as his head. It had green and brown swirls in it and looked
like it belonged to Willy Wonka. "The green is mint, and
the brown is chocolate." He held it closer to her. "Go on, try
it!"
I'm in a relationship with a child. Rebecca looked at the
lollipop and frowned. After O.E.'s powerful kiss, Quentin
seemed like a helpless schoolboy. The lollipop didn't help
his image one bit.
Rebecca suddenly thought about The Wizard of Oz and
couldn't resist a quip. "Are you going to call your company
'The Lollipop Guild'?" She started to sing the Munchkin
chant from The Wizard of Oz. "'We represent. . . the
Lollipop Guild. . . the Lollipop Guild. . . the Lollipop
Guild.'"
Quentin watched her with a straight face. "Not a bad
idea." He started pulling out boxes and counting again, now
humming the Munchkin tune.
Do not ignore me. "Hey! We agreed to take a break here.
Stop camping in my living room, and go home!"
"But I like it here, and I like you. We're great together."
He held the huge lollipop out to her. "Here. Take the
lollipop. It'll make you feel better."
Rebecca took the lollipop and stood there, holding it
away from her body with a straight arm. Finally, she tossed
it on the sofa and turned back to him. "You think we're
great together? Prove it. Kiss me, Quentin."
"What has that got to do with lollipops?"
"Buzzzzz! Wrong answer! You're supposed to forget
everything you're thinking about and kiss me when I say
that. Now let's try it again. Kiss me, damn it!"
"Well, okay." He reached down to take the lollipop off of
the sofa and put it back in the box. Then he stepped close to
Rebecca and gave her lips a peck.
"That's not a kiss. This is a kiss." She threw her arms
around his neck and pulled him in. But as it turned out,
that wasn't a kiss, either. No explosion, no reaction. The
chemicals didn't even change color when they mixed. She
let go of him and flopped down on the sofa.
Quentin stood there, eyes narrow, clearly having
difficulty deciding what to do next. "Uh, do you want to
have sex?"
Do I what? Rebecca started to laugh, a hysterical cackle
that got a little out of control. Quentin had a hurt look on
his face, so she forced herself to stop. He couldn't be more
of a loser if he tried.
Rebecca wiped a tear from her eye. Why had she kept
going out with Quentin for so long? Was it the safety of an
honest man, or was it the fear of never being able to find