Sellevision - Augusten Burroughs [77]
“Hey, Buddy,” Rocky said, as Max appeared in front of him wearing one of the white robes, hair still damp. Rocky himself was dressed in a white shirt and black-and-white checked pants, the kind chefs wore. “You ready?” he asked.
“As ready as I think I can be,” he told him.
As Rocky led Max over to the lit set, Max asked him, “So how long have you been doing this?”
“What, making porn? Ah, I don’t know. Five years, six maybe.” He steered them around some large black plastic crates.
“So you do, like, all kinds of movies?” Max asked.
“Well, any kind of straight or bi thing. I don’t do just guys. It’s, you know, not my thing.”
Max wondered, Well then, why are you about to have sex with me in front of a camera?
Seeming to read his mind, Rocky answered the unasked question. “But you know, I don’t mind it with guys, and if the guy’s handsome and not slutty, not some old pro, then it can be fun. You know, like this, with you.”
Max felt flattered.
They arrived on the set of Pizza Parlor Pussy. Ed greeted them and told Max, “Go ahead and take off your robe, make yourself comfortable.” Max noticed that Shaun, the fluffer, was lurking nearby.
“So here’s what I want you to do,” Ed began. “Rocky here’s gonna be standing over there by that pizza oven. What I want you to do is come up behind him and start taking off his clothes, getting him excited. You don’t actually have to do anything except touch, play around with each other. I really just want to see how comfortable you are.”
Max did not feel comfortable. This was, he realized, a large mistake.
Rocky got into position and opened the oven door.
“Let’s go!” Ed shouted, “And . . .action!”
Max exhaled and stepped onto the set. The lights were so bright, everything beyond the set was immediately plunged into darkness, just like on Sellevision. Then he saw the camera. It was trained on him. Max was on a set, in front of a camera. He wasn’t in a dark sound booth doing a voice-over audition. He wasn’t miserable, in his apartment watching MTV. And most importantly, he wasn’t on radio.
Max looked into the camera and a smile spread across his face. Then he looked at Rocky, who was pretending to slide a pizza into the oven. He could see the muscles in Rocky’s back flexing beneath the crisp white shirt. Max took a step forward. And then another. He reached his hand out and gently touched the nape of Rocky’s neck.
Rocky turned. The smile left Max’s face, was replaced by something else. Despite the sheer power of him, Max could see there was a softness in Rocky’s green eyes. He was attracted to Rocky. Max took a step closer and unbuttoned the first button on Rocky’s shirt.
Rocky took Max’s hands in his, pressed them to his chest. “You’re trembling,” he said gently.
“A little,” Max said softly, still looking into Rocky’s eyes.
“Here, let me help,” Rocky said, unbuttoning his own button. First one, then the next, then the next. Max slid his hands across Rocky’s exposed chest, felt the strength that was in those muscles.
The shirt fell to the floor.
Rocky unbuckled his belt, slowly. Then unfastened his pants. He slid them down his thighs, stepped out of first one leg, then the other.
Max and Rocky stood naked before each other. Rocky extended his arms, and Max moved into them.
Rocky ran his fingers across Max’s back, then pulled him closer. He took Max’s face in his hands, cocked his head slightly, and kissed Max on the lips. A gentle kiss, but a real one.
He turned Max around so that Max’s back was against his chest. Rocky slid his hands across Max’s chest, then down his flat stomach. Max closed his eyes and arched his head back against Rocky’s neck. He moaned softly.
“Cut!” Ed shouted.
Max’s eyes startled open.
There was applause from the crew.
Rocky let go of Max and stepped back. “That was great, buddy,” he said. “Man, you’re really good.