I watched Trixie bustle, gathering her materials, somewhat ill at ease because I’d criticized her outfit. I sat behind my desk and scanned budget sheets, looking up occasionally to enjoy her growing discomfiture as she began to understand just what it was we were doing. She looked so sweet when flustered. Perhaps she was the assistant of my dreams.

The Job (Trixie)

I was glad to be involved right away in the details of a casting call, but nervous about running through scenes. Oh, well, I thought, the actresses will probably be more nervous than I am. I opened up the first file, Rochelle King, and looked at her head shot—stern, unsmiling. I flipped to the next shot and nearly yelped, because there was Rochelle in a black leather corset and thigh-high boots and nothing else except for studded bracelets all over her arms and a whip in her hand. Her breasts spilled over her corset, and her legs were planted wide apart. Was she trying to show off her body to get the job? I wondered if I should warn Jane. I looked up, but she seemed busy.

I went through Rochelle’s résumé next. She’d done a lot of movies, but according to her résumé they were all “pornographic feature films, with female casts with an emphasis on bondage and discipline.” I wasn’t sure that Taming Lola, Slut Punishment and Put It All in My Pussy, Now! were the proper qualifications for this role. Maybe some of the other actresses had more appropriate experience. I opened the next file, and the next, and the next, and they were all the same—scary women in leather wearing all kinds of whips and chains. Some of them even had their noses pierced. Three of them stood out, though: Rochelle King, Vampi Calda, and a woman called Mike.

Maybe the scene is some kind of comic sidebar, I thought, with a bit part for a dominatrix. I turned to the scene to check it out before the run-through. But when I started to read it, I couldn’t believe it. This was no sidebar, and we weren’t casting a bit part. And there was no way, no way I was going to be able to run through this scene.

“Trixie? I’m ready to call in the first actress.”

The Run-Through (Jane)

“Trixie,” I repeated, “let’s get the show on the road. What’s the matter?”

“Um, Jane,” she stumbled, “could I talk to you before we begin?”

“Sorry, we really don’t have time. Later. What’s in the files? Who looks good to you?”

“I’m not sure, but I pulled these three.”

I looked at the files. For an innocent, she had quite an eye for experience. “Very good, Trixie. Two of these actresses are my top choices for the part, and, in fact, we’re beginning with Mike. If she reads well, we’ll just hire her.”