Chapter 3

I looked into making a website and was surprised how easy it had become. I set up a video poll. Viewers would see short clips of females smoking cigarettes and rate how much they liked them. They needed to enter generic data about themselves, their gender, age, and if they smoked or not. I put up videos of forty girls smoking and paid a company to advertise the site.

Unsurprisingly, most female viewers who didn’t smoke were unimpressed or repelled by other ladies smoking. The few that stayed on the site long enough to rate any gave most of them one to three out of ten. Females who smoked were only a little more generous, with ratings of two to seven.

Most males who didn’t smoke were less harsh and gave ratings of three to eight. Of the men who smoked, the ratings were anywhere from six to ten. Their average rating for Cassie was 9.3, but I thought she deserved at least a 9.8.

I had paid a few thousand to setup the site and have a web designer make it more appealing and functional, but I had no plans to make money off it. It was part of my research, and a good excuse for me to record Cassie more often.

I thought I could get more information from the price men would pay to download videos of the ladies smoking. Out of around 10,000 repeat viewers, six hundred paid 99 cents each to download 15-minute videos. I raised it to $1.99, and 200 were willing to pay. At $4.99 forty of them did, equal to twenty bucks an hour just to see a girl smoke.

I put up an ad for a new one from Cassie and about twenty paid $9.99 to see her smoke two cigarettes while fully clothed! I added another short video with a college girl smoking in a one-piece swimsuit. It was only fifteen minutes and I charged $19.99. I thought surely nobody would pay that much. Astoundingly, nine men did!

I tried again and set a ridiculous price of $99.99 for 30 minutes of Cassie smoking in shorts and a t-shirt. At the time some call girls charged the same rate for intercourse and most street hookers were cheaper. Five men were willing to pay a hundred bucks, just to watch her smoke!

I thought a little and realized that I would too. I decided I should give her a raise.

Later I called Cassie and asked, “Would you like to do another video soon? I’ll pay a hundred for a half hour.”

“Cool, but I’m kind of busy. I have a job now. How about Monday afternoon?”

“Sure. See you then.”

I did a few interviews with other girls, while I eagerly waited for Monday to arrive.

On Monday she wore sandals, jean shorts, and a short-sleeved purple top with glitter around the collar. She had on a black necklace with ten or so small purple stones on individual pendants. I could see a slight bit of her white bra.

“It’s chilly out, but I thought you’d like shorts again.” She smiled.

I told her, “Nice! I set up a website for videos of the ladies I interview. No nudity or anything weird. I’ll need more videos with you wearing different clothes. Next time can you wear a skirt or a dress with high heels? Maybe next week?”

“Two weeks, on Monday again. I’m busy with work and some things, but okay.” She smiled and said, “You got better pillows for the couch. Cool.” She laid on her back on the sofa and lit up. I felt a slight movement in my boxers as I viewed her smooth legs and watched her smoke.

I told a little too much of the truth. “I got two new cameras with better resolution, too, so the smoke and your beautiful hair will show more clearly. And a polarized filter, so the shine on your lips...”

She interrupted, “So you enjoy how I look? Do you think I’m sexy?”

I blushed and admitted, “Very.”

“I asked if you wanted a date before. On a date you could talk to me, watch me smoke, even kiss me. Maybe more than kiss me. You won’t take me on a date, but you’re paying a hundred bucks just to record me smoking?”

“Um ... yes.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head a little. “That is TOO messed up!” I watched her smoke two more cigarettes as she reclined on the couch. She asked, “Why do you have to be like that?”

“What?”

“You don’t want to be with me but you look like you’re starving and I’m a candy bar. Could you just leave the cameras on, and go do something else?”

“Sorry. I ... you’re just so very beautiful. You really are.”

She blushed and smiled as she smoked one more before she left.

She returned Monday afternoon with tight curls in her blonde hair and wonderfully applied cosmetics on her face. Her long fake lashes and bright red lipstick drew my attention like magnets. She was wearing a red prom dress and red high heels. The plunging neckline showed so much cleavage I rapidly had a hardon. She asked, “Do you like it?”

I whistled. “Whew! Very nice!”

She blushed and smiled as she slowly turned around. “Thanks. I hope my boyfriend will like it. The Winter Formal dance is Friday night.”

The word ‘boyfriend’ hit me like a slap. I was disappointed but pushed myself to be nice. “If he has eyes and likes girls, I’m sure he’ll love it. Have a seat. Would you like orange juice again?”

She looked at the wine rack behind the bar. “Mom let me have a glass of white wine last weekend. I like it and I haven’t tried red. Please?”

“Uh...” She had only recently turned 19, but I wasn’t sure how I should say ‘no’.

“I live next door. Just one glass? I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“Um ... I guess.”

I poured the wine and said, “I got a new camera that’s good for low-light. I’d like you to do something different for this video. I’ll turn most of the lights off and light a bunch of candles. It should give a subdued and romantic effect. Would you light your cigarettes from a candle?”

“Okay.”

I thought she looked very mature and seductive, as she held the wine glass delicately and smoked in the dimmed light. I got a few close-ups of her holding cigarettes between her lips and leaning down to light them from the tip of the candle flame. For a moment I could see part of an areola as she leaned forward.

She had her legs crossed in a ladylike way. I took a few steps back and sat on the carpet, to get a good shot of her bottom resting on the stool and her high heels dangling just off the floor. As she set the empty glass on the bar and licked her lips, I sighed and involuntarily said, “My gawd! Those legs! Those lips! You’re GORGEOUS!”

She said, “You’re making this WAY too weird! Bye.” I stared at her butt as she walked up the stairs and left.

I called her the next day and the day after, but she didn’t answer. I figured I should give her some time. Two weeks later she answered when I called. “Cassie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or scare you.”

“It’s not that. You don’t know what you want and I kind of like you. But I have a boyfriend now.”

“I’m sorry. Can we just go back to being friends, like the first few times you came over? I got a pool table and a dart board. Would you like to just play darts or pool like friends?”

“I’m pretty busy.”

“I’ll pay you. How about a hundred to just hang out and play for a few hours? No touching and no staring at you.” I must have sounded desperate, but I missed her so much that I didn’t care.

I heard her sigh. “I could use the money. I guess.”

“Great! Friday night?”

“I have a date. Wednesday?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

When she walked down the stairs the next Wednesday afternoon, I saw she was wearing sneakers, jeans, and one of her black tops that didn’t show much. She had minimal makeup on, only pink lipstick. I said, “No touching and no staring, I promise.”

I turned on the cameras and recorded her as we played four or five games of pool. Several times, they recorded her nice breasts hanging down in her shirt as she leaned forward. Her nipples were covered by her bra, but I could see most of the rest of them. She often had a cigarette dangling from her lips as she played. I loved to see her inhale with her hands away from her face, then exhale through her nose.

I paid her and asked, “When can we do another interview. Soon, I hope?”

“I’ll be very busy until graduation, then I’ll be at my Grandma’s house over the summer. Give me a call around Halloween.”

“That’s eight months!”

“Sorry, but life gets in the way sometimes.”

I had no idea, but she gave birth four months later. I called in September and arranged another interview for the start of October.

The day before Cassie’s next interview, I discovered her mother was cheating on me. Correction, cheating on me and her husband. I had some things I wanted to do that day instead of meeting Felicia for a fling, so I had made an excuse that I had to be at a meeting in another state. When I woke in the morning, I saw a beat-up white car pull into her driveway. A short and chubby blonde guy climbed out, and she KISSED HIM! I realized he might be a relative greeting her, then learned better when she STUCK HER HAND IN HIS POCKET and he SQUEEZED HER BREAST before they walked inside.

I went down to the basement and opened a bottle of wine. When I finished crying and drinking, I made a call. “Ray? Hey, buddy, it’s me. I’m really sorry to tell you this...”

When Cassie arrived the next afternoon, I saw her makeup was smeared and she was crying. “My Mom and Dad are getting divorced! Can you give me a hug? Just hold me, please?”

“Sure, come here.” I held my arms out and hugged her. We sat on the sofa and cuddled for a while. I forced myself to keep my hands away from her bottom and her chest. It was very difficult, but I looked away most of the time as she smoked.

“Dad’s still working on the oil rig, so I can’t live with him. Mom is moving two states away! I’ll miss all my friends and have to get a new job. This is going to suck!”

“I’m so sorry, sweetie.” I gently patted her back.

She asked, “You like me, and you think I’m beautiful, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you have a house and pay lots of people for interviews. You must have lots of money or a good job?”

“More money than I need. Much more. Why?”

“I know you want to kiss me and make love to me. Would you marry me? I’ll break up with my boyfriend. Please?”

I was terribly torn. There had never been anyone I wanted half as much. Nobody else had ever set off my arousal to such a degree. We got along well too, and usually had a good time just talking. I’d only done about a third of my thesis but wanted to finish it. If I were involved with her, a lot of what I had done would go out the window. She was legally and socially an adult, but I felt it would be wrong of me to marry a lady ten years younger. None of that was the biggest factor in my decision.

It was selfish and quite wrong of me, but I was worried that if I married her and made love to her, she might get pregnant and QUIT SMOKING! I didn’t think I could SURVIVE that!

I asked, “Why don’t you marry your boyfriend?”

“I’m 19 but he’s only 18. He said he might marry me when he’s 21 but I can’t wait. Mom moves next month!”

“I ... Cassie ... Nothing would make me happier, but I can’t. I’m so sorry, Cassie.”