She calls her best-friend

Not knowing what else to do, Lauren did the only thing that seemed logical. She called Amelie.

The photo was still on the counter. The wine bottle sat beside it. Her fingers were sticky. She wiped them on the pink sundress like that would do anything and grabbed her phone off the charger. Amelie’s name was right there, first in the list, same as it had been since college. Lauren stared at it for a second, then she hit call.

They had been in college together. Zoology. Long lab hours with Amelie talking too fast about fish and stuff. Amelie had wanted to become a marine biologist. Lauren… well, she didn’t quite remember what she had wanted to be. The thought slid off when she reached for it. What she remembered instead was the certainty that sat in her chest now, warm and heavy. Whatever that old thing had been, it could not compare to being Todd’s stay-at-home wife. She knew she had made the right decision. The house was proof. The ring was proof. The way her cunt still ached from the morning was proof.

The phone rang.

Lauren hoped the Hooters where Amelie worked now wasn’t too busy. Amelie was the owner’s wife. Waitress and manager both. Tight shorts, orange shorts, that smile she put on for tables. Lauren had been befuddled when Amelie had excitedly told her that this was what she was going to be doing for the rest of her life. Marine biology to wings and beer and men staring at her tits. It had not made sense. Then Amelie had said her husband had chosen that job for her, and all of that confusion had been washed away. Richard knew Amelie was a career-driven woman. He had allowed her to have a job to make her happy. He truly was the perfect partner for her. Lauren had felt a new kind of admiration for him after that. A man who knew how to handle his woman. Same as Todd.

She picked up on the third ring.

“Hey, babe,” Amelie said, bright, a little breathless, background noise of plates and a game on somewhere. “I’m on a smoke break. You okay? You never call in the afternoon.”

Lauren leaned her ass against the counter. The photo was face-down now. She had flipped it without thinking.

“I’m fine,” she said. “I just… I had a weird afternoon. I wanted to ask you something stupid.”

Amelie laughed. “Stupid’s my specialty. Hit me.”

Lauren kept it vague. She asked if anything weird had happened at the wedding. Anything that had felt off. Amelie made a noise like she was thinking while lighting a cigarette.

“Babe, your wedding was perfect. You cried, I cried, Todd looked like he wanted to eat you alive in that dress. The only weird thing was your aunt getting wasted and trying to dance with the DJ. Why?”

Lauren swallowed. “Do you remember me having shorter hair in college? Like… really short. Buzzed.”

Amelie snorted so hard she coughed. “You? Miss I-need-a-whole-bottle-of-conditioner? You would’ve cried if anyone came near your head with clippers. You had that long red thing even when we were pulling all-nighters. You used to bitch about it getting in the slides. You feeling okay?”

Lauren tried to smile even though Amelie couldn’t see it. Her green eyes were still too wide. “Last one. And don’t make it weird.”

“I’m already making it weird. Go.”

“Did we ever date?”

Silence filled the air for half a second. Then Amelie made a scandalized sound that was half laugh, half choke. “Lauren. What the fuck. No. Jesus. You’re married. I’m married. We were best friends. I was your maid of honor, not your… your girlfriend. Are you watching some nasty porn again and getting your wires crossed? Because I love you, but I am not about to start making out with Todd’s wife on a Tuesday.”

Lauren forced a laugh. It came out thin. “Yeah. Silly. Forget it. I think I just need a nap.”

“Go take one. Drink water. Tell that man of yours to give you a break before dinner. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Lauren hung up.

The kitchen felt the same. Dishes in the rack. Porn still murmuring from the other room if she listened hard enough. She set the phone down and pressed her palms into her eyes until she saw spots. Silly. Amelie was right. It was silly.

Unbeknownst to her, Amelie did not go back inside.

She stepped farther from the back door of the restaurant, cigarette burning down between two fingers. Her face had changed the second the call ended. The bright waitress smile was gone. What replaced it was clean and empty and useful.

She dialed.

“Good afternoon. Master Todd. This asset is Amelie. I wish to report an irregularity in your personal asset.”

Todd’s chair creaked. Papers stopped moving. “Lauren? What is the irregularity? She’s been getting regular maintenance.”

Amelie spoke patiently. She knew she had to be efficient. Useful. No extra words. “Asset Lauren seems to be having memory bleed-through from her life before the brainwashing process, Master.”

“Fuck.” Todd muttered it like he’d been punched in the gut. Then he kept going, already standing. “Have you informed Richard?”

“Owner hasn’t been informed yet, Master. Should I also call and inform Washington as well so they could arrange for an emergency recalibration?”

The relief was audible in Todd’s voice. “Yeah. Do that. That saves me a lot of time, actually. Thank you, Amelie. You may return to work once you are done with your calls.”

Amelie answered with reverence, eyes on the dumpster, voice soft and exact. “There is no need to thank this asset, Master Todd. It is an asset’s duty to protect another asset. I shall follow your directives. ALL HAIL ALPHA 7! I BELONG TO ALPHA 7!”

She cut the call.

She was already dialing her owner and husband before the screen went dark. Richard. Owner. The man who had chosen Hooters for her and let her keep a job so she would smile while she served. She waited through the first ring with her shoulders back and her tits pushed forward the way she had been taught, ready to report.

A few miles away, Todd left his office. He had to get home. Fast.

Note:

You can read chapters 2 and 3 which finish this side story already on Patreon/Subscribestar, while also supporting me in making more content. This is a commissioned story, you can message me and ask about commissions if you would like a story of your own.

Part 4 of 'The Reality Altering Gun', a comic I made, is also available for members $7 and above.

Here’s the link to The Reality Altering Gun – Part 1: https://e-hentai.org/g/3811253/8793b60683/

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ThePurpleD3viL

My Subscribestar: https://subscribestar.art/thepurpled3vil (Direct Pdfs For non Discord users)

My Discord: https://discord.gg/SXZQjsuwpA

My Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/thepurpled3vil