Olives Farcies

When Caleb awoke, the faintest fraction of light was peering through a cloud-filled sky and skittering through the window to dance across the sheets in front of him like fireflies. Next to him, arms curled around his bicep, was Noemi, her curly hair bunched around her features as she dug her face against the pillow. Caleb kept as still as possible, not wanting to disturb her rest.

It hadn’t been long after their enthusiastic tryst that sleep had overtaken them, with her tank top righted on her body, the only sign of the previous night's encounter was the rip dominating her pants, hidden under the covers. This meant that following their encounter, Caleb had drifted off to sleep before his mind could resume work. Now that he was awake, he was back at it again at the overthinking factory.

What had transpired had gone so far beyond what he had expected and anticipated for his night together with Noemi. They had kissed before, sure, after their initial talk, but Caleb had mostly dismissed this as being Noemi being impulsive and trying to overcorrect too fast. While maybe that had been the case, it was clear now that wasn’t all it was. After listening to Noemi all of yesterday, the Master now had a better understanding of how the Chilean woman thought, and it was clear that she was earnest in seeking out his affections.

Which Caleb had to admit, he was growing quite fond of Noemi. He still had his past trauma he had to contend with, but now, after spending the day together with her, that past had a competitor in the sunny, bright woman he had shared a day with. Ultimately, the more Caleb thought about the last week as a whole, the more anxiety he felt. Not that the past week had been bad, circumstances and a few standout rough patches aside.

He found himself earnestly growing fond of several women here, and wishing he could help the ones that he didn’t. This tore at him internally. Despite whatever fantasies he may have had in the past, or actions to the contrary, Caleb did see himself as a monogamous sort of person. He had dreamed of one day finding that person he would spend the rest of his life with, or he had before his life of interior solitude had nipped it in the bud. Faced with multiple women with whom he could see a meaningful relationship developing, regardless of what the show's intent was, Caleb could only feel guilt.

It felt wrong to harbor feelings for multiple women at the same time, let alone to be thinking of acting on them. He had kissed six of the eight women here in the same week, and his brain was having a hard time reconciling that with the type of person he wanted to be. Amy had told him that in order to be the best master possible, he needed to be open-minded and conscientious. Could he reconcile that with the type of man he wanted to be? Could he simultaneously work to protect all these women brought here and come out as someone he could recognize on the other end? He had no answer for that.

As if sensing his discomfort, Caleb felt Noemi stir next to him, and she stretched out and yawned before blinking and opening her eyes, “Good Morning, Camelista. Did you sleep well?”

Caleb smiled down, reaching out to move a strand of hair from her face as she dug her head against his arm, “I slept alright. That’s not the first time you’ve called me that, what does it mean?”

The Chilean woman chuckled and let out a contented sigh, “It means flatterer or smooth-talker, I thought it was funny considering you are either effortlessly suave or sticking your full foot in your mouth.”

Wincing but keeping his smile up, Caleb gently stroked through his companion’s hair, “I suppose that’s fair. Not the first time I’ve been told that, this week even. You’d think with the amount of time I spend in my head, my words would come out more elegantly from my mouth.”

Noemi leaned her face into his hand, “I don’t mind, especially after last night. Actions speak louder than words.” She reached down and rested a hand on her abdomen. “Last night you showed me how much you cared for me, I still feel it, so warm down there. Your love for me.” She smiled and leaned in closer to him, “That’s why I can say this in full confidence, I love you, Caleb Ward.”

Caleb felt his body tense as he stared at Noemi. He cared for her, certainly didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. Love? It had been six months before he and Lily had started saying that to each other. He and Noemi had had one date.

Seeing his apprehension, her smile remained, but there was a change subtly in her expression, “I love you, Caleb, don’t you love me back? You took my virginity, you came inside me, you could have impregnated me, don’t you love me?”

Caleb knew he could remain silent no longer without doing major damage, “Noemi, I like you a lot. I’ve had nothing but a good time with you on this date, and I want to continue seeing you.”

The expression on her face shifted, the adoration and smile were still there, but there was something Caleb couldn’t place that sent a shiver up his spine, “But…you don’t love me?” The words hung in the air, and Caleb wondered what he could do to fill the silence without causing more damage, but his thoughts were cut off by Noemi interceding them, “That’s ok if you don’t love me yet.”

Caleb felt relief coursing through his body, and he smiled, “I really do care about you, I’m just not ready to say that yet. This whole situation is crazy, I don’t want to say something I’m not fully ready to commit to.”

“It’s ok, because I know that you’ll come around.” Her expression was frozen, and she spoke in a way that was simultaneously assured and fragile, “I’ve done so much for you. I’m in the lead, and I love you the most. Don’t you see that?” Noemi’s eyes glowed with devotion as she stared at him from her side of the bed, “It’s ok that you can’t say it right now, because in the end I know it’s true even if you aren’t confident enough to say it yet.”

“Noemi…I-” Caleb was cut off by the Chilean woman putting a finger to his lips, and her smile tightened.

“You don’t need to say anything Caleb, I know you’re in a complicated position, there are all these other women here,” the way she said “other women” came across as if she said something she found explicitly foul as she lifted a leg and brought it over Caleb to straddle him in the bed, leaning in on top of him, hands on his chest, “You have to play nice, because you’re a good person Caleb I know you wouldn’t abandon anyone in need of course you wouldn’t”

Her hands on his chest seized up, tightening and gripping his chest hair as she looked him dead in the eye, her smile turning empty as she spoke, “So you can fuck all those other women, make sure they make it home safe and sound, but you and I share a special connection. Think of how far we’ve come! It’s destiny that brought me here to you, Caleb! We’re destined to be together! That’s why I know, as much as I love you, you will love me. I’m not worried! I’m patient! I’m understanding! Go and be a good master, go on whatever dates you want, I’ll be here waiting for you, but your heart.” She clutched his chest and leaned in, “That belongs to me.” She then leaned in and kissed him.

While Caleb responded to the kiss, his brain was buzzing and ringing alarm bells. Yesterday, he had seen no signs of this side of Noemi, had he? He scanned his memories, seeing if he had missed any signs that the sweet person he thought was getting to know was truly this possessive. The way she spoke about destiny, too, was unnerving, and Caleb shuddered to think what might happen to anyone who got in the way of that destiny, including him.

Noemi broke the kiss, looking down desperately at Caleb, “It’s not enough, Caleb, please…I need to feel you inside of me again.”

“Noemi, I-” Caleb was cut off by a loud clearing of the throat, and the two turned in bed to see Lucian standing at the end of it. Noemi screeched and fell off Caleb onto the bed.

Lucian tugged and sent a single party popper streaming, “As much as I would love for our audience to bear witness to another instance of animalistic rutting, There are some matters that need attending to and look as I may, my assistant is nowhere to be found and it falls to me to see things through.”

Admittedly, Caleb was for once happy for the demon’s intrusion, but looking over at Noemi’s frustrated features, he could tell he was alone in this. The master frowned over at the demon, “What is it this time?”

Lucian threw the party popper over his shoulder and then gestured around at the room, “Well, Master, first things first. Congratulations, you have officially surpassed the 75 total VP mark, which means that once again your room has been upgraded.”

Caleb had been so preoccupied with Noemi that he hadn’t noticed the changes, despite the fact that they were fairly drastic this time around. The small window on Noemi’s side of the bed had changed to take up most of the wall, giving an impressive view of the city beyond. The room had grown in size, and it appeared he now had a little sitting area off to the side. The television had grown and was now wall-mounted, and a Super Nintendo now sat on the cabinet. Going to the bathroom would reveal its increase in size and the fact that it now supported a jacuzzi tub large enough for two people.

As Caleb looked on, Lucian nodded, “Yes, it seems only appropriate that finally having sex with one of the beautiful women gathered for you is what pushed you over the edge. Now you’re starting to look the part.”

“Well, thanks truly appreciated,” Caleb got out through gritted teeth, “Is that all, or have we done anything else to have earned you gracing us with your presence?”

Tsking and wagging his finger, a devilish grin took over the demon's features, “Master, you must have lost track of time. Your date with Noemi signals the end of dates for the week and the beginning of our first challenge.”

Noemi pulled the blanket up to create a barrier between the two of them and Lucian as Caleb swallowed. He had actively been putting off thinking about the challenges. From what Amy had told him, they really ran the gamut in terms of tone and activity. The worst bit though, was that in most cases, he lacked any real agency to assist the women of the harem.

Already knowing the answer, Caleb felt compelled to ask, “Is there any way around doing this? There’s no need to pit the harem against each other like this, is there?”

At this remark, Lucian just laughed before looking at Caleb’s determined expression, “Oh gods, you were actually being serious. Master, we are here because competition is the soul of this show. It doesn’t matter the season, it doesn’t matter who is running and hosting, this is non-negotiable. The harem has to earn their spot, just as you have to earn yours. I am here to tell you that today’s challenge will start at noon in the auditorium. Go ahead and let the others know.” Lucian turned his back to Caleb before looking back over his shoulder, “I’ve planned something extra fun for all of you.” Then with a burst of flames, he was gone.

Caleb sighed. He knew that there was little chance of getting around the challenge, but if he hadn’t at least asked or tried, he felt like he would be giving in to the situation. To his surprise, Noemi’s face was bright and determined, and she smiled at him, “Don’t worry, Caleb, I’m going to do my best today and prove destiny’s power so you don’t need to worry about me.”

The Master gave her a half-hearted smile; at least she wasn’t down in the dumps over all this. Still, they would need to let everyone else know about the Challenge. So they both got up and began to dress to head down to the dining hall, only to be surprised by the sounds of raised voices and furniture scraping.

Increasing pace, Caleb began to run down the hallway with Noemi behind him, and when he caught to the dining room was shocked by what he saw. One of the tables was turned over on its side, and Maddy and Lily were behind Eliza, whose face was red and looking fuming. Mira and Maya sat quietly at their table in the back while Amy was holding Stella back from running at Eliza.

“How dare you slap me, you hag!” Stella screamed, and Caleb could see that her cheek was bright red. Any notion that things would be simple before the challenge was quickly going down the drain.