Her head was still spinning from all the excitement surrounding the nominations when she got home.
She kicked her sneakers into the corner, flopped onto her bed, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She had tons of unread notifications on Instapic and Hitter, but also unread messages on WhatsUp and two missed calls.
Jesus.
The news had obviously spread like wildfire. She opened her messages. Elena had tried to call and then sent her a voice message and Maven had also tried to call. It was probably important, but whatever.
Elena first. She pressed play and placed her phone on the pillow next to her.
“Hey, Chloe!” Elena’s voice filled the small room, warm but with a serious undertone. “I just heard about it! Five fucking nominations, girl, that’s insane! Congratulations, that’s really a big deal, I’m so happy for you!”
Chloe took her phone and scrolled through her Instapic notifications at the same time. Hundreds of new followers today alone, and the comments under her latest posts were exploding.
“But listen,” Elena continued, “I want to tell you something that nobody told me back then. This is sure as hell going to put you in the spotlight and you’re definitely on the radar of the big players now. And some of them…”
Her phone vibrated. A text message from Steve.
She couldn’t help but grin.
“…don’t see performers as people,” Elena just said. “Only as profit potential. You’re guaranteed to get a lot of offers now, but be careful what deals you make. I wish someone had told me that when I started out.”
“Just keep an eye on it, okay? I’m still super happy for you!” Elena’s message ended. “And call me if you want to talk. Bye!”
Before she could reply, her phone rang again. Maven was trying again.
“Hey, Maven.” She put the phone on speaker and opened Hitter on her laptop at the same time.
“Chloe! I’m glad I finally got hold of you.” Maven’s voice sounded businesslike but not unfriendly. “First, VAN, the trade magazine, called. They want a statement from you about the nominations.”
“Okay…” Chloe scrolled through her Hitter feed. The nomination list was being shared everywhere. Her name appeared again and again.
“Second, Ben has organized a photoshoot for you tomorrow morning, at Dirty Dreams. They have a really good photographer on contract. Valeria is doing it as a favor for Ben, so it won’t cost you anything. I’ll send you a calendar invite with all the info right away.”
Dirty Dreams, Valeria’s territory. “I think she’ll be ready soon.”
“And thirdly,” Maven continued, “VICE has already asked if you make booth appearances during the expo. There’s no rush, it’s still a while away, but just think about it.”
“Yeah, I will.” Chloe clicked through the comments on Instapic while she listened.
She swallowed and focused on Maven again. “What should I tell the magazine?”
“I’ve already thought of something.” Maven cleared her throat. “The usual standard stuff: ‘I am honored and grateful for the recognition. I look forward to the future and to continuing to work with talented people in the industry.’ Blah, blah, blah.”
Chloe thought for a moment. “Can I add something? Something like… ‘I never could have imagined this when I started not so long ago.’ Just to make it a little more personal?”
A short pause. “That’s good,” Maven said, sounding almost surprised. “I’m happy for any input, most of the time I just have to write something.”
Steve’s next message lit up.
“Okay,” said Maven. “A few more questions from the magazine. They want to know what the nomination means to you.”
“Um…” Chloe rubbed her forehead. What a stupid question. “That hard work pays off? That I’m on the right track? Does that sound okay?”
“Yes, that’s great, I’ll embellish it a bit. And do you have any plans for the future?”
“I want to keep growing. Try different projects. Not let myself be limited. Make the most out of the success. Can you work with that?”
Maven typed audibly. “Perfect. I’ll send you the final answers for approval before I send them out.”
“Thanks, Maven.”
“Oh, and I’ll also send you the calendar dates for the party invitations that come in. You can’t go to everything, but you should go to the important ones. I’ll help you prioritize if you want.”
“That would be great.”
“See you later.”
Chloe put down her phone, shook her head briefly, then picked it up again and opened her messages to Elena.
She sent the message and then opened Hitter. She had to post something, people were expecting it.
@ChloeHeartXXX
The whole spectrum of humanity gathered in her comment section.
She put her phone aside, leaned back, and stared at the ceiling. Just yesterday she had a nervous breakdown, this morning she found out about the nominations, and now she was already coordinating press statements, photoshoots, and managing her public image, feeling as if she herself were a company that she was suddenly running.
I wanted more control. Now I have it.
But control came with pressure and expectations and this feeling that she was standing on a surfboard trying to ride a wave that was getting higher and higher and…
…the strange thing was: she was good at it.
No.
She shook her head.
It’s still a means to an end. Well, two ends now. The investigation AND financial security. That’s all.
~
The next morning, Chloe stood in front of Dirty Dreams headquarters and raised her eyebrows in awe. It had a modern glass facade that sparkled in the morning sun, and above the entrance, as big as a small car, was the bright red DIRTY DREAMS logo she knew from Valeria’s special party, when it had covered her own breasts.
Corporate porn.
She walked through the automatic glass doors and entered a lobby that could’ve just as easily belonged to an advertising agency or a tech startup, complete with marble floors and sleek, minimalist furniture.
The receptionist, a woman in her mid-thirties with perfect makeup and a headset, looked up and smiled widely.
“Chloe Heart! Welcome to Dirty Dreams. We’ve been expecting you.”
No questions and no explanations necessary. She was known and expected.
That is new.
Before Chloe could answer, a young assistant appeared beside her, also wearing a headset.
“Hi, I’m Destiny! I’ll take you to the makeup department now, and then we’ll get started.” Her enthusiasm was contagious, or at least well acted. “Please follow me.”
They followed a long corridor, past glass walls behind which Chloe could see editing suites and offices. People sat in front of large monitors, talking on the phone or typing on tablets.
The makeup department was a bright room with several stations, each equipped with Hollywood mirrors and enough cosmetics to supply the staff of a medium-sized strip club for a month or two. Two people were already waiting for them.
“Chloe, this is Lila and Drew for makeup.” Then she disappeared, speaking Chloe’s location into her headset.
Lila pointed to the chair in front of her mirror. “Sit down, sweetie. We’ll make you pretty in no time.”
“Prettier,” Drew corrected with a crooked grin. “You already bring the looks.”
They worked quickly and efficiently and were clearly a well-coordinated team. Lila took care of her skin, foundation, and contouring, while Drew worked on her eyes.
“You’re the newcomer with the five nominations, right?” Lila asked casually as she ran a brush over Chloe’s cheekbones.
“Yes, I am.”
“Not bad at all.” Drew applied eyeshadow. “Some girls are in the business for years and don’t even get one.”
Chloe watched herself in the mirror. The tired shadows under her eyes disappeared. Her cheekbones stood out and her lips became fuller and more seductive.
Twenty minutes later, Destiny returned and led her to the studio. The room was huge, with ceilings stretching at least twenty feet above them and spotlights hanging from metal scaffolding. Reflectors stood ready, and in the middle of the room, someone had set up different sets, one with a velvet chaise longue, another with a minimalist white backdrop.
The photographer was an older man, perhaps in his late fifties, with gray hair and an expensive-looking camera around his neck. He looked her over briefly, nodded once, and then turned to his assistants.
“Let’s start with the red dress. Backdrop three.”
No introductions, no small talk.
The next two hours flew by in a flash. They had prepared lots of outfits for her. First the red evening gown, then jeans and a simple white T-shirt that was supposed to convey “casual sexy”, lace underwear in various colors, and a latex outfit that took three people to help her get in and out of. And, of course, nude shots.
“Chin up. Shoulders back. More energy in your eyes. Yes, just like that.”
The photographer gave short and precise instructions, never saying more than was absolutely necessary. Chloe followed the instructions, adapted, and tried to learn what he wanted as quickly as possible.
“Wait a minute,” said the photographer, fiddling with his equipment. “I need to adjust the color settings. Two minutes.”
Chloe relaxed her posture and gratefully accepted a bottle of water that someone handed her. She stretched her neck while the crew around her readjusted the lights and tried not to stare at her too much.
The studio door opened.
The change in the room was immediately noticeable when conversations fell silent and heads turned as Valeria Cruz entered the room.
She wore a tailored black pantsuit, and her dark hair was styled in an elegant bun. It was like one of those science videos where someone runs a magnet over a bowl of iron filings. Everything and everyone seemed to realign as she walked through the room.
Straight toward Chloe.
“Chloe.” Valeria’s smile was warm, but her black coal eyes looked calculating as always. “How’s the shoot going?”
Chloe stood naked in front of the most powerful producer in the industry, with nothing but a water bottle in her hand, but what else could she do?
“Very well.” She returned the smile. “The crew is fantastic, and the photographer knows exactly what he wants and I think I can work well with that.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Valeria looked her over, and Chloe wondered what she saw. An up-and-coming porn actress? A potential investment? A risk?
“Ben has a good eye for spotting talent,” Valeria continued. “I was afraid he might have lost his touch after all these years, but five nominations in such a short time, well done. Dirty Dreams and I are fully behind you, I hope you know that.”
“That means a lot to me.”
“We could offer you bigger projects, a few more lucrative roles. And if that goes well, who knows, maybe even,” she paused and looked at her meaningfully, “an exclusive contract.”
And there it is. I should have guessed, after Elena’s cryptic warning.
“I’m really grateful for the interest and feel super honored, you know, I’d love to shoot for Dirty Dreams,” Chloe chose her words carefully. “But I think it’s a little too early for an exclusive contract. I think it’s better for me to keep my options open at the moment. I want to try out different projects and gain experience.”
Valeria’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “Of course. You’re smart to take your time.”
“I’m still learning so much every day in this industry!”
“I can see that.” Valeria took a step closer. “I hope to see you at one of my upcoming parties again soon.”
“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it!”
Valeria nodded slowly, obviously satisfied, at least for now. Then she placed her hand on Chloe’s bare shoulder. The touch was gentle but firm.
“When you’re ready to talk about an exclusive contract,” she said quietly, “you know where to find me.”
Then she turned, walked away, and the crew returned to their work as if nothing had happened.
“Ready for the next series?” called the photographer.
Chloe nodded and took her position.
As she posed, bathed in white light from the flashes, her thoughts rattled in the background.
Valeria had made her first move, and it was immediately apparent how skillfully she worked with the carrot and the stick, luring her with possibilities while simultaneously building pressure. The door to her world was opening, just as Chloe had hoped.
That’s good for the investigation, I guess, but also a bit frightening.
Valeria was one of the prime suspects. She had also put pressure on Samantha and might even have had something to do with her death.
She had to play this carefully. Get close enough to find answers, but not so close that she was trapped.
“Can you please spread your labia a little with your fingers?” asked the photographer. “Perfect, just like that. Stay like that.”
The camera flashed.
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4 Comments
Not that it’s a bad thing but you really like your juxtapositions at the end of chapters.
A little feedback for the comment-section:
Is it possible to have some kind of notification when someone answers your comments?
I kind of miss that feature.
I activated the notifications, let me know if it works, maybe you have to press the bell button under the comments or something.
Chapter endings aren’t easy in serial writing since they have to do a lot of work and you want to ideally pull the reader along. Every guide and every successful serial author out there says “You need to always be cliffing!” but I’m trying to do that sparingly. But I definitely don’t want to become too formulaic in other ways instead.
Don‘t worry.
You don‘t use this too often, imo. But when you do it‘s really effective.
Thank you!