Breakfast, dark secrets revealed and a car to pick up.

The loud beeping from the phone nudges you awake. You fumble with it for a few seconds before it cuts off and crawl out of bed. Then you yawn and wander into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later you're done with a warm shower, throw on your sweats, and wander out to the living room. The first thing you notice is Kat on the loveseat all tangled up in the blanket. She must have been tossing and turning all night. **** will do that you think as you dial up the delivery app on your phone.

You order up a big stack of blueberry pancakes for your guest and a spinach and mushroom omelet for yourself. Then you wander into the kitchen to start some coffee. Knowing Kat she isn't going to wake until either the clock hits noon or her stomach makes her. Breakfast ought to handle that just fine. You quietly pad over to the desk, turn on the laptop, and sit down. It's time to figure out what you have available. With Kat's difficulties, your new-found money cushion might be disappearing.

The food arrives 45 minutes later and sure enough, Kat starts stirring as you unpack it on the small kitchen table. You hear her groan in short order.

"OMG what smells so good?"

"Breakfast, sleepy. I didn't remember what you liked on your pancakes so I had them pack the kitchen sink in here."

"I don't know what I want to do first, blow my aching head off or eat?"

"Best to eat first. Maybe a full stomach will help your head?"

Kat half laughs, "This is why you're the smart one. It's pretty close to impossible to eat with no head."

She wanders into the room and sits at the table. Then she smears some sort of fruit jelly or jam on top and starts digging in. You shake your head as you watch her shove it all in her mouth.

"Coffee?"

She shakes her head no as she concentrates on the platter in front of her. You pull a bottle of water out of the fridge, put it in front of her, and sit with your coffee. You methodically cut the omelet up and put half in a Tupperware container for later and quietly eat the other half. She takes a gulp of water and then looks over at you.

"How do you eat like that? I bet Tweety Bird gets more calories than you do."

"Coffee helps, I'm not as hungry when I drink it. Besides you have a bit more mass than I do."

"Smartass."

You giggle and continue eating.

After the two of you finish up, Kat heads off to the shower while you wash up the dishes and wipe down the table. Then you sit at the laptop, pay the rest of your bills, and kill time waiting for her to finish in the shower.

About 15 minutes later Kat wanders out in jeans and a sweatshirt. She has her hair wrapped up on her head in a towel. When she sits on the sofa, you look over at her.

"The rental is going to be picked up at 1 pm so do we get your car first or figure out the financial problem?"

She sighs, "The car will be easier than the rent. It about $1,200 a month but I give half to my roomie and she pays it. I guess she pocketed the cash."

"Have you talked to her since the letter?"

"I tried to call last night and her number was disconnected. It makes no sense, we've lived there together for over a year and now she's dropped off the face of the earth."

"Is it in her name or yours?"

"We co-signed. Still, even if I got the dough together, I can't afford that every month by myself."

"Then you need to get a hold of her or talk to the landlord and figure out the terms to leave. I can scrape up the two months you need to catch up but I don't know about breaking the lease."

Kat offers you a very suspicious glare.

"You're the brokest girl I know, strawberry. Did you rob a bank and should I be ready for a SWAT team to come through the door?"

You sigh, "It's a long story and I'm pretty sure it's totally legal."

You gesture for her to come over to the computer and turn the screen towards her. She reads for a second and looks over at you again.

"You're like someone's mistress or something? Weed and 'favors' never cleared $700 extra a month for me. Last month you were begging for extra shifts to cover bills and now you have over $8k sitting in the bank?"

"My monthly bills are all caught up too. I'm kinda hoping to start paying down debt soon."

She grabs your shoulders and looks you in the eye.

"You have to clue me in here. I don't get this at all. . . and it's all legal?"

You sigh and nod your head.

"Promise me you'll keep your damn mouth shut and I'll spill."

"Trust me. I'll offer any promise you like, now cough it up."

You take a deep breath, reach into your desk drawer, and pull out the black Firebox case to fetch the USB key. Then attach it, pull up the company website, and go to your page. Kat's eyes go wide looking at the pictures and the thumbnail of the casting video.

"Holy shit! You're a porn star now?"

"Sometimes. I've also done other stuff. Inside a week there will be a 45-minute movie here waiting for members to drool over."

"What's it pay?"

"The pictures were $500, the video was $4,000, and another $1,500 bonus for letting another guy join the video. They don't pay that well once you are actually on staff, at least I haven't come close. I think they jack the first one up to lure you in. I earned $5k more for two days in Austin and $2,500 with a $500 bonus for shooting the movie at the state park Monday night. The park one paid a big premium because someone canceled last minute and they were in a 'use it or lose it' type of situation with expenses already paid."

"What did you do in Austin?"

You shake your head and exhale slowly.

"Whatever my rich client wanted me to. In this case, I fucked him and two cops. I also gave a business associate of his a blowjob. There probably would have been more but the feds arrested him for paying to have laborers smuggled across the border to work at a company he owns. So everyone decided I did my part and walked with the money in the bank."

"Shit, girl. That's quite a job." She goes to the kitchen and grabs another water. "How did you hook up with this?"

"I found a flyer on campus for some modeling downtown. I showed up, let them take the pictures and they handed me a $500 check. Then they threw the bank at me to do the video the same day. I figure I tossed my morals in a dumpster and set it on fire but being able to afford to live is a nice consolation prize."

"Where do I go for this?"

You close your eyes and take a second to consider how to handle this. It isn't really a conversation you wanted to have. After all, you've only been doing it for a short while. How can you recommend anything one way or the other? Still finding a flyer on campus won't be too hard, so it may be best to just give on this.

"I can talk to my agent and get you the deets. I've only been doing this for a short while though. For all I know it gets a lot worse later or something once they have you good and reeled in. It's gone well so far for me but I don't want you to run into issues a few months down the road and blame me for it."

"Yeah. Do me a solid and find that for me."

You nod, close everything up, and put the USB key back in the case.

"Sure, if you insist. Let's go get your car. When we get back, you can try and find your roomie. Then you can look into the lease stuff. I'll contact my agent and we'll go from there?"

"Deal, Simone!"

She gives you a big hug and then starts throwing socks and sneakers on. She looks almost giddy. Meanwhile, you're not sure if you're doing her a favor or helping dig her hole deeper. You slide your mules on and grab your purse.

"Ready?" You ask.

"Yep," Kat replies.

You smile and head out the door, happy to put off the call to Walker even if only for an hour or two. How does one arrange to pimp out a friend?