Chapter 2: For Science

Scott

Erin stood, unbuttoning her blouse and throwing it behind her. Her breasts fell free, pale and freckled. She took her skirt and panties down in one go, then stood in front of me, waiting. We’d switched off the lamps and lit some tealights, trying for a little ambience. Erin’s skin looked golden in the candlelight. She didn’t seem to know where to put her hands, and eventually rested them on her hips.

“Well?” she said. “Thoughts?”

“Honestly?” I said, drinking her in. “Miz Erin Halloran? No notes. You’re gorgeous.”

“Yeah? I’ve always hated being this pale, these goddamn ... spots.” She gestured to her face, the spray of freckles across her nose. “Fuck it, I’m blushing again. Irish genes, right?” She looked down at herself, ran her hands down her sides, then cupped a breast in each hand. “I’m glad you like it, but I’m ... I feel, sometimes I...” She faltered. “Sorry. Getting in my head. We can–”

“Hey. Come here.” I patted the couch cushion. “Talk to me.”

She curled up next to me, her hand stroking my chest again. “Can I tell you something?” she whispered.

“Of course.”

“I’m ... I’m not a slut, alright? I know I dress like it sometimes. I just ... I do like the attention. And I do like sex.” She buried her nose in my shoulder. “And I really liked you. Even before...” She passed her hand down my chest. “Whatever this is.”

I kissed the top of her head, ran my fingers through her hair.

“I don’t...” she began, then paused. “I don’t like how I look, a lot of the time. I’m too short, my tits are too big, my ass, my hips ... I know a lot of guys like that. But my mom, my sisters, they’re like fuckin’ athletes. I just, I can’t...” Erin sighed. “I don’t know.”

I brought her face to mine. “Hey. Erin?”

She blinked, her green eyes deep and shining. “Hm?”

“You,” I said, “are goddamn perfect.” I kissed her then, long and slow. She moaned, took hold of my hand and brought it to her breast.

“Even these?” she asked.

“Especially these.”

“Play with them,” she moaned between kisses. “I love that. My nipples. Please. Play with my big tits.”

I palmed her breast, taking her nipple between my fingers.

“Yesss...” she hissed. “Harder. Rougher. Like that. Fuck, you’re going to make me cum. Just from ... ohfuck ... just from ... oh ... Scott?”

“Mhm?”

“Tell me. Tell me to cum. I need it.”

“Erin? Cum.”

Erin and I lay cuddled on the couch. She was breathing hard, coming down from her orgasm.

“Fucking Christ, that was even better than the last one,” Erin said.

I held her breast in my hand, teasing her nipple. She gasped.

“You know...” she said.

“Yeah?”

“You still have your pants on.” She ran her hand down my leg. “I’m naked. And you’re hard. I don’t think that’s fair.” She kissed the outline of my cock. “For either of us. So.”

“So?”

“So take them off! You got to see all of me, I get to see all of you.” Erin dropped to her knees, reaching for my belt. “Plus, you still owe me a story.”

I looked up at the ceiling as undid the button on my pants. “Fine,” I said. My zipper came down. “But really, it’s not all that interesting.”

“I think I can find some way to entertain myself. I’ve been– “ She pulled my jeans and boxers down, and my cock sprang free. “Fuuuuck, man!”

“What?”

“The fuck did this come from?! That time in the walk-in, I mean, you seemed pretty big, but this is something ... it’s...”

Erin climbed off the couch and dropped to her knees, wrapping her hands around my cock. She stared at it, transfixed. “You’re ... Scott, fuck ... I don’t want to sound like a whore, but your cock is so big...” she said. “And beautiful. And it smells so good. Can I...?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to suck you, Scott. Want to suck your cock. I want to feel you in my mouth. Can you tell me to–”

“Erin. Suck my cock.”

Erin was on her knees, naked, my cock in her throat. She was moaning to herself, one hand on her breast while the other fingered her pussy. I closed my eyes, trying to gather my thoughts.

“Okay. Okay. Erin?”

“Mhmm?”

“I’m going to–” I groaned. “Fuck me, you’re good at that.”

“Mhm,” Erin confirmed, keeping my cock in her mouth.

“Alright, I’m going to tell you what happened. Or, I mean, what’s been happening.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s kind of weird.”

“Mhm.”

“And I don’t really understand it, and I don’t want to fuck things up between us, and–”

“Scott.” Erin popped her head off of my cock. “My guy. You have a hot, naked redhead here in front of you, on her knees, sucking your dick. I get it. You’re weird, I’m weird, this whole fucking ... situation is weird. I don’t care. I like it. I promise, you aren’t going to fuck anything up.” She licked up the side of my shaft. “And when you’re done, you’re going to fuck me.” She took me into her mouth.

“Okay, so, this was a few weeks ago...”

It was six-thirty in the morning. I’d just come back from a jog. I’d been getting up early, before it got too hot. I’d put in three, maybe three and a half miles, pretty much had to drag my way to the entryway. I was in the stairwell, dripping with sweat, waiting on the elevator. It arrived, dinged, I opened the gate, then I heard –

“Can you hold that? Please?!”

A young woman came in backwards through the front door, three bodega bags on each arm. She entered the elevator, dropped her bags, and stood, hands on her knees, out of breath. She was wearing an oversized MCU sweatshirt in spite of the heat.

“Thanks,” she panted. “Appreciate it. Give me ... whew ... give me a second.”

“Take your time,” I said. “What floor?”

“Nine. Please.”

“You got it. “ I slid the gate closed and hit the button for Nine. “I guess we’re neighbors,” I said.

“Oh yeah?” she said. She had a faint British accent. “I just moved in last week.” She held out her hand. “Nine G.”

We shook. “Nine C,” I said. “Always nice to meet the new–”

The elevator shuddered to a halt. The lights dimmed.

“Fuck my life,” the woman muttered. She took out her phone and dialed. “Hey, Zelda, yeah, this is Madi from Nine G. I’m stuck in the elevator with ... hang on, what’s your name?”

“Scott,” I said.

“With Scott, from Nine C. Yeah. We’re stuck. Between, I don’t know, maybe two and three? Three and four?” She shot me a glance. I held up my hands. “I mean, yeah, it’s kind of urgent. I have to be at the lab in–” She paused, listening. “Okay. No, I–. No. Yes. Yes. I get it.” She hung up, leaned against the wall, and slid to the floor, burying her face in her hands.

“Are you o–” I began.

“Fffuuuck!” she said, her voice muffled. She took her hands away, her eyes wet. She took off her glasses and rubbed at the tears with her sleeve. “Of all days. Of all the goddamn days.” She sniffled. “Sorry. Don’t need to put this on you.”

I sat down next to her. “It’s okay. What did she say?”

“Two hours, maybe three. The super’s on a call in the outer boroughs, and won’t be here ‘til at nine at the earliest.” She sighed. “And I’ve got work at eleven, and I was going to make fucking pancakes! For her birthday!” She kicked at one of the bags on the floor. “Chocolate fucking chip fucking pancakes!”

I started to reach out to put a hand her shoulder, then held back. “I’m ... I’m sorry,” I said. “Sorry. That all sounds like a lot. And I was out for a run, I probably stink, and now you’re stuck with me in here. Sorry.”

She wiped her nose with her sleeve. “You apologize too much,” she said.

“I’m s–”

“Fucking don’t!” she snapped, then her anger dissolved. “Shit. Now I’m sorry. And for the record,” she said, and sniffled again, “you actually smell pretty good.”

We sat in silence, staring into the middle distance.

“Want to take this from the top?” I said after a while. “Start over?”

“Sure.”

“Scott. Scott Walker. Nine C.” I held out my hand.

“Madhuri. Madhuri Singh. Nine G.” We shook. “You can call me Madi. You hungry?”

“How did I not know about these?” I said, taking another handful. “Crab chips?! How is that a thing?”

We had our backs to the wall in the elevator’s emergency light, splitting a bag of potato chips.

“New England, man,” Madi said. “Cradle of civilization. Crab chips, lake trout, cheese steaks, garbage plates. We got it all. Had to go to six different bodegas to find these bastards.” She crunched a chip. “But, y’know. Anything for Nadja.”

“Nadja?”

“Yeah, she’s my ... partner. Whatever you want to call it. Give it a name. Loves these things.”

“She won’t mind that we’re eating them?”

“Nah. Got five more bags in there.” She nudged her shopping bags with her shoe. “Bought out their whole stock.”

Madi took a breath. “Nadja, she’s from Baltimore. Today’s her birthday. She’s a nurse, works nights, so we don’t see each other too much. Mostly just breakfast, some weekends. She’ll be home in...” Madi checked her phone. “Damn it. We had a ... a pretty bad fight a couple days ago, and I wanted to make it up to her. So...” She nudged the bags again.

“So pancakes?” I asked.

“So pancakes,” Madi said. She laid her head on my shoulder.

“Can I confess something?” Madi asked.

“Sure,” I said. I’d lost track of time. We’d finished off the chips, and she was still leaning against me in the dimness.

“I’m ... I’m really attracted to you.” She straightened and looked up at me. “I don’t understand it. It’s ... I’m a scientist, and I’ve been turning it over and over in my head. But ever since I stepped in here with you I’ve felt this ... this pull towards you. Which is weird, because I normally don’t go for men, I mean I have before, but with you it’s like ... I don’t know, I mean you smell so good, you’re handsome, sure, but, I just, there’s something...” She trailed off. “I’m rambling. Apologies. I do that. But there’s something ... different, I guess? About you? Are you ... do you feel anything like that? Like, attraction? For me? At all?”

I looked at Madi, really looked at her for the first time. She wore a pair of cutoffs, and her long, bare legs were flawless, her skin like coffee with a hint of cream. Her eyes, dark and endless behind her glasses, seemed to be pleading. Her upper body was swimming in an oversized sweatshirt, and I briefly envisioned running my hands up under it, stripping it off her, entangling my fingers in her long, dark hair before I–

“Fuck me,” I grumbled to myself.

Madi went blank for a second, then shook her head. “Scott? Still with us?”

“I ... what were ... hm?” I managed.

“I will take that,” Madi said, giving me a peck on the lips, “as a yes, Nine C.” She checked her phone, then licked her lips. “We’ve got another forty-five minutes or so ‘til we get rescued. Wanna make out?”

“All clear!” called the voice from below. “You guys should be good!”

The lights flickered on. The elevator lurched, came to a stop, and we stepped out. Floor three.

“Guess we’re walking it,” Madi said, straightening her sweatshirt. She gathered up her bags.

“Guess so.”

We arrived on the ninth floor. I reached for my keys. The sweat from my jog had long since dried, and I felt slightly sticky. All I wanted was to get home, get a shower, and–

“Hey,” Madi said. “Nine C.”

I turned. “Madi?”

She hefted her bags. “You going to give me a hand or what?”

“I mean, I could really use a shower.”

“Fuck your shower. I need you like this.”

“What? Like what?”

“I have some questions. Come on.” She started walking toward her apartment. “For science!” she called over her shoulder.

“Okay, okay, so,” Madi said, unloading her bags. She tossed me a bottle of sports drink from the fridge. “What have you been – hang on.” She took her phone out from her cutoffs and laid it on the counter. “You cool if I record this?”

“Um, I guess?” I said.

“Awesome.” She tapped the screen. “Let’s go. Scott Walker,” she said, her voice going clinical, “please describe any recent abnormalities you’ve observed. Anything, physical, emotional, et cetera.”

“Well, I have noticed some in the last few months,” I began. “I’ve been getting ... bigger.”

“Okaaaay. Details. Bigger how?”

“I – I’m taller, for one thing. I used to be five eleven, back when I had my last physical.”

“And that was?”

“February.”

“And now?”

“Six two. Ish.”

“Good. I’m listening, keep going.” Madi cracked open a box of pancake mix, measured and poured it into a steel bowl. “Anything else?”

“I’ve – my muscles have developed. Like a lot. I’ve always been a runner, but lately it’s like my metabolism has gone crazy. I’m always hungry, and I’ve put on like twenty, thirty pounds of muscle.”

“Interesting,” Madi said. She whisked eggs and milk into the bowl. “And when did you first notice this was happening?”

“Maybe ... around May?” I said. “Late May?”

Madi set the bowl on the counter. “Hm. Yeah. That tracks,” she said to herself, seemingly lost in thought. “Hm. Alright, Scott. Let’s keep it going. What about ... sexually? Any changes there?”

“I don’t–” I started. “I don’t know if we should–”

“Scott.” Madi faced me, and stripped off her sweatshirt, revealing a white sports bra that barely contained her large breasts, then pulled her cutoffs down. She straddled my lap in her underwear. “We just made out in an elevator for almost an hour. You said ‘fuck me’ in this low, growly voice, and I had to stop myself from jumping you. Something’s up.” She pulled me in for a long kiss. “You can tell me,” she whispered, grinding on my leg. “Please. It’s for science. Tell you what,” she said, kissing me again, “you tell me your secret.” She moved my hand to her breast. “I tell you mine.”

It was late night at the bar, middle of spring. I was pouring drinks. Erin was waiting tables, collecting tips. She sidled up with an empty tray and tucked her long red hear behind one ear.

“Table nineteen,” she said. “Need an IPA and a vodka cran.”

“Got it.” I went to make the drinks.

“That’s your girl there, isn’t it?” Erin said. “What was it, Lily? The one who–”

“That’s her,” I said, cutting her off.

“The balls on her, coming here with a date during your shift. Although you know, she does keep looking over at you, though. And the guy she’s with? Seems like kind of a dick. I mean, an IPA? Honestly, I think maybe you and her could give it–”

“Erin,” I said. “Really don’t want to talk about it. We’re done. We’re ... I’m past it.” I set the drinks on her tray. “There you go.”

“Alright,” Erin said. “I mean, I’m going through it too, if you ever want to talk. Just saying.”

“It’s ... I’m fine.” Erin gave me a look, then walked away. “Everything’s fine,” I said to myself.

“Scott.”

Lily. Leaning on the bar, holding her half-finished vodka cranberry.

“Lily. What do you want?”

“I thought...” She took a sip. “Since we’re both here, I thought we should talk a little.”

“Nothing to say, Lil. Now, do you want another, or can I go back to work?”

“Scott, I...” She seemed maudlin, teary, slurring her words a little. “I wanted ... wanted to...”

“Lily.” I leaned forward, lowering my voice. “You cheated. We’re done. Honestly? You can go fuck yourself.”

Lily’s eyes widened. She downed the rest of her drink. “I ... sorry. I need to go,” she mumbled, and headed straight for the restrooms.

“Erin?” I caught her eye and motioned her over.

“What’s up, boss?”

“Not your boss. I need a few minutes. Need you to watch the bar. Call it a smoke break.”

“You don’t smoke.”

“Okay, fine, just ... need some air. Can you handle things?”