CHAPTER ELEVEN
When Selene let me into the brothel that evening, I could hear the noise from the kitchen all the way down in the foyer, and Selene preceded me into the kitchen, shouting, “Shut up,” at the screeching women.
The kitchen was crowded. Full of women in various states of dishabille, and the noise was deafening. In the middle, holding court, was a short woman with long brown hair, a cigarette in one hand, spreading ash everywhere as she waved her arms around.
Her eyes settled on me, and she winked, then her attention was back on the gaggle of women around her. She unbelted her satin robe and bared her breasts to a room full of delighted squeals.
She had the most beautiful breasts I had ever seen, full and firm and round, and I pushed his way past Chloe and Yuki to the TV room.
Shane and Clay sprawled across two of the couches, and I slouched down in an armchair. “You’re escaping too?” he asked.
Shane nodded, and Clay said, “It’s appalling out there. There’s enough estrogen rampant in the kitchen that none of us will need to shave tomorrow.”
“OK, so Charlie is a porn star,” I said. “But how come they’re all so excited to see her?”
Shane looked across at the door to the kitchen. “Three reasons I can think of. One, they want to be in videos too, and they think sucking up to her will help. Two, they want to sleep with her themselves, because of number one.”
“And three,” Clay said, and he pushed his thumb up against his nose and sniffed.
“Really? I thought house policy was nothing on the premises.”
Clay shrugged. “She’s Charlie, Eamon turns a blind eye when she’s here. It’s really unfair because Glenn brings in more money by far.”
I nodded. “It’s a star system,” he said. “She’s a bigger star than him, so she gets to make more demands, and it’s not based on actual productivity, but on an invisible ranking, right?”
Clay said, “That’s it. How d'you know, Jude?”
I shrugged. “I’m a failed actor, it’s the same in mainstream movies.”
Clay and Shane stared at him. “You’ve been in movies?” Clay said, with awe in his voice.
I kicked myself for having let that slip, and I was trying to work out how best to cover myself when Rod dropped his bag onto an empty couch and lowered himself to the floor.
“You’re late,” Shane said. “I don’t think Eamon or Autumn have noticed.”
Rod stretched out on his back and did what I recognized as lower back stretches. “Yeah. Had a screen test, had to wait for hours to do it. Went home afterward and fell asleep. I only just woke up. What have I missed?”
“Jude has been in movies,” Clay said. “He was just telling us.”
Rod opened his eyes and looked up at me, hips rotated so one knee was on the carpet. “Really? Why didn’t you say something? What have you been in?”
“Only crap movies,” I said. “Absolutely nothing of any consequence.”
“Go on, you can tell us all. We’ve not got high standards here.”
I shrugged. “OK, I was in two rom-com movies, and a foreign film.”
Just as I had hoped, there was no response from any of the boys, and Rod rolled onto his side and twisted his shoulder back, and there was a satisfying crunch.
“Does sleeping with producers and directors help?” Shane asked.
I laughed. “If it did, would I be working here? Quite honestly, no one has ever given me the slightest sign that having sex with them would help my career. If they had, I certainly would have.”
“Cool,” Clay said. “Have you got any tips for us? We’re all trying to break into acting. How did you get your first break?”
“I went to cattle calls and screen tests, the same as you all do, and got offered a part in an indie film,” I explained. “It kind of kept going from there, but I haven’t had a part for a year now, leaving me broke enough to come and work here. I’m in the same position as all of you.”
Rod sat up and stretched his neck to one side then the other, cracking it. “You’re not in the same position,” he pointed out. “You’ve done it, you’ve acted in movies. We’ve only dreamed about it. At least you made it that far even if they were movies we’ve never heard of.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. They were crap movies.”
Autumn shouted, “Jen, Jessica, got a call-out for you both. Has anyone seen Jude yet?”
I stood up. “In here, Autumn,” I called back, as I fished the car keys out of my pocket.
***
Sometime around two in the morning, I sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Chloe was sitting on the back doorstep, chain-smoking. Yuki and Jen were in the showers, and the kitchen was quiet apart from the soft drone of the TV. It was busy in the brothel, I could tell by how often the front doorbell rang. I had been impressed when I found out that Charlie would see eight customers during the night, all pre-booked, all paying over a grand each for the pleasure. With Glenn working too, the brothel must be clearing twelve grand tonight.
And of course, I would be taking home about $120 after taxes.