They went out of the club and walked the short distance to her apartment—a giggling couple sauntering drunkenly through the city streets. Her apartment complex was a prestigious building, with a well-maintained garden and a doorman who gave Kai a knowing nod and a smile as he escorted Cathy to the elevator.
As the doors closed, Kai tried to concentrate again, thinking about what he could do next. She was leading him to her apartment, which could mean only one thing—if she let him in… but what if she left him at the door? What if she thanked him for his help and sent him off on his merry way? He had to come up with something, an excuse to get into her house, stay there for a while, and push things toward their natural conclusion.
Her slender arms coiled tightly around him, her breasts pressing against him, her golden head resting on his shoulder. He felt the warmth of her body, the softness of her skin, and his brain melted. How was a man supposed to think in a situation like that?
The elevator dinged, and they got off, heading down the corridor to her apartment. "It's getting pretty late," she fiddled with her keys as they reached the door. "Have somewhere you gotta be?"
"Ah…" he choked, then shook his head.
"Then," she unlocked the door and opened it wide, "would you like to come in?"
Kai could have burst into tears of joy just then. Beautiful people had it so easy. "Yeah, sure." He followed her in and closed the door behind him.
Her apartment was something out of a designer catalog: pristine and balanced, black and white, all perfect sharp angles, without a line out of place.
"Over here," she gestured to a short set of stairs in the lounge, and he followed her up into the bedroom: large, with a double bed in the middle, a window wall—its curtains closed—at one end, and a single door leading to a bathroom at the side.
She plopped herself on the bouncy bed. "God, I'm sweating like crazy," she started taking her top off, but struggled as it covered her head.
Kai was stunned, staring at the black lace bra cupping her breasts.
"Are you staring at my boobs?"
"No."
She chuckled. "Well, can you continue 'not' staring after you help take my shirt off?"
"Right, sorry," he grabbed her shirt and pulled it off her.
"Yah!" she yelped and fell onto the bed, lying on her back. She caught his gaze as his lustful eyes glazed over her and smiled. "Now shoes," she dangled her legs off the side of the bed.
Kai knelt down, gently taking her right foot in his hands, his shaking fingers working at the buckle of her heels.
"Be careful with them; they are my favorite pair."
He took one off, revealing cute little toes with red-painted nails. "Now the other one," she said, folding her other leg up and over the bed, forcing him to shuffle closer and lean forward to work its buckle. As his nervous fingers went to work, her bare right foot reached under his shirt, toes curling to grab the hem, lifting.
"You must be sweating too," she said as he took off the other shoe, and her left foot joined the right. He helped her, taking off his own shirt and letting it fall to the floor.
He met her gaze as her lustful eyes glazed over him. Then, without a word, she undid the button of her shorts and began to wiggle them down her legs. Kai's heart pounded as they descended toward him, and—as they got caught on her foot—he reached forward to help.
Not noticing his movements, Cathy shook her leg into a forceful kick, launching the shorts off her and smacking Kai straight in the face.
"Ah!"
"Oop!" She sat up in her bed, then covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. "Sorry, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said with a nervous chuckle, letting out some of the tension building inside him, and looked at her. The black lace underwear complemented her light skin beautifully, and her blonde hair flowed over her shoulder, loose strands covering her face and giving her a wild look.
"Good," she smiled at him.
She was a goddess, and tonight, she would be his. He smiled back.
The goddess frowned. "Oop! You're bleeding."
"Huh?" He looked down but could see nothing, then tasted iron and touched his face. His nose—his nose was bleeding.
"Didn't realize I kicked you that hard."
"Ah, I'm fine, it's fine, ah…" He wiped the blood with his palm, but it kept flowing, and there seemed to be no end to it.
"You can wash up in there," she gestured to the bathroom door.
"Right, thanks, sorry, ah…" he rushed in.
***
"Are you okay in there?" she asked after about a minute.
"Ye-yeah, just need a moment," he washed his nose and upper lip again, hoping the bleeding would stop soon. Get yourself together, man! He breathed in.
This is a sign. A little voice in his head urged. You should go. Say you are not feeling well and leave—leave now! Before it's too late!
He took a piece of toilet paper, rolled it up, and stuck it in his nose. No way! He responded to the voice. This is my chance, maybe my only chance, to fulfill my purpose as a man, to taste a piece of heaven. I'm not going to lose it!
He slapped himself in the face, looked in the mirror, and furrowed his brows. Now… I'm going to go out there and have sex with that woman.
No!
Yes!
You don't understand—
I do understand!
But—
"Well, hurry up, or I might have to start without you," Cathy chuckled.
He blushed, then took another deep breath, dug the toilet paper out of his nose, and waited a few seconds to verify that the leak was clogged before stepping out into the bedroom.
She waited for him, on her knees, on her bed, beckoning him over with a naughty smile. He approached, close enough to smell the alcohol on her breath, and she hooked her fingers through his belt, drawing him even closer. She started unbuckling his pants and bent over as she lowered them down to his ankles, stopping right as her head reached his crotch. Her fingers clawed into his hips, and she looked up at him with her big, beautiful blue eyes.
He shoved off his shoes and let his pants drop completely off, his heart racing.
This is it! This is what life is all about!
She started pulling his underwear down, then suddenly reeled back, one hand shooting to cover her mouth, her blue eyes opening wide.
He froze in terror.
Something happened.
Or... something was happening.
What did I do?
I didn't do anything.
Do I smell, maybe? Did my musk make her sick?
Did the magic not affect my scent?
"Cathy?"
She lunged off the bed, heading into the bathroom, and he caught a glimpse of her butt-cheeks bouncing with her quick steps before she disappeared behind the door.
"Ca…thy?" he asked again hesitantly, still not daring to move, then finally winced as he heard it.
BUULAAGGH! Followed by a gross splashing.
Damn it! He face-palmed. She was vomiting. Of course, she was vomiting. She must have drunk too much. "Cathy, are you—"
"I'm good… I'm—" BUULAAGGGH!
No! He slumped into the bed, tearing his hair out. I was close, so close… it can't end like this, not like this! But what can I do? There's no way we're gonna do it now… is there? Maybe if I stick around long enough, until she recovers?
Leave! The little voice urged. Leave now, before it is too late!
"Shut up!" He slapped his head, trying to get the voice out.
"What?" Cathy's strained voice came, muffled, from behind the door.
"Ah… Nothing, just, ah… Cheer up! I said, 'Cheer up!'"
"Listen," she sighed and cracked the bathroom door open. He jumped to his feet, then frowned as he saw her disheveled state: her wild hair now too messy to actually be sexy or appealing, and the luster in her eyes gone, replaced by a dark, brooding glumness. "I'm sorry to be a party-pooper, but I'm not feeling so hot right now," she sighed. "I didn't even drink that much… it might be something I ate." She didn't meet his gaze. "Either way, it might be better if you…"
No… his heart stopped.
"Leave."
Yes. The little voice returned. Yes, leave, leave now!
No! He clenched his fist. I've been waiting for this moment my entire life. I'm not going to let it slip through my fingers!
"I, ah… It would be wrong for me to leave you like this…" he said, sweat dripping down his brow.
"That's sweet," she gave him a light smile. "But you don't have to—" she tilted her head then, narrowing her eyes at him. "You still wanna do it, don't you?"
"N-no, I just… I mean… Only if you feel like it—but it's not like I am pushing you or anything if you don't—Ah…"
She chuckled. "You just heard me hurl up dinner, lunch, and breakfast, and you are so desperate, you still wanna have a go at it?"
Desperate.
Desperate.
The word echoed through his mind. Even if he had a chance before, he just squandered it by babbling like an idiot.
"Nah…" he gave a nervous chuckle, "I'm just…" there was no point. A more charismatic man might have been able to fix the situation, say the perfect thing, or, more likely, not get into the situation to begin with. But he wasn't that man. For an idiot like him, there was only one way forward.
"Look, you can laugh at me if you want," he scratched his head. "But it has been a long time since I've… been with someone. So, yeah, I'm a little bit desperate—what's so wrong about that?" He wasn't lying; it had been a long time since he had been with someone—if by a 'long time' he meant his entire life.
"Alright," Cathy smirked. "Just give me some time to freshen up, yah?" She closed the door.
"Ah…" he blinked. "Yeah, sure." Did he hear that right?
He slumped back down on the bed. Yes, he heard it right.
It worked… It worked! I am back in it! I could still do it! He let out a sigh of relief. She really was a goddess, and she would take him to paradise, be his ticket to heaven—to a better, more fulfilled life.
He smiled, the tension he held down in his stomach turning into giddy excitement. He, Kai Holloway, was finally about to have sex with a beautiful woman.
Oh, no. The little voice whined.
Oh, yes! He returned triumphantly.
The giddiness was rolling and rising within him, threatening to burst.
It's already too late.
Huh? He lifted an eyebrow, then felt it.
GRRRR!
His stomach—the giddiness—it was more than just an emotion. Something was happening. Was he going to puke as well? No, that wasn't it… it was something else, something—
He felt the sensation spread through his body, like goosebumps spreading over his skin. Then a numbness overtook his fingers, and he looked down. They seemed normal enough, except—
POP!
"No…"
POP! POP! POP!
"No, no, no!"
"Kai?" Cathy called from the bathroom.
"I'm fine, sorry, take your—"
POP!
"Dammit! Ah… take your time, Cathy, as long as you need!"
"Oh… kay…"
He looked at his hand again… The fat… The fat was returning to his fingers.
"Vira," he hissed under his breath.
PLUMP!
He looked down. His six-pack was starting to go out—
PLUMP!
Two at a time.
PLUMP!
"Vira."
Leave. The little voice urged. Leave now!
"Dammit."
She was doing it on purpose, he thought. Undoing the spell to force me out, to prevent me from getting laid… Vira was cock-blocking me!
"Dammit."
PYOON! PYOON!
His pecs sagged back to a pair of man-tits.
"Damn it all."
He scrambled for his pants—
WUMP!
One of his thighs expanded. "Seriously?!" He pulled the pants hard, barely getting them over the hump.
WUMP!
But there was no way to button them over his girth. "To hell with it!" He buckled the belt at the second-to-last hole. It held, at least for now; it was a small victory, and it was quickly overshadowed by the sound of Cathy flushing the toilet. What if she was finished? What if she stepped out and saw him—like this?
He had to hurry.
BOOMF! BOOMF!
His arm muscles went slack and soft as he stretched himself into his shirt. He was going to bail then, except—his shoes!
He heard the running water of the sink and knew he didn't have long.
He found one easily enough and shoved his foot in, but the other—where the hell was the other?
The doorknob turned.
No more time—he bolted, running over the bed, leaping out the bedroom door, and rolling right into… the stairs. He forgot about the stairs.
"Kai?" Cathy looked around her empty bedroom, puzzled, then heard something falling and bumping down the stairs. Did he go to get some water?
She headed to her bedroom door and looked down.
Kai, battered and bruised, pushed himself up. He had to get out of there before she saw him, before—
"Kai?" he heard her say for the second time and felt his blood run cold. She sounded closer than before, close enough to see… He turned slowly and met her eyes.