Stay mostly sober!
Use this opportunity to practice asking for what you really want in the boudoir!
LANA:1. Obviously.
2. Obviously.
3. Does anyone actually say boudoir anymore?
COREY:I’m serious! Having a one-night stand is the perfect time to practice asking for/instructing your partner on what works for you. It can be hard to do that when you really like the person, but if you know you’ll never see them again, then you can say whatever you want without worrying about long-term embarrassment.
TESSA:Wow, that actually makes a lot of sense.
COREY:You should have a one-night stand too!
TESSA:No thanks.
LANA:Can I also say no thanks?
COREY:You put this task on the list, dude.
TESSA:You can do it!!!
COREY:Literally!
—
I check thetime on my computer and do a little mental math. If I want to be ready for May’s mandatory club outing, I need to leave the office ASAP. After a final read-through, I send my volunteering article to Natasha, pack up my stuff, and head for the door.
“Lana, can I see you quickly please?” Natasha’s voice echoes across the room.
Rob gives me one of thoseOoooh, bustedfaces. I roll myeyes and punch his arm as I make my way over to Natasha’s office.
She ushers me in and closes the door behind me, practically pushing me into a chair across from her desk.
“I don’t want to be a pain, but I do need to be heading out soon. I have plans tonight.” I hold my bag on my lap, wanting to keep up the appearance of someone who needs to jet sooner rather than later.
“Big night tonight?” She raises her eyebrows suggestively.
I probably would’ve never noticed before, but after my conversations with Dr. Lawson, it does seem a bit weird for my boss to be giving me waggling eyebrows. “Um, just going out with a friend.”
She clasps her hands together under her chin. “Is tonight the night you complete your one-night stand?”
I shift a little in my seat, pulling down on the skirt of my cotton sundress. “Not sure, actually.”
“Well, just in case it is, I’ll make this quick so you can get to it.”
My stomach starts to squirm a little bit as this conversation grows more and more uncomfortable. At least for me. Natasha doesn’t seem to be suffering the same qualms.
“So, here’s the long and short of it. This whole series is doing everything we needed it to do. We’re bringing in new followers and lots of clicks, people are spending longer on the website, and we’ve seen a huge growth in ad revenue in just the past few weeks, exactly the impression I wanted to make on the new boss.” Natasha lets her clasped hands drop to her desk.
“But...?”
“But if we really want to drive this home, make the biggest splash possible, not to mention really get your name out there, I need something more salacious than volunteering at an arts center.” She turns her laptop toward me, the article I just emailed displayed on the screen.
“Natasha, the volunteering was your idea. And honestly, of all the things I’ve done during this whole experiment, it was probably the one that benefited me the most.”
“And I love that for you, really, I do.” She pouts her bright-red lips. “But I’m going to need your one-night stand article to be juicy. The kind of piece that goes viral. Sex sells, Lana, and since Seth is supposed to be abstaining, it’s on you to deliver.”
