Potions of Love
Chapter 8
Friday, September 23, 2022
Josh had kept up his self-imposed surveillance of Kate off and on Thursday and Friday. She had kept her regular schedule on Thursday, but on Friday, she either skipped her classes, or they were canceled. Regardless, he saw her with that creep, Rick.
"It's evident that Rick didn't take the hint when I talked to him Tuesday night," Josh continues to tell himself,
"I have to finalize some type of a plan to get Rick out of the picture before I call Kate over the weekend."
It's a little after noon when Kate and Rick leave her neuro-lab after finishing the 2nd test of the love potion." Rick walks Kate out to the parking lot and over to her Harley.
"Wow, you had mentioned you have a motorcycle, but I never imagined it would be this cool. Man, what year is it? I think Softails were some of the best models Harley Davidson ever manufactured."
Kate is a little stunned by Rick's knowledge of Harley's but answers him anyway.
"I agree," answers Kate. "This is a 1994 model that I found before I left Cali. I love it so much, and I wouldn't trade it for anything," she laughs. "Just ask my parents."
"Well, it's certainly one of the sharpest machines I have ever seen. Maybe you'll give me a ride sometime?" Rick asks with a bit of mischief in his voice.
Kate's enjoying their verbal exchange as she slips her messenger bag into the saddlebag and pulls out her helmet. She's adjusting the chin strap on her helmet as she throws her leg over the bike and settles into its comfortable padded seat. She looks over to Rick and gives him a megawatt smile, and says, "You never know, pharmacy boy, I just may do that sometime," as she brings the motorcycle to life and pulls away, giving him a big wave goodbye.
Rick returns her wave, watching as she exits the parking lot, thinking they may have somewhat gotten back on track with their relationship. He walks over to his Jeep, gets in, and runs their morning conversations through his mind.
Rick admits he is disappointed with Kate's answer about human testing, but also if he is honest with himself, he understands. She has worked too hard to achieve the level she's at in the neurology program to blow it testing his potion.
Additionally, he's torn about using the potion with Kate. When he mentioned trying the brew on other people, he wanted to suggest that they try it together, but he backed out of sharing that idea with Kate at the last minute.
He doesn't want her to care for him because of some chemical reaction. Neither does he want her to think he's using her and her talents to figure out what makes up this crazy concoction. Moreover, now that she knows about his visit with Madame V, it would be stupid to consider testing it on her without her knowledge.
Even if Kate doesn't agree to further testing, he still needs more of the Potion because he wants to see how it works on other people. After all of his previous comments, he wonders if Madame V would even let him have some more of the elixir? There's only one way to find out.
Rick pulls out of the parking lot and heads back to Madame V's home, unaware that Josh is following him.
In the rear of the parking lot sits a fuming Josh, who has a death grip on his steering wheel. He sat through the exchange Kate had with Rick, only imagining what they might be saying to one another, but he had no problem seeing the huge smile she gave the bum as she left the parking lot.
Josh only has a few more hours to pull his plan together to make Rick look like a real jerk in Kate's eyes. Instead of following Kate as he had planned, Josh decides that he will track Rick and try and figure out what he's up to with this potion he heard them talking about on Wednesday.
He sees Rick pull out of the parking lot, heading away from his apartment. He slowly follows behind him, staying at a discreet distance to not alert Rick that he's being tracked.
After leaving Rick in the parking lot, Kate rode straight back to her apartment. She feels the need to release some energy and try to sort through all of her thoughts and emotions that had occurred during the morning testing with Rick. And for her, the best way to accomplish both of those goals is a ride on the open road.
Kate parks her Harley in front of her apartment and goes inside to prepare for her ride. She dumps her messenger bag on the table by the door, hangs up the coat she wore to the lab, and grabs her leather jacket and her leather chaps. Her stomach growls as she heads to her bedroom to change, so she takes a detour into the kitchen and throws together a roast turkey sandwich, and grabs a bottle of water.
She sits down at her small table by the window to eat her lunch and think about the decision she needs to make regarding testing Rick's potion on other people. When Rick shared his thoughts about the testing, her initial reaction was to shut him down and refuse to participate in any further study on this crazy compound. Even calling it a potion is difficult for her as nothing about this entire process holds any scientific significance in her mind.
Yet, here she sits, thinking about Rick's question. She finishes her lunch and heads to her bedroom to change into her leathers. Hopefully, an exhilarating ride on her Softail will help formulate her thoughts about Rick's question.
Ten minutes later, Kate is heading out her door, ready for a much-needed escape from the current world around her. Instead of going to her usual spot at the nature center, she decides that a ride on the backroads toward Red Wing would be more enjoyable.
Kate takes her usual route out of town and catches Highway 63, heading toward Lake City. Then she would usually take Highway 61 and follow the Mississippi River up to Red Wing, but today she gets sidetracked. She typically passes through Lake City, but today as she nears the center of town, she sees that Eagle Hang Gliding club must be holding an end-of-season event.
She pulls into their parking lot like one of their custom-built gliders is just being towed away from their dock. Eagle Hang has a unique system where a custom-designed boat tows the glider up the river, then once it reaches the desired altitude, it's launched and begins its glide back toward Eagle Hang. With pontoon-type floats attached, the glider lands on the river, and the pilot and his guest are then picked up by the boat and returned to shore. The glide always looks so exciting, and Kate hopes she can take a lesson before she leaves Minnesota.
Between the ride to Lake City and the relaxing time watching the gliders, Kate feels like she's decided on Rick's idea about testing the potion on other people. Instead of waiting until tomorrow, she decides to tell him about her decision today.
Kate heads back toward the center of town and pulls into the Kwik Trip to top off her gas tank. She then goes inside to pay for her gas and gets another bottle of water before heading back to Rochester.
Rick pulls up in front of Madame V's house, still unaware that Josh is following him, and heads up to her front door. He's nervous about how Madame V will react to seeing him again, but he's determined to try and get more of the potion.
Rick knocks on the door and waits for several minutes before Madame V answers. When she sees Rick standing in her doorway, she crosses her arms and glares at him, saying, "What are you doing here, Mr. College hotshot?"
Rick gulps and steps backward, thinking he may have made another mistake. But he's still determined to try and get some more potion, so he says,
"Madame V, I must apologize to you for the comments I made when I was here with Tom and LT. I have done some testing and seen for myself the results of your potion, and if you allow me, I would like to get some more for my personal use."
Rick doesn't think mentioning he wants to do more testing would be a wise idea at this point.
Madame V continues to glare at Rick but steps to the side and motions him to enter her home. Once inside, she leads him back into her parlor and instructs him to sit down in the hard-backed chair.
Madame V takes her chair across from Rick and continues staring at him without saying a word. Rick begins to squirm as he has no idea of her subsequent actions. But before he can speak, she says,
"So, tell me, college boy, was your fancy testing successful with your special lady friend?"
Rick wasn't expecting her to ask about Kate, and he struggled to figure out how to answer. He ends up telling her about his experience with Neddie finding the paper with potion drops on it and how he and Kate have done some tests with her lab mice.
Madame V isn't thrilled that he has tested the potion with animals, making her disdain quite evident. She is also upset that he told someone else about her potion.
Rick tries to explain that Kate was instrumental in helping him with the testing, and now after seeing the results, they both believe the potion is real. And if she will allow him, he would like to purchase more, with the promise he will not tell anyone else about her secret potion. He takes a deep breath and nervously waits for Madame V to answer.
Madame V replies, "I am not happy that you told someone about my precious potion, but if you saw it work and are now a believer, I will honor your request. You stay here!" She gives him another threatening glare then stands moving toward the rear of the house.
Rick releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding and stays in the chair as the gypsy woman demands.
After about 5-minutes, Madame V returns, carrying two bottles. The large bottle with the snake eye-ring, which he notices, also has bright red emeralds embedded in the eyes; and the same smaller aerosol-type vial, but this time it contains some clear liquid. She again takes out her glass tub, draws several potion drops from the large bottle, puts them into the small vial, and shakes the bottle. In her somewhat broken English, she says, "if you're going to run crazy tests, you need potion that is the correct mixture."
Rick thinks Madame V is trying to appear as if she is still disgusted with him, but the closer he looks at her expression, he gets the idea that she is enjoying helping him with his plans.
Rick leaves Madame V's wondering,
"If Kate will agree to test the Potion on other people, would she consider testing it on her and me first?"
He had talked himself out of asking that question earlier, but deep down, he would like to test it with her to learn if the feelings he believes they have for one another are real?
As he drives back to his apartment, he is relieved that he has a few hours to make that decision. Kate had left her lab, telling him she would let him know her decision about further testing on Saturday.
Josh continues to watch Rick as he enters the older woman's home again, assuming he is trying to get more of the potion thing he had heard him talking about with Kate.
Rick is only in her house for about 45 minutes before Josh watches him as he practically runs back to his Jeep and quickly pulls away from the house. Josh knows Rick is up to something, so he decides to follow him and see where he ends up this time.
Josh follows Rick as he heads back toward the campus and then turns in the direction of his apartment. Josh finds a parking slot close enough to Rick's place so he can keep an eye on what the guy is doing. He sees Rick get out of his Jeep and walk to his front door carrying a small bottle.
Again Josh says, to himself,
"What is he doing, and what is this potion that he has talked Kate into testing for him?"
As Josh is sitting watching Rick's apartment from several doors down the street, he hears the roar of a motorcycle. He immediately recognizes that sound and knows who is driving.
Josh is boiling mad as he watches Kate get off of her Harley and head up to Rick's front door.
Kate nervously knocks on Rick's front door, wondering,
"If she should have called ahead to let him know she wanted to see him and talk face-to-face about his idea of testing the potion on other people?"
Rick answers the door, removing any last-minute opportunity for Kate to change her mind about her unannounced visit.
Rick is shocked when he sees Kate standing at his front entrance. He quickly gathers himself back together and graciously invites her in.
"Kate, hi! I wasn't expecting to hear from you until tomorrow." he awkwardly says.
Kate smiles but sees his nervousness and replies, "I'm sorry, if this isn't a good time for you, I can wait until tomorrow as we originally planned."
Rick quickly reacts and says, "No, No, this is great," and welcomes her in to sit down in his living room.
Kate gets right to the point. "After thinking more about your idea of testing the Potion on other people, I've decided to go along with your plan, with one slight change. I think we should first try it on ourselves, so we know what to expect before introducing it to others." Suddenly, Kate's confidence in her earlier decision wanes as she watches Rick and his initial reaction.
Rick stands in front of Kate with a dazed expression, not believing what he just heard her say. It takes about thirty seconds before what she said sinks in regarding his testing idea. Then his demeanor changes, and he asks, "When would you like to try it?
It's Kate's turn to be shocked as she hadn't anticipated making that decision so soon. But before she can respond, he gets up and heads into his bathroom, and promptly returns with a small vial.
Rick stands in front of Kate, holding the small bottle with a look of anticipation, and says, "I was hoping you would change your mind, so I went ahead and got some more potion. Madame V gave me a bottle that has already been diluted and is ready to go."
Kate questioningly says. "Madame V? Have you seen her again?"
Rick is excited and says, "Yea, she gave me more potion after I told her you were also interested in how it works."
Kate shakes her head and asks, "Are you sure this is the real thing?"
Rick grins, replying, "Most definitely. And if you're serious about us trying it first, we could do it now if you are game?"
Kate wasn't expecting this, but if they are going to test it, it might be better to do it here rather than in her lab, so she hesitantly says, "Okay, I guess it's better to do it here rather than somewhere on campus, where others could see us."
Rick and Kate talk for a few minutes, deciding how best to proceed. Madame V had said for the guy to spray the potion in his mouth and then kiss the woman or whisper the word 'perfect' in her ear. Since Kate isn't ready to kiss Rick, they decide, he will spray the concoction in his mouth and then lean over and whisper in Kate's ear.
They both move to sit next to one another on Rick's couch, and the testing begins.
Rick takes the vial and squirts a small amount of the mixture on his tongue, then he leans over to Kate, whispering the magic word 'perfect' into her ear. Then both of them sit back, looking at each other, neither knowing for sure what to expect next, having no idea that Josh is watching their entire 'experiment' through Rick's living room window.
After watching Kate go into Rick's apartment, Josh sneaks up to the side window to try and see what is going on. He watches Rick squirt something in his mouth, lean in, and say something to Kate. After several minutes, they reach for one another, starting a major make-out session. Josh explodes and runs back to his car before he does something that could get him arrested.
Rick is trying to time their reactions using his watch, but he's finding it rather challenging as he is beginning to feel the Potion's effects. He looks over at Kate and sees her staring straight ahead but notices she is shifting on her cushion next to him. Rick decides to move down to the other end of the couch and give them some space to deal with the reactions they are experiencing personally.
About 10-minutes later, their feelings get more robust, and they look at one another with wide-open eyes. With no resistance from Kate, Rick pulls her into a very passionate kiss that rocks both of them. They pull apart, and Kate seems to gain control and maintain enough sense to realize the potion is working.
She looks at Rick and knows he wants to kiss her again, and she feels the same way but stands and moves to the backside of the couch, trying to put some space between the two of them. Kate attempts to talk to Rick and get him to settle down, but he reaches over the back of the couch and draws her around and back into his embrace. Again, Kate doesn't resist and admits that she's enjoying their testing. They go back and forth like this for about 90 minutes.
Finally, after several more passionate make-out sessions, they both pull back to get some air, and Kate can sense that they need to stop before things get entirely out of control. She moves away from Rick and tries to talk him into calming down. She isn't having much success, so she heads into his kitchen to get a couple of bottles of water, hoping that will distract him enough to listen to what she is trying to say.
Rick has been watching Kate's every movement, and the minute she walks back into the living room, he stands and attempts to pull her into his arms. But instead, Kate ducks out of his reach and places the cold bottle of water in his hand. The slight distraction enables Kate to say, "Rick, we have to slow this train down. Remember, we are experiencing a reaction to a chemical; it's nothing natural. We need to stop before this goes too far."
Her tone is stern enough that it seems to penetrate Rick's thoughts, and he stops moving toward her, follows her lead, and begins drinking his water. Rick then looks at his watch, trying to remember when their reactions had started. The best he can guess is that this 'episode,' if you want to call it that, has been going on for almost three hours. As he is watching Kate, he believes her reaction is beginning to dissipate, but as for himself, he's still experiencing strong feelings for Kate.
Kate senses that Rick is preparing to move toward her once again, and she places her hands on his chest and pushes him back down on the couch. He reaches out and tries to pull her down with him, but her reactions are faster, and she moves over to sit at his small dining table.
Neither speaks for several minutes until Rick finally says, "Wow, I guess we can theorize that the potion does work on humans!"
Kate chuckles and says, "Yea, I think I could agree with that hypothesis!"
Rick and Kate laugh and finally feel like the potion is beginning to wear off. So far, the time frame for their test has been a little more than 3 hours, but Rick knows he doesn't feel like he is completely back to normal yet, as he again looks at Kate with a rather ornery smile on his face.
Kate is surmising that the potion may last longer in males than in females, as she is sensing that she's about back to normal but can tell that Rick could quickly go another round if she allowed it.
"Now, what are our next steps?" She thinks to herself.
Kate suggests that they meet back at her lab, do some additional testing with the mice, and get more data on how the potion works. She also thinks they should try and do a blood test on both mice after they come down from their sexual highs.
Rick would like to try the potion again with Kate, but she refuses at this point, and her reluctance reminds him that he wants the natural Kate, not the drug-induced version. They agree to do their additional testing Monday afternoon after their classroom labs.
After this experience, Rick is more determined than ever to ask Kate out on an actual date, but he needs to respect her request not to have any personal contacts right now. It's not a decision he agrees with, but he knows if he pushes her, things could turn out badly for both of them.
While Rick has his internal struggles with his feelings for Kate, she moves toward his front door to get her helmet and jacket. She slips into her jacket, places her helmet under her arm, then reaches out to Rick, giving him a quick hug. Then, she wishes him a good weekend and says she will see him at labs on Monday morning.
Rick is surprised by Kate's hug but hopeful that it is a sign that their relationship is moving in the right direction. He stands in his doorway, watching as Kate leaves on her Harley.
Wow, he thought she was hot before when he watched her ride away from her lab, but seeing her on her bike in leathers blows him away. He shuts the door, knowing that this will be a very long weekend.
A/N - Our next chapter will include interactions between Josh and Kate. A little nugget, things aren't so good for Josh.