Hats off to Larry

Your journey back to the Benson household is not a happy one. You realise now that you've been having so much fun romancing all the beautiful women in town and being treated practically like royalty by everyone else here that you've wilfully overlooked the many signs that something in Greenvale is very wrong. You could take a yellow pill to make those inconvenient feelings go away and start enjoying yourself again, but you no longer want to. You get the distinct sense those things are scrambling your brain somehow and aren't at all sure Dr Larry Jensen can be trusted.

As you sit down for another truly delicious dinner, John appears to be cheerily oblivious to your unhappy demeanour. The man is like a walking advert against taking any medication prescribed by the town's resident physician. You see him popping those damned pills almost non-stop and he is now living quite contentedly in a fool's paradise, totally clueless to his wife's obvious displeasure with her marriage and how fucked up the beloved town he refuses to step foot outside of even for a day clearly is.

"So how was your day off, Sport?"

How are you supposed to answer that? "A bit of a mixed bag, John. I fucked your wife three times which was lovely, but then I freaked out the only other sane person in Greenvale by apparently knowing things about her that she didn't herself yet."

Perhaps a less honest and more vague answer is in order.

"Oh, it was pleasant and relaxing but pretty uneventful."

"So you're settling into Greenvale nicely then?" he wants to confirm for about the hundredth time.

"Uh, yeah. It's a lovely town, John."

He seems very happy with that answer but something else soon begins to trouble him.

"You gonna take your medication, Chuck?"

He gestures down at the sickly sweet yellow pill that Betsy has provided for you with your drink, but which has so far gone untouched.

"Actually, I decided I'm not going to take those anymore. I still don't really know what they are or what they're for and I don't consider myself ill, so I don't see the need."

There is a few moments of almost grave silence around the table before John responds.

"Well, I certainly get where you're coming from, Sport. Heck, I've felt the same way myself a few times. But anyone here who has tried to come off them will tell you it's not a pleasant experience."

"It's true Chuckie" Mary Lou pipes up "Sometimes I forget to take mine and it can be quite scary, I start to feel almost like I'm not myself."

This is sounding more and more messed up by the minute. You decide to ask some gently probing questions about the good doctor who seems to hand out the mysterious medication as if it were candy.

"What do we know about Dr Jensen? Has he always been the doctor here?"

"I think he's from the city originally" Besty answers "But he's been practising in Greenvale for as long as I can remember, and he's the only medic in town. You won't find anyone who'd have a bad word to say about Larry Jensen, though. He's been an absolute godsend to Greenvale."

"He single-handedly saved your friend Michelle's life" John adds "It's a true miracle that girl lived, considering her condition when she showed up here."

"Showed up?" you ask.

"The poor girl was found lying in the street, unconscious and pale as a ghost." Betsy tells you "I haven't a clue what was wrong with her or how she got here."

"Which street was she found in?" you ask, with an eerie feeling you already know the answer.

"Primrose Lane" Mary Lou remembers "Though a little further up the street than where you were. I actually thought she was dead. It was so scary"

A chill is running down your spine at this point. You swear you'll never take a yellow pill again and, with a clear head, will get to the bottom of just what has happened to you, Michelle and potentially everyone else in town.

"The important thing is she was right as rain within a few days" John jumps in before the conversation gets too dark for his chipper tastes "Though it's extremely fortunate that Larry was able to attend to her so quickly, or I don't think we'd have had such a happy ending. So, if that man tells me I need to keep popping these pills then that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"I fully respect that John, but I still think I'm going to decline."

"That's completely your decision to make, Chuck" Betsy tells you as she removes the offending tablet from in front of you and carries it to the kitchen, though not before you notice her share a look with her husband.

"Anyway, how was your day, John?" you ask, keen to change the subject now.

"Oh, you know, same old same old. Although Jack was a little down in the dumps. It seems Suzy from a few doors away broke things off with him."

"Jaaaack's Mr Blue...." Mary Lou breaks into song mockingly.

"That's not nice, Mary Louise" her mother scolds her as she walks back into the room.

"I'm sure he'll get over it. Their relationship was doomed anyway, so it was better to rip the band aid right off" the younger Benson woman reasons "Suzy probably thinks now she's single she can have Chuckie all to herself, but that's never going to happen."

"I always thought little Suzy was such a sweet girl, but perhaps she takes after her mother after all" Betsy remarks pointedly.

"Oh yes, a proper heart breaker, that Sue" John chimes in "So many guys in Greenvale have fallen for her charms, but she never sticks with any one man for long. This despite the fact she's married and her poor husband has been stuck overseas serving our country for some time now. In fact, he hasn't been back to Greenvale for as long as I can remember."

"Well, whatever Suzy's plan is with Chuckie she can think again"

Mary Lou turns to you and clasps her hand firmly over yours as she fixes you with an intense, smouldering glare.

"We're going to fuck so hard and so often tonight that you're going to forget that girl even exists!"

"Mary Louise! If I hear you using that kind of language again, let alone at the dinner table, I'll wash your mouth out with soap and water!" Betsy explodes with an anger you've never seen in her before.

"What? I'm a grown woman and Chuck is my boyfriend" Mary Lou folds her arms like a sulking teenager "What do you think we get up to upstairs? It's not like we're living in the forties when you and Daddy were courting, or whatever you called it."

She said the word 'courting' with emphasis and in a mock prim and proper voice to try and get under her mothers skin. From Betty's thunderous expression, it seems to have done the trick. And now John looks like he's planning to weigh in and make things worse, no doubt.

"Leave the girl alone, Betsy" he encourages his wife between casual bites of his meal "It's nice to see our daughter so taken with a man. I never thought I'd see the day. And she couldn't possibly have chosen a sweller guy."

"That's still no excuse for vulgarity" Betsy retorts.

"If you ask me, someone's a little sore she's not the one having fun in the bedroom with Chuck" John winks at you from across the table.

Oh God, not this again. It was awkward enough when you weren't fucking her.

"I guess i'd better be careful or I'll end up like poor ol' Jack" he continues with a smirk.

"Maybe you shouldn't make those kind of jokes about me and Betsy, John" you suggest politely.

"Yeah Daddy, it's gross" Mary Lou backs you up, but without employing the same degree of tact "As if Chuckie would even be interested in someone twice his age."

At this point Betsy stands up and storms off into the kitchen without saying a word.

"It's fine, she gets like this sometimes, but she's always back to being the Betsy we know and love once she's taken another pill" John assures you calmly as he pours more gravy onto his beef.

Sure enough, his wife emerges from the kitchen minutes later with a smile on her face and a cheery demeanour.

"Can I get anyone a coffee?"

All three of you accept. It will be just the thing to cap off another beautiful meal.

When you sip your drink once it arrives you realise that, despite all present outward appearances, Betsy must have been thrown off her game a little by the dinner conversation. Your beverage tastes decidedly sweet and she knows you like your coffee without sugar. It's almost unheard of for Betsy to make an error like this and her attention to detail is normally immaculate.

Still, given the stress she's been under during the meal she painstakingly prepared for you all, you decide not to say anything and drink up without complaint. As you do, and the Benson family begin to laugh and joke with each other again, you start to feel your unsettled mood lifting and your thoughts turn to the evening ahead. It sounds like Mary Lou is going to be even more keen to keep you sexually satisfied and devoted to her than usual, and she's been talking about trying new things she's never done before to keep your love life fresh and spicy.

You can hardly wait.