The sun rose. Jay's alarm went off. He groaned. Jetlag was a form of temporary death.
He texted his supervisor, telling him he'd caught some kind of bug on an overseas trip, and was feeling sick. He said he wouldn't be able to make it in today, and that he hoped the library would cope without him. He'd be back in tomorrow.
He turned his phone off without waiting for a response. The books could wait another day.
Rio wrapped a heavy arm around Jay's stomach, and they drifted off to sleep again.
They woke around 1pm. Rio bounced out of bed. "Fuck, I'm hungry, Jay," he announced. His tummy rumbled. "Hear that? Let's go out for breakfast?"
Jay rolled over and checked his phone. "It's 1pm, dude. Ain't nobody gonna serve you pancakes in the middle of the day."
Rio frowned. "Well, that's bullshit."
Jay shrugged his shoulders.
They went out, but for lunch instead. Rio was blinged up to the max -- black ballcap on his head, gold chains around his neck, tight white high-dollar track pants and a pair of shiny, expensive basketball sneakers.
They found a street cafΓ© where Jay ordered a smoked salmon bagel with cream cheese, capers, pickles and dill. Rio ordered a cheeseburger with fries, and they each ordered a coke.
They heard car horns, they smelt exhaust, and they breathed smog. "Fiji feels like a million miles away, Jay."
Jay nodded. "Yeah. I'm not ready to go back to the library just yet. Maybe it's jetlag, or maybe it's post-vacation comedown, but when my alarm went off this morning, every cell in my body screamed 'no'. I like working in a library, but I just couldn't do it today. But it's a good job, and I'm glad to have it. You know how much I love books, and most of the time, it's easygoing."
Rio chowed down on his burger, and Jay noticed a hint of sauce seep from the corner of Rio's lips. His tongue poked out the corner of his mouth and lapped it up. "Speaking of work, I got offered some more work a few days ago," he segued.
"Yeah, I remember when you got the text," said Jay. "I was waiting for your fat dick in my ass, but porn was more important."
The waitress overheard this comment and glanced across at their table. She thought she recognised the blinged-up dude from somewhere.
Rio didn't argue with Jay's statement. "Yeah. So I need to call the producer this afternoon to find out what's happening."
After finishing their meals, they headed back home for the rest of the afternoon. Jay lay back on the couch with his head buried in a book, while Rio stepped outside to make his call.
Jay expected Rio to walk back in, king of the porn world, hollering at the top of his lungs, with another massive check waiting there for him to clutch from the sky, but he didn't. Jay looked up from his book as Rio walked back inside and closed the door quietly behind him.
Rio was already in mid-conversation with himself. "I mean, I know I've worked with MacKenzie a couple of times now, and it's not a good idea work with the same people all the time, the audience gets bored seeing the same thing over and over again, so I was relieved when her name didn't come up in conversation, but ... Jay, he asked me to do a cuckold scene ... which to me, has some serious bi overtones."
Jay put his bookmark in and closed the cover. He stood up.
"What do you mean?"
Rio took a deep breath. "The scenario he pitched to me is there's this rich MILF chick sunbathing on a float in the pool. I've been hired to clean the pool, and she's checking me out." Jay raised a cynical eyebrow, and Rio noticed. "I know, man. Like, it's the oldest clichΓ© in the porn catalogue. Have we lost our imagination? Anyway, I know the bitch they mentioned -- she's hot, we've worked together before, and she's got a plump, fat ass that loves my dick. But then they mentioned there's another guy in the scene. I've done gangbang and blowbang scenes before, and that's what I thought he was pitching, but it wasn't."
"I've probably seen all of those scenes, and I probably came to every single one of them imagining I was the bitch in the centre of the blowbang being drenched in alpha cum."
Rio smiled thinly. "I wish this was another scene like that, but it isn't. I'm cleaning the pool, she's watching me, and she calls me over. She starts sucking my dick, but then her husband comes home unexpectedly."
"Sounds hot," said Jay.
"I'll cut to the chase. Her husband sits in a corner, watching as I fuck his wife. I cum on her ass, and then her husband eats my load off her cheeks."
"Fuck, dude, are you serious? I'm popping a boner already."
Rio ran his hands across his face in frustration. "No, dude, but ... I mean ... you're ... I don't think you're getting it."
"What's to get?" asked Jay.
Rio looked flustered. He began pacing the room.
"Come and sit down," Jay said. "Let's talk about it."
Rio flopped onto the couch with a sigh. "My porn persona is not the same as the real me. I'm living with you, and we have awesome sex, but I don't fuck dudes on camera."
"Didn't sound to me like you were fucking him," Jay countered. "Sounded to me like you ignored his ass completely, and then at the end of the scene, you disappeared, and he cleaned his wife up." He paused. "Am I missing something?"
Rio shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"Then how is this not 100% straight? You fuck the shit out of this dude's wife right in front of him, and then when you're gone, he eats your load off his wife's ass? You're not even there to watch him do it. Dude, that's fuckin' straighter than straight. And it's insanely hot."
Rio was slowly coming around to Jay's way of thinking. "Really? People think that's hot?"
"Hell yeah, they do. Tastes are changing, Rio, and there's plenty of guys out there who'd secretly love to swallow your nut and would get off on a scene like that. Also, don't forget, more women than ever are watching porn, and if Britney's opinion is anything to go by, chicks *love* watching alphas rule over betas." Jay paused for a second. "And ... besides ... you don't have to do anything you're uncomfortable with," Jay reminded. "I mean, you've been in the game for so long now, surely if you explain that this crosses a line for you, they'll just rearrange the scenario."
Rio wasn't sure about this. He knew he'd had a colourful past in the industry, and he was trying to make up for lost time. And lost money. He didn't know how much influence he had. "I'm just worried that if I say this is too far for me, they'll move on and find someone else. I know I'm a drawcard, but at the same time, I'm not irreplaceable."
"Yeah, maybe," said Jay, "but don't forget there's a lot more work out there for you than just this one scene."
Rio wasn't sure what to do.
Jay thought long and hard. "OK, Rio, imagine this. You fuck her in the ass, you cum on her cheeks, and ... I'm her husband."
Rio raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"Imagine I'm the beta jerking off in the corner watching you destroy my wife, and then I'm the guy who eats your load off her ass? I mean, I've eaten your cum so many times, and I've never heard you complain about it."