Marie was a pest, and Neil was sick and tired of her antics. There were four of them sharing the house, three men and Marie. It had been four men, but Jack had moved out and Marie had moved in. She was a blonde, about twenty, stacked and friendly and, dare he say it, a little bit on the dumb side. She'd had reasonable references, proved to be clean and tidy and didn't throw wild parties. They knew she had boyfriends, but she never had them stay over, occasionally using the fact that there were other men in the house to protect herself if a boyfriend came on too strong. He had seen her pills in the bathroom cupboard and assumed that she has a healthy sex-life, but she was discreet with any liaisons she had, and she didn't give the come-on to the others in the house or try to play them one against the other. Altogether an ideal house-mate, except...
She ate everyone's food. She just couldn't seem to grasp the fact that just because something was in the fridge or cupboards didn't mean that she could eat it. She bought her own food and drink and was willing to share, but that didn't help when you reached for your lunch and it was gone. Putting your name on things didn't help. Asking her to lay off didn't help. She just didn't seem to get it.
After losing one lunch too many, Neil was planning to teach her a lesson. He and Marie were the only ones home that day, with the others not expected back before tomorrow. The forecast was for a hot day followed by a hot, sticky night, and Neil was going to take advantage of this.
Neil had purchased a bottle of Mountain Dew, knowing that Marie loved it. He opened the bottle, tipped some out and added some sugar and a touch of pepper to give it a bit of added bite. That evening he put it in the fridge, with a sign prominently displayed on it warning the housemates not to drink it, as it was being used for experiments.
Neil kept one eye on the kitchen waiting for Marie to raid it. Eventually he saw her heading into the kitchen. He then moved up to the door and waited, heard the fridge open, heard a drink being poured, waited a few moments and walked into the kitchen in time to catch her finishing of her drink. Or his drink, as it should have been.
"My god, Marie, you didn't take that bottle of Mountain Dew I had, did you?"
"Don't get grouchy, Neil," she said with her innocent smile. "It was just one glass and it's hot and I was thirsty."
"But didn't you see the warning?" said Neil, indicating the sign on the bottle. "That was something I'm analysing for work. We're using it for research."
Marie laughed. "That sign? I ignored it. You boys are always doing silly things like that, but you can't fool me."
"Marie, I swear to you that drink's a formula I'm testing out. Surely you noticed that it had a different taste?"
Marie hesitated at that. As a matter of fact she had noticed it wasn't quite the same as normal. It was sweeter and had some unexpected bite.
"Marie," sighed Neil, "that bottle contains a new drug I was supposed to analyse for work. And you've drunk half of it. You've probably swallowed a full dose. You really should observe our signs."
Marie was starting to feel distinctly worried now. Just what had she swallowed? "What was in the bottle, Neil?" she asked nervously. "What will it do to me?"
"Ahh." Neil looked away from her, seeming unsure of how to proceed. Then he shrugged. "I guess it won't harm you, but it might be a good idea if you didn't go out tonight. Have you got a current boyfriend?" he added, knowing that she was currently between boys.
"No, and don't change the subject. What was in the drink? I need to know," Marie demanded, getting more worried and feeling even more stressed.
Neil sighed. "It's a new type of aphrodisiac, designed for older women who have lost that itch."
"A what? What's an aphrodisiac?" queried Marie, puzzled.
"You've heard of Viagra?"
"Of course."
"It's a drug similar to that but designed for women and is somewhat stronger."
"So wh-what's it going to do to me? What will happen now?"
"I'm not really sure. Like I said, it's experimental. In theory, you will start to feel warm and will keep getting hotter. After a while you will want to have sex, and you won't really care who with or where or anything. You'll just want to have sex. That's why you shouldn't go out tonight. I mean, if it really takes hold you'll be a lot safer at home than wandering around town. I wouldn't want you to find yourself offering to gang bang a bunch of strangers or something."
Marie was appalled. "Isn't there something I can do stop it?"
"I'm sorry. Like I said, it's a trial drug. It's not designed for young women like you. Don't worry. It may not work."
Marie groaned. "How will I know if it is starting to work?"
"I was studying the information on it as part of my research. In theory, after about 30 minutes you'll start getting hotter. You'll really warm up. That's the signal that you should have sex pretty soon."
"And if I don't have sex?"
"You will. Eventually. You'll keep getting hotter until you can't stand it, and then you'll go find a man. Keep your phone handy. You may want to call an ex back for some sudden loving. That's why I asked about a current boyfriend." Neil sighed. "It's your own fault, you know. You've been told to leave things that aren't yours alone and I did put a warning on the bottle."
Marie was nervous, but Neil could see that she wasn't one hundred percent sure he wasn't pulling her leg. She gave him a nervous look and retired to her room.
Nick grinned and returned to his room to wait. He had thoughtfully jiggered the air conditioner controls and as the house warmed, so would Marie. And if she turned the AC up, she'd get hotter even faster.
After a while Marie came to his door. She was feeling very hot and very worried and as far as she was concerned it was all Neil's fault. She thinks the drug is working, but her phone is not. Can she borrow his?
