The Injection

“What if I told you that what’s in here will make you strong as an ox, lean you out and make you bigger?” Mark paused, holding a little vial of golden liquid to the light for dramatic effect, “And there are no side effects, well, bad ones anyway”

“I´d say you’re full of shit for starters and then I’d ask what do you mean by ‘not any bad ones’?” Jeremy answered as he racked the barbell and sat up from the bench.

“I’m not going to acknowledge the first part, but the side effect is that it does something to your pheromones that make some people susceptible to your smell and they go crazy over you. It’s not everyone, but the ones who do, when they get a whiff of who’s using this stuff, watch out” Mark said.

“I’m sorry but that all sounds bogus to me” Jeremy insisted.

“Then try it. For free. One month, actually, this here vial is a one month dose. Just one stick and you are good to go. I guarantee results. You’ll be begging for another in four weeks”

Jeremy’s ears perked up at “free”. He has tried almost every steroid combination known to man. He was not a stranger to putting unknown substances in his body. Even though he was incredulous of the claims, he was certainly willing to pay nothing to find out if they were true or not. “Ok” Jeremy agreed, “Stick me”

*          *          *          *           *          *

The next morning Jeremy felt slightly different. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was but he believed the substance was having an effect. He reached for the chin-up bar in his door jam. He banged out 21 pull-ups, a significant increase from the already impressive 15 in a row he was used to doing.

He got dressed for work and headed out. On the bus, he noticed more people were looking at him than usual. He caught a woman close to him nervously averting her glance. She was staring until he looked over, then she would pretend she was not looking at all.

He arrived at the office, sat down at his cubicle and turned on his computer. His boss, the director of finance, passed by to say his usual good mornings.

“Hey Jeremy how are you…” he said, trailing off as if he had lost his train of thought.

“Great Richard. I’m ahead of schedule on that project you put me on” Jeremy said.

Richard just stared, making Jeremy momentarily uncomfortable. He finally broke his silence with “Did you get a haircut or something, there seems to be something different about you”

“No sir” Jeremy chuckled.

“Well, you’re looking good and hey, about that project, that’s great and all, but really, there is no rush. Get it to me when you can”

“Sure thing, sir” Jeremy smiled. Richard backed away slowly as to not break his privileged view of Jeremy.

Tiffany, Jeremy’s cubicle neighbor arrived in time to witness the awkward scene. “What was that all about?” she asked.

“I have no idea” he answered.

“You do look different” she said, “It’s kind of hot” she offered, half-jokingly.

Jeremy laughed it off, “Thanks Tiff”

*          *          *          *           *          *

A week had passed since the injection. Jeremy was clearly stronger than before. He was breaking all of his all-time best lifts by considerable amounts. His clothes were getting tighter. He felt more energy and he was getting more attention from people, everywhere he went. When he related this to Mark in a text message, the replay was four words: “I told you so”

Late Friday afternoon, Richard called Jeremy into his office.

“Yes, sir?” Jeremy said as he approached Richard’s desk.

“Please, close the door behind you” Richard said. “Let’s get right to this. Your work is impeccable but that’s not why I’ve called you here. This is personal” Richard confessed. Jeremy was very confused.

Richard continued, “I can’t stop thinking about you” he folded his hands together and waited for a response.

“Uh, I don’t know what to say” Jeremy said his face burning with embarrassment.

“Say you’ll go with me to St. Bart’s. Next week. Everything first class and everything paid. There is a big financial conference so we have cover” he said as he rose and approached Jeremy.

“Sir, you’re m-m-married and I’m not, w-w-well, that w-w-ay” Jeremy stuttered. He hadn’t stuttered since junior high school.

“What do you mean ‘that way’?” Richard asked, “Me neither but you have become an obsession of mine, I’ve never seen a man this way. I need you” he moved in for a kiss.

Jeremy bobbed and weaved and took a step back and left Richard’s pursed lips alone in the space between them, kissing air. “Sir!” Jeremy exclaimed.

“I’ll give you a thousand dollars right now. Cash. Just kiss me” Richard said as a crazed look grew in his eyes. Richard’s silky dress pants betrayed his tumescence.

“I have to go sir” Jeremy said as he tripped for the door. He could hear Richard’s pleas for him to return as he closed the door.

The next Monday, Jeremy showed up for work very tired. He didn’t sleep well the whole weekend. The scene in Richard’s office played in his head over and over like a .GIF file on a loop. He contemplated resigning.

Tiffany arrived with a strange look on her face. “Did you hear about Richard?”

Jeremy’s heart sank into the black hole that his stomach had become. The word “No” almost didn´t make its way out of the gravity and was almost sucked back into him.

“A hiker found him in his car by the fire tower. He attached a hose to the exhaust and fed it into the inside of the car through a crack in the window. He was already dead when the guy found him but it does look like booze was involved as well”

Jeremy just stared at Tiffany without even blinking.

“I guess the pressure of this place finally got to him. He was such a good man. He’ll be missed” Tiffany said to a hollow shell of a person. Jeremy decided that very moment he would stop treating his body like a science experiment.