"How long would it take to work off the debt?" Courtney asked

"It depends," Isaacson said with a shrug and a motion towards the few seats in the room.

One of the two other men went to a mini-fridge and retrieved some beers, handing them out. The four people opened the cans and each took a drink before he continued.

"I would expect it would take between a year and two years, depending on your flexibility."

Courtney had expected him to say a month or two, not talk in years! Her mouth popped open in shock and it was a long moment before she could sputter, "Y... years? B... but... How?"

"Consider this," Isaacson began. "You're bottom of the heap, new to the business, you're starting at an age most actresses are retiring at. Even without those challenges there's the matter of where the money goes. Taxes, union dues, agency fees, collection fees. And of course you understand that a substantial portion of what you make will go towards the debt, right?"

Courtney nodded dumbly. She hadn't really considered anything beyond the big dollar values, thinking that it would all go into her pocket. "Taxes?" she found herself saying, to her embarrassment.

One of Isaacson's eyebrows quirked. "You thought pornography was above, or perhaps below the attention of the I.RS.?"

Courtney flushed, shaking her head.

"At best fifty percent of what you make will be yours, and of that two-thirds will go to the debt, leaving you the rest to live on. I'm making the assumption of you ending up with a hundred after each session, two hundred for the debt."

"A hundred? That's it? How am I supposed to live on that?"

Isaacson shrugged, taking a gulp of beer. Courtney took one of her own to wash down the bitter facts.

"Consider that a day's work then. Equitable to what you make now, correct?"

Courtney nodded, though thinking about what she'd done as a regular workday shocked her. "I... I thought I'd be able to do it occasionally. At night."

"Keep your day-job, you mean?" Isaacson chuckled. "This is the least professional shoot you'll ever do. Like any other acting job there's retakes and plenty of delays for technical reasons. The actors do sometimes have... misfires. And of course equipment has its own needs."

"But... one a day?" she pleaded with her eyes for him to tell her that she was wrong, but he mercilessly nodded.

"Yes, though you could have photo shoots on the same day, mostly so they have video and stills of the action. There are, however, ways to maximize your income and thus minimize the length of time required to make the payments."