Many thanks to jellybelly2 for first editing and improving this story.
Mere words cannot express my gratitude to Zyraphyre for the skill, ideas and patience in shaping this story into something even better.
And disbelief goes to the amazing
Amela
, an author whose stories are both devious and airy, for finding things that no one else sees and scrubbing away until the story shines.
"I'm not going to call," Christie said emphatically.
"Then what are we going to do?" Oliver asked.
"We have to think of something else.
"We've been thinking for five days. We only have enough food money for three more days."
"It's just two weeks until our flight," she pleaded. "There's got to be a way to change our tickets."
"We went through all that, Christie. Sure, we can change our tickets, but we don't have the money to pay the penalty. We maxed out our charge cards. Our parents are angry about the money we stole. None of our relatives or friends will wire us money. Is there anything I haven't covered?"
"Our parents wouldn't want us to sell our bodies on the street."
"And they'll believe us if we call them collect and threaten that? Come on! They know we came here to get wasted. You were there when they said that the next time we did drugs they were going 'tough love' until we proved they could trust us again. And we're not selling our bodies on the street. The ad doesn't say 'escort.' It says 'Couples wanted, figure modeling.'"
"That means porn," she said flatly.
"I know. But it says couples. We would be doing what we do anyway - just in front of the cameras."
"And all our friends and family and future employers can watch us," she said.
"There are ways to hide things, even in a porno. You know, wigs and stuff. They can cover up your ankle tattoo with makeup. This is a huge industry in Budapest. They do this all the time."
"If we broke up, you'd show everyone the video."
He could tell she was on the verge of crying.
"I swear, Christie. No matter what happens, I will never tell anyone."
"Even if you don't, I will always know. I couldn't live with the humiliation."
"What about the humiliation of sitting in this squat and smelling like crap because we haven't bathed in a week? What about looking so disgusting that people rush by us when we're begging on the street? What about living on cheap greasy sausages?"
She began crying, and he put his arms around her.
"I'm sorry, Christie. We were really stupid to run away to Europe after graduation and spend all our money on dope, but we can't do anything about that now.
"We just need to survive until we get on that plane going home. Then we'll face the music, clean up and get to work. We'll make lots of boring money at our boring jobs. I have enough of adventure. I just want to go home."
"So do I," Christie said, sniffing as she tried to hold back her tears.
"Here's what I suggest. Let's go down to a pay phone and see if we can go over there and ask them questions before we agree to anything. If it's really bad, we'll just walk out."
Christie appeared to be comforted a little.
"Okay," she said. "But I know I'm not going to do it, no matter what they say."
"Fine," he said angrily and rolled over on the pile of rags they were lying on. When he fell asleep with his stomach hurting, she was still crying.
***************
The woman who answered the phone had a friendly, soothing voice when she responded to Christie, who blurted out that she was calling for friends who wanted to know if they could come in without any commitment. She also asked what if her friends were nervous and hadn't done anything like figure modeling before, and what if they didn't have money for the bus.
"Do not worry," the woman said and gave her the address. "If too far for your friends, we send car. And whether you - uh, they - decide to do modeling or not, we bring back for free. We explain everything and if they do not like, we don't want them modeling for us."
It turned out that the address was only a few blocks away. Christie and Oliver walked over after their morning sausage. Oliver's mind was blank except for the hope that his stomach wouldn't growl during the interview. Christie was feeling trapped.
The receptionist behind the counter wrinkled her nose a little when they stood in front of her, but otherwise she seemed not at all surprised by their matted hair, crusty skin or filthy preppy clothes.
"Follow me," she said and opened a gate next to her. They walked quickly down a dark hall and out into a small courtyard with a rusty garden table and a few equally rusty chairs around it.
"Please have a seat," she said and then turned and walked quickly back inside.
A few minutes later, a pudgy man in a turtleneck walked out and sat down on the other side of the table. He had a pad of paper and a pen. He sniffed the air and pushed his chair back a little, putting more distance between him and the couple. He looked them over for a minute before speaking.
"Hello. My name is Karel."
He didn't offer to shake hands, but Christie and Oliver were used to that. They were painfully aware of their appearance and aroma.
When they didn't reply, he said, "May I ask whom I am talking?"
Christie looked at Oliver and said, "Uhhhhh," but the man interrupted.
"You get new names," he said. "But need to see your working papers."
"We don't have working papers," Oliver said. "We're American."
He felt stupid.
"I see," Karel said. "Do you know working in Budapest would be visa violation?"
"I didn't think of that," Oliver said and began to get up.
"Please sit down," Karel said. "Talk about that later."
It sounded as though he had had plenty of experience with visa violations.
"We've never done modeling before," Christie said with a catch in her voice.
"I see," Karel said. "I explain quickly. We supply a few websites. Most popular is TeachMeToFistMyBoyfriend.com. They like amateurs -- like you. Means you have little or no experience. You still get paid. Fresh faces usually get more money than professionals. After a few videos, you no longer amateurs."
"What would we have to do?" Christie asked.
"Nothing that you don't agree to do," Karel said. "I make sure you know exactly what we want and how much money you get. We make video of you listening to me and you agreeing. If body language or voice sound like you don't want, we tear up contract and you leave.
"We want you for most popular site, but too extreme for amateurs to start, so we make three parts.
"Part one is straight sex - lots positions and energy, nothing unusual. Part two is anal scene and part three is girl fisting her boyfriend.
"Many couples do part one, but girls don't like part two. And boyfriends don't like part three.
"That's why part one, you get three hundred dollars. Part two, seven hundred, so total a thousand. Part three, you get six thousand for total of seven thousand."
"What if we stopped after part one?" Oliver asked.
He was thinking that three hundred dollars would be more than enough for them to get by before the plane flight.
"Fine," Karel said, "but a problem in your case."
"What do you mean?" Christie asked fearfully.
They watched Karel's eyes as he looked up and down their bodies.
"No be mad," he said slowly. "If you me and looking at you, would you hire? Websites want good looking, healthy, clean bodies."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
He ignored Christie's question.
"My deal: Same money, but you give us four days before the video shoot and we clean you up. We feed, wash, get new clothes, fix up and you looking like sexiest couple in Budapest. I guarantee you."
He paused and smiled at them for a second.
"We take chance," he continued. "You could walk out in four days and not much we can do. Of course, no money then, and contract say you owe us three hundred dollars. No money until we do part two. But when part two finished, we forgive money you owe. You get thousand. And then we do part three and you get six thousand more."