Chinstrap (Patreon)

The woman that opened the door and let her into her apartment looked nothing like what Abigail had expected. She was about the same age as her, fit and healthy, pitch black hair, and wearing comfortable home clothes. Without waiting while Agigail removed her coat and shoes the woman walked out of sight into the apartment. "You're disappointed. You were expecting an old lady with a black cat?" she asked from a room away.

"No. Yes, maybe. I don't know what I expected," Abigail answered, trying to figure out in what direction to walk. The woman appeared again in front of her. "His name is Steven," she said and held up a docile black cat. Abigail not really liking cats gave it a perfunctory pat. "This way," the woman said and led the way to a room that looked perfect as a cigar room at a men's club. Two large armchairs with a small round table and a bar trolly in between them at the center of the room, otherwise decorated in dark green and brass. The walls were filled with shelves containing books, boxes, and trinkets.

"Sit, please. You told me in the email this was about a boy problem."

"Well," Abigail started, uncomfortably, "he made me... I..."

"Don't bog yourself in details. I don't need details, you don't want to relive the past. Pastis?"

"Relive pastis?" Abigail asked confused. The woman grabbed a bottle from the trolly with a big "Pastis aperitif anise" label. "Oh, no. Thank you. I'm driving."

She put the bottle back. "Just tell me what you want for him."

"I just don't want him to hurt anyone else as he hurt me, but you said that wasn't possible didn't you?"

"You can't change who people are, fundamentally. Everyone has a role to play. If you try to change too much somewhere, something else gives somewhere else. There is the occasional pawn that turns into a queen, but otherwise the best we can do is to move the pieces around to where they make the best contribution. Or the least damage anyway." She grabbed the pastis again and poured a shot each in two glasses. "Or you can remove them from the board."

"No! No, I don't want that. I did think a bit about what you wrote in your response. What if he can be the cautionary tale? That guy you date to discover everything that's wrong with guys. I think my problem was that I didn't see it coming."

The woman slid one of the shot glasses over to Abigail's side of the round table. "How do you mean?"

Abigail struggled to get a folded piece of paper out of her jeans pocket, then placed it on the table. She hesitated for a second before she emptied the glass of pastis next to her. The woman unfolded the paper and made a giggling snort. "I am 100% on board."

Matt couldn't peel his eyes off her body as she pulled off the tight, white shirt. He liked how the light color made her tan stand out, how her tits jiggled as the sports bra lost its friction grip on the shirt, and how her long blond hair fell out in a cascade over her body as she finally pulled it over her head. She was only wearing the pink bra and matching panties now. She held out the arm holding her shirt straight out to the side and demonstrably dropped it on the floor near the rest of her clothes while looking straight at Matt. His gaze locked with hers, though he desperately wanted to keep undressing the remaining few items with his sight. He had heard someone say that if a girl's underwear matched she was the one who had decided to have sex that night. Her bra and panties did match, but he was too excited by what he saw to draw any conclusion from the quote.

Slowly she walked towards him where he was lying on his bed, propped up by a big pillow his ex had left him with. She was clearly putting on a show for him as she climbed onto him and the bed, straddling him. As he looked up on her he could see himself in the ceiling mirror reflection. Of course she had decided to have sex with him. White socks, blue, straight jeans, black Ed Hardy T-shirt, chinstrap beard, sparkling ear piercing, and the cap on his head at just the right angle. No shit her panties matched. How could you not decide to get to bed with him?

She leaned forward into the reflection and put her pink, lipglossed lips on his and started to kiss him. The first few kisses were tentative, but the next one was almost forceful, ending in an almost slurping sound. Before he could inhale she threw herself on him again, kissing him harder than before. Her blonde hair enveloped him on all sides and he started to squirm to get free. He could feel his lungs burn and darkness creeping in into the edges of his vision as his consciousness was fading.

With a sharp, inhaling sound Matt sat up in his bed and looked around confused, heart racing. He fell back into his pillow and stared at the white ceiling. It had felt so real, but clearly some of the details were wrong. There was no bombshell girl in the room for one, but it had all felt so real. He tossed a bit, trying to calm down, but he knew there wouldn't be any more sleeping after that dream/nightmare, and he needed to piss.

He got up and walked into the bathroom. Looking back from the mirror was a man that didn't look as he expected. Something was off. He touched his smooth earlobe where the clear stud had been in the dream, but now there wasn't even pierced hole. He scratched his chinstrap beard and looked at the reflection of the rest of his body. Had he always been that skinny? And his hair was too long, wasn't it? Fuck, that dream had really rattled him. He badly needed a smoke.

Having finished his business in the bathroom he found himself standing half naked in the middle of the bedroom, completely lost. Where did he keep his cigarettes? Or lighter for that matter? It was like that part of his brain had been wiped out. And everywhere he looked in the apartment he just saw appalling shit he knew that he had bought, but couldn't for the life of him understand why. Chinos and shirts and nerdy shit. He needed to get out of there, have a walk to try to collect his thoughts. Maybe buy a pack of cigarettes somewhere. The clock showed 4:11, but there was a 24/7 convenience store a mile away.

He found socks and jeans, but only ugly shirts until he reached the bottom of the pile and pulled out a completely white T-shirt. Better than the rest, but just like the rest of the clothes it felt like a size too large. He would need to do some serious shopping. He was just about the leave when he remembered his hair. He would need a haircut today too, and a piercing.

He grabbed a promotional snap back from the rack just next to the door, made a mental note to add a proper Chicago Bulls cap on the shopping list, and put it on just as he had seen in the dream. Brim 3/4 to the back.