Maureen watched on the monitor as her younger sister Julia examined the long,
newly lit cigarette between her fingers. Its smoke curled slowly upward from
her slightly bent wrist, framing her face in bluish-gray cloud. Julia
appeared transfixed in thought and sensation before she slowly, almost
reluctantly, released her exhale. Smiling contentedly, her braces gleaming in
the dim light, she watched the smoke disperse through the surrounding air
through half-closed eyes.
Emily, Julia’s mentor during the test, took another long pull on her own
Allure cigarette. When it seemed that her cheeks could cave in no further,
she suddenly popped the cig out of her mouth. A little ball of smoke appeared
briefly, before she breathed it sharply in. She put her hand on Julia’s knee
and murmured in a low, sensuous voice. “Keep doing it. Just like that. Suck
it all the way down and hold it. You’re doing great!”
Julia hardly needed the encouragement. Her Allure cigarette glowed and
crackled as she took an extended puff. She inhaled the smoke again, audibly,
less timidly, and deliberately. Julia was no longer doing this just for the
money, or to complete the experiment. She was smoking because it felt really,
really good. She did not immediately exhale, but rather let the smoke soak
into her lungs.
Maureen didn’t need the image of Julia’s brain to show her how much her
sister was enjoying her experience; the pleasure she was feeling was etched
on her face. However, if she had examined the brain scan closely, she would
have noticed new pinpoints of yellow lights, indicating where her brain was
growing more acetylcholine receptors. Moreover, the pleasure centers of
Julia’s brain were now wild with activity.
As Julia finally exhaled, she said, breathlessly, “I can’t believe how good
this is. I even like how it tastes. It’s minty.”
Emily replied, knowingly, “That’s because it’s menthol. I like menthols too.
You can actually feel the smoke in your lungs.”
Maureen commented to Dr. Monroe, “I didn’t know you guys made Allures in
menthol.”
“We thought a menthol Allure cigarette might be better for a beginner,” Dr.
Monroe said.
Julia took another long puff before commenting, “I almost feel guilty, liking
this so much.”
Emily took a drag of her own, smiled ironically, and said, “Go ahead and
enjoy it, since this is your first and last time smoking.”
“Wow. Look at that.” Dr. Monroe motioned towards Julia’s brain image on the
monitor. “Julia just had a response of fear and anxiety when Emily hinted
that she might not ever smoke again. Her pulse rate and blood pressure
instantly went up. Fascinating.”
Emily and Julia continued taking big puffs into their bodies, and all too
soon, their cigarettes were almost finished. Julia frowned, and took one last
long drag, which she seemed to inhale especially deeply. She held it for a
long time, and when she exhaled, very little smoke came out.
For a few seconds, neither of the girls spoke. Finally, Emily broke the
silence. “Well, what did you think?”
Julia tried to be nonchalant. “Um, it was nice. Really nice. Not what I
expected.” She added, trying without success to conceal the hope in her
voice, “I really wouldn’t mind doing that again. Not all the time or
anything, but just on occasion.”
An expression of mischief came again into Emily’s features. “Yeah, I enjoy it
on occasion too.” Emily stared fixedly at Julia, and then reached for the
pack of Allure cigarettes that sat on the table between them. Still looking
Julia in the eyes, she took one out, and held it, unlit, between her fingers.
“Do you mind if I have one more?”
“Not at all,” Julia said. Maureen knew enough of her sister to know that she
was deliberately trying to sound disinterested.
Without taking her eyes off of Julia, Emily lit up, and breathed the smoke in
as she did hundreds of times each day. She eventually blew the smoke out in
Julia’s general direction. Julia’s attention was riveted on Emily.
“Here it comes,” Dr. Monroe said, again to nobody in particular.
“Do you suppose I could have one more too?” Julia looked towards Emily with
eager expectation. “Just one more.”
“Sure. I’m sorry. I should have offered you one without you having to ask.”
Dr. Monroe commented, “Actually, it was really important that Julia should
ask for her second cigarette herself. Everything that Emily has said and done
has been carefully scripted.”
Julia removed a cigarette from the pack, and lit up her second cigarette
ever, wearing a broad smile on her face. The way that she inhaled, she did
not look like a smoking novice, but rather like somebody who had enjoyed a
nicotine habit for many years.
Maureen became aware of Dr. Monroe was rummaging through her purse. She
pulled out two long, dark green cigars. She unwrapped one, and then handed
the other one to Maureen. “Your sister is doing better than we could have
ever imagined. I think a victory cigar is in order.”
“An Allure cigar?” Maureen was incredulous. “You’re just full of surprises.”
Dr. Monroe held her cigar between her two index fingers, and ran it back and
forth under her nose, savoring its aroma. Maureen unwrapped her cigar and did
the same. Next, Dr. Monroe began gently licking the cigar, in an almost
sexual manner, to moisten it. Maureen imitated the pretty doctor. She was
astonished at how sweet it tasted. “Have you ever had a cigar before?”
Maureen shook her head no. “A lot of people just puff on cigars, but I prefer
to inhale them deeply. I think you’ll really like it.”
As Maureen examined her cigar, she had a feeling of anticipation much like
she remembered experiencing before her first cigarette six or seven years
earlier. Looking at it, she could hardly believe that she was about to take
so much smoke into her body.
“Are you ready for eight inches of pure pleasure?” Dr. Monroe asked.
Maureen nodded her head yes, and then Dr. Cynthia Monroe clicked her lighter
and offered the flame to Maureen, who held the cigar between her fore and
middle fingers as she puffed it alight.
When Maureen had seen other people light cigars, it always seemed to take a
few puffs to get it going, but her cigar seemed to light almost immediately.
A rich and very agreeable taste of tobacco greeted her taste buds as she
dragged on her Allure cigar. Her heart palpitated quickly in her chest as
Maureen removed the cigar from her mouth, and brought the delicious smoke
inside.
She smiled broadly as it hit her. Maureen’s chest had a sensation of fullness
like she had never experienced before. The smoke was smooth, yet dense,
almost like a liquid. She could actually feel its stickiness as it coated the
deepest parts of her lungs. Maureen held her breath, and the dizzy nicotine
buzz she experienced with each Allure cigarette smacked her with a new
intensity. Her whole body began to quiver visibly.
Dr. Monroe lit her own cigar, and inhaled her own smoke, eager to get the
nicotine it gave into her bloodstream. She placed her hand on Maureen’s knee
and rubbed it gently. “Isn’t it just wonderful?” she asked, breathily.
Maureen reluctantly exhaled as she again nodded her head in the affirmative.
In the meantime, Maureen’s sister Julia was having her own nicotine bonding
session with Dr. Monroe’s sister, Emily. With evident relish, Julia kept
taking long drags on her long, freshly lit cigarette before inhaling the
smoke with great enthusiasm. Each time, she held the smoke inside for a few
seconds before exhaling and repeating the process. “This is fantastic,” she
said, before adding, almost breathlessly, “each puff seems to just get better
and better.”
“I know what you mean,” Emily said, taking another aggressive drag. “When I
very first started smoking these, I felt like all I wanted was more. It’s
like it’s deeply satisfying, yet I can’t get enough.”
“That’s it, exactly,” Julia said, before taking still more of the smoke
inside her body.
Emily put her cigarette in the corner of her mouth before she began to fiddle
with a computer monitor. The whole time, she kept smoking on her cig hands
free. When she was done with whatever she was doing, she spoke again to
Julia.
“Part of this study, as I mentioned before, involves testing your memory and
concentration after using our product. On the computer screen, there are 100
boxes, each with a number from 1 to 50 inside. The numbers will be visible to
you for 5 seconds, and then they will disappear. Your task will be to click
on the boxes with matching numbers. It’s like the game of concentration, if
you’re familiar with that. I’ll demonstrate for you first.”
Here, Emily took a double pump on the cigarette, which was still in her
mouth, and then touched a button on the computer console. As she inhaled her
smoke, a bunch of random numbers popped up on the screen, and then
disappeared after 5 seconds. Emily took a mouse pointer, and began clicking
on boxes on the screen. Unerringly, she paired all 50 numbers. She smiled
broadly, and then took a puff as if in celebration of her success.
“Wow. That’s amazing,” Julia exclaimed, speaking in the middle of an exhale.
“You’re really good at that.”
“Well, to be honest, I had some help. Our product, as you will see, greatly
improves both short and long term memory. Go ahead and take a turn.”
Emily reset the computer program, and Julia took another drag on her
cigarette as she had seen Emily do. When the numbers appeared, she
concentrated on them for a moment before they disappeared. Julia inhaled more
of the smoke greedily before she began matching numbers. After every ten or
so matches, Julia took another puff on her cigarette.
In the other room, Dr. Monroe pointed at Julia with the lit end of her cigar,
and commented, “How interesting. She’s rewarding herself with another dose of
nicotine after each success.”
Maureen’s cigar glowed brightly as she finished her drag and then forcefully
inhaled. “I wasn’t paying attention, I was too focused on this delicious
smoke.”
“It’s easy to get lost in one of these cigars,” Dr. Monroe said. She added,
in a hushed tone, “Can I tell you a dirty secret?”
“That’s the best kind,” Maureen said after exhaling and then taking another
luxuriously long pull on her rapidly diminishing cigar.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but every night, before bed, I enjoy one
of these while I masturbate. When I come off while saturating my lungs with
this smoke, the climaxes are simply overwhelming.”
Maureen suddenly felt very wet down under. “I’ve got to try that sometime,”
she said. She found herself looking forward to getting home.