Chapter 3

I was smart enough to know that becoming a high-class whore was not something I could go straight into. I needed money to buy good clothes to present well, and I needed to know how to pleasure men. A thought came to me. While I was in the dressing room with the girls at the film studio, I overheard two of them talking. It seemed that in addition to the ‘glamour’ films for gentlemen’s clubs, one evening a week, the studio shot far more explicit films to sell, for which they paid the girls a lot more money. Now that I had no virginity to preserve, why shouldn’t I see if I could get work making these films? I would learn how to please men and even get paid for it. I decided not to say anything to Agnes in case it came to nothing, but it was certainly worth trying.

As promised, Agnes met me at the bus stop. “I have to go back to work,” she said. “Would you mind if I give you the key to the flat and you can go there and settle in?” I readily agreed since this suited me perfectly.

Once at the flat, I ran a bath and cast my ‘country clothes’ aside, dressing in my city clothes, and attending to my hair and makeup. I’d had no idea I would be back in Dublin so soon. Fortunately, I remembered how to get to Ace Film studios, so I walked there, hesitated for a second and then knocked three times on the door, hoping against hope that someone would answer it.

The shutter opened and the same face I saw on the previous occasion appeared.

“Good afternoon, would Mr Matthews be in?” I enquired politely.

“Who wants to know?” was the abrupt response.

“My name is Marie Maguire. Mr Matthews may remember that I stepped in when he was short of a girl for one of the films a few months ago,” I replied.

“Wait here,” he said abruptly, and the shutter was closed. I waited for about five minutes, feeling increasingly nervous. I was on the point of walking away when the door opened and he motioned me in.

I stepped inside and followed him down a corridor until he stopped at a door and knocked. Responding to the invitation, I opened the door and went inside. Mr Matthews was sitting at a desk. There were some film cans on it and a lot of paperwork.

“Miss Maguire? Yes, I remember, you stepping in when Gloria was unavailable. Please take a seat. How can I help you?”

There was a chair facing the desk, and I sat on it, letting my skirt ride up slightly, crossing my legs and letting him have a good view at my stockinged lower leg. Looking back, my actions were more than a little obvious.

“I’m back in Dublin and looking for work, Mr Matthews. My family and I had a disagreement and as a result, I have left home.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said politely.

“To be honest, I’m not,” I replied. “I had no future there and I feel I have a future here. If there are any vacancies available, I would like to make some more films with your company. I also heard that there are more intimate films made one night a week, and I would like to be considered for those too.”

Mr Matthews put down his pen and looked at me. “I expect that you’ve heard that we pay more to the cast for those films?” he said.

“That would indeed be useful in my present position,” I replied.

“I hope you understand that in most of those films the cast are naked and that genuine sex takes place. Are you happy with that?”

“So long as the man wears a condom, I am fine with it,” I replied.

“It requires some acting skills too. The women are always expected to have an orgasm, whether they really do or not. Of course the films are still silent, but there is talk of sound films – ‘talkies’ – and I want to be the first outside Hollywood to make them.”

“That would be a great step forward,” I replied. “The films would be even more entertaining then.”

“I like the sound of you, Miss Maguire. You sound genuinely interested in the film-making progress."

“Perhaps one day when I’m too old to act, I can direct films,” I said.

He smiled. I don’t know if he thought it was possible.

“As it happens, I do have a vacancy for a cast member this week. Are you experienced in having sex with a woman?”

“Oh yes!” I replied. It wasn’t true of course but after what I proposed doing, what was a little lie? I’m sure the other woman could tell me what do to.

Very well,” he said. “Be here at six o’clock on Thursday. We’ll provide the costume but most of the action takes place naked.”

“I hate to be mercenary, but might I enquire what the pay will be?” I asked.

“Ten pounds per film,” he replied.

Now I was greatly daring, but what the heck? He could only say no.

“Mr Matthews, as I explained, I am in a somewhat precarious position financially although I will be staying with my cousin Agnes. Would there be any chance of advancing me one pound, and the balance on the night we make the film?”

He laughed. “Well you have self-confidence. I like that in a woman.” He opened a desk drawer and produced a pound which I took and thanked him.

“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Just be sure to turn up on the night. After all, I know where Agnes lives.” He said it with a smile but I decided I would not want to get on the wrong side of him.

“You can count on me,” I replied, picked up my bag and left the office.

When Agnes arrived home from the office, I was busy cooking a simple tea, wearing my old dress to avoid getting any marks on my new one.

‘That smells good,” said Agnes, and I could see that she was pleased. “What have you been doing today?”

“I’ve been getting myself a job,” I replied, and went on to tell her what I had done.

“My goodness, you do surprise me,” she said.

‘This is the new Marie,” I said. “I’ve left the old one behind and she will never return. No more worrying about sins and what the Church might think. I am mistress of my own future and I will do whatever I like.”

“This film you are going to make. I presume you have no actual experience of what sex with another girl is like?”

“None at all, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. I would never have got the job. I’m sure the other girl will let me know what needs to be done.” Agnes nodded.

We spent a quiet evening. Agnes had some books, something I had never seen at the farm. I had learned to read and write at school, so I took the opportunity to get some reading practice.

After a long day, and still not feeling one hundred percent, I retired early. As I lay there in the darkness, mulling over the day’s events, there was a light tap on the door. Agnes came in and stood at the foot of the bed. She seemed a little nervous, and I could see that she was breathing fast.

“I don’t suppose you would like a little company?” she said. Up to that moment I had no idea about her preferences, but I smiled as I pulled aside the coverlet as an invitation. Agnes smiled too and reaching down pulled the night dress over her head. She stood there naked for a moment in a shaft of moonlight, her skin alabaster white. Only her hair and the crisp triangle at her groin were dark. Then she stepped forward and got into bed next to me. I turned to her with what I’m sure was an inquiring look on my face, and suddenly we were kissing, the first time I had ever kissed a woman in this way. It felt exciting.

“I feel a little over-dressed,” I said, and pulling my nightdress over my head, cast it aside before turning to her again, and we started to kiss with greater intensity.

A woman’s body is very different from that of a man, it is so soft and yielding. A man’s body gives a clear signal when he is aroused, but a woman’s body also sends out its signals; in fact it has three areas of arousal. As we kissed, I felt Agnes’s tongue against my lips and opened my mouth to admit her. Our tongues started to curl about each other’s as our bodies pressed together. I lay on my back as I felt Agnes’s hand on my breast and realized that my nipples had enlarged, and when she started to stroke and gently pinch one, it had become so sensitive that I moaned with pleasure. Soon she had exchanged her hand for her mouth and tongue and the sensations increased. Both my nipples were now hard and Agnes moved her mouth between one and the other as her hand slowly slipped down over my stomach and realizing where it was going, I spread my legs for her. Her fingers began to explore me, and after a few minutes, she whispered “May I kiss you down there?”

My body was already responding to her touch, and I murmured. “Oh yes, please.”

It’s often said that we never forget the first time we do anything important. If it were not so, how can I still remember that night so many years ago?

Agnes was amazing. As she worked her magic, her lips and tongue exploring my most intimate places, my body quivered in response and soon my sighs turned to moans and eventually to cries; this was so new to me and yet so wonderful. The pleasure increased more and more. Every nerve in my body seemed to be on fire, and I gave myself over to the most incredible sensations I had ever experienced. Eventually my body convulsed in a climax and I cried out as the pleasure became so intense it almost felt painful.

Slowly, very slowly, it seemed that I returned to earth from some distant place, and I lay there on the bed for several minutes, panting and my heart racing. When I finally regained the power of speech I whispered to Agnes, who now lay beside me, “What was that?”

Agnes smiled at me, and gently kissed me on the lips. “You’ve just experienced your first orgasm,” she said , “And it’s the most intense feeling a woman can ever have. I am so glad that I was the first one to help you achieve it.”

She encircled me with her arms as I did her, and we kissed again. I realized that I could taste myself on her lips.

“Darling Agnes, that was so wonderful, you were wonderful” I whispered.

“You were wonderful too,” she replied. “Now you know that you don’t need a man to have the most amazing sensations. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy sex with men too, but sex with a woman is so special;”

“Very special,” I said.

Agnes smiled. “It also has two advantages; you can’t get pregnant and it’s not illegal, supposedly because when the government made sex between men illegal, they couldn’t find the words to explain female with female sex to Queen Victoria, so it never became part of the Act.”

Shortly afterwards I drifted off to sleep and happy dreams, and when I awoke, the bed was empty. A few moments later, Agnes appeared, fully dressed.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” she said, smiling.

“Oh goodness, I must have been tired,” I said, and blushed as she gave me a knowing smile.

“You need to rest, today. You’ve had a couple of busy days,” she said. “Well, I’m off to work. I’ll see you this evening. There’s some food in the cupboard.”

After she had left, I slid out of bed and walked into her bedroom to examine my naked body in her full-length mirror. What a night it had been. I didn’t really expect anything so good when I met the young woman with whom I was to act for the film, but at least I was experienced now, and what I had told Mr Matthews was no longer a lie.

I had mentioned to Agnes that I should write to Mammy to tell her I had arrived safely. She pointed to a writing desk in the corner of the room and told me to use the paper and pens any time I like, so I sat down and composed a short note which went something like this:

Dear Mammy,
I have arrived safely in Dublin. Agnes is very kind and says that I can stay as long as I like. I am taking a couple of days to rest and then I will be looking for a job. I will write again soon. Give my love to everyone,
Love,
Marie

There is no postal delivery in Kilcarnie, so I knew that Mammy would check at the post office each time she went into the village, and hoped she would receive my letter soon. This may be unfair, but I did not trust Mrs O’Flaherty not to steam letters open, so I was careful what I wrote.
I dressed in my new ‘day dress’ to walk down to the post office to send my letter, but once I returned to the flat, I put on my old dress and set about cleaning and dusting the flat – the least I could do for Agnes. Then I checked out the food in the cupboard. This was a time before refrigeration in houses, the best that could be done was to have an ice box, or better still, cook such things as meat on the day that they were bought.

Vegetables are much longer lasting than meat, so I was pleased to find the makings for Colcannon, a traditional Irish dish which means 'white-headed cabbage'. Late in the afternoon I started to boil and mash the potatoes and then mix them with butter, milk, and boiled cabbage. It was a dish that we had had many times back in Kilcarnie, so I hoped that Agnes would not consider it too rural. To my great relief, when she arrived home, she noticed immediately the work I had done on the flat and also exclaimed ‘Colcannon! My favourite!”

We enjoyed a great meal together and then after washing the dishes, had a quiet evening reading some of the books that Agnes had acquired. She had several by Miss Jane Austen, a famous author from the nineteenth century whom I had heard of but had never had access to. I started on what is apparently her most famous novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’, and was soon engrossed in the story.
When it came time for bed, I felt nervous. I was hoping that perhaps Agnes might join me in bed again but it wasn’t something I could ask of her. When she said nothing, I reluctantly went to bed, but imagine my surprise and delight when she entered my room again.

The great thing about sex is the more often you do it the better you become at it. This time it was my turn to give her pleasure and I was so pleased that her responses made it clear that I was a good student and had remembered what I should do from her example. It is such a delight to bring another woman to orgasm that I had one myself, not as intense as the previous night, but still very enjoyable.

Now that I was developing a genuine relationship with Agnes, I wondered how she would feel about me making explicit films, so I decided to broach the subject with her.

“I don’t mind at all, so long as you don’t fall in love with your fellow actors! After all you need to get a job and with your pretty face and gorgeous body, which I can vouch for, (this made me blush) you are definitely suited for the film business.”

I was greatly relieved at her response. There was certainly no risk of me falling in love with another woman, or a man for that matter, especially after my experiences with Agnes.

To be continued