Carol's Condition - Lisa's Story

This is a work of fiction. All characters engaging in sexual acts are 18 or older. In my fictional world, there are no STDs. My characters may act in fictional and irrational ways. Comments are always welcome. This a follow-up to Carol's Condition - Kevin's Story and it will make more sense if you read that one first. This one takes a while to get going. If young-mature or female-female sex makes you uncomfortable please move on. My thanks to my editor/beta reader DawnJ. Any remaining errors are my own.

Lisa's Story

Kevin had put in for a personal day last Friday and I had a strong hunch that he'd spent the day at Brian's house. Brian had been here at work so Kevin had been alone with Carol. Just the thought of that name caused me to squeeze my thighs together as I felt myself get wet. Damn it, Lisa get yourself together. You've put all that behind you, I scolded myself. Why then was I sitting in Kevin's chair waiting to grill him on his weekend? Why in the back of my mind was I hoping for any new scrap of information about her?

*******************

Lisa

I'd always been a 'good girl'... always prepared at school, always got good grades, always did my chores, and helped around the house. But we were the townies in a small farming community so I'd been considered a little different, not part of the group. From preschool on, I'd only had one good friend, the daughter of the math teacher at the high school where my Dad was the principal. Still, Laura was my bestie and I didn't care that the farm kids kept away from us.

But then disaster struck. In the summer between fifth and sixth grade, I got my period and my boobs came in like all at once. Then Laura's Dad took a job with a larger school district and they moved, leaving me all alone. Starting sixth grade was the worst time ever. Stupid boys kept bumping into me and the girls all gave me the evil eye or avoided me all together. But the ultimate humiliation came when I was sent home by Mrs. Green for 'being a distraction'. Mom read the note from Mrs. Green, looked me up and down, and nodded her head a bit. From then on, it was heavily padded bras or when I just couldn't stand it anymore, hoodies or heavy cable sweaters.

Middle school was worse. Girls can be cruel and, when they were scared that their boyfriends were paying more attention to me than to them, they became vindictive. Someone spread Vasoline in front of my locker. I slipped and tore a new pair of pants and bruised my tailbone. I learned to sweep my chair for tacks before sitting and to personally turn in my homework rather than pass it forward like everyone else. By high school, I was counting the days until I could get the hell out of town.

In high school, the boys came on strong. Big boobs equated to 'easy' in their pea brains and they lined up to try their luck. I turned them all down. Mom and Dad were dismayed and encouraged me to be 'more social', and wondered why didn't I date Bobby or George or Carl.

Why didn't I want to date the same bastards who had made my life a living hell for the last twelve years? I have a good memory and I cataloged every insult and prank at my expense. Yeah, no thanks, not interested in being 'more social' with this band of asshole 'brothers'.

I wanted to go to college and get a degree, but we didn't have the money for that. I didn't have the grades for a scholarship, plus schools wanted you to have a resume of extracurricular activities and/or sports and I didn't have those, either. My parents had believed I'd marry a George or Carl and set about making grandchildren for them. I just wanted out.

Uncle Paul and Aunt Judy were my saviors. Christmas of my senior year, Aunt Judy said if I was looking to make a new start in the city, I could live in their basement until I got set up on my own. I didn't even check to see if it was alright with Mom and Dad, I had a plan, and I was doing it. I think would have moved the day of my last exam, but Mom made me stay until after I went through the graduation ceremony.

Aunt Judy had shamed Dad into buying me a car so I could get around and find a job. So, in the first week of June, I packed everything I owned into my nine-year-old Toyota Corolla and headed to the city.

Two months later, I was the new administrative assistant for Grant Engineering's HR department. Six months later, I called a number I found on a bulletin board at Ray's grocery and I moved into an apartment with Monica and Jess. To my eighteen-year-old mind, Monica and Jess were the ultimate in cool. Sophisticated and witty without trying, they seemed to have the world by the horns. I could not believe they would let frumpy boring Lisa Weller live with them. I finally had friends to talk to, friends who didn't conspire against me.

*******************

One of my duties in HR was to get signatures on forms from employees. So, I was standing by Brian Osterman's desk watching him sign the patent assignment forms I'd been given. As an employee, the inventions Brian came up with belonged to the company, but he had to sign over his patent rights. In return, the company gave him a dollar each and ordered a patent plaque for the main conference room.

Once Brian was done signing, I bent over and signed each form on the witness line.

"Hey, if you're not busy today, a few of the guys are going to On Deck for lunch."

I looked at Brian. "Okay, that sounds good."

Walking back to HR, I wondered what the invitation meant. There was no way a super-smart engineer like Brian was interested in a schoolgirl like me. But... maybe. I felt myself blush.

Lunch was fun. Brian tried to explain what his latest invention did but, I didn't even understand the purpose of the system that it was installed in. I just watched his eyes get excited as he explained his widget. He was usually very reserved but here he was animated and used his hands to explain how the gas and air moved and were controlled. I forgot to eat most of my burger.

Stealing a look at Brian's file when I got back, I was disappointed to find that he was married. Figures! Well, scratch that one off the list.

At home that afternoon, I was telling Monica and Jess about my lunch 'date'.

"So, was he cute?" Monica asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, but he's married. I don't even know why he asked me. He can't be interested in me. I couldn't follow half of what he and the other guys were talking about."

"Lisa, believe it or not, people who work together sometimes have lunch together too, to... how do I say this, just have lunch." Monica laughed.

"Or there could be another answer," Jess gave me a grin. "Tell me again. When did he ask you to lunch?"

"Uhmm, when I was witnessing his signature on the patents assignments."

"And were you sitting next to him or across the table?"

"No, I was leaning over his desk. Why?"

Monica and Jess exchanged a look and burst into laughter. "Well, he may not be interested in you but I can think of a couple of things he might have been interested in." Jess shook as he laughed.

My face turned red. I realized that when I had bent over to sign the forms, I had given Brian a full view down my blouse. Fucking guys. Fuck you, Brian Osterman. You're just like the assholes back home. I made a vow to avoid him in the future and to dress more conservatively.

*******************

Brian

What are you doing? I thought. You know you can't make friends with that girl. Friends are bad. Friends complicate things. Friends cause problems. I have to protect Carol. I repeated the personal mantra I'd developed over the last nine years.

Brian swallowed hard remembering 'The Talk' he'd had with Carol's father years ago.

"Brian we need to talk about Carol," Bob had said putting his hand on Brian's shoulder.

"Okay," said Brian grinning. "It's a little early for the what are my intentions' speech isn't it?"

"Oh I know you two have only had three dates, but unfortunately it's a little too late for that speech."

"What do you mean? What's wrong? Is Carol sick? Is she dying?" Brian was suddenly concerned.

"Let's go into the conference room and I'll explain."

Brian followed Bob with a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. He already had strong feelings for Bob's daughter and he was sure she felt the same about him.

Brian sat and looked at Bob. "Don't string it out, Bob. Just rip the bandage off and let me have it," he said, steeling himself for the worst.

"Well, Brian you know how they say swans mate for life? How they bond and form a union forever?"

"Yeah, I've heard that." Brian wondered where this was going.

"Well, Carol has formed that kind of bond with you. You're all she talks about and she's making plans for your future together."

"Well, thanks for the warning Bob but I'm sure it's just a schoolgirl crush. She'll calm down after a while. Like you said we've only had three dates. We hardly know each other. Damn, you had me worried I thought you were going to tell me she had cancer or something."

Bob gave Brian a tight-lipped look and continued. "Brian I'm sorry but we've had some experience with this bond thing with Carol's older sister. It's not a crush and she isn't going to calm down."

"So after just three dates, she has decided I'm the one? She's going to be my mate for life? She's going to make a nest for me and expect me to provide for her and the chicks? I don't have a say in this?" I was confused and a little angry with the way this conversation was going.

"Well, we are not sure Carol had any part in deciding when or who to bond to. We think it just happens and she suddenly just knows that you are her mate. It's like a switch in her brain is turned on. And then, snap, your life is her life, your goals are her goals and your desires are her desires. She's been after me every night to tell her everything I know about you."

Bob had noticed the growing frustration in my eyes. "So what if I don't want this? I'm only twenty-two. I'm not ready to be tied down. We've only seen each other three times."

"Are you telling me you don't have any feelings for Carol? Because, well from her standpoint it's already a done deal. So if you don't want to be with her you'll need to break it off immediately. You'll have to distance yourself from her, maybe even move out of town. After what I've seen with her sister I have to tell you that I'm not sure what breaking the bond will do to her." Bob's shoulders slumped and started to look a little defeated.

"Jesus Bob, are you asking me to commit to your daughter right now? You want me to marry her? Is this your idea of a joke? It's not very funny." Surely there has to be some way out of this.

"No, no joke. What I want you to do is spend this weekend thinking about this and your feelings for Carol. I know this is sudden and is a huge decision. We'll talk some more on Monday. I'm going to ask that you not see Carol until you have thought it over. Go home and see your folks and think about what you want."

I walked back to my desk confused and mystified. Bob wasn't a practical joker and he'd been far too serious. I knew this was real. Damn, this beautiful girl, who I barely knew, wanted me to be her mate. I got excited thinking about that. But damn, I thought I was just getting started playing the field.

I didn't go home to see my folks that weekend. I sat and watched the ball game eating pizza and thinking. On Saturday morning, I waited until I was pretty sure Mom would be out and I called home.

"Hi Dad, how are you?"

"Doing pretty good, can't complain. How are things with you?"

"Dad, how did you know Mom was the one?" I asked getting right into it.

"Oh, this is a serious call. Hold on a minute let me turn off the TV." I heard Dad fumbling with the remote and then the TV went silent. "Okay, I'm back. Don't you want to wait until your mother is home for this discussion?"

"No Dad, I'm not ready for the two-hundred-question interrogation. I'm just looking for some advice. How did you know Mom was the one?"

Dad laughed. "Well, Brian, to be completely honest, I didn't know. I guess we never talked about this but your mother asked me to marry her, not the other way around."

"What? I never heard that before." I couldn't picture my shy quiet mother, who never made a decision without consulting my father first, asking for my Dad's hand in marriage.

"Well, it's true. She said she had made up her mind five months before and she just got tired of waiting on me to come to the same realization. Told me I had a week to say yes or she'd pack my bags and kick me out."

I'm learning a lot about my Mom and Dad. I didn't know that they had lived together before they got married. "Wow! So other than the threat of losing a place to live why did you say yes?"

"Well, Brian, let me ask you some questions about this woman you're calling about."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Is she a friend and a lover or a lover and maybe a friend?"

"Definitely the former. We haven't been too physical so far."

"Really! So, I guess this isn't a shotgun wedding situation. So do you see her as a partner or are you feeling like her protector?"

"No Dad, there is no bun in the oven. I guess I would say she could be my partner. She's very smart."

"Is she independent and has her own career? Is she pushing you for a ring?"

"No, she still lives with her parents. She just graduated high school last year. She turns nineteen in a couple of months."

Dad let out a big sigh. "Brian four years is a big age difference when you're eighteen."

"I know Dad but..."

"What do her parents think? Have you met them? Do they know things are getting serious?"

"It was her father who introduced us. I work with him. Bob's the VP of Marketing here."

"I see. How long have you been seeing this girl?"

"About five weeks now."

Dad didn't say anything for a long time.

"Dad?"

"Brian, I'm just going to channel your mother here." He paused, "Brian, get your head out of your ass. You're taking advantage of this girl and it's way too soon for any talk of commitment," he said in a high-pitched voice.

We both laughed because Mom would have said it exactly that way.

Dad went on. "Honestly, I'm really surprised. This doesn't sound like you at all. But you're a grown man and you have to make your own decisions. She must be something special if you're thinking about popping the question. I know you and I trust that you'll do what is best."

Well, at least I'd confirmed what my parents would think.

I dreamed about Carol every night.

On Monday I walked into Bob's office. "Okay, I'm in," I blurted out, surprising myself and Bob. But I couldn't keep the smile from my face.

Bob nodded and motioned for me to close the door.

"Son, I'm sorry to say that making that decision was the easy part. Have a seat and let me give you the rough part."

Bob proceeded to tell me that as a part of this bond - Bob called it her condition - Carol would want to make sure that everyone that I liked would like her, as well. Everyone I loved would love her as well. She would crave this approval and would use close physical contact to make sure it happened. She wouldn't have complete control over her actions but would be fully aware of her emotions. In short, she would want to be 'involved' in every relationship I had.

"Sounds like an addiction Bob," I said. "Isn't there some therapy she could, or we could go to?"

"Brian, if her sister Sherrie is any indicator, this bond just grows stronger over time. Sherrie won't even talk about going to therapy. She says she knows what is right for her and Jake. She says she and Jake are happy with their lives the way they are."

"So, Sherrie is 'close' to everyone Jake is?" I made air quotes when I said 'close'.

"Yes. And I have to warn you. When I say close physical contact I mean in the biblical sense."

"You what?"

"Brian, on Friday you said to just rip the bandage off, right? This is it. If you go forward with Carol she'll want to sleep with everyone you are close to. I see you hanging around with Kenny and Bill and Bryan. She'll want to have sex with each of them and will continue to want to as long as you're friends with them."

"And if I'm not friends with them?"

"Then she will have no interest in them. This condition doesn't make her into a nympho or a slut. She just is compelled to be intimately involved in your relationships with others. Those you feel close to and have warm feelings for."

I just sat there, stunned.

I had to spend a week wrapping my mind around what Bob had told me. I researched online but found nothing about the 'condition'. I spent another week thinking and deciding.

Bob finally couldn't wait any longer and called me into his office.

"Brian, I got to ask you to let me know what you are thinking. My little girl is climbing the walls. She says she hasn't spoken to you and you don't return her calls. I had to pull her out of my car this morning before I left for work. If she knew where you lived she'd be camped on your doorstep."

"Bob, did you set me up?"

"What do you mean?"

"You introduced me to Carol. You pushed us together. You wanted us to date. I'm asking you straight up, did you trap me in this?"

"Brian, I swear I had no idea that Carol had the same condition as Sherrie when I introduced her to you. I knew you were a good guy. I knew you were smart and I had heard that you had a bright future here. I didn't know where it would lead but yeah, I was looking for a good match for my baby girl. But I give you my word I didn't know about the bond until it was too late."

"Well, I've made a list of thirty-seven people that I feel I have a personal relationship with. I've decided I can lose most of those because there is no way I'd bring Carol into those friendships in the way you described. But I'll need your help."

"What do you need?"

"I need you to help me find a job with another engineering company. If I'm going to be with Carol we're going to leave here and not look back."

"I'll do what I can, Brian. I'll make it happen. And thank you. And Brian, call Carol. I can't believe I saying this but go get her and take her home with you. She's driving her mother and me nuts."

And that is how I came to Grant Engineering and why I have no friends.

*******************

Lisa

I was sitting minding my own business, drinking my coffee when Brian sat down across from me.

"Hey, Lisa. I haven't seen you around for a while."

I thought about throwing the coffee in his face. But then, I didn't know if he had looked down my blouse. Be a grownup, Lisa.

"Hi, Brian. Yeah, they have been keeping me busy in HR for the last couple of weeks."

We talked for five minutes and I noticed he didn't look at my boobs once. I smiled and thought maybe he wasn't such an asshole.

*******************

Brian,

Friends are bad. Friends complicate things. Friends cause problems. I have to protect Carol. I thought as I walked away. Why didn't I just keep walking when I noticed Lisa sitting there in the cafeteria, drinking her coffee, by herself? You can't be her friend. I'd already berated myself for ogling her breasts the other day. At first, I'd been sure she had stuck them in my face on purpose. But after watching her face and noticing her actions later at lunch, I was certain she had no idea what she had done. She is just a simple naive young girl. And that's why I'd stopped and had a chat. Something about her sitting all alone. She looked exactly like I felt all the time. Alone and with nobody to talk to.

Thirty minutes later, I punched her extension on my phone.

"Hi Brian, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch today?"