The limo pulled out of the studio gates and into late night traffic. After a long day of shooting, Katie slumped back in her seat and let the city slide by outside.
"It's hard being a power couple," Katie sighed, to her assistant Jenna's sympathetic nods. "Oh, sure, we've got all this money from Jake's albums and tours, and my movies..."
"His
multi-platinum
albums and your
critically-acclaimed box office smash
movies," Jenna interrupted, eliciting an embarrassed wave-off from Katie.
"Ok, fine," Katie admitted, "anyway the point is, sure we've got money. And that money affords us that monstrosity of a house, and all of the full-time staff to run it, and you and Dave, each our own personal assistants, and vacations all over the world - when one or both of us isn't working."
"True," Jenna allowed, "but you each have a very strong creative drive, and I know you each understand that the creative work is incredibly important to each other."
"But it's still so hard making time to stay connected to each other," Katie complained. "So: I think I want to do something spicy for Jake's birthday surprise."
"What, jump out of a cake naked?" Jenna joked, and Katie laughed.
"We'll figure something out," Katie said as she closed her eyes and waited to be home.
"So you talked to Gunnar?" Katie asked.
"Is that even his real name?" Jenna questioned. "He doesn't look even european, much less nordic or viking."
"Probably not," said Katie, "you know how these 'artisan' types are. I mean, whatever, he's good at what he does. You've seen the contraptions he's built for Jake and me."
"Yeah, I try not to think about your sex equipment," Jenna jibed with a smirk. "Anyway, yes, he's on board. He can have it done in time and have his guys deliver it to the venue and into Jake's dressing room. He says he'll make it fit you perfectly."
"Great!" Katie grinned. "And no problem with the 'Happy Birthday' sign above my head?"
"He said if you want that made from sheet metal he just has to make the stand sturdier so it won't tip over - especially with the wheels he's using so his guys can move it easily. But he thinks the steel with grinder marks is a great look for it, Jake will love it."
"Yeah, I think so too. And Annie's in for lunch next week?"
"Yes, she says the bakery is really getting busy, but for her famous college roomie, she can take a few hours off."
"I'm not surprised she's doing well, her cakes are delicious! That's one reason I want her for this."
"And the other is that she's already seen the great Katie naked and won't be put off by you asking to build a cake over your naked body for your husband to tear apart and ravage?"
"Exactly!" Katie laughed.
"Ok, so little problem...." Jenna started.
"Oh, I don't like those words," Katie replied, already looking worried.
"You know how Jake arranged for his birthday concert to be in one of the slightly more 'intimate' venues on the tour? Well, it turns out that 'intimate' also means 'small' and 'old.' So the dressing rooms are down a hall and up some stairs. Gunnar said his guys could carry the rack up a set of stairs or two, but these are circular stairs. There's no way it's going to get up there."
"But it's tomorrow, what are we going to do???"
"Yeah, Gunnar doesn't have time to rebuild it to be modular, so it's going to have to stay downstairs."
"So the whole thing is screwed?" Katie asked, expecting the worst.
"Well, hopefully, no." Jenna soothed. "I talked to management at the venue, and we can set it up in one of the side areas just off the stage. Now, it's kind of a large area, and not terribly private, but they have some of those mobile draperies that they can use to partition it off from the stagehands and whoever else would be walking by backstage. I know it's not ideal, but I'll leave a robe there, and after Jake cuts his cake, you two can sneak up to the dressing room, and he can, erm... 'eat his cake' there. They said the way to the dressing rooms from one side is a little longer and more labyrinthine, so it doesn't get used as much - it would be a fairly private way up."
Katie thought about the setup. She had always been very protective of her image. She knew that she was pretty, and had a beautiful body, but she was careful to avoid roles that relied heavily on sex or nudity. That was just the way she was raised: girls who flaunt their body are just hussies. She couldn't imagine her family seeing her nude or even scantily dressed - it would just be so shameful.
On the other hand, being an adult living away from her family, being married to Jake, being in the entertainment industry, all that had really opened her eyes. She had met some really good people who weren't afraid to be naked on camera, and she and Jake had really "experimented" with sexuality as part of their marriage. She loved the reaction from Jake when she flashed her body at him, and they had done some role play where she would expose herself to strangers - which had really turned her on! If she could find a way to do it anonymously in absolute safety, she likely would have already done it. But her career and the type of roles she had always pursued didn't seem to match with an actress that used sex to get ahead in the industry. Alas, the fantasies would have to stay between her and her husband, and the very few trusted people who had signed the NDAs their lawyers were so fond of.
But the thought of being a little naughty just a drapery away from strangers set her heart to pounding.
"OK, it sounds reasonable enough," she finally agreed.
"So this is it," Katie said loudly over the blaring music as she looked at the contraption Gunnar had built.
"Wow," Annie exclaimed, "are you sure it's not a medieval torture device?"
"He said he made it sturdy enough that you wouldn't get hurt even if it did fall over," Jenna explained. "He didn't want you to fall out, so he made it so you kinda lock in place."
"It looks like you legs are going to be spread more than I expected," said Annie.
"Yeah," agreed Katie. "I mean I wanted a little room in there for Jake to play, but this is a bit more than I was thinking. Well, with all the reshoots we've been doing, I never got time to meet with Gunnar for a design review. It'll be fine as long as you brought enough cake!"
"I've got plenty," Annie laughed.
"I think they've got about an hour left in the set," prompted Jenna, "should we get started?"
Katie took one last look at the drapery setup to doublecheck the privacy, took a deep breath, and slipped out of her robe. She handed it to Jenna, who hung it on the coat rack she had ask to have included in the setup. Katie gingerly stepped into the rig and sat down. Gunnar had done a great job, and the seat was well fitted to her shape. Annie moved the locking parts out of the way of where she was going to build the cake, and they surprisingly clicked fairly firmly into place around Katie's body.
"Oh, yeah," Katie said a little nervously, "I guess I'm not going anywhere if this falls over!"
Annie wheeled over her cart of supplies and started shaping cake and moving it into place to cover Katie's naked body.
"Jesus Christ, that buttercream is cold," Katie exclaimed. "Did you have to align that layer right with my nipples?"
"Girl, those nipples were hard long before they touched any cake!" Annie retorted. "I think you're liking this a lot!"
"Ok, you try sitting naked backstage strapped into a cage without getting maybe a little excited!"
They laughed, and Annie went on working.
She worked quickly and expertly, and over the course of the next half hour, crafted an amazing-looking cake that did more than just covering Kate's nudity, she created a masterpiece that included a woman melded into it. She even did a little airbrush painting of some of the exposed skin of Kate's arms, shoulders, and feet so that she really looked like part of the cake. She didn't like the looks of the safety bars locked over Kate's body in a few places, so she covered those with some magnificent frosting swoops.