Author's Note: We've watched Jess evolve a lot since we first met her back in the original Traffic Girl. She's also been extremely stubborn in her evolution. But she's hit an inflection point over the last several chapters. Which way is she going to go? Will she get better? Will she fall off the deep end? You'll get some answers here.
* * *
We needed the rest of the weekend to recover from the Fourth of July activities. The sexual olympics had lasted well into the morning of July 5. I still don't understand how Juliet had managed to coax a sixth load of cum out of me before I finally cried uncle. It had been an unbridled, insane night of debauchery, but there had also been a deep intimacy to it. We had already developed close bonds with these closest of friends. But that party seemed to push us past a point of no return. We would only grow even closer in time.
But when Monday morning came, we were thrown right back into reality and the drama of Daydream. Maybe the penultimate step surprised us a bit with how quickly it came, though the timing didn't matter. We were ready.
"Kayla called," Jess told me as I passed her a steaming hot mug of coffee. "She said she needs to meet right away."
"Here we go," I said.
"That was quick," Kat noted.
"Better to not draw it out," Rita added.
"They have no idea what they're getting into," Katie said. I smiled at her. She had fully become part of us. It was already hard to remember what it was like before she joined our group.
"Do you want me to go with you?" I offered.
"No," Jess said. "I want to do this on my own. But I've thought about it a lot. If I do this alone, Manny will think he's in control of the situation."
"You've got this, girl," Kat said reassuringly.
"You do," Rita said. "We're so proud of you."
"I feel a little stupid," Jess said. "Like I got caught off-guard and almost blew this."
"You're fine, sweetheart," I said. "Sometimes things don't go as planned. Sometimes we lose a little control."
"But nobody can mess with all of us," Katie said adamantly.
Jess smiled. She was in yoga pants and a sports bra. She had pulled her hair into a ponytail, which bobbed through the back of a baseball cap. It was a cute, non-threatening look -- a good way to catch Kayla and Manny in the buzzsaw they didn't know was coming.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" I reiterated.
"Positive," Jess said. "You know it's safe."
I simply nodded, and embraced her.
"I love you," I whispered to her, and she gave me a quick peck on the lips.
The same scene played over three more times, once each with Kat, Rita, and Katie. And then she was gone. I heard the throaty rumble of Jess's BMW convertible come to life in the driveway, and we all sat down nervously at the kitchen table. We got back to feeding the kids breakfast and making small talk.
Everything would be okay. I hoped.
* * *
Tom Petty was right. The waiting is the hardest part. I had a knot in my stomach. One hour stretched into two. I had expected it would take that long. But then it stretched into three, and I got nervous. Jess finally returned home almost four hours later. We would have eaten lunch but were too nervous. I had opened a good white wine to help ease our tension, and we all jumped up when we heard the front door click open.
"Hey," Jess said, her voice heavy and tired.
"How did it go?" Rita asked.
"We'll see," Jess said, setting down her purse and throwing up her hands.
"What do you mean?" Katie asked.
"Kayla said she needed a day to talk it over with Manny," Jess said.
"That's a good sign, right?" Kat said hopefully. "She didn't say no flat-out."
"No, she didn't," Jess said. "But it took some convincing. Manny is adamantly opposed. Of course."
"Right," I said. "We knew he would be."
I poured Jess a glass, which she gratefully accepted, and we made ourselves comfortable in the living room to hear the play-by-play. Part three of Rita's plan was, in some ways, the most challenging. We needed to drive a wedge between Kayla and Manny. They had been a couple for so long and made a name for themselves in the industry as a pair, although if you asked anyone in porn either of them would have been a star no matter what. Jess had been the most confident in this piece of the puzzle. She felt a natural affinity for Kayla. She sensed Kayla was as driven for success and, despite her dominant, alpha husband, possessed a natural independence that fired that desire to succeed.
While Kayla and Manny had demanded the meeting -- and Jess said it was clear Manny tried to set the tone and direct the discussion when she arrived -- Jess immediately wrested control from the arrogant pornstar.
"Manny said they weren't happy with Daydream because they didn't think it was sustainable for the long-term," Jess explained.
Kat let out a sarcastic laugh when she heard that.
"And, Katie, your suggestion worked like a charm," Jess said, smiling at her. "I totally disarmed him. I said just what we rehearsed. I said I agreed that Daydream needed something more. That it had gotten bigger and more successful faster than I ever imagined. And, as a result, I had concluded that I needed help in managing it."
"Yes! Go Jess!" Rita said, clapping.
"He really didn't know how to react," Jess continued, "but Kayla was super cool, like stone-faced. I could tell there was something expectant in her, though."
At that point, Jess confided, she thought things might go perfectly to script, that the meeting might wrap up quickly. But that wasn't the case. Of course it wasn't. It was never going to be. Because Manny wasn't going to get what he wanted. He wasn't going to get shit. And that's why this part of the plan was such a big gamble.
"So I made Kayla the offer," Jess said. "Oh my god, you should have seen her face light up when I told her I wanted to give her ten-percent equity in Daydream immediately, an extra year on her contract, and would increase the ownership stake each year up to a maximum of twenty-five percent in year four."
"What did she say?" Kat asked, scooting to the edge of the couch cushion.
"She didn't say anything at first," Jess said. "But her eyes told me a lot. There was so much excitement in them. I really can read Kayla. She and I are so alike in so many ways."
