As I have explained in a number of these stories, I worked for many years as a professor of English at a small but expensive New England college. During that time, I was able to sample the wares of many pretty young students who crossed my path. Was this wrong? Of course it was wrong. I have never pretended to have any sense of morality, and I can tell you that most of these stories were true; only the names, including mine, were changed to protect the guilty.
But this little story took place shortly after I retired at the mandatory age of 65. In the world in which we live with older people being much healthier and mentally alert than they have been in the past, there is no real reason why someone in the educational field should have to retire at 65. But that's the policy.
After retirement, I spent quite a bit of time traveling around in Europe by train, and I spent a lot of time reading. But after awhile, you get tired of that, so I decided to visit my brother, who lived in Burbank, California. He worked as a publicist for one of the big movie studios.
To my surprise, I found after I got there that I actually liked California and the Los Angeles area.
"So, do you think you might like to move here?" my brother asked.
"I don't know. Despite being retired, I would still like to work, but I don't know if I could find a job."
"Teaching?"
"No, I'm tried of that. I would like to do something else."
"You could be an actor," he said with a smile.
"Well, I was the head of the theatre department at the college—and acted in a number of productions where they needed an older man."
"See—you're a natural," he said with a laugh.
"I don't know. Don't you have go through all the rigmarole of getting an agent and all that?"
"If you're really serious and plan to make a career of it here, you do. But you don't have to if it's done as a lark."
"What do you mean?"
"There's one type of movie where they hire people to act who have no training at all. So you can just do it for fun—and forget about making a career out of it."
"And what's that?"
"I don't want you to take offense at this, since unlike the old days, there's nothing illegal about it. It's the adult film industry, most of which is located in the San Fernando Valley, right up the road."
"You're kidding."
He smiled. "I'm not kidding. I have a friend who works for one of the companies. Seventh Heaven, it's called. He has a job similar to mine, only for the adult industry. I could get you an appointment with him if you want, and they probably could use you, since you have some acting experience, and they liked the grandfatherly type."
"Really?" I found that herd to believe.
"Yes. Someone your age could be an asset to them. He smiled again. "They're always looking for the older man who wants to seduce the pretty young girl. And these girls are pretty. You would be amazed at how many girls in the Valley go right from high school into porn. They've heard that a girl can make fifty thousand a year—or more—which is true. Also, some of them are girls from nearby colleges who need the money to continue with school. They just do it part-time. And speaking of college, I know from a couple of things you've told me about 'college life' that you may have enjoyed that experience already once in a while."
"Nonsense. I'm a man of high moral caliber."
"Yeah, I know....Do you take Viagra?"
"No."
"You may want to consider that. I have some here if you feel you want to try it."
"Thanks. I may take you up on that."
"Most people interested in the porn industry find out about jobs by looking at the classified ads in Variety, the entertainment newspaper. They advertise auditions."
I nodded.
"I've never been to one, but I understand that sometimes there's so many people at the better company auditions that you sometimes have to wait for a couple of hours before your turn comes."
"Wow."
"But I'll call him and get you past all that."
"How long does it take to do a movie?"
"Just a couple of days. Unlike the old adult movie days, today they don't shoot full-length pictures any more. Nearly all of the adult movie theaters have closed. Everything is on the Internet now, and most of it is free, since they hope the viewer will order more than the five-minute clip. The full-length movie runs just about a half hour, like a vignette or short story. You know: something like 'Alison in college wonders how she going to be able to raise her grade, since her professor is so strict." He smiled. "I'm sure you wouldn't know anything about that."
"Of course not."
"The pay is not great, but it's not bad. They pay about a thousand dollars a day to the girl and about four hundred to the guy."
"Not bad at all."
"But like the real Hollywood, it's a long day. Twelve or sixteen hours."
"Wow."
"But it's only for a couple of days. And Seventh Heaven has higher production and story values than most of the other adult film companies. So they're the best."
I nodded.
"And if the girl is over eighteen, there's nothing illegal about it."
"But what if--?"
"Your former college associates see it? Who cares? You're retired now. They probably would envy you."
"I don't know..."
"Want me to call?"
"I'll think about it."
And I did think about it. Overnight. And my conclusion was: Why not?"
So I had my brother call and set up an appointment with a man named Nelson.
Even though I was unfamiliar with the Valley, I managed, using my brother's second car, to find Seventh Heaven. It was a very nice-looking office in a nice area, and I found that Nelson was a dapper well-dressed man of about 50. We talked about the film he was planning, to be called "Goodbye Mr. Chip", a play on the old movie title. It would be a half-hour epic about a professor who is retiring from an ivy-league college and who is being helped to pack his books on the last day by his attractive student assistant. What made this story amazing was that it was not unlike some of the experiences I already had.
Nelson had me do a reading for the part.
"You sound and look great," he said. "And you obviously can act. I think you would be perfect for the part."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"I assume I need to memorize the script?"
"No. This is a low budget short-term project. We're just looking for people, men and young ladies, intelligent enough to remember what the storyline is all about and then to make up their own dialogue to go with it. It usually works great, looks very natural, and if you get stymied, we just cut and do that part over."
"I get it."
I was also surprised and relieved that he did not ask to see me naked. For a man of my age, I am in pretty good shape, but I am old.
"For this role, we want you fully dressed," he explained. "The contrast between you dressed and her totally naked will make it even more erotic."
"Good point."
"One thing you will have to do before next week is to go to our doctor and get a checkup to make sure you have no sexually transmitted diseases. We pay for it. He'll give you a certificate if you're okay. Bring the certificate with you when you come on Monday morning at seven. We start early." He handed me a card. "The doctor's office is just a few blocks from here."
"Who will be the girl?"
"We haven't decided yet. We're still auditioning, but I can guarantee you she will be pretty—and young."
"Wonderful."
"I think you'll like it."
"And get paid."
"And get paid."
"What should I wear?"
"What you have on will be fine. You look tweedy."
So I showed up at his office promptly at 7 a.m. on Monday.
"Where is the filming done?" I asked. "Surely not here."
"No, the Valley and LA are full of warehouses containing permanent sets of anything you can imagine. Haunted houses, castles, you name it. They can be rented by the day. So that's where we're going. It's just a couple of miles from here. We're just waiting for Alexandra."
"Alexandra?"
"The girl. She's a student at Santa Monica College and needs the money. She's never done anything like this before, which makes it even better. A little shyness in a story like this doesn't hurt."
I nodded, realizing that I was entering a different world of it's own.
Ten minutes later, Alexandra showed up. She was beautiful: a petite thing about five-foot six with long brown hair and green eyes. I was surprised to see how informally she was dressed: in the usual college garb of tight jeans and a gray sweatshirt with the words 'SANTA MONICA" on it. But then I realized she didn't have to wear anything fancy if she was going to be naked most of the time.
"Sit down," Nelson said, "And meet your leading man, Mr. Baker."
She smiled as she turned to me—but she also looked a little nervous. I shook her hand.
"Alexandra," she said, "But people call me either 'Lexy' or "Alex.'"
"I'm Donald Baker." I smiled back at her. "I'll call you Alex if you don't mind."
"In the script, he's a retiring professor," Nelson said, "And amazingly enough, that's what he is now: a retired professor."
"Wonderful," she said.
Nelson stood. "So let's go to the studio."