The Love Pill

by Arizona Tape

  — Don’t worry, it was cute. When your hangover is gone, we can start again. ;) —

  I texted, trying to be playful but still making sure she knew I wanted to see her again.

  — I honestly don’t think this hangover is ever gonna pass. I feel so bad. —

  I could imagine, last night it seemed like she tried to drink the bar dry. I think she might have even succeeded.

  — Want me to come over and make you my infamous hangover cure? It’s my secret recipe :) —

  I looked at my text. Wasn’t it too bold, too fast? I swiftly hit sent, throwing my phone away, hoping I wasn’t too forward. My phone beeped. I swallowed and picked it up.

  — If you can make this headache disappear, I’ll put you on a pedestal and start worshipping you. —

  I snorted, stood up and started looking around for the stuff I needed. Glad she wasn’t tired of seeing me.

  — I’ll be there in 20. —

  Exactly 23 minutes later I rang the bell, standing on her porch. I looked at the ground and saw her lipgloss laying there. I must have missed that last night, so I picked it up. Lexi opened the door, looking like a train hit her.

  ‘Hi, come in.’ she said, stepping aside, letting me in. I smiled and gave her the lipgloss.

  ‘Here, I’m guessing that also fell…’

  ‘Shhh, headache.’

  ‘Out of your purse…’ I continued, going on in a lower voice. I took a step closer and pulled her to me, kissing her cheek.

  ‘Eww, don’t. I’m not yet showered.’ she whispered, pulling away.

  ‘Go on then, take a shower. Where is your kitchen? I’ll prepare a good breakfast and some anti-hangover cures.’ I said, looking around for her kitchen. She pointed to another of her doors and started walking in the opposite direction.

  About a half hour later, she stood next to me in the kitchen. She already looked better, but I could see she still had a headache. She sat down on the table and I gave her a plate with bacon, swimming in its own grease. She took a fork, mumbled a thanks and started eating. I placed a glass with my hangover juice next to her. She took a sip and looked surprised at me.

  ‘Hmmm, that’s good. What is it?’

  I grinned, winking at her.

  ‘That’s a family secret, and you are not family yet.’ I said, waggling my eyebrows suggestively, indicating someday she would be.

  She smiled and shook her head, continuing eating and drinking.

  After a good meal and some rest, she finally started to look like herself.

  ‘Thanks, that really helped.’ she said, laying down on her couch, her legs slung over my lap. I smiled, running my hands up and down her legs, softly massaging them.

  ‘I hope I didn’t embarrass myself too much last night.’ she said, looking shamefully at the ground. I started giggling.

  ‘No, it wasn’t too bad. You only emptied your purse in front of your door and started shushing yourself because the cat was asleep.’ I said, thinking about last night, still giggling.

  Lexi groaned, facepalming herself. ‘Really? I don’t even have a cat.’

  That statement sent me into a laughing fit and soon Lexi joined me in the laughter. I brought my head to hers and kissed her on the cheek.

  ‘You are freshly showered, no reason not to let me kiss you.’ I stated, kissing her again, this time aiming for her mouth. I felt her smile against my lips, kissing me back, filling my stomach with butterflies.

  Maybe last night it wasn’t the tequila talking.

  12. Assumption

  Cara Hemlock

  I almost fell out off my bed when I heard my phone ringing. I quickly snatched the damn thing and pressed the green phone.

  ‘Hi, honey. Miss me already? It’s quite early.’ I said, yawning in the phone, squinting my eyes, trying to wake myself up.

  ‘I like you too, Hemlock, but don’t you think this is a tad too familiar? Really, honey?’ I heard my boss’s voice coming through the speaker.

  I shot up, immediately awake, hitting myself soundlessly on the head. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ I cursed under my breath. This was a nightmare. Why didn’t I just check the caller ID? It would’ve taken me less than 2 seconds and spared me more than a lifetime of embarrassment.

  ‘I’m sorry, boss, I made an assumption. It won’t happen again.’ I quickly apologised, trying to save my face. I heard chuckling on the other side of the line.

  ‘No worries, Hemlock. If that’s how you greet your lovers, Lexi Zellichman is bound to fall for you. Speaking of her, how is it going?’

  If I thought earlier on was a nightmare, I was wrong. This was the nightmare. How long had it been since I even thought about the assignment? I started counting in my head, maybe one day? Two days?

  Oh, who was I kidding, it had been more than a whole week since my mind even thought about work.

  Well, technically Lexi was work and my mind had been thinking about her non-stop, but you get what I mean.

  ‘Ehmm, it’s going great, sir. I’m making good progress. Even though it’s gonna take longer than usual, I’ll get her to fall for me. That piece of information is as good as ours.’ I said, trying to sound confident.

  Damn you, Lexi Zellichman. I had never lost focus before…The assignments before stayed what they were, assignments. There were some great looking guys, but I could always detach myself.

  ‘I didn’t expect anything less from you. Good job, and as always: you don’t have to sleep with them, to get what you want. Just to remind you. Have a nice day, Hemlock.’ my boss went on, repeating the first and biggest rule.

  You don’t have to sleep with them to get information.

  Most people thought that was the best way, but they were wrong. And besides, we weren’t prostitutes. And we would never stoop to that level.

  I never slept with my assignments to get information. I sometimes slept with them after I got what I needed to know, but that was because I wanted to. But sleeping with Lexi actually sounded like a great idea. Her long, naked legs around my hips, her smooth breasts in my hands, her beautiful voice moaning my name, …

  I shook my head, trying to get out of my daydream. Jesus, what was wrong with me? If I didn’t look out I would be the one falling for her, instead of her falling for me. That wasn’t gonna happen, no way. I better took action. It was time to pay a visit to the lab.

  I was on my way to the lab when my phone started ringing again. This time I remembered to check the caller ID, and I checked it good.

  ‘Hello, sweetie. How are you?’ I said after I made sure it was indeed Lexi calling.

  ‘I’m well, thanks. How are you doing?’ I heard her say through my phone, making me smile.

  ‘I’m well too. So, why are you calling?’ I asked, looking at my watch. I was pretty close to the lab, so I would have to make this conversation short, even if I didn’t want to.

  ‘Just wanted to check if you were up for lunch?’ she asked, making me stop in my tracks. This was the first time she asked me out.

  ‘S…Sure.’ I stuttered, feeling myself heat up.

  ‘Meet me at Luna’s in say 25 minutes?’

  ‘Okay, I’ll meet you there.’ I said, hanging up and turning 180°. The lab could wait one more day.

  13. Safe

  Lexi Zellichman

  I was looking at my cell phone, trying to determine if I should call her or not. She had already asked me out a couple of times, so she wouldn’t say no, would she? I mean, it was only lunch, nothing too fancy. I was gonna play it off like the idea just popped in my head, when honestly I had been thinking about it the whole morning. I decided I was gonna regret it if I didn’t ask, so I pressed call.

  ‘Hello, sweetie. How are you?’

  Sweetie. Damn, even over the phone she made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.

  Play it cool.

  Play it cool.

  Play it cool.

  I managed to ask her out and when she agreed to come, I almost started dancing. Luckily I didn�
��t, because that would have been a funny sight, since I was standing in the mall. I was pretty close to the place where we would meet up, so I quickly did one other shop and started walking to the tavern.

  When I arrived she was already standing at the entrance, holding her phone. Five seconds later, my cell went off.

  — Standing outside. I’m a bit early. —

  I smiled and put my cell away, closing in on her. She looked up and smiled.

  ‘Seems like I’m not the only one who couldn’t wait.’ she said with a cocky grin and wink.

  ‘Don’t flatter yourself.’ I said, pushing her lightly, pretending like she was wrong. We both knew she wasn’t.

  Earlier on I almost had to force myself to do that one last shop instead of already walking to Luna’s.

  She grinned. ‘Whatever. Come here.’ She said, pulling me closer. Slowly and softly pressing her lips on mine. I moaned. It felt like it had been too long, even though only three days had passed since I saw her.

  I felt her smile against my lips. ‘I missed that.’ she whispered.

  I was about to say something similar when my stomach decided it was hungry and started rumbling.

  I looked apologetically at her. ‘Sorry. I’m hungry.’

  She shook her head, smiled and then bit her lip. ‘Then let’s have lunch.’ She said, opening the door.

  ‘So, my parents are in town this weekend.’ she casually mentioned, in between two bites of her sandwich.

  ‘Oh, okay. So I won’t be seeing you then?’ I asked carefully. Not really knowing where she was going with her statement.

  ‘I guess not. Unless you wanna come and meet them?’ she casually said again. I almost choked on my burger. Meet her parents? We weren’t even officially dating. Maybe it was a bit too fast, maybe another time. Yeah, that was a safe answer. I opened my mouth.

  ‘Errrr…’ was the only sound I could make.

  ‘So that would be a no.’ she said, not batting an eye. Maybe she just asked to be polite and was glad I wasn’t really up for it.

  But she went on.

  ‘When am I meeting your parents?’ she asked. This time I really choked on my burger. She started patting my back, rubbing it soothingly.

  ‘Okay, so this topic is off limits. For now.’ she said, still rubbing my back. I coughed a few times, trying to get my lungs to work again.

  ‘It’s not that. It’s just that I don’t have a good relation with my mother and my father died recently.’ I said, trying to get her to understand. ‘And besides, isn’t it a bit too early? I mean, what are we?’ I went on, hoping she was as smitten as I was.

  ‘Oh my god. I’m sorry.’ she said, looking down awkwardly.

  ‘If you want to talk about it, you know where to find me. And to answer the other question, we are dating, aren’t we?’

  I nodded, feeling how my body heated up. Dating. Yeah, I liked that word. I smiled and for the first time, I started talking about my dad, feeling like I could trust her.

  ‘He died from a heart attack. It was very sudden and he survived, but afterwards, he slowly deteriorated. I was the only one he talked to and trusted. He was a very stubborn man, not trusting anyone else after his wife cheated on him.’ I said, thinking about my dad. I loved him to pieces, even though I didn’t like his work.

  He was a mediator and often he had gone to dangerous places. I had always feared he wouldn’t be coming back and thought it was the job that would get him killed, but apparently, I was wrong. He silently and unceremoniously died at home.

  And even on his deathbed, he was busy with work, telling me about his last contact. Making me swear I wouldn’t just tell anyone. I didn’t understand what was so important, but he made me swear.

  He had given me a name and a code, telling me I could only tell this man what he told me. Saying that man would come to talk to me, but the weeks had gone by without a stranger appearing.

  I felt warm arms wrapping around me. Hugging me tightly. I sighed and melted into the body behind me. For the first time since my dad died, I felt safe again.

  14. Someone from the Past

  Cara Hemlock

  I had brought up my parents, just to start the topic parents. It was a little white lie, because I was nowhere close to my parents. In fact, I had no clue where they were or if they were still alive even. By the age of fourteen, they had gone off on some spree and never came back. I had been on my own ever since. Okay, so it was a big lie. What was one other more, right?

  I knew her dad died, so I thought I wouldn’t feel too bad when she told me, but I was wrong. She looked so sad. Her story made me sick to my stomach. My boss had told me that her father died, but he didn’t tell me that her mother had left. She was an only child, so right now she probably felt more alone than anyone ever deserves to be. The look on her face reminded me of the girl I used to see in my mirror.

  I felt so bad for having to do this mission, to try and obtain the information her father entrusted to her.

  ‘Anyway, I don’t wanna talk about it right now. Can we do this later?’ she said, breathing in deeply, trying to calm herself. I nodded, letting the subject rest for now. I didn’t wanna push or scare her away. Hell no, I absolutely didn’t wanna do that.

  ‘Sure, sweetie. Let’s just finish up here and go for a walk?’ I asked, trying to lighten the mood. She nodded and gave me a small smile. We continued eating in silence, not an uncomfortable silence, but a silence nonetheless.

  We were strolling through town, having some light conversation and looking at people walking by.

  Suddenly I heard a voice scream my name. I turned around to see a man approaching us fast.

  ‘Cara? I can’t believe it’s you. Wow, what are you doing here? Last year you said you were moving to Ohio?’ the guy said. I looked closely at him, recognising him as one of my earlier missions. What was his name? Errr…Daniel Wissen. Yeah, that’s it.

  ‘Daniel. Hi, I didn’t expect to see you here.’ I said, trying to keep my cool.

  Shit. He was one of my first missions, more like a test ride. So he was stationed pretty close to our home base. After my boss discovered I was pretty decent in doing what I did, I got levelled up which meant I was sent out more frequently. Because I was sent out more frequently, I couldn’t go around in my own town seducing men and then dropping them like a brick. My town isn’t small, but still, people are more connected than you would assume. And word travels fast. So I went to different places, seducing men all over the world. I made a point of never going back to the same city I had a mission in, but Daniel lived in my hometown.

  With Lexi, we agreed that we didn’t have any other choice left and we assumed I wouldn’t run into Daniel, given the fact that I hadn’t run into him again over the past year.

  Wrong.

  ‘Wow, you look so good. Come, let me give you a hug.’ Daniel said, approaching me. I closed my eyes and felt his big arms around me. I had to fight the urge to push him away. When he finally let go, I stepped back, grabbing Lexi’s hand. Daniel’s eyes followed my hand and I saw the confusion on his face.

  ‘Who is your lady friend?’ he asked, checking Lexi out, resting his eyes on her cleavage. I felt myself getting sick to my stomach again, a hard ball forming deep inside my belly. I’m not sure what is was, but it wasn’t jealousy. It couldn’t be.

  ‘This is Lexi. My date.’ I said, one part of me not wanting him to ask questions, but another, stronger part wanted to let him know that she was taken.

  His eyes widened and I braced myself. I knew that look. It wasn’t the look Ruben would have given me. Ruben’s eyes would look like they were trying to take my clothes off, to scan everything underneath. But Daniel’s eyes looked at me in disgust.

  ‘Your date? Her? When I met you, you were straight. What happened to you? You didn’t ditch me for a dyke, did you?’ he spat out, taking a step back himself.

  I thought about his question, he was right, what happened?

  ‘What happened? People chan
ge. I met Lexi.’ I said, feeling ambushed by his question. For the first time since I started ‘dating’ Lexi, I really felt gay. The kissing and taking her on dates were fun and spontaneous.

  But having to defend what I had with her to the outside world, that made me realise what it meant to be openly gay.

  ‘Right.’ he said icily cold, looking at his watch. ‘Oh, time flies. Have to run, bye bye.’

  ‘Yeah, have a nice day.’ I countered with the same tone. I was relieved he hadn’t brought up my sudden ‘leave’ out off town, but on the other hand, I felt my stomach clench with anger.