Wunderboy -9- by Shauna Rousseau (Patreon)

WunderBoy

Chapter Nine

~ Day 56 ~

* * * * *

Claire

* * * * *

“Thank you for understanding, Penelope. I know it’s not ideal…but that’s the life of a WunderGirl.” I’m on the phone with Dr. Henderson at Oakwood…making plans to get Samantha out of school for her photo shoot with Armanio Juliette.

“It’s no problem, Claire.” Her voice comes over the speaker on my phone. “It’s just one day. Faith can bring home her assignments. I know they’re not in the same track, but she can stop by my office and pick them up. It’s exciting to have an active WunderGirl in class. She’s the first, since I’ve been here. It’s rare enough for you to have fully activated teenage models…but for them to also get the scholarship…or come here…is even rarer. We’ll be as flexible as we can.”

I nod and we chat a few more minutes. I disconnect the call and look at Jules. “OK. That’s settled. Samantha’s officially excused for Thursday afternoon and Friday, on the week of the shoot. Shall we go out back for a break? I know what you said, yesterday….”

She makes a face. “Yeah. I’m still firmly committed to my promise to Samantha to quit…but…cold turkey’s just not cutting it. Maybe just one….”

I’m surprised and my face must show it. I didn’t expect her to cave so easily…she was very firm, yesterday.

She shrugs. “I did great all day, yesterday…but something has really made me crave one, today! I hope maybe taking the edge off will help.”

I nod but I wouldn’t bet on that helping. I know exactly what she means…. These past few days, my cravings have been increasing…exponentially. Especially at work. I can’t explain it! I used to be able to easily control how much I smoked…it was…a hobby…of sorts. Not anymore. I just shrug and sigh.

We go out back to the Smoker’s Corner and Greta is out there.

After we light up, Jules looks at Greta intently through the thick clouds of smoke hanging in the air…and I know exactly what’s coming.

“Greta,” Jules blows out her smoke. “I’ll talk to Joyce and Dharma, too…. But please support me in not giving Samantha access to cigarettes…here…or to go. I caught her Saturday with a pack that was given to her…from an individual here. That’s not acceptable. She’s underage.”

“Well…that’s awfully hypocritical of you, Jules.” Greta looks surprised. “Shouldn’t that be Samantha’s choice? How are you really going to stop her if she insists on sneaking around you.”

Jules shrugs. “She’ll have a much harder time sneaking around me if people don’t help her sneak. Besides…we’ve come to an agreement, and I think she’ll honor it. I just don’t want anyone here…’encouraging’ her to ‘calm down’ and using smoking to accomplish that! And she’s my daughter…so I have to put my foot down on this one.”

Greta nods. “OK. She won’t get any from me…and I’ll talk to the girls.”

“Thank you, Greta. I’m working on quitting, too. Or at least cutting way back….” Jules sighs. “It won’t be easy…I shouldn’t have ever started back up….”

Greta rolls her eyes. “It comes with the territory, Hon. It’s hard not to around here. Good luck!”

I nod. “I agree…I smoke more when I’m here…it does go with the territory. I tell you what, Jules. Let’s buddy up…help each other slow down?”

She smiles. “Deal! After this one!”

We all giggle.

* * * * *

Jimmy

* * * * *

I get out of the shower and comb through my hair…and cuss. I just had it fucking cut a week ago! It was a perfect eighth of an inch…that always lasts me a month…before it gets to a quarter of an inch…then I get it cut again. My hair has never grown fast…actually, I’ve been told that it grows slow. So why is it now around half an inch? That’s almost two fucking months of growth in one week! That’s not even fucking talking about the color!

They better get this shit fixed at WG! This can’t be a normal reaction to the crap they’re making me use! I towel off and use the rest of the junk that I have to…the lotion and shit. I’m still not sure I believe they can really tell whether I’m actually using it…or not…but something tells me they truly can. So…in this case…better safe than sorry.

I quickly get dressed and drive over to the factory. Dad about shit a brick when I told him I had to come over here…rather than go to the lumberyard, this morning. Oh well…he’ll get over it. And school starts next week, anyway…so he just needs to fucking get used to it! I’m not his slave! I shake my head…I’m really irritable…and I don’t know why. I pop in another piece of gum…my last one…and chew furiously. It helps…a little.

I go into the building and navigate my way to Ginny’s lab. It’s a fucking maze around here…and I don’t have Ronni to show me the way…she’s not coming in until later. Finally…after several wrong turns and getting all turned around…I see her lab and hurry in. “Ginny! I don’t know what’s fucking up with this shit…but look at my hair!”

“Well…good morning to you, too, Jimmy. Settle down. Let me see….” She pulls me over into the light and combs through my hair…then shrugs. “It looks like it’s growing in…very healthy…and very much on the fast side. Are you following all directions?”

I want to bite her fucking head off! “Yes! Yes! I use your fu…ummm…products every time I shower…and after…like you said.”

She gives me a funny look. “Do you shower more than once a day?”

I shrug. “Sure! I get really dirty at the sawmill…then there’s football practice…. So…it’s not unusual to take two showers…or more…a day.”

She nods in thought. “OK. Let me take you over to see Joyce…and she can fix your hair color issue.”

I start to snap at her again and take a slow deep breath to calm myself. “Why is it doing this?”

“Well….” She shrugs. “The products are designed to promote healthy growth…and healthy hair grows faster.”

“But what about the fucking pink and purple?” I can’t stop myself this time.

She gives me a cross look. “Look, Jimmy. You need to settle down! Why are you being so…rude?”

I sigh and take another deep breath. “I…don’t know. I’m all…irritable. It’s gotten worse since Saturday night.”

“What happened Saturday night?” She starts steering me toward the door…to take me to Joyce, I presume.

“Beats me!” I shrug. “I mean…other than Ronni’s kisses going next level. Well…and she gave me some of her gum…I hope that’s OK. I don’t want to get her into any kind of trouble. I can pay for it…but it’s really good.”

Ginny stops in her tracks. “You’re chewing Ronni’s gum? How much have you had?”

“She gave me a small bag of it…maybe twenty pieces?” I shrug. “Like I said…I’ll pay you for it.”

She shakes her head and starts walking again. “No…don’t worry about that. It’s not a problem…. I was just…surprised that Ronni shared. I can get her more…. Here we are…M&M….” She leads me into this feminine Hell…that stinks of ammonia and other unpleasant chemicals. “Hi Joyce, this is Jimmy…we talked about an appointment for him. Oh…Jimmy. How are the eye drops working for you? Since you’re in here, anyway…Joyce can put in some special ones…that way, you won’t have to keep using the daily ones. Lissa signed off on them.”

I shake my head in confusion. “They sting…like crap. OK…I guess? But….”

She smiles and cuts me off. “Great! Joyce…you know the ones. I need to go speak to Lissa. Can you show Jimmy out when you’re done?”

Joyce nods. “Of course! Come along, Jimmy. We have work to do!”

Ginny’s gone before I know it…and I never got an answer as to why my hair is changing color in the first place.

Joyce is talking a mile a minute…chattering away about who knows what kind of fucking girly stuff.

I can’t keep up with what she’s saying, let alone get a word in edgewise!

* * * * *

Joyce

* * * * *

I smile as Ginny brings in the newest study participant. This time…it’s a “real” boy…or so I’m told. Time will tell…I’m not sure why a “real” boy would pick purple…well…magenta hair with bright pink highlights. I also understand that he’s going with green eyes. That’s fast becoming our most popular color among the participants. I know Lissa said he’s sort of shy about it…so not to make a big deal out of it.

I set to work…talking about all the important things in life…just to set his mind at ease. I put him in the chair and examine his roots. As expected, they’re magenta with pink highlights…just like Ginny promised. There’s not much way to match the highlights…as short as it is…the best thing will be just to trim that eighth of an inch of the muddy brown mess off the ends…and leave him with just his new color…. Lissa also told me to go ahead and “set” it. He’s so lucky! That’s an expensive…if still experimental…option. But it will give him the color he wants…permanently…without the need for the color changing products…. I don’t get how that works…but his hair will simply grow that way from now on…. I do hear it stings a bit to have it done. But we must all suffer for our beauty…it’s just the price of life!

I get to work…still talking about important things…like the newest hairstyles…and he needs one! We’ll have to work on that as it grows out. I pull out my clippers and put a guard on them that will result in just the very tips of his hair being removed…effectively “erasing” the original color. It just takes a couple of minutes and he looks much better already…the magenta and pink now clearly visible. I don’t have him in front of a mirror…I want the final effect to be a surprise.

I take him to the sink and wash his hair with the setting shampoo…and count to ten.

“Fucking shit! What is this? This…. Ow…Ow…Ow…! Fire ants in my scalp! Fire ants in my scalp!” He starts jumping around and screaming at the top of his lungs.

I was expecting it…after doing it to Samantha, the first time.

After the prescribed time, I rinse it off and put in the cream rinse.

At first…he settles down, after I rinse out the setting shampoo…then he starts up again, when the cream rinse takes effect. “Fucking shit!” He pretty much repeats the whole thing.

“Oh! Come on! Be a man! Even Samantha didn’t complain…this much!” I wash out the cream rinse after the prescribed time and smile. His color…is permanently “set.” Then, I pick up the bottle and make sure I have the one for green eyes. “Now…just the drops.” I quickly add three drops in each eye…and count to ten.

“Fucking shit!” He comes out of the chair…tears streaming from his eyes and down his face. He obviously can’t see…because he runs straight into the wall. “Fucking shit!”

* * * * *

Rhonda

* * * * *

I hear Jimmy loudly cussing well before I enter Joyce’s area of M&M. I shake my head. I have no idea what they’re doing to him…but he doesn’t like it. I thought they were just going to fix his hair. I walk in and see him sitting flat on the floor…holding his head…full of short purple and pink hair…with tears streaming down his face.

“Jimmy! Are you OK, Hon? Stop jumping around…and stop cussing!” Joyce is clearly not happy with him.

I sigh. “What’s going on? Jimmie? Are you OK?”

He shakes his head and groans. “She fucking tried to kill me with her potions! I can’t see! What did you do to me?”

Joyce shakes her head. “You’ll be fine. Just sit out here in this break area…and don’t move. It won’t take me long to cut Ronni’s hair…then the two of you can go to lunch…or something.”

I know he likes my gum…so I hand him a piece. “Here, Hon. Chew on this while you wait for your vision to clear up.” After we get him seated in a chair and are back in the salon area…I give Joyce a frustrated look. “What did you do to him?”

She shrugs. “Well…right before he jumped out of the chair…and into the wall…I put in the eyedrops that Lissa ordered.”

I wince. “You’re changing the color of his eyes? To what…and why?”

She gestures toward her chair and has me sit and puts the cape on me. When she finally answers, it completely surprises me. “Well…they’re going to be green…and it’s what he wants. Like his hair…he wants it magenta…with pink highlights. I’m not sure why he wants that…but Lissa did say he was sensitive about it…and not to really talk about it.” She hands me a cup of coffee and shrugs.

I sigh. I should have known…Lissa.

She quickly cuts my hair…barely trimming it. I’m not sure why she even bothers. Then she takes me over to the sink to wash it.

I put my empty coffee cup down and lean back into the sink.

She lathers it up and waits a little longer than usual before rinsing it out.

All of a sudden…it’s like I have fire ants crawling in my scalp! “Mother Fucker! What is this?” I never curse…but this is excruciating…and Jimmy may be rubbing off on me.

When she rinses it off…it gets a little better…. “You’re as bad as Jimmy, today! What’s up with you kids?” She shakes her head and puts in the conditioner.

“Mother fucking shit! Are you shitting me? Joyce! What are you doing to me? This is almost as bad as when you…melted my eyes out…. You’ve done it again…haven’t you? It’s permanent…the black…? But…I like my auburn….”

She shakes her head. “Nonsense, Hon! If you’re going to be a Goth…it needs to be black…or maybe bright red…. Anyway…to make up for the pain…you get to have Brea refresh your makeup!”

I groan. My scalp is…really sensitive…but at least not crawling with biting, stinging insects…after she rinses it out.

I give her a dark look…befitting a true Goth…and go to see Brea for my weekly makeup refresh. I give her a suspicious look. “This is some ‘special’ makeup, right?”

She gives me a funny look. “Special? No…the normal weekly stuff. I’m going to make a few slight tweaks…at Lissa’s request. I assume you’re OK with it? It’s your face…after all.”

I shrug…there’s no sense fighting it.

She quickly gets to work…and doesn’t take long. When she’s done, my makeup is even heavier and darker than before…striking an even harsher contrast with my ivory white skin. At least this isn’t permanent. I can always bleach my hair….

I thank Brea. It’s not her fault that she has to do what Lissa wants…at least she’s…embarrassed by it. Not like Joyce…or Dharma.

I go out to the break area to find Jimmy.

He’s still sitting there where I left him. His eyes are still a little red…but not streaming huge waterfalls of tears, anymore.

I know how he feels…been there…done that. I grab his hand and pull him out of the chair. “Come on, Hon. Let’s get out of here. We can pick up some burgers and eat them in my studio.”

Ginny stops us on the way out. “Here, Ronni.” She hands me a bag. “This will replenish your gum supply.” Then she hands Jimmy a bag. “And here’s some of your own…so you don’t have to steal Ronni’s. It’s the same stuff…so it’s OK to share.” She winks and giggles.

We thank her and leave.

Jimmy gets into his car, which is parked right next to mine, and sees himself in the rearview mirror. “Fucking shit! Look at my hair! I’m going to kill them!”

I do my best to calm him down. “We’ll talk about it at my place. There’s no sense fighting it…trust me on that! Please…just stop and get us some burgers on the way. I’m…not feeling too great…I need to get home.” I quickly get in my car and hurry home. I feel a little like I’m getting a fever…I’m really hot.

Jimmy comes up to my studio a few minutes after I get home, since he had to stop to pick up our lunch. He puts the bags on the table…still cussing about his hair.

I don’t respond…I feel like I’m bursting into flames, and I scream out in pain. “Mother fucking shit! I’m going to kill her!”

I somehow know my pale skin is no longer temporary. I just don’t know how they did it.

* * * * *

Melissa

* * * * *

I watch the feed from the Smoker’s Corner. This is getting out of hand! Julia wanting to quit…driving Claire to go along. Samantha not starting. The next thing you know…it will spread. I’ve not worked this hard to keep everyone stoked on smoking to have it all come tumbling down now. The Smoker’s Corner is my best source of information…and gossip…which can be equally as valuable. If there’s no reason to go out there…then I’ll have to cultivate something new. And that will take time. No…it’s better to nip this in the bud…after all…nicotine habits are notoriously hard to break.

Since it seems that Samantha did get “addicted”—or so the record will show…I’ll reinforce and augment that “addiction” with the same regimen that Ronni is on. She chews gum all the time anyway…so providing her with the nicotine-laden variety will go unnoticed. The new lipstick will work out, too…especially to get back at those Ansels.

As for Julia and Claire…I’ll have to work on something more permanent than the trial hand cream they have been using at their desks the past few days. It has to be innocuous…but nicotine-laden to fuel their addiction…. It has to feed the addiction and maintain it…but ebb enough at periods to drive them outside to smoke. The trial creams…very similar to the hand cream…that we provided some of the girls in marketing…including Claire…worked fairly well. Enough so that Claire became a “social” smoker…as she puts it…and the hand cream has been augmenting that. Maybe we just need to build on that model…. I just don’t want to keep relying on “trial” products. Maybe we could spike the soap in the restroom…. That would keep all of them addicted!

I actually jump at the knock on my door. Ginny comes in with a funny look on her face. “You’ll never guess what has happened. I hope you don’t mind…I ran with it…but I can easily go another way if you don’t like it.”

I tap my fingernail on my desk in frustration. “Well? What is it, woman?”

She blushes…and giggles. “Jimmy Rollings has gotten himself hooked on Ronni’s gum!”

I do a double take. “Say what, now?” This is certainly unexpected…and so full of potential. “OK…give me a rundown of exactly what is currently in Ronni’s gum…then we can decide whether to tweak it, or not.”

She lists out the active ingredients, including the aphrodisiacs to “hook” her on Jimmy; the pheromones to “hook” him on her; and the nicotine to keep her hooked on the gum.

She then outlines the implications. “The aphrodisiacs and pheromones won’t really work on him…they’re designed to work on someone with high levels of estrogen. The natural anti-androgens in the products he’s using should be taking effect by now…and the pseudo estrogens will be making him feel a little funny until he adapts. But he has no source of real estrogen…so we don’t have to worry about that.”

I smile and tap my fingernail some more. If the products are taking hold…like she says…he’ll start losing his body hair soon. I can’t wait for that! Ronni has been griping about having to bed a man…not that I can really blame her…on that point. Since Jimmy has signed the WunderBoyversion of the contract…I can’t really do anything to fully feminize him…at least not forcefully…. I’m OK with pushing the limits of the contract…but outright feminization is likely pushing them too far. That doesn’t mean, however, that making him androgynous…and effeminate…is out of the question.

I muse out loud. “So…what if we add estrogen to the gum. That won’t matter to Ronni…if they keep sharing…. Since he’s already gone through puberty…he’s started developing…and the anti-androgens in the product will prevent him from further developing…and we can move him toward being effeminately androgynous. We just need to get him some estrogen…would it be enough to add it to the gum? And his voice is not really that deep…but how is that extract that tightens the vocal cords coming along? The last results I heard were very Minnie Mouse-ish.”

Ginny looks confused. “Oh! I figured you were just happy to have him hooked on nicotine…you know…to get him in the Smoker’s Cornerwith the rest…. If you actually want to achieve results like that…we could just add estrogen to his day and night cream…maybe his body lotion…it just depends on how far you want to go with it. I can certainly add some to the gum…it wouldn’t hurt…it actually helps with the other extract…to prevent the squeaky voice, it seems. We just stumbled on that knowledge. It wouldn’t really do anything to Ronni’s voice…maybe make it a slight bit higher…not anything really noticeable. It could raise Jimmy’s by an octave…maybe two…but without the squeak.”

I nod. “Add it to all three products…and the gum…not enough to fully feminize his body…just enough to make people really question…what he is…with a very strong push toward assuming he is a ‘she.’ I want people addressing him as ‘Miss!’ That will make him the perfect ‘starter’ subject for the WunderBoy campaign…then we can expand it to more…manly…subjects…to broaden the appeal, once our overtly girly-man opens the door.” I need to throw her off the real scent of what I’m doing.

She smiles. “Oh! I like where you’re going with this! I assume we’re keeping this on the down-low…like the other?”

“Yes.” I nod. “We can do little things to ‘help’ M&M…they don’t have to know. But…I do need to talk to you about maintaining our…information…to keep up that…‘help.’ It seems that Julia and Claire are thinking about quitting smoking…you know what that means…. Also…Samantha now has herself addicted…so I think she can safely go on whatever you come up with…maybe the gum, too…if that won’t interfere with the desire to smoke…or vape. I don’t really care. But…since she is addicted…I think it’s time to put her on the special lipstick, too. I want Gerome to really love her kisses!” I wink conspiratorially…just to keep throwing her off the trail.

She nods thoughtfully. “I don’t think that the gum will work then…it will be too much of a crutch…. I think I can do some things with the basic products…and makeup…let me work on that…after I tweak the gum formulation. I can have a batch ready for Ronni and Jimmy in a couple of hours.” She pauses a moment.

Then she grins. “Oh…speaking of Ronni. I’m sure she’s going to be pissed when she feels the effects of that latest ‘setting’ product. I created an extract and Joyce is going to add it to her coffee. It will take an hour or so for her to feel the effect…but it will set her skin color…and whatever long-term makeup she’s wearing. I still can’t believe she wants that…but…like you said…it’s better she doesn’t know when the setting is going to happen. The anticipation is much worse than the feeling…. Or so I assume. Based on the reports from the test subjects…. Even so…I don’t think I want to experience it!”

I grin. Ronni will be a permanent Goth…the fact that she went through the initial stages “voluntarily” proved she was capable of doing what it takes. Making it permanent will cement her fealty to me…along with some safeguards. I will hand her an effeminately androgynous “Jimmi” as her reward. “I’m sure she will come in later this afternoon to gripe about the pain…and pretend that she didn’t want it…as a way to ‘blame’ us. Don’t let her fool you…she begged me to do it. Just make sure they both get the new gum today…and whatever Jimmi needs to complete the effect. Then get to work on making sure that my girls keep going outside for their frequent breaks…to gossip! We need to keep up our sources! I’m thinking maybe the soap in the M&M restroom?”

* * * * *

Ginny

* * * * *

I leave Lissa’s office slightly confused. I mean…I get her wanting to maintain her “information” sources to help out the company. I was initially concerned about…encouraging…smoking…but I get the long-term benefits to the company. And no one is forcing them to smoke…so the ethics are grey…but I can live with them…at least for the adults. Ronni and especially Samantha are a little more concerning…but they’re still doing it voluntarily…over all…so…I’ll go along with Lissa’s wishes. She does know what’s best for the company. Putting the special nicotine compound in the soap is actually genius….but not everyone that uses that restroom is already addicted…and…well…it’s possible that other minors might use it. I have another thought to try, first.

I focus on people actually wanting this. Like the whole idea of Ronni wanting this whole “Goth” thing…. I get why she wants to keep her motives in the closet…and “conveniently” blame Lissa…or WG…like any of us are forcing her to do what she wants…. If it makes her feel better about herself…. Well, then…who am I to not help her out?

But this thing with Jimmy seems odd…. I shrug. Lissa knows what she’s doing. I just need to trust in her instincts.

I first set about tweaking the formulation for the gum…. It will have to set up…and will take the longest to prepare. I mix up a new batch of additives…using the “normal” formula…but adding in a strong dose of oral estrogen. I also add the new extract to tighten the users’ vocal cords. It’s a side effect of another substance that we just happened upon…and actually works best in conjunction with estrogen. Without it, the user sounds like they’re on helium…kind of like Minnie Mouse. This mixture will certainly have a profound effect on Jimmy. He’ll have much the same reaction…and needs as Ronni…. Although…it should be interesting to see how it impacts the effectiveness of the pheromones. I’m pretty sure that Ronni is very much “bi”…and maybe firmly on the lesbian side of that. So…Jimmy having the pheromones may actually increase his allure to her. It should be interesting to see. How it will affect Jimmy, himself, will also be very interesting.

I then melt down the gum base and start kneading it. Once I have a nice taffy-like texture, I add the “ingredients” and run it through my special press and cut it into little pieces. I store this…unwrapped…in several bags and put them by side. There is plenty enough to last Jimmy and Ronni a few weeks…each…even at a high rate of consumption.

After that is done, I start reformulating the day and night creams. I can use the “base” reformulation for Jimmy and the girls. I add some time-release pellets that will provide a strong dose of nicotine that will come in roughly two-hour waves…but somewhat at random…to prevent the user from catching onto any set pattern or frequency. There should be sufficient pellets in each application to last about twelve hours…and keep the nicotine addiction alive. Then at roughly hourly waves…it will also release a much smaller dose of nicotine…which will trigger a craving for the “full” stronger dose…that will require a “supplement”…like a cigarette. The last time we did something similar…it resulted in a lot of “occasional” smokers…like Claire. I think I’ve perfected the timing…and randomness…of the releases now to ensure a much stronger…need…to “feed” the addiction. The trial hand cream I gave Clair and Jules supports that. This base cream will work fine for the girls. I may even create a body wash version…later…to supplement it. I could use the same basic formulation for the soap dispensers in the M&M restroom, if it comes to that.

For Jimmy, I then add time-released estrogen…on top of the nicotine. I shake my head. These products were never designed for males…and for Lissa to not want him “fully” feminized…is going to be a challenge with the added real estrogen. The pseudo-estrogens that drive the “tingle” don’t have any effect on developing female body characteristics…and won’t be an issue in any true male campaign. The anti-androgens will be the bigger issue. Maybe I need to micro-dose some testosterone in his body lotion. Even females have small levels of testosterone…but…even with that…long-term use will result in atrophied testicles…which could become permanent.

And he’s going to need some help…performing. The fact that his little guy is going to shrink is inevitable…but it will hopefully maintain…functionality…with some help. I think about that and smile. I can modify the lipstick-lip gloss combo. Have a “male” and “female” version. The nicotine part can be the same for both…but there can be a fast-acting…but inactivated…libido-enhancer for woman in the “female” lipstick…and an inactivated male enhancer in the “male” one…. The corresponding activating agent is in the other’s gloss…that is the male activator in the female gloss and vice versa. Then…each gets activated when they kiss…and voila! The only issue would be if they ever got the gloss mixed up…although…I suppose there could be times when “self-activation” is desired, too. I giggle and blush at my own thoughts.

I suppose Jimmie will also need to stock up on bras with prolonged use, too…. It’s doubtful that he will develop huge breasts, but you never know how he will react—it will depend greatly on his genetics. He will most certainly develop large sensitive nipples…and likely enlarged areolae. I suppose that’s a win for Ronni, though.

I quickly get to work and make the lipsticks…and then the corresponding glosses. I make Ronni’s lipstick basically the same as her existing…only with the added enhancer…her basic color is unchanged. When she uses this…together with her gum…she’s likely to explode with passion!

Then, I start working on Jimmy’s. Lissa had wanted me to make him a special nicotine version, anyway…one that has a colorless lipstick…that turns just a little more magenta with each application of the gloss…and works like a weekly cosmetic, in terms of color-retention. In other words…his lips will get more and more magenta with each gloss application…. The need for the application will be driven by his need for the nicotine…and will stay that way. It will take a few days for the color change to be strong enough to really be visible…to give him time to…adjust to the nicotine needs…then…by the end of a couple of weeks…his lips will be fully colored…and could be “set” that way…if desired. Now…it will also help him…perform, when the other products fully kick in.

I grin…and go to fill Lissa in, over a late lunch.

She’s really pleased and promises me a bonus for my ingenuity.

I smile and return to my lab…to find a very angry Ronni waiting for me. “What the fucking Hell, Ginny! What have you done to me? What was that…human torch…event that I just went through? I know you have something to do with it!”

I sigh. “I think you know…it set your skin tone. I know you’re sensitive about wanting to be a Goth…but don’t blame me for your desires. Besides…it’s you, now…. You don’t have to worry about it, anymore. You’re…paleness…and makeup are permanent.”

I think she actually pales even more.

I didn’t think that was possible!

“You mean…the makeup…too? I…I…I…” She starts crying.

I assume they are tears of joy…although…I know she won’t admit it.

I take a deep breath and hand her the bags of gum. “You can split this with Jimmy…it’s all the same…just one bag is grape-flavored…and the other is berry.”

She quietly takes the bags.

“I assume you have your lipstick and gloss in your purse? If so, please give them to me.”

She nods…and pulls them out…and hands them to me…still crying.

I hand her the new formulation. “Put on a fresh coat of lipstick…right now, please.”

She takes a deep breath…and does as I command her…. She seems sort of…deflated…resigned. Her initial bravado completely gone.

“You can go ahead and use your gloss…as normal. Just use that lipstick…once a day…as before.” I then hand her a bag with Jimmy’s new products. “These are for Jimmy. Please give them to him. He needs to start using this day and night cream…and body lotion…immediately. He needs to stop using the old…feel free to use it yourself. There’s nothing wrong with it…we just needed to make a tweak for Jimmy…as a Wunder* * * * *

Boy

* * * * *. It’s important…I trust that you’ll make this happen. Lissa said I could trust you…that she does.” Lissa told me to say it exactly that way.

She hesitantly takes the bag from me…but wordlessly nods as she bites her lower lip.

“One more thing…. There’s a lipstick-gloss combo in there for Jimmy…it’s specific to him. Lissa wants you to get him to use it. The lipstick is colorless…as is the gloss…so it’s no big deal. Lissa said something about it being a test. I’m not sure…of what.”

Her purple eyes get a little fire in them…. “Yes…Lissa and I will need to talk…. I’m sure she ‘asked’ you to do what you did you did to me…and you were ‘just following orders.’ Like I’m about to with Jimmy…but that doesn’t make it right, Ginny. Just remember that you work here, too. Trust her at your own risk.” She then turns her back on me and leaves without another word…or waiting for a response.

I sigh. That’s the gratitude I get for doing her a favor? Oh well…Lissa did warn me!

I shrug and put my idea into motion to solve Lissa’a other problem. I get the pots of special cream and take them to M&M, where I give them to Greta…to “award” Julia and Claire. I let Greta know that they were “chosen in a random drawing” and will be provided with an ongoing supply for their hard work for the company…I don’t mention for how long. I also make sure that she knows to impress on them that they should start using the product right way…since it’s a special formulation and has a “quick expiration date.” She needs to explain that if they don’t start using it right away that it will expire…and it would be a complete shame to waste the award…not to mention rude.

I smile to myself on the way back to my lab…those two should be back to fully participating in the gossip by tomorrow afternoon. I have complete confidence that Greta will get them to use the product…and that it will do its job to drive them outside to feed their addiction. For Claire…it will most certainly be a total net-increase in her habit. She certainly won’t be “occasional” anymore, but I think the hand cream likely has her there, anyway. Jules certainly won’t be quitting…if anything, she will also be increasing her habit.

Once I’m back in my lab, I prepare for Samantha to come see me…Lissa notified her to. She needs to get on her new products, right away…starting with the lipstick-gloss and the gum. That will keep her addiction alive…it will be up to her to smoke…or not…while she’s in school. The lipstick-gloss combo and the gum will keep her addiction alive…and should be enough to adequately feed her monster…without the need for additional supplements…as long as she doesn’t use them…or otherwise want them. I’m not sure what her current “actual” smoking status really is…. But it is in our control to change that at any moment…if we choose to do so…like when she’s here at work.