"Excuse me... Sorry... Excuse me... We're just..."
We eventually reached our seats and slumped into them. And not a moment too soon. We'd just managed a look that managed to say, "Thank god we made it," and "It's your fault we were late," and "We'll talk about this later," when a young woman strode out from the wings and took centre stage. She was tiny and looked like she was on a university work placement -- denim dungarees and a blue and white stripy shirt, purple Dr Martens, long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. The clipboard, the headset and the wide beaming smile told us that she was one of the TV companies production team.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," she beamed and waited as a hush fell over the auditorium. "Good evening and welcome to this recording of
"Can You Take It All?"
This is the second pilot episode of the show, we had a very successful show last night. Can I remind you that taking pictures, making videos and the use of mobile phones is strictly prohibited, and that you signed a non-disclosure agreement when you applied for tickets."
Rebecca paused whilst taking her coat off and gave me a quizzical look which I could only shrug at in response. Coming to the recording of a TV show was something that she had wanted to do for a long time. I'd been trying to get tickets to one of her favourite panel shows every birthday and Christmas for the past 3 years without success, so I'd snapped up the tickets that had been offered to me in an email. I hadn't looked too closely at the small print, just electronically signed the paperwork and pressed send.
The woman on stage carried on talking. "This is particularly important due to the adult nature of the show and the fact that this is a pilot episode. We'll begin the filming in about 5 minutes, so enjoy the show! "
"Oh god," Rebecca mumbled with a smile. "What the fuck have you bought me to?"
I smiled nervously and leaned forward to kiss her briefly. "You look beautiful," I told her as the noise of the room swelled up again, and she did. She looked absolutely gorgeous, from head to toe... but then again, I would say that wouldn't I? I adored her then and I adore her now, but she looked particularly good that night, having dressed to impress the TV cameras. Chestnut hair braided and tied back in a pre-Raphaelite sort of way, lips painted a deep red (a DIY store paint chart would have called it
Shy Arousal
rather than
Street Prostitute or Vampire Bride)
so that they looked plump and alluring, and subtle eye shadow and mascara that accentuated her light blue eyes. Her clothes, too, were fantastic: a tight low-cut top which showed off her ample cleavage and a cardigan to frame them, a short skirt which was riding up to show more of her shapely legs and sheer black tights, and a pair of high heeled knee length boots. We'd travelled to London on the train and spent the day sightseeing, and I'd been aware of the admiring looks she'd been getting throughout the day, especially from the men behind her when we were travelling up the escalators on the underground.
She kissed me back and I rested my hand on her thigh, feeling the firmness through the soft nylon.
"It's a very.... young audience," she noted as we broke apart. I looked around and noticed that almost everyone was a similar age to us -- early twenties up to mid-thirties; certainly no-one who could be mistaken for younger than that and only a smattering of people approaching middle age.
"Maybe we've been specifically chosen for our open-mindedness," I joked. "So, we won't be offended by the 'adult nature' of the show." Rebecca rolled her eyes. She wasn't a prude or anything, but certainly wasn't as open minded as some of our friends. We'd watched porn together from time to time, but she wasn't as into it as I was and certainly wouldn't watch anything that could be called extreme -- no bukkakes or water sports, no lesbians fisting each other. She enjoyed watching the odd gang bang scene where one woman was pleasured by a group of men, but drew the line at DP scenes and her favourites seemed to be amateur scenes where a loving couple had sex with each other. If the talk at the pub got sexual, she would make an excuse and go to powder her nose or get the next round of drinks in while I tried to subtly steer the conversation onto a new topic. Our own sex life was great, but I knew there was a line over which she would not cross, beyond which my fantasies would remain just that -- fantasies.
At least, I thought I knew.
*****
A familiar voice came over the sound system: "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats as the show will commence in three minutes!"
"That's the guy who does the voice over on that show on Channel 4," Rebecca told me. "Maybe it's not going to be too bad after all...!"
"One minute!" cried a voice from the side of the stage, and the lights in the auditorium dimmed. We were in a modern auditorium, and the stage was a raised oval in front of us that allowed cameras to move around the back on tracks as well as the normal manually operated ones at the front. The stage itself was now empty apart from four highchairs, the type you might get at bars. Two large screens hung down from the ceiling either side of the stag, angled so that the audience could see clearly.
"Ladies and gentlemen," rolled voice over man's voice. "Please welcome your host.... Charlie Jay!!"
A massive round of applause and cheering greeted the tall figure who strode on stage. Inwardly, I sighed with relief; Rebecca loved this man, a northern comic from the same town as her who had been ubiquitous on the TV a few years ago but whose star had fallen almost as quickly as had risen.
I turned to look at Rebecca, and she smiled at me -- a big, happy beaming smile of excitement and relief.
"Welcome!" Charlie crowed as the applause began to wane. "Welcome to
"Can You Take It All?"
, the game show that explores couple's sexuality and tries to push the boundaries of what they find acceptable." I was aware of Rebecca looking at me again, with something bordering on amusement but veering more to distaste. "Tonight, our couples will compete against each other in a series of games..." (
Games