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True Love
Jen stared out the window and watched the garbage truck go down the street. After their eventful evening together the night before Lauren had decided to let her sleep in. Downstairs she could hear Lauren and Mrs. Collins making breakfast. She was a completely different person; what a difference a few years had made for Mrs. Collins. The change was for the better, but Jen wondered if it was right.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Kristen entering the room unannounced. The former slave barged into the room and picked up a CD off Lauren’s desk. She stood with her back to Jen for a few beats to allow the girl to quickly throw on some clothes.
Kristen turned around and stoically assessed her replacement for a moment before speaking. “Do you know where Miss...I mean, Lauren is?” She looked down at the ground uncomfortably.
This conversation was just as uncomfortable for Jen. She looked away and spoke quietly. “She is downstairs with her mother making breakfast.” Her melancholy gaze went back to the window.
Kristen furrowed her brow in thought. Perfect. Quickly she started back towards the door. “Oh, okay. I am going to go downstairs and help them. Why don’t you join us when you feel up to it?” She gave Jen an insincere smile. Before shutting the door behind her she poked her head back in. “By the way, don’t forget what I told you last night.”
Jen winced when the door slammed. She stripped her clothes off and started to dress for the day. She had no idea what Kristen was talking about. The blond haired girl blinked a few times. Oh well, best not to bother Lauren with it.
Kristen could hear Mrs. Collins and Lauren preparing breakfast as she slowly crept down the stairs towards the kitchen. They laughed and giggled while mixing batter for waffles. The slave girl sighed at their joyous conversation. Her own private torment and misery made Lauren’s happiness seem even more disgusting.
At the bottom of the stairs she waited for a beat and turned the corner to see Lauren look at her while drying a pot. A second or two passed while they stared at each other. Finally, Lauren spoke up. “Oh, hey, we are making breakfast; you can have some if you want.”
Kristen held her stare until Lauren finally looked away. She also looked down at her shoes. “Um, yeah, thanks, I guess I will have something.” The slave girl watched Lauren turn around to join her mother at the sink washing some dishes. Realizing this was her best time to create an excuse to get out of the house, she quickly walked to the kitchen island and accidentally knocked the remaining four eggs onto the floor.
Lauren and Sarah turned around and watched the eggs fall to the ground. Kristen jumped back a step so none of them would splatter on her shoes or pants. Sarah immediately grabbed a paper towel and leaned over to clean up the mess. After stopping to admire Mrs. Collins’ very firm bottom Kristen pulled her keys from out of her pocket and began walking towards the door. She spoke over her shoulder as she walked. “I am so sorry! I’ll pick up some eggs at the store. Call my cell if you think of anything we need!” Before either Sarah or Lauren could respond, Kristen was already in the car and driving away.
Once on the highway, Kristen made a phone call. With the phone sitting on her lap she spoke into the speaker phone, alerting the pleasant sounding secretary on the other side of the call where she was. She was put on hold for a minute or two. While walking towards the supermarket the secretary came back to the call and informed her of where she was to meet the operative who would be handling this case. Kristen acknowledged the information and told the Bunnie to let them know it would be about fifteen minutes before she could rendezvous.
Inside the supermarket Kristen briskly made her way over to the dairy section. She picked up a container of brown eggs. At the other end of the aisle Audrey Anderson, co-chair with Sarah Collins of the “woman’s organization,” was adding a gallon of milk to her cart. For the first time, Kristen realized that the Anderson’s daughter, Samantha, had also been brainwashed. Samantha was a very articulate and interesting girl. She remembered always being impressed by the girl in class. Sami was a puppy dog-eyed airhead girlfriend for the school’s quarterback.
Was Mrs. Anderson also reprogrammed? She didn’t know much about the woman’s organization. After watching Audrey slink away into the next aisle, the brunette’s pumps echoing through the store, Kristen recalled a meeting of the woman’s organization that took place at the Collins’ home. She was upstairs waiting for Lauren to come back from visiting Kimberly. There was a set of women, most around Sarah and Audrey’s age, and their daughters. They discussed cooking, their husbands, and shared stories about their homes. There was a lot of talk of “a woman’s place.” One girl had protested when coming in. The next week at school she had blond streaks through her hair and was suddenly dating a player on the basketball team.
Fucking creeps. Kristen could’ve cared less that these girls were brainwashed; she wasn’t sure if that was trained into her or if it was her real feeling, but she was starting to see things how they were. Despite Kimberly being co-owner of The Pleasure Bunnie corporation, it was still very male dominant and patriarchal.
In the ten items or less line the awkward, zit faced, boy at the register tried to flirt with two pretty brunettes. Hey maybe if they spurn him, he can have one brainwashed! Just like Lauren did to Jenny. Kristen was beginning to realize just how much Lauren had in common with men like that.
Back in her car Kristen drove to the rendezvous point, which was in the next strip mall down the highway. She parked in front of a gardening store which was under construction. There wasn’t anyone around because it was the weekend. In the rear view mirror she noticed a black van pulling into the lot. The van parked next to her car.
Kristen looked over and saw two men in the front of the van. The driver, a man she recognized from Pleasure Bunnie headquarters, smiled at her and nudged his head in the direction of the back of the van. After returning his smile she quickly got out of her car and went around it, coming to a stop in front of the back doors of the van.
The doors to the back opened up, revealing a girl around Kristen’s age. She wore an ankle length gray dress with a black cardigan over it. Her black glasses and swept up hair made her look like a very cute librarian. The girl smiled at Kristen and motioned with her hand for the goth slave to join her in the van.
As the door closed next to her, Kristen realized she knew this girl from school. “Wait, I know you! Aren’t you in marching—” Before she could finish the question, her mind had completely blanked via a button on the remote her controller held in her pale hand. Kristen stiffened in the position she sat in, eyes becoming distant and glassy, and quietly announced that she was ready to be programmed.
Celia, the girl who was programming her, handed a pair of ear buds to Kristen. Kristen obediently placed them in her ears and sat back against the wall of the van, hands folded, as new programming was brainwashed into her. Celia put a finger on the girl’s chin and stared into the big, beautiful, blank eyes opposite her. Sighing, she pulled out her cell phone and sent a text message to headquarters.
A minute or so later her phone vibrated with a reply. Smiling, she asked the man in the driver’s seat to hand her the small package Kristen would take back to the house with her. Twenty minutes went by and Kristen’s programming completed. Celia instructed her to drive home; she would remember her instructions when she got there. Without speaking Kristen got out of the van and returned to her car, driving away quickly.
Celia sighed again. After ordering her drivers to return her to home she pulled her knees up to her face and sat quietly. She thought through her recent experiences and feelings; if all went well today would end up being a very good day. Resolving to remain focused and keep her emotions inward, she looked forward and waited out the drive home. She turned her focus to the very pleasant fact that Lauren Collins was going to get what she has coming to her one way or another.