Cleo's eyelids fluttered as she breathed in the scent of the ambergris that still clung to the shirt. Quickly, before Lewis had a chance to dodge her, she stepped up to Lewis and pushed herself up against him, pinning the scented shirt in between them. A huge smile spread across her face and her eyes lit up brightly. She leaned into Lewis so closely that Lewis could have counted her eyelashes and took another long breath. A second later, she wrapped her arms around Lewis's neck and pulled him close to her as tightly as she could.
Lewis let out a high-pitched, very nervous giggle. His heart was beating extremely fast. He knew exactly why Cleo was acting this way, and he knew that he ought to put an immediate stop to it, but...
Here was the perfect opportunity to observe the effects of the ambergris up close, right? In reality, he would be a very poor scientist if he ended this now, before he could record any (Lewis shivered as Cleo blew in his ear) data.
"Um, Cleo?" Lewis put both hands on Cleo's shoulders and gently removed her arms from his neck.
Cleo backed up very slightly, still beaming at him. Her smile was bright and open as she gazed up at Lewis.
Lewis looked into Cleo's eyes, trying not to notice how deep they were. He spoke slowly. "Do you know where you are right now?"
Cleo didn't answer with words. She answered by leaping forward, pinning Lewis against the washing machine and pressing her lips against his.
All thoughts of being a good scientist and observing the effects of the ambergris immediately flew from Lewis's mind as he returned Cleo's kiss. He gripped her waist in his hands and closed his eyes, allowing himself to lose himself even further in the moment.
Cleo kissed him enthusiastically, occasionally pausing to giggle. Lewis smiled, remembering how much he liked being close to her.
'It's the ambergris.' Lewis reminded himself. 'This isn't Cleo.' Lewis tried to make himself stop kissing her, but his mouth didn't seem to want to listen. 'Ok.' He thought to himself, 'I'm going to stop her. I am. I mean, I will, in just a few more seconds-'
"Lewis?" a voice shouted from the doorway.
Lewis looked up, totally shocked, his lips still puckered.
Charlotte stood at the doorway to the laundry room with her hands on her hips and a look of death on her face.
"Hiiiiiiii Charlotte!" Lewis said with a bright but incredibly guilty voice.
"What do you think you're doing?" Charlotte exclaimed shrilly.
Cleo draped herself around Lewis's neck as he stammered. "I...uh, well... I was... doing some scientific research." Lewis looked at Charlotte hopefully.
Charlotte's eyes were locked on Cleo. "Scientific research, huh?" She said bitterly. "Well factor this into your results. Goodbye, Lewis. For good." Charlotte spun on her heel and stalked out of the room.
"Goodbye Charlotte!" Cleo said dreamily as she petted Lewis's face with both of her hands.
"Charlotte, wait!" Lewis tried to dash after her, but he couldn't move very quickly with Cleo attached to him. The brown shirt feel to the floor, but the ambergris had already rubbed off onto Lewis. By the time Lewis made it to the front door, Charlotte was gone.
"Well that's just great." Lewis sighed.
"Everything is great." Cleo cooed happily. Suddenly, her face fell. "Lewis, do you like her more than me?" She cried dramatically. "You do! Don't you!"
Cleo clutched Lewis tightly to her. "I'll make you forget all about her." She said determinedly. "Oh, Lewis," Her voice became quiet, "I'll make you mine."
And with that, Cleo pulled Lewis in for another kiss, this one a bit rougher than the one before.
Lewis felt himself drifting away again, but he somehow managed to snap himself out of it.
"Cleo," Lewis managed, with a raspy voice. "I need to tell you something."
"Oh Lewis, I love you too," Cleo whispered without opening her eyes.
Her statement stopped Lewis short. He had so badly wanted to hear Cleo say those words for such a long time. Still, this was no time for that. Cleo would tell a lamp post that she loved it if it smelled like ambergris.
"No, no, Cleo, I need you to focus. Focus on me." Lewis spoke calmly.
"Gladly." Cleo grinned.
All of a sudden, it seemed like Cleo had a dozen arms instead of only two. Lewis tried to keep her arms down at her side, but she kept slipping them around his neck. And up his shirt. And down his pants- Lewis caught that hand immediately.
Lewis spoke slowly. "Cleo, do you remember earlier this week, when you three girls were attracted to Nate because of that perfume that Zane found? Ambergris?
Cleo's eyes wandered down to Lewis's chest as he spoke. "You've got great pecs." She murmured, running her hands across his chest.
"Cleo, focus." Lewis managed.
Lewis took both of Cleo's hands and held them firmly in front of him. This took superhuman effort, not because Cleo was stronger than him, but because Lewis didn't want her to stop.
"Cleo," Lewis said reluctantly. "You don't mean this-"
"Oh yes I do." Cleo said enthusiastically. "Of course I do! Lewis, I don't want you to ever leave my side."
"Oooohh... Cleo..." Lewis was having a really hard time focusing. Somehow he managed to pull himself together. "We really need to fix this."
"Yes." Cleo's eyes pierced Lewis's. "Let's 'fix' this." Cleo's hands slid over Lewis's chest and started to slide down towards his..."
"Cleo!" Lewis's voice went all high pitched. "We need to go upstairs."
"Great idea." Cleo leaned in so that Lewis could smell her perfume. "Let's... go upstairs." She winked at Lewis seductively.
"OH." Lewis realized what Cleo was saying. "No, I didn't mean... well I didn't mean that. I mean, I need to take a shower."
"That sounds like fun." Cleo's face lit up as she ran her hands down Lewis's back.
"No!" Lewis practically shouted. He composed himself quickly, breathing hard. This was really hard. "I mean, I need to take shower. You need to just wait. By yourself."
Cleo's face went from ecstatic to morose. "You don't want me to shower with you?"
"No." Lewis said quickly. "I mean, yeah I do, but no. Cleo, I need you to wait for me while I take a shower."
"No." Cleo had a mischievous look on her face.
"No?" Lewis repeated dumbly.
"No." Cleo said with a smile. "You aren't going anywhere without me."
Lewis gave a bit of nervous laughter. "Ah, yes I am."
Moving slowly, Lewis made his way up the steps with Cleo attached to his right arm. He brought her into his bedroom and sat her down on his bed.
"I love your bed." Cleo rolled over on the comforter, sighing with happiness.
"Good." Lewis said nervously. "Now, you just stay here. Right here. Don't move. Ok?"
Cleo was too busy wrapping herself up in the pillowy comforter to answer Lewis. Lewis took the opportunity to sneak down the short hall to the bathroom. He quickly twisted the knob on the shower and got the water running. Then, moving as quickly as possible, he pulled off the shirt he was wearing and chucked off his pants.
"Lewis!" The voice made Lewis jump a mile. He looked up to see Cleo peeking in through the bathroom door.
"Cleo!" Lewis was still wearing his boxers, but he crossed his arms over himself anyway. "What are you doing?"
Cleo burst into the bathroom. "I'm being with you." She said matter of factly. "Lewis, I never want to be without you."
"That's great." Lewis muttered, brainstorming as fast as he could. "But Cleo, I really do need to take a shower."
"Then I'll shower with you." Cleo stated.
"No, Cleo, you can't take a shower." Lewis said carefully.
"Because you don't like me." Cleo's happy expression dissolved into one of dispair.
"No! It's not that at all!" Lewis comforted her. "But Cleo, if you step into the water in the shower you'll..." Lewis's voice trailed off as he looked at her meaningfully.
Cleo's face was blank. "I'll what?"
Lewis's eyes widened. "You'll... turn into a mermaid?"
Realization hit Cleo's eyes. "Oh, that." She shook her head. "That's ok, I don't mind."
"Actually..." Lewis said under his breath. "That's not such a bad idea."
Self consciously, Lewis quickly redressed. "Cleo," He said. She was sitting on his bedroom floor watching him dreamily.
"Yes?" She whispered.
"Do you want to go for a swim?" Lewis opened his bedroom door.
"No." Cleo said, surprising him.
"Ah, you don't?" Lewis had been sure that Cleo would want to swim in the ocean.
Cleo stood, walked over to the door, and firmly swung it shut with one hand. "I don't want to swim. I want to stay right..." Cleo took a step closer to Lewis. "Here." She took another step.
Lewis couldn't seem to catch his breath as he looked into Cleo's eyes. "Cleo..." His words trailed off.
"Yes, Lewis?" Cleo's words dripped with affection.
"This isn't you." Lewis spoke with his eyes closed. "You need to stop." Lewis took a step back.
"I don't want to." Cleo matched his step by following him. "Let's stay in here for a while." Cleo's suggestive voice caused chills to run down Lewis's spine.
At that moment, Lewis's phone rang. He practically sprinted to pick it up off the bedside table and flipped it open.
"Zane!" Lewis didn't think he'd ever been quite so relieved to hear his voice. "Listen, I need you to come over to my house. Right now."
Cleo stood behind Lewis with her arms linked around Lewis's middle. She tucked her face into Lewis's face as he talked into the phone, and after a few seconds she began gently nibbling on his ear.
"Ok. And I mean NOW." Lewis said emphatically as he clicked the phone shut. "Zane will be here soon." He told Cleo, trying to pull her face from his neck.
"I don't want Zane, I want you." Cleo was relentless, running her hands over Lewis's back.
Zane would be there soon. If anything, he could hold Cleo down while Lewis showered, Lewis thought to himself. With two against one everything would be solved soon enough.
Lewis checked his watch. If Zane came straight from his house to Lewis's, he would be there in less than ten minutes.
Ten minutes. Lewis looked at Cleo. This might be his last chance to be with her. He thought he knew how he could fill those ten minutes...
Lewis reached for Cleo. The pair embraced as if they hadn't seen each other in years. For the moment, Lewis forgot about Charlotte, he forgot about the ambergris, he forgot about everything. He lost himself in Cleo.