Addiction

Sophia lets Joila in on a secret as both ladies fear for their addiction to Dart'loxinchu

39.

Addiction

 

“Oh!  Hey, Good morning!” Joila said, surprised to find Sophia sitting on the edge of her desk as she came to work.

The Drow lady snubbed out a Dart’loxinchu cigarette and stood up, motioning for Joila to follow her.    The Half-Elf girl plopped her purse down and crushed out her cigarette, then hurried after her boss.

“Uh… what’s going on?”  She asked as the Drow lady took her down the hallway.

“I have something to show you and I wanted to talk to you before everything opens up.   I’m not sure if we’ll be that busy today with the great changes that everyone is still getting used to.”

“The phone will be busy - everyone wanting more information.”

“This won’t take long.”  Sophia reassured her with a slightly mischievous smile, “But I need you to promise me something first, okay?”

“What?”

“Promise me that what I’m going to show you; you won’t tell anyone about - not your parents, not any of Aurei’s girls - don’t tell anyone… without at least first getting my permission.”

“Okay, I promise."   Joila was now brimming with curiosity.

Sophia used a key to unlock a closet in the hallway next to her office.   Joila had never seen the door unlocked, and she was surprised to see that it was not a closet at all, but actually a small room about the size of a bathroom.

“I thought this was a closet.”

Sophia grinned, “That is part of the secret - nobody knows that it’s not a closet.   Not even Khord.   It’s the only secret I keep from him, and I’m going to share it with you.   Come inside and shut the door behind you.”

She followed the pregnant Drow lady into the small room and closed it behind her.    Sophia flipped on the light switch.  

 

In the center of the room was a large rectangular box made of a dark wood, about five feet long.   Next to it were a couple of comfortable chairs and between them was a large ashtray that stood on a pedestal.   Aside from a couple of books on a coffee table beside the chair, there was nothing else in the room.    Joila focused on the large wooden box.

“That’s not a coffin, is it?!”   She asked, her imagination taking over.

Sophia burst into laughter, “Heaven’s no!   I’m not a vampire, Joila!”

The Half-Elf girl laughed with her and Sophia went over to one side of the box.    It had hinges on the other side.

“Many years ago, when I first took this job, I inadvertently made smoking Dart’loxinchu popular with fashionable women in Flux.    I honestly didn’t intend for that to happen, but for some crazy reason, I guess I was some sort of icon for the young women here and when they learned of my heavy addiction to it, many took up the habit.”

“Before this, there were just a small number of women here that smoked Dart’loxinchu, so there wasn’t really much demand for it.   But when it became popular, suddenly all the smoke shops and stores here couldn’t get enough of a supply from the Drow merchants in the Underdark.”

“I had, of course, my own duplicating case, so it wasn’t a problem for me, but I felt sorry for the women here that were addicted yet couldn’t find it sometimes, as well as the merchants who were not able to get it.”

“So I selected a store owner that I used to visit for Dart’loxinchu before I had my own duplicating case made, and I decided to help him - and the women that smoked the drug--  by having a huge duplicating case made for him.    This is it.”   

She patted the wooden chest and then opened it up.   Inside were hundreds of Dart’loxinchu cigarettes.    Joila looked at them in amazement.

“It cost me a fortune, and I did the enchantments myself.   It took me half a year to finish it, and I gave it to him with one condition.   If he ever had his own duplicating case made, he’d give this one back to me.”

 

Joila studied the case, “So apparently he had his own made, later on?”

Sophia took out two of the cigarettes, giving one to the Half-Elf girl and taking one for her.   She chanted the flame cantrip and lit both of them, then gestured to the chairs next to the chest.   Joila went over and seated herself, as Sophia continued with the tale.

“Yes, he finally did - about five years later.    At first this chest kept up with demand - it reproduces 1,000 cigarettes each day from the one left inside.    But as the habit caught on, and other competitors had duplicating cabinets made - they had spies, I guess- then he needed a larger cabinet to keep up with the demand.”

“He needed more than a thousand a day?”   Joila asked as she sat and smoked.

“Oh yes, he told me recently that he sells about 5,000 a day, in packs of 25 each.    He has 5 stores around Flux, and there are probably 20 other stores that sell it too, so if they all sell the same amount that would be about 25,000 of them consumed each day.”

“Wow!”  Joila exclaimed, looking down at her Dart’loxinchu cigarette, “So we’re not the only ones heavily addicted.”

“Goodness, no!    I have no idea on how many women smoke Dart’loxinchu, but there are probably a thousand.”

“So when this merchant had his new cabinet made, he gave you this one back?”

“Yes, and I’m glad he did.”   Sophia seated herself in the chair next to Joila and blew a long stream of smoke toward the ceiling. “Instead of selling it, I decided that I’d keep it here as a backup for my addiction.”

“Well you don’t smoke a thousand of them a day!”

“No, but like most addicted people, I am very paranoid about not having enough.    I worried about my duplicating box.   Oh, I had the one Mom gave me when she stopped smoking and those belonging to Alleania and Tholmi, that Aurei let me have when she found them in that chest, but I worried that they’d get lost, or destroyed.”

“All three of them?”

“Well, like I said, I was paranoid.   So I had the box put in here - this was a small conference room originally, but it had not been used in years and no-one who worked here when I took over, had ever been in here.   So I just told them it was my private closet and I kept it locked with an enchanted key.    You’d have to take an axe to get that door down.”

“What about the chairs and ashtray?”

Sophia smiled, dragging on her cigarette, “I decided that this would be a nice private place to just sit and smoke and maybe read, without Khord and everyone being bothered by it.”

“I like that.”

“That’s what I used it for, but I have to confess, Joila that the past couple of years, I have actually been coming here frequently to replenish cigarettes when I run out while I’m here at work.”

“Run out?   Really?!   Your duplicating box can’t keep up?”

“Most days it does, but on stressful days, I tend to chain-smoke and I do use them up faster then they can reproduce.    Rather than take the other cases with me - which would tell Khord that I was smoking too much- I just sneak in here, fill up my case and maybe sit here a while and smoke.”

“So why are you letting me in on your secret?”   Joila asked.

“Well, I know that my addiction caused you to take up the habit.   I have felt guilty for years about you and Leah smoking.    Now that Leah claims she is quitting, it will just be the two of us around the office that still smoke.    I know you enjoy it as much as I do, don’t you?”

Joila took a deep drag, “Yes, I do.”

“I know your parents are hounding you to death to quit, and you don’t want to any more than I do.   But with Yesh’s changes, if something was to happen to your duplicating box, you would be out of luck.    So since I got you addicted, I’m going to make sure you have a supply.     If you ever run out due to smoking too much, or -heaven forbid- you were to lose your case, then feel free to come here and take as many as you need.”

Sophia handed her a key.

“Here is a key that will open the door.   The door lock cannot be picked or forced open.   Feel free to come in here and smoke if you just need to get away from everyone.    There is a concealed peephole in the door, so you can make sure that no-one sees you coming and going.”

 

“Sophia, thank you so much!   I am so grateful.  I think there will be a lot of women quitting now, so who knows, we may end up having to come in here to smoke in a few years, because we won’t be allowed to any place else!”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that.   Everyone thinks it is terrible for someone to love their addiction.   But as long as the addiction isn’t hurting anyone, who cares?    You can’t tell them that, though.    So this will be our private club.    If we find a like-minded smoking sister, we might bring her in on the secret, but for now let’s just keep it to ourselves.”

“Okay.    Has anything changed overnight over in Westmark?”   Joila asked as they sat and finished their cigarettes.

“No, Eleazar’s group stopped in Tarmard for the night, but they did have a planning session and they have learned about the Emperor’s plans.   They are planning to attack Redburr’s men and to attempt a raid on the Temple of the One True God to capture or kill the Emperor and Torrin.   Aedric’s going to lead a force to put down the Faesidhe rebellion.”

“I wish they would figure out a way to block off Orc Pass.”

“Actually, there is someone who might be able to help them, now in Westmark.”

“Let’s hope so.”   Joila looked at her watch, “Uh oh, it’s almost opening time.”

Sophia nodded, “We’d best get to work.   Remember, mum’s the word on this.”

“Right.    Sophia, thank you for sharing this with me.   Don’t ever feel guilty about getting me addicted to Dart’loxinchu.    Aside from annoying my parents to death, it has not harmed me at all.”

“I know; but the irritation of family and friends can really wear someone down after a while and I just wanted you to know that I understand and sympathize.”

“I’m really lucky to have a boss like you.”

“Well, I’m your friend too!”

Both ladies hugged and snuffing out their Dart’loxinchu cigarettes, rushed off to begin the day.