Yay, thanks so much for the feedbacks everyone! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Thanks especially to LonePalm, who pointed out a little inconsistency to me that I'll have to work with soon!
Chapter 4 The reunion, part 1
I had a knot in my stomach as I got closer. I parked my car and took a deep breath and mumbled "Right, here we go".
"Well I'll be damned… Jax, is that really you? Come here and give me hug!" I was so consumed by my own thoughts that I really had to turn around to see it was Lyla, who apparently had just parked her car next to mine. "Look at you, you look fantastic babe. How've you been, how are the kids?" She pulled me into a warm embrace, clearly surprised, but happy to see me. She brought me up to speed on how her and Opie's kids were doing, and then asked "So you being out.. does that mean you're coming back to the club?" "Darling I'm sorry, I'm going to catch up with you real soon and tell you about that, but I really have to do something. Would you care to show me where exactly I can find Bobby?"
Needless to say, Bobby was more than elated to see me. Like everyone else, he had no idea that I was out, yet, so he blinked twice before pulling me over his desk into the biggest manhug. "Welcome home, brother! How come we didn't hear about this?" I told him a little bit about how I wanted to keep a low profile, for several reasons, and that I would explain it to him in detail soon. "But how about a tour first, man, I wanna see what you made of this place!"
When I had been in jail for about 3 months, Bobby had come for a visit in jail to discuss an idea he had. Instead of continuing to rent the space for Cara Cara, he had the idea of building a modern and safe studio on the land. The boys from the club would take care of the security on the spot, and to ensure that there would always be plenty of work, he proposed for the business to expand into webcam services. I hadn't needed much time to think his plan over, it was a perfect plan and one of the bigger benefits was that we could keep 'our' girls safe, they wouldn't have to rely on jobs for perverted foreign producers, or sleazy rednecks to make a big enough living. The new studio has been in use for nearly 3 years, and the last time someone told me about it, it had been booming, which had resulted in Bobby having to start working long hours there to ensure the financials were not only healthy, but also accurate.
"Alright then, let's start right here.. this is my office", he turned on his heels with some pride showing on his face, "Come over here and see the view." His office being on the second floor, it had windows giving him a panoramic view over the studio floor. There were several units, each with a distinct décor. In 3 of them, there was actual recording going on. "The girls appreciate someone literally watching over them, and believe me, the sentiment is mutual", he chuckled. He then showed me around on the second floor, where the webcam rooms had been set up. "We have at least 10 girls working here at all times of the day, but can offer workspace to 16 total. I had no idea when I came up with this idea that it would be such hot business, Jax. I can't keep up with the incoming creditcard transactions. Within a week after we went live, we started getting approached by companies for advertising space, and the additional proceeds from that are a nice supplement to our already royal turnover. I had imagined the webcams would be a side activity, but the reality is, that the studio work is actually just a small stake in the full picture now. The entire Redwood chapter is on our payroll, some take care of the security, others work as janitors, and me, I'm listed as the financial director. Did Lyla tell you about her current occupation yet? After Nero wrapped up Diosa, I figured she had been through enough shit in both her personal and professional life. She now more or less coaches the other girls, hires new ones if needed, and makes sure the girls have whatever they need for the job they do." "It's awesome, Jax", Lyla interrupted. "I don't have to do the work any longer; I make enough money already while keeping my clothes on. Although every now and then if the mood and chemistry is right I can still be tempted to do a special show on cam. The best of it all is that I can use my past experiences and shelter these girls from all the bad crap that happens in the porn industry".
A quick glance into the rooms showed me that this had to be one of the most wanted places to work for girls like this. The rooms were very nicely decorated, and each of them had its own bathroom, and a little personal corner for the girls to have some private space for down moments. Each one of the rooms had a king-sized bed and a big collection of toys, oils, and other tools the girls could use to perform, and each one of the rooms had its own style. Some were very dorm like, others looked like standard marital bedrooms, and there even was a BDSM themed room.
"Wow Bobby, I'm really proud of you for pulling it off. Great work, brother. Looks like the Sons of Anarchy are finally able to get by, just making an honest living then?". Bobby went silent for a minute. "Jax, I know you sacrificed a lot setting everything up to get to that point, but yes, by getting us out of the deal with the IRA, and by taking the fall in trade for immunity for the rest of us, you not only allowed us to get out of the illegal circuit. Brother, you made all of us want to be better men. And so we treat these girls with the respect they deserve, and pay them accordingly too. Every now and then we still get sought out by the local authorities, but I guess after all these years, they too are slowly beginning to realize that we're no longer involved our former activities. The only shit we still deal with is some of the old rivalries with other clubs. But you don't wanna hear about that now man.. did you wanna see the other guys though? We have church tonight at 7, you could stick around til then if you want to".
It hadn't been the plan to reunite with all of the guys so fast, but after all that Bobby just told me, and seeing what they had done with Cara Cara I felt confident that what I wanted to discuss with them wouldn't turn sour on me.
"Yeah, that would be great. I would like to run something by you before that first." Bobby made a few phonecalls and let everyone know he wasn't to be disturbed after that, and sat down with me for the talk I had been both dreading, and looking forward to for 2 years already.
So sorry, I have to cut this short, I got carried away and the chapter was going to be too long for my liking so I'll do the next part next week.
I'm sort of really hoping I can start on the new life soon but there are so many loose ends and people I want to leave in a good place.