Smoke And Mirrors, Part 30

This fictional story contains adult themes and descriptions. If such offends
you, read no further.  All persons and situations depicted are fictional, any
similarities to real persons or events is purely coincidental. All rights
reserved. This story cannot be reproduced without the written prior approval
of the author. You can notify the author at del999@yahoo.com.

Smoke & Mirrors
Part 30: The Phone Call:

The next morning Giselle felt like she had a bit of a hangover from drinking
all the wine at Bonnie's. Her head pounded with a headache. As she lit her
first cigarette, the edginess seemed to subside, and her headache lessened.
She immediately felt better.

She recalled how much fun she had had last night. Bonnie had a great sense of
humor and had been very friendly. Giselle started to realize that her new
life as a smoker was somehow more interesting. She was more gregarious, was
meeting new friends, and generally felt better about herself. She felt
independent. Although she loved Serge dearly, his traditional way always
allowed him to have the last word. He had the implied authority to make all
the big decisions. She felt that she was gaining more courage as she
associated with these more exciting and aggressive women. Tammy was right.
She did not have to ask permission. She decided she would call Suzanne this
evening and address her smoking. She had some ideas on how to handle it. She
looked forward to patching up their rift.

For Giselle, the rest of the day was filled with an endless stream of
cigarettes. She was happy to be smoking her own brand again, and she simply
let herself smoke whenever she wanted. She decided to pass on her soaps with
Danielle, telling her that she had a bit of a headache from last night's
outing. She actually just wanted to be alone with her cigarettes to smoke in
a relaxed fashion. She started to think about last night's events. She
admired how Bonnie had seemed to make her smoking so glamorous and feminine.
She had watched her carefully all night. As she sat at the kitchen table,
reading the latest issue of People Magazine, she came upon an ad for VS
cigarettes. The woman was so beautiful and happy, so well dressed, and of
course there was some smart remark about how independent she was. She started
to think about the ad. She realized that she was also attractive, dressed
well, and lately she was feeling more and more independent. Tammy had made a
good choice. Her cigarettes definitely reflected her self-image.

A thought came to her. I wonder what I look like smoking. Bonnie's feminine
display the previous night along with the contrasting mechanical style by
Vanessa had twigged Giselle's curiosity.

She picked up her cigarettes and lighter and headed to the bathroom. She was
some how nervous, feeling a bit juvenile to be trying this. She looked up at
herself in the mirror. Although she had not put any makeup on yet, she was
still an attractive woman. Time had not ravished her face. She still had it.
She knew it. She picked up her cigarettes watching her every move in the
mirror. She placed the cigarette between her lips and looked up. The mirror's
reflection showed a rather sexy woman dangling a long cigarette. She was
taken aback. She actually looked sexy. There was no doubt about it.

She lit up and inhaled a long 5-second drag. She watched in the mirror as her
cheeks caved in during the draw. She let a small amount of smoke escape, as
she had seen Bonnie do the other night. Then she inhaled a long breath of
air. She waited, and then she turned her head to give her a profile image of
her face. She exhaled, while watching herself out the corner of her eye. The
exhale was thick and bluish gray. It continued nearly endlessly.

She liked what she saw. She realized that Bonnie had been right. She could
pull it off. She looked damn good smoking, Serge probably knew it too. After
all, their sex life had taken off since she had started. She took an even
larger drag. The result was the same. She didn't know where she had developed
her style, but she looked like she knew what she was doing. When Suzanne saw
her smoke, she would know that she was a real smoker. There would be no doubt
about it. Giselle liked what she saw.

Giselle smoked the rest of the day whenever a craving came to her. Each
cigarette was smoked in a calm but deliberate manner, savoring and enjoying
each one. Her smoking had become more ingrained in her daily life, and that
there seemed to be an inner clock telling her "it was time for another
cigarette." It was almost predictable, as she looked at her watch
periodically. She knew what it meant. She was hooked. Her body was telling
her that it needed a cigarette. She had been curious what it would be like to
be a smoker that needed to smoke. She realized that every time she satisfied
the craving, it felt so good. She actually liked the feeling. By nine
o'clock, in only twelve hours, she had finished the package she had opened
that morning. It was time to call Suzanne.

That Wednesday, Suzanne had continued her restricted quota of cigarettes. She
had had a tough day. There were many classes and two tests. She let herself
indulge herself to relieve the increased pressure. By nine o'clock, she had
already smoked her 12 cigarettes and she was feeling very tense, desperately
needing a cigarette. She would hang on, she thought, and see if it would
pass. As she was about to give in, the phone rang.

"Hello," Suzanne said.

"Hi, Suzanne, it's your mother, how is it going?"

"It's great to hear from you. To be honest, exam time has been pretty tough,
but I'm doing okay." she said.

"I know it's tough, and I appreciate all your hard work. We are really
looking forward to your visit, next Thursday." Giselle said with love and
longing in her voice.

Suzanne started to get nervous, realizing that the visit was near and she
would need to smoke in her parent's house. "Mom, I can't wait t see you and
dad. It's going to be great," she said as her voice trembled nervously.

Suzanne, "What's wrong? You seem a bit nervous. I sense some trepidation in
your voice."

"Oh, I'm just tired, Mom, that's all." Suzanne said more calmly.

"Well, I wanted to clear something up with you," Giselle said deliberately.

Suzanne paused. It's the smoking issue. Here it comes.

"Suzanne, I have talked this over with your father. We both agreed that I
have been too hard on you. Here is the way I see it. You are an adult. You
have made the choice to smoke. You must enjoy it, otherwise why would you do
it. I've done some reading on this, and they say it does relieve stress, just
like you said. I know that you are under a lot of pressure at school. Since
smoking is helping you get through school, we both agreed that we accept your
choice to smoke. We are concerned about the health risks, as I am sure you
are too, but we think that you have weighed that risk carefully. I want you
to know, when you come at Thanksgiving, you can smoke in the house if you
want. This is your home too, and we respect your right to smoke. You can
smoke whenever and wherever I want."

Suzanne's eyes welled up with tears.

"Hello? Suzanne? Are you there?" Giselle said.

"Oh, mom-I can't believe I'm hearing this. I've felt so bad about what
happened when we talked about this last time. I love you and Daddy dearly. I
didn't want to do anything to hurt you. I have to admit I really have been
enjoying smoking. As I said before, most of my friends smoke."

"Tell me about it!" Giselle giggled to herself as she recalled her bridge
night.

Giselle continued, "As I said before, I've read that a lot of kids in college
smoke. The statistics say about 40% of all girls your age are smoking. You
are not going to believe this, but I've actually become friends with Danielle
our neighbor. She smokes like you, too. Your Dad even let's Danielle smoke in
our house when she comes over. You won't be smoking alone at Thanksgiving.
I've invited her to share our dinner. I hope that's okay?

"Oh, that would be great," Suzanne agreed, recognizing that this would make
her less self-conscious.

Suzanne couldn't wait any longer. She lit up immediately and inhaled deeply.
She was now free to smoke. What a relief!

Giselle had heard the click of the lighter and the deep inhale. She could
tell by the length of the pause that Suzanne was smoking deeply. A craving
started to gnaw at her.

"Well, you now know how we feel. I don't want you to feel guilty anymore. You
are our daughter and your happiness is important. We love you dearly."

"Are you sure Dad is okay with this?" Suzanne questioned.

"Suzanne, this was my idea. I had to work on him a bit. But now he is in
total agreement." she said smiling.

"Oh, mother. This is such wonderful news. I can't wait to see you and dad,"
she said excitedly.

"We do too!" she said sincerely. "By the way, what is your friend Jill doing
for Thanksgiving?" Giselle asked.

"I don't think she has any plans, as her parents are away, on some cruise or
something."

"Would you like to invite her to come to our place for the weekend?

"Oh that would be great. But Mom, you know she smokes- like quite a bit.
Would that be a problem?" Suzanne said.

Giselle laughed. "You should see how much Danielle smokes. I'm sure it won't
be a problem." she said, trying to make light of the situation.

Suzanne was surprised by her mother's cavalier attitude. How could her
attitude about smoking have changed so suddenly? Maybe she was just trying to
make Suzanne feel more comfortable.

"I had better get going. Call me if Jill can make it. The more the merrier.
We'll talk soon." Giselle said.

Suzanne said, "Bye now. And Mom- thanks for understanding. You're the best!"
The phoned clicked.

This mom needs a cigarette, Giselle thought to herself, as she hung up the
phone. Giselle lit up, and started to think. It had gone very well. Suzanne
had been very grateful. Too grateful, she thought. She and I had started
smoking about the same time. She reminded herself that it had not taken her
long before she started to feel her own cravings. She was interested to see
Suzanne smoke when she visited.

That night Giselle smoked four more cigarettes. Twenty-five was such a nice
round number, she thought.

After Suzanne had hung up, now guilt free, she smoked almost continuously
until she went to bed. As she pulled the last cigarette from the pack she had
opened that morning she thought. "Oh well, no need to starve myself. I can
smoke whenever and wherever I want. I should listen to my mother. I am such a
good girl," she giggled as the smoke escaped from her nose and mouth.
Thanksgiving was going to be great. She couldn't wait to talk to Jill.

Previous part | Next part