(This is the third in a series of stories, the first of which is 'Simply Irresistible' and the second of which is 'Addicted to Love'. You probably won't have any difficulty following this story on its own, but you might want to read the other two first.)
*
Lara felt like someone had poured glue into her brain. All her thoughts felt disjointed, slow, and foggy. Dimly, she wondered how she had gotten here, wherever here was, and why she was naked. She looked around, all her movements slow and heavy, and wondered why the rest of the cheerleading squad was with her and why they were naked too. Then she spotted Melvin Horsteth and she practically creamed herself.
Melvin looked different. So different that she at first wondered how she even knew it was still him. But wondering was too hard. It was just easier to watch him, and his godlike, well-toned, athletic body. She wanted to be commanded by him so badly, but he was talking to some other man, a handsome-but-not-nearly-as-handsome-as-the-absolutely-perfect-in-every-detail-Melvin type of man, who had a goatee and wore an Armani suit. The man was asking Melvin, "So...what do you want for your third wish?"
Melvin said, "I want--" Suddenly music came from the jacket of the other man's suit. Lara recognized the music from before her life as Melvin's slave, a tinny digitized version of a song from a Disney musical. "You ain't never had a friend like me," it sang as the man pulled out a cell phone.
"One moment, Mel," the man said. "Won't take a sec. I have to take this." He flipped the cell phone open and put it to his ear. "Go," he said. He listened for a moment. "Beni," he said, "why do you call me with these things? If it's Janice Muncie, she's not due for her follow-up for another twelve months. For Baal's sake, I just finished with her not three days ago...a what? Wish conflict? With who? How? I see. I see. Alright--hold on, Beni." He took the phone away from his head and flipped it shut. "OK, Mel. I'm afraid I'm going to be called away for a little bit, just a minor issue with a previous client. Don't worry, the third wish is still entirely valid. Just think of this as time to review your plans in your head, mull things over, perhaps think about what you want for that third wish, or..." He caught sight of the way Melvin was looking at the cheerleaders. "Or that, yes. Back soon."
The man vanished. Lara smiled vacantly as Melvin walked towards her.
*****
Janice Muncie opened her eyes cautiously, and looked around. The shouting and screaming had stopped. The hands clutching at her body had vanished. Everything was calm and still again.
Instead of Susan's mansion, she was in a small room, sitting in an overstuffed armchair. The walls were painted sky blue, but the paint was old, and cracked in places. Soft music played over louspeakers, but the sound was crackly and faint, and she couldn't recognize the tune.
And, of course, Mikal was standing there.
Janice looked at him, words tumbling over themselves in a rush to get out. "Please," she said, "they won't leave me alone, they won't go away, I can't stop them, make it stop, please make it stop!"
Mikal sighed. "Alright, let's pull out some of those neurotransmitters, shall we?" He gestured, and Janice suddenly felt the waves of panic fade away as though they'd never existed. Instead, she felt calm, almost sedated... "Now," he continued, "can we get the story from the top?"
She nodded, almost smiling with the ease at which she recalled the story. "I found your bracelet, and when I rubbed it, you appeared..."
Mikal nodded. "Granting you one wish, which you used to make yourself so beautiful that anyone who looked at you would be consumed with lust for you. Yes, I was there. That's not the part I'm interested in. I want to know what happened in the three days since I left."
Janice said, "Well..."
*****
It was hard to look away from the mirror, Janice thought to herself as she showered, washing the scent of heady, fevered masturbation off of her body. Hard, hell. It was damn near impossible. She'd wanted to see how her new body had looked, but when she gazed into the mirror, she was so unprepared for how fucking gorgeous she was. It was all she could do to keep from ripping her clothes as she'd pulled them off her body, masturbating furiously, wanting nothing more than to fuck herself so hard, over and over and over...she'd just spent the last three days at home, alternating between eating, sleep, and masturbation.
That was just how Larry would feel, she thought. And Carol, and Gina, and Bobby, and all the others who she'd heard laughing at the office party. And especially Garry. Garry, who'd seen her under the mistletoe. Garry, who'd made the joke about needing vodka, not mistletoe, before he'd think about kissing her. Garry, who'd made them all laugh. Garry, who she'd thought was her friend, even if she knew he was married and that he was out of her league anyway. Garry, who lived in her apartment building. Garry, who was about to get the surprise of his life...at work, though. At least at first. She wanted an audience for his reaction.
Her clothes were all too baggy to fit her anymore, but it wouldn't matter once Garry saw her. It didn't matter if she was wearing a burlap sack and some paper bags for shoes. He was going to go mad with desire for her. They all were. She slipped past the mirror with one last effort of will, pulled on a shirt and some jeans, cinched the belt a few notches tighter, and headed out the door.
At this time of the morning, the streets were still quiet. She heard the occasional dog barking, but she walked the first few blocks without seeing any traffic, pedestrian or otherwise. She used the time to marvel at the fact that she was walking to work; she'd usually driven, even though it was just a couple of miles, all the while swearing that she'd get in better shape so she wouldn't have to take the car such a short distance. She looked down at her trim stomach and smiled, fighting the urge to slip her fingers into her pants. Who needs exercise when you have a magic genie?
Then she saw the jogger. He was across the street, heading the opposite direction from her, but when he saw her, he veered off in her direction as though pulled by a magnet. He ran up alongside her and slowed to match her pace. "Hi," he said. "My name's George, what's yours?"
She gave a tiny little smile. This was what it was always going to be like. Men falling all over themselves just to be nice to her, admirers everywhere. "Janice," she said. "Nice morning, isn't it?"
George nodded, but something about the look in his eyes told her he wasn't really listening. "Yeah. Listen, my house is just a couple of blocks up this street, and I was thinking maybe you could come in for a little bit of breakfast?" He licked his lips, but Janice could tell he wasn't hungry. Not for food.
"Some other time," she said. She couldn't wait to get to work and see if Garry did the same thing.
"Well, maybe if breakfast is out, you could just stop in there for a few minutes, and, y'know..." He looked a little flushed, now. A bead of spittle had gathered on his lower lip. "Talk."
