Author's Note: Well, we've made it! The final chapter of Traffic Girl: Katie. I hope you find that this is a rollicking good time, if a bit different from the usual. But I think it's a fun change of pace. Don't worry -- the fun doesn't stop here. We'll be rolling right into a continuation of this timeline in Traffic Girl: Stephanie, with the first chapter already well underway.
* * *
It took us a couple days to recover from the orgy. Partly we needed that time just to process everything that had happened. Perhaps it wasn't what happened that had shocked us so much as with whom it had happened. The entire evening had been so ridiculous and over-the-top that if you put it into fiction, no one would believe it was real. After the event, though, life took an extremely busy turn.
Katie's album was coming out. She had settled on a title after a long struggle: Euphoria's Kiss. Juliet's movie was in theaters. Jess was inundated with demand for Hollywood & Vine -- memberships and events. And Rita was working exhaustively to get the new agency backed by Juliet and Riley off the ground.
The agency was extremely interesting to me. While it was fronted by Old Katie, who gave the new organization cache and legitimacy -- along with her stellar book of clients -- the big shots were being called by Rita. And that came on direct orders from Juliet and Riley themselves. So while Rita was officially a consultant, she was the real decision maker. She relished it, too, and she liked exercising her fondness for dominance over my college girlfriend. I worried, however, about Old Katie staying in line. I knew she didn't like the submissive role. She hated it. But she loved money more. And she was making a lot of it. Triple what she had previously, with a generous incentive package that was readily attainable. Rita was confident she could keep Old Katie in line with the money taken care of, but I told her to be careful. I didn't trust Old Katie.
At the same time, once the agency announcement became public, and the roster of clients leaked out, Old Katie was riding a way of new publicity that reached another level for her. The money, the new level of fame, and the blackmail material that had been recorded at Hollywood & Vine on orgy night certainly made a formidable trio of incentives to keep Old Katie in line.
The agency also received a boost from the extraordinary opening of Tapestry of Scars. On opening weekend, it grossed $125 million at the box office. In its first four weeks, it had actually continued to gain momentum, hitting a U.S. total of $550 million and a worldwide total of more than $1 billion, with no sign of slowing down. There was even talk it might reach the rare heights of Titanic level receipts, although that still seemed so impossible. Regardless, the critical and audience reviews were overwhelming in their praise. It received a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. There was already talk that the Academy Awards race was over. And Juliet, Carly, and Jeff Stone all received high marks for the performances of their careers.
It was a flurry of activity over the month, and with the holidays rapidly approaching, we felt like it would be a good time to take a special weekend away. Three nights down off the coast of Mexico on the High Seas. But this time? It would come with a twist. This was something Jess had been plotting with our friends for quite some time, and it coincided with a number of other important, upcoming events. Our friends Ryan and Chris were teaming up for a new action movie -- co-starring together for the first time -- and they would be heading out to Australia for a shoot that would last four months. Riley also had a new album slated to come out, just two weeks before Christmas.
But the biggest looming deadline was that Katie's album would come out right after Thanksgiving. Life would become a rollercoaster once more, so we were going to go out with a bang. Or a whole lot of bangs.
* * *
"I just want to say that I think this idea is genius," Melanie said.
"You are the queen of creativity, Jess," Juliet echoed.
"Thank you, darlings," Jess said, smiling.
"Can we get started already?" Kat asked eagerly.
"Only when everybody is here," Jess said. "It'll be just a few more minutes."
We mingled on the main deck's aft sun lounge on the High Seas. There were fifteen of us present, and we were waiting for two more. Ryan and Chris, the action stars, were running behind. But only by fifteen minutes. Yet after such a stressful period filled with work and juggling so many balls in the air in real life, all of us were ready to cut loose. The steam had built up for too long. The pressure was ripe to blow the lid off our buttoned up professionalism and release the monsters of hedonism.
I was there with my four wives and Stephanie. Jason was there with Crystal and Bianka. There were, of course, also Juliet and Melanie, Petey and Alix, and Riley and Henry. We were about to embark on a totally new adventure. For the weekend, we were going to pair off in new couples. Jess had come up with the idea and played matchmaker. We all assumed we knew what the pairings would be, but Jess insisted nothing would be official until we all arrived, had set sail, and were happily naked in international waters. Only then would she reveal who each person would spend the weekend with.
"I never thought I'd be starring in a season of the Ultimatum," Juliet joked.
"And so soon after you won best actress!" Rita said with a laugh.
"Maybe right before you win that title two years in a row!" Melanie chimed in.
Spirits were high. And we were getting there, too. We had already hit the open bar. A couple bongs made the rounds.
"Kat, you really should go commercial with your weed," Henry said. "It's the shit."
For effect or by coincidence, he let out a hacking cough as he exhaled a plume of acrid smoke and passed the bong to Riley.
"I don't know," Kat said. "Would that spoil it? It might spoil it."
"I'm sure we could get you a license," Petey volunteered. "You could just buy coke with whatever profit you made."
He guffawed, just in time for Captain Spence to arrive with our final two guests in tow.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen," Captain Spence said in his easy, surfer manner. "I think we're all here. So while I get us underway, I believe Jess has some announcements."
A general series of whoops went up from all of us in attendance. The guys went over to greet Ryan and Chris. Victoria from the yacht staff brought them drinks, and their eyes were transfixed on her braless tits in her taut, thin white button-down shirt.
"Here we go, everybody!" Jess said, her voice hitting an extra-high octave. "Are you just dying to know who you're spending your weekend with?"
"Stop teasing us!" Bianka shouted.
"Yeah, tell me who's dicking me down already!" Alix said with a cackle.
"Okay, then, without further ado," Jess said, her voice trailing off.
She announced the pairings. And it was clear almost immediately that she wasn't doing anything creative. She was playing to the masses, giving us what we wanted. Pushing us to live out fantasies that, if we hadn't directly said out loud, were too obvious to ignore.
Rita and Juliet.
Stephanie and Melanie.
Katie and Henry.
Kat and Ryan.
Crystal and Chris.
Alix and Jason.
Bianka and Petey.
Riley and me.
Jess and Captain Spence.
"There you have it, my horny friends," Jess said, relishing her role as mistress of ceremonies. "If I might suggest, find the stateroom I've assigned you to get acquainted with your distraction for the weekend. I've left a surprise for each of you there. And by the time you're back? We'll be in international waters, and you know what that means."
"A surprise?" Kat said. "Oh, now I'm super curious. Come on, Ry!"
Kat tugged the action superhero with her. Everyone else followed suit. I hung back with Riley and smiled at Jess.
"What about your surprise?" I asked her.
"He's waiting on the bridge for me," Jess said.
"Well, maybe you should have something else," I said and produced a small velvet box from the cargo pocket of my swim trunks. "You're not the only one who can arrange surprises."
