Haunting Sins - Part 2

The office of Cortez Entertainment Enterprises was not at all what David was expecting. He imagined posters of adult film stars hung on all of the walls. Instead, he found a drab grey office with a brown leather couch in front of the receptionist’s desk. Between her tastefully stained oak desk and the couch was a glass-top brass coffee table, but there were no adult magazines on display. Against the far wall, a bottled water dispenser was the only other item in the room and the front area seemed disconcertingly spartan.

“Hi,” David said to the receptionist.

She looked away from her computer and smiled warmly. “Hello. Are you applying as a model?”

David smiled self-consciously and shook his head. “Uh, no. I’m here to speak to Mr. Cortez about the webmaster position.”

The receptionist nodded, reaching over to pick up a headset for the phone. Cupping the earpiece to the side of her head, she pushed a button on the phone. “Em? There’s an applicant for the webmaster position here to see you.” She glanced up at David. “Name?”

“David Sands.”

“David—yes, alright.” She put the headset down and waved toward the couch. “He’ll be right out with you. Would you like something to drink? I can get you some coffee or orange juice.”

“Oh...um, coffee would be good.”

“Sugar?”

“No, black is fine.”

The receptionist winked, and her smile became impish. “You can say that again.”

Unsure of what to say, David watched her get up with a bemused smile. He looked away when he realized he could start staring if he wasn’t careful.

He decided to double check and be really sure. Then he was staring.

The receptionist’s slender legs were easy to admire in the tight stretch denim jeans she wore, and her casual stride through the hallway caused the waistband to rise and fall in a way that was almost hypnotic to watch.

But he finally tore his gaze away when it occurred to him that the receptionist was probably the boss’ wife, or maybe his girlfriend.

David conceded that if he ran an adult movie company, his own receptionist would look just as hot as the lovely lady working for Cortez Entertainment Enterprises. And she would definitely be trained in “changing light bulbs under the desk.”

David moved to the couch and sat down, staring at the gold letters of the name mounted on the wall above the receptionist’s desk. He watched the sign to avoid leering at the receptionist’s backside, but she was walking quite slow. If he didn’t know better, he would almost swear that she wanted him to watch.

When she emerged in the hallway, his eyes dipped to follow her the entire way. He took note of her short black hair, styled in a pixie cut, which exposed her high cheekbones and made her slender neck seem longer and more elegant. She wore light makeup, and he doubted she would need even that much to be dubbed a natural beauty.

“Here you are,” she said. She passed him the cup and returned to her desk. “Not what you were expecting, is it?”

“No, not at all.” David sipped his coffee. “But then I haven’t applied at any adult entertainment businesses before.”

The receptionist’s smile spread and became irresistibly infectious. David couldn’t help but return it.

She said, “Wait until lunch, when a group of models comes in to interview. Then it will feel more like a porno.”

David laughed, almost coughing on a mouthful of coffee. “I wonder what sitting in on that interview is like.”

“Oh the interviews are boring. But when a group of the models show up and start talking shop with the newbies, it’s...raunchy might be putting it nicely.” She giggled, a soft musical sound that caused David to snort as well. “Around here, the phrase ‘I look forward to working with you’ is a pick up line.”

“Being that I’m only applying for the webmaster job, I hope you won’t take this the wrong way. But I do look forward to working with you.”

“Aw, thanks. I’m Nina Cortez.”

David nodded. Yes, the receptionist was the boss’ wife. That was hardly surprising. “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you. How long has your husband been in business?”

Nina’s laugh was warm and merry as she shook her head. “Em isn’t my husband. He’s my uncle.”

David snorted. “Right.”

“He is, really. Em heard me complaining last year about being out of work, so he hired me to handle the front office. I don’t really do much here, though. Em handles most of his own calls, and he does all of the scheduling. I’m just here to turn telemarketers away.”

“Uh...oh.” David looked down at his coffee. “Boy, I feel stupid now.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I hear that a lot. People see a cute woman working the front office with the same last name as the boss, so what else would they think? It’s still nepotism of a sort. I also have something the other people can’t claim to have.”

“What’s that?”

“I can honestly say that nobody in this business is trying to screw me.” She grinned wickedly as he coughed on another sip of coffee, turning her head at the sound of a door opening in the hallway. “Hey Em, I like this one. He’s cute, and easily amused. Can we keep him?”

Laughing as he wiped his mouth David stood up. He ran his hand on the leg of his jeans and then and offered it out for a handshake. “Mr. Cortez?”

“Lord, no, that’s my father,” Emilio joked as he shook David’s hand. He waved back toward his office. “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, but I was trying to sort out some paperwork problems with a model.”

“Is she underage?”

Emilio stopped and turned around. “No, I think her salary might interfere with her social security benefits if I put her in another film this year.”

David waited for a laugh of some sort, and when none was forthcoming, he uttered a short laugh. “Is she in a wheelchair or blind?”

“No, she’s retired. Old ladies do that sometimes.” Emilio smiled. “I haven’t broken you already have I?”

“I...maybe,” David said.

“Em, be good,” Nina said. “We need him.”

“Hey, we’ll have to break him sometime today.”

“This doesn’t sound good,” David commented.

“Relax,” Nina said. “He just means he has to find out what your personal level of kink is. The bad news is, to work here, you’re going to shoot right over the top of your limit with one seven hour shift.”

“Ah,” David said.

He walked back through the hallway, trying to picture Emilio as a porn magnate. But the image wasn’t quite right. His light blue long-sleeve shirt and dark green slacks were both pressed with sharp creases, and though he wore no tie, his clothing made him look more like an executive for a large corporation.

Emilio stepped around his desk and eased himself into his chair, leaning over to pick up a printout. David saw it was a copy of his resume, and his stomach became jittery once he realized he was about to have his first real interview in six months. He set the coffee aside on the corner of the desk and settled into a seat, folding his hands in his lap while he waited for Emilio to speak.

He had time to notice how Emilio’s hair was neatly cut in a short spike, and as with his niece, the short haircut helped to show off his distinct Spanish features. Emilio also had high cheekbones and a prominent nose which flared at the bridge. His jaw and chin were both wide and angular.

David wondered how someone like Emilio had gotten into porn. Had he started as an actor, or as a director?

“Your demo site didn’t include any Javascript examples,” Emilio said.

David needed a moment to pull himself from his thoughts before he could sort out his answer. “Yes, I got a job with a company before I could put up any examples, and after that, it just kept slipping my mind. I could bring a CD with some examples with me tomorrow.”

“What about ASP?”

David flinched. He tried not to, but he sensed the interview was about to end. “I’ve read a book on it, but I haven’t had much time to practice.”

“I see.” Emilio pursed his lips, his dark brown eyes dropping to read more from the resume. “You can handle backup utilities, right?”

“Absolutely. My main job with Lasertech was making server backups of their sales records. The work I did on the intranet wasn’t originally in my job description, but I mentioned to my boss that I had too much free time, and that’s what they came up with.”

Emilio smiled. “Perhaps you shouldn’t have said anything.”

David shook his head. “When you work as contract labor, having no work means you might get canned at any time. I wanted to prove I was useful enough to be kept on for something else, and working on the intranet gave me another two months before they let me go.” David coughed lightly, trying not to appear nervous. “One of my best references, Bee Majors, works as the manager of the sales division with Lasertech.”

“Yes, I know. I already spoke to your references.” Emilio set the resume aside. “To be frank with you, I’m more worried you’ll walk off the job because it’s below a person of your qualifications.”

“Sir, I—”

“Call me Emilio, or Em,” he cut David off while he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “You might need that crap someplace else, but I’m more concerned with what you know, and what you want.”

“How do you mean?”

“David, I’ve had nine webmasters work here in nine months. They all show up promising that they don’t care what kind of work we do here, so long as the money is good. But by the third week, they’re calling in sick, and by the middle of the fourth, they just stop calling. I’m left scrambling to get somebody else for what should be an easy job to keep filled. Now I’m looking at your resume, and I have to ask myself if you will promise me to be here, only to disappear in four weeks.”

“Emilio, I’ve been out of work for six months. Even with a good salary, it’s going to take me two months to get my finances back in order, and I’ve been told I’m overqualified every place I’ve been, though not in so many words.”

Emilio smiled faintly. “No, of course not. Then you might have grounds to sue for discrimination.” He sighed. “Look, I want to hire you.”

“Well, I want to work.”

Emilio tapped his finger on the desk, thinking far too long for David’s liking. “Let’s do this. I’ll talk you through the tasks I need you to do as far as I understand them, and then I’ll leave you with all of the manuals in the back office. You look everything over and tell me how much you need to make sure you stick around.”

“Uh, and today is free work, right?”

“Only if you decide you don’t want the job.”

David nodded. “All right, let’s see what you’ve got.”

***

It was well past four when David set aside the last manual and glanced back at the racks of servers his desk shared space with in the cramped office. Whether he looked the part or not, Emilio was a porn magnate. He had web sites representing every legal kink and fetish that came to David’s mind, and a few dozen more that he’d never wanted to think about.

Part of the problem he had with the job was the task of verifying that each video was being properly categorized. The idea sounded pleasant only for a few categories, and then he ran into groups of sites dedicated to fat people. These were not people who could be called big boned, nor could they be said to carry a little extra padding. In either case, David could still consider them attractive. Realistically, he imagined that someone around two hundred pounds was his upper limit, but then he supposed a tall woman could carry something close to two-fifty and still be attractive to him.

In any case, the models in question started out around six hundred, and they were short people, making the movies rather unsettling.

David had watched a video of a dark, skinny male model having sex with a woman so pale her skin looked bleached. But there was no way to tell it was sexual at first. The camera angle was taken from a distance that made it impossible to see the woman’s head or any sexual organs either. So instead of having sex, the man looked like he was trying to knead a huge glob of pizza dough dressed in only his socks.

And yet, that disturbing image was only one of dozens that littered his mind after he moved away from the computer to read manuals. There were also gay male videos, and David had never been remotely curious about them. He was not homophobic, but there was nothing attractive about watching two men together.

In fact, David found himself thinking the men on the bottom rarely looked like they were having a good time. In the one and a half movies he had seen before coming to Cortez Entertainment Enterprises, all of the models said. “Oh, oh, oh.” But in the few clips of the videos he saw, most of the men on the bottom said, “Ow, ow, ow” instead.

Emilio had commented that many of the men in the videos were “gay for pay,” and David had quickly decided that no matter how poor he got, working as a bottom was not on his list of available positions.

There were videos of old people, men who dressed in diapers, and women who inserted horrendously large objects into one or both of their lower orifices. There was sadomasochism, bondage, and foot fetishes. Even his fantasies about lesbians had been killed after watching a large, mannish woman slipping her balled fists into the lower half of an anorexic model. She had one hand in one hole, and one in the other, and she was pumping both up to her forearms with a nauseating pace.

In other words, if it were possible for David to get any more turned off, his penis would invert itself and become a vagina.

And yet, the work itself was simple. The manuals for the software were all easy to understand, and none of his tasks were difficult. He would take video CDs from his inbox and upload them to the servers. Then he could take the CDs across the room to be put up in storage bins “according to kink,” as Emilio put it. At the end of the day, he would begin setting up backups of the servers, and in the morning, he would swap the backup tapes.

David set aside the manual for the server backend software and walked across the office. When he opened the door, he felt a sense of dizziness that nearly toppled him before he could grip the knob to steady himself. Shaking his head to clear it, he went to Emilio’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Emilio called.

David opened the door then froze when he saw the two women seated in front of the desk. “Uh...I just finished going over the manuals.”

Emilio nodded before looking at the women. “Ladies, would you mind wandering back to the front office for a moment?”

David stepped aside, trying not to stare. Both of the women were dressed in about the tiniest skirts he had ever seen. David sat down in the chair and smiled weakly. “Well...the job is easy enough, but...”

“But some of the ugly details make saying yes hard, right?”

“Yeah.”

Emilio nodded. “Don’t think I’ll hold that against you. Most webmasters who walked through that door have also felt just as conflicted. We had one exception, and I think he was bisexual.”

David’s smile grew. “I’m not, and...well I think I’d have to ask for at least...twelve dollars an hour.”

Emilio sat back in his seat, rubbing his jaw while he considered it. “Tell you what. Let’s suppose I give you twelve to start off with, and if you can survive the first thirty days, I’ll raise it to fourteen.”

David tried to keep a straight face and failed. At his best job, he’d made eleven and a half an hour. Twelve had seemed high to him for how easy the work would be, gruesome details aside. To be making fourteen would mean he would be in good financial shape fast. He might even be able to afford a few genuine luxuries like a trip to the movies or a night out with his friends.

He had another thought and coughed to clear his throat. “Before I begin, will you...uh, will you need to drug test me?”

“What, are you fucking kidding me?” Emilio laughed, shaking his head. “David, if I drug test the people working here, I’d have to fire 99.5% of my staff. And honestly, I think the other .05% would be using a detox kit to piss clean. If I thought it would get you working full time without calling in sick, I’d front you the money to buy whatever it is you’re into.”

David felt sorely tempted to answer, but instead he smiled. “I won’t need any money upfront, but I guess you’ve got yourself a webmaster.”

“Great, fantastic.” Emilio grinned and gestured at the door. “Now don’t take this the wrong way, but please get back to your office and get your ass in gear. You’re looking at a two week backlog of videos to be uploaded.”

***

David wandered outside for a break. The back office felt increasingly cramped over the course of the day, and it had finally gotten so bad that he needed to step outside. His sinuses were stuffed, and he had the first pangs of a headache starting. He dropped his head to rub the bridge of his nose in an effort to relieve some of the pressure.

“Getting burnt out already?”

David raised his head and smiled at Nina as she walked out of the office. “No, I’m just not used to being indoors again yet. I’ve spent a few months walking around outside to deliver applications.”

Nina gave a short nod while she dug in her purse for a pack of cigarettes. “I know how you feel. I was out of work for three months before Em signed me up over here.”

“You don’t feel weird that your uncle works in porn?”

“No.” Nina lit her cigarette, smiling as she put the pack and lighter away. “Sometime I surf around to see what we’ve got.”

“What?” David laughed.

“Yep, and the kinkier, the better.” She laughed at his grimace. “Mind you, I’m not turned on by any of it. I’m just...morbidly curious.”

“Well I’m not.” David put his hands in his pockets and grinned at her. “I never thought of myself as a prude before, but I think this is the kind of sex education I would have avoided if I could have managed it.”

“Oh, come on! You’ve been here one day. You’ve only scratched the surface of what this place offers.” Nina puffed her cigarette and smirked at him. “What have you seen so far?”

“Um...too much.”

Nina flicked her cigarette away and waved for him to follow her. “Not just yet. I’ll bet you haven’t made it to any of the transsexual videos yet.”

“Tran what?” Walking into the office, David shook his head when Nina looked around at him. “I...I don’t think I’m familiar with the term.”

Nina giggled. “Oh, corrupting you is going to be so much fun.”

She went to her desk, waving for him to stand behind her before she opened a browser and pulled down the bookmark list.

A video began playing of a slender blonde woman dancing for the camera in a motel room.

The room was always the same in every video. Emilio explained that nothing could be filmed in the office, so they relied on a local motel to shoot most of the videos.

Emilio was already out of the office to work with the two new models David had seen earlier in the day. Mostly work for him meant standing behind the cameraman while muttering directions to his “actresses.”

“What do you think?” Nina asked.

David shrugged. “She’s not bad. I think she’s had a boob job, but she’s cute.” David shrugged, about to comment that he couldn’t see what was wrong when the woman slid off her shorts and panties in one motion, revealing a massive erection. “Oh...oh, that’s not right!”

Nina laughed hysterically at his horrified expression, and when he tried to back away, she grabbed his wrist. “No, wait. You’ll miss the best part.”

David cringed. “Which is?”

“Just watch.”

Another woman stepped in front of the camera, already nude. All of her parts were correct, but the video still made David uncomfortable when she began going down on the transsexual.

Straining to smirk at Nina, he asked, “Did you torture all of the webmasters like this?” he asked.

Nina winked and replied, “Nope, only the cute ones.”

***

David walked outside, rubbing at the bridge of his nose to try clearing his sinuses. The back of his throat felt raw and scratchy. He wondered if the air conditioning was making him feel sick after months of being used to walking around outdoors.

He slipped on his bag, debating whether to take a bus or walk home.

“Which one is yours?”

David turned to look at Nina with a confused expression. “I’m sorry?”

“Sorry, maybe I should have asked where you parked.”

“Oh, I didn’t bring my truck. I had to drop the insurance on it, so I can’t drive it right now.”

Nina smiled at him. “Seriously?”

“Why would I be kidding?”

“Well I...I don’t know. I’d take the risk to avoid walking.”

“I prefer not to.” David smiled. “Besides, it would be my luck that I’d get caught and have my license suspended.”

“Still, Em might ask you to drive around. You need to take tapes to the offsite storage facility every few weeks, and then there’s random deliveries he’ll have you make. I’ll talk to him about that tomorrow and we’ll get you an advance to cover the insurance.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Yes, we do,” Nina insisted. “Em won’t be happy if you can’t drive for your first month here. Anyway, we’ll work something out.” Nina dropped her hand into in her purse to tug out a pair of oval framed sunglasses. “Maybe I can give you a ride home?”

David could already tell declining wasn’t an option. “Sure.”

“You’ve survived your first day in the smut business.” Nina grinned at him over her shoulder. “Are you hating the job yet?”

“Eh, it’s going to be an acquired taste, I think.”

“There’s a tasteless joke in there, but I’ll be nice.”

David laughed quietly. “Thanks.” He whistled as Nina turned to head for the driver side door of a red Camaro. “Nice ride.”

“Thanks.” Nina slipped into the car and unlocked the door for him. She shut her door and started the engine, turning to watch David’s smile. “Should I go for the fastest route, or the more scenic route to allow you to enjoy the ride?”

“If I say the fastest, I suspect you’ll be risking a speeding ticket.”

Nina grinned. “Most assuredly, yes.”

“Let’s take the scenic route.”

“You’re no fun.” Nina backed the car out of the parking slot and pulled across the lot. “So how much did you talk my uncle into paying you?”

“I’m not sure I should discuss it.”

“Please, we practice nepotism and our product is smut. Do you think we have any professional standards to worry about?”

David laughed and shook his head. “No, I guess not. I’m starting at twelve an hour, and if I survive this dreaded first month, I’ll move up to fourteen.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“Nothing.”

David watched Nina trying to keep her face relaxed. He sighed when an idea occurred to him. “I low-balled myself, didn’t I?”

“The last webmaster started at twenty. Granted, he was the highest bidder ever, but Em is getting desperate.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We can’t keep a webmaster around for longer than a month. I still would have thought you’d be making more than me.”

“How much do you make?”

“Sixteen an hour.”

“Damn.”

“Yep, nepotism rocks.” Nina laughed and leaned over to push in the lighter in the ashtray. “You don’t mind if I smoke, do you?”

“No, not at all.”

“You don’t smoke though, right?”

“Ah, not tobacco, no.”

“Well well, the choirboy has at least one dirty habit.”

David made a pained smile. “I am not a choirboy. I prefer to think of myself as morally principled.”

“Yes, and most of my family would call you a stick in the mud.” Nina took a cigarette from her pack, grabbing the lighter as it popped up. “Still if you smoke pot, you can’t be a complete dullard.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“So David, are you going to tell me where you live, or do I just drive around all night?”

“Do I get bonus points for needing to think about it?”

Nina laughed. “Maybe.”

***

David didn’t want to invite Nina into his apartment, but she got out of her car and followed him without asking if he wanted company. He understood that if he made her unhappy, “Em” wouldn’t be happy either.

Unlocking his door, he stepped aside and waved a gesture at the living room. “Well it’s isn’t much to look at—”

“No joke,” Nina interrupted him, looking over at the desk and the computer. “There’s no TV, so I guess you surf the web a lot.”

“No, I shut off the internet connection four months ago. I had to pawn the TV and my stereo to keep my bills paid. There was a big CD collection over there in the corner, and that empty set of bookshelves used to be full of novels.”

“You had to sell everything?” Nina winced when she watched him nod. “Why couldn’t you just ask your parents for a loan?” She caught his pained look and held up her hand. “Wait, forget I asked.”

“It’s not a problem. I’ve never been on good terms with my folks, so I can’t call them even if I needed help.”

“Yeah...” Nina turned and looked at the kitchen. “Well, it looks like you need it.” She walked into the kitchen and looked at the open pantry, leaning over to check the shelves. “David, what were you planning on having for dinner?”

“Frozen pizza?”

She turned her head to stare at him, and for the first time, he didn’t like having her look at him. Her expression was filled with pity, and he preferred not to have anyone think he couldn’t take care of himself.

“Here.” Nina went digging in her purse, opening her wallet to slip out a pair of hundred dollar bills. “You do have a phone, don’t you?”

“Yes, that still works.” David shook his head. “I’m not—”

“Take this and call the pizza place up.”

“I can’t.” Nina opened her mouth to object, and he spoke over her. “No, I mean, they won’t take anything over a fifty.”

Nina rolled her eyes and sorted through the wallet to find a fifty. Instead of replacing one of the bills, she added it to the stack. “Get yourself some food, and before the office opens tomorrow, take the rest to get your insurance taken care of.” She held up her hand when he went to object. “It isn’t charity, understand? This is a loan you will pay back over the next four weeks.”

David thought it over and nodded. “All right, thanks.”

“Well, I’ve been nosy enough for today.” Nina stepped around David and went to the front door.

David stared at the door long after she’d left.

There was a debate in his mind whether he was annoyed with her for ordering him around, or if he was happy because she had taken an interest in him so quickly. He was used to women being forward with him, but not that forward.

David dropped his gaze to the bills stuffed in his hand, and he began working out math in his head. He could go to the store and buy enough food for three dinners for what a pizza would cost, and he would eat a large pizza in one sitting for as hungry as he felt.

He decided to head for the phone first. The pager number he called rang twice before beeping, and he entered his phone number followed by: 060.

He hung up and went to his room to fetch a duffle bag for the groceries then went to his living room to wait on the couch. Ten minutes passed before the phone rang. “Hello?”

“David! Man, I haven’t heard from you in ages,” Cory Tate said before he made a relived sounding laugh. Cory was David’s pot dealer, but their business arrangement came after they met and became good friends.

Based on the code David used, Cory guessed the reason for David’s call. “You’ve got money again. Did you finally get a new job?”

“Yeah, and I got an advance on my first day. If you swing by tonight, I can offer to throw a mini-party in celebration.”

“Yeah, I can swing that. I’ll be over around ten. Is that cool?”

“That’s perfect. I’ll see you then.” David hung up and left his apartment. He gave a passing glance at his truck as he crossed the parking lot. But he decided to walk to the store, even if it made him a choirboy in Nina’s eyes.

***

Cory’s lips split into a wide grin as he stepped inside the apartment. He tugged off a blue and grey Dallas Cowboys ball cap and hung it on the doorknob of the closet in the hallway. The hat matched his jersey, emblazoned with the number 22 under the team logo on the front, and the same number under the name E Smith on the back.

A true fan, he had a star pendant on a thin silver chain around his neck, and a star buzz-cut on the back of his short cropped hair.

In the hallway, Cory turned around and tried to feign a grave expression while he watched David. He rubbed his chin, then nodded. “In my professional opinion, you look sober. That ain’t right.”

David laughed and shut the door before he walked into the living room. “I’ve been dry for so long I might not get high the first time.”

Cory flopped on the couch and leaned back to dig in the pocket of his baggy jeans. “Not with this stuff. You’ll get so high we’ll have to scrape you off the upstairs neighbor’s ceiling.”

He freed a baggie from his pocket and unrolled it with an expert flick of his wrist. The cluster of marijuana buds thumped the bottom as the bag unfurled, and the scent burst out with a strength that was able to fight its way through David’s blocked sinuses. “Take a whiff of that, and you can get high without lighting it.”

“I can smell it from here.” David sat down and tugged a pipe from under the couch cushion. He dug in his pocket and pulled out three twenty dollar bills, passing them along with the pipe. “It might take me a couple of months to get back to asking for regular deliveries, but once I had the cash free and knew it, you’re the first person I had to call.”

“I’m touched man, really.” Cory laughed and started packing a bowl.

He passed the bag to David, who tucked it down into the couch cushions. “After we get blasted, do you want to wander up to the arcade? I can’t spend more than five bucks, but that’s still better than nothing.”

“Nah, Tuesdays are bad at the arcades,” Cory said. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“No, what happened?”

“Buncha little gang banger wannabes keep rolling up on the place. There isn’t a one of them old enough to fucking shave, but if you listen to them talk, they think they’re OGs.”

Cory shook his head as he handed the pipe to David. “If I was just four years younger, I’d be busting some heads to teach them a lesson. But shit, that’s why they act so tough. They’re all minors, and if you hit them, you go to jail.”

David shrugged, flicking a lighter and passing the flame over the top of the bowl. He held the hit in, smiling when his fingers started to tingle.

“That’s good stuff,” he declared in a gravelly voice before he coughed and passed the pipe. “So what do you want to do?”

“I guess you’re still too broke for the clubs.”

“Yeah, and I won’t be able to afford a new stereo until next month, maybe longer.”

“Nah, I can lend you my old box and some CDs, so long as you promise not to pawn them.”

“Would I do that to you? You aren’t just my friend. You’re my dealer.”

Cory laughed, coughing out his hit. He took another and held it before he passed the pipe. “Anybody else who said something like that would be headed for a split lip.”

“Yeah, but I’m your special bitch.”

Cory laughed. “Yeah, got that right. So what’s this new job? They’ve got to be cool if they’ll front you money for a bag.”

“Uh, it didn’t come out quite like that, but it could have.” David took another hit and set the pipe down. “I got hired working as a webmaster for a porn business.”

“Saa-weet!” Cory pumped his fist in a vulgar gesture. “Do they give lotion as one of the bennies?”

David sighed. “Dude, you don’t understand. The job sounds cool if you think about watching your favorite kinds of porno movies all day. But how would you feel if you had to watch an old lady blowing some guy?”

“Ugh.”

“Or worse, some guy blowing—”

“No, stop. Not going there.”

“I went there, and I did repeatedly. There’s not too many taboos I haven’t seen today.” David shuddered, and it wasn’t an act, but rather a reaction to a returning memory. “I think I hit an overload point around 5:30, because after that, even the porn that looked interesting bored me to tears.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah, and they ruined my lesbian fantasies too. Most of the real lesbian videos we have, they’re...they’re not the kind of ladies they’d show on ‘The L Word’, that’s for sure.”

“That makes sense. Everyone looks better on TV, right?”

“Well in porn, a lot of people don’t.” David took another hit from the pipe.

“Is there any bennies to the job?”

David nodded immediately, blowing out smoke ring. “Yeah, Nina Cortez.”

“Is she one of the chicks in the movies?”

“No, she’s the receptionist, and the boss’ niece. She’s really pretty. This is the kind of woman you’d want to show off if she went out with you. She has light brown skin, and a gorgeous set of brown eyes.”

Cory scowled as he snorted. “Who cares about her eyes? How about the tits?”

David laughed. “She’s got them, but I don’t recall looking at them directly. Still, she’s...she’s pretty enough that I end up looking up instead of down.” He gave a half shrug and passed the pipe. “Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I think she flirted with me today, in her own bizarre kind of way.”

“How?”

David shook his head. “No, trust me, that would fall under TMI.”

“Oh shit, now you have to share.”

“Okay, but remember you did ask for it. She showed me a video with a chick who had a dick.”

Cory coughed out a hit, and he shook with both laughter and more fits of coughing before grinning at David. “So if that’s flirting, does she grab a strap-on for the foreplay?”