The drop off occurs, and a deal is struck

Ava and Lana got to the plaza where the drop off was going to happen. It was near the campus, one of the first places Ava had ever set on her site as a selectable option. Sure, it was close to her office and it didn’t take long for the pair to get there, but more importantly, this buyer seemed to have just picked a random option from her default list of locations.

Most of her clients didn’t bother with the express delivery option, but they did pay extra for the chance at customizing their drop off. Sure, Ava always reserved herself the right of refusal if a place seemed too deserted or suspicious, but most clients just wanted a place they could control, or a public and populated place where few would focus on the exchange taking place. The plaza the two were in right now was cold and almost deserted, with just a couple random people drinking at the nearby bar during a workday in the middle of autumn. No college population at all, since most would be in class right now. What the hell was this buyer even thinking?

Fortunately, they wouldn’t have to wait to find out. At the bench Ava remembered doing her first few drop offs, sat a big man. While the two women wore coats, he simply wore a light over shirt, he had big burly arms and a broad chest. He had a rustic stubble on his square jaw and barely kempt auburn hair. The moment he saw the two approaching him, he got off the bench and extended his arm for a handshake while showing a welcoming smile on his face.

“Lower that hand! What do you think you’re doing?” Ava whispered in anger.

“Oh, I was just meaning to give you a proper greeting.” The man said as he nervously fidgeted with his hand for a second before deciding to move it to the side of his head and scratch his temple in confusion. “Are you the people with the p—”

“Shhhh!” Ava shushed him. She tried to be quiet, but in a deserted plaza like this one, she ended up getting a little bit of attention from the folks in the bar. She composed herself, adjusted her business suit and her perfectly styled bob cut, and addressed the man again. “This is supposed to be a secret delivery. You can’t be bringing attention to us by treating this like a friendly meeting.”

“Sorry,” he apologized, “but no one knows me in this part of town, so I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

“Well, people know me, and I wouldn’t like my operation being compromised, thank you very much,” she whispered angrily.

“So, hm, boss, how often do you shush your clients? Is that normal?” Lana asked, with a mixture of awkwardness and fear, both feelings inspired by the woman standing next to her.

“No, of course it isn’t! But most of my clients don’t give themselves away on a terribly exposed drop site.” Ava tried incredibly hard not to glare at the man. He was a customer, after all. Maybe she really was losing her finer touch.

The man just looked sheepish. “So, do you have the… stuff?”

“Yeah, it’s right here. Sorry for the outburst,” Ava said, reaching into her coat pocket and retrieving the glass vial with the translucent liquid. “If I may ask a question, who do you plan to use it on? A rival at work? Your boss? You don’t look like the typical college student I sell these things to around here.”

Ava may have been having a crap day, but she couldn’t hold back her curiosity. Usually she would be more reserved and respectful around her wealthier clients (at the moment, still rich college kids and some well off recent graduates, which she hoped to upgrade from.) But sometimes, when dealing with more normal folk like herself, she couldn’t resist asking about their plans, comparing their courses of action to her own when she was only starting. And maybe silently judging some of them for the answers. What? She never said she was perfect.

“None of those, no,” the man answered them. “I plan to use it on myself.”

“YOU PLAN TO USE A—” Ava stopped herself mid scream. Regained her composure once more and made extra sure to whisper the rest of her sentence, “You plan to use a guaranteed Love Bond juice on yourself?!”

“Yeah. You are the Bonder for hire, right? You should know about this stuff,” he simply remarked.

“So, I’m gonna assume this type of thing isn’t normal either, right boss?” Lana asked, unused to such a display from her lover/employer.

“Normal?! I—” Ava was in pure disbelief. “I’ve never ever seen this done before. Why would you ever want this?”

“Well,” the man began his explanation, “if you get Love Bound, you usually get about a week off from work, usually the time it takes for the Bond to wear off. And I wanted to watch the big game this afternoon, except my supervisor wouldn’t get off my ass, so I told him I had been Bound earlier today. I figured it would be at least another day before he asks for the doctor’s note, but I thought I’d better get ahead and make it official for real by the end of the day. Pretty genius, huh?”

Both women were left stunned.

“Actually, that’s pretty smart.” Lana was genuinely impressed.

“That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.” Ava was utterly unimpressed.

“Wait, what? Sorry, you two were talking at the same time so I actually didn’t get any of that.” The man said.

“Never mind.” Ava took a deep breath. “So, let me get this straight, you went on an illegal website for an illegal business, bought a vial of a guaranteed Love Bond, plan to get yourself hopelessly in love with a woman you barely know, but who you know for sure is a criminal, all of that just so you could watch a game without getting in trouble with your boss?”

“Honestly, the paid leave for the rest of the week is kinda sweet, too.” That was his simple answer.

Ava pinched the bridge of her nose. Great, a migraine was just flaring up again, she had barely gotten rid of the previous one. She could get some visceral reactions when dealing with incompetent people, but this man was on a whole other level. It wasn’t even that his plan couldn’t get him what he wanted, it was that his situation could get exponentially worse if anything went wrong, all of that for a game. As much as she wanted to judge this man, her curiosity was rattling inside her head, the morbid kind of curiosity, the one that wanted to see in just how many ways his plan could possibly catastrophically backfire. But of course, she wouldn’t be able to watch it unfold, after all she had to finish her plans for expansion and…

Suddenly, Ava felt a turbulence at the tip of her stomach, like her breakfast of toast and coffee wanted to come back and say hello. She felt sick to her core. No way, nope, she needed something to distract her from this, something that could bring her some fresh air, something…

“Bring me with you. I want to see how this goes.” Ava heard the words leave her mouth before she had even realised she spoke them.

“I’m sorry, what?” The man answered, bewildered.

Ava took a step forth and asked again. She wasn’t going to give it up now. “I want to go with you and see how this goes. I want to see if you actually manage to pull it off.”

“I don’t know… I wouldn’t—”

“I'll throw another vial in as payment. You can get two weeks off for the price of one.” Her finer touch never failed her when it came to negotiations. “What do you say?”

“Alright, miss. You got yourself a deal.” He was hesitant, but couldn’t throw away the prospect of what was essentially free vacation time.

He extended his hand for a handshake, and this time Ava shook it eagerly. “My name is Jason, by the way, but most people call me Jace.”

“Pleasure doing business with you, Jace.”

Ava had a satisfied look on her face. A smile was beginning to form when Lana pulled her aside to a corner of the plaza where Jace couldn’t overhear.

“Babe, are you sure about this? You could—”

“Lana, where’s your professionalism?!” Ava interrupted her sharply. “When we’re on the field, only call me ‘boss’ or other such terms!”

“Sure, whatever, boss.” Lana acquiesced quickly so she could warn her lover about her worries. “Isn't it dangerous for you to be going to a random man’s house?! Didn't you think about that?”

“Don’t worry, he’s going to be hopelessly in love with me, like you are right now,” Ava said, not a shred of doubt remaining in her body. She simply had to see this through. “He couldn’t hurt me even if he wanted to.”

“Ok, but what about…” Lana was taken aback when reminded of her love. It was true, and it was hard saying no to her lover, even if the blonde knew, intellectually, that it all came from a Love Bond.

“I’m not going to stay with him for the whole week.” Ava interrupted Lana again, her curiosity reaching a fever pitch. “Only a few days, just so I can see how this plot unfolds.”

Ava could still see the hesitant look in the eyes of her lover and subordinate. She took a few steps forward and caressed the blonde’s cheek.

“You guys back at the office can take care of each other’s needs for a few days. I promise, when I get back, you guys can line up to service me. One. By. One.” Ava added a smirk, a wink, and a sultry tone to her voice to seal the deal. She knew those Bonded to her could barely resist this combination.

And, sure enough, Lana folded. She was still worried, but could also see something the older members of Ava’s harem had told her: once she got an idea in her head, there was absolutely no one who could talk her out of it.

“Just… be careful, alright? And call any of us if anything happens.” She looked over her boss’s shoulder and glared at Jace. He waved back. “Or feel threatened.”

“You have nothing to worry about.” Ava ended their little argument with a kiss on Lana’s increasingly reddening cheek. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Okay…” Lana felt like a schoolgirl again, giddy at the prospect of getting a kiss from her crush.

Once Ava saw that her subordinate would be just fine with letting her go, she got her professional act online once again.

“Thanks for understanding, Lana. Oh, and also, tell the others to deliver his second dose at his house. No need to rush this request, but please deliver it by the end of the week.”

“Okay…” Lana still felt smitten. Ava caressed her cheek as she turned away, smudging the lipstick mark she had left there.

The determined business woman crossed the plaza and addressed her client once again.

“Alright mister Jace, I’m ready to go.”

“Right this way, ma’am.”