Chapter 148

"There are a couple of other benefits," Allie said. "You've referenced the 'Sweet Things' web site. This is completely owned by the performers and Petal Technologies. We pay Petal Technologies – which is really Mary, Trinity and Erin, if I'm honest – a fee for hosting the site and for conducting our credit card billing. In September, we plan to add new faces to the roster. Tyanna, Katey, Meredith and Erin are committed if we can work out the logistics. Erin is our photographer right now. She might hold off joining the site until we can get someone to help her with that chore. Are you familiar with Anya Kovec?"

Lucy said she read about Anya's recent trip to the U.S. but she knew little more.

"She has expressed interest in joining the site as well," Allie continued.

"Is she coming to work here?" Lucy asked.

"That depends on how you define the word 'here'," Adam joked. "She is going to work from this house or the office complex but she and Katya are going to help facilitate an exchange program with their agency, Budapest Central Casting."

"You mean I might have the chance to go to Europe?" Lucy asked with a wide smile.

"That will be up to you," Allie said. "You will be offered the opportunity. So, back to what I was saying, we want to keep things set up as we have them. So we will add six new faces at a time. It makes the chat sessions easier to schedule. If you are interested in joining 'Sweet Things', I'm certain you will be able to do so in the coming months."

"Amazing," Lucy said. "Yes, I would be very interested in that idea. Uh, can I ask a question that might seem personal?"

"So long as you don't get offended if we tell you it's none of your business," Adam replied.

Lucy couldn't help the laugh that escaped. Her early morning speculation had proven correct: Adam wasn't a person who spoke anything but the truth.

"I don't mind and if it's none of my business, I apologize in advance," Lucy said. "It's just, well, I wanted to know, I guess."

"No harm in that," Adam said, returning the smile she'd offered.

"Does everyone live in this house?" she asked.

"No," Allie said. "Some of us do. This house is home to Adam, Shelly, Karlie, Sarah, Trinity, Erin, Rebecca, Katya and me. Anya will live here when she arrives back in the U.S. in a few days. Walt, Mary, Sean, Rachelle, Meredith, Katey and Leslie live in the house next to us. The apartments will house six or eight more in about 12 weeks, we hope."

"How many bedrooms does this place have?" Lucy wondered. The house she grew up in had seven bedrooms for four people. It was about five times as large as this place, too.

"I suppose it isn't much of a secret," Karlie said to the others. They just nodded.

"It has three bedrooms," Sarah said. "We use one for Veronica's office for now. Katya stays in one, although we use it for our chat sessions, too. The other will be for Anya when she comes back – unless she decides to share with Katya."

"And the rest of you?" Lucy asked hesitantly.

"We live downstairs in the basement," Sarah said. "We converted it to a large bedroom."

"Oh," Lucy answered.

"Our personal arrangements don't really affect the business side," Karlie said. "The eight of us became extremely close friends and fell in love with each other. It is nothing more and nothing less than that."

"Oh, no, that isn't what I meant," Lucy said. "I have no doubt that you keep personal and business relationships separate. I think that explains why I've seen Adam working with so many of you."

"It does," Allie confirmed.

"I am usually very good with names and faces," Lucy said. "In that vein, I have another question. I recognize everyone from your web site. You have explained where Walt, Sean, Mike, Mary, Rachelle, Trinity and Erin fit in. I even have figured out why Katya is here. The only one I can't place is Celina. Is she a performer you're looking to land?"

Lucy couldn't understand why everyone was laughing.

"Celina is our corporate attorney," Allie said. "But I think she'd like to borrow Adam for a little while every now and then."

Lucy's face turned red when she realized what Shelly had meant the day before.

"Yes," Sarah confirmed, "that is our polite little expression for when we send Adam to attend to the needs of others."

"I, uh, well," Lucy stammered. "Why would you do that?"

Veronica fielded this question, although Adam couldn't figure out why. He was just happy it wasn't left to him to explain.

"As a young performer in this business, you are going to attract the attention of a great many men," Veronica replied. "They see you as a sure-fire lay without much effort. They see you as a way to meet other sure-fire lays. They see you as a way to get into the business. They see you as a way to get an invitation to parties, a way to get drugs or as a person they can treat like crap. I wish I could say this is pure speculation on my part. It isn't; it is a fact learned by hard experience.

"This is another thing that is terrible about this business. But you will learn to trust few people and none of them males. However, you will also find there are times when you wish to have a romantic encounter or just plain get laid without an audience. That leaves you picking up a guy in a bar, going home with a co-star or finding a male that you're comfortable with to help you out."

Veronica hoped recognition would dawn on Lucy but it didn't.

"For many of the women in this group, Adam is that person," Veronica continued with a slight blush that mirrored the one on Adam's face. "Some of the others have gravitated toward Timm, Jason and Cameron. A couple of them are attracted to the guys outside the business, Walt and Sean.

"Adam comes off like a bull in a china shop sometimes. But he is truly a kind and caring man. For people like me – who have only seen the bad portions of this industry and sex in general – he is like a breath of fresh air. Katya will tell you the same. So would Leslie and Karlie and Allie and Sarah. They've seen the worst of it. Then they found Adam. And they care enough about their friends – and so does Adam – that they help them avoid dangerous situation by, well I guess 'allowing' is the right word, allowing Adam to spend time with them."

Lucy was amazed that what Veronica said made complete sense to her. She had done four scenes in Miami before the sites run by Alonzo Cruz. She felt dirty and degraded after each of the scenes but it didn't stop her co-stars or the producer or the director from seeing if she would like to go out to a party with them afterward. She had accepted one invitation and had been forced to take a taxi back to her hotel when a full-scale, alcohol- and drug-induced orgy broke out less than an hour after everyone showed up.

"I get it," she said.

"Well, not yet," Allie joked. "But if you're a good girl, you might at some point."

"Now, if we can return to another section of the same topic," Veronica said. "We send a lot of talent through Daystar, Dazzle and Goldwall. They are really good about accommodating us – and we return the favor to them. When I speak to them about you, I would like a list of your prohibited acts."

"I'm not certain what you mean," Lucy said.

"Things you do not wish to do on camera," Allie clarified.

"Things such as throat gagging and choking," Veronica went on. "But more generic things, too, such as internal cumshots and anal sex."

"I get a choice on that, too?" Lucy asked. She hadn't really been given much of an option on the choking and gagging parts but she had told the director it would cost an extra $1,500 for an anal scene. He passed, and she was thankful.

"You absolutely get a choice," Adam said firmly. "In fact, we generally send someone with you if you're working with someone we don't know. If it's a female, well, we usually send the most aggressive of the females – Allie or Meredith. If it's with a guy, uh, well, I guess it's me or Cameron."

"I can see you, Cameron and Meredith," Lucy said. "But Allie?"

"Brown belt in tae kwon do," Adam said. He had as much pride in his voice as if he taught her himself. "She passed her qualifying test last week. Plus, well, she is about as mean as a rattlesnake if you piss her off."

Snuggles took that opportunity to look over at Allie. He dismissed her quickly and put his head back on Lucy's lap.

"I would like to take a few days to get acclimated to Los Angeles," Lucy said. "I made enough money in Miami that I should be OK for a while. Can we discuss this when it comes times to schedule a scene?"

Veronica nodded and glanced at the list of credits then over at the girl.

"I would say you made $4,975 in Miami, if my math is correct," Veronica said. Lucy just goggled. Veronica was correct down to the penny. This woman knew the business.

"Exactly," she said.

"The government will want between $2,000 and $2,500 of that next spring," Veronica continued. "Here at Five Friends, we offer another service. Well, I guess it's not through the company. It is something that Trinity and Erin do for everyone. They track your scenes. At the end of the month, they print out a list of what you should have set aside for taxes for that month. They collect everyone and they make a caravan trip to Peoples Bank for a deposit in the individual's tax savings account."

Lucy's face dropped. She hadn't considered paying taxes on what she had earned.

"Lucy, this is not something you can put off until next April," Allie said seriously. "My tax bill this year was almost $40,000. You are an independent contractor – for whatever agency you sign with and for the studios you work for. You will be responsible for your state, federal and local taxes, for your Social Security contributions and for whatever workplace privilege tax exists where you filmed the scene. In December, you're going to get a host of tax forms from the studios. I would guess Alonzo has already prepared his and given them to you. A copy of those forms will be sent to the IRS and your state of residency. If you do not pay taxes, you will be caught and you will go to prison. I'm sorry that no one took the time to explain this to you beforehand."

"I suppose I knew it," Lucy admitted. "But I didn't think it would be so much."

"Actually, you're lucky," Sarah said. "By starting in the middle of the year, you won't make enough to move to the 50-percent tax bracket this year. Well, unless you do like three scenes a week for the next six months. But we discourage that because it is not good for your long-term health and it dilutes your product."

"Still, you'll still owe 27 to 33 percent to the federal government and around 6 percent to the state," Sarah continued. "As Veronica said, Trinity and Erin track that for you. You're in good shape right now. You can hold on to what you've already earned and make up for it later when your price is higher. But it can't be overlooked."

It took Lucy a couple of minutes for the full effect of what was in front of her to take hold. This group was throwing her a life preserver. Typically, it was Adam who put it into perspective.

"This is not just about making sure someone is on your side while you're in the industry," he said. "This is about making sure you have a viable means of supporting yourself when you no longer want to do this. If you decide, this moment, that you would prefer to enter our agent-in-training program, we will interview you for that role. If you decide you would prefer to assist Erin with 'Sweet Things' photography, we'll set an appointment for you to talk to her. The same is true of Mary or Walt or anything else. No one will be pressured into doing something they don't want to do if we can help it."

Lucy shook her head in amazement. She had spent most of the night before preparing herself to have sex with at least Adam but probably with the other owners, too. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined coming here and hearing what she had heard.