This time, there was nothing special about me waking up. Strangely disappointing in a way. And even a bit lonely… Nah, not really.

After a bit of contemplating, I decided to act up on my Saturday observation, and get myself back into optimal, for my standards, shape. As they say: ‘The best time to start was yesterday. Second-best is right now.’

A short cold shower later, I got myself into sportswear and went for a run. This time with the phone in case I get myself lost again.

***

My jog went by without anything special happening. Were my prayers finally heard? I bloody hope so!

Oh, I also spotted a coffee shop on the way back, and they had my favorite blend. Goodness gracious, just what kind of horrors are waiting for me later today?

***

Back at my apartment. With how empty it was, I had plenty of space for a stretching routine and some simple calisthenics.

Kind of boring, but getting into a habit is important, what could I do?

***

Contrast shower later, I finished my simple breakfast and was currently enjoying the first proper coffee in three days.

I was in a great mood for doing absolutely nothing today, and after the nonstop chaos of the weekend, it was just what I needed.

A ping of the new message got my attention. Hm, actually, I should read some backlog messages to get a bit of understanding who is who, shouldn’t I?

The message was from Bella. No text at all this time. Just another NSFW picture. Totally naked beauty stood in front of the mirror with a phone and used one finger to fully block every ‘interesting’ part. Damn tease. The smirk on her face said it all, this bitch was in a good mood after hearing my words and wanted to remind me of how superb she was, while being petty enough to blue ball me out of jealousy.

I sent her a full height picture of myself as an answer, showing in full my reaction to her message. Eh, she wasn’t the only one who had things to show off.

***

I was lazing around on the bed and reading a book on my phone. An old classic about a noble who was bored by wasting his life in endless high society parties, mingling with people who didn’t care about him past superficial level, and he, in his turn, didn’t care about them either.

Another ping of a new message got me out of thinking about our similarities and differences. This time it was from someone I didn’t expect to receive anything from at all.

Counter Girl: [Boooooring!]

Me: [???]

Claire sent a picture. Goddamn, why can’t they just use words properly? She was slumped on a wooden desk with a notebook full of random doodles in front of her. The young woman had an incredibly bored look on her face, and held a pencil between her upper lip and nose.

Me: [F]

Counter Girl: [Oof.]

Counter Girl: [I’m bored.]

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Counter Girl: [Chat with me.]

Me: [no]

Counter Girl: [Oi!]

Counter Girl: [What are you doing right now?]

Me: [reading]

Me: [but someone keeps interrupting me]

Counter Girl: [You actually can read?]

Counter Girl: [Color me surprised!]

Counter Girl: [What are you reading?]

Counter Girl: [Sports magazine?]

Counter Girl: [Porn?]

What the hell? Her filter malfunctioned once again, or so it seems.

Me: [old classic]

Counter Girl: [Oh!]

Counter Girl: [Is it interesting?]

Counter Girl: [What is it about?]

Deciding that I won’t be able to continue my reading until I appease her boredom. Well, chatting with her was far from an unpleasant pastime. So, I retold her a synopsis and a bit of my own impression about the plot and characters. Then our conversation went to the books in general. Then to another topic.

Soon enough, I forgot about the book altogether.

***

More time went by. It was around half past five in the afternoon when my doorbell rang. Not going to lie, there was quite a bit of hope in me at who exactly it could be. Deciding not to waste time, I went to open the door.

My hopes actually came true, what an unusual feeling. Before me stood Olivia with a blinding smile on her face. She was dressed in what I can only describe as a standard school uniform. White shirt, a tie, a dark red blazer over her shoulders. Same color simple skirt that she did roll up to appear quite short. Black knee-high socks and simple leather shoes completed the picture. I couldn’t call this outfit all that fashionable, but Olivia was beautiful enough to make it work.

She also brought a suitcase, the kind you usually see in the airports, with her. Oh, I looked forward to seeing her dressed in different styles. And I looked even more to take them off her afterward.

I caught her gaze and smiled, reaching out for a hug.

“Welcome back, Olivia.” I said to my girlfriend-for-rent.

Her smile became even brighter.

“I’m back.” She said and jumped into my arms.

***

It was late evening and after checking the empty fridge, the person of my current interest and I decided to go for a walk and to buy some actual food. Naturally, our choice fell on the familiar convenience store.

Claire was manning the counter again and actually smiled brightly after recognizing the two of us. We responded in kind and went to fill our basket. I absentmindedly looked at cheerful Olivia, who was choosing her favorite brands, since I had no particular preferences. It was another new side of her. How many I’ve already seen? How much more there is? I really looked forward to learning this.

After we took everything on the combined list, ‘Whatever’ of mine and ‘Something’ of hers, our way laid to the counter. This time, Claire decided to first check everything out, but gradually the two girls started a conversation, while completely and naturally excluding yours truly. What the heck. As much as I liked the sound of their voices as well as the animated expressions on the pretty faces, I was a bit bored here!

My attention drifted to the near-register shelf of last moment merchandise. Bubble gum. Candies. Razors. Contraceptives.

Talking about the latter. Huh, I should buy some more, my stash was running out. Bless 'Big Pharma' for their innovations in the field!

I mean, one day they just appeared out of nowhere with a hundred percent effective oral contraceptives for both sexes without any side effects. Of course, nobody believed in their claims at first, but after extensive tests it actually appeared to be the real news. Coupled with another product of theirs, that effectively ended humanity’s problem known as STD, including AIDS and HIV, and a bit later the cure for the common cold, they quickly cornered a large chunk of the pharmaceutical market.

And it was only the beginning. Even twenty years later, they came up with new miracle cures every year or two. Cancer, dementia, infertility. You name it, they most likely have a product to cure it. And much cheaper than any other concurrent’s alternatives. How does all of it work? Bite me, no idea whatsoever. Most people just accepted that it does, end of the story.

I grabbed a few packs of the wonder drug, ‘One a day, put the baby boom away’, my word, what the heck is wrong with their CEO’s naming sense? I would love to meet them at least once to ask exactly that. And put it before Claire, who, for some reason, blushed after I did that. Weird girl.