I watched for Jerome to leave and as soon as he drove away, I went across to Emily's. After a gentle hug we sat at her kitchen table with coffee. Emily looked very tired.
"He didn't come home until 2am, I pretended to sleep, he didn't shower, just snuck into bed; he stunk of alcohol, perfume and sex; when I heard him snoring, I got up."
I asked, "Did you sleep?"
"Maybe some, I took his phone to the couch; I found out from his emails he started an affair months ago. That explains his changed behavior towards me. His text history wasn't deleted, her name is Ilyana, his secretary; they've been taking extended lunch breaks, hooking up a couple afternoons a week at her apartment, neither of them went to work yesterday, after he stormed off, he went to her place."
Emily forced a smile "I'm not going to fight for him; I'm calling our lawyer today to draw up a divorce agreement."
I touch Emily's hand "I took this week off to deal with gramma's passing, I really just wanted a bit of a holiday, and her passing was enough of an excuse to get several days off." I finish my coffee "So if there's anything I can do please ask."
Emily gets the pot, refilling my cup. "Well, if you're offering, I don't have a car, so if you maybe don't mind driving me to my lawyers and a couple of errands."
"Of course I will, happy to help."
We had fun together running errands, getting to know each other better and after lunch downtown, we shared an entire bottle of wine on her sofa before I went home.
There was a package waiting when I got home, the Aphrodisiac Potion items arrived. I decided we'd order take out for supper and I spent my supper prep time carefully making a batch of the potion; diligently making sure I followed the instructions exactly. I was so excited to make the stuff that I didn't even consider why, or for who? How was I going to test it?
After supper I showed Garth the recipe card, "I made a batch of this but I'm unsure how or with who to test it on."
Garth rereading the card "It sounds intense, the warnings are ominous, sounds like it's designed to get or make someone horny, rather than just enhance an active libido."
"I was thinking I might try a half dose myself, just to see what happens."
"You mentioned your mom knew about the recipes, maybe she's tried it, you could ask her."
"Good idea." I grab my phone, call mom, after our basic greeting I ask. "Mom, I made a batch of the Aphrodisiac Potion, and was going to try it, but we're nervous."
"Did you follow instructions precisely as described Kim?"
"I did, for sure, 100%."
"Well, sweety, are you planning on dosing someone you both know, or is it someone you yourself are discretely interested in."