Record of the Year

Abby O'Reilly had been Australia's best-selling singer for the past five years, also topping charts in the UK. However, the Newcastle native and her label, First Fleet Records, had tremendous difficulty breaking into the American market. First Fleet Records CEO Malcolm Fletcher was convinced that Abby could become a big hit in the States--"bigger than Taylor Swift!", he'd insist, a lofty goal that even Abby wasn't sure she could reach. As Abby prepared to record her next album, Malcolm urged her to focus on crafting material that would likely be successful in the States. "I think you have it within you to make a female 'Thriller,'" Malcolm told Abby in their last meeting. "You can do this."

Malcolm was convinced that a sexy R & B track would be the key to success in the American market, and recommended that Abby collaborate with Lawrence Hall, the New York-based singer and producer known for his "bedroom bangers," or sexually charged hit singles. "I think you guys can make a real big hit," Malcolm advised Abby the night before her flight to the States. "But a word of advice: he's known as a real ladies' man, if you get my drift. There have been stories about...well...you know..."

"I know, Mal," Abby responded. Lawrence was widely rumored to have written hit singles for some of America's top singers in exchange for sex; "blowjobs for bangers" was the term most often used in reference to Lawrence.

"OK. Well, best of luck."

When Abby visited Lawrence's offices in midtown Manhattan a few days later, she didn't know what to expect. Would Lawrence try to get her to go along with one of his rumored "deals"? Would she even get along well with him?

She paced nervously in the bathroom before going into the conference room. She looked at herself in the mirror; her vibrant blue eyes were nervous, her pale skin flushed with sweat. She had her long red hair tied in a ponytail; she usually wore it loosely around her shoulders, but feared that doing so with this supposed skirt-chaser might not be a good idea.

Lawrence was already waiting for her in the conference room. He stood up to shake her hand: his handshake was a firm as his face was handsome. Abby suddenly felt relaxed around this very tall, muscular black man. Maybe he wasn't as bad as his reputation, she thought.

"Miss O'Reilly," Lawrence said in his deep, sexy voice, "it is indeed an honor to meet you."

"Why, thank you," Abby meekly responded.

"I'm a big fan."

"Really? I thought I was kind of, you know, anonymous in America."

Lawrence smiled. "I don't think that will be the case for long."

Abby sat down, and caught a glimpse of Lawrence's eyes brightening up at the sight of her large arse, covered in her white dress, easing into the chair. Yeah, he's thinking sex, Abby thought. But he's kinda cool...and really good-looking.

Lawrence sat down. His black skin looked so gorgeous above his crisp blue shirt and tie and black jacket; Abby was quite impressed by his fashion sense.

"So, Malcolm told me that you're looking for a song for your next album."

"Yeah...something that's really sexy, something that sounds like, well, a Lawrence Hall song."

Lawrence smiled. "I guess that can be arranged."

"I want something that sounds really hot...but romantic. Something that reminds people of when they fell in love for the first time, and when they fucked that person for the first time, and how good that felt."

"Oh, yeah...that sounds really hot."

"You know what I mean? Like when you connect with somebody, and when you finally fuck them, they're so good that they just make you want to yell, 'Whooo!'"

Lawrence's eyebrows raised. "Damn, that's it!"

"That's what?"

"That should be the title. 'Whooo!' How about this for a hook...uh...let's me see...'Ain't nothin' like that moment when you're with someone new/and when they love your body right, it makes you wanna say 'Whooo!'"

"I like it!"

Abby and Lawrence spent the next few days writing and recording "Whooo!"; after hearing the final version, both the singer and the producer were convinced that they had the song that would make her a massive hit in the States. Malcolm was also impressed by the song, but he felt that it wouldn't meet its full commercial potential unless it had a strong video.

"I agree," Abby replied in a conference call. "And I think I have a good idea for one..."

---

"Lawrence?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

Abby paused. She finished her chocolate-cake dessert and looked out the window of Madison's. It was a beautiful night in New York, the sort of night lovers would enjoy. She then looked into Lawrence's eyes. He was so powerfully charismatic, so gorgeous, so suave, so cool...Abby was convinced that he could have been a movie star if his heart and his talents hadn't led him to music.

"Have you ever heard of a movie called 'Don't Look Now'?"

"No, never heard of it."

"Well, it came out in the '70s...my dad and mum were big fans of it. Anyway, it's famous because there's a love scene that's so intense it looks like the actors are fucking for real."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Well...I kinda want to do that in the video for 'Whooo!' Would you be willing to do that with me?"

"Sure!" said Lawrence, who thought of what it would be like to feel on Abby's bottom.

Abby nodded. "I have a storyline that I want you to help me flesh out. I want this to be the sexiest video ever filmed..."

The storyline Abby and Lawrence came up with was based on old-school porn imagery. Abby would play a feminist working woman in 1972 who receives catcalls and wolf-whistles from a black construction worker, played by Lawrence, on her way to work. The day after she turns him down for a date, she goes to see "Behind the Green Door" at a drive-in movie theatre; the sight of the interracial love scene between porn stars Marilyn Chambers and Johnny Keyes arouses her, and she decides to go out with the construction worker after all. On the night of their date, he picks her up in a black Cadillac Eldorado, takes her to a soul food restaurant, then brings her home and makes love to her all night long.

Abby decided that Emma Clancy, the acclaimed Australian director of "The Food Fight," "Sonny Clay" and the "Save the Last Dance" remake, would be the ideal director for the video. However, when Abby explained that she wanted the sex scene to be so explicit that viewers would think that both she and Lawrence were actually fucking, Emma replied:

"Well, technically, there's no real way of doing that these days...they could get away with realistically faking it in the '70s, but now, if you really want to do what you're talking about...you guys are gonna have to actually fuck."

"No worries," Abby replied. She knew Lawrence would go for it.

---

In anticipation of shooting the sex scene, Abby grew out her pussy hair, giving herself a bright red '70s-style bush. She couldn't wait to fuck this sexy black producer on camera.

Lawrence seemed a bit nervous the morning the sex scene was to be filmed. He looked cute in the big Afro he had grown to play the construction worker, so cute that Abby wanted to tell him to keep the hairstyle after filming. However, when it came time to actually shoot the scene, Lawrence lost all traces of nervousness. Emma quickly became aroused as she looked at the scenes playing out on the monitor: Lawrence's strong black hands on Abby's soft pale back and arse as they kissed and embraced, his full lips on her bright pink nipples, his fingers caressing her navel, his face buried in her red bush as his tongue flicked across her pussy lips. It was all Emma could do not to scream in delight when she saw Lawrence penetrate Abby with his hard cock; she knew the shot of Lawrence's gorgeous black skin pressed against Abby's milky white complexion while inside of her would become iconic as soon as the video was released.

The video for "Whooo!" was highly controversial, and highly successful: in less than 24 hours, it garnered 30 million views on YouTube, and helped the single become a #1 hit in the United States and around the world, building anticipation for the release of Abby's next album, "Strayin'."

As soon as she heard that "Whooo!" had topped the Billboard charts, Abby called Lawrence and thanked him for co-writing the song and appearing in the video.

"No problem," Lawrence responded. "But I do have one favor to ask, though."

"Sure! Anything."

"Well...I have to say I really enjoyed making that video...any chance we could do a sequel?"