Fucking Magic - A Potion Problem Ch. 12

Part 12 - The Aftermath

"Holy crap, look at this place." Gwen actually laughed, stretching out, looking like she was emerging on the first warm and wonderful day of summer.

"Yeah it's a... Uh!" Rickee started but lost track of that as I stepped back, my cock slipping out of her.

I'd seen Soap, wanting to climb down but once her grip on the "Order Here!" sign was released she was left to her own two wobbly and VERY over pleasured legs. Two steps forward I was just in time to catch Soap, who pretty much collapsed off the counter. Her tiny, sexy, naked form dropping right into my arms. Her beautiful brown eyes looking into mine, she was dazed but smart enough to quickly understand what had happened. The pretty young thing sort of wiggled into my embrace, like she was settling in for a while.

"You saved me." She said, I nodded, shrugged one shoulder, she looked towards the corner where the creature had... erupted to dust. "You saved all of us!"

"He saved us!" Rickee quickly agreed, nearly tripping over the USB that I had forgotten was still connected to poor Samara. Samara who actually grabbed for it when I retracted it. She didn't actually see it go, because it was done in basically the snap of a finger, but she blinked, licked her lips, and frowned. Feeling at the spot, her eyes... Lonely. Rickee went on, "Crusher saved us!"

"No. We saved us." I tried but it was too late, it seemed, the other two baristas started repeating it too.

"You saved us!" Gwen rolled off the counter and patted my arm, picking up a fallen coffee pot that was plastic so hadn't broken, putting it back where it had come from. It wasn't a random crazy gesture, her pants and panties were under it, now covered in the coffee. "Luckily it's decaf or my pussy would be up all night." She laughed as she pulled them on.

"Yeah!" Rickee giggled. "When Ms. Pink is up all night, I usually have to pet her to sleep."

"Been there girl!" Gwen happily agreed, picking up Rickee's work shirt and apron, not just giving it to her but helping her dress.

They went and got all our clothes next, luckily the bundles were far from the pile of dust. Soap's bra was though, somehow. Gwen picked it up, with just the tips of two fingers. Both her and Rickee shaking their heads, Gwen tossed it into the trash. Made jokes about their co-worker always dressing so trashy. Both of them acting... Drunk. Making too many jokes, laughing hard even though they were all pretty corny jokes. Sometimes I didn't even get the punchline. Stopping every now and again, one of them, usually Gwen, repeating how I had saved them. She basically pulled Soap from my arms. I really only kept holding her because... Well I liked holding her and she hadn't made any indication that she wanted down. Rickee and her put the clothes back on her, the first time starting with the apron. Shaking her head at her co-workers, joined as they moved onto Samara, the three of them quickly dressing the curvy and confused latina.

"Mmm! He saved us and he has a beautiful body and a big cock, still dripping tastey tastey cummy!" Gwen booed her friend (but in a friendly way) as Rickee dropped to her knees before me, her adorable and even more drunk seeming face turned brightly up at me as she cleaned my cock off. With eager and happy licks. Until Gwen pushed her away, laughing. "He saved ME with his cum filled cock. It's still leaking out of me!" Pulling herself up with Gwen's help, they both frowned at me. "Can't find your shirt. I guess it blew away like you blew your load in me."

"It exploded. I felt it! Felt..." Gwen trailing off, not liking the memory at all.

"Explosion!" Rickee catching the word, tasting it along with the remnants of our fluids that she'd sucked off me. "He saved us with..."

"From!" Gwen corrected.

"An explosion!" They both finished.

"I didn't..." I started.

"Shh!" Samara shushed me. "Let's go outside."

"Yes!" The two co-workers agreed, leading the way to the exit.

I had to kick it open, Samara holding the other three back who couldn't seem to figure out why the door opened up an inch and then stopped. The chain trap was helplessly lodged and tangled in the closer. I was glad my shoes had been recovered otherwise I doubt I would have been able to do it. By the time I did get through they were all frantic to get out. I didn't blame them, the cold feeling was still there but there was little pops going off behind us. At first like somebody was popping bubble wrap, towards the end it was like firecrackers. I kept looking back trying to see what machine was breaking down, or if it was the electricity trying to come back on.

"Is there... cameras?" Samara asked, she leaned in and asked me, not the other three. As we hobbled out to and then against her car. The hot chocolate I'd made her spill was evident there, seemed like something that had happened months ago.

"Shit." I growled, turning back, thinking of what the manager would think when they reviewed it and saw what we'd done. I had no doubt there would be no sign of it just like what had happened to the cop's body cam, blurry shapes would just be waved off as artifacts on cheap cameras.

"No! Don't! It exploded!" Luckily Rickee sought me for protection. My instinct was to run in and... I don't know look for something marked DVR or cameras, I couldn't believe it would be tapes still. Rickee caught me though, clung to me, even though I wanted to go in fast because somewhere not that distant a cop was coming with sirens on. If she hadn't caught me I would have been inside, probably, before I would have noticed it. The popping got louder. Enough that we saw blue white lights going off behind the glass of the darkened coffee shop. The dust particles! I saw a whole section on the wall above the trash go off, went up like somebody had dotted the wall with trace amounts of C4. First by the ones and twos, then tens and fifties and thousands until the place was... Melting. Rickee let out a scream, clung to me all the tighter. "You saved us from that!"

"Saved us!" Gwen tucked in as well, purely platonically, or as a way of hitting on Soap who she pulled in. Samara tucked in against me too, from behind, wrapping her arms around my stomach. I was bare chested still, and despite everything, it was nice.

"It's cold." She whispered, loud enough for the group of us to hear.

"Just feels that way." Rickee was unable to deny that the 'fire' was not hot, it was cold. The curvy eighteen or nineteen year old shook her head trying to puzzle it out. "Some kind of special gas or chemical, like the CO2 or something. I'm sure the emergency guys will know, something that... burns... cold."

"Emergency guys and gals will know," Gwen corrected.

"Sure, but... Let's move further away, I'm not a virgin anymore but I don't want to die." We did move further away.

Officer Jack Becker was the first on the scene, deciding not to even dream of going in, once he was told that I had saved everyone in the coffee shop. Hushing the ladies as they tried to tell him the story of how I'd pulled them out before it went up. After that he just kept everyone back while waiting for the firefighters to show up. Rickee did not give up on making it sound like I'd somehow carried all of them at once. Gwen trying to logic out what had happened, deciding that there was a smell or something. That I'd rushed them all out from behind the counter, which saved us from the first explosion. The explosion or gas that had made us feel so cold, then kicked the door open, which had somehow gotten stuck, to allow us to escape just before the really big boom. Only there hadn't been a boom, not until the ladies started talking about it. Then others had agreed that they'd heard it. The big boom before the place had started melting.

By the time the firefighters arrived it was gone, they started to get close but shook their heads and backed away. I could tell that they felt it, the cold. But by then none of our group was talking about "cold fire" anymore. The firefighters mumbled but did what Officer Becker did, kept people back. By then there was more than just emergency response, cars off the street had come in, a couple of the nearby businesses were empty as everyone just watched the coffee shop melt down. I thought about that cold. Wondered if that feeling would go away after a few days, maybe it would take weeks or months. Or holy water, stakes, and burning the remains.

We got checked out by the firefighters, then the paramedics. Gwen and Rickee were given fluids, I guess being stranded without defense from it had taken a toll on them. The news showed up from Cedar Rapids, unsure what it would do to my job back there, I was reluctant to go on it. So most of the interview was me standing there shrugging and trying to downplay it, while Gwen, Rickee, and even Soap (Who said her real name was Sophie but everyone called her Soap.) told the tale. With the news cameras there it got way more embellished in the telling. I was as embarrassed as I was confused.

"Is that what happened?" Samara asked Soap, pulling her aside from the other two when we were left alone again, still waiting for the all clear from the cops.

"Yes!" She said right away, then frowned at Samara and I staring at her, started rubbing her temples. "But also... No?" She licked her lips, as she looked at Samara and I. There was... Lust there. Then, "I... I can't think about it now, I'm so tired. Tomorrow maybe... I'll call you." She took our phone numbers, putting hers into ours. Giving me a bashful sort of look, "Call me."

Rickee circumvented that, befriended me on social media. Inputting Soap's number I saw and accepted. Which was how she sent me a message. Standing off by her own car talking to her parents, who were her emergency contact. They had come to get her and see she was alright.

Rickee Gibbs: I almost died so I'm just gonna say this.

Rickee Gibbs: I want to fuck you again.

Rickee Gibbs: No strings.

Westley Cain: You remember that we did?

Rickee Gibbs: I'll never forget.

Rickee Gibbs: What do you say, again?

Rickee Gibbs: Anytime.

Rickee Gibbs: Anything you want.

Rickee Gibbs: Anything!

I probably should have declined but my labido as of late needed more outlets than my mother and aunt.

Westley Cain: I'm happy to do whatever you want.

She let out a cheer. Then blushed as everyone looked at her, pushing her mom and dad ahead and into their car, climbing in behind.

Westley Cain: You're adorable!

Rickee Gibbs: Embarrassed! god I'm such a goob.

I grinned, then felt.. Looking up at Samara who said, "I almost wish they didn't come back on."

Coming back from somewhere or maybe just waiting for me to look up from my phone to approach. All of our cell phones had been powered off, knocked out in that first energy explosion that had taken out the lights? Maybe in the first second the creature had shown up. Rickee had not stopped trying and when hers eventually turned on we'd tried ours, getting the same results. No problems, they all just sort of turned off.

"Jessica heard. We're all over social media." Motioning to all the bystanders, even though the building was gone and dark, the flashers of emergency vehicles were mostly out, they were still snapping pics and shooting videos. Posting to social media. "I don't think she believes me that we just ran into each other."

"The Statute of Limitations is past." I said, trying to be sure that I was feeling her misery, her worry over ostracizing her best best, or just seeing her pretty face made it clear what she was feeling.

"She's my friend."

"Yeah." I shrugged, showing what I thought about that. "I'm your friend."

"I would like to see you again."

"I would like that too."

"To talk or... Or anything." She blushed and after she said it she hurried off, I felt bad, lining up Samara and Rickee. Maybe even Soap who said to call her, with a tone to her voice.

I blinked and saw mom and Aunt Allison moving to the Fire Captain, who had just finished up with the last orders to secure the scene. The two sisters had made a circuit, talking to every first responder there to make sure all of them cleared me. That none of them knew of something to worry about. The Captain smiled at them, even though she looked tired, spoke to both of them reassuringly. Kept looking my way, I could see that she kept expecting me to be a little kid. That these two women were so worried about, not a grown man.

Mom had already taken my keys, so even though I didn't want to, I wandered over to my Uncle. He was frowning at the two women, checked his watch the same way he had two seconds after the three of them had showed up. As if annoyed before the first minute after arrival was even over with. I didn't want him to fawn all over me like my mom and his wife, but I had nearly been killed in an explosion, as far as he knew, and he was more worried about his sleep schedule.

"Hey," I only said because he looked my way as I steered back to the car, hoping to hurry mom along if she saw us waiting.

"Hey," He said back.

Silence.

"They're both really worried about you." He said.

"Yeah, I'm okay though. Bruise on my hip, but okay. Well... Tired as hell too."

"Even though you said you were okay they cried the whole way over." They probably would have anyway but I felt my stomach get gripped in a gauntlet, at the idea of what they might have said.

"Hmm," Was all I could say.

"Westley?" I blinked, I don't think my uncle had ever said my name in all the years I'd known him, aka my entire life.

"Yes... Uncle Perry?" Turning away from my mom and aunt at the quaver in his voice.

"Are you?" For sure there was some kind of battle going on inside him, he was watching me but not in anger. In... Anguish?

"Am I what?"

"You know."

"I..." I started but he cut me off.

"Please, for the love of god, tell me you're sleeping with her." Uncle Perry said, not angry, no! He was ready to cry!

"W... Wha..?"

"Her! Her! Tell me... Tell me you're sleeping with her." Not disgusted or pissed.

"What?" Not trying to deny anything, just confused because... It sounded like he wanted me to be sleeping with her. And by her we both knew it was his wife he was talking about, but I still played my part. Played dumb. "Who?"

"Allison, my wife, your aunt! Just say you are! Please! Say you are!" I swear he was ready to fall to his knees and beg me to admit it.

"Uncle Perry, she loves you." Knowing that he wouldn't believe me if I told him it was all the fault of a love potion.

"I know. I love your aunt but... I'm a monster! Westley! I've been a monster for years! For longer than you've been alive!" I wanted to tell him he shouldn't use that word, that there were real monsters out there. Then again maybe he was a monster? Some section of my brain trained by horror movies said that HE was it, because that was what the script would call for, to make me a good guy, if he was a bad guy. But of course that isn't what he meant. "A monster and... It would be better if she wasn't so good to me."

"I don't understand. Why... How are you a... monster?" Then, mostly because I knew what real monsters were. "You're not a monster."

"I've been... No, no I can't tell you." He shook his head, looking around as if a dozen people would be pointing at him ala Invasion of the Body Snatchers. "Not here. I can't tell... Anyone. Ever! Just... Just tell her I love her and... I'm sorry." It sounded final, he started digging his keys out of his pocket. "Take your car home. Tell her... Tell her I'm a cheater and she'll never see me again."

A sick part of me nearly shrugged and let him. Thinking about how we wouldn't have to worry about Uncle Perry if he took off. But that sadness. That finality. That's my excuse, my reason. I was worried for his safety and so I... Plugged into him. Freaked me out that I was so quickly getting so reliant on it. Even though I could feel him on the other end, I still was shocked at my wrist with the cord dangling, already plugged into him. I was worried! I glanced around but even if anybody saw it, they wouldn't know what was happening.

"Tell me what makes you think you're a monster?" While urging him up against the car, just to minimize the visibility of the USB.

I could feel it even before he spoke. He was sad but mostly he was relieved.

Through the USB I saw it all.

*****

My uncle smiled as his sister stepped out of her house, giving him a wave. Perry Rowe was freshly married and truly happy with his choice of wives, but his sister stole that away. She was buxom, apple cheeked, and innocently beautiful. I couldn't argue with him on that, she was lovely. Even more was that I could see her as he saw her, could see the hers of the past. All the memories of why this man cared for that woman, with most of his entire being. It was like a guy punch, seeing her push her blonde hair out of her face. The memory was from late fall and the wind was blowing leaves around, that simple act, the smile she threw towards his car afterward. He remembered why he had been avoiding her over the last couple of years, he fucking loved her! And would never ever stop loving her.

Would be with her still but... She had called off their relationship, it had stretched for almost their entire lives. At twenty she had ended it because some boy had asked her out. In a way he didn't blame her, he'd had thoughts of it himself. When his friends bragged about banging girls at parties, or said different things their girlfriends had done for them. He couldn't brag. It was Defluer, back then it was even smaller and they would have known who and when he'd messed around with anybody. So he just pretended to be the loser friend, the virgin. When he had more experience with love, relationships, and sex than they did. Rachel just wanted to go out with a boy instead of staying in and in secret with him.

He had told her no. She had gone anyway. They fought, she said it was just a date but he couldn't help thinking that those fights had done it. He should have just been understanding, let her go on her silly dates. But he'd pushed her into the boy's arms. (Boy that was how Perry would always think of the man.) And just his luck the boy had been a good guy and treated her right, instead of a brief fling they had married within eleven months. Now he felt bad because of all the time hating the love of her life, now the boy had died. Young too, leaving Rachel a widow, for about a year. A year he'd still stayed away, just seeing her at the funeral. A year she'd been all alone. Miserable and alone.

"Oh my god it's so good seeing you." Rachel said, after an inane comment on the weather.

"It's better seeing you."

"It's been a long time." Knowing where his thoughts were, he nodded to that.

"You look good." Eyeing him up and down, not flirting but there was a twinge to her eyes that said... Lots of stuff.

"Me? No, same old me. You look better than ever. You lost weight or... new haircut? Whatever it is. It's working." She waved it off, as she always had, he caught her hand, knowing it was the wrong move for how long they'd been apart. Still he kept hold of it, until she looked him in the eyes, "I mean it."

"Okay." Taking the compliment, not smiling until he turned away, but he still saw it from the corner of his eye.

They had small talk. Work, his new wife, their parents, and the weather. The drive to the airport was a long one, back then they hadn't raised the highway speeds to really cut down on the transit time. It was halfway into that when she pulled his hand to point at a truck with a really lewd, but impressively depicted cartoon duck with a big dick. They both laughed, her the same old beautiful way she laughed at things she knew she shouldn't find funny. It made him realize they had not let go of each other's hands. She had not tried to take it from him.