Chapter 1 - Introductions
I was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the lounge when Penelope walked over and plopped herself down across from me. Like always she had a bright smile on her lips and that effervescent bubbliness that seemed to come from having too much time and way too much money.
I put on my own best smile and charm, "Hello Penelope, what's up?"
The gorgeous blonde flicked her long curly hair to the side and somehow seemed to smile even more, "Oh you know, the usual. Going to my tennis lesson, then to the spa and salon before my date with Keith tonight."
I avoided rolling my eyes and nodded along with her, "Sounds like a busy day." I said with as little sarcasm as I could muster.
Penelope was from old money, the kind of money that meant she would never have to work a day in her life. The kind of money I was from as well for that matter, though my circumstances were a little different to hers.
She took a look around the lounge, seeing only a few people in it and no one close or coming over, I watched that sugary sweet smile instantly disappear as she looked hard at me.
"And of course plotting the downfall of that bitch Deborah." she said with a stone-cold inflection that would have made Lucifer do a double take.
I cleared my throat and raised an eyebrow, "Oh, is that so..." I replied, squirming a little in my chair.
Her smile returned almost as quickly as it had left and she nodded her head, "Yep! And I think you're just the person to help me do it." she replied as she smoothed out her skirt a little.
"Well, as interesting as that sounds... I think I have somewhere to go." I replied and started to stand up, brushing aside the overhanging plant that I used to half hide behind.
Penelope's feud with Deborah Tenor and her family was well known in the country club, though the details always seemed to change. What stayed the same was that the 27-year-old Penelope *hated* the 36-year-old Deborah with a passion.
Sometimes the story went that Deborah had been one of Penelope's babysitters when she was a child and that there was some kind of leftover animosity between them.
Sometimes the story went that Deborah's late husband Erik, had back-stabbed Penelope in a business deal.
And sometimes the story went that Penelope had a crush on Erik from the moment she'd seen him and blamed Deborah for his death.
It didn't matter though, I wanted nothing to do with whatever craziness Penelope had planned.
"Oh don't be silly James, take a seat, I know you don't have anywhere to go... unless it's to court to file for bankruptcy perhaps?" Penelope said, giving her hand a wave at me to dismiss my attempt to leave.
"I surely don't know..." I started to say but Penelope didn't hide her eye roll and just unlocked her phone and shoved it in my general direction.
My shoulders slumped as I read a recent bank statement of my own and my body followed suit as I fell back into my chair. I could only imagine where she got it from, and honestly, I didn't want to know.
As I hinted at before, my circumstances were different from Penelope's. While we both came from old money, I was hanging on by my fingernails as my parents had squandered what was left of the family fortune, while Penelope's family had reinvested wisely in their own companies.
"Fine. Whatever. Clearly you have something in mind, so what is it."
Penelope let out a little squeal with her victory and quickly moved her chair around the table beside my own.
"You know you're kind of cute right? Especially for your age." she asked as she gave me a little "boop" on the nose with her finger.
At 32 years old it was the only inheritance that I had left, my genetic inheritance from my family. Blue eyes, square jaw, rich full brown hair, clear skin, and an athletic frame. I looked the part more than most, so keeping my family name in good standing with the country club was easy enough.
However, I also knew exactly where this was going and a frown crossed my face.
"Oh don't get sad, it's going to be a win-win situation in the end. You know Deborah is into you I'm sure." she stated as a matter of fact.
It was true, Deborah had hit on me several times over the last year or so. Her husband had died three years ago and it had taken her a while to get back into things, but there was little doubt she was interested in me. I'd been gentle, not saying no or yes, but just keeping up a playful banter with her and avoiding her when I could.
I nodded my acknowledgement.
"But obviously if you'd been into her you would have taken her to bed, and the alter, already. Her money could easily fix your financial problems. But she's not your 'type' is she?" Penelope said with a knowing smile.
"No, not really." I replied. Deborah was beautiful, that was not an issue, but she was... stern was the best way I could put it.
Black hair, always pulled back into a bun or ponytail, plain makeup, form-fitting but neutered clothing, thin but flat. She reminded me more of an old school teacher than a young widow.
"Jill and Jen on the other hand..." Penelope said suggestively and I raised my eyebrow once more.
Deborah and Erik had been high school sweethearts and had Jill and Jen, fraternal twins, very young. The two girls were nineteen now, and while they had inherited Deborah's good looks, they had both benefited from Erik's side of the family as well.
Jill had light brown hair that she tended to dye blonde, and a set of curves that were split evenly 50/50 between top and bottom and most would kill for. Jen on the other hand had slightly darker hair that she dyed red but seemed to have all of her curves up top. Most, if they hadn't known better, would have thought Jen had implants as they seemed to defy gravity and logic.
"True... but it's not like either of them are going to be interested in me." I said, finally finding my voice again.
"You're not wrong about that. At least normally you wouldn't be..." Penelope said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a small spray bottle of some kind.
She handed it to me to inspect and I turned it over several times in my hands. It was a plain grey cylinder, no markings on it whatsoever other than a single word "Push" on the top of it.
"And this is?"
"From one of my family's companies, a little skunkworks project that will never come to market but might find its way into some various three-letter agencies at some point."
"And what does it do?"
"It... it opens the mind to new ideas. Or at least it does after enough exposure. Honestly at the moment, it doesn't do much of anything. The lab guys are having a real hard time getting it to work on a practical timescale."
"Ok, so how long are we talking about?"
"Weekly exposure of an hour for six months."
A smile crossed my face as the light bulb went off above it, now I knew why she needed me.
"So basically you want me to date Deborah for six months so I can use this on her each week, so you can have your revenge?"