Galatea 2 - Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13: DECONTAMINATION

Vanessa stood motionless within the middle of the room, her mind in a conflicted haze of emotions. The statuesque woman was living up to her stone-chiseled brethren, her body so perfectly still that an inch of air around her seemed to hang in limbo as well. The room was silent, save for stuttered breaths which periodically escaped Vanessa’s shapely lips.

She felt a coldness in her stomach and derriere. While her wave of daily improvements was flourishing within her body, it ultimately rang hollow. Sure, her hair was no longer a tangled mess when she awoke that morning, the concept of bedhead unable to affect her, and yet it felt dirty all the same.

She had been hard on Audrey, that much was clear. It was as if… her body was more concerned with itself than anyone else on campus, including Vanessa herself. Her mind was split in two, but that was an ineffective description. It was as if there were a second mind that had wrapped around her own, suffocating her thoughts and feelings and replacing them with cruel and impulsive ones. A toll booth of nitpicks and critiques that her neurons had to pass through, except there were no nits to pick, her mind was rotten with lice all the way down to its core.

But while her mind was in a furious battle with itself, her body wasn’t going to let this freeze-up hinder it for too long. As if each of her legs possessed minds of their own within their endless length, they began to walk Vanessa toward her room.

This is no time to sulk, Vanessa. A thought that had all the makings of hers yet wasn’t expressed itself. You need to keep up with your body’s demands or else you’ll fall behind!

Vanessa’s arms pulled some yoga pants from her drawer, inching them up over her firm, rounded hips. Even with great care to ensure they would not tear, she could feel the threads hugging her thighs for dear life. They’d sooner cut off her circulation if every part of her body was not so impossibly tough. A similar problem was faced upon slipping her favorite tank top over the swells of her prodigious breasts.

A double-edged sword, perhaps! As while her top threatened to burst with every lungful of oxygen, a prominent display of sideboob peaked from either side. Not to be outdone, a sizable portion of her slender, muscled waist was perfectly captured between her clothing, the exposed midriff like a frame fit for a renaissance painting in the Louvre.

Hopefully, these clothes hold just long enough for me to go to the store to buy some more! Came another manipulative thought from her brain’s new outer crust. Any concern regarding her friends and love life seemed… pointless now. All that mattered was her—and all the beauty in the world that came with that.

No, Audrey was not rightfully angry at her for being dismissive and callous, Vanessa had done nothing wrong at all! Audrey was merely a jealous bitch, one who couldn’t stomach the thought of someone else surpassing her in beauty. Yes, her mind simply would not internalize any alternative.

Finally quelling the thoughts of cowardice from her mind she made for the door, stopping only at the sight of her own radiant sexuality in the doorframe’s mirror. Had she not paused for a fortuitous amount of time, Brian might have missed her all together. Her narcissistic visage was broken at the sight of Brian slamming open the door in a huff, looking as if he had just ran a marathon.

“Oh thank god… *huff* You’re still here… *huff* we need to talk…”

***

Brian found the attempted discussion topic quite hard to approach as every eye in the coffee shop appeared to be on him and Vanessa—specifically Vanessa. Love potions weren’t real, but her body was the closest thing there was to a scientific version of one.

What should have been a quiet little corner of the cafe was upgraded to the echelons of a live stage event as every patron watched with bated breath to see what melodious words would exit Vanessa’s mouth. She seemed aware of this advantageous position as well, her sultry red lips curved upwards into a conniving smile.

Through a herculean effort, Brian finally mustered up the courage to speak his mind.

“Vanessa, we— er, I just want to talk about you and Audrey—”

“Better be careful, Brian,” Vanessa was quick to reply, her voice as condescending sexual as her demeanor. “There’s a lot of people sitting in this cafe that aren’t caught up with Giles’ foray into Viral science. Perhaps it would be advantageous to choose your next word carefully.”

“Is that… are you threatening me, Vanessa?” Brian replied with honest incredulity in his voice. He legitimately couldn’t believe that she was treating this conversation between friends as if it were a tensioned competition with serious stakes.

“Oh no, not a threat, merely a reminder,” she replied deviously, her grin now bearing perfect teeth. “A reminder of how easy it would be to pin all of this illegal body-alteration activity on you and Giles while I, the poor little victim, get off scot-free.” She playfully put her hand up to her head in mock-feint to accentuate her point, contorting her body in her booth.

Brian was flabbergasted at the words exiting Vanessa’s mouth. Had she agreed to meet him in a public area to talk only so that she could use it against him? Was she really that on-guard?

“Vanessa, you… look, I don’t know what you think this conversation is about, but I’m not here to threaten you with anything. I’m genuinely curious as to what your side of the story is here. I’m not trying to paint you as the bad guy or anything at all!”

And then, Brian swore he saw a glimmer of something within Vanessa’s eye. As if there were another side of her that was suddenly unlocked from within the depths. Her smile faltered briefly, sculpted eyebrows following suit. Unbeknownst to him, the war had returned within her mind. And the inner crust was fighting with heightened resolve.

Brian watched confused as Vanessa’s face seemed to switch back and forth between cunning and confused, as if two warring siblings were fighting over a remote control to the TV that was her face, accidentally hitting the channel button several times in the process.

And then, the inner thoughts won and Vanessa burst into tears.

“God, Brian. You have no Idea what it’s like to be around Audrey these past few months! To have my identity essentially stolen by my mousey roommate. I’m… not jealous exactly, I just feel so overshadowed, you know? I just wanted my old life back!”

Brian was already confused before, and this sudden mood swing didn’t help either. All he could do was attempt to patch things up between these two former best friends. While his heart was initially entirely sympathetic to Audrey—and still mostly was—he could see where Vanessa was coming from. Playing devil’s advocate back in the forest turned out to be the right call, as it appeared Vanessa didn’t allow the virus to be ingested with her for purely selfish reasons.

“Vanessa, if what you tell me is true, then please, let me help you!” Brian exclaimed. But at that point, he began to figure that she wasn’t going to be too receptive to his plea.

That glimmer of desperation within her eye had faded, her mouth curling back upwards into a devilish smile, as if charmed by his patheticness.

“Pff, and what makes you think I need your help?” Vanessa replied, not a hint of her former outburst visible on her face anymore. It was as if that were a mere blemish of feelings quickly patched up with foundation and treated as if it did not matter.

“It’s what you deserve, Vanessa,” Brian spoke definitively, puffing out his chest in righteous determination. “After all, you did the same for me when Audrey and I were struggling with our relationship.”

Vanessa just giggled, as if Brian’s foolhardy attempt was just as childish as he often acted. “Brian, I am a goddess, and soon even that generous description won’t be fitting enough to describe what I will become.” Her voice was riddled with insane joy, as if it was ready to burst out into laughter at a moment’s notice.

But Brian was no longer convinced of Vanessa’s confidence, even as she scooted side to side in the booth so he would become enamored by her exquisite, sculpted ass.

Even if Audrey did not want it, nor Vanessa for whatever reason, he knew that deep in their hearts of hearts that this breakup between them was unnecessary. All he could hope for was that he was capable of reuniting them before either girl made it worse.