Technically, sure.

It had been a long time since Nicole had to worry about missing a pill. She thinks back to what the pharmacist told her so long ago when she picked up her first case. She was pretty sure it was "take two pills if you miss one day and two pills two days in a row if you miss two days." So she'd missed three mornings, but not three full days. That was probably the same, right? And she could take her next dose as soon as she woke up tomorrow to get back on track. Sure, she thought, yeah, that should work. Plus, that meant in under 12 hours she'd have four pills in her system. And she recalled someone saying it was really hard to overdose from birth control.

Nicole swallows two pills. She takes her water bottle and the case of pills back to her room. There's no way she's missing another day. Two more in the morning when she wakes up and everything would be fine. Having convinced herself everything is going to be okay, Nicole settles in for the night.

18 Days Until Office Return

The alarm clock wakes Nicole from a restless night of sleep. She was surprised that she wasn't woken up by the man again. She takes her morning pills, checks in with the Discord group, and then buckles down for work. At lunch, she prepares herself for a visit, but he doesn't arrive. Nicole is thankful for the opportunity to focus on her job, but she's surprised by the flickering feeling of disappointment. The disappointment deepens at 3 p.m. Every time he's visited during the past two days has now passed. She worries that pushing back against his politics might have turned him off. Maybe he reconciled with his wife?

The sound of the doorbell makes Nicole jump at her desk. She wasn't expecting anyone or any packages. Oh, maybe the man lost her key. She wonders if she should quickly throw on something sexier to meet him at the door, but shakes off that idea. It is probably best not in case it isn't him; besides, he doesn't really deserve that, does he?

Author's Note - selecting a neighbor: Who's at the door? It could be the man or it could be a neighbor. List of possible neighbors here. After you select the neighbor, you'll find the following seven chapters of their threads are almost identical. For example, let's say you select Tabitha. You read those chapters in her thread and come back here to try someone else. If you choose any of the others, you'll see that the entries are all very similar up until "Vincent wins Nicole for the night." That's when the story will start to change to reflect the fate of the neighbor she chose. To make it additionally confusing, Tabitha's thread takes 11 chapters to tell what only takes seven in the other neighbor threads. This is because I condensed when I was copying and pasting. Long story short, if you've read those chapters following a different neighbor, you can go to "Select Story Map" and skip to "Vincent Wins Nicole for the Night."

Author's Birth Control Note: I want to step in for a moment and point out that Nicole's thinking on all of this is mostly wrong. Nicole is her own worst enemy. If you miss your birth control two days in a row, yes, you can get back on track by taking two one day and two the next. If you miss three mornings in a row, you need to restart your birth control regimen and either abstain or use extra contraceptive protection (condoms) for seven days as your system adjusts. Also, do not take four pills within 12 hours. It's difficult to overdose on birth control, but it can make you sick. Sorry, I want to make that clear so I don't spread misinfo.