"Well, now what are you going to do?" I asked.
Emma shrugged and pulled her knees up to her chest as if to hide behind them.
"You quit college," I reminded her. "Filming for the new flick doesn't start for a month. Lancome doesn't need you for several weeks. You can't just hibernate. You're Emma Watson, for God's sake."
"Can't I just take a break, Traci? I'm being pulled in too many directions," Emma whined.
"You're a frickin' movie queen, Emma. You can't take a break. If anything you need to be pushing harder."
She frowned and rested her chin on her knees. "Some friend YOU are," she said. "If I can't get pity from you, I'm doomed."
"Don't be so gloomy. Look for a positive."
"Like what?" she asked without hope.
I paused. "Well...what have you done lately about preparing for the day a producer says, 'There's a nude scene in this one.'? Now that you have some down time, you could work on that."
I had known Emma Watson for five years and was one of her closest friends. I believed she considered me one of the few people, outside her family, who could ask her that question. The look on her face convinced me she took it seriously.
"That doesn't sound like a positive to me," she moaned.
"You keep putting this off, Emma," I said. "You know as well as me that it's going to take breaking through that barrier to get to the next level in your career. If you want to keep doing movies, you're going to have to persuade producers and directors that you'll do it."
"That's just it," she said, stretching her legs out and rolling onto her side on the couch. "I don't want to 'do it' with them."
"I didn't say WITH them. I meant FOR them."
"Same thing," she replied.
Watching her on the couch was all it took to remind me what promise she had as a leading actress. With her short hair allowing the petite features of her face to shine through, and her ever-burgeoning body displaying more and more adult characteristics, she was quickly shedding the Hermione image.
I had always been attracted to her, primarily because of her personality and no-nonsense approach. But as she passed her eighteenth birthday, and was now into her twenties, the attraction was more mature. I was a couple years older and that may have allowed me to act like a big sister to Emma. Like a sister, she often either disagreed with me or ignored me. On this subject, however, she seemed eager to listen as long as she could still appear disgruntled.
"And just how do you propose I 'prepare' for THAT?" she asked in a pronounced English accent.
"I've been thinking about this," I said, leaning forward in my chair for emphasis. "I think it needs to be done in a group setting. I'm not sure it will help at all if you just got naked for somebody in a room with the door closed. You're going to have an entire crew around you on the movie set and just a few gazillion people watching in the theater. So you need to do this in front of people."
She stared at me blankly. "You mean an orgy?"
I laughed out loud. "No! No! No! Not necessarily an orgy. Just..."
"Not necessarily? What else do you call sex with a group of people, Traci?"
"Quit putting words in my mouth, Emma. I didn't say WITH. I said in front of."
"No you didn't," she answered sharply. "Anyway, you inferred an orgy."
"Don't get hung up on the terminology," I said. "It's the concept."
She rolled onto her back. "OK. I'm conceptualizing me getting naked in a room full of people. Some of them get naked, too. We begin to have sex...just for practice, of course. Some participate. Some watch. Now tell me that isn't a fucking orgy, Traci."
I tried to conceal my giggle. "That's career enhancement."
"And what if one of them is a girl?" she pondered.
I'm not really sure what made me get out of my chair. Maybe it was the picture we both had in our mind of the scene and I was just playing out a role. But I walked over to the couch, looked down, and then climbed on top of her.
"Traci!"
I smiled. "What WOULD you do, Emma?"
"Die," she quickly replied.
"Not good."
"So, what would YOU do, Miss Know-It-All?"
"I'd think: 'This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make out with the sexiest actress in the world. If I don't take advantage of this I'll hate myself forever.'"
Emma glared back at me. "That sounds like what a typical dude would think. I expected better from a female."
Words weren't going to do it. It was time for action. I leaned down and planted my lips on hers before she could move. When she began to resist, I put my hands on either side of her face and held it in place while I intensified the kiss. Soon, our tongues met and even I was surprised by the passion displayed. For the next several seconds we were lost in each other.
When it was over, I said softly, "Was that better?"
"Oh my God, Traci. What happened?"
The sensation of her little body under me, our breasts touching and our pussies side-by-side, was becoming overwhelming. I didn't exactly intend for it to become sexual, but any more contact like the kiss and anything could happen.
"Practice, Emma. Practice. I think you, um, wouldn't have much trouble with, uh, another girl if it came down to it," I stammered.
"But we're not naked," she reminded me.
I looked at her. "Is that an invitation?"
"No!" she said loudly, pushing me with both arms. "Now get off!"
I laughed and rolled off the couch. Sitting on the floor, I said, "Well. What do you think? Should I arrange the party?"
"Would they know I was going to be there?" she asked.
"Probably."
I could see Emma's brain working hard. Her mouth twisted in a sign of anguish. "Oh, OK."
"Yea!" I cried out, getting up and hugging her.
Getting a dozen people to a party with Emma Watson was no problem. Getting them to promise to leave their cell phones or anything that took pictures in their cars was much more difficult. But I didn't need this all over the Internet and it was made clear it was the only way they could get in. I tried to guarantee them, without giving anything away, that it would be well worth the inconvenience.
I chose about ten guys and three or four girls that I thought Emma would like. She already knew half of them. So it was a good mix; as close to the situation on a movie set as I could pull off. And, if Emma wimped out at the end and nothing happened, it would still be a party. No big deal.
"What are you going to wear?" Emma asked me when the final plans were made and relayed to her.
"Nothing," I said.
"Damn it, Traci. I need to know."
"You're the big, high price fashion maven," I said. "You tell me. But don't make it too formal."
"OK. A blouse and pants it is," she sighed. "How boring."
"Don't wear a bra and show some skin. Remember what the goal is," I said.
"The goal, apparently, is for you to get your kicks at my expense. There better be some hot guys at this thing. I mean, an orgy with geeks is not going to endear me to you," she warned.
"You'll have your pick of beautiful men and women. A plethora of potential mates."
"I'm not sure there's enough alcohol to make me do this," she said.
"Ten years from now when your shelves are lined with Academy Awards, I hope you remember little Traci," I said.
The day of the party, I placed the odds of her having sex with anybody at no more than fifty-fifty. Having sex in front of a crowd was twenty five-seventy five. I only went as high as twenty five because it was all going to remain private. Having her walk out entirely was not out of the question.
"Damn," I uttered when she appeared at my door two hours before the party. "It's going to be a shame to see that outfit on the floor."
She wore a short sleeve, gold top that zipped down the front and stopped a couple inches above her very snug jeans. It was casual, stylish, and undeniably sexy. Her makeup was sparse, but she glowed as always.
I stared at the substantial opening created by the zipper being pulled down to the middle of her cleavage.
"I said 'show some skin', not 'show your tits'."
"There's nothing to show," she argued. "And make up your mind. Am I going to be a slut or not?"
We walked into the kitchen. "You're going to be the most sought after actress in Hollywood if you listen to me. I realize there's a thin line between that and a slut. But if you do this right, you'll be able to buy Hollywood when you're done."
"You mean when I'm too old to be a slut."
"Emma, quit it," I scolded her. "This is serious, and how many opportunities like this are you going to get to simulate what you're going to be asked to do on a set?"