voice said.

Abby turned to find a dark haired, dark eyed Latin beauty being pushed toward her.

"Well, come here, darling. Let me get a look at you."

He walked hesitantly forward. "Yes, ma'am."

He was of medium height with a completion marking him as Aztec or Mayan by decent. His shyness lent him a charm that most of the other boys lacked. Charm was something she saw rarely in men. She reached a hand out to him. He ducked his head down as he took it.

"Do — do you, uh —" he looked at her then looked away. "-uh..."

"Javier! Com'on!" The big one teased. "Do it!"

The poor boy turned crimson and Abby took pity on him. She retied her robe and saw some relief in his eyes. "Come." She said taking his hand again. "Not every one needs an audience." She led him into the dining room and glared at the others. No one made a move to follow them; she closed the door firmly. She pulled out a chair and pat the one beside her. "Sit. I don't bite."

He smiled slightly and sat. "Sorry. I guess, I don't ... I mean..."

"Hush." She studied the boy for a moment. "What's your name, sweetheart?" she asked.

"Javier, ma'am."

She had to smile. She couldn't remember the last time she'd met a boy so nervous. Maybe never — all the boys she met were on a set somewhere. "Javier. Javier, why did you come here tonight? You don't seem like the type who does this sort of thing normally."

He looked up sharply. "Oh I watch..." and stopped abruptly to blush again. "I, uh, I mean I ... uh..."

"You seen adult movies in more private settings?"

He nodded meekly. "Yes ma'am."

"But you didn't know about all this tonight."

"No ma'am."

"Javier. Look at me." When he looked up, she smiled. "You don't have to do anything." She laughed lightly. "Believe me, I didn't expect tonight either."

He grinned finally. "I guess not."

"Besides, I'm sure your girlfriend wouldn't approve of you fooling around with anyone else."

"Well, I don't actually have a girlfriend. I want one — I'm not — I mean — I just — I get sort of..."

"Nervous?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"Well, that's ok." Abby gave his knee a light squeeze. "Most girls get nervous around boys they like too."

Javier nodded and was quiet for a moment. "I just wish I didn't sound so stupid around them." He said at last.

"You don't sound stupid to me."

"I'm not asking you out."

"So ask me."

"Huh?"

"Go on. Ask me out. If I were a pretty girl, what would you say?"

"If you were a pretty girl, I'd have already tripped over something." He winced. "I mean, not that you're not attractive — just that I'm — you're —" He gasped and rolled his eyes. "Maybe I should just become a priest!"

Abby laughed lightly. "If every boy who got nervous around a pretty girl became a priest, no one would ever get married! Let's just pretend, shall we? You can't tell me there's not some girl you've been dying to ask out."

He smiled softly. "Yvette."

"Yvette." She repeated. "And you met her..."

" ... in my Creative Writing class."

"You're a writer?"

"No. Sort of. Not really. I want to be but, well, I'm not very good."

"Oh. I see." Abby nodded; if the girl hadn't noticed this boy already, then she was either too stupid to live or too shy herself. "Well, maybe your classmates could help you become better. You know, when I first started out, I was terrible."