Laurie professes never to masturbate, and her boyfriend Alex takes her at her word. That doesn’t stop him from asking her to touch herself as part of a photoshoot. Laurie declines. “It would just be acting,” Alex says.

“It wouldn’t be real,” Laurie replies.

“But why not try it—you might like it,” Alex begs.

“Why is it so important to you?” Laurie asks.

“Is it that you think it’s a sin?” Alex asks, and then, “Do you think I’m going to hell because I touch myself?”

“I just can’t,” Laurie answers.

“If you were going to touch yourself, how would you do it?” Alex dares ask.

“You’re too much,” Laurie says.

Alex gives up. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I won’t ask you again.”

At this Laurie gives in. “Okay, if you go away, I might do it.”

“Go away?”

“Yes, leave the room. It’s a private thing, isn’t it?”

“I guess, but...”

“It’s up to you,” Laurie says.

Alex leaves the room.

Imagining Laurie touching herself drives him crazy. He wishes he had a secret camera set up. “But that would be wrong,” he says to himself, and he wonders if given the chance he would have set up a secret camera. He wonders if it would be better to watch Laurie touch herself if she knew he was watching her or if she thought she was alone. He can’t decide. Three minutes have passed. It seems like an hour. “If only there were a keyhole in the door,” he thinks. He moves nearer the door, trying to hear any tell-tale sounds.

He goes to the kitchen and makes a cup of coffee. He drinks it, burning his tongue. He considers masturbating himself, but he doesn’t really feel like it. He finds his camera and takes picture after picture of an empty spot on the wall, not bothering to focus.

“Okay, you can come in now,” he hears Laurie call. He goes into the bedroom.

She is sitting on the bed. She smiles at him.

“Did you do it?” he asks.

“Can’t that be my secret?”

He frowns.

“Yes, I did it.”

“Really?”

“You don’t believe me? Want to sniff my fingers?”

Alex is abashed. He does want to sniff her fingers. He wants to suck her fingers. But he is suddenly shy.

“I didn’t come though,” Laurie says. “Does it count if you don’t come?”

“Oh, I wish you would have come,” Alex says.

“I wish I would have come, too,” she says.

“Maybe if I...?”

“No, I’m a big girl. I can do it myself,” Laurie says. “Off you go now.”