Chapter 48

Adam decided there was something about the bus that caused people to call him. For the third time in three days, his phone rang shortly after he sat down.

This time it was Melody Schott.

"I spoke with Karlie Chandler, Jenny Cinnamon," Melody said. "How does Saturday about 4 work for you?"

"Fine, I think," Adam said. "Let me check with my social secretary. I sometimes don't know until the last minute what they have planned for me."

He turned to Shelly as Melody laughed.

"Can I do a shoot Saturday at 4?" he asked.

"If I leave anything left of you Friday night," Shelly said in a normal voice. She wore the appearance of virgin-like virtue again.

"Saturday at 4 sounds good," Adam said, smirking at Shelly as if he were challenging her to do her best. "Same studio?"

"I don't think so," Melody answered. "That place will have bad vibes for both of you. I'm going to rent a hotel suite out in the Valley. You can come early and bring your entourage to visit with her for a while."

"That sounds nice, are you sure? I mean, I know you don't like visitors and stuff," Adam said.

"Positive," Melody stated.

"I know they girls wanted to meet Karlie, Jenny, whatever," Adam said. "I think they worry that she is alone here and might not have many friends. They understand that situation too well and they would like to help if that's the case."

Melody let a small snort and shook her head, not that Adam could see it.

"Do you mind if I give her your number?" Melody asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, you can give my number to anyone you feel comfortable giving it to," Adam told her. She felt a warm flush at his trust in her. "But I think the four of us might want to treat her to lunch or something soon."

Shelly was looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"Let me rephrase," Adam said. "I believe the three of them might want to treat her to lunch or something soon."

"Better," Shelly whispered with a smile and a wink.

"Do you have a scenario planned or are we just winging it?" Adam asked.

"Which do you prefer?" Melody returned. She wasn't really sure how to go about crafting a scenario. Her videos were the basic interview-the-girl, fuck-the-girl variety.

"I can see if Sahara can craft a little vignette," Adam said. Melody laughed again, although Adam didn't find anything funny.

"Every time I talk to you I have to have a fucking thesaurus nearby," Melody joked. "I swear to Christ, I'm going to hire an interpreter just to converse to you. 'Heretofore', 'pervasive' and now 'vignette'. Thankfully you used it in context or I'd be asking you what the fuck a vignette is. You gotta remember, I'm just a used-up cock slut."

"You're a professional businesswoman to me," Adam corrected. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I didn't mean to."

"I'm not embarrassed," Melody said. "Most people I talk to use really small words. And thank you for the compliment. But I am going to get a word of the day calendar, save them all up and baffle the shit out of you one day."

Adam smiled.

"Deal," he said. "At least now I know what to get you for Christmas. You just saved yourself from getting a half-assed sweater."

"I have a really sweet sweater that shows half my ass," Melody returned, a note of flirtation in her voice. "There is a picture of me in it in the January 1996 edition of Go Girl! magazine. I was a fresh-faced 20-year-old who hadn't even sucked my first dick on camera yet. Go Girl! is a pipeline into porn. They set you up like you're going to be a famous model and the next thing you know you're doing girl-girl videos. It's a short step to taking the dick on camera. Sorry, I got completely off track. Have Sahara do something if she wants. Otherwise, we'll just go with the lovers meeting after a separation deal. I'll get back to you about the location and I'll have Jenny call you. If you have any questions, feel free to call me. If not, I'll see you about 3:15 Saturday."

"Setting up a date in front of your girlfriend," Shelly said when he closed the phone, in a voice loud enough to draw a few stares toward Adam. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Lady, I don't even know you," Adam replied. "And if you don't stop following me, I'm going to call the cops."

He acted as though he was getting up to move to another seat but Shelly started laughing.

"We're actors working on a scene," she told the interested on-lookers. "He's really good. But my delivery needs work."

"You were fine, Dear," an older woman across from them told Shelly. "I really thought he was making a date. He certainly seemed to be flirting with whomever he was talking to."

"There was no one on the line," Shelly lied, with surprising ease, Adam noted. "That's what I mean. He's a really good actor. He ad-libbed that whole sequence."

The woman gave Adam an appreciative nod and went back to her crossword puzzle.

"You don't know me?" Shelly asked sotto voce. "You'll pay for that one."

"Yes, Dear," Adam replied. "I'm sure I will."

Shelly was alternating between dirty looks and sensual leers when Adam's phone beeped again. It was a number he didn't recognize, so he assumed it was Jenny Cinnamon.

He handed the phone to Shelly.

"Hello, Subarctic Enterprises, this is Michelle Foxx," she said in a voice that made Adam's dick half hard. "How may I direct your call?"

She paused for a moment, smiling sweetly at Adam.

"Certainly, let me see if he is in," Shelly said.

"Sir, you have a call on Line 1," she said, handing it across. "It is a young woman named Jenny."

"Perhaps you should talk to her, Miss Foxx," Adam said. "I'll leave the details to you."

"Thank you, Sir," Shelly giggled as she uncovered the handset.

"Hi, Jenny, my name is Shelly," she said amiably. "I'm glad you called so quickly. We were hoping you might be available to join us and a couple of our friends for lunch, possibly Friday."

Shelly paused again and then laughed aloud.

"Nothing like that, I can almost guarantee it," Shelly said. "These are female coworkers of his. We thought we might just hang out, get to know you. Maybe let you meet a couple of friends. It's our treat – this time. You can buy when you hit the big time."

Again Adam watched Shelly as she listened to Jenny.

"He'll likely be there," Shelly said. "Particularly if there is free food involved. Things are a bit hectic around here at the moment or we could set something up earlier. But we have meetings scheduled this evening and we have to keep tomorrow relatively open. We're done with classes about this time. We can meet somewhere or we can pick you up."

"Sure," Shelly replied after a pause. "That sounds great. Let me give you my number."

She read off the digits and Adam saw a guy two seats up pull out a pen and paper. The guy decided he should probably just commit the number to memory when he saw Adam's glare. The man shrugged and put the items back in his backpack. Shelly saw what was happened and slapped Adam playfully on the arm.

"Call us anytime," Shelly said. "And we'll go from there."

She handed Adam his phone back and shook her head.

"Do not scare off men, big brother," she said with a smirk. She saw the guy in front of them turn to Adam with a triumphant smile. Shelly's smirk changed to a frown when a piece of paper appeared over Adam's shoulder, handed to him by a timid-looking girl.

"If she is really your sister, here is my number," the girl said in a small voice.

"He's my boyfriend," Shelly said, loud enough for the guy in front of her and girl behind Adam to both hear but not loud enough to be rude to the girl who looked like she had screwed up every ounce of courage to give Adam her digits. "I was trying to be funny and pick on him."

"Actually," Adam said as he turned to look at the girl. He saw her on the bus almost every time he rode it and she had never said a word to him in 6 months. "Actually, I'm from almost-Arkansas. The line between sister and girlfriend is a little blurry. But Shelly and I are together."

The shy girl nodded.

"And this guy," Shelly said jerking her thumb at the man two seats away, "is an ass for trying to write something down I obviously wasn't giving to him. You, on the other hand, have really good taste in men. Adam is a sweetheart."

Shelly looked at the girl for a minute.

"You live near us," she continued. "I saw you at the pool the other day."

The girl reddened.

"I, uh, I just use the pool there," she admitted with chagrin. "I actually live across the road. But we don't have a pool. No one really noticed that I'm there and don't live there."

"I won't say anything," Shelly said. "If anyone asks, tell them you're a guest of the guys in 724 or the girls in 412. I'm Shelly."

"Uh, Trinity, Trinity Duval," the girl said, extending her hand. "I saw you all Sunday. I wasn't really sure if you and he were together or not. I mean, I've seen you holding hands the last couple of weeks but I've also seen him with the others, you know."

"I do know," Shelly said, lowering her voice. "I'm actually one of three girlfriends he has."

Trinity's eyes hardened when she glanced at Adam.

"Oh, it wasn't his idea," Shelly said quickly when she noticed the look. "Well, he didn't actually voice the idea. It was ours. We share."

Trinity snorted.

"I shared my last boyfriend," she said bitterly. "I broke up with him when I found out that I was sharing him, though."

Shelly smiled and patted Adam's shoulder.

"Adam has three or four friends who are single and nice guys," Shelly said, plucking the paper with number written on it from Adam's fingers and putting it in her pocket. "Maybe we can set up a little gathering after Break. Meanwhile, stop over anytime. I live in 412."

Adam and Shelly switched seats and talked for the remainder of the trip to the apartments.

Adam was a little surprised when Trinity walked with him and Shelly up the road to the apartment. She and Shelly were still chatting in a low voice, so he couldn't overhear them without being obvious. Shelly laughed and Trinity fished a dollar out her jeans and handed it over when Adam took both their backpacks to carry up the slight hill.

"Every day," Shelly said. "I'll know he's stopped loving me when he stops carrying my backpack."

"You notice he's carrying mine, too," Trinity said. The two girls shared a laugh then went back to whispering. Adam cast a glance up the hill for Eric's car, but it wasn't there. They went inside where Sarah and Allie were working on the computer.

They both were wearing tight shorts and halter tops that showed creamy white, toned skin of their midriffs. Allie saw the guest, smiled sweetly and hustled forward.

"Is this Jenny?" she asked Adam.

"Uh, no," he answered. "This is Trinity."

Confusion registered briefly on Allie's face.

"She lives in those apartments across the road," Shelly added. "She tried to pick up Adam on the bus and I just wanted her to see what she was getting into."

Trinity blushed but laughed.

"She said she was his sister," the girl protested in a friendly voice. "I mean, they don't really look alike, but..."

"You saw a chance and went for it," Sarah said. "Good for you. I'm Sarah and this is Allie. We're also Adam's sex toys. He may look all sweet and polite in public but he is a beast when he's home."

Allie pinched Sarah's butt, causing the taller girl to jump.

"She's kidding," Allie, who saw the girl looked uncomfortable with the joke, said. "Actually, well, I'm not trying to embarrass you. But I can see Shelly already considers you a friend close enough to invite for a visit, so you'll know soon enough. Actually, we're all together. We all date each other. I hope that doesn't turn you away from becoming friends with us."

Trinity looked from Shelly to Sarah to Allie then finally to Adam.

"He's got really good taste in women," she said with a giggle. The giggle stopped abruptly when her gaze drifted back to Allie. "Um, I don't want to be rude but are you ... um, do you do movies? Like adult movies?"

Allie sighed deeply.

"I do," she admitted.

"Ashley Malibu," Trinity said. There was no derision or scorn in her voice.

"Yes," Allie admitted.

"My last boyfriend had about everything you've ever done," Trinity said. "He said, uh, he said I reminded him of you or you reminded him of me or something equally as asinine."

"I can see that," Sarah said. "I do videos under the name of Sahara Rain. He is Derrick Driller. We're both new so I doubt you've heard of us."

"You?" Trinity wondered as she turned to Shelly.

"I've done a video but it's only for here," Shelly said without embarrassment. "Maybe in the future but not yet."

"Trinity," Adam said gently. "We would rather people don't learn of what we do. I mean, it's OK if they know but we don't really want them to know where we live."

"Oh, of course not," Trinity said. "I won't say anything. So that's what you were doing on the bus. You were setting up a video shoot for someone."

"When?" Allie wondered.

"Saturday for the shoot," Shelly answered before Adam could. "Friday we're taking Karlie to lunch to get to know her, if you're free."

"We're not free but we're reasonable," Sarah said with a smirk. "Come on to the kitchen. I tried a recipe for sweet tea today. I want Adam to try it. So, Trinity, do you go to USC?"