In Chapter 5 we learned that Sally was a virus that's attacking her brain. It's the virus that compels her to have sex, as it influences the part of her brain that controls one's sexual drive. Hers is on steroids, so to speak. Moreover, the virus is fatal as it eventually attacks the autonomic nervous system. She has one hope: an experimental drug Rivonine, currently in clinical trials and not yet approved for use by the FDA. It's the drug Genomeds is developing, and by good luck she has a date that very evening with Dr. Jack Taylor, the CEO of Genomeds.
***********************
My brain was in free fall for the rest of the day. I was 23 years old and fatally ill. Dr. Taylor's firm Genomeds had an experimental drug Rivonine. It was my only hope. Would he give me permission to take it? My life depended on it. Its side effects be damned!
I managed to pull myself together in time for my date with Jack. I realized in some sense my life depended on this date going well. Checking myself in the mirror one last time I looked at my breasts, harboring the evil virus trying to kill me. They looked fine and seductive enough for a breasts man. I looked at my legs, revealed to a large extent by my slightly short, tight pencil skirt. They looked good, too. My body's silhouette was all curvy and nice, just like a woman was supposed to look. Good.
My eyes were a wreck. One's date looks at one's body, sure, but most of the time he'll be looking at my eyes, and they were all bloodshot from so much crying. I went to the bathroom and flooded my eyes with eyedrops that "get the red out."
I looked again in the mirror. Better, even much better, but not good. Drops can't rid me of the puffiness the tears had wrought upon my eyes. Shit. The doorbell rang. I hate men who arrive on time. I went to get the door and forced a big smile. Jack looked debonair, even handsome. I realized how lucky I was to find him attractive, since I knew what I probably had to do to get the meds.
Lucky? How could I feel lucky? Dr. Green had told me earlier this very same day I had at most six months left to live. So, Jack was attractive. Big f**king deal. I was bleeping dying!
Okay, when I thought I had cancer and read all those testimonials, there was a recurring theme. Take things one day at a time. Live each day fully, as if it's your last good day. I had a handsome man standing there, and he had flowers. He gave me the flowers. I cut off the ends and put them in water, adding a little Sprite to the water, an old trick my mother had taught me.
My mother had taught me many things, all useful. One thing she had not taught me is to avoid older men. Why did I have this thing for older men? Was it older men or all men? After all, my husband at 33 was 'only' ten years older than me, and Miguel, Duane and Ravi were all in their thirties. That's only ten to fifteen years older than me, but what really got my motor running were men in their fifties, even their late fifties, maybe even their early sixties.
Was it a repressed urge to fuck my father? No, I don't think so. Well, I can think about this later. Right then I had Dr. Jack Taylor to worry about and his presence was making me wet. Is it really me, though, or is it the virus? Does it matter?
Dr. Taylor, sorry, I mean Jack, whisked me off to dinner. The man likes fancy restaurants and it looked very father-daughter-ish as we walked into the cute and little but very high-end Japanese restaurant deep inside SoHo. We sat next to each other and his hands were all over me, as I giggled. Anyone who originally thought I was his daughter now figured we were incestuous, or I was his mistress.
I wasn't his mistress, though, at least not yet. All we had done was to kiss. Given how excited parts of me below the Mason-Dixon line seemed to be, however, mistress status was my destiny. When he went to order the wine, Dr. Green's remarks bounced around in my head and I said no wine for me. "I have a virus. I saw my doctor today and alcohol is counter-indicated."
If I was going to let Jack seduce me, I wanted him to seduce the real me, and not the virus-infected slut locally known as Sliggins. I knew what alcohol did. Thinking back though to my recent outrageous behavior with the three men at the football party, I had really enjoyed it. I did not find it shaming at all, as I would have just a few months ago. I made a mental note to ask Dr. Green about that. Could the virus affect my outlook on sex, too? Does it affect the thinking parts of the brain? What a scary thought!
Dinner was great and it was with a serious effort that I resisted the temptation to drink wine. I rewarded myself with a Grand Marnier soufflé for dessert. I know that's a strange dessert to find in a Japanese restaurant, but if it bothers you, take it up with the chef, not with me, okay? I floated out of the restaurant, totally distracted from my angst by having this debonair, sexy man on my arm.
It was a nice fall evening and we went for a stroll about town. We walked all the way down to the battery, with me being a nervous chatterbox, and once there we gazed out over the ocean at Bedloe Island, renamed Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty sits. The cool ocean breezes chilled me and when Jack saw me shivering his arm went around me and warmed me up nicely.
Jack pulled me towards him gently, giving me plenty of chances to resist and hold back. I did not. When his lips met mine I shivered afresh, but this time not from the cold. His arm was around me holding me up against him, body against body, as our kiss morphed from sweet to sexy. His hand fell down to my ass and he gave it a little squeeze. I let out a barely audible little moan of pleasure.
Jack hailed a cab and we were whisked back to my apartment. He kissed me at my door. The moment of truth had arrived. What would I do? I wish I knew! In retrospect it was obvious this would happen.
"Would you like to come inside and see how the other 99% lives?" I said.
I offered Jack a drink and he took a Scotch whisky. He sat on my couch and I took the chair facing him. I knew if I sat next to him on the couch I'd be throwing myself at him. I was going to make him come to me.
We sat and talked for a while. Mostly I was the one who did the talking, until Jack interrupted me at one point.