Chapter 24: That's a Wrap

We ate a quick breakfast together and Janine grabbed Amy by the hand and pulled her out the door.

"We're going shopping!"

"I don't have any money," Amy replied.

Charlotte went to her purse and gave Amy a wad of bills that made her eyes widen — probably hundreds.

"That should be enough. Buy yourself something cool, some new clothes ... with color!"

Amy lowered her head and cocked her eyebrow at Charlotte.

"I like black."

Amy was dressed in black even then — a black hoody and black pants, probably black panties too.

"Well then at least get something that's black with a bit of color to it."

"Come on. We'll work it out. These guys have to get going to school."

They burst through the door and out into the day.

Mick hung back and asked us how much time we needed.

"If we're not done by five, it's not getting done," I said. "Just call us before you bring her back."

"Will do."

Mick left and Charlotte and I tidied up the breakfast table while we waited for Shelia and Steve.

I watched her load the dishwasher and was once again flooded with a barrage of emotions — lust, fear, insecurity, desire, and a gut-wrenching amount of love. How such a beautiful girl, with so much going for her, could ever be in love with me was beyond my comprehension. If she left me for the first good looking rich guy that came along I would not be surprised at all. I'd be brutally crushed and nearly emotionally destroyed, but not surprised. She deserved so much more than me, yet somehow she honestly believed that she couldn't imagine herself being with anyone else. I was her dream come true.

Now here she was bending over the dishwasher, dropping plates and cutlery into the trays, flipping her hair up onto her back each time it fell down off of her shoulder. She glanced at me sideways and noticed me watching her. Even the little sideways flick of her eyes was gorgeous. The smile she gave me made my heart skip.

"What, baby?" she said.

"Have I told you lately how beautiful I think you are?"

"You don't have to. It's written all over your face."

"I think you're beautiful. It's almost magical how beautiful you are. Everything about you. Every motion. Every flick of your hair. It's like art in real time. It's like poetry in real live 3D."

She smiled again and shook her head.

"I'm just me. You gotta stop sighing and swooning like that, thinking I'm some sort of goddess or something. I'm gonna disappoint you some day and you'll see that I'm just a normal girl, just like everyone else, only a little sexier."

"A little?"

"Okay then, a lot sexier. But that doesn't make me a goddess, and you better get used to that idea."

"I'll try."

"I hope so. I don't want to see the heartbreak in your eyes when you see that I'm not as magical as you think I am."

"I know you're not perfect, but I think you're perfect for me."

"That's the best I can hope for, I guess."

She stepped over to me, brushed her hands off on a towel and gave me a kiss, wrapping her arms around my neck and really digging in with her entire mouth. Then she broke away with a slippery little sucking snap of my bottom lip.

"Thank you for saying so, though. It's part of the reason I love you so much. When you talk, you're not just trying to get into my panties. You really mean it, and it means a lot to me."

She kissed me again. Then she shut the dishwasher and started it. It barely made a sound, just a low hum that you couldn't even hear once you were outside the kitchen.

We sat cuddling in the living room for a while longer, still waiting for Sheila and Steve. She was late by that point. They both were, but we barely seemed to notice.

I told Charlotte the story of how I'd caught Amy watching porn the night before, how she'd hit her head, the things we talked about together, and how I ended up in her bed because she was lonely and afraid.

"I think she's got a crush on you, Anthony. She really does."

"Really?"

I knew she liked me, possibly more than she liked Charlotte at that point, but it never occurred to me that she might have a crush. She was young though, so who knows?

"You haven't noticed the way she looks at you, when she thinks nobody's looking? The way she stands so close to you when there's plenty of room all around her?"

I just thought she's maybe insecure about this new city, this new house and such, and just thought of me as a friend, the first guy she met.

"I'm sure that's true too, but I think there's more."

"Hmmm."

"I'm pretty sure she's nowhere near used to the whole idea of our family and the open sexuality we believe in. I think she probably feels bad even thinking thoughts like that about you, knowing that you're her sister's boyfriend."

"How long do you think she'll last before she's out to lose her virginity?"

"No idea, but I bet she's already thinking about what it would be like to do you."

"Me? I'd tear the poor girl in half!"

"She doesn't know that. Girls don't think the same way as guys. All she's thinking about is how you'd feel in her arms, your hugs, your kisses, maybe how your dick might feel in her hands at the very most."

"All guys think about is how a girl's pussy is gonna feel, wrapped around their cock."

"And girls start thinking that way too, after they've had sex a few times, but there's still always an emotional pull too, a sense of excitement about the whole person, not just their parts. It's weird, the first time you touch a guy. It doesn't matter if you're a wet-behind-the-ears virgin, or a well-seasoned veteran slut — every new guy you're with is a brand new experience, full of potential, full of fresh excitement. I don't know who invented monogamy, but it sure is a soul-crushing concept."

"Not every woman feels that way, Charlotte."

"I know. Most women get sick of going through guy after guy and they just want to find one special guy who hits all the right buttons and settle down with him forever. I think that's just kinda lazy."

"Lazy?"

"Well, it's like, it takes work to keep going back out there on new adventures. These women just wanna be comfortable, sit on their asses and have their buttons pushed and live happily ever after. They don't wanna go through all the trouble, the risks. The excitement is too much for them."

"Maybe they're just not really excited about it like you are?"

"I guess, but it still seems kinda lazy. What's not to be excited about? You're exploring a whole new human being, full of quirks and energy and personality and emotion. It's exhilarating."

"I hope you never wind up getting tired of me."

"No more than mom gets tired of dad. I think the goal is to have the best of both worlds, to be comfortable and safe and secure with that special someone, and yet be constantly challenged, excited, thrilled, feeling like every brand new day is a new adventure, and every fuck is exciting as the first time."

"I'm not sure I'm that exciting though."

"It's not about you, silly. It's about me being excited by you, even when you're boring."

"Hmmm."

Then Steve burst in.

"Sorry I'm late, guys. I had to go to my first class. There was an assignment I had to turn in, and then he wouldn't let me leave."

"What time is it?" Charlotte asked.

Steve glanced at his watch. "Five after ten. Sheila's downstairs already?"

"No. She hasn't gotten here yet either," Charlotte said, turning to look at the clock in the kitchen, as though it had a different time than Steve had given.

"I better call her," I said.

I called. Sheila answered, croaking like a weary toad.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, sleepy head."

"Anthony?"

"Yes, ma'am. How's it going?"

"What time is it?"

"It's after ten."

"It's after ten?"

"Yes. We were sort of wondering what time you were gonna get here. We need to get started."

"Oh my god! It's after ten!"

"Yes."

"I slept in. Oh my god!"

"You want me to pick you up?"

"Yes. Could you? I just gotta shower. I'll be ready by the time you get here."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. I was just exhausted. I didn't even hear my alarm go off this morning."

Then she groaned.

"Where's my shirt? Where's my-"

She grumbled to herself. I couldn't hear the rest, but I sat there smiling, imagining her frantically throwing clothing every which way around her room, limping a bit, staggering on stiff legs, trying to get her balance.

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Okay, bye!"

-click-

"I gotta go get her. She slept in."

"Poor girl," Charlotte said. "She's probably exhausted."

"She is, but she seems very eager to get going."

"I'm gonna go get everything turned on and ready to go," Steve said.

"You smell good, Steve," Charlotte said. "What did you do?"

He cocked his head back in surprise. He blushed a bit.

"Nothing. Just some cologne."

"It's nice," Charlotte said.

"Uh ... thanks."

"Yeah. You should spritz up more often. You almost smell sexy."

He grinned and headed downstairs.

Charlotte smiled at me.

"Go figure. The boy's becoming a man it seems."

"He just needed to hang out with some cool people for a while I guess."

"Get going, Anthony. We have lots of work to do."

She smacked me on the ass and sent me hurrying out the door.

I hopped into my truck and drove to Sheila's. She was waiting for me on her steps, and came bouncing across the yard with her bag and a binder full of notes when she saw me pull up.

She briefed me on the schedule for the day and it turned out we actually didn't have all that much left to do. Just one major scene with a lot of dialog, and some voice-overs in the sound booth.

"Then I'm gonna spend the rest of the weekend in the control booth. If you see my face at all, it'll be because I accidentally stabbed myself or something and just need a quick trip to the hospital before getting back to work."

"You have that much left to do? I thought you were mostly caught up with the editing?"

"I have it all done, but none of it's the way I want it to look, you know?"

"You're too much of a perfectionist. This isn't even gonna be seen by anyone."

"It'll be seen by me, and I want it to be right."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. You're doing an awesome job."

"Hmmm."

"From what I've seen so far, it's as good as any porn I've ever seen. It's as good as any actual movie. I haven't seen much though."

"You and Charlotte work out that fight of yours?"

"Yup."

"Fucked all the stress and insecurity away?"

"Somehow the insecurity never quite goes away, no matter how much I fuck her. It's weird. I just don't feel worthy of her."

"You are. Without the money and the supermodel looks, she's just another girl. She knows it too. You can tell."

"I suppose that's part of what that breakdown last night was all about."

"Yup."

"It's still hard to figure though. Even without the money and the looks, she is a beautiful person. What the hell does she see in me?"

"Hmmm."

"I don't think I'll ever understand it, but I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts."

"It'll last. Don't worry. If she's dumb enough to let you go, it'll be the worst mistake of her life."

"You're too kind, She."

"What can I say? I guess none of us really see the beauty in ourselves that others see. We hear people rave about us and we think they're talking about someone else. It feels weird."

"It feels good though."

"If you trust it."

"I guess."

"How's Amy?"