BettyHeartsJughead Intervenes

Nicole starts to write again. She stops when she receives an alert for a private message from BettyHeartsJughead.

BHJ: Heyyyyyyy, how's it going?

WFH: OMG. I don't know what to do. I feel betrayed.

BHJ: Yeah, I told them they should be straightforward about him from the start. The Reverand was convinced complete secrecy would be what you'd want. He's really set on giving you the most realistic "Free-Use World" experience possible.

WFH: I don't think I can keep doing this. I don't want to ruin his marriage.

BHJ: So, a couple questions. First, if he wasn't married would you still be getting what you need out of the experience? Your fantasy fulfilled?

Nicole takes a long minute to consider the question. The back of her dress was soaked from her recent masturbation session downstairs. There was no doubt that aside from being disgusted by the man she was getting off on it.

WFH: He's fucking gross, Betty, but yes, I guess I am.

BHJ: Alright, I felt the same way you did when I found out he was married. You know, I believe in healthy, consensual open relationships. But, well, what if his marriage really is on the rocks?

WFH: What do you mean?

A photo appears in the chat. It's a screen capture of a woman's Facebook page, but all of her identifying information has been blurred out. Instead, there are a handful of posts about typical conservative talking appoints mixed in with photos of the woman in an American flag bikini hanging all over a biker.

BHJ: This is her. Rev pulled these photos together when we were building your security plan. It seems in the last two months she's been spending all of her time with this dude. Usually in a bikini.

WFH: How do you know this is his wife?

Another bunch of screencaps pop up. These show the man with the woman. Some with their kids and finally one on a wedding day. Nicole actually felt a little bad for him. Maybe she was his outlet for anger at his wife.

BHJ: Yeah, his story checked out. So, I'm here to help you not feel so bad. If you stopped today would you feel like you scratched this kinky itch?

WFH: Probably not.

BHJ: Right, so, I think you should keep going. I mean, how many days is it until you need to go back to the office?

WFH: After today, 19.

BHJ: I envy you. My biggest fantasy is getting lost in a Minotaur maze and...well...

WFH: LOL. Yes, we're all aware of your minotaur thing.

BHJ: And it's never going to happen, but you actually get to live yours out.

Nicole takes another minute to think about it. Of all the people in the group she trusted Betty the most. She'd still feel gross about the whole cheating on the wife thing, but if Betty was sure then she could continue.

WFH: Okay. I'm sticking with it.

BHJ: I'm here for you, too. If you ever need to call. You should let the group know. They're worried about your sudden silence.

And Nicole does. After she reveals she's going to continue moving forward and that "maybe it isn't so bad if he's already separated" they get into a discussion about her issues with his misogyny. Everyone is basically in agreement that this is what Nicole wanted. In a real-world situation, she wouldn't be able to choose and would need to suffer any man no matter their politics.

MrKnight69: What it means for him doesn't matter, does it? You already said it yourself 'it's all roleplay.' Go along with it and you'll get the most out of the experience.

WFH: Go along with it?

MrKnight69: Yeah, well, I mean, as much as you can stomach it.

Maybe they're right, she thinks. She can roleplay it for 19 days. Nicole, feeling better, signs off for the night.

When she opens the medicine cabinet to get ready for bed she sees it. Her birth control case. "Oh no," she whispers. It was nearly 10 p.m. on Tuesday. The last time she took her pill was Saturday morning. It was almost three full days since she took one. "oh no, oh no, oh no." Normally if she'd missed two days she could take two pills today and two pills tomorrow. It was technically still day three, right?