"Maybe we shouldn't do this", Dani said to Tom, as he put their '88 Taurus into park.
"What do you mean, baby? We both agreed we wanted this."
"I don't like being back in this town. Even if it is home." She said, as the anxious look that he had learned to recognize spread across her delicate face.
Tom reached out touching her cheek and gently ran his thumb over a thin eyebrow. After a moment she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the worry pass.
"That's my girl," He said calmly, "I know all the fucked up shit that happened to you here. Your Dad, your brothers...but they're all gone now. We're in charge now."
She nodded, and they got out of the car.
Dani-Sue Wagner and Thomas Malone, formerly Dana Sux and Tom Mahogany, had packed up their cramped L.A. bachelor suite, and moved across the country to start a new life.
Their transformation from work-hard-play-harder adult-film performers to straight-laced citizens had been gradual, but inevitable, after the unlikely pair had met on the set of, Fuck My Babysitter, Volume 8, Extreme Anal Edition. The inauspicious meeting began innocently enough when Tom was called in to substitute for a younger, but less reliable, actor for the shoot. Though they ran in similar circles, he had never laid eyes on Dani before that moment when he joined the scene, already halfway in progress, finding Dani, having lost control over the burly black man she was supposed to be "babysitting", bent over a couch in the producer's home, being pounded in the ass by a throbbing, black, foot long cock, and was to join in, by shoving his own sizable dick into her mouth.
But something happened when their eyes met across the brightly lit room, something that made Tom act totally out of character. Instead of following the stage directions in his usual detached way, he walked across to Dani, brushed back her light blond hair and kissed her. He kissed her slowly and fully, in a way she had never been kissed before, in a way he didn't know he could kiss. Despite herself, the seasoned starlet forgot the discomfort of being fucked in the ass by a chocolate member much too large for the act, forgot the crew was watching her, that the camera was rolling, that the rent was overdue, that her tanning appointment had been moved, that her dealer had called, and for a split second, felt a strange new sensation in that tender embrace that she wouldn't be able to name for a long time. But only for a split second, before Harvey, the chain-smoking smut "director" from New Jersey brought it to an end with a screech from across the room: "What the fuck are you doing, you fucking faggot!? We're losing daylight here! You're suppose to be RAPING HER MOUTH!"
With that, Dani broke the kiss and looked up into the stranger's eyes and whispered, "It's OK." And Tom, not quite sure what had come over him, nodded, and they began again. But something had been born in that moment between the runaway Alabama farm girl, and the rich boy from San Francisco, who had turned his back on his family's money. Something electric and pure, that spelled a new beginning for both of them.
They started shooting scenes together. Scenes that were far better, more exciting, and erotic than anything they had done previously. However, despite their professional lives growing more successful, it was in their personal relationship that they felt more and more satisfaction. Slowly the allure of being in front of the camera diminished, and the constant dilemmas their lifestyle brought: the regular anxiety inducing STD tests, the drug fueled parties with cast and crew, fucking and sucking a new stranger every other day, grew tedious. Together, in each other's eyes they had discovered something far more precious, something that few people rarely do: validation.
As this mysterious realization gradually dawned on them, one day, without much discussion, they decided to quit it all. They got married, found regular jobs-Dani as a hair stylist, Tom driving a delivery truck-joined AA, and moved in together into a small bachelor apartment their new incomes could afford, on the edge of Echo Park. For a short time, life was very normal.
It was soon after this move that Dani received a call from Laura Doveen, an 80 year old legal secretary, working at the offices of B.U. Irpson and Associate, in Dani's hometown of Scrawville, Alabama. A call that would truly change their lives. Dani's father, Dan, the remorseful clerk informed her, had died. He had left her the 50 acres and all the buildings on it that made up the family farm. Dani nearly dropped the phone, stunned. She hadn't thought about the place in years and asked the clerk, "What do you mean...why did he leave it to me?"
"Well, I don't know darlin'," The clerk replied, "but seein' as your one brother's dead, the other's serving 85-to-life, and yo' momma's been in the nut house 30 years, I guess you're the only one left."
"Oh...right." Dani whispered.
"You're gonna need to come down and sign all the paperwork, you got a pen for our address?"...
And so, that was how they found themselves moving to Scrawville. Dani broke down crying when they stepped into the old house, Tom held her for over an hour. Despite her tears and reservations, they fell in love with the quaint town and the friendly, rural folk. Though Dani walked on eggshells around the property, and wouldn't go anywhere near the defunct barn, or old woodshed, she admitted, it was good to escape Los Angeles. They decided to stay, and take out a loan to remodel the old property and when it was complete, decide if they wanted to settle in Scrawville or sell the past and move on.
--
They stepped out of the car into the humid, Alabama air. Dani smoothed out her delicate white dress, and Tom rechecked that he had all the files for the loan officer. Their appointment was in ten minutes.
"Is it always so humid?" Tom asked her.
"Just the summers." Dani replied.
"Fantastic."
She laughed at him.
They crossed the parking lot and entered the First Bank of Scrawville. Only one teller sat behind her counter as Tom and Dani entered the muggy lobby, a pedestal fan lazily pushing around hot air. The other two teller windows had a light layer of dust on them. The teller had frazzled red hair, and was reading a battered romance novel with a hulking blond pirate next to a dainty lady on its cover as she chewed gum.
"Excuse us." Tom said, disturbing the teller from her novel, whose face showed annoyance for a moment, before she looked over his handsome features and broke into a smile.
"Oh, hello." She said to Tom as she looked him over. Her name-tag read, Jan.
She looked Dani over without the smile before turning to Tom saying, "Well how can I help ya'll today?"
Tom replied, "We are applying for a loan, and have an appointment with the manager today."
"Oh yes, ya'll are new in town, huh?"
Tom smiled at her and said, "I am, but..."
"I'm from here." Dani cut in.
"Right...well, you'll have to fill out the paperwork and then I can send you on back to see the boss." She said, to Tom. And handed him the application form.
Dani said, "Aren't you Jan Roweener?"
"Why, yes how'd you know?" Jan said.
"I recognize you from high school, we were in first year English, I'm Dani Wagner. Wasn't your brother Dwayne? He was a few years younger than us."
"Well, shoot..." Jan said as she appraised Dani again, "You're right, you know Dwayne had the biggest cu-rush on you back then. Say, didn't you run away from home your last year?"
"Well...yes..." Dani said.
"And what are ya'll up to now?"
"Well we're moving back to town, I'm working at the salon and Tom's got a job doing deliveries." Dani replied.
"Now say, I heard there was a new girl working at Marta's Salon!" The other woman said.
Tom handed the form back to Jan, who smiled at him again, "It sure was a short form." He said.
"We're a small bank. Just give me a minute and then I'll send you on back."