Agreeable by Vicki Gallus Chapter 1 of 10

[Hi, I’m Vicki Gallus! This is Book 1 of my Bimbo Perfume trilogy, posting here chapter by chapter. If you’d rather read the whole thing right now – plus the two sequels, Biddable and Suggestible – the complete trilogy is collected in the Bimbo Perfume Anthology on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1818870. Thanks for reading!]

Chapter 1

“For the last time, Carter, women have rights, you know? We have the right to choose who we sleep with, the right to look the way we want to, and the right to bodily autonomy. We’re not in the fifties anymore!”

Macy slammed her textbook closed with fury and stared daggers across the library desk at Carter’s grin. She wanted to put her fist through that smug, smirking face.

“C’mon, Macy, it’s just a thought experiment. Imagine if we were in the fifties - imagine if we were back in that more chauvinistic time. Wasn’t it better? Weren’t we freer back then?”

Carter’s smirking blue eyes caught her death stare. He held up his hands. “This is me playing devil’s advocate, you know? I don’t really believe this.”

“Sure.” Macy rolled her eyes.

This is how all of her study sessions with Carter went. She didn’t know why she did them anymore. They always descended into bitter, acrimonious arguments. There was something about Carter’s need to rile her up, to take his logic to the most extreme positions that pushed all her buttons. He would take the furthest position from hers and they would begin to debate. The difference, Macy thought, was that Carter never seemed to take it seriously where she would end up shaking with anger trying to justify the basic humanity of women, the need to pay workers fairly, and the requirement for justice to be applied to all equally. She knew, from their years of friendship, that he didn’t really mean anything, that he took positions that were designed to rile her up, to make her furious. And she fell for it. Every time.

“C’mon,” Carter said, standing and gathering his books. “I’ll buy you a coffee to make it up to you. Then we can go and catch that movie that you wanted to see.”

Macy said nothing as she stood and packed her bag. She wished that she could take life as easy as Carter, wished that she could just ignore the bait that he dangled in front of her, his eyes laughing as she helplessly went for it.

This time it had been women’s rights. A stray comment from a professor in her PolSci class about women’s representation had set the wheels in motion. The claim about women’s rights increasing significantly over time. But, Carter had argued - setting his trap for Macy with ease - what had that truly achieved? Had all that work, that effort, been worth it?

Red rag to a bull.

Macy couldn’t let it slip. Couldn’t let the comment go. Couldn’t ignore the idea of someone being wrong about women’s rights.

Sometimes, she wished she was more easygoing, more agreeable, less abrasive. It was only the years of friendship that she and Carter shared that meant that she was even able to hold herself back from slamming her textbook into his crotch - even if he was only ‘jokingly’ taking the indefensible positions.

They had grown up together, Carter and Macy. Playdates when they were younger. The same classes in high school. The same college courses at the same prestigious school. The same group of friends that hung around each other. It seemed that Macy and Carter had been in each other’s orbit for as long as they could remember.

She’d watched him grow from a skinny nerd into a tall, handsome, intelligent man with soft brown eyes and a mop of unkempt black hair that fell over his eyes whenever he got excited.

In turn, he’d watched her grow from a quiet, shy bookworm into a short, fiery radical. As she grew older, she embraced the punk look - dressing in black, shaving her head, and wearing studded combat boots and chains.

And they’d always been there for each other - in each new phase of their lives, they’d been there for each other.

Two years ago, when Macy had been admitted into the feminist studies program, he had cheered for her. Despite his teasing, despite his pranks, he’d always accepted her for who she was.

It was only that background that meant that she knew he wasn’t a hideous sexist pig, that he wasn’t some horrible misogynist, that he wasn’t some creepy pervert who was stalking her. She knew his heart, she knew she could trust him with her life. She just wished he knew when to shut his goddamn mouth.

The pair exited the library and, as they did, Macy gritted her teeth and forced herself to unwind. Coffee with a friend. Sure. That would be good.

She looked up at Carter. Tall, dark, handsome. Shame about the shit that came out of his mouth.

For years, people had tried to get them together. Had seen their arguments as a sign that they secretly wanted each other. Had set them up on blind dates with each other, egging them on to get together. It had never happened.

Macy couldn’t. Not even if she wanted to. Not with someone who - even jokingly - shared those opinions out loud. It was hard enough to be his friend.

“You know, Carter,” she said as they passed through the campus on the way to the small coffee shop outside the mall. “You’re infuriating at times. All this devil’s advocate shit - it does you no favors.”

Carter stopped and looked at her in mock surprise.

“Oh, come on, Macy. Try and see me as a person. You know, just judging me by the stuff that annoys you is unfair. I’m a decent guy.”

Macy laughed. “Oh, please. People have been telling me for years that you’re a decent guy. I just don’t see it. You don’t have to say every inflammatory thing that pops into your mind! I know you don’t actually think those things, so why bother?”

She balled her fists together. Why couldn’t he see it?

“Reactions like that, Macy, my dear. Reactions like that.” Carter headed on towards the coffee shop.

[More soon! Or read the rest of Agreeable and the full trilogy right now in the Bimbo Perfume Anthology: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1818870 – Vicki Gallus]