Smoke And Mirrors, Part 28

This fictional story contains adult themes and descriptions. If such offends
you, read no further.  All persons and situations depicted are fictional, any
similarities to real persons or events is purely coincidental. All rights
reserved. This story cannot be reproduced without the written prior approval
of the author. You can notify the author at del999@yahoo.com.

Smoke & Mirrors
Part 28: A Pack A Day or Bust:

Before her lunch with Tammy, Giselle had smoked five cigarettes in the
morning. She had had two at lunch and another one on her way home.

She had gone over to Danielle's place that afternoon specifically to smoke
more cigarettes.

She wanted to show Danielle her new smoking style. After Danielle had sat
down and she was sure that she had her attention, she let go one of her now
practiced long drags. Danielle's eyes widened. "Giselle, when did you start
smoking like that? The look on your face is near ecstasy."

Giselle smiled as she continued to exhale the long drag. "I met a new friend
today, and this was the way she was smoking, so I gave it a try. It's
absolutely the best. You should give it a try. I can truly say that I just
love smoking now, especially when I take these long drags. I love the taste
and the feeling."

"Oh, I'm not sure." Danielle said meekly.

"Go ahead, it's great, you'll see." Giselle said enthusiastically.

Danielle paused, then slowly brought the cigarette to her lips. "Now count to
five as you drag." Giselle counted. "One, two, three, four- five." Danielle's
eyes widened as her cheeks caved in deeply. "Now inhale down to your toes and
hold it." Giselle said with conviction while she counted to five again. "Now
exhale. That's the way."

A smile came across Danielle's face as the long stream of smoke exited her
lips.

"That was absolutely fantastic. I can't believe how good that tastes. So
thick and full of flavor Whew, I'm feeling a bit dizzy. It's like the first
time I smoked. But I like it. I can't believe you're actually teaching me to
smoke." Danielle said with an amazed look on her face.

Danielle took another long drag, but not quite as long. "Giselle? How long
have you been smoking? Hasn't it been 8 weeks? Is that right?" Danielle
questioned.

Giselle blushed. "Has it only been 8 weeks? It seems like a lot longer some
how. But I have to admit to you Danielle, that showing me to smoke was one of
the best things I've have done. I just love it."

"I can see that as plain as the smile on your face," Danielle said smiling.
She paused again.

"Giselle, I am curious how much are you now smoking a day?" Danielle casually
asked.

Giselle paused, knowing the she was about to stretch the truth, "Maybe half a
pack a day. Why do you ask?"

"Oh I was just curious, that's all." Danielle continued.

"I don't really keep track too much. I just smoke when I feel like smoking."

Giselle took another long hit. She had ten days before Serge returned. She
would continue to smoke whenever she felt like it.

"The way I'm enjoying my smoking now, I think I'm going to smoke a bit more."
Giselle said, as she reaffirmed to herself her objective to get through at
least 20 cigarettes that day.

The girls continued to laugh and chat, silently competing to see who could
blow the longer plume of smoke. As they sat at the kitchen table, Giselle and
Danielle nearly smoked continuously, smoking four cigarettes in an hour.
Giselle matched Danielle cigarette for cigarette. As Giselle stubbed out her
fourth cigarette, she started to feel a bit queasy and light headed. She
started to look a bit pale. She realized that maybe she had overdone it.

As Danielle poured them more coffee, Danielle reached for her cigarettes.
"Aren't you going to have another, Giselle?" Danielle said in a slightly
mocking tone, recognizing from Giselle's lack of color that she had probably
reached her limit.

"I had better pass," Giselle said with a slightly trembling voice.

"Can't keep up? Eh?" Danielle said, giggling.

Giselle blushed as she started to feel steadier. She shakily reached for her
pack. "Well, one more if you insist," she said, trying to sound convincing.
She smoked her fifth cigarette with Danielle rather tentatively, not taking
her usual long drags. She was just able to finish it, although she still felt
rather unsettled. She knew somehow that Danielle was making this into some
kind of contest. She was not up to the challenge today. Very soon, she knew
she would be able to keep up with her neighbor. As she neared the end of her
cigarette, she told Danielle that she had some things to do at home, hoping
to escape the undeclared contest.

Danielle smiled. "Sure, I'll see you later. By the way, a bunch of the girls
are getting together to play bridge on Tuesday at 7:00 PM, at Bonnie's house.
Care to join us?"

"Is that Bonnie Taylor from our church, the one who dresses so nicely?"
Giselle questioned.

"The one and only." Danielle said, smiling.

"And by the way, Giselle, bring your cigarettes. Those girls smoke like
chimneys. Its mandatory. Non-smokers need not attend," Danielle said,
laughing out loud.

"Oh that would be great," Giselle said, realizing that it would help her get
to her quota. It would also be nice to meet some new people. Ironically, she
was relieved to discover that Bonnie smoked. It surprised her. If she had
found this out a month ago, she would have looked down her nose at Bonnie.
But now, she realized that even before she had met Bonne, she had something
in common with her. They both smoked!

"I'll give you the details tomorrow morning when you come over to watch the
soaps." Danielle went on.

"Great, see you tomorrow," Giselle said as she proceeded to the front door.

As Giselle walked across the lawn, she tried to control her walking. She was
damn dizzy. She would have to be more careful in the future. As she staggered
into her house, she knew that she had better lie down. As she lay on the
couch, the dizziness started to subside. She closed her eyes slowly, as she
gently fell asleep. The concentration of nicotine in her blood stream
continued to work on her pleasure center. It would not be long before it
would remind her that it wanted more.

Danielle watched through the window, as Giselle weaved across the lawn. She
felt a little guilty that she had encouraged Giselle to smoke so much in such
a short time. With Giselle now taking large drags and inhaling deeply, she
knew that she had nearly overdosed on those five cigarettes. She grinned as
she thought about Giselle's excitement of learning to take deep inhales. She
of course had been doing that for years, but usually only in private. She did
not want to burst Giselle's bubble. So she simply pretended to experience
this for the first time. She smiled at her friend's new passion for smoking.
It certainly looked like she had lost all her hesitancy towards it. It
appeared that now she was a smoker and wanted to be a smoker. Danielle knew
that if she continued to take those long deep drags, she would not be able to
quit. She felt slightly guilty. Maybe she should warn Giselle about how hard
it was to quit. She paused.

But then, of course, that was one of the best aspects of smoking. Relieving
the cravings was the best part. Everyone who smokes knows that.

No, she thought, I am going to let this run its course. She remembered back
when she had first met Giselle and had hoped that she smoked. She certainly
didn't want her to quit now. She had enjoyed her company and their smoky get
togethers. After all, it had really been Giselle's idea to start. She had
just helped her along. She was a good smoking friend; she wanted her to stay
that way. She decided she would watch from the sidelines. It wouldn't be too
long before Giselle would be able to match her cigarette for cigarette. She
knew from her own smoking that the more you smoked, the more you wanted to
smoke. It was inevitable.

Giselle had slept about an hour and a half until 3:30 PM. As she awoke, she
felt a lot better. As she gained her senses, the first thought that came to
her head was "Where are my cigarettes?" She sleepily walked over to the
kitchen table where her purse lay. After finding her cigarettes, she
nervously searched for her lighter. As she finally found her lighter, her
hands shook gently as she placed the long cigarette in her mouth. She dragged
heavily. She remembered at that moment how Tammy had double pumped. She
inhaled briefly; then, she dragged again, and inhaled again. A wonderful calm
came over her body. Her lungs were bathed in deeply satisfying smoke as her
body jumped to nearly instant alertness. She felt the rush almost
immediately. It felt wonderful. There was no doubt about it. Tammy had been
right. It was a great way to start off a cigarette. She continued to smoke
more casually, continuing to savor the feeling. She did a quick calculation.
This was her fourteenth cigarette of the day and it was only mid afternoon.
She had the rest of the day to smoke her remaining cigarettes. She would
easily reach her goal. She had another before dinner. At about 5:00 PM. she
made herself a quick sandwich followed by yet another cigarette. That evening
as she watched TV, she continued to return to her package of cigarettes every
hour or so. By 9:15 PM she had smoked her eighteenth cigarette, followed by
another only fifteen minutes later. She deliberately held back smoking her
twentieth cigarette until 10:30 just before she prepared for bed. She felt
proud that she had achieved her goal.

After finishing her cigarette, she changed into her nightclothes. She put on
her white terry towel housecoat and settled in the easy chair in her bedroom
to read her favorite paperback romance novel. After reading for about a half
hour, she started to experience the feeling that had become far too familiar.
It was definitely a craving. She knew what it was. She didn't care. She knew
just what she needed. She had to have one more cigarette before she went to
bed.

She went down to the kitchen, and again opened the patio door. The cool
evening breeze wafted into the kitchen. It was very quiet. As she placed her
twenty-first cigarette between her lips, it was so quiet that she even heard
the quiet click of the lighter. She could hear the smoke enter her lungs as
she took her first deep inhale. Again she felt the relief, as the smoke
slowly escaped from her lips. She looked into the package. There were only
six cigarettes in the pack that she had just opened after lunch. This
cigarette had been the best of all the ones she had smoked that day. She felt
so calm and relaxed, concentrating on the process and feeling of the smoking.
She started to think about tomorrow. She started to anticipate her coffee and
first cigarette of the morning. She again inhaled deeply. She relished her
cigarettes, she thought. She knew she did not want to give them up.

She started to worry. Serge would soon be home. What would he say? Then she
remembered Tammy's words: "We don't have to ask permission from anyone."

She paused as she took yet another drag. Tammy was right. She could handle
Serge. After all if he gave her a hard time, she would have to turn it around
on him. It hadn't been her idea to start smoking. It had been his! It wasn't
her fault that she had learned to love smoking. It was his! Her thoughts then
returned to her daughter. She realized right then, why Suzanne had been so
defensive about her smoking. She too was probably enjoying her smoking. Her
daughter never did anything half way. She had always been taught to jump in
with both feet and to do things with a passion. She had probably treated
smoking as another challenge. She might have a very strong ally when Suzanne
visited in two weeks. Serge would not be a problem, if the two of them worked
on him. She would need to put the smoking issue back on the table with
Suzanne, but this time, her approach would be different. She would make sure
that before Suzanne arrived, she would understand that she had her mother's
full approval to smoke.. She felt a little guilty about her motives, but
Giselle knew that even after smoking for only eight weeks, she did not want
to quit. In fact she knew she probably couldn't. She was enjoying her new
life and her new friends. Giselle didn't want her daughter to even consider
quitting. She would somehow subtly promote Suzanne's smoking. She didn't know
how, but she would find a way.

She looked down at the pack. One more couldn't hurt. She lit up her
twenty-second cigarette of the day.  It just tasted soooo good.

Life is filled with ironies. The once inflexible, dominant, and strict
Giselle now wanted  her daughter to smoke. Wasn't smoking wonderful. She was
now smoking like a real smoker and she had easily smoked more than a pack in
one day. She was on her way to winning the bet. But more importantly, she
knew there was no turning back now.

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