XLII
Tanya was beautiful. This was something about herself which she knew to be true and which she did her utmost to use to her best advantage. But beauty wasnât everything. She was also ambitious and she was frustrated by her position as a junior presenter on the evening entertainment show on Harlot TV. Sure, she was lucky to have made it in television, even if it was sex television where standards were very low compared to mainstream television. She was convinced that her assets werenât being used to their full. She knew that being filmed having sex on television wasnât really stretching her talents at all. It was not enough that her producer kept promising her better things to her from the comfort of his sheets. Nor that she could see the effect her beauty had on her fellow presenters and guests. Not that the quantity of sperm that they spurted onto and into her wasnât proof enough. Just the way they looked at her body was enough.
She knew better than most how to present herself. She took great care of her appearance. Her hair was cut and dyed by the best hairdresser she could afford: a pleasing blonde bob that emphasised the curve of her neck, the classical contours of her chin and cheeks and showed off her high forehead. She spent time and money on make-up which subtly enhanced her eyes and lips without overdoing it, like some of the sex television presenters who had none of the aesthetic sense of balance which ensured she didnât look like a slut. And she was worldly enough to know that it was her body which represented her fortune in this corner (as it would be any other corner) of the sex industry. This she enhanced by a choice of clothes where the tops, however long the sleeves, stopped just below the nipples of her apple-shaped breasts, and a choice of skirts and shorts which showed off her long thin legs and hung low enough on her hips to show just how far down she shaved her crotch. A little bit further down or a little further up and sheâd be revealing too much for the subtle effect of temptation she had nurtured to be effective. But what she always displayed was a midriff, with a perfect waist, a teardrop shaped navel and the contours of her hips. What she was saying, she knew, was that unless it meant business, what she had could be seen but not touched.
Her ambition left her somewhat lonely. None of her colleagues were anything other than competition for her, and no one in more senior positions to her in the television hierarchy was anything other than an object of envy or a stepping stone in her career. Most people sensed this, and left Tanya alone, which generally suited her fine. However, not everyone seemed aware of her aura, and none less than Emma, who worked as a producer on the stationâs naturist programmes and as a commissioning editor for some of the stationâs more prestigious programmes: whose high pretensions were matched by equally low ratings. But Emma was as blissfully unaware of this as she seemed to be of Tanyaâs sexual aura. Tanya was aware of this, as Emma looked at her with exactly the same kind of unobservant, uncritical eye as she did with everyone else, even the fucking make-up girls or the cameramen.
This fascinated Tanya. It particularly fascinated her, as Emmaâs sexual proclivity towards women was well known on the station. And she could see that the main focus of Emmaâs attention was the slutty Maisie whoâd once been on a television sex soap opera, but was now presenting a sex programme with Rochester, a male presenter. She also knew that Emmaâs relationship with Maisie couldnât possibly be exclusive. It was common knowledge that Maisie was spreading herself thinly amongst the male and female presenters and actors of Harlot TV, both on-screen and off. It was certain that Emma also knew of this, and Tanya found it unimaginable that an attractive woman like Emma wouldnât also be doing much the same thing, but in a perhaps more discreet way.
It was difficult to think of anything that Maisie and Emma had in common with each other, except the habitual nudity, which in Emmaâs case was like some kind of a fucking religion and in Maisieâs was just a kind of carelessness. They were certainly nowhere near the same age. And Emma possessed a quite different ethos with regards to how she comported and expressed herself. It was unlikely that she would share any of the enthusiasms that Maisie displayed on Wasted! every Monday and Wednesday night. All that fast, frantic, noisy dance music. All those wacky fashions. And all those infantile sex games that featured so highly on the programme.
Tanya stood behind the cameras on the set of Wasted! not really thinking of anything at all, except perhaps of her contempt for all the foolishness that was going on. Maisie was fellating the singer of some fairly puerile pop song, dressed only in a pair of absurdly high-heeled yellow trainers, with her mass of curly hair teased in peculiar directions by a bizarre selection of hair clips. However, even Tanya had to admit that Maisie had a certain amount of technical skill: bringing the singer to ejaculation at just the right point in the dance tune that was running over it, letting the semen arch onto her chest without messing up the discreet make-up on her nipples.
She then watched as Maisie effortlessly returned to the microphone with Rochester, betraying her sexual excitement in the breathiness of her voice, where she announced the appearance of the next guest, who was an actor on IVY Grove, a sex soap opera which was particularly popular at the moment. She turned around to leave when she saw Emma standing nearby watching Maisie with a peculiarly sad expression. Tanya frowned, a little puzzled by Emmaâs expression, but sensing that it must illustrate some disconcertment for Maisieâs chosen career. But how was she to express the right degree of sympathy without it seeming contrived?
âThat Maisie is very talented,â she offered as a comment to Emma, who started abruptly. She hadnât expected anyone to notice her there. And who was this woman? She vaguely recognised Tanya as one of the many minor television presenters at Harlot TV, whom she rarely bothered to acknowledge. She smiled at Tanya, and returned her attention to Maisie.
Tanya was not going to be dismissed that easily. âIâm sure Iâve seen Maisie in something else. A long time ago. I canât remember whatâŚâ Emma turned her head back to Tanya, clearly unsure how not to be rude to this woman. âWhat was it? Kingâs Cross? Time Square?â
âNothing as good as that,â Emma replied, clearly provoked by Tanyaâs recollection of two low-ratings, high art sex dramas that sheâd commissioned. âIt was St. Denis Road. That was long before the scandal with the producer and that horse brought the series to an end.â
âWell, I wasnât really much of a viewer,â lied Tanya, who had a weakness for soap operas. âIâm sure she was very good in that.â
âNot really,â said Emma, returning her gaze to a television set on the wall that screened the action on the set. Tanya judged that that was all she was going to get out of this conversation, so she discreetly left Emma to her own concerns.