Alex' the way Laura does, Sweetie." Yes, Alex," she said with a small chuckle and the first smile I saw on her today."Laura, Valerie's shoulders look ...ense. Will you massage them to get her to relax before she dresses?" Yes, Alex," I heard with another chuckle. Laura got behind Valerie and caressed more than she was massaging and this was exactly what I was looking for.Linda just stood with her mouth open watching what was happening. I walked close to her and bent down a bit to hold each of her. "Hey, this is good stuff. You do the camera work?" No, a friend. We have more amateur actors than amateur photographers."The guy closed up the iPad and handed it back to Alex. "Yeah, I'm interested. How much are you looking for?"Alex said, "I'll be frank; I have no idea what to ask. If I found anyone interested, I figured I'd ask around about the current rates. Do you buy it by the minute? The film? Do you pay all up front or a little up front and then royalties depending on how popular the. The strangest thing was that, when Bridie told me thenews, I had felt a wave of disappointment. It meant that I no longerhad the chance to beat Frobisher, to rob him of his revenge against mefor bullying him at school. I felt cheated of my ultimate victory overhim. And I felt cheated of something even deeper than that...Once I had been checked out at hospital and treated for milddehydration, Bridie and I returned to the Elysia. The show still hadtwenty minutes to run, but Bridie had no desire. Do you like men?" I beg your pardon!" the girl responded, obviously startled."I asked if you like men. Let me explain: I've heard some strippers are lesbians. They don't like men. The girls here all do, as you'll find out if you haven't already. Do you?"The girl smiled warmly this time and said, "Hell, yes! And Ali, I say that in full realization of the fact that I've been as chaste as a nun for at least four years now — purely by necessity, not by choice. Between trying to study and working.