“432 Peach Street. 432 Peach Street. 432 Peach Street.” I repeated the address to Daniel’s studio over and over again in my head as I drove through the wide streets of the Las Vegas suburb. The sun’s rays were causing the street to blur like a mirage. But I was too focused on getting to the address on Daniel’s production company’s business card on time or earlier.
It wasn’t that I was looking forward to this. In fact, I spent the night before wrestling with sleep as I imagined what my first porn shoot was going to be like. I imagined a burly man covered in curly chest hair barking orders at me as I lay on a dirty, stained mattress. Men in dank white tank tops watched with sweaty brows as my co-star, a guy with no face and a wolf tattoo, fucked me from behind until he was satisfied. When we finished, I laid there, just as used and as stained as the mattress.
I pulled my rusted blue pickup truck in the driveway of a pretty indiscrete home. It was the last home in the Desert Flower subdivision, but nothing about it made it stand out. It was brick with siding, just like the others on the street. A white little fence wound around the property and a black and red mailbox stood guard near the street. You could picture mom and dad standing in the well-manicured lawn while the kids rode bikes up and down the white pavement driveway. Something about it eased my mind, letting me forget where I was and what I was about to be doing.
I knocked on the door twice, unsure of how I needed to announce myself. I could see a team of people scurrying around with props and lights, but no one paid me attention. I rang the doorbell instead.
A young girl covered from head to toe in tattoos and wearing nothing but a hunter-laced robe opened the door, exasperated. “Jesus, Barbie! Don’t let the cool air out. Get inside!” She grabbed my arm, forcing me from my place on the deck. “Are you the new intern?” She didn’t let me answer. “Daniel’s been waiting for you. You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. Don’t be surprised if you’re fired for that. He’s not one to play nice, even to college kids.”
I looked around breathlessly. The whole house was buzzing with people coming and in and from the back lawn to the living room. Large black cameras were being mounted on body suits while a woman pushed a large cart of tiny bikinis passed us. I needed a moment to take it all in.
“I’m – I’m not an intern…” I said as loudly as I could muster.
“Over here is the bathroom, but it’s for talent only. You need to pee, you do it in the basement with the rest of the crew.”
A man carrying a large sun reflector knocked into me, sending me tumbling towards the sofa. The woman stopped in her place and looked at me with pity, “Oh, honey, you’re not going to last long at all.”
My patience had worn thin, “Good because I’m not an intern. My name is Kylie. I’m Daniel’s employee from the bar.”
“You’re Kylie? The girl that’s in today’s shoot?” She looked at me suspiciously, as if she had let in an intruder. “Are you serious?”
Daniel suddenly appeared as the woman narrowed her glare further. She was taking in my baggy black sweatpants with the UNLV logo on the sides and my oversized t-shirt with a picture of a video game character. “Lay off, Julie. This is Kylie, and she’s going to need to get to makeup.” He, too, looked at me, this time his face falling as he noticed my laid back attire. “She’s going to need a lot of help today.”
Julie scoffed, crossing her colorfully painted arms in front of her chest and then walked off towards the hallway. I followed her, struggling to keep up with her fast steps. She led me to a brightly lit room where a woman dressed in all black texted on her phone. A cigarette in her hands accumulated ashes as it burned. “Elise, this is Kylie. Good luck with that.”
Elise set down her phone and gave me a once over, as well. She smiled lightly as she walked towards me. “Don’t listen to Julie. She’s a bit of a bitch. You don’t need much at all. Unlike her, you’ve got natural beauty. Just a little bit of work will help spruce you up.” She sat me down at the chair in the center of the room and began brushing my face with a variety of wands and tools full of colored powders. The cigarette dangled from the side of her mouth, “First time?” It was so obvious, I didn’t have to answer. “Everyone’s nervous their first time. Even Julie. But you’re lucky. Wilder’s your co-star. Well, your lead really. After all, the movie’s called Wilder Girls for a reason. He’s a genius. He’ll walk you through everything. And I hear he ain’t half bad either. Most girls fake it, but he gets the real thing.”
“The real thing?” I was sitting a bit taller now. This woman seemed to have seen it all.
“You know, an orgasm. Most girls in this business get so immune to sex that they rarely make it there. They have to pull out all the stops. All those ‘ohhhs’ and ‘oh my god’... it’s just for show.” She laughed to herself as she mimicked the other actresses.
As she finished, another woman walked in and handed her a white bikini on a hanger. She handed it to me and told me to get dressed. I looked for another room or an area to get changed in, but she stopped me as I tried to exit. “Oh, honey, you’re going to have to lose your clothing in front of a room full of guys. Get used to it.”
I tentatively pulled down my pants and shimmied out of my top and bra. I'd spent all last night shaving and grooming myself for this, but I was still ashamed of my lanky body and the lack of curves. I took a look in the mirror. Elise had done an amazing job with the hair and the makeup, I looked completely different, yet still very much me. But the bikini was too revealing. It hugged too close to my skin and was way too tight for the top. But Elise gave me an approving smile and thumbs up as she pushed me out the room.
Daniel was waiting for me in the living room, a clipboard in his hand. He took my bare shoulder and led me to the window, pointing out the cameras and the lights. He also handed me the script and told me to study it. I wasn’t expected to memorize it, but I should stay on topic.
Today’s story was about a virgin and her very experienced neighbor. The girl seduces him while they lounge around in the family pool, hoping he’ll show her how it’s done. Daniel then pointed across the room where Julie was chatting with a shirtless man. I instantly recognized him. He’s the guy with the wolf head tattoo. He’s tall, almost impossibly so, with a tight stomach crisscrossed with lines from his defined and toned muscles.
I struggled to make out the face under the brown, shaggy hair. The only thing I could see clearly was the piercing blue eyes. They were as bright as the sky on a clear day, and I wondered why I recognized the color as if that blue were a part of my history.
Julie left him, squeezing him on one of his muscular biceps and then sauntered away. He turned to follow her movements, leaving me in full view of him. I saw his face, the broken nose, the sturdy jaw. Every bit of breath escaped me, fleeing this impossible situation. That man, the man that was my co-star, was none other than my stepbrother William.