What Look For In Women
By MrGrey
Chapter 4
Detective Jennifer Black sat at her desk watching a commercial for
Promiscuous. It was disgusting her. Since New Life had begun producing these
new perfumes, the FBI had begun an investigation. Jennifer had been in the FBI
for only a few years and she had gotten assigned to the New Life case. In fact,
she was going to the New Life building today.
Her plane was leaving in a few hours. She had brought her suitcase to
work with her so she could just go to the airport from the office. She had packed
light since she didn't even wear much make-up or perfume. Frankly, she was a
little scared of cosmetics since this new problem had arrived. Reports had been
coming in of strange behavior since the perfumes had been released. No
connection was made at first, then the reports were mostly confined to malls and
shopping centers that sold the perfume, mostly the employees that were around
it all day. Jennifer had been sure to stay away from those places without the
proper protection.
A knock at the door startled her. Lieutenant Rob Barns came walking in.
He was a of about sixty and had been with the bureau for many years.
"How are ya, Jennifer."
She smiled back at him, "A little nervous, sir."
He smiled, "That's understandable. This is your first big case isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it is."
"Well, you have nothing to worry about. Come with me please." He
walked out of the office and she followed behind him, clicking off the TV. He led
her to a back room with another and they began briefing her on the layout of
the building and a little background on Jack Holden.
The other held up a small bottle of perfume. "We've created an
antidote to the effects of the New Life perfumes. If you come in contact with any
of their products," he handed the bottle to her, "just one little spray with bring you
right back to your normal state."
Jennifer examined the bottle, "That's a little comforting." The whole point
of the mission was to obtain some sort of evidence of foul play and get a warrant
for Jack Holden's arrest. After that, New Life would probably be shut down.
She thanked the and left the room. She went down the elevator to
the lobby and left the building. Climbing into her car, she left the lot and headed
toward the airport. A few hours later she had boarded the plane and was waiting
anxiously in her seat.
After taxiing around for about fifteen minutes, the plane took off. A few
kids were on the plane, crying at the loud engines and grabbing their mother's
legs. The captain came on the intercom and informed the passenger's that the
trip would be about four hours and went on about the altitude and weather and so
on, nothing very interesting to Detective Black. She unwrapped the headphones
from their plastic wrapping and plugged them into the phone jack. She found a
classical station and reached for her briefcase on the floor. She dug out the files
on New Life and Jack Holden and reviewed them. Mr. Holden had taken over
the company ten years ago after his died, leaving ownership to his son.
Apparently the company had begun to lose money, and the perfume was
believed to be a last attempt to regain its status.
She continued reading the files and failed to notice the woman sitting in
front of her. The woman was refreshing her make-up. She was sitting alone and
was about to try out the new fragrance she found at the airport called Maturity.
She sprayed a few blasts onto her neck and chest. A smile crossed over her
face as she began to get very tingly. She slumped down in her seat and began
to apply more make-up to her face. After all, more make-up makes you look
older, thought the 37 year-old woman, now losing her adult personality.
She noticed a of about 17 sitting across the aisle. They made eye
contact and she quickly looked away, blushing. She couldn't help but think how
cute he was. She began to feel very self-conscious and worried that she wasn't
pretty enough. She looked in her compact again, checking her make-up and
hair. I can't put anymore up on, I'll look totally silly! she thought. She then
decided she should put some more perfume on. It had made her feel pretty good
when she put in on before.
Spraying herself again, she didn't aim very good and some of the perfume
drifted behind her, tickling Jennifer's nose. Her thoughts were pulled away from
her documents as her head snapped up, sniffing the air. What's that? she
thought. She started to get worried but then started to calm down as a tingling
feeling spread over her. She shrugged it off and brought her attention back to
her papers. She yawned, starting to get bored with them. She was starting to
get impatient with the plane ride altogether. When's this stupid thing gonna
land? she wondered. The classical music was also getting boring to her. She
surfed the radio until she found a station playing a new Backstreet single.
"Cool!" she said to herself, a little loud since she couldn't hear herself. She
tossed her documents to the ground and started looking around for the
stewardesses, a Coke was sounding really good to her right about now.
Suddenly, a woman sitting in front of her peaked over the seat and giggled
at Jennifer then ducked back down. "What are you looking at?" she said to the
lady. The woman popped up again and looked at Jennifer.
"What's your name?" she asked Jennifer.
"Jenni. What's yours?"
"I'm not 'sposed to talk to stwangers," the strange woman answered.
"Then why did you ask me what my name was?"
The strange woman looked confused about the question and answered, "I
gotta go now." She sat down and Jennifer just laughed at her. What a strange
lady.
Jennifer looked out the window, growing even more anxious. Then, she
noticed the same 17 year-old looking at her. She blushed and straightened her
hair, thinking how hot he looked. She couldn't believe this guy was checking her
out. normally didn't pay attention to her. She reached for her perfume,
thinking she should smell her best before she went over there to talk to him. She
gave herself a quick spray and started to get up. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide
as her adult mind came hurtling back to her. She fell back into her seat and
looked around the plane. The woman in front of her had started coloring pictures
on a napkin of a house with flowers around it with her lipstick. Jennifer pulled the
headphones out of her ears.
"Hey? Mam?" the woman didn't pay attention to her. "Little girl?" the
woman snapped up from her and smiled at Jennifer. Jennifer reached
over the seat and gave the regressed woman a squirt of the antidote perfume.
Her smile faded away as she got a confused look on her face. She looked down
at her lap to find the napkin with the lipstick drawn on it.
"What happened?"
"Have you applied any perfume in past few minutes, mam?"
The woman reached into her purse and produced the bottle of Maturity for
Jennifer. "Just this. Why?"
"Could I have it please?"
"Why?"
"It's confidential, mam," she answered, showing her ID with FBI printed on
it. The woman got a worried look on her face and gave Jennifer the perfume
bottle.
"Am I in trouble or something? It's not stolen. I paid for it."
"I know. Just don't buy any more products from New Life. Tell anyone
you know the same." The woman looked confused but nodded anyway.
"Umm…Ok."
Jennifer smiled and sat back down. The 17 year-old was still staring at
her. She couldn't believe she was getting giddy about him only moments before.
The music of Spears was pouring out of her headphones, which was
hanging around her neck now. She unplugged the headphones with a shudder
and tried not to think about how much of a fool she probably made of herself.
She hadn't been informed of this scent before. It must have been
released this morning. The rest of the plane ride was nerve racking as she
waiting to get on the ground so she could call Lieutenant Barns and inform him of
the recent threat. Finally landing, she exited the plane, picked up her luggage
and rented a car. After getting in the car, she phoned Lieutenant Barns. She
told him of her experience with the new perfume. He didn't seem surprised.
"Yes, we've had a few complaints since you left, Jennifer. Maturity was
released this morning along with Vanity and Devotion."
"What do those products do?"
"I can only imagine. But that makes six scents in all so far: Happiness,
Promiscuous, Ignorance and now Maturity, Vanity and Devotion. You need to
stop this from continuing Jennifer. We need evidence of foul play. You may
have to break into the building. Try looking for any kind of laboratory and search
Holden's office for any papers or records."
"Yes sir."
"Jennifer?"
"Yes sir?"
"I'm counting on you." Barns hung up the phone, leaving Jennifer
sweating. She was getting scared. Why am I doing this all on my own? she
thought. For the first time in years, she wished she wasn't in such a high
position. She had wanted this responsibility for years and now that she had it,
she didn't feel to confident. But she knew she had a job to do and she was going
to do it.
Detective Black left the airport parking lot and headed downtown. The sun
was setting and the streets were starting to get dark. The streetlights were
flickering on and soon it was night. She went to her hotel and checked in,
unpacked and got ready for the night ahead. Getting her equipment ready, she
left the hotel and headed toward New Life Cosmetics. She located the building
and parked her car in an alley behind it.
Exiting her car, a cold wind blew across her face. She was suddenly
afraid for her life. She didn't have any boyfriend or husband. No kids. Her
mother had died last year after her father, who died three years ago. She
realized that she could die tonight, and no one would even care.
She started to have second thoughts about this, when she noticed a
security above a large door. A dumpster was to her right and concrete
steps led up to the door, this was probably where janitors entered and exited the
building. She held her ID up towards the so anyone watching would
know who she was. "No turning back now."
She walking up the steps and tried the door. Locked. Luckily, the FBI has
equipment for this kind of job. She pulled a small gun out of her pocket and held
it up to the keyhole. She held the trigger down for a few minutes and smoke
began to seep out of the hole. Soon after, she yanked on the door and handle
and the door came flying open. "Okay, let's do this." She put the small gun away
and reached for her pistol. She held it out in front of her as she entered the
building. It was dark since all the lights had been turned out. This place didn't
seem to be a very busy place. It was only ten o'clock and the place was cleared
out. Strange, she thought.
She snaked her way through the hallways and came into the lobby. Her
footsteps echoed through the room. She felt so alone here. She started to calm
down a bit, since it would be easier to investigate with no one here. Then, a
stairway leading down caught her eye.
Jack and Gregory watched the monitors with excitement.
"Who is she?" Gregory wondered.
"The ID looked like FBI, I was expecting this. That's why I set up that
other room."
"What other room?"
"The one she's about to stumble into," Jack answered with a smile.
Jennifer reached the bottom of the stairway and peered down a long
hallway. She held her gun up and tiptoed down the hall. The stillness of the
place was starting to make her feel uneasy.
Suddenly, the floor disappeared from her feet and she plummeted through
a trapdoor and slide down a long vent. Her gun fell out of her hand and began
screaming. This is it, she thought, this is how I'm gonna die. But she was
proven wrong when the vent leveled out and she came sliding out of it onto a
padded floor. Looking behind her, she saw the opening she came through and
watched it suddenly close shut.
She was in a brightly lit room with white padded wall and floor, like
something a mental patient would be in. Except, there was a wall-to-wall mirror
against the wall she was facing. There were small vents lining the ceiling and a
door to her left. She stared at the mirror, knowing full well that it wasn't just a
mirror. "So? Who are you and what are you going to do to me?"
An intercom came to life and answered her, "My name is Jack Holden,
you've probably heard of me . . ." She smirked at the mirror. "And what makes
you think we're going to do anything to you?"
"Because I'm an FBI agent and a huge threat to your success."
There was silence for a moment then, "Well, I guess you're right. We may
just have to do something about you, won't we?" Laughter followed.
Jennifer heard a hissing sound all around her. She began to panic.
"What's that noise?" She began to smell something strange.
"Oh, just something to freshen you up. It's called Ignorance." More
laughter followed.
Jennifer began to get scared. She ran to the door and tried to open it.
There was no handle on it, just a flat surface. She stood back and scratched her
head, "Like, why isn't there a handle on the door?" She flinched at her words.
Her voice! It sounded like a girl's. This scared her and made her giggle at
the same time. She knew her fate. "Alright, Jack. You, like, got me. Now how
do I get out of here?"
"Oh, I think you should stay in there for a little while."
"Oh, like, OK!" She happily sat down on the soft floor and took her jacket
off. Shouldn't I be doing something now? She could've swore she had a solution
to any kind of emergency. Don't I have some kind of perfume? she wondered.
But she then remembered the perfume was coming out of the vents in the ceiling
and she felt better. She tried to think about what she should do, but her mind
couldn't stay focused on much of anything for too long. The hissing sound
continued. The room was beginning to get foggy.
"How are you doing, Detective Black?"
"Detective? Like, what's that?" She twirled her hair around her finger and
looking around the room. The sweet smell of perfume was engulfing her.
"That's what you are, isn't it?"
"Ummm, no, I don't think so. I've, like, never heard of that." The hissing
grew louder as more perfume was filtered into the room. The increased smell
was affecting her brain more and more. She tried to remember what she was
doing her and why she was in this room, but she just couldn't think straight. She
found it funny though. She flopped to the ground in a giggling fit and rolled
around. She felt so happy and free.
She started to calm down as a line of saliva ran from the side of her
mouth. She stared straight up at the ceiling at the lights. Lights . . . bright . . .
bright lights, she thought to herself. This was about all her brain was capable of
now. Complex thoughts were too much for her.
Then the bottle of antidote perfume fell out of her pocket. "What's that,
Jennifer?" Jack asked her. Jennifer just lifted her head and a dumb grin crossed
her face. She looked around as if she was looking for the person that was talking
to her. The hissing stopped finally and the foggy room cleared up and the vents
vacuumed the excess perfume out. The door opened and Jack and Gregory
entered. They stood over the FBI agent that was lying on the floor, giggling in a
puddle of her own drool. "Hi Jennifer," Jack said.
Jennifer looked at them and laughed, "Ooooo . . . big . . . mmmmm."
Gregory picked up the bottle and examined it. "It looks like perfume, I'll go
analyze it."
"Ok, help me get her up first." The two lifted Jennifer up and helped
her walk out of the room and into another containment room. They threw her
onto a bed. "Nighty-night, Jennifer. We'll have some more fun with you
tomorrow, ok?"
"Hee hee, nighty-night night night . . .hee hee," she waved to Jack,
giggling as they both walked out and slammed the door behind them.
End Part 4
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