Page 37 of Provocation
I’m not much of a prayer, but I send some thoughts up into the ether anyway.
Jesus, please work. Please, please, please create a stable high for every damn person who eats one! Get Sauvage off our fucking backs and make us some damn money!
A few minutes later, when the press runs out of mixture, it stops automatically. It beeps again and, again, Daisy copies the noise.
I grab a small Ziplock and count out ten of the little pills, separating them from the pile, and frown at her as she quietly makes the noise again.
‘What’s with the beeping?’ I ask, burning with curiosity.
‘The what?’
‘You keep copying the noise the machine made.’
Her cheeks go pink immediately. ‘I didn’t realize I was,’ she mutters. ‘Sorry.’
I smile at her, I hope reassuringly. ‘It’s nothing to be sorry for, Tulip,’ I say. ‘I just wondered.’
‘I…uh…just like the noise and…the way my lips feel when I make it,’ she says quietly. ‘Sometimes I don’t know I’m doing it. I’ll try to stop.’
I turn her to face me carefully. ‘You don’t need to stop,’ I tell her. ‘It’s nothing to be self-conscious about.’
She purses her lips, not looking at me.
‘I think it’s cute.’
She looks up with an incredulous face. ‘Cute?’
I nod. ‘Adorable, actually.’
Her cheeks get redder.
‘Oh,’ she whispers before she lets out a cough and moves away.
‘Where will the pills be kept?’ she asks, changing the subject.
It’s clear that she’s embarrassed about making the sounds, so I just motion her over to a cupboard and open it to reveal a hidden safe at the back that’s built into the brick wall, letting the moment pass entirely.
"We'll keep them in here.’
I show her the combination and we put Envy safely inside.
‘Those ten are for Shade’s…people?’ she asks.
I nod. ‘They’ll let us know what they experience, and we’ll tweak the recipe from there.’
She nods slowly. ‘I should put the recipe in the safe, too.’
‘You wrote it down?’
She shrugs. ‘Only in the simplest of terms. I’m not an idiot.’
I chuckle. ‘You’re the furthest from an idiot that a person can be.’
Then, I turn to her and take her hands so that she knows I’m serious.
‘You’re so fucking smart, Tulip, you know?’ I tell her, and she beams, blushing a little.
‘But…’ I make sure she’s looking at me, giving me her complete attention before I speak again. ‘Never tell anyone that you’re the only one who knows how to make this, okay?’
