Studio City

After delivering her sign-off, Ava held her position for a couple seconds like she was waiting for someone to tell her the broadcast had ended.

The call never came, but she broke her pose anyway. Her shoulders relaxed, and her wide showman's grin dropped to a slight smile.

“Overall I think that went well, despite our little hiccup. Could use a little more active participation from from you girls though.” Ava turned and begun to walk offstage. As she did, the blinding stagelights finally cut off revealing...nothing. Where there should have been a bank of cameras, microphones and a studio audience there was simply nothing. The other half of the room was empty.

“Wait, where are the cameras?” Chloe asked dumbfounded. “I thought we were on a live broadcast?”

“Do you have any idea how pedestrian that question is?” Ava asked as she ducked behind a portable changing screen. “Honestly, today you've been exposed to forces that can affect the very flow of time and space and you want to know where the cameras are? Come on Miss Taylor, you're smarter then that.”

Ava reemerged from behind the screen, now wearing a white short-sleeved blouse and a red A-line dress. Her stylish heels had been replaced with simple black flats and her long black hair fell in more relaxed waves then the fancy curls she had started the show with. As she strode back across the stage she could see Chloe opening her mouth once again.

“Miss Taylor do not disappoint me any further by asking how I changed so quickly,” Ava quickly stated, before Chloe had a chance to say anything. “Now if all of you would please follow me, I need to show you to your accommodations for the next ten weeks.”

At first nobody moved, until Sarah broke the ice by rising to her feet. The rest of the women and Robert follow suite, and soon they were gathered in a loose circle around the Host. Robert was struck by how tall she was. He was a solid 5'11 and Ava had several inches on him. Also, though he was by no means an expert in women's fashion, he was pretty sure she wasn't wearing a bra. Having gathered the small group around her, Ava led them off the right side of the set to a metal push bar door, and stepped through.

As he exited the dimly lit set, Robert was once again blinded by a bright light, only this time it was natural. As his vision returned, he found himself standing outside under a warm sun on an asphalt road flanked by three massive buildings. Directly across the street from him was a tall featureless stucco structure. He figured that must be the backside of some building. Turning around, he saw that the building he had just exited wasn't quite as large. The white concrete walls were plain, save for a large garage door, and massive painted letters on the wall indicated the building was “STAGE 2.” Looking to his right, he saw an identical building that was marked “STAGE 1.”

Ava had turned to the left, and begun to lead the group down the wide asphalt street. Robert didn't want to walk too closely to Ava. He was afraid that the women of the “harem” would read that as him accepting his new role as their Master. However, he also didn't want to seem like he wasn't taking the situation seriously. As he carefully considered where he should be in the little procession, he suddenly realized he was being left behind. He rushed to catch up, and ended up bringing up the rear anyway beside Cassandra, who cast a view askance at him.

As they followed Ava down the street, Robert tried to sneak glances at the woman walking next to him. Not so much because he was trying to check her out, but rather to see how she was handling all this. Cassandra was walking with her arms crossing her chest, hugging herself, with her head slightly bowed. Her hair concealed her face from him. The red sequined dress did an amazing job of highlighting her feminine curves, but Robert's guilt was keeping him from admiring the view. He had said it was his preferred transformation for Cassandra, but she clearly wasn't happy about this. Robert desperately wanted to break the awkward silence building as they walked, but he couldn't find the words.

“These are our two soundstages.” Ava indicated the two large concrete structures with a wave of her arm. “You're already familiar with Stage 2. We'll meet there at the end of each week for the Weekly Challenge and Best Girl poll results. Stage 1 is available to rent.”

“To rent?” Sarah questioned.

“Yes. Harem members can rent Stage 1 for BP. Contact the studio office for more information.” Sarah looked liked she had more questions, but Ava had clearly indicated with her tone that she wouldn't elaborate any further on the topic

As the group followed Ava down the street Robert was struck by how uncanny this place was. It looked like a typical Hollywood studio lot, but the feel was all wrong, mostly because besides the eight of them there didn't seem to be anyone else there. The absence of the constant hustle and bustle of people, props, and equipment being shuffled to and fro gave this “studio” the air of a ghost town. After a short walk, the street ended in a right hand turn. Sitting on the outside of the turn was a row of low, white stucco buildings connected by a Spanish mission style covered walkway.

“This first one,” Ava indicated the building as she turned right onto the new street, “is the studio office. My personal office is located within. I'm normally there during working hours, and it's also where you'll go to reserve Stage 1.”

“This second building is the Props Department, and the last one here is Wardrobe. Those are both pretty self explanatory.”

Sarah objected that the purposes of those last two were not in any way “self explanatory,” but Ava either didn't hear, or chose to ignore her.

As the tour continued, Samantha had slowly been falling further and further back from Ava. The short girl was having a hard time keeping up with the longer strides of the taller women. She finally fell in with Cassandra and Robert, her face and ears flushed and sweating slightly from the warm sun. She flashed Robert an awkward smile, before taking up position on the opposite of Cassandra from Robert. Robert watched as she seemed to carefully consider Cassandra's face.

“Are you...are you Lilly Layton...?” Samantha hesitantly asked.

Robert watched as the woman in red slowly raised her eyes to meed Samantha’s.

“Yes...That's my stage name...” She replied haltingly.

Samantha squeed with excitement, drawing a questioning glance back from Bailey who was walking in front of them.

“Lilly Livin' Loud was my favorite show growing up! I watched it all the time!”

“Thanks...” Cassandra replied flatly, a small grimace crossing her face.

“You were Lilly Larson?” Bailey asked, looking over her shoulder but never breaking her stride.

“I played 'Lilly Larson'...” Cassandra answered in a clear voice, but her face was pained.

Bailey cocked her head and peered backed at Cassandra Lillian Layton. “Huh,” she finally simply said, and turned back forwards.

This street was shorter then the last, and it wasn't long before they reached the next intersection. Ava turned right again, and Robert couldn't help but gasp as he looked down the road in front of him.

It looked like someone had plucked a neighborhood block out of 1950's New York City and deposited it wholly intact minus the people. But as Ava led them down between the tall buildings, the illusion began to break down. Staircases led to fake doors. Storefront windows were matte paintings.

“It's a movie set...” Chloe marveled

“Yes, and no,” Ava replied. “Yes, most of the apartments and stores are completely fake, however, there are several actual establishments on this block were you lovely ladies can spend their hard-earned BP.”

“What type of establishments?” Robin asked warily.

“I'm going to leave those up to you girls to discover,” Ava responded. “The last thing the audience wants to see is me dragging you through half a dozen shops.”

As they continued to make their way down the block, Robert's eyes were drawn to a massive, old styled theater marquee on the left hand side of the street. It proudly marked the “Masterwork Theater,” though the “Now Playing” field was blank. Ava noticed his interest.

“Yes, it's a fully working movie theater. Ask at the ticketbooth, they should be able to set up a viewing of anything you want.” She led them just past the theater, then stopped in the middle of the street. “This is it, your home for the next ten weeks.”

Ava had stopped in front of a looming art deco edifice just across the street from the theater. The building was dark granite with golden trim work running up its corners. The entrance was a shining portal of brass and glass that shimmered in the bright sun. Across the top of a bank of revolving doors the name “Ambassador Hotel” stood proud.

The Host led the group through the revolving doors into a large, lavishly adorned lobby. The ceiling was high and vaulted. The floor was a polished light granite that caught the light from the massive two story windows that flanked the entrance doors. Directly across from the entrance, a grand flared staircase ascended to the second floor of the hotel, which overlooked the width of the lobby below. The right side of the lobby was a sitting area, covered with rich rugs placed under dark leather couches and armchairs. To the left, a reception counter made of dark mahogany ran along the wall.

Ava made her way over to the counter, and rang a small brass service bell. Robert was shocked when a man with graying black hair suddenly appeared behind the counter. He was dressed in a dark black tailcoat with matching pants. Underneath the coat, a white shirt was covered with a light gray vest and matching tie. A silver pocket watch chain was hooked to the front of the vest, and disappeared under the coat.

“Ah, Simon! Excellent! Ladies and gentleman, this is Simon, our hotel concierge. If you need anything during your stay Simon should be able to either provide it, or tell you where you can acquire it.”

Simon acknowledged the group with a shallow bow.

“Simon, do you mind showing the girls up to their rooms? I'm going to take the Master up to his.”

“Certainly Madam,” Simon responded with a another bow and a vaguely European accent. His voice was low and cool. “If mademoiselles could follow me.”

Simon led the women around the grand staircases to the two elevators concealed behind it. Ava and Robert followed behind. The concierge pressed the call button, and a set of the gilded elevator doors slide smoothly open.

“This is us, Master,” Ava said as she gently but firmly took Robert's arm and led him into the elevator. The doors slid shut behind them.