Chapter 1
"Eighteen... nineteen... uhhh... twenty."
Terry sweaty and hurting, put the heavy bar down and stared at the gym's ceiling for a couple of seconds before he rose back up. He stood up and looked at his reflection in the large mirror that covered one of the gym's walls.
"Not bad for 43", he thought, satisfied with his rather athletic silhouette. Since his divorce with Karen 3 years ago, Terry had decided to get back in shape, and dedicated a fair amount of time for his workout every week. It didn't work out too bad for him either, as he had already picked up a couple of girls who attended the same gym. But right now, he wasn't looking for a relationship.
His marriage had given him a beautiful daughter, Emma, whom he raised together with his wife until she was old enough to leave the house. He and Karen had wanted to go their separate ways for a while, but they didn't want their daughter to grow up in a torn family, so they chose to stick together until she went to live on her own. Soon after that, they divorced, and ever since, Terry had enjoyed his celibacy.
Terry wiped his forehead and decided to call it a day. As he left the gym, his phone rang, displaying Emma's name. He picked up.
"Hey my baby girl! What's up?"
"Hi dad, I'm good, thanks. I was wondering, can I come down to your place for dinner tonight? There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
"Sure honey. Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all. It's just something I want to tell you. Anyway, we'll talk about later!"
Terry's daughter lived about one hour away from him. They talked every week on the phone, but didn't see each other more than once or twice a month. Emma was now 22 and wanted to become a television actress. She lived in the city and worked at a restaurant while she tried to land some roles.
Terry wasn't a great cook, but did his best to make a nice dinner for her. He was just about done when his daughter arrived. She seemed both excited and anxious, which worried Terry a little.
As they began eating, they exchanged a few words before Emma decided to cut to the chase.
"Dad, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now. I don't want you to be mad... promise you won't be mad."
"What is it, honey? Did you do something wrong? I'm starting to worry a little here."
"I didn't do anything wrong, dad. Why would you assume that?" she chuckled. "No, it's about my job, actually. I know you're gonna freak out, but please remember... I'm happy about my job and I love what I do. I, um... haven't really been honest with you about my occupation."
"What do you mean?"
"You remember I wanted to become an actress, right?"
"Yes...?"
"Yeah, well, I've uh... been doing that for a while now."
"What? But that's great, Emma! What's wrong?"
"It's just that... the movies I play in... they're... adult movies."
Emma smiled sheepishly as she said this, trying to soften the blow as much as she could. Terry's jaw dropped. His daughter was beautiful and smart, he always knew she would succeed in becoming an actress, but the thought had never crossed his mind that she could work in porn. During a couple of seconds that seemed to last minutes, thoughts raced through his mind : how did his baby girl end up in this industry? What kind of abuses was she subjected to? How long had she been doing this?"
"L-let me get this straight...", he articulated. "You work in... porn?"
She nodded, still smiling.
"I won't lie... that's... a bit of a shock, to put it mildly."
"I know dad, I'm sorry... I hope you're not disappointed in me."
"How long have you been doing this?"
"For about two years."
"Wow... okay."
"I'm sorry dad... Are you mad at me?"
He took a moment to answer.
"No, my baby, of course not, it's just... a lot to process. But you... said you enjoy doing this?" he asked, recalling what she had said moments earlier.
"Yeah dad. It's fun and I get a lot of recognition. I have a lot of admirers, you know..."
Suddenly the thought of hundreds of men jacking off to his daughter in front of their computers sprang up in Terry's mind. He quickly tried to dismiss that idea by talking :
"But... What made you decide to come up tonight and tell me about this?"
"Well I've been wanting to tell you for a long time. You know, at first it was very awkward and I was ashamed of it. But I soon realized I was good at this and enjoyed doing it, and I grew more confident. Now I really think there's no shame in what I'm doing, in fact I'm quite proud of how well I've been doing. I wanted to share this with you."
"Well I'm glad you told me, my baby girl... Don't worry, I'm not mad... I'm always proud of you, and if you enjoy what you're doing, then it's fine by me."
"Thanks dad. You're the best!"