This is a story for the Valentine's Day contest. I would really appreciate if you would vote at the end of the story. Thank you and enjoy!
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"I am not going to do that!" Jenny Marshall declared, drawing a number of curious stares from people sitting at nearby tables.
"Well you said you were desperate," her friend Hannah Randall said from across the table. "Besides it worked for me."
"I am not going to your herbalist to ask for a love potion," Jenny said in a lowered voice. "Anyways Mike was always crazy about you."
"Well the potion just gave him the extra push he needed to ask me out. Look how well it worked," Hannah said, patting her small baby bump. "Besides all you have to do is wear it like perfume."
"I can't believe we're even talking about this," Jenny muttered.
When did a simple conversation of her love life turn into crazy talk about love potions? Oh yeah she remembered now, it was when she complained for the hundredth time of how the man she was in love with, Conner Pierce, was like a faucet. His emotions would run hot and cold about her, one minute if was as if he would like to tear all her clothes and then acted as if she didn't even exist in the next minute.
"If you really are desperate you can always tell him the truth and tell him how you really feel," Hannah suggested.
"What if I do and in the end I just make a complete fool of myself?"
"Hon, what's your alternative? Pinning for him for the rest of your life?" her friend asked. "If you tell him you have two outcomes, A. he doesn't feel the same and then you could move on or B. you two can end up deliriously happy."
"I'll do it Hannah. Tomorrow at work I let Conner know," Jenny said.
"Good girl! I salute you!" she replied holding up her glass of water. "Call me afterwards to let me know what happened."
*****
Jenny checked her appearance one last time before she went to Conner's office. Her black hair was drawn back into a low ponytail and not a single strand dared to get out of place. Her make up was light and her skin gave off a healthy glow. She wore her favorite dark gray suit which clung to her curves enough to make her look sexy but still professional.
It's now or never, Jenny told herself. She made her way to Conner's office and knocked on the partial opened door.
"Come in," she heard him call out.
She walked into his office and saw him sitting at his desk. Conner had taken off his jacket and his broad shoulders stretched out his white shirt. His black hair was growing a little long now but she liked it because you could see the natural curl it had. Jenny could feel her heart race like it always did ever time she saw him.
The first time she met Conner it felt like a punch to the gut. He was so gorgeous that she practically made a fool out of herself when they were introduced. Her infatuation with him only got worse when she got to know him better. Not only was he smart but he was kind and funny as well. She wondered how a catch like him stayed single for so long. He did date a lot but he wasn't a womanizer.
"Do you have a minute?" Jenny managed to get out.
"For you? Always. What's on your mind?" he asked, focusing his blue eyes on her.
The things she wanted to say rushed out of her head. "Umm. I just wanted to say.... Can I sit?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Jenny sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"We've been friends for a long time. Really good friends, haven't we?"
"From the moment we met," he said.
"We like a lot of the same things. We have fun together. I trust you and you trust me."
Conner nodded. "It sounds like you are trying to hit me up for money."
"No," Jenny replied with a nervous laugh. "I just wanted to say..."
The phone suddenly rang, interrupting her.
"Keep that thought and let me just get this call," he told her.
"Okay," Jenny replied.
He picked up the phone and greeted the person on the other end.
"It's nice to hear from you again Angela," he said.
Angela? Who was Angela? Jenny thought. So far as she knew Conner had been single for the past couple of months.
"Yes I still remember the villa at Nice, bella," he said with a chuckle.
What happened at Nice and who was this person he was calling beautiful in Italian?
"I'm in the middle of a meeting right now. Can I call you back later?" he said into the phone. "Drinks? I'm sure that can be arranged."
This was wrong, all wrong, Jenny thought. She couldn't do this now. Not when he was making a date over the phone. She stood up and decided to leave.
"Conner take your call. I can come back later."
"Are you sure?" he asked with concern.
"Yes it's not that important," she replied.
Jenny spun around and walked out of his office before he could protest. She hurried back to her office and then locked her door.
"I can't do this," she said to herself as she paced the floor of her office.
Her phone suddenly rang, surprising her.
Please let it not be Conner, she thought. She checked the caller id and sighed with relief.
"Hi Hannah," she said after picking up the phone.
"Well, don't keep me in suspense. How did it go?" her friend asked excitedly.
"It didn't. I was about too but then the phone rang and woman called. He called her Bella and they supposedly did something in Nice together."
"That sucks," she replied. "What are you going to do now? Are you going to try again?"
"No," Jenny said. "What's the address of your herbalist? Maybe a love potion is what I need."
*****
Two days later when Jenny arrived at the address Hannah gave her, the place didn't look like what she expected. She had an image in her mind that it would sort of look like a spice shop you would see in an Arabian Night story. She expected spices and other odd dried things in baskets, panels of fabric hanging from the walls, and assorted glass bottles scattered about. In reality the place looked like it should belong at the mall. It was clean, white, orderly, and had the feel of a doctor's office.
"Welcome to Nature's Magic. Can I help you?" asked a very young looking redheaded woman at the front counter.
"Yes. Are you Leslie? My friend Hannah Randall sent me here. She said you could help me," Jenny explained.
"Oh yes, Hannah called me yesterday. Everything is almost ready. Did you bring the other things I need?"
"Yeah I have it in my bag," Jenny said.
Hannah told her to bring a picture of Conner and something personal of his. Jenny took a picture she had snapped of him during last year Christmas party and a pen from his desk.
"Let's go into the back," Leslie said.
She called out to another young woman to take her place at the counter and then lead Jenny to the rear of the store. Leslie brought her into a room with a large wooden table at its center and walls filled with small bottles. Leslie set Conner's picture into a stone bowl and handed then handed her a piece of paper.
"Please write his name on this," she asked.
Jenny did what she asked and then Leslie put the paper into the bowl. She then took a match and lit both things on fire. When everything in the bowl was ash, Leslie took a bottle from the wall and dripped some oil onto the bowl.
"Do you do a lot of these?" Jenny asked.
"Only on occasion. And if the person believes," she replied. "Can I have the personal item?"
Jenny dug through her purse and handed her Conner's pen. Leslie swirled the contents of the bowl with the pen. She then turned around and took several more bottles from the wall. Leslie added a few drops here and there, smelling the concoction each time she added something.
"Where did you learn how to do this?" Jenny asked.
"This was my Mom's place. She taught me all this before she retired. I went to school for the more technical stuff. When I was done I took over and revamped the place."
Leslie dipped her finger into the bowl and wiped the mixture onto her forearm.
"It's done," she finally declared. She took a towel and wiped off her arm. "The potion will work strongest this Tuesday."
"On Valentines Day?"
"It is the day of love is it not? Energies are good and strong that day," Leslie explained. "You will only need a few drops."
Leslie took the mixture and poured into a perfume bottle. She put on a cap and handed it to Jenny.
"It is important that you initiate first contact," Leslie told her.
"Me? Why does it have to be me? I thought I put it on and then he's putty in my hands."
"Your intentions must be known for it to work properly, "Leslie explained. "That is they way it always has been. And then he will be yours."
"Thank you Leslie," Jenny said.
"You're welcome. Maria will ring you up at the front," she replied. "Don't forget to invite me to the wedding."
*****
When Valentine's Day came Jenny was nervous as a cat. For days she had been trying to come up with a plan to seduce Conner. Asking him over on Valentine's Day seemed too obvious and she didn't know if he had a date that night. She decided the best thing to do was to seduce him at work when everyone was gone. Conner was always the last one in the office, while most were gone by 5 pm on the dot.
Jenny looked at the time for what it seemed like the thousandth time that day. It was finally 4:30 and it was time to put her plan into action. She locked her office door just in case someone barged in accidentally. She grabbed the duffle bag she brought with her and started unloading its contents. Jenny began to undress and was soon standing naked in her office. She bought a bra, thong, stockings, and garters from Victoria's Secret this past weekend, all in black, for the occasion. She slipped each item on one by one and by the time she was finished she looked at her reflection at the glass wall of her office and thought the dent on her credit card was well worth it. The bra cut low across her breasts and gave her amazing cleavage. It looked like she was about to spill over in abundance. The thong was black lace and covered nothing in her opinion. But the sexiest part of her ensemble was definitely the old fashioned garters that rode on her hips and clipped on to her stockings in the front and back. Conner didn't have a prayer.
Jenny colored her lips a blood red and darkened her eye shadow. She undid her hair from its chignon and fluffed it out so it looked like a black cloud over her shoulders. Finally she picked up the love potion and pulled out the stopper. She took a whiff and thought it smelled really nice, sort of light and flowery. She added a drop behind both ears, between her breasts, just below her navel, and behind her knees. Leslie said she only needed a few drops, but she couldn't make a mistake because she would never have the courage to do this again.
When she looked at the clock it was already 5 pm. Jenny could feel her pulse speed up. She strapped on her 3 inch black stiletto heels and then completed her whole look by covering her half naked body with her red trench coat. Jenny at her desk and waited. She could here the last of people scramble to go home.
When 5:30 came she poked her head out the door to see if anyone else stayed behind. The main floor of the office was empty and the smaller offices were dark, except for one. Good old reliable Conner, she thought.
She walked out and made her way to his office. She stopped in front if his door and took a deep breath. I can do this, Jenny told herself. She knocked on the door lightly before pushing it open.
"Hey," she said, hoping her voice sounded deep and sultry.
Conner looked up from his papers and smiled when he saw her.
"Hey yourself," he replied. "I thought you left for the day."
"No. I'm still here."
Jenny pushed the door shut behind her. No turning back now, she thought.
"Have you come to tell me why you were mysteriously here a few days ago?"
"Sort of," she replied.
