Anne-Marie was led into porn by someone she met through work. As part of her training, she had primary responsibility for one patient, Mr Pugh. As a trainee she had few other responsibilities, so she often found herself chatting with Pugh, a man recovering from the amputation of his foot at the ankle. Before the accident, he was a self-employed market research consultant, regularly producing and directing corporate films and commercials from his own small studio.
In a way, the accident that cost Pugh his foot was a blessing for him, because it gave him the means stop work and do what he wanted. He exchanged his left foot for an insurance pay-out that set him up for life and reckoned he got the bargain. He was doubly fortunate in that he had no ongoing complications or pain. He decided to indulge his perverse interests and enter the world of 'reality' pornographic film-making. His gimmick was to produce films in which he took girls-next-door and led them by an interview process and progressive cash rewards to do more and more in front of his camera. Anne-Marie was his first success.
Pugh seemed an ideal patient for a trainee like Anne-Marie. Despite the newness of the disability, he was cheerful, making a good adjustment and unlikely to be harmed by her inexperience. No one, least of all Anne-Marie, suspected that she was the one at risk. In fact, from the moment he met her, Pugh must have seen Anne-Marie as an ideal candidate for reality porn. She was pretty, slim, inexperienced and with a lively flirtatious manner. Her figure was just transitioning from youthful angularity to adult roundness. She was innocent, but mainly from not knowing what she was missing and lack of opportunity to find out. Pugh helped her fill in most of the blanks.
The week Pugh was due to leave rehabilitation, he made his play, telling her about a new project he was starting, "We interview young people over time about their attitudes to fashion, their lives and relationships. It's really useful to my clients, so they pay participants very well. It takes about an hour of your time per month on average. You are exactly the demographic we want." Anne-Marie was flattered by his offer, of course, and even more interested when he told her there was a standard fee of £50 just for showing up. "You can earn much more depending on how the conversations go and how much you tell or show us about different aspects of your life."
Pugh warned her that it I would not be money for nothing, that she had to be honest about her life and feelings, so that his clients got value for money. He implied and Anne-Marie imagined that his clients included top brands, so his warning made the offer seem more professional. She agreed readily enough.
Pugh did not actually lie to Anne-Marie, however disingenuous his explanation. He could afford and really did pay girls for interviews in which little or nothing sexual happened, but that was because you strike out more often at the amateur end of porn film-making. His clients were actually subscribers, who paid to see the more eventful interviews. Less eventful ones served as free teasers on his website. He talked about market research and he talked about his clients. Anne-Marie connected the two and Pugh didn't correct her mistake. His explanations made sense to the innocent and curious Anne-Marie. "Well, for example, you just left school. Girls are always trying to wear their school uniforms in ways that make them stand out. How did you do it? That could be really valuable to companies that sell to the teen market."
His biggest challenge was in convincing Anne-Marie that she was worth the trouble. She did not appreciate how attractive she might be. In retrospect I am astonished at how unconscious she was of her attractiveness. "There is nothing special about me or how I dress. My parents and brother would never let me do anything, and I'm not daring!" She had no real idea how arousing males might find her combination of modesty and youthful curves. "I'm not trendy like some of the other girls."
"That is what we are after," Pugh replied, "saying and doing what feels natural for you. You are a normal person with normal good taste. You'd be a perfect representative of all the girls in the World who deserve to be seen more and heard! What do you say? I need to re-establish my business after my accident. You're a perfect example of the girl-next-door and can help me .... Get back on my feet!"
Anne-Marie groaned at his joke, but wanted to encourage his positive attitude towards living with his disability. It was flattering to even be asked, but she was cautious, "What if I don't want to tell you things that are confidential?"
"I promise you will always be in control. Interviews will never go further than your limits. In any case, my clients have set aside a budget, so I can usually pay more than the £50 basic fee to reward you for letting us explore deeper. The right interview can earn you a lot of money!"
She liked the sound of that. In any case, Anne-Marie did not think there is that much about her life that was worth keeping secret. "You're sure I will be in control?"
Once she had agreed, Pugh wasted no time establishing ground rules before she had time to reconsider. Her first interview would be at his studio, which was, coincidentally, not 15 minutes from her home. It never occurred to Anne-Marie as they fixed a time four weeks away, that she had made a life-changing decision. She was reassured by his professionalism when he explained that he would write up their conversation into an agreement for her to sign. He promised her that she would be a perfect representative of young women starting out in life. She barely noticed Pugh's last sentence, " Of course I have to video interviews. My clients need to see the data. After all, they are providing the budget. I promise not to share it with anyone else." They were both smiling as Pugh left the centre, for closely related, but, as it happens, entirely different reasons.