Losing It, Part 6

This fictional account contains adult language and sexual themes.  If such
language and themes offend you, please do not read further.  The persons and
events described in this work are purely fictional.  Any similarity to actual
persons or events is strictly coincidental.  Copyright 2002 by SSTORYMAN.  All
rights reserved.  Permission is hereby granted to reproduce this story in any
form and for any purpose as long as this notice is reproduced and no financial
remuneration is received, directly or indirectly, by the person reproducing or
using it.

The author gratefully acknowledges that some inspiration for this story came
from a 1998 story entitled "Weighty Problems" written by an anonymous author
posted elsewhere on this page.

LOSING IT

6.	Epilogue:  All's Well That Ends Well.

   Francine and Kristen sat at a table in the smoking section at the
restaurant.  Francine was on mid-morning break.  Kristen came in to compare
notes on the recent developments that affected them both.

   "Oh my God," Kristen giggled happily, putting a cigarette in her mouth and
readying her lighter.  "You know, when my mom said I had to agree to some
ground rules, I was delighted, but a little worried.  Shit, Francine, they're
nothing!"

   "Yeah, I know," Francine smiled triumphantly.  She followed her friend's
lead and lit up along with her.  "Did your Mom say you can't smoke over a pack
a day?  Yeah, mine too.  But God, Kristen, I've never smoked a pack a day in
my life!  That's no restriction at all.  It means I can smoke a lot more if I
want, and Mom won't care.  She'll still be cool."  She pursed her lips to
exhale a thick stream of smoke.  "And I already am.  I'm now smoking more than
ever.  After Mom and I talked last night, I smoked three cigarettes before
bed, and two more first thing today before coming to work today.  It was so
cool!  I plan to smoke a lot more from now on."

   "And did your mom hit you with the brand restriction?"

   Francine made a face.  She didn't understand.

   "You know?  At first Mom said I can only smoke ultra lights," Kristen
continued.  "But I talked her out of it.  Finally she agreed I can keep
smoking her brand, Marlboro Lights 100's.  So it's no problem.  As for the
pack a day thing, I've come close in the past, but it's no big deal to stay at
that level.  So, it's business as usual for me."

   "And for me, too," Francine smiled, hitting again on her cigarette.  "Mom
also made noises about me smoking only lights or ultra lights.  I complained
big time.  I mean, I can smoke lights, I guess.  That's all I smoked till just
the last couple days.  But I _so_ love my mom's Benson & Hedges!  They're _so_
yummy.  I told her how I felt, and she backed down.  She seemed to completely
understand.  She says I can keep smoking Benson & Hedges if I want."  She
laughed and shook her head.  "So I can still smoke the brand I love best, and
smoke more than ever.  I even have permission to smoke at work.  I don't think
Mom realized her so-called ground rules actually mean a big improvement for
me."

   "And you know I didn't rat on you?  Did your mom tell you that?"

   Francine nodded.  "Yeah, at first she said you sold me out, but later she
admitted she made that up, to get me to confess to smoking.  But given the way
everything worked out, I'm glad it happened, because now I can smoke as much
as I want."

   The conversation continued, and they made Jack, the manager, sit down to
talk.  He agreed to let the girls split the day-time hostess job the rest of
the summer.  That seemed the fairest approach to both Francine and Kristen.

   In the next few weeks, Francine indeed increased her smoking.  Still free
to smoke while Suzanne was at work, but also in the evening, her food intake
decreased.  But that wasn't the best.  Like Suzanne, she both loved and began
to rely on regular, periodic infusions of nicotine.  After only a brief ramp
up time, she was soon smoking a pack of Benson & Hedges every day, and enjoyed
it more than ever.

   The pounds kept disappearing.  By mid-August she tipped the scales at 105.
She got off and celebrated.  She treated herself by smoked incessantly the
rest of the day.  It was a way to recognize the beneficial impact of her
beloved habit and rejoice in it.  And the more she smoked, the better she
felt.

   The new Francine was pretty.  She was truly thin, but still voluptuous.
She kept on attending parties with Kelley and the girls from work.  Guys were
definitely paying attention now, and several asked her out.  It was another
welcome change from her former solitary life.  Repeatedly she reminded herself
that smoking was the key to her success.  She truly believed it, and never
failed to remind Suzanne.

   Suzanne found it wasn't so bad having her daughter share her smoking habit.
Concern for her ground rules soon fell by the wayside.  Despite her prior
convictions, she discovered she liked sharing cigarettes with Francine.
Smoking together became a bona fide social event.  Each night at supper they
sat down for a light meal, and then smoked together constantly while talking
and laughing, often for more than an hour.  Suzanne had long since lost any
ability to control her habit, and Francine's addiction was clearly moving in
the same direction.  But Suzanne didn't seem to care.  Whether or not she
should've felt that way, she liked Francine smoking with her.  She even found
herself almost encouraging her daughter to smoke.

   By the time school began in the fall, Francine was smoking well over a pack
a day.  Suzanne never mentioned it.  After all, what was the point?  She, too,
dearly loved to smoke.  She understood the inevitable progression Francine was
experiencing, and despite her better judgment, she enjoying taking the journey
with her daughter into ever deeper addiction.

   Francine continued her work-out regime, with one change.  Smoking that much
made it hard to run three miles a day.  She cut back to a mile a day, and
found she could comfortably maintain her fitness and weight loss at that level
of exertion.  She kept doing her lifting and cycling.  Suzanne insisted,
saying that if she was going to smoke, which she certainly was, she needed to
take good care of her body in other ways.  As a result, by the end of the
summer Francine was slim, trim and in great physical condition, despite her
escalating smoking habit.

   Classes began again in late August, and high school really crimped poor
Francine's growing smoking habit.  She was used to smoking whenever she wanted
all day long.  School forced her into a new regime of sneaking cigarettes
between classes and at lunch.  Kids no longer called her Fat Francine, and no
one could believe the amazing transformation!  Not only had Francine slimmed
down to be a buxom, gorgeous beauty, but she'd also become a smoker, and
suddenly, she was popular.  She loved being part of an "in crowd."  Both she
and Kristen were different girls now.  Now they had friends, they partied, and
most important, they had new identities.  The kids at school who smoked
welcomed them into their circle.  For the first time, Francine had a group of
friends she felt part of.  Lots of her new friends loved hanging out at her
house, because Suzanne allowed them all to smoke there.

   In September Suzanne made Francine an appointment with Dr. Sawyer.  The
teenager intended to go alone; after all, now she could drive.  But Suzanne
wanted to come.  She wanted to see Dr. Sawyer's face, his reaction to the new,
slim, trim teenager who used to be so fat.

   Her appointment was at 8:00 a.m. one morning.  Suzanne arranged to go to
work late, and Francine arranged to miss her first class of the day.  Dr.
Sawyer would give them hell if they smelled of smoke, so they intentionally
abstained that morning, and Francine put on a clean outfit so she didn't smell
of smoke.  When they got to the medical office building parking lot, they both
felt extremely edgy, suffering as they were from serious nicotine deprivation.

   But the appointment went well.  The nurse made Francine disrobe, weighed
her, took her blood pressure, drew blood, and had her pee into a cup.  She was
a surly woman who didn't talk much.  If she saw that Francine had completely
transformed, she never mentioned it.  But as soon as Dr. Sawyer entered, he
was completely candid.

   "Oh my Goodness," he exclaimed, looking at the slender teenager on the
examination table.  "Francine, you look great!  You weighed in at 106 pounds,
almost forty pounds less than last time.  What on earth did you do to lose all
that weight?"

   The teenager shrugged.  "I did what you said, Dr. Sawyer.  I followed Mom's
footsteps.  I began working out several times a week, cut my diet way down,
and ? well, I did some other things, too, that really aren't worth
mentioning," she added with a whimsical smile at Suzanne.

   Dr. Sawyer looked at the chart.  "Blood pressure's good; weight's amazing,
right where it should be; you're in great physical condition.  Your vital
signs are all at appropriate levels."  He closed the file.  "I still need to
see the results of your blood work.  But I must say, young lady, whatever
you're doing, I want to keep right on doing it!"

   She smiled.  "Don't worry, Doctor.  I fully intend to do exactly that!"
Again, she winked at Suzanne.  "I do feel great, Dr. Sawyer, and for the first
time in my life, I think I look good, too.  But I owe it all to my mom."  She
said it with a sarcastic inflection that he didn't pick up.  "If it wasn't for
her example and her showing me the way, none of this would've happened."

   Dr. Sawyer looked at Suzanne.  "Congratulations, Mrs. Morel.  You've had a
very positive influence on your daughter.  God, I wish all my teenage patients
would follow Francine's example and be just like her.  I mean it."

   Suzanne looked impishly at her daughter with a knowing smile.  "Yes, I'm
sure you do, Doctor.  Francine and I've grown much closer through this
experience.  At first I didn't think so, but now I realize that since she's
followed my approach, we share our priorities in a way that makes us mutually
supportive of our ? shall we say, our common habits.  Like Francine, I
wouldn't change a thing."

   He squinted and looked quizzically over his reading glasses.  "I don't
understand.  Is there a joke going on here that I don't understand?"

   "Oh no, Doctor.  There's no joke.  We're very serious.  It's just that at
first I didn't think I'd be so supportive of Francine following my lead in
losing weight.  It's hard to explain.  But we resolved our differences.  I
think the results speak for themselves."

   "Yes, they certainly do," he affirmed.  "Ladies, I'll drop you a note when
I get the lab results.  But Francine, you're definitely a model patient!  I
hope you share with your friends how important it is to take your disciplined,
serious approach toward weight loss."

   "Yeah, I _have_ done that," Francine giggled.  "I encourage my friends to
do what I do now.  And, you'll be glad to know, I've been pretty successful in
selling my new lifestyle."

   "Well, wonderful," Dr. Sawyer said.  He was done.  "Francine, I'll see you
in a year.  Like I said, stay on track with your program.  Don't quit what
you're doing.  I'll leave you to get dressed."

   Ten minutes later, Suzanne and Francine walked out the front door of the
medical building.  They could hardly keep from laughing as they headed toward
the car.

   "Oh my God, Mom," Francine giggled.  "I could hardly stand it.  Wow, if
only Dr. Sawyer knew the truth!  'Yes, young lady, you just keep doing exactly
what you've been doing,'" she intoned, mimicking him.  "'My, my, Francine, I
wish every teenage patient of mine smoked like a chimney, at least a pack a
day, like you,'" she said, using Dr. Sawyer's self-important tone.  She
laughed again.  "God, if he knew the truth, he'd have shit a brick!"

   "Francine!  Watch your language."  But Suzanne, too, was laughing.  "God,
yes, it was the funniest moment I've had in a long time."

   They reached the car.  Suzanne slid into the driver's seat while Francine
entered through the passenger door and let out a deep sigh.

   "Well, Mom, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to keep doing what I've
been doing.  I am _so_ ready for a cigarette that I feel like I'm going to
die!"  She reached in her purse and withdrew her pack of Benson & Hedges.
"How about you?"

   "Oh God, Francine, me, too," Suzanne sighed.  "It's nine o'clock, and I
still haven't had my first cigarette.  I haven't gone this deep into a day
without one in I don't know how long!"

   Daughter handed mother a long white B&H.  Then she took one for herself.

   "Ah, Thank you, dear," Suzanne graciously smiled.  "God, I don't think I
can drive till I light up!  I am so ready for some nicotine!"

   Francine clicked her lighter and lit up her mom, then lit up herself.
Simultaneously, both women double-pumped, dragging long and hard on their
Benson & Hedges, getting as much smoke as possible.  The full flavor
cigarettes delivered strong doses of nicotine as they sucked the smoke deep
into her eagerly waiting lungs.

   Francine spoke first, lavishly exhaling bursts of smoke from her mouth and
nostrils.  "Oh God, Mom," she sighed.  "I'm so glad you showed me the way!  If
you'd hadn't begun smoking, I'd still be Fat Francine.  Thanks for that.
Thanks for being my example, and thanks for letting me smoke and develop my
habit to its logical conclusion.  Fat Francine's dead, but Francine the
slender smoker's alive and well, and she's having a hell of a time!  Thanks."

   "You're welcome," Suzanne acknowledged.  She released thick, intermittent
smoke bursts from her grinning mouth.  "You know, weeks ago I said you should
never, ever smoke, Francine.  Turns out I was dead wrong.  Smoking might be
bad for us in the long run, but I love sharing moments like this one.  We
stopped being blimps, kid, and both became smokers instead.  I can't say that
makes me unhappy.  Ditto?"

   The slim teenager hit hard on her B&H and inhaled deeply.  "Ditto," she
said, holding the smoke inside and refusing to exhale to savor the nicotine
importation.  "I do so _love_ to smoke, Mom.  It's the secret to being a new,
slimmer, prettier Francine.  But it also just feels so damn good when I do
this!"  She raised the cigarette to her lips for another long, powerful, extra
hard hit, which she turned into a forceful double-pump as smoke cascaded from
her nostrils.  "Ooh, baby," she sighed contentedly, still retaining most of
the inhaled substance in her lungs.  "See, this is what I'm talking about!  We
both lost it; all those extra pounds, I mean.  I don't know about you, but I
never, ever, intend to lose this."  She tipped her head and impressively
exhaled a virtual torrent of smoke through her mouth and nose.  "I'm a smoker,
Mom.  I'll never lose that."

   "Me neither, honey," Suzanne smiled.  "Are you hungry?  Do you want to stop
and get something to eat before you go to school?"

   Francine shook her head.  "I'm not hungry at all," she smugly replied.  "I
could care less about eating anything right now.  As long as I can keep
smoking , I'm completely content."

   "Yeah, me, too," Suzanne agreed, pausing.  She looked like she was thinking
of something deliciously wicked.  "Hey, know what, honey?  I don't want to eat
either.  Let's blow off the rest of the morning.  Like you, I just want to
keep smoking right now.  I can't do that at work, and you certainly can't at
school.  So let's stop at Starbucks and get ourselves coffee, and then head
home.  We can talk, drink coffee, and smoke cigarettes until we're completely
satiated.  What do you say?"

   The attractive teenager laughed exuberantly as smoke continued to burst
from her mouth and nostrils in the aftermath of her prodigious multiple
inhales.  "That's a great idea, Mom."  She tapped her cigarette in the car's
ashtray and readied herself for another hard hit.  "God, that sounds really
great!  Because you know what?  I'm not hungry for anything right now except
some serious smoking!  And smoking with you for the rest of the morning sounds
absolutely perfect."  And the two slim Morel women headed home to do just
that!

THE END

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