“Dude, you gotta be shitting me!” PG exclaimed. Ian had called him after Madison stormed out.
“I wish I were kidding.”
“Dude, I don’t get it. Why would you be operating a porn site? It’s not like you need the money.”
“It wasn’t about the money. I guess I was bored, and…”
“And horny!” PG added.
“Touché. Anyway, I spend so much time alone in the penthouse that I wanted something to do, so I started poking around on the internet. I found this one chat room, where people were talking about operating porn businesses, so I did some investigating, and presto, I’m in business.”
“Who are your clients?”
“Mostly lonely housewives. We usually played naughty games, for which I charged by the hour,” Ian explained.
“Wow! Aren’t you the young Hugh Hefner? So are you going to stay in business?”
“No. Now that Madison knows, it’s making me feel sleazy. You should have seen the dirty look she gave me before she left. She looked at me like I was slime. I want to try and redeem myself, plus I don’t want the word to get around that I’m into internet porn. If I tainted the Reinhardt name, my parents would probably disinherit me, and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“I hear you. So, have you talked to Madison since she left?” PG asked.
“No. I’ve been calling her non-stop, but she keeps sending me to voicemail. I’ve got to talk to her so that I can explain.”
“You’re not going to tell her the truth, are you?”
“Yeah, I had planned to. What else can I say? I mean, she saw the naked woman with her own eyes, so it’ll be hard for me to lie about it now,” Ian said, sounding hopeless.
PG was silent for a moment, and then said. “Tell her it was research.”
“Research? What type of research?”
“Tell her that you’re helping me with my screenplay. And that I asked you to check out various porn sites. I’m almost finished writing the script, and I can show it to her, so she’ll believe you.”
“Dude, that’s an excellent idea! Wait a minute, is there a porno storyline in the movie? Knowing Madison, she’ll want to read the script from the first page to the last,” Ian said, making sure that their lie would hold water.
“Yes and no. I mean there’s not a porn storyline per se, but there is a lot of sex in the movie, so tell her that you were researching various sexual preferences.”
“PG, that’s perfect! I can definitely lie my way out of this mess now. Thanks for coming to my rescue. This was a close call. I definitely don’t want to lose Madison over getting some cheap thrills. Dude, I really learned my lesson. The next time I’m bored and horny, I’m going to buy a Playboy, and some lubricant!”
“That’s a good idea.”
Getting busted had brought Ian back to reality. He now realized that keeping his girlfriend and his family name intact was more important than cheap thrills.