Happy Hour, Part 5

HAPPY HOUR
===========
By Blackbladder

PART FIVE - REFLECTIONS & REVELATIONS

A few days later...

Pamela and Gillian walked slowly as the students emerged from the Pride
College campus out into the street.  The autumn leaves blew in the wind,
brushing against the students in a strong breeze.  As the two students passed
the outer gates, they could see small groups of older colleagues light up
cigarettes.  This sight had never been thought of as possible until this
week.  They were both surprised how Sarah, their college rector, had not came
down on the students and punished them with her normal verbal venom.
However, they were unaware at the time as Sarah lit up a cigarette in her
private office as the students left the campus after another long day.  

"So your parents still smoking, Pamela?" Gillian asked as they crossed the
road into Crosswell Lane.  

"Unfortunately, they are - I've tried to talk sense to them but they both
don't seem interested in listening.  Even before they tried to quit smoking,
they were both very conscious of polluting their lungs around me and Lizzy.
It was Lizzy's insistence that got them smoking outside in the first place."
Pamela replied.

"Did they go out to that bar again last night?" Gillian inquired as she
brushed her brown hair away from her face as the wind continued to taunt the
girls.

"They haven’t stopped going to Drôle since it's first night.  Either the
prices must be good or they must want smoke somewhere in peace.  What is
worse is that Rosemary is having no effect on them.  In fact, they must have
got her to start smoking again herself.  Last night when she came to pick up
my folks, she was smoking a cigarette almost as if she was proud of the fact.
I am wondering whether to go and tell her employers.  And I caught Norah
having a smoke yesterday on the front door pavement last night when she came
back from her new job." Pamela retorted out of spite.

"You know my mother went out with a friend last night to that bar.  She
rarely goes out as you know, but she came back from there like a different
person.  The first thing she did when she got home was light a cigarette -
Hell, she's never smoked in her life at all, but looked as though she smoked
for years.  I questioned her on what she was doing but she couldn't answer my
question - she was baffled herself.  She just kept on saying how it made feel
relaxed.  Why would my thirty-seven old mother take up smoking for the first
time in her life?!" Gillian replied rhetorically.

"There's something very fishy about that bar.  Now they're hosting the
College Party there - I am concerned about what might happen.  At least we
will get our chance to find out why people seem to be taking up smoking after
visiting Drôle.  I think Lizzy will also be very interested to know about
this.  She can maybe help us as well coz it seems as if the whole world is
goin crazy." Pamela replied as they parted company and walked with dread into
their homes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Here, let me!" Rosemary smiled as she offered her clinic colleague a light
with her own unlit cigarette dangling.

Despite her mental reservations over smoking, she placed the cigarette
between her lips and received a light - puffing twice as the smoke filled her
mouth.  Instinctively, a mental voice coached her on what to do next, which
was to take a deep inhale with the ball of smoke swirling out of control.  As
the smoke penetrated the lungs, a wave of pleasure crashed over the
colleague, as the mental reservations were drowned out by the relaxing buzz
of nicotine.  The colleague sat back in the chair, bending her elbow as she
propped the cigarette beside her head, slowly pursing her lips and exhaling a
cloud into the hazy atmosphere of Drôle.  The other therapists just sat and
stared at their smoking colleague enjoy the buzz with shock and curiosity.
As planned, Rosemary convinced the workers at the Clinic - including her
manager - to have a small drink at the new bar.  Before they entered the bar,
seven out of the eight staff were totally opposed to the habit - now after
two cocktails, they were all now enticed towards the habit. The constant
cloud of smoke that hovered around the bar had been discomforting to them
when they entered the bar - but now found themselves enthusiastically
breathing in the smoke. As they watched their physiotherapist colleague now
puff away like a veteran smoker, similar feelings of longing boiled within
them as they accepted cigarettes that Rosemary and Lauren offered
immediately.  

Rosemary lit her own cigarette as she watched the rest of the group stare at
the cigarettes between their own fingers - bewildered over the strange
cravings roaring with themselves mercilessly.  

"Who wants a light?" Lauren flicked her lighter between several of them as
she pulled on her own cigarette.

Suddenly, two of the colleagues sitting next to Lauren extended their unlit
cigarettes forward to accept the light.  Rosemary copied the Receptionist's
motion to light up the rest of the staff at their table.  

As they inhaled on their cigarettes, their postures instantly relaxed.  The
world slowed down around them as the smoke worked its magic on their virgin
lungs.  The jukebox music faded out for them as they embraced the impact of
nicotine surge through their systems like a harpoon.  

With the buzz beginning to fade, they automatically tilted their heads to
exhale the smoke towards the ceiling.  They watched their 'teachers', Lauren
and Rosemary, and soon adopted their postures with their cigarettes.  While
they thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of nicotine inside them, they still
questioned to themselves on why they were now smoking having been vehement
opponents in the past.  

From a distance, Monique smiled as more first-time customers were introduced
to the smoking habit.  She knew they would quickly adapt to their inevitable
addiction, and would become dedicated customers of her business.  As she
prepared more drinks for another customer, another group had walked into the
bar.  Instinctively, some of the new group frowned at the intimidating
presence of smoke linger in the atmosphere before reluctantly finding a
vacant table.  

The group were Hazel's family which featured two of her older cousins, Beth
and Charlene, and her parents Jean and Tony.  

"Come on Jean, let's stay...after all, Hazel is now old enough to have her
first drink in a public place." Shelly said as Hazel's mother placed the palm
of her hand over her nose in a hopeless effort to block the abundance of
smoke that drift towards them.

Tony approached the bar and order drinks for the group as customers around
them continued to light up on a consistent basis.  

Jean noticed that all the customers seemed to have lit cigarettes between
their fingers, chatting happily with their own friends.  She frowned in
disgust as they inhaled and exhaled lazily.  This is not a good environment
for Hazel to be exposed to, Jean thought.

Soon, Tony returned to the table with a tray of drinks, and distributed the
glasses to each of them.  They raised their glasses and clashed them gently
together.

"Happy Birthday Hazel!" They cried in unison as Hazel blushed from
embarrassment.

After a few sips of her alcopop, she felt a now familiar urge bubble within
her as she reached for her jacket pocket.  This was a moment Hazel had been
dreading for days as the cigarette smoke in the bar inflamed her recent
nicotine cravings.

"I've got an announcement to make. Since I have officially reached adulthood
in the eyes of the law..." Hazel said as she extracted a fresh pack of
cigarettes and a lighter and lay them on her lap.

The family all gasped in shock and anger as Hazel blushed at the attention.
Hazel was angry with herself - she had been planning to keep her new vice
secret as long as possible.  However, since they sat down in the bar, her
controlled cravings til now begun running riot inside her.  Suddenly, she
realised that giving in to the need for nicotine was more important than a
single embarrassing moment of truth in front of her bewildered family
onlookers.  Hazel flipped the box lid back and removed a cork-tipped cylinder
with her fingers gently as her family continued to watch her every movements.
As she placed the cigarette between her lips, Jean reached across the table
and grabbed the cylinder, crushing it out in the ashtray.

"What the hell are you playing at, young lady?" Jean roared, her voice full
of anxiety and tension as lust began to creep into her emotions.  

"Was about to smoke a cigarette until you ruined it." Hazel snapped back as
she lift the crushed cigarette from the ashtray.

"What a waste..." Hazel whispered to herself as she removed a second
cigarette from her pack unapologetically.

For Hazel, the moment wasn't embarrassing at all - she felt a sense of pride
and purpose by informing the family of her new-found hobby.  The smoking
seemed to cement her place in adult society - and she was in no mood to
abstain from this pleasure because of her over-protective mother.  

Hazel placed the cigarette between her lips and leaned back in her chair to
prevent a repeat of her mother's opposed actions.  She picked up her lighter,
flicked the wheel, and applied the sudden flame to the tip of the cigarette.
The tobacco sizzled as she greedily sucked the smoke from the filter and she
felt her body start to lose tension.  She removed the cigarette and held the
magical smoke inside her lungs as long as she could before exhaling the smoke
across the table towards her speechless parents.

As Jean coughed at the smoke, her husband sniffed the cloud gently as a sense
of curiosity began to build up inside him.  Thoughts of smoking, a previous
activity, slowly filled his brain until it was the only point of focus as
Hazel continued to smoke.  Normally, he would support his wife when she was
having a row with their daughter, but the sight of his daughter lazily inhale
and exhale was engrossing.  

"So what else are you into, huh? Drugs of any kind you want to mention?" Jean
barked as her husband placed his hand on her shoulder to try and calm down
his wife.  

"Well, you wouldn't call it a drug, but I'm back with Darren again!" Hazel
laughed unapologetically as she raised the cigarette towards her lips again.
Hazel noted that smoking seemed to have raised her confidence as she normally
met her clashes with her mother with reluctance and appeasement.  However the
nicotine was encouraging Hazel to express herself in a manner she had never
done before - with smoking, she felt free!  The realisation of this was
extremely liberating.

"I take it you won't be involved with the cheerleading anymore if the coach
finds you smoking.  See how this vice ruins your chances of leading that
squad?  This is madness for you to take up the habit in a position when
you're supposed to be a role model for your college!" Jean ranted.

"Actually, it's quite the opposite.  All of the squad are smokers now.  And
we were caught by the coach today - but she won't do anything about it as she
can't replace all of us before the big game on Saturday.  All she has said is
to keep our habits hidden from public view...as long as we do that, we won't
get dropped." Hazel replied happily.

With her cigarette smoke mingling with the smoky cloud around them, the whole
family were soon submerged in a social mix of cigarette smoke from all the
addicts in the bar.  The anguish and disappointment in her daughter slowly
simmered as Hazel's cousins just sat drinking from their glasses as they said
nothing at her openly smoking.

"How long you been smoking?" Tony asked, as the curiosity continued to grow
and influence his train of thought.

"Just a few days now.  I started smoking with Darren and have never looked
back since.  I can't believe how I puked up the first time I tried it years
ago." Hazel said calmly, examining the cylinder between her fingers with
envy.

"You won't be smoking for long after tonight!" Jean retorted with menace as
her anger continued to rumble.

"What you mean?" Hazel asked sarcastically as she tilted her head to release
another tight stream of smoke toward the ceiling.

"Coz I won't take my eyes off you from now on - everywhere you go, I go!"
Jean angrily fired back, noting her daughter's relaxed expression never
flinched at her tone of voice.

"Come on Jean, back off a little - Hazel is an adult now so we can't go
telling her what to do.  She has made a choice.  You never know she might
decide to quit later on anyway.  Smoking when you're young doesn't mean it’s
always a done deal for the rest of your life." Tony countered, hoping his
daughter would continue to smoke in front of him. 

Although Jean was angry, she also noticed the smoke wasn't as pungent as
before.  Jean abstained from further comment on the subject, allowing the
matter to drop for now having taken some confidence from her husband's words
of false encouragement.  

Another round of drinks past by and Hazel had smoked 3 cigarettes despite the
continued evil stare by her mother.  However, Hazel noted the opposite
reactions from the rest of her family; she found her father watching her
smoke with a smirk on his face as she sipped his drink while her cousins both
sat silent.  

When Hazel reached for another cigarette, she heard a voice beside her say
"Can I have one?"

"Sure you can, Beth! Here, take mine." Hazel replied eagerly as she wished
for another smoker at her table.

"You don't smoke?!" Charlene said as she glared at her sister reaching out
for Hazel's unlit cigarette.

"Beth - When did you start?!" Jean moaned with disappointment.  Beth was two
years older than Hazel, and should have known better, Jean thought as a mild
sense of curiosity and intrigue penetrated her mind.  Tony quickly needed a
distraction as he excused himself from the table to get another round of
drinks.

"You know what damage you're doing to your lungs!" Charlene groaned as her
sister happily accepted the light from Hazel's lighter.  As Hazel lit her own
cigarette, the verbal attack continued from both fronts.

"I've been a social smoker for years now.  I always just had one or two at
uni parties.  Smoking doesn't normally bother me at all, but watching Hazel
smoke, just made me want one.  I find it strange though as I have normally
been able to leave it at times.  For the first time since I started, I have a
feeling inside me which wants me to smoke - my first actual craving." Beth
said as smoke punctuated her words.  From that first inhale, the anxiety
melted away and replaced with feeling of pure bliss.

Another round of drinks flowed, and the opposition towards the smoking has
virtually been silenced until another victim fell pray to its allure - Tony.
Since Hazel's first cigarette that night, he had old urges return to him as
he became fixated on the pack of cigarettes lying on top of the table.  As
the thoughts intensified, the cravings for nicotine voiced their opinion -
instructing him to supply them with a fresh doze.  All of a sudden, the
reasons for him quitting smoking on Jean's insistence became irrelevant as he
reached towards the pack in an entranced state.  

"Tony! No!" Jean begged as she had held back another outburst for long
enough.

When the cravings raged, Tony impatiently opened the pack and removed a
cigarette and placed it between his lips.

"Need a light?" Hazel smiled as she flicked her lighter to life.

"Tony!" Jean shouted, attracting glances from the other smoking customers, as
her husband flirted with the idea of smoking.

After a long pause, and a stare towards his stressed wife, he succumbed to
the nicotine urges and accepted Hazel's flame.

Immediately, his system was revisited by an old friend of smoke and
penetrated his system as if it had never been away.  His lungs gladly
accepted the nicotine intake, embraced the smoke and provided him with a
moment of pleasure.  Once Tony was satisfied that the nicotine had began
circulation, he exhaled effortlessly across the table towards Charlene.

"You bastard! How could you do this after what we've been through!" Jean
barked, tears forming in her eyes as the tension became unbearable.  The
sight of her husband, ignoring her pleas, smoking with a smile on his face
further enraged Jean.  

As Tony raised his cigarette towards his lips for another pull, Beth lit a
second cigarette and caught Charlene watching her with an observant look on
her face.  Her eyes seemed to follow every movement of the cigarette as Beth
puffed deeply.  The nicotine had never been more satisfying to her than it
was now.  As well as feeling jubilant and buzzed from the nicotine, she also
felt daring and adventurous.

"Hazel, Why don't you light a cigarette for Charlene while you're at it?"
Beth joked as Hazel picked up her diminishing pack.  Beth expected a verbal
volley of abuse in response to her statement but it never came.  Charlene had
always been the extremely health-conscious one of the sisters and had always
been repulsed by the habit.  But ever since watching Hazel smoke her first
cigarette, curiosity had began to bubble inside her.  Jean, already furious
at the events unfolding in front of her, looked over towards Charlene with a
pleading look.  At this moment, she and Charlene were the only non-smokers at
the table...surely that number wouldn't dwindle to one....would it?

That question was answered as Hazel lit up a cigarette and passed it over
towards Charlene, who spread her fingers to accept the lit cylinder.  She
ackwardly fiddled with the cigarette between her fingers, copying her
sister's relaxed posture of the cylinder between her two middle fingers.
Once the cigarette felt stable and secure, she brought the filter towards her
lips in eager anticipation.  Gone was the anger and shock, and now replaced
with a determination to try the habit she had knocked for so long.  As she
secured her lips around the filter, she sucked gently on the cigarette with
the end glowing bright red to the delight of the other smokers.  The sudden
rush of smoke was hot and powerful as it filled her mouth.  As if mentally
instructed, Charlene inhaled the smoke, letting it coat her lungs and explore
their host's pink lungs.  Pleasure shot through her body immediately, and her
prior thoughts on the habit were now insignificant.  As she pursed her lips
and exhaled a cloud of smoke, she realised that smoking was not that bad at
all...in fact it tasted and felt great!

"Yeah, business has been going really well.  I can't wait til you arrive - at
least I will then be able to give my customers some entertainment..." Monique
laughed into the telephone as she could hear a loud argument erupt at a table
near the front of the room.

"Can you hold on a sec?" Monique asked as the voices escalated.  She placed
the telephone on the table, and left her lit cigarette in the ashtray as she
walked out from store cupboard into the bar.  

"What is going on? You know, I have never seen this before...my daughter
starts smoking and now everyone is smoking.  Just you all wait til I get back
- especially you, Hazel!" Jean roared as the anxiety and stress peaked.

"Excuse me, you have an important phone call." Monique lied as she approached
Jean.  As she ushered the aggrieved mother and wife towards the back of the
bar, she motioned for the staff to serve the smoking customers.

"Who the hell are you?" Jean screamed as she stood up from her chair, with
her family smoking freely.

"I am Monique - I own Drôle Bar." Monique replied calmly

"Well, this place stinks....literally!" Jean barked loudly as the smoking
customers looked on in slight amusement.

"Who would call me here? No-one knows I am here. Plus, what business are you
running here? This smoky environment breaks Health and Safety laws..." Jean
ranted as her anger was soaring.

"Calm down for a sec.  Please just take a seat and take a deep breath.  I
don't know who it is, but they asked for you." Monique replied as her guest
sat down on the seat in the store cupboard.

"I will give you some privacy." Monique said as she closed the cupboard door
and returned to the bar.  

Her heartbeat still racing with rage, she reluctantly picked up the telephone
and placed it to her ear.  

Meanwhile, her family continued to talk and smoke in Jean's absence.  

"I have never seen Jean like that!" Tony claimed as he dragged on his
cigarette again.

"I know - my mother has never been aggressive like that in her life.  She
normally deals with stress extremely well." Hazel said after releasing
another jet of smoke across the table.

"You never smoked before, Charlene?" Beth asked, still bewildered to her
sister's strong stance against the habit.

"Never.  I don't even understand why I am smoking now.  I should be giving
you dog's abuse for doing it yourself.  How on earth are we gonna deal with
Mom - she's gonna take a fit if she finds out!" Charlene said, lost in a haze
of her own cigarette smoke.

"It is so cool you both now smoke - it's another thing we have in common.
Now I just need to show you both how to get the best boyfriends..." Hazel
exclaimed as she watched her cousins adapt immediately to the cigarettes.

After ten minutes of conversation of expressing her love for Darren, Jean
returned to the table with a silent, slightly dazed expression.  Without
comment, the family stared as Jean sat back down on her chair gently,
oblivious to Tony sparking another cigarette from the pack greedily.  

"Is everything OK?" Hazel asked as Jean sat with a blank expression.

To provoke reaction, Hazel sucked on her cigarette, inhaled sharply, and then
released a stream of smoke into her mother's eyes.  Jean's nostrils twitched
at the clash of cigarette smoke, and her eyes blinked twice as she opened her
mouth slowly.

"Everything is fine dear.  Nothing to worry about..." Jean said entranced as
she picked up the pack of cigarettes on the table without looking.

The family almost choked on their smoke as Jean proceeded to remove a
cigarette and place it between her lips, leaving the cylinder to dangle
seductively as she left the pack on the table.

"Could someone give me a light?" Jean mumbled around the cigarette.

"Here." Tony smiled as he picked up Hazel's lighter and produced a flame.

Without encouragement, Jean lowered the tip into the flame and sucked deeply.
As Tony put the lighter back on the table, Jean sat back in her seat as she
inhaled powerfully.  The smoke reawakened her sense, and her body sparked to
life with the nicotine surging through her veins like an electric shock.  The
family all sat in their seats, mouths open in awe as smoke flowed from them,
in amazement at the uncharacteristic actions of Jean as she seemed to revel
in this new habit as if she had smoked all her life.  As she continued to
smoke, Jean gradually came out of her trance and noted the family's confused
expressions.  Suddenly, she looked between her fingers to see a cigarette
burn freely.

What the hell am I doing?, Jean briefly thought before another wave of
nicotine pleasure washed over her vulnerable system.

The bliss she now embraced filled every portion of her body, and empowered
the positive parts of her mind - now rewriting their thoughts on the habit.

"Are you all gonna just gawk at me all night?....After all, this is Hazel's
night!" Jean smiled as she raised the cigarette to her waiting lips once
more.  

The family sighed in relief, tapped their cigarettes in the ashtray before
resuming their own smoking patterns.

Jean inhaled again, and placed the cigarette in the ashtray to burn as she
rummaged through her handbag for her purse.

"So what was the phonecall?" Tony asked

"I can't quite remember...It wasn't important though, I think." Jean said as
she took out loose change and handed it to her smoking daughter.

"What I do know, though, is that we're gonna run out of cigarettes! Here ya
go, Hazel - get yourself a pack and me one." Jean smiled as she put her purse
back into her bag and reached for her cigarette.

Hazel smiled as she walked over towards the newly-installed cigarette machine
beside the Jukebox.  Although her mother's actions were strange, she couldn't
help but feel glad about the metamorphosis.  No more hassle, Hazel thought as
she put the money in the machine, punched a few buttons, and grabbed the
packs as they descended onto the tray below.  

"Thanks Tom - See you tomorrow night. Take care." Monique said as she
replaced the telephone on the receiver and returned to the bar.

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