The Life of Oddley - Episode 2

Greetings, Internet.  Welcome back to the Blog and the second episode of "The Life of Oddley".  Last week's opening posting hasn't gotten much response but if I keep going, I'm sure to get noticed for this.

Last week, we opened with Oddley introducing himself to the world as he recounted the day he met his new co-worker Gilda Tucker.  We also met Oddley's frequent foe Thomas Newshaw, who talked Oddley into betting on a baseball game, a bet which Oddley lost a total of $3,000.

Newshaw then asks Oddley to pay up on the bet.  When Oddley can't come up with the money, Newshaw decides to figure out a payment method.  He comes up with one: a date with Oddley's sister Susan.  However, Susan is a feminist and turns down the date, leaving Oddley with only 30 days to pay up.

We now read as Oddley continues from last week...

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All the next day, I kept wondering how I was gonna pay Newshaw in 30 days. I had spent six months collect the $1,000 the first time around. Over and over, I thought about any way I could get the money and they all failed. When the workday ended, I was only thinking about the time I had left to pay.

That night, I made my way to the Depot, to drink up and see if I could come with some more ideas on how to pay Newshaw. In my deep thinking, I failed to notice the entry of one blonde lady, making her way down the stairs with desire-filled steps.

Her very appearence is too much to describe in an objective fashion. 90% on her body was uncovered. For the time, it was very revealing. Every thing about her was geared to the sexual, even her eyes.

She had her pick of any guy in the place. That's what I feel. It was some strange quirk of fate that I was the one that she decided was up to the task on her one-track mind. In fact, it might have been the best thing to happen to me at that moment.

"Hello, big boy." she said to me in the sexiest voice I've ever heard.

"Hello." I said in a passive fashion.

"Don't talk to me like that, you." she said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like you don't want it." she said, putting her arms around me.

"Want what?" I asked.

"Sex." she said.

"There's a million things on my mind and not a single one of them is about sex." I told her.

"You're lying." she said.

"I'm not." I said.

"My name's Willow. What's yours?" she said.

"Oddley. Oddley Mitchell." I said.

"Oddley's a nice name." she said.

"Leave me alone. I don't wanna do anything right now." I said.

"I can change your mind." she said softly.

"I have to think about my problem without incident." I said.

"What is your problem?" she asked.

"I have to raise about $3,000 in 30 days or else." I said.

"I could solve your problem." she said.

"How?" I asked.

"There's this lab I... work at and one of the doctors there is looking for a new assistant." she told me.

"I don't know. Working at a lab." I said to myself.

"Come on, man, do me!" she said with a slight gruff.

"If I decide to join you in bed, will you give me the address of that lab?" I said to her.

"Yes." she said in a way that made my blood boil.

The words stopped soon after that and the both of us made our way from the Depot to my apartment. On the way, Willow whispered the location of the lab. That whisper was the last word I heard from her. When we got inside my place, she started on me like she wanted it so bad. I fell to her advances, for I needed a quick diversion.

The night with Willow remains etched within my memory. I don't know what it was but she struck me as a creature of pure sex drive. When I awoke the next morning, Willow was gone but she had given me two things: a night of wonderful sex and a chance to pay off Newshaw.

Once I got to work, I managed again to jumble the schedule so I could get some time in the afternoon to go to the lab. As I hobbled into work due to what happened with Willow, I tried to act as though everything was normal. As I started to work on the day's work schedule, I didn't hear the approach of Gilda.

"Good morning, Oddley." she said to me, causing to almost slip onto the floor.

"Good morning to you, Gilda." I said nervously.

"How was your night?" she asked.

"Just... interesting." I said, trying my best to remain standing.

"You seem a bit off today." she said.

"Listen, I've had the most interesting night in my life." I said.

"What kind of night?" asked Gilda.

"A night of utter passion." I said.

"Who with?" she said.

"Her name was Willow. She didn't give me a last name but she didn't need to." I said.

"How was it with her?" Gilda then asked.

"I forget how many times she actually did it. In fact, for most of the night, I just let her do me." I said.

"That must have been interesting." said Gilda.

"What's more interesting is that Willow gave me a clue in helping me pay off Newshaw." I told her.

"How did she do that?" asked Gilda.

"She told me about a job opening at a science lab." I said.

"One of those places that conduct weird experiments?" she said.

"That's right, and today, I'm going there to get that job. I just need to arrange the work schedule today so I can do so." I said.

"I'll help you." said Gilda.

"Thank you." I said.

Once I swung that, I headed over to the West Chicago Scienitific Labs, which was the place Willow had directed me. Over the trip to the labs, I remembered the rest of Willow's whisper, which told me of a Dr. Roberta Milner.

The staff at the labs once I arrived directed me to the lab of Dr. Milner. When I arrived at her office, I was amazed at the amount of test tubes, liquids, and what-nots around. Standing in the middle of the whole mess was a lone figure, wearing a lab coat. My brain quickly told me that I had found Dr. Roberta Milner.

Her face was buried in her work but I got a look at it. A lightly tanned face, surrounded by blackish-brown hair. Her brownish eyes was covered with a pair of glasses. As I was taking in her face, the sting of memory hit me. I had saw that face before. That sting told me that it was Willow but I didn't believe it.

"Hello, doc." I said, stirring her from her work.

"Who is that?" she asked around before stopping at me.

"It's me." I said.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Mitchell. Oddley Mitchell." I said.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Mitchell?" she asked me.

"I'm here about a job." I said.

"Of course you are. I've been looking for an assistant since my last one quit." she said.

"What for?" I asked her.

"I have no idea." she told me.

"I see." I said.

"If you're serious about this, I need to see if you're right for the job." she said.

"What do I need?" I asked.

"Well, you need to take down whatever I say." she told me.

"I can do that." I said.

"You also must have a knowledge of science." she then said.

"I can do that, too." I said with a grin.

"And, most of all, you must be able to remove yourself from the lives of any experiment subject." she said.

"My best thing to do." I said.

"You're hired. When can you start?" she said.

"Monday morning." I said.

"Good. See you tomorrow at 9:00 am." she said.

"Okay." I said as I turned to leave.

Quickly as I could, I left the lab in a hurry. Over the ride back, I wondered about the job. I wondered if I should take it. Although I needed the money, I wondered if I could get away with it. After all, I may be a fan of science but not that much. I managed to return to the store with time enough to finish out my shift.

As I entered, I was still thinking over the job. I headed to the front of the store, where I took checkout stand number 1. With my luck, I found that Gilda had been given stand number two. As she finished with a customer, she spotted me.

"Hello, Oddley. How was your job interview?" she said.

"It went well. I actually got the job." I said.

"You have one problem, you know." she said.

"I know. Can I pull off being smart?" I said.

"No. The fact that you still work here." she told me.

"Simple. I'll quit my job." I said.

"You'll need this job when your debt is paid off." she told me.

"Do I? This job pays $1,000 a week, plus bonuses. Do I really need this job?" I said.

"You do. You can't fool the scientific community forever, Oddley." she said.

"Maybe you're right. I only need the money and once I pay off Newshaw, I'll need to resume my normal life." I said.

"So, how will you get out of working here for the time being?" asked Gilda.

"Simple. I'll ask Mr. Randall for some time off." I said.

"And he'll give it to you?" she said.

"He's being asking me to take time off for the last two years." I said.

"What a boss. By the way, he was looking for you while you were at the lab." said Gilda.

"What on earth for?" I asked.

"He wanted you to take that post for a few hours. He's expecting a large group today." she said.

"Well, I'm here, so I hope his queries are answered." I said.

"Not all." I heard the voice of Mr. Randall say.

"Hello, Mr. Randall." I said as he arrived at my post.

"Oddley, where were you?" he asked.

"When?" I asked back.

"Today, between noon and 2:00 pm. That's when." he said.

"I was... in the back." I told him.

"I was in the back looking for you. I saw you walk through the back door just a few minutes ago." he said.

"Okay, I was out." I said.

"Out, doing what?" he asked.

"Just... out... " I said, vaguely.

"You still haven't answered my question." he said.

"I was looking... into some vacation plans and I needed time to think." I told him.

"Are you looking into taking a vacation?" he then asked.

"I am. That's right, I am." I said.

"How much time do you need?" he asked.

"About two or three weeks." I said.

"Are you really taking a vacation?" he asked pointedly.

"Yes, I am." I said.

"Then you have it. When is your vacation?" he said.

"It begins Monday." I said.

"That's quick. Enjoy yourself." he said before he made a quick departure.

"So, you have your time to work at the lab." said Gilda.

"Now all I have to do is act smart." I said.

That was easier said than done. All the evening, I was practicing my smart routine for the scientist. She was smart, smarter than most of the women I have met in my life. It was a hard act to think about. If it failed, I couldn't go back to work quickly, lest I reveal the truth to Mr. Randall.

One week passed into another and I managed to make the new commute from my apartment to the labs. As I entered into Dr. Milner's lab again, I saw her going over some paperwork quietly. After a few steps, she took notice of my entry.

"Good morning, Mr. Mitchell." she said.

"And a good morning to you, doc." I said with a grin.

"Ready for your first day?" she asked me.

"As ready as I can." I said, still grinning.

"Good. To start, I want to bring me some chemicals from the storeroom." she said, handing over a list.

"I'll get right on it." I said.

I looked at that list. To this day, I couldn't tell you what any of it meant but I could those chemicals just the same. Following that, I watched her pour chemicals of every color and type into test tubes and beakers and whatnots.

After a few hours of passing whatever the doctor asked for, she lead me to another room. In this room, there was a muscle man, sitted in a chair. Next to him was a table with some beakers on it. I saw the doctor put a beaker on the table.

"Having a nice day, Mr. Bolo?" she asked the muscle man.

"Yes, Dr. Milner." he said back to her.

"Are you ready for today's experiment?" she asked him.

"As ready as I can get." he replied.

"This here is my new assistant, Oddley Mitchell." she told him.

"That's a funny name." said the muscle man with a giggle.

"Leave it alone, Mr. Bolo." she said to him.

"What experiment are we running here?" I asked.

"It's a test of a muscle building serum." she told me.

"He has muscles already." I said.

"This is to use in the space program for long duration flights." she said.

"I love those space flights. I hope we get to the moon by next year." I said.

"Calm down, Mr. Mitchell and watch as I inject the serum." she said.

"Right, ma'am." I said.

Dr. Milner then took a needle from the table and take some liquid from a beaker she'd brought with her. She then stuck that needle into a bicep of the muscle man and inject the serum in there. When she was done, she put the needle down and took a clipboard off the table.

"Now, I will monitor the subject for signs and you'll help by pointing those signs out." she told me.

"Whatever you say, doc." I said.

The scenes that followed would be funny, if my life weren't in danger. I looked over the muscle man and saw that he was strapped to the chair with the tightest restraints I'd ever seen. My mind, in its infinite wisdom, hit on something I'd wanted to do for a long time: mock muscle men.

"I see that this man is all muscle and no man." I said in jest.

I could see that my remark hit him wrong, so it only encouraged my behavior, as many things happen to do.

"Is that your head, or did your neck blow a bubble?" I said after I noticed the lack of hair on his head.

"Stop, please." he said.

"Why should I? You've never stopped for me after all that sand in my face." I said.

"I said stop." he said.

"You're nothing to me." I said, my confidence growing.

"I'm telling you... " he then said with a hint of anger.

"Any muscle growth?" asked Dr. Milner.

"I believe his biceps have grown a little." I said.

"Excellent." she then said.

I then continued my insults. I wish I could remember them but I know that each was a zinger. This went on for five minutes straight. The look on the muscle man's face grew angier with each insult I shot off. I should have remembered something about growing muscles and anger.

Then, as I was ringing off my best one yet, I heard a snap and suddenly felt my air intake go down. I then noticed that my neck was in the hand of the muscle man and his strength was interupting my breathing. The color was wrong but everything else was right on the money.

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It looks like Oddley is in danger of losing his life.  Next week, Oddley gets his salvation from the muscle man, a conversation stirs up memories and Oddley gets a musical chance of a lifetime, but not before something of his design again comes back to haunt him.  That's next week, Thursday, August 18th, at 2:30 pm.
 
Until then, this is John Maxwell, thinking about a man I once knew who drank furniture polish.   It was a sad end but a beautiful finish...