You're happy you don't have to deal with the hotel manager to rent the hotel's conference room for an hour. It's 50 lien, but that's a small price to pay to have a rather nice-looking room with a large conference table and numerous chairs for yourself. It's the kind of room the hotel would offer up for travelling businessmen who want to hold an official meeting with someone but are far away from the office, or where a couple might meet with a lawyer on "neutral ground" to work out the terms of a nasty divorce.
For you, it’s a place to interview your potentially newest employee once she arrives. Saphron doesn't even know what job it is she's applying for yet, and you can't help but think she'd freak if you told her in a hotel. At least here, it'll feel more professional. It won't actually be, but by then Saphron will have already agreed and you can pressure her into giving at least one video a try. If you held it in your room, while Emerald was slumbering on the bed, you'd probably look so shady that she'd back out at the first chance.
Appearances matter. First impressions, too.
You wait out in the lobby for Saphron to arrive, not being able to expect her to just find a rented-out meeting room without a guide of some sort. You set the interview for 10:00, and it's 9:55 when she walks through the door, dressed in a sleeveless tan vest and green pants. You can't help but think you'd have shown up to an interview in a suit, regardless of the job, but then you can't really compare your upbringing to hers, and she might just not be able to afford one.
"Saphron. Good morning." You stroll up to her with a friendly smile, which she returns timidly. She does shake your hand, and you can feel how cold and clammy her hands are. The nerves have been getting to her, no doubt made worse after being fired.
It's obvious she's running on fumes, too. You noted how exhausted she looked yesterday in the electronics store, and being fired and crying down the scroll to you obviously didn't help. Even with the promise of an interview, it's no big surprise she struggled to find sleep. She must have been up all night crying.
A good night's sleep is important before an interview.
Otherwise, you might make silly mistakes like saying things you shouldn't, missing key details, or not thinking through all your options thoroughly and agreeing to a contract you really shouldn't. You smile at that, and Saphron returns it, blissfully unaware of your thoughts.
"T—Thank you for agreeing to see me so quickly," she says, only stammering the once. "I know it's sudden, and I feel absolutely awful about last night. I shouldn't have unloaded on you like that."
"It's fine, Saphron. I told you to call me when I gave you my number. Let me show you to the interview room." You place a hand on her back, not so low as to be strange, but low enough that she is forced to walk alongside you. "Don't worry so much and just try to relax. I'm not going to shout at you like your old manager probably did, and you've not done anything to make me upset or angry."
"I'm sorry," she apologises again. "I know. It's just—" She takes a deep breath. "Okay. I'll do better. Terra kept telling me I should have another day off before looking for work too, but I didn't want to make you wait."
Terra? Must be the girlfriend she mentioned. A clever girl by the sounds of things, and also the breadwinner of this little family unit. You eye Saphron's hand but don't see a ring yet. It's no great surprise. Everything is expensive in Vale, and weddings can be financially crippling. A lot of people just opt to sign some documents nowadays and call it done. They probably don't have any children, not just because of biological reasons, but probably not adopted or from a prior relationship either. Raising kids is even more expensive.
You lead her into the room and invite her to sit down on one of the wooden chairs while you pour two glasses of water from the decanter left on the table when you arrived. There's ice still in it, so you're not too worried about the freshness. Saphron accepts the drink with a soft word of thanks and takes a nervous sip. She sets some pieces of paper down on the desk.
"Is that your job history?" you ask. "Can I take a look?"
"S—Sure!" Saphron slides it over to you, but it's painfully obvious she'd rather you didn't have to see it. Curious, you pick it up, and can see that it's at least arranged tastefully. Is that her work, or her girlfriend's? Either way, you take a read.
It's a mess.
You're no real employer to care overly much about the specifics, but even you can tell this is a very mediocre applicant. First of all, the best she can say about herself is that she's hard-working, and looking at her education makes it clear nothing stands out. No qualifications, no specific benefits, and her job history.
Does this girl not stay in any job for longer than three months?
Your first thought is of someone on the run, if not for the fact there's no break in them. Saphron quickly jumps back up to try and find new work, so she's obviously not someone who is afraid of it. The only conclusion you can come to is that she keeps getting fired. Saphron shifts in her seat as you read, her fingers clasped between her legs and her eyes looking up, down, left, right, and everywhere for something to do.
At least you know her wages now. Low. Even Velvet was paid better than this, though that might have been a demand made by Coco to the boss. You wouldn't put it past her to go behind Velvet's back and pressure some poor businesswoman into giving Velvet a higher wage than the average starter. And it probably works out for her if she gets Coco Adel working in her store, too.
"Tell me a little about yourself," you say.
"O—Okay. I'm Saphron Arc, eldest of eight children, and I came to Vale to live with my girlfriend, Terra, who works at the CCT. We're planning to adopt one day, but only when we have our budgets under control. I—um, I like music and art, and especially reading. Fantasy novels, mostly."
Does she think that question is literally about her tastes in books? You obviously meant she should tell you something pertinent to the job or convince you that you should hire her. Saphron is even more airheaded than you thought, or maybe she's just that lacking in sleep and nervous that she's rambling. It's hard to tell.
"I notice you've had quite a few jobs over the last year."
"Ahah. Y—Yes. I'm— I'm a hard worker. I want to be at work. I'm not afraid of putting myself out there, either." At least she's cognisant enough to realise she needs to try and spin her job history in a positive light. That's good and expected. No one is supposed to tell the truth at a job interview. "B—But you'll see that even when I was out of work, it was never more than a few weeks!"
"I did notice that. You're obviously very committed to finding employment." Your words bring a relieved smile. "And I notice you've tried a little bit of everything. Bar work to retail, secretarial to housekeeping. Do you mind if I ask what made you leave each one?"
"Um. The bar work was because the hours weren’t enough. It was six hours a night, but only two nights a week. Friday and Saturday. I kept it going to earn money while I looked for a full-time job."
"That's perfectly reasonable." You smile encouragingly. "And did you find it?"
"Yes. I… I was taken on as a housekeeper and maid by a couple." Saphron bites her lip. "The money was good but it was… ah… the man…" She moves her hands around a little helplessly. "The wife thought I was trying to… steal him… or cheat with him…" Her face flushes pink. "He had to let me go."
"Oh dear. And you weren't, I assume?"
"Of course I wasn't!" she whines. "B—But they put me in a skimpy uniform, and I know he looked, but then that's not my fault!"
"It sounds like it wasn't. What about your next job, the supermarket, wasn't it?"
"Y—Yes. That one went okay, but I tripped a few times and spilled things, and my manager was a really angry woman who kept shouting at us. When I fell and dropped some things on a customer, she screamed at me to leave."
"And the secretary one?"
"I—I wasn't able to master the switchboard and kept putting calls through to the wrong people."
You don't bother asking about her work at the electronics store. Instead, you sit back, wide-eyed, wondering dimly if she won't somehow make a mistake and rip your dick off during a video. Is she cursed, or is she really this clumsy? You feel like sighing, but know it'll just scare her, and, besides, isn't this a good thing? Saphron is handing you all the evidence you need to convince her that "normal jobs" just aren't for her.
"How many hours a day was your contract at the electronics store?"
"It was 4 hours."
That's 40 lien a day, then. Not much. Not much at all. Saphron's contribution to her household bills might be more symbolic than anything, though you suppose every little counts when it's just the two of you trying to make ends meet.
Saphron doesn't strike you as the type who would normally be willing to do porn, which is why you need to get her hooked first and then reveal what it is you do. If she's excited for the money then she'll carry that through when she finds out what you expect, and that ought to give her pause, especially with how bad a job she's doing with other work.
You can tell she isn't going to be as profitable as Velvet, however. On the other hand, Saphron's self-esteem is all the way down in the dumps, and you might be able to leverage that. Right now, it'll be easier to convince her to do videos, but dangle more money in her face later and she might reluctantly slide toward more extreme work, or even sex work.
It's also readily apparent that Saphron is not the smartest tool in the shed. Her grades in school are example enough of that, but the fact she can't keep onto any job only reinforces it. She might be easy to trick into things.
If you want to get her into sex work then it's worth leaving room to grow whatever you offer her. Any girl is going to want an increase to put themselves out like that, and the greater the increase, the more attractive the option will seem.
>FAIR: (50 lien) Saphron will respect this and will be more likely to stay loyal to you and the job.
>HAGGLE: (40 lien) Saphron is in a rough spot and she knows it. You can probably get her down to 40 lien though she might be unhappy.
>PRESSURE: (30 lien) You've put in the work to have her self-esteem in the pits. Brutally lay out the facts of how hopeless she is.
"I'll be honest, Saphron. Your job history is not inspiring."
You watch her face fall. She expected this, but she held out hope, and now you're trampling on it. That's the point, though. You need her broken and on the edge of despair. You need her willing to do anything, and accept anything, to escape the abyss.
And if she'd learned anything from her time as a salesclerk then she ought to recognise this for what it is. You're talking down the product to get a lower price. Saphron really should know better than to fall for it, and maybe in a world where you hadn't already eroded her confidence, she would.
This is not that world.
Saphron is a wreck.
"I'm really hard-working!" she blurts out. "A—And I'll try anything."
"I'm not surprised you'd try anything. Look at this." You slap her documents with your hand and watch her quail. "You've tried sales, admin, housekeeping, bar work, even working on a supermarket floor. And none of those jobs worked for you. At this point, I think you just need to accept that you're not suited for that kind of work."
"But I need a job…"
"And I'm not saying you won't get one." You watch her head rise, eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'm just saying that you're not suited to those kinds." You lean forward, resting your elbows on the table. "Let's face it, Saphron. You're… not exactly the best hire right now. For anyone." You can see her confidence, already in the pits, fall even further. "I'm not saying this to be cruel or hurt you," you lie, "but to be honest with you. You are what most employers would call a red flag. Your CV reads like an example of what not to look for in a person. You need to start improving that."
"How?"
The poor girl is desperate.
Which is just how you like it.
"The first thing you need to do is show people that you can stay in a job for longer than a couple of months. Recruitment is expensive, and no one wants a new member of staff that they think will soon be gone. What you need, most of all, is to have at least a year at a company. Something to show off that you can be stable, and that you will stay with a job." Saphron nods her head, agreeing without thought. "That's why, if I do offer you a job, you need to remember that the worst thing you can do is just up and leave one month into it."
"I—I wouldn't! I'd stay. I don't like having to keep finding new work…"
"Glad to hear it. The second thing is that you need to be prepared to show that you can handle tough work, hard jobs, even jobs you don't necessarily like. Being professional means being able to put on a smile even when you're mopping vomit off the floor, or stacking shelves, or dealing with an obnoxious customer. You need to tell yourself that what you really think and feel doesn't matter. It's about the face you put on for the customer."
"O—Okay. T—That makes sense. It's customer service."
"Exactly." You smile, and she does too, but that's the moment when you drop the bombshell. "But the thing is, even knowing all this, you're still a landmine to take on. That's why I think the best I can do is offer you a probationary contract with us. However—" You lean forward. "I think this could still be very good for you. Our hours are very unusual. They're late at night, and you’d only have to work maybe one hour each night. You could very easily work for me and work somewhere else part-time."
Saphron looks distressed. "Only one hour…?"
"At 30 lien per hour."
Her eyes widened again, and with good reason. That's almost as good as what she earned in a full day before. It's not enough to live on, obviously, but if she treats this as part-time work then it's still a very healthy amount to have.
"F—For one hour?"
"For a single hour's work," you agree.
"That's amazing!" Saphron is elated and comes flying out of the depths of despair with bright eyes and a huge smile. Of course, she doesn't yet know what it is you want her to do. "I'll take it! One hour for 30 lien. Definitely! And I won't let you down!"
"That’s good to hear." You hide your excitement and try to sound casual. "But I still need to do an aptitude test as part of the interview. Make sure you can actually do the work. Don't worry, I can't imagine you'd be capable of failing it. Let's see what we're working with first." You gesture to her chest. "Can you take your top off for me?"
Saphron stares at you.
And stares.
"…" Her lips part. Her eyes widened. "WHAT!?"
Her hands fly to cover her chest.
It took her long enough.
"What?" you ask, feigning surprise, maybe even impatience. "I'm not going to hire someone without knowing if they can do the job, Saphron, and if you can't take your clothes off in front of me then you'll never be able to do it in front of the camera."
"What camera!?" she cries, looking around desperately. "Oh God—"
"Not here." You roll your eyes, but it's mostly to make her feel like she's being unreasonable. "This isn't some scam or casting couch scenario, Saphron. This is a job interview. Obviously, I wouldn't record anything here without your permission. That would be illegal."
Saphron, still holding her arms over her chest, stares at you, "W—What is it you s—said you do again?"
You hadn't said anything, but then that's her fault for failing to ask.
"I run a porn studio."
Saphron's jaw drops.
"You did know that, didn't you?" you ask, fixing her with a stern look. "I told you my name and gave you my number, Saphron. You wouldn't show up to a job interview without at least doing some research on their company, would you?"
"N—No. O—Of course not…"
"Then you knew what it is I do."
"Y—Yes…"
A lie, obviously, but one that serves your ends.
"Good. Then let's have a look at your body. I won't make you do anything beyond that." Mostly because, given her current panic, you think she'd make a break for it. You still want her to sign up. "I just need to make sure you're not sporting a third nipple or somehow look like a hideous mess under your clothes." You offer a disarming smile. "I'm sure you don't, but I have to be careful. You understand."
"Y… Yes… of course. I… I understand." Saphron does not reach for her clothing. "S—So, I'd be making… videos…?"
"That's right. Our cast is limited at the moment, hence why we're hiring, but you'll be making videos with myself, Emerald, and another girl you probably haven't met. And I don't think I should give her name out if she hasn't given me permission. We're very private here." You add that for her benefit, even if it's a complete lie. "To us, this is a job, nothing more. We do what we do to earn money so we can support ourselves and our families. That's much the same as why you do this, isn't it?"
Her eyes dip. "Yes…"
"It's a job at the end of the day. I know it may not be a very talked about one, or one that people think of when they look for work, but it's well-paying and has low hours. You can earn a lot of money, all the while keeping another job if you want. And we're very flexible. You don't want to work certain days? That's fine. You want to film a video during the day instead of at night because you have a date with your girlfriend? We'll happily reschedule."
Saphron doesn't say anything.
"But the best thing," you say, leaning towards her. "is that you can't really fail at this work. Look at me, Saphron." Her eyes rise, reluctantly, and you smile at her. "You've been through a lot of shit lately. I can tell. Sales is a terrible job. Do you know why?" Her head shakes. "It's because your job is to convince people to buy things they don't want. It's hard. It's really hard. A lot of people get burned by sales, and it crushes them, because sometimes you can try your hardest but the person you're talking to just can't afford to buy what you need them to – and that's not your fault, but you end up taking the fall for it."
Her lips tremble, remembering the very scene you just painted.
"That doesn't happen here. It literally can’t. We'll pair you with an actor or an actress and they are on your side. They're acting, just like you, and they'll work with you to try and make the best video they can. There's no need to worry about them snapping at you or refusing, because it's literally their job to be on your side. There's no sales pitch to mess up, no heavy equipment to drop, no switchboard to get confused over. Just you, a person on your side, and a camera." You smile encouragingly. "This work is easy, Saphron. So damn easy. And I think, what you need most of all right now, is a success story. You need something to go your way for once. You need to win, and to know you can do a job and not be filled with all this doubt and confusion."
You let that hang in the air.
"Don't you think so too? Don't you think that's what you need?"
Helplessly, silently, she nods.
"So." You sit back. "Show me what we're working with and I'll tell you if you've got the job."
Saphron closes her eyes and stands. You think for a moment that she might leave, but then her fingers reach for her blouse and she fumbles the buttons open with an almost mechanical look on her face. The fabric opens, and she reaches in to pull her hefty breasts out from her bra.
https://x.com/Imagebank34/status/2092019497620385954?s=20
They're big, soft, and appealing. You could guess all that from looking at her normally, but it's nice to have a little extra evidence. Taking it off, she lays them on the table and then reaches for her belt buckle, unclasping that and pushing her pants down. Her underwear is an innocent white. That, too, goes down, Saphron powering through in the hopes it'll be over with quickly.
Her bush is trimmed and pale, almost as pale as her skin, and while she isn't as thin as Emerald or as fit as Velvet, she has soft, womanly curves that you can't wait to sink your fingers into. For now, you hum, trying to sound professional, and ask her to slowly turn around.
Her ass is the biggest in your studio. Nice.
It might be fun to see how far she'd go, bend her over, finger her, and make her crack, but then she'd never come back, and you need money more than you need a little fun. "That's enough." You smile. "You're welcome to put your clothes back on."
Saphron dresses hastily and sits down, face bright red.
"You have a good body, Saphron. As I expected. I think we'd be happy to have you." There's not much of a smile from her there, but maybe she's a little less unhappy. "If you'll sign here, I'll add you to my scroll and contact you when we're ready to make a video."
"I'm… I'm a lesbian…" she whispers. "W—Will it be with other women?"
Technically, she'll make better videos with women because of what she likes, but you'll be damned if she gets to tease you with a strip tease and then get an agreement you'll never touch her. "I'm afraid not."
She grimaces.
"It's acting, Saphron. Acting. You don't need to like it, and it might be better if you don’t. You're a committed woman, after all. Wouldn't it be more awkward if you were only ever performing with other girls? Your partner might get the wrong idea."
"I… I guess…" Saphron signs her name on the contract. Still reluctant, but desperate, and so beaten down that she can't imagine getting a job anywhere else at this point. "Is… is there at least room for progression? For promotion? Or to earn more?"
That's an interesting idea. Saphron obviously wants to earn as much as she can, and a bonus system might incentivise her to do well. It also suggests she's resigned to working for you for a while, since you wouldn't ask about promotions if you were planning to disappear into the wind.
But, for Saphron, it's especially interesting because you get the feeling she might just be desperate enough to do anything.
You could just offer her a bonus if a video does particularly well – a nice, simple thing that won't pay out unless you're doing good, and which might incentivise her to try her best. It'd probably cheer her up a little, but that might not necessarily be a good thing. Saphron's desperation and despair is what got her for you this cheap.
But there's another possibility. Saphron is desperate, vulnerable, and her confidence isn't just waning. It's shattered completely. At this point, she needs to show she can earn money, both to help her girlfriend, but also to prove to herself she isn't a burden.
It wouldn't be too hard to push Saphron in the direction of… more profitable work.
If she's willing to offer her body up to more than just a camera…
>OFFER BONUS: Tell Saphron you'll consider paying out a bonus if she does particularly well.
>OFFER "EXTRA WORK": Tell Saphron that you sometimes do "group videos". This is pimping, you can't make a video off it because your clients don't want to be known.
“I can’t talk of raises or promotions right now.” you say, “but I really do respect the idea of wanting to take on extra work. That’s the kind of go-getter attitude we need around here, Saphron.” You watch her smile, regaining a little confidence. “And I can always offer more work. It’s just a question of whether you’d be able to handle it.”
“I can handle anything, sir.”
“Call me Joker – even after you get the job. And, well…” You make a show of rubbing your jaw. “There is a certain kind of video we occasionally do that is… well, it’s not for beginners, and I recognise that. We pay extra as a result.”
“How much extra?”
“Triple. For you, I’d pay 90 lien. It might take a little more than an hour. Maybe one and a half to two, so it’d be closer to 45 lien an hour. That’s still a 50% increase, though, and you’d be able to work it for two hours in a night.”
Saphron’s entire face has lit up. 30 lien wasn’t a lot, but she was desperate, and 90 lien is a big deal. It’s more than 2 days of her old salary. Yet again, she doesn’t bother waiting to ask what the work is, or whether she’s ready for it. Instead, she leaps right on in.
Well, if nothing else, you’ll be teaching her to think things through.
“The videos are quite degrading. Private, though. They don’t go on our page, so you wouldn’t have to worry about random people finding them.”
“That’s honestly even better!” says Saphron. “And I’m a tough girl. I can handle a little embarrassment.”
“Perfect. Can you handle men one after another?”
Saphron blinks. “Eh?”
“They’re group sex videos,” you say, lying all too easily. “We film them somewhere secluded and have multiple men come and have sex with you one at a time. Not too many – never more than six. They can be quite rough, though. Not abusive. I won’t let that happen. But think hair pulling, groping, spanking and some harsh language.”
“I… um… I…”
“It’s okay if you can’t handle it, Saphron,” you say. “There’s no shame in admitting that. You can stay on 30 lien for the normal videos. I’m sure your girlfriend can handle the other costs.”
She grits her teeth. “I can do it!”
“Are you—”
“Yes, I’m sure!” she snaps, then winces. “Um. Sorry. I just… ahah. I can do this, sir. I can absolutely do this. It’s just like customer service. I just have to put up with them being rough. And… And the money is good. Really good. If I did this several times a week, I could earn almost as much as Terra does! Imagine that!” Her face lights up again, and that’s enough. “I want this, sir. I need the extra work, so please don’t hesitate to give it to me!”
“Well.” There’s only one thing to say to all that. “Welcome aboard.”
Author's Note:
Original Quest: https://fiction.live/stories/Running-the-Red-Light/z3DQkYE5X8YBXovZ8/home
Visual Novel: https://andoravn.itch.io/running-the-red-light