Roxanne and Michael (Sequel to Roxanne and the Sneeze Mentor)

[randomguy]

Hello everyone! This is a sequel to a story I posted about a month ago called "Roxanne and the Sneeze Mentor." If you haven't read the original, you might want to check it out here before starting this one. If you're interested in checking this story out but don't have the time or desire to read the original, I get it. Here's a basic plot summary that might make this story a little less confusing for you.

Spoiler

Basically, "Roxanne and the Sneeze Mentor" is about a girl named Roxanne who has big, messy sneezes. She's set to go on a blind date in three days, and she doesn't want to gross the guy out, so she ends up reaching out for help online. She makes contact with a person calling himself "The Sneeze Mentor" who promises he can help her make her sneezes smaller. Roxanne eventually agrees, and the Sneeze Mentor sends her a series of text messages directing her to a hotel room where she has to put on a blindfold before he comes in. Once the blindfold is on, the Sneeze Mentor enters and, through a series of very intimate breathing exercises, he teaches her to sneeze quietly. In the process, Roxanne starts to develop feelings for the Sneeze Mentor, but when they're done, he leaves without letting her see his face. The next day, when Roxanne's date shows  up, she's surprised to discover that the guy she's been set up with is the Sneeze Mentor.

Alright, looks like everything's set, so let's get this show on the road. Hope you enjoy!

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“Huh… iiiiih… huh-ishoo! Eshoo! Huh-eksch! Huh… heh-itschk!”

I sniffled and rubbed my nose. Getting out of the shower was always like this for me. Cold air and my nose just never got along. Feeling the tickle return, I lifted the towel to my face and started again.

“huh-mpfch! Huh-chmpf! mmpfch! Hih-empfch!”

As I finished drying myself and slipped into my bathrobe, I couldn’t help but smile a little as I remembered how it used to be. By the time I had finished sneezing, I felt like I needed another shower, and maybe the rest of the room too. Things were different now.

When I stepped out into the living room, Michael was waiting for me with a sly, crooked half-smile spread across his face.

“…what?” I asked, and Michael’s grin grew just a little.

“ah… chew!” he teased, and I bit the corners of my mouth to keep from smiling at his imitation. It was no good, though, and it soon became a full-fledged grin.

“Come on, Michael! I didn’t sneeze like that!” I lied. Obviously, he could imitate any sneeze perfectly.

“ah… ah-chew!” he teased again, and I playfully pushed him back onto the couch, where he continued to grin up at me.

“Sorry, but I can’t help it! That sneeze always gets to me!”

“I don’t get what’s so funny about it,” I said as I settled in next to him. “You’re the one that taught me to sneeze this way, you know.”

Michael’s smile faltered a bit, and I suddenly got the very distinct sense that I had said something I shouldn’t have.

“Of course I did, dear,” he answered. “It was what you wanted, and I wanted to help you.”

I bit my lip and felt myself beginning to blush a little as he studied my face with those deep, beautiful eyes.

“That’s the reason I started being the Sneeze Mentor in the first place. To help people. I’m glad you like your new sneezes.” He shrugged as he turned his eyes back to the floor. “But I can’t lie and pretend I don’t miss the old ones.”

I cleared my throat, suddenly feeling very awkward and unsure of what to say.

“W-well…” I ventured, “I’m… really glad you did help me. I had lived with those big, messy sneezes my whole life, and I was so tired of cleaning up after them and grossing people out.”

Michael nodded, but didn’t raise his eyes.

“I’m sure. But… well, you know you’d never have grossed me out, right? And sometimes…”

But then he cut himself off, shaking his head and smiling awkwardly as he met my eyes again.

“Go on,” I urged him, “say it. Please.”

His smile wavered again, and he shrugged before saying, “I guess I just wonder sometimes… if we had met before then… could I have taught you to love your sneezes instead of changing them?”

I looked into those brown, searching eyes and found myself speechless. Like they were searching for an answer I didn’t have. I opened my mouth, trying to speak anyways, but Michael cut me off.

“But let’s not worry about that now, alright? I’m sorry to have brought this up, dear. Especially when we have a pressing issue at hand.” His face turned grave, and he leaned in close, whispering conspiratorially, “Are we going to the movie like this? Because if you’d told me, I would have worn my bathrobe too.”

The smile returned to my face and I gently shoved his knee with my toe before standing.

“As if you could even pull that look off!”

“You know I’d try it for you, though!” he called after me as I shut my bedroom door, and I felt myself beginning to blush all over again.

*****************************************************************************************************

WEDNESDAY, 9:00 PM - ANSWERS.YAHOO.COM

Quote

My name is Tony, and I try to have a manly image, like a lot of guys. I’m tall, I work out, and I’ve got plenty of muscles. The problem is, I’ve got this stupid, wimpy little sneeze that I can’t get rid of. It always makes the women giggle and stuff like I’m a damn kitten or something. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me angry! I have a reputation to keep up here!!! Does anybody know if I can change the way I sneeze, or am I stuck with these dumbass girly sneezes forever?

*****************************************************************************************************

Michael dropped his hands from his face and opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. Then he swallowed hard and drew in a deep breath before replying, “I believe, my dear, that we’ve met before,” in a voice with gently rolling R’s and a familiar accent that sounded faintly Irish.

Roxanne’s mouth dropped open, and she remained silent for just a little longer than a little too long. At last, Michael spoke again.

“Please say something, Roxanne. I’m not sure how you’re taking this.”

“Y-you’re the… the-”

“Please don’t say it, someone will overhear. Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?”

“I just… I don’t understand… How can you be him? Did you set this up somehow?”

Michael shook his head. “I’m just as surprised as you.”

“Oh, really?” Roxanne asked accusingly. “But you saw my face!”

“In person, yes, but not in your profile picture.”

Roxanne’s eyes widened as she remembered repeatedly hiding her face behind her hands as Jeannie tried to take a picture for her profile, eventually compromising and agreeing to post a picture of her teddy bear instead.

“So…” she said quietly, “this really is just a coincidence?”

“Well,” Michael answered after a brief but thoughtful pause, “I suppose I’d like to say it’s something more too. But it’s a coincidence at the very least.”

Roxanne nodded and sighed, resigning herself to the reality of the situation. After all, this wasn’t the weirdest thing that had happened to her over the last few days.

“So,” she said, “what do we do now?”

“Honestly? I haven’t a clue,” Michael said with a shrug. “I’m not in charge anymore.”

They were both silent for a few more seconds, then Roxanne spoke up.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“If you couldn’t see my face in my profile, why did you swipe right on me?”

That quirky, sideways smile began to creep back on to Michael’s face, and his cheeks began to redden again.

“I guess I just… like girls that have teddy bears.”

*****************************************************************************************************

WEDNESDAY, 11:00 PM – PRIVNOTE.COM

Quote

 

Hello Tony.

I can help you fix your sneezes.

Email TSM@einrot.com

 

 

[Chiller, a sneezy skeleton]

Yes <3! I literally just finished your first story, then tried your trick...it needs work. But it actually works, and that makes me wonder...... anyway, LOVE your stories! Keep on writing!

[Alabaster]

Yesssss. I'll always ask for more! I love their personalities. 

[doglover111]

I can't wait to see this continued

[Sneezingnonstop]

I am excited to see that the sequel has begun and I cannot wait to read more

[HideAndGoSneeze]

Ahhhhhhhhh it's back it's back it's back!!!!!! I love the intro you have, and I can't wait for more!! 

[Show&tell]

#ImSoExcitedAndIJustCantHideIt

Lol please moar!

[randomguy]

Thank you all so much for your compliments! @Alabaster, @Sneezingnonstop, @HideAndGoSneeze, @Show&tell, @doglover111, it's really great to see you all over on the sequel after your support on the original! @Chiller, a sneezy skeleton, great username, and I'm glad you liked the trick. Most of the techniques I wrote about in that first story have some basis in reality, so give them a shot if you'd like.  Good luck!

I probably should have mentioned in the beginning that I decided to go for an "intertwining plot threads" thing here. I don't know, I had the idea early on and ended up sort of committed to it after a while. Seemed like a good way to tell more than one story, but I hope it doesn't end up being too confusing!

Alright, here's part two. Hope you enjoy!

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“Ready?” Michael asked with his hand on the doorknob.

“Yeah,” I answered. “Don’t make fun, okay? You already met your limit for the day.”

He nodded his agreement, and we walked out together. The air got to work the second we were through the door.

“Oh buh… boy…”

“Dear me. Already?”

“It’s the cuh… cold…”

“Ah, of course. That’s one I didn’t check for.”

Michael wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close just as the first sneeze burst out.

“heh… ha-itkshoo! hih… hishoo! hushoo! eh… hashoo! aishyu!”

I took a quick moment to sniffle and rub my still-tickly nose.

“Bless you,” Michael said.

“No, I huh… I’m nuh… not do-”

“I know, dear,” he interrupted quietly, and then in a deeper, sultrier voice, “come closer.”

A tingle ran down my spine as those arms began to tighten and draw me in to his shoulder. I tried at first to resist, but his soft hands held me firmly, and he gently whispered “Ssssh, it’s okay,” and I couldn’t stop myself.

“huh-mmmmpfch!” I muffled my sneezes against him, feeling the spray gradually begin to soak through the smooth cotton of his sweater. “Heh-schmpf! Hih-mpfch! Chsssmpf! heh… heh-tchmpf! Uh… huh… hih-chkmpf!”

Finally tired out, I let my body go a little limp against his, and he ran his fingers through my hair.

“Bless you, dear.”

I sniffled and pulled myself away, rubbing my nose gently.

“How cobe you bade be do that? Your sweater is probably ruidned!”

Michael shook his head and smiled. “Body warmth, love. Doesn’t your nose feel better now?”

I sniffled again as I thought about it. He had a point. My nose did feel alright now, and that fit had stopped a little sooner than normal.

“And as to the sweater,” he added, eyeing the wet spot with a mischievous gleam in his eye, “I think it’s an improvement.”

I returned his smile as I rolled my eyes and took his hand. He had some strange ways, sure, but that was all part of the package deal I signed up for.

“So,” he asked, “is your friend meeting us there?”

“Huh?”

“Your friend,” he repeated, “the one that usually walks with us. Is she meeting us there?”

“Oh, you mean Jeannie. Well, see, about that… I… I didn’t… exactly… invite her.”

Michael furrowed his brows at that.

“You didn’t?”

“No. Is that a problem?”

“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “But won’t she be mad?”

“I don’t think so. She’s already seen this movie.”

“Really? Without you? That’s a bit odd.”

“Yeah,” I responded, swallowing hard, “I guess it is.” Of course, I didn’t mention that she saw it without me because I told her to. “Besides, it’s just one day. I’m sure she wouldn’t mih… muh… oh god…”

“Good gracious, again?” Michael asked with an audible smile creeping into his words. “I get another one?”

“Sheh… shut up! huh… ih… ihshoo! eh… heh… huh-eshoo! heh… hiiiiih… iiiishyuu!”

I sniffled and rubbed my nose, hoping the tickle would stay away this time.

“Bless you again, dear. Only three this time?”

“Id happeds occasiodally.”

I rubbed my nose again, and then I caught sight of that mischievous, sideways grin on Michael’s face that said he had the perfect little comment to sting me with. I tried again to keep from smiling as I shook my head disapprovingly at him. Of course, that never worked, so I let the smile spread and gave him a firm poke in the shoulder.

“No making fun, you little scamp! You’re at your limit, remember?”

“Of course,” he said, somehow managing to relax that wide, toothy grin into a somewhat-less-irritating smirk. “Of course I do, dear. I was just thinking of the irony. Here you are, with those tiny little things, and my client for tomorrow night is asking for bigger sneezes.”

I nearly froze.

Client.

I forced myself to continue taking even, measured steps as the word rolled around in my head.

Client. He’s got a client.

“R-right,” I said as casually as possible, “forgot about that. A-about the client.”

Client. Another woman he’d be squeezing from behind on the bed in an empty hotel room. I hoped that Michael wouldn’t notice my teeth clenching together and my eyes narrowing.

“Yes, dear. You weren’t planning anything for tomorrow, were you? It’s alright if you were. I don’t even send the first text until ten, after all.”

“Yeah. Right,” I said, fighting to keep the bitterness out of my words. “Not until ten. Sure.”

I guess I shouldn’t have been so upset. After all, I had known from the outset that he was still going to be the Sneeze Mentor sometimes. It’s not like he had sprung it on me. Plus he’d told me about this “client” of his as soon as he’d first made contact, so I’d had plenty of time to get used to the idea. But just knowing it was going to happen didn’t make my blood boil any less. I found myself starting to wonder whether it was going to be like this every time. If I was going to spend our entire relationship wondering what was happening behind closed doors and leaving the answer up to my very, very vivid imagination.

“Ah… aaaaaah… Roxanne? R… Roxanne?”

Michael’s voice and a slight tug on my hand broke me out of my thoughts, and I looked down in shock to see that my grip around his hand had tightened to the point that his fingers were beginning to turn purple.

“Oh, Jesus!” I shrieked as I stopped in my tracks and dropped his hand, which he quickly began rubbing to restart the circulation. “Oh, I’m so sorry!”

“Something’s wrong,” Michael said, still rubbing his hand. “What’s going on, dear?”

I shook my head and swallowed back my nerves, most of the anger having been shocked out of me. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Michael gently took my hands between his own, and I felt a shiver run down my spine as he did. That grip always turned my arm to jelly and made the heat rise in my chest. This time he winced and pulled back the hand I’d been squeezing, but it had the same effect.

“It’s not,” he said in that quiet, purring voice. “It’s not nothing. Your feelings are never nothing, dearest. If you don’t want to talk about them, that’s fine, I understand. But know that I want to listen if you change your mind. Alright?”

I breathed deeply and nodded, managing to give him a smile that was halfway genuine. I figured now wasn’t really the time. Now, we were together, and now, we were fine.

“Besides,” I reasoned wickedly, “I’m going to need time to figure out the earful I’m going to have to give him.”

My smile got a little more genuine.

*****************************************************************************************************

“So,” Roxanne said shortly after their food had arrived, “how exactly did you get into the… um… mentoring business?”

Michael swallowed his mouthful of bread and smiled broadly.

“That’s a good question, dear. In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, I’m rather fond of sneezes.”

Roxanne smiled just as broadly. “Yeah, I had an idea.” She took another sip of the cabernet that Michael had ordered for the table. It was only her first glass, so she figured she would be alright.

“Can’t explain that part to you. I don’t understand it myself. It stretches back as far as I can remember. And because of my love for sneezes, I found myself studying and perfecting them, like a scientist working with a new chemical. Growing up, I could sneeze any way I wanted. Loud or soft, covered or uncovered, messy or neat. I even learned that I could stop the sneeze completely if I wanted, though why anyone would deny themselves the pleasure is beyond me.

“Back in Ireland, I had a friend with allergies. Nothing terrible. I don’t think they even made her sneeze more. But in Springtime, with all that pollen in the air, her sneezes got very messy, and her strict parents didn’t like that. After she told me about her frustration, I taught her how to clean them up a bit. It’s not hard. Just a simple matter of tongue position, really. Still, she had such a beautiful look on her face the next day when she told me about how proud her parents had been when she sneezed at the dinner table that night, so proud that they let her stay up for a whole extra hour. Such a grateful, calm, happy look in those eyes, and it was all because of me. I’ll confess it, Roxanne, I was hooked.

“There’s not too much more to the story, really. I came to America for school, got very skilled at technology, and realized I could do for more people what I had done for her. I didn’t start with the mysterious texts and hotel rooms, believe me. It started out innocent enough and grew into what it is today.”

He took a sip of his wine and flashed her another heart-melting smile over the rim of the glass.

“And I believe it’s still changing. The Sneeze Mentor may be a wholly different experience soon enough. Who knows?”

Roxanne nodded along with him as she finished off her wine.

“So you’re still going to be… er… in business then?”

“Of course. As long as people need help, I’ve got to be there. Nobody else will.”

“R… right. Yeah. Yeah, of course,” Roxanne bit her lip nervously at that thought, then reached for the wine bottle.

“I don’t want to tell you your business, dear,” Michael interrupted, “but should you really be having a fourth glass so soon?”

Roxanne looked at Michael in confusion, then surprise, then sheer horror as she eyed the wine bottle, which was definitively much lower than it had been when Michael had started his story, and at that moment, as the tickle in her nose suddenly became unstoppable, a single, panicked thought raced through Roxanne’s mind.

God. Damn. It.

*****************************************************************************************************

THURSDAY, 10:00 AM – GMAIL.COM

tonyboy723@gmail.com: It’s Tony. Who are you?

TSM@einrot.com: You can call me the Sneeze Mentor. This is how we will communicate for now.

tonyboy723@gmail.com: You know what? This is weird. Emailing you was a mistake. I’m sorry for wasting your time.

TSM@einrot.com: It may have been a mistake, but only if you lied about wanting to change your sneeze. Did you?

tonyboy723@gmail.com: No, I really do want to change it, but I shouldn’t have gotten you involved. Sorry.

TSM@einrot.com: So you’ve got somebody else to help you then?

tonyboy723@gmail.com: No, not exactly.

TSM@einrot.com: Then let’s talk.

[Show&tell]

I love love love how it circled all the way back to the wine ♡

You are really good at this.  Like stupendous good. The attention to detail, the twists and turns.  Your characters feel very alive!

[Sneezingnonstop]

This story written with these charcaters is abolutely amazing!! Where do you come up with these ideas?? They're really good, I wish i could come up with something like this lol. Either way, cant wait for the next part!

Edited September 12, 2017 by Sneezingnonstop
Spelling error

[HideAndGoSneeze]

Oh man.. The build up... The talking while hitching... You're making me melt. 

 

I love it so much 

[Alabaster]

Again, wonderful. I have to say, I tried the trick too and it totally worked  I especially love Michael- I have a weakness for Irish guys in general, but I love his personality and how he calls her 'dear.' I look forward to more! Maybe even sneezes from him??

[randomguy]

As always, I really appreciate all of your kind comments! I'm always so impressed  with what a supportive community this is.  Really glad especially that you all seem to like these characters as much as I do. Thank you for encouraging me to continue experimenting with  them; it's a great feeling to know that I'm connecting with you guys!

Alright, here's part three. I hope you like it!

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I looked around at the theater as we settled into our seats. There were a couple of other people there, but these places were usually pretty empty on weeknights. “Perfect,” I thought as I started to snuggle into Michael’s shoulder. He was so warm. I swear, he was always warm, no matter how cold it was.

“Roxanne,” he whispered.

“Mmph,” I muttered.

“Nothing could ever pull me away from you, and being this close to you is like being in heaven, but dear, you’re rubbing your face into your own snot.”

I shot back up in disgust, and Michael chuckled a little before kissing me on the cheek.

“You know if the roles had been reversed, I would have held you tighter.”

I stared for a long couple of seconds before answering, “Nobody but you could be so sweet and so gross at the same time.”

Michael chuckled a little harder, winked and stuck out his tongue boyishly, and I quickly looked away to keep the butterflies in my stomach from getting too excited.

The movie started soon enough, and it hadn’t been playing for too long when my nose started to send me the first signals that it did not want me to enjoy myself at all.

“Uuuugh,” I groaned quietly, “and I was just getting comfortable, too.”

“What’s wrong, dear?” Michael whispered.

I shook my head, trying my best to hide the growing tickle.

“It’s nuh… nothing”

Crap. He had definitely heard my breath hitch.

“Are you suuuuure?” he asked softly, just a little too much glee letting itself show in his words. Oh yeah. He knew.

“Fine, you cuh… huh… caught me… hhhh…”

“Rub your nose if you’re truly bothered. It should go away, though I’ll admit that I’ll miss it.”

I rubbed my finger under my nose, then rubbed again a little harder, but this tickle was irritatingly persistent. I gritted my teeth and scrubbed my nose furiously, but it only got stronger.

“It’s nuh… not wuh… working… heh…” I sniffed and wondered why this was taking so long. “God, just cuh… come out ah… ah… already… ih…”

“Roxanne?” Michael’s voice was different. Deeper, like a growl, and with a definite quaver in it. “I’m going to help you, love. Get ready.”

I felt my pulse quicken and my stomach flip as I realized what he was about to do.

“N-no, wuh… wai-”

But it was too late. Michael’s finger was already resting delicately at the bridge of my nose, and I could already feel the tickle growing huge and sending waves through my whole body as he began his gentle stroke downward.

“hih… huh, Hah, HAH… Oh no… HUH… NO…. HAAAAA…”

My breath was starting to hitch out of control and get louder and louder, and I could feel the panic beginning to rise in my chest because even with my quieter sneezes, I had no idea how long this fit was going to last or how much it would annoy the rest of the theater. I was just reaching the point where I couldn’t fight it back anymore and was about to give in when I heard Michael whisper, “I’ve got you, dearest.” He wrapped his arms tightly around my shoulders and pulled me close, pressing my back into his chest just as the first sneeze burst out.

“HAAAAAA-MMMMMMPFSTCH!”

That first sneeze tore out of my throat, but I realized as I began to build up to the next one that Michael had pressed a handful of tissues over my nose and mouth. I started to feel my cheeks flush at his unexpected touch.

“That’s right, dear,” he whispered, “that’s right. I’ll keep them quiet.”

“hhhmpfstch! Eh-mpfch! huh-chmpf! huh… huh-ktsch! EH-shcmkpf!”

My sneezes seemed like they had gotten back to normal, but I started to panic again as I realized that there was no chance this was going let up soon.

“Hah-mmmmmpfch! Huh-chmpf! EH-sssshmpf! Huh… huh-isssshmpf! Huh-ikshmpf!”

“Dear, dear,” Michael whispered, his warm breath tickling against my ear, “You’ve really gotten going, haven’t you?”

“Y-yeah… huh…”

“They’re never going to stop unless you let it all out, you know.”

“huh… eh-shmpf! Huh-umpfch! Huh-mmmpfsssssh!”

The last sneeze ripped the tissue, and I felt Michael quickly replace it with a new stack. He pressed it to my face a little tighter, making my cheeks flush a little harder.

“No,” he said, his voice a little deeper and more commanding, “Not like that. Let it all out, dear.”

The next sneeze was already on its way, though, and I couldn’t do anything to change the way it came out.

“huh-isssssh! huh-mmmmpfsch! mmmmmpssssch!”

“Oh, please, Roxanne,” he said quietly, and it almost seemed for a moment that there was a trace of pleading in his voice. “Please stop holding back, love! I’ll keep them quiet for you, I promise!”

But I felt totally out of control. The sneezes just kept coming and coming, and I couldn’t make them louder if I wanted to. If anything, they were getting quieter.

“eh-shmpf! huh… chmpf! ishmpf! tchmpf! Hih… huh… ah…”

I could tell that this was the last one, and I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing hard on taking a deep breath in like Michael had said, but I realized all at once that I no longer knew how and the last sneeze came out as a quiet, muffled “h’inxchk!”

For one moment, Michael continued to hold the tissues to my mouth and nose, pressing me tightly against his chest. I could feel his heart throbbing wildly beneath his t-shirt, and I desperately began to hope that he would let me go before my heart began to race as well.

“All done?” he whispered. I nodded.

A matter of seconds later, he sighed resignedly and dropped the tissues, and I returned to my seat, sniffling and coughing quietly.

“What a fit,” he said quietly. “Bless you many times over.”

“Thadk you,” I said, sniffling again.

“Of course, love.”

“Do you always just carry around tissues like that?”

“Dear, you know I have nothing but love and respect for you, but that’s an incredibly stupid question.”

I had to slam my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing so hard that I spit out a whole mouthful of popcorn. When I had finally recovered enough to swallow, I playfully punched his shoulder, which got him grinning again.

“Didn’t I get spray all over your hand?” I asked.

“A fair amount, I would say.”

“God, I’m so sorry, Michael.”

“I accept your apology, and I’ll try not to reveal my plan never to wash this hand again.”

I punched his should a little harder, and his grin widened.

“Whoops,” he said quietly, “too late!”

The older man two rows ahead of us turned around and glared angrily, issuing us a harsh “Sssssh!” Michael put an arm around me protectively and pulled me closer while offering the man an apologetic smile and wave.

I cleared my throat and tried to go back to watching the movie, but I realized almost immediately that I had completely lost track of what was happening by now. My head finally starting to clear, I bit my lip a little and snuck a glance at Michael out of the corner of my eye. After a few seconds of uncomfortable hesitation, I decided to speak.

“Um… M-Michael?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I, um… I’m sorry I c… couldn’t… um…”

“No,” Michael interrupted, shaking his head. “It isn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have asked you to. Honestly, dear, I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way at all. I’m the only one that needs to apologize. I’m sorry, love.”

With a heavy sigh, he settled back in his chair.

“I’ll be spending all of tomorrow night teaching my client to make their sneezes bigger, and I expected you to do it in one moment. What was I thinking?”

I clenched my jaw as I faced the screen again.

That damned word again.

Client.

I felt my hands begin to tighten of their own accord, squeezing the edge of the armrest in a white-knuckled deathgrip. Just thinking about the word “client” made my stomach twist up in knots. I didn’t want to know what would happen if I started imagining the “client” herself. If I started imagining the two of them together, her arching back against his chest, him whispering syrupy words in her ear.

If I started imagining him enjoying it.

“Can I have another tissue?” I whispered to Michael.

“Of course, dearest.”

He pressed the tissue into my hands, and I pretended to blow my nose with it so he wouldn’t be able to tell that I was really wiping away the pool of angry, bitter tears that was collecting on my cheeks.

*****************************************************************************************************

Roxanne tried to quell the tickle at first by scrunching her nose, but she had done this no more than once before she realized that the tickle was taking on a life of its own and wouldn’t be appeased by something so simple. She began fanning herself rapidly, giving up hope of Michael not noticing and just trying to keep the sneezes off for as long as possible.

“huh… hih… oh my… God… huh…”

“What’s wrong, dear?”

Michael could spot the sneezing fit coming on from the very first nose twitch, but with no obvious cause around, he was genuinely confused as to what was happening.

“Nuh… nothing, M-Michael, I juh… just… uh… huh…”

“Oh,” Michael said quietly, realization dawning as he observed the pigment in her skin reddening as her blood vessels dilated. “Oooooooh. Oh dear. You’re a sneezy drinker, aren’t you, Roxanne?”

“Y-yes,” Roxanne said, nodding desperately. “Do you know h-how to s-stop them?”

“Sorry, dear. They’re the one type of sneeze you can’t do a thing about.”

“Oh guh… great…”

“Relax,” he said, his voice dropping lower. “It’s going to be okay. They’re small now, remember?”

He gently took one of her hands in between his. She quickly yanked it back so she could cover her nose and mouth as she began to arch back a little against the chair and her eyes fluttered shut. Michael took the hand again, saying, “You only need one, dear,” and giving it a comforting squeeze.

Roxanne was past the point of words by now. She pressed the remaining hand tightly against her face, remembering at the last second to breathe out.

“huh-mmmpf!” she muffled the first sneeze, internally cringing as the spray coated her palm. “huh-mmmpfsch! Hih-chmpf! huh-esssshmpf! Heh-ksssht! Huh… ih… eh-kssssh!”

Her hand was now totally soaked, and she scrunched her nose against the next sneeze as she tried to figure out what to do with it before the next sneeze came.

She recoiled in surprise when she felt the napkin against her palm, and she briefly opened her eyes to see Michael’s smiling face as he wiped her hand clean. He winked as he finished rubbing down the last finger, then leaned back against his chair with an ever-so-slightly annoying grin that said he was just a little too pleased with the situation.

Roxanne didn’t have too much time to think about it, though; opening her eyes to the light had set her nose off again, and no amount of scrunching could stop it.  She put her hand back in place as she wound up for the next set.

“huh… hihhh… heissssshh! H’tschk! He-mmpfk! Huh… huh-tssssch! Eh-isssh! Huh-issssssh!”

The tickle was beginning to let up, and Roxanne pulled her hand away from Michael’s so she could wipe her incredibly bleary eyes and scrub her nose. This turned out to be a mistake, though, as it only made the tickle grow stronger. Her breath began to hitch again.

“hih… h-hah… hhhh… oh n-no… huh…”

She felt Michael take her hand again, and she allowed her eyes to flick open just in time to see him leaning in towards her, a secretive and strangely tantalizing smirk spread across his face.

“Go on, dear,” he said in a hushed voice, “don’t stop there.”

Roxanne sniffed and looked up at the light, and she finally began to feel the last few sneezes unstick themselves.

“huh… ih… hhhh… huh…”

With the sneeze about to rush out, Roxanne could do nothing when Michael suddenly took her only free hand and firmly pulled it down to the table, whispering, “Please don’t be shy, love. They’re beautiful.”

“huh-ishoo!” she sneezed, angling her head downwards. “huh-eeeeisssh! Huh… eh-ishiew! Huh… eh… hih… aaaaaah…”

“Go on and try it,” Michael whispered, “Horror movie, remember?”

As the last sneeze burst out of her, Roxanne tried what Michael had taught her the night before.

“aiiishyu!” she sneezed, and almost immediately found herself giggling at the high-pitched squeak that came out.

When she had recovered, Roxanne wiped her eyes again and blinked back her sneezy tears to see Michael gazing admiringly at her with those deep, caramel eyes. He lightly stroked the soft pad of his thumb in slow circles over the back of her hand.

“That’s my girl,” he said with a gentle smile. Roxanne looked down at the table and tried to hide her bright red face behind her free hand.

“My girl,” she thought, silently resenting the way it made her go weak in the knees. “My girl.”

*****************************************************************************************************

FRIDAY, 10:07 PM – GMAIL.COM

tonyboy723@gmail.com: This really feels weird. I think I made a mistake.

TSM@einrot.com: I understand, Tony, but you need not be afraid. You agreed to my rules, so I know you want to do this.

tonyboy723@gmail.com: I do. I don’t feel like it’s safe, though. I don’t really trust you.

TSM@einrot.com: You’ll have to trust me eventually, but not yet. For now, do you trust that your friends will come looking for you if you do not come back in time?

tonyboy723@gmail.com: Yeah, I told everyone. They’re gonna mess you up so bad if I don’t come back safe. So bad.

TSM@einrot.com: Good. They will not need to. Now finish your coffee and step outside. Your car is waiting.

Edited September 13, 2017 by randomguy

[kushamisukii]

Oh my god I love this and the first story so much!! I love how you write it, I love all the directions you are taking and all the unique things in the way you wrote it. It's so refreshing and a pleasure to read !! Can't wait for more. You are writing an awesome story!!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Alabaster]

I'm running out of different ways to tell you how much I love this, lol. So suffice it to say- great job! I look forward to this. 

[Chiller, a sneezy skeleton]

Great as always! Please make the next part! Suspension is killing my impatient soul!

[randomguy]

Thank you all for your encouragement! I feel like I should apologize for the lack of sneezes in this part. There are some, just not as many. It's all building up to the last part, which I hope you'll find worth the wait. In the meantime, here's part 4!

.................................................................................................................................................

I didn’t mean to act coldly towards Michael on that walk home. I walked slowly and held his hand like I always did, but there was no warmth in it this time. I would have broken the silence, I honestly would have, but I couldn’t think of a thing to say.

All I could think of was that one word, rattling around in my brain like the last penny in a piggy bank that you just can’t shake out.

Client. Client. Client.

The word just wouldn’t leave.

I could tell Michael knew something was wrong, too, because he never spoke up either. Just kept staring at his feet the whole way and sneaking glances at me from the corner of his eye. I knew that he realized he had done something to upset me, but I wasn’t telling him what it was, so he couldn’t say anything to me without making it worse. He was waiting for me to break the silence and tell him what was going on, why I wasn’t speaking, and I wanted to, but… I couldn’t. I didn’t have the first clue what to tell him.

We were about three blocks from home when I finally started to realize that the cold air was getting to my nose, and I immediately started to panic inside.

“Oh, Jesus,” I thought as I scrunched and rubbed and sniffled, “not now! Not when we aren’t speaking! Not when he has to pretend that it isn’t happening! Please, please, please, don’t let it be now!”

I begged and pleaded with my nose to just cut me some slack, just this once, but nothing did any good.

“hhhh… huh…”

My breath was starting to hitch out of control, and I could feel Michael’s hand tighten just the slightest bit at the noise, making me feel all the guiltier for not being able to stop it.

“hih… huh… eh…”

I realized with dismay that the sneeze was stuck, and I looked up at the sky hoping the light would unstick it so I could just get the sneezes over and done with. I knew that the longer it dragged it out, the more Michael would be upset that he couldn’t say or do anything in response. Of course, the sun had set by then, and the streetlights hadn’t come on yet, so there was nothing I could do.

“hih… ah…”

I sniffed as hard as I could, and that did it.

“huh-schmpf!”

I turned my head away from Michael and sneezed quietly against my fist. I heard Michael suck in his breath as I did, and I silently cursed my allergies, then started to curse them a little more when I realized that I wasn’t done. I gritted my teeth and pressed my hand to my mouth tighter and prayed that it would be over soon enough.

“hih… ah… hih-schk! huh-inxch! uh-chmpf! huh… ah… huh-chmpf!”

I sniffled and rubbed a couple of times, and I was so relieved that the tickle was gone now that I almost lost sight of the fact that Michael’s breath had begun to hitch as well.

Was he also about to sneeze, I wondered? Seemed like a strange coincidence. I looked over at him, and my heart instantly sank into my stomach when I saw his face.

Michael wasn’t holding his hand to his mouth or his nose. He was holding it to his eyes so I couldn’t see them.

He wasn’t about to sneeze. He was crying.

I tried to open my mouth and say something, anything. Even if it was just his name. I tried, but I got as far as “M-” before the word caught in my throat. What could I say when I barely even understood my own feelings? I was angry, but I was concerned for him. I wanted him to apologize, but I wanted to apologize to him too. I wanted to yell and scream and push him away, and wanted him to hold me tighter at the same time.

“You’ve got no idea what you want,” I berated myself internally. “Pathetic.”

When we reached my porch, Michael gave me a hug and a smile, but the smile twitched, and I knew that underneath that calm exterior was a bundle of confusion and nerves.

I tried to think of something to say. Something simple that would reassure him. Something like, “Sorry I didn’t talk on the way home,” or “Sorry I’m being so awkward,” or “Don’t be nervous, I’ll be fine in the morning.” I could have even just said that I would see him tomorrow, and he would have known everything was going to be okay.

I said nothing.                                                                                                        

“Goodnight, Roxanne,” Michael said, his hand slipping slowly, reluctantly from mine as he began to walk towards the street. Something felt like it was building up inside me right then. Some kind of urgency. Some part of me was screaming that if he made it to the sidewalk, I would never see him again. Despite all of the anger I was keeping inside, I knew more than anything that I didn’t want that.

“Michael,” I called after him, and he turned to face me again, a dim silhouette against the soft yellow glow of the streetlight.

I realized two things at the same time then. The first was that, in all of that jumbled haze of words and feelings swirling around in my mind, I had absolutely no idea of what I wanted to say to him. The second was that, despite my lack of ideas, I was already speaking, my mouth moving as though independent of my will.

“I want you to be the Sneeze Mentor again.”

“Wh… what?”

My mind finally began to grasp the meaning of my words, and I said it again.

“I want you to be the Sneeze Mentor for me. I want you to make my sneezes big again.”

Yes. Of course. Of course this was what I wanted.

Michael hurried back up towards my door and stopped in front of me, the porchlight illuminating his incredulous face.

“Am I hearing you right, Roxanne?”

I nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. This was what I wanted, I was sure. I wanted to stop worrying about making him unhappy. I wanted to go back to how it was when we’d first met. The way he loved my sneezes had never really made a lot of sense to me, especially when I hated them so much, but I’d be damned before I let him fall in love with somebody else’s.

Michael’s face melted into a caring smile, and he gently laid his hand on my cheek, a hand that I realized felt warm and soft to me again. I closed my eyes and nuzzled against it like I had first done on the bed in that hotel room all those nights ago.

“No.”

I jerked myself away from him and blinked in surprise at what I’d just heard.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.

“No, dear. I won’t make them big again.”

“I… I don’t understand,” I countered, starting to feel my mind racing again. “You’re always talking about how much you loved the way I used to-”

“Of course I did,” he interrupted. “I do. I miss the way you used to sneeze, and I always will. But it made you so unhappy, darling. So unhappy that you ran away from them, ran as fast as you could and ran right into my arms. I won’t let you go back to that. Not for me.”

“Michael, please!” I said, my voice beginning to rise. “That’s not what I’m talking about! I mean, just today, in the theater-”

 “I shouldn’t have acted the way I did in there,” he interrupted again, “telling you to stop holding back when I knew perfectly well that wasn’t what you wanted. When we met in that café, I promised I would control myself around you, and today I broke that promise. I’m sorry. I’ve led you to believe that I care more about your sneezes than you, and that simply isn’t true, dear. Not in the slightest.”

“No, Michael,” I said, allowing a hint of the frustration I was feeling to creep into my voice, “that’s not… that’s not what I-”

“Hush, love, it’s okay. You don’t need to change your-”

“NO!” I shouted with a strength that surprised even myself and made Michael jump. “You hush! Quit interrupting me and listen, dammit!”

Michael gulped and nodded, his eyes widening at the sudden fire behind my words.

“You don’t know everything about me, Michael! You don’t know why I asked what I asked. You don’t understand what I’m feeling right now, and you don’t understand why I feel it. And you don’t get to decide what I need and what I don’t need! Okay?”

Michael nodded again, his face beginning to turn white and his eyes beginning to moisten just the slightest bit. I think he was starting to understand what I was trying to say.

 “This is what I want, Michael. If you won’t do it, then fine, but don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re doing it to help me. I can make my own decisions. I know what I want, and what I… what I want is…”

I could hear my voice beginning to shake as my anger ran itself out, and I laid my hand on Michael’s cheek as he had just done to me. He gasped and shuddered as my skin touched his, and I smiled as he closed his eyes and pressed back against my hand.

“I want to be able to make you happy, Michael. I want to know for sure that you’re not choking back your feelings, regretting the fact that you ever taught me to sneeze quietly. I want to stop letting you take care of me without trying to give anything back to you, because we both know a relationship isn’t real if it isn’t mutual. But honestly, Michael? You know what I really want? More than anything else?”

Michael shook his head, and I gently cupped my hand over his other cheek and looked into those deep, glistening eyes.

“I want you to believe that I’m strong enough to do this.”

Michael was silent for a few moments more, his eyes searching mine intently, his breathing heavy and ragged. Finally, he blinked hard, allowing a single tear to fall, and nodded.

I smiled and let go of his face, and he wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“I’ll go get the blindfold,” I said as I stepped through the door. “Meet me in the bedroom in five minutes.”

*****************************************************************************************************

Michael pressed his napkin into Roxanne’s hand, and she lifted it to her face, grateful that she had something to hide behind now. She wiped her nose and cleared her throat, then checked one last time that the heat had gone from her cheeks before dropping the napkin to the table.

“Bichael, how cobe you did that to be?”

“Did what?” Michael answered, smiling as innocently as he could manage.

Roxanne shook her head, her mouth smiling a little, but her eyes betraying a hint of genuine anger.

“You dow whad I bead, Bichael.” She lifted the napkin again blew her nose a little harder.

“You mean… you mean pulling your hand away?”

Roxanne nodded, glaring at him from over the top of the napkin, and Michael suddenly began to feel very uncomfortable. He waited a moment longer, hoping she would speak again, but she stayed silent.

“I… I just wanted… to see…” Michael cleared his throat again. “I don’t… when you cover them, I…”

Michael’s face was starting to feel hotter and hotter, and he shifted awkwardly in his seat. In spite of herself, Roxanne began to smile a little behind the napkin. She was starting to consider letting him off the hook, but she kind of liked seeing him squirm. It was cute.

“Roxanne,” he said at last, “I think you’re beautiful, you know that. And so are your sneezes. And I just wanted a better view, dear. Is… is that so wrong?”

Roxanne took a moment to wipe the grin off her face before lowering the napkin so she could look him in the eyes, and receiving the full brunt of her gaze made him begin to fidget once again.

“Was it so wrong that I didn’t want to get spray all over everything?”

Michael cleared his throat a third time before looking down at the table and shaking his head.

“Of course not, dear. I forced you to.”

Roxanne didn’t quite know how to answer when it seemed that he was making her argument for her, so she just nodded and said, “That’s right.”

Michael heaved a deep sigh. “I’m sorry. That was wrong of me. But… well…”

He chanced a glace upward, where his gaze met Roxanne’s once again. She smiled back just a little, and that gave him the confidence to reach for her hand, intertwining her fingers between his own. She bit her lip as her breath began to quicken at his touch, and she hoped he wouldn’t notice that her palm had begun to sweat. He didn’t notice, of course, because his was definitively the sweatier of the two.

“Can you blame me? I really, truly couldn’t help myself, Roxanne. Your sneezes drive me wild, love.”

Roxanne bit her lip a little tighter against the spreading smile, but it was useless.

“I’ll try to control myself in the future.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I promise.”

Roxanne nodded. “As long as you promise.”

“Well,” Michael answered, a hint of smugness creeping back into his voice, “I promise to try.”

*****************************************************************************************************

tonyboy723@gmail.com: Okay, I’m at the hotel. Are you inside?

TSM@einrot.com: You will be meeting me upstairs. Room 407. Tell the receptionist you lost your key.

tonyboy723@gmail.com: That won’t work, dummy, I didn’t make the reservation.

TSM@einrot.com: But I did, and I have your full name.

tonyboy723@gmail.com: Right. I forgot about that.

TSM@einrot.com: Tony, this is not the first time I have done this. Everything is taken care of, believe me.

tonyboy723@gmail.com: Okay, fine, I believe you.

TSM@einrot.com: Good. We will need to trust each other. I will see you upstairs shortly.

[HideAndGoSneeze]

I'm dead. You killed me. I love the build up and stuck sneezes. That was an amazing addition... Oh my I can't wait to see the next update!! 

[Sneezingnonstop]

Oh my gosh, I miss two updates of parts and both are absolutely amazing!!! I cannot stress how much I love this story and everything about it. Literally. I'm so excited for what will happen next!!!!!

[HPG]

I like the way you're interweaving the stories.  Awesome job!

[Stimuli]

I'm on love with this story! Oh if I ever wished that something never came to an end! 

[Alabaster]

You've killed me! (in a good way) When I read he had started to cry, I actually had to lean back and gather myself. Great storyteller! 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Alabaster

[RipleyToo]

Ooh! I hope Michael somehow catches a sneezey cold at some point ;u;

[randomguy]

Before I post this final part, I just want to give my sincerest thanks for all of your support, encouragement, and kind words over the course of me posting both of these stories. All of your responses have really made me think about and reevaluate myself as a writer. @HarryPotterGeek, thanks for letting me know that you liked this structure, because I wasn't sure whether or not it made sense to everyone! @Toon Vlux, no promises, but it's so great that you're interested in him! @aName, thanks a lot for your comments on this story and the original. It's so amazing to see your enthusiasm and dedication; I'm really impressed that you managed to marathon your way through  both of these stories! And @Alabaster. @Sneezingnonstop, @HideAndGoSneeze, thank you so much for being regulars to these stories. Seeing your comments after almost every post always made me smile and let me know that I was on the right track. Honestly, I probably would have quit trying a while ago if it hadn't been for your continued support, so just know that your words have meant a lot to me .

More importantly, though, I'm very, very glad to have made so many people happy, and I'm so glad that all of you let me know how much this has meant.

Alright, enough emotional jibber-jabber. Let's do this thing! Here's the final part of this story. I really hope that all of you like it!

.................................................................................................................................................

As I shut the door behind me, I leaned against it for a moment and sighed in relief. I’d found the perfect solution! Michael and I were going to be okay! I stood there with a giddy smile on my face for a few more seconds before the gravity of what I’d just done began to sink in.

“Oh, crap,” I thought, “he’s going to make my sneezes big again! Oh my god!”

I checked my watch. Four minutes left before he came in, so I had a little bit of time to think things through. Did I want to call the whole thing off? Open the front door and tell Michael that I’d changed my mind? He’d refused in the first place, so he’d understand, right?

I rushed into the bathroom to wash the spray off my hand from the sneezing fit I’d had as we were heading home, and as I did, I looked up into the mirror and made eye contact with myself.

I looked more panicked than I had realized, and I smoothed my wet hands over my hair a couple of times hoping it would tame the frizziness just a bit. Staring into my own eyes like this, I started to think of the way I had stood in front of the mirror on the night I had had made that post online, the one that would eventually lead me to Michael. I had stood in front of this very mirror and sneezed my guts out over and over again, making a huge mess all over everything, and it had upset me so much that I had turned to a random stranger to fix it.

I saw a fleck of worry cross my face, and I immediately knew why. I was about to go back to that. I was about to go back to the way things used to be, making a mess every single time I started sneezing.

I sighed a little, and my breath fogged the mirror. This was going to be one hell of a trade-off. I was going to make Michael happy, sure, but was I really okay with doing this to myself?

That’s when it finally occurred to me. The question I was really asking was, “Is Michael worth it?”

The fog of my breath cleared from the mirror, and I saw the calm smile that had taken over my face.

“Well,” I said to myself, “when you put it that way, the answer’s pretty obvious.”

I flicked off the light as I left the bathroom, put on my eye mask, and sat cross-legged in the center of my bed, that calm smile still spanning my face.

Even though I knew what was coming, I still got nervous when I heard the front door open and those footsteps walking slowly down the hallway. Even though I was in my own room with a guy I knew perfectly well, I felt like I was waiting for a stranger, like I was back in that hotel room and anything could happen. I cleared my throat, swallowed hard, and adjusted the blindfold one last time before my bedroom door opened.

The footsteps hesitated at the doorway for a moment, and I could feel his gaze on me. For some reason, this made my nerves escalate even more. I knew who it was that was standing in my bedroom, but I had no idea what he was doing right then. Examining me, I figured, but for what? What was about to happen?

The footsteps slowly drew closer to the bed until they were right beside me, then they stopped again.

“Do you remember the rules?”

I gulped and nodded. It was Michael’s voice, but it was different. Quieter, and more reserved, like it was keeping a secret. I hadn’t heard his voice like that since the night I had first met the Sneeze Mentor, and hearing it again sent a shudder down my spine.

“Very good, dear. Then let’s get started,” he whispered.

There were two soft clunks, which I knew to be the sound of his shoes hitting the floor, and I felt the bed sink as he climbed in and knelt behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. I felt my breathing deepen, and my belly began to tingle in anticipation. This was different than I had thought it would be. I thought it would feel like an old friend trying something we hadn’t done in a while, but it felt like a completely unique experience. Like it wasn’t even Michael back there. None of this felt familiar. That should have scared me, but I was beginning to realize that it excited me instead, and the tickle in my tummy got even more intense.

“So,” the voice whispered, closer to my ear that I was expecting, “tell me about your sneezes. What do you want them to sound like, dear?”

“W… well…” I stammered, suddenly very aware of the fact that I really hadn’t thought this part through, “I… I just… want them to be bigger…”

“I understand,” he said, his hands pressing a little harder, “but how do you want them to be bigger, dear?”

“I… um… I…” I swallowed hard and waited for my confusion to clear up, but it didn’t happen. Even with those gentle hands massaging my shoulders, I was starting to get tense.

“Do you know why you don’t have an answer, dear?”

The voice was surprisingly close to my ear this time. I shook my head, and he pulled me even closer. I felt his lips brush against my ear, and that familiar but oh-so-exciting shudder ran through me again.

“Because,” he breathed, the warm air of his words brushing past my earlobe, “you don’t want it. Not truly. Not for yourself.”

I started to protest, but those hands began their slow, calming, and reassuring circles against my back once again, and I felt myself lean into his grip.

“Oh, don’t worry, dear. I won’t fight with you again. I’ll give you what you ask. But…” He trailed off mysteriously and leaned into my ear once again, and I could feel a strong, quiet power behind his hushed words.

“I’m going to give you more. So much more than what you asked for or ever thought possible.” His voice dropped even lower as he added, “And you’ll be the only one I’ve ever, ever given my deepest secrets to. Does that sound agreeable, love?”

I gulped as my shoulders tightened and my breathing deepened, powerless to do anything but nod in agreement. I barely recognized the tone in Michael’s voice, and I had no idea what was coming, but the surging tingle in my belly told me not to turn it down, no matter what.

“Good,” he breathed as he released me and rolled quietly off the bed. “Then let’s get started. I’ve got some… difficult news…”

While he hesitated over his words, I heard the crinkle of plastic as he removed something from his pocket.

“I don’t have my samples with me, so I’ve had to improvise. Without my elm pollen, I had to settle for the nearest variety I could find, and… I’m… afraid it was… ragweed.”

I shrugged a little. “There’s a difference?”

“To put it mildly,” he answered with a dry chuckle. Then he cleared his throat before quietly saying, “this is going to be rather… intense, dear. Please, be strong for me.”

I nodded, bracing myself for impact. There were a few more silent moments before I heard the sound of the bag opening.

The reaction in my sinuses was immediate. I could feel my nose flare up right away as the sharp tickle rocketed through my whole body, and my breath started to hitch right away. I figured I must have been around the stuff before since he’d just collected it, but with so much in one place at the same time, the tickle felt a thousand times worse.

“hih… oh... huh… no… huh… ih…”

“Don’t fight it, love. Just let the sneezes happen.”

“Oh my guh… god… ih… it’s so s-strong… huh…”

“Don’t resist your instincts,” he said soothingly, “let them be small.”

I drew in my final breath and felt it catch in the back of my throat as the first sneeze finally worked its way to the surface.

“huh-itch! Huh-assshew! Heh-issssh! Huh… hah-issshew… huh… ih…”

Suddenly, and with almost no warning, a finger was jammed forcefully under my nose and squelched the tickle back.

“You haven’t much time,” whispered the voice urgently, “breathe in. Now. As deep as you can.”

I started to breathe in, my lungs filling to capacity and stretching my chest against my shirt until finally, when I was as full as I could get, the finger vanished and the tickle returned with a vengeance.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-EEEEEEESHOOOOOOOO!” The sneezed burst out of me at a volume that left my ears ringing.

“Yes!” he shouted as I started to build up for the next one.

“HEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAA-SCHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“YES!” he cried, a little louder. “There it is! Good to see you, old friend!”

I would have chuckled at his excitement had I not been building up for a third monster sneeze. I felt my shirt stretch tightly over my chest as it filled with mountains of air.

“EEEEEEYAAAAAASHOOOOOOOOOOOO! HEEEEH-AAAAAASCHOOOOOOOO! HEH… HUH… AH…”

I sniffed, wondering where the last sneeze had gone, and I gradually began to realize that my nose wasn’t tickling anymore. The bag must have been sealed again.

“That was wonderful, dear,” the gentle voice moaned softly. “Simply wonderful.”

I sniffed again.

“How cobe you stobbed id, thed?”

“Because,” came the reply as those footsteps drew closer and closer, “it’s time for phase two, dear.”

“Huh? Phase two?”

“Yes, dear. Your sneezes are absolutely beautiful. I can’t always be around to stick my finger under your nose so you can do them, can I?”

I shook my head, and he hesitated a moment before adding, “And… one more thing, dear.” He cleared his throat. “Please… do exactly as I say. You’re going to learn something very important now, and you need to trust me. Even if it doesn’t make sense, you need to trust me. Okay?”

I swallowed hard and nodded, wondering what exactly he meant by that. I didn’t have much time to think about it, though, as I heard the crinkle of plastic and my nose flared up with tingles once again.

“heh… ih… hhhh… h-hah…”

I sniffed hard. My nose was absolutely burning, and I wriggled my nose, hoping to at least make the tickle less intense.

“Just let it happen, dear,” Michael’s voice cautioned me. “Just let the tickles take over. No fighting.”

“hih… ah… iiih…”

I realized I was still taking in small breaths out of habit. I tried to suck in more air, but I felt it catch at the back of my throat.

“NO!” came the voice again, “Not yet! Just let them be small!”

I nodded as I drew in one final, shuddery breath.

“hhhhheh… heh-ishew! ashew! Huh… huh-isssshooo! eeeeeh-isssssh! Ah… huh…”

“Good. Now focus on your breathing. Focus hard. Feel the moment just before you release.”

“huh…”

I focused.

“huh… ah…”

I focused harder.

“heh… ah… HIH-”

And this time, for the first time, I felt the moment that I drew in the smallest puff of air just before the tickles reached their strongest.

“Esssssshew! I fuh… f-felt it!”

“Good.” The voice was a whisper now, and very close to my ear. “Now feel the moment just before. The moment when you draw your last breath, just before the tickle grabs you and refuses to let go. Feel it, and breathe in as deep as you can.”

I nodded as the tickle grew again, and my breath started to hitch.

“huh…iiiiiih… huh… HAAAAAA…”

“NOW!” he cried, and I drew in a deep breath that filled my lungs to bursting just as the tickle became an unstoppable force.

“HUH-AAAAAASHOOOOOO!”

The sneeze roared out of me, spray flying everywhere as I forced myself past the point where my breath caught and gasped in another deep breath.

“HEH… HEH-IIIIIIIIISHEW! HAAAAAAAA-SCHOOOOOOOO! EH… IH… HUUUUUSHOOOOO!”

All of my senses tuned to my breathing as they never had been before, I could feel my body start to suck in air again, but then a finger was thrust under my nose and I was left with the tickles begging for release without the ability to comply.

“P-please, luh… let me sneeze!” I heard myself plead, only half aware of why I was doing it.

“In a moment, dear,” the voice whispered. “This time, when the time comes, you’re going to try something else, okay? This time, you’re going to breathe out instead.”

“Wuh… w-won’t that m-make muh… my-”

“There’s no time, dear! Do you trust me or not?”

I had only a moment to nod before the finger was removed and the full power of the ragweed washed over me again and my breath started to hitch.

“huh… HAH… IH… HAAAAAH…”

At just the right moment, I felt my breathing ease up a bit, and I blew out hard.

“huh-issshooo!”

“Good!” cried the voice. “Now in this time!”

As the tickle built, I gasped in as deeply as I could until I couldn’t go for one more second without release.

“HEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAASHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I let the sneeze explode out of me, not holding back at all.

“Brilliant! You’ve got it, dear! Now you decide!”

As my breath began to hitch for the last time, I heard the bag seal up again and felt the burning in my sinuses die down even as the tickle grew. I had already felt my breath hitch deeply several times, so I decided I was up for a challenge and breathed out hard just as the final wave of the tickle hit me.

“hih… hehaaiiiiishuuu!”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and let my body go limp as I sniffled and panted. As I let myself recover, I felt two soft, warm hands take hold of one of my own and squeeze it comfortingly.

“Do you understand, dear? Do you see what I’ve given you?”

I laughed out loud as the realization hit me, and I nodded vigorously.

“I cad choose. I ged do choose frob dow od.”

“That’s right, dearest,” he said with another squeeze. “Big or small. The choice is yours.”

“Thadk you,” I said with a sniffle. “It’s… it’s…”

“More than you asked for. Like I said.”

I started to reach for the blindfold, and I felt Michael’s hand grab my wrist gently, but firmly.

“Not yet, dear. We aren’t finished. It’s time for phase three.”

“Phase… three?”

“That’s right. And trust me,” he said, his voice dropping to a low growl as he once again knelt behind me on the bed, “you’re going to love phase three.”

“Wh… what’s phase three?” I asked timidly, and my question provoked a soft chuckle from behind.

“Remember this, dear?”

As he said those words, he laid his finger at the top of my nose and stroked gently downward. He’d done it before to unstick a couple of sneezes, but this time, I felt the shudder run through every part of my body, like my bones themselves were shivering in pleasure. I didn’t have to sneeze at all a few moments ago, but now my nose suddenly started to twitch wildly.

“hih… heh-EEEESHEW!” I sneezed, barely cupping my hands I front of my nose in time. It sent the tingles deeper, like pins and needles were covering every inch of my skin, and I groaned in pleasure before I could stop myself.

“Good,” he breathed. “Good, dear. Now what if I could make every big sneeze feel just like that?”

I tried to think my words through before answering, but I gulped at the thought and it made me shudder and melt against Michael’s chest, and that was enough answer for him.

“Just as I thought, love. Like I said. So, so much more that you could imagine.”

I nodded and shuddered again as he pulled me a little closer. That feeling. Every time. I could feel my skin starting to flush at the thought.

“Now I’m going to open the ragweed again, dear. This time around, don’t hold back. Make them all big. Just for now. Do you think you can do that?”

“Yes, Michael!” I said, my voice sounding a little more eager than I had intended, “You don’t need to talk me into it! I really want this!”

“Okay, dear, okay,” he laughed. “No more waiting. Let’s get started.”

I heard the bag unseal, and the familiar burning in my nasal passages started again. With everything that had happened since we started, I was almost beginning to like it now.

“heh… ah… uh…”

“It’s all about the tickle, dear,” he said with a gentle squeeze to my shoulders. “Focus on it. Breathe in through your nose now, before you even need to. See what happens.”

I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, and I felt the tickle’s building accelerate like mad. Suddenly, it felt less like I was slowly building up to a sneeze and more like the sneeze was already there, racing toward me full bore like an ambulance with its sirens blaring.

“heh… HUH… AH… HAAAA…”

“Not yet! Don’t you dare sneeze yet! Wrinkle your nose and make the tickle wait, Roxanne!”

I shook my head as my mouth hung open and my breath hitched in again. I wasn’t so sure I could stop myself now. All the same, I felt the change as I wrinkled my nose against the tickle. It was still racing towards me at a hundred miles an hour, but it was a little farther away now and I could think before it got here.

“Good! Good! Focus harder on the tickle! Think about where you want it to go!”

As the tickle grew stronger, I squeezed my eyes shut and focused hard, imagining the tickle spreading and covering my whole body. I thought about it as hard as I possibly could, and I almost felt my skin tingling. God, this was a lot of work.

“Good, dear! Do you feel it? Do you feel it everywhere?”

I nodded. “Yuh… y-yes… hHAH… It’s cuh… coming…”

“Then take another deep breath, dear,” Michael’s voice purred gently, and I shivered just a little at his words. “Through your nose and as deep as you possibly can. You should feel it right away.”

I scrunched my eyes shut tighter and sucked air in through my nose, pressing myself back against Michael’s chest as the air filled my lungs. Suddenly, I didn’t need to focus on the tickles anymore. They surged and swelled and drove into me, waking up every cell and practically making my skin buzz and my head swim.

“HAAAAAAH… HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…”

I threw my head back as I gasped in one final breath, and I felt the back of my head connect with Michael’s shoulder as he pulled me closer. My cheeks got hot in excitement as I felt his heartbeat racing against my skin. He kissed me on the cheek and whispered “Do it” into my ear, and the tickle rushed over me until I couldn’t hold back anymore.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEESCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Oh Guh… God!”

Waves of pleasure raced through me as I threw my whole body forward and the tickles exploded in an ecstatic frenzy. I felt like I needed a break from the sheer power of that incredible sneeze, but another tingle of excitement shot through me as the realization hit that the ragweed was still open and another sneeze was on its way.

“It’s okay, dear,” I heard Michael whisper as my breath started to hitch again, “just let it happen. Breathe in deep and focus hard.”

I could do little but give an assenting nod as my breath hitched again, I drew myself up further and sucked in a deep breath through my nose, feeling the tickles grow and grow until I thought I would explode, and still they grew.

“HEEEEEAAAH… HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH….”

I pressed myself back against Michael once again and felt him squeeze me tighter from behind. I felt myself flush all over, and knowing it would make him happy, I somehow managed to gasp in one more strained breath until my lungs felt like they were bursting before I let the tickle swallow me whole.

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

My body rocketed forward again, and I felt the spray fire out of my mouth and soak the blankets in front of me. “I’m going to have to remake the bed after this,” I thought distantly as the tickle started in again.

As my first breath hitches began, I felt Michael’s hands gently guide me backwards until I was leaning against him, panting quietly as I got ready for yet another sneeze.

“Bless you, dear,” he said, his warm, sticky breath tickling against my cheek.

And then his hands slid up again, gently pressing themselves against my mouth even as I sucked in my final breath from between his fingers. I tilted back my head and scrunched my eyes shut as I prepared to fire off what I quickly realized was to be the most exhilarating series of sneezes I had ever experienced.

“HEEEEEEEH… HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSHMMMMMMMMMPFFFFFFF!”

I let the sneeze explode out of myself as I thrust forward and muffled it into Michael’s hands, my breath covering his palms and my spray coating his fingers. I started to suck in air and let my lungs expand again as I heard Michael begin to speak between my sneezes.

“And now…”

“HAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCHMMMMMMMNMMMMMPFFFFFFFF!”

“… you love them…”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSMMMMMMMMMPFFFFFFFFFF!”

“…as much…”

“HHHHAAAAAAAH… HAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPFFFFF!”

“…as I do.”

He dropped his hands to seal up the bag as I drew in one more giant, gasping, heaving breath and let myself lean back so far against Michael that I felt him topple onto his back behind me as I burst out with one last huge and perfect sneeze.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

I threw myself forward onto my elbows, my skin tingling and my mind buzzing and my heart racing and my senses blaring. I gasped for air as I recovered, but that only sent the tickles deeper and made waves of pleasure run through me.

I couldn’t hold back anymore.

I ripped the blindfold from my eyes and turned around to see Michael sprawled out on the bed, his eyes wide as they took me in, his face red and sweating and his chest heaving.

I kept kneeling there for a moment, panting hard as I looked him over. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I had to do something before my heart burst of excitement, so I threw myself forward and pressed my lips against his in the deepest kiss I could manage. Then I rolled off him and lay on my back, shuddering over and over again as the tickles finally began to die down.

We both lay there staring at the ceiling for several minutes, completely silent except for the sound of our deep, panting breaths.

What an absolute rush. I found myself wondering whether I would ever recover, and wondering even more whether I even wanted to.

Finally, when we had both calmed enough to think rationally, he spoke.

“You, my love, are a work of art.”

I took in a few more deep breaths before saying the thing that had been on my mind all day.

“I don’t want you to be the Sneeze Mentor anymore.”

Michael was silent for a bit before responding.

“I know.”

He rolled onto his side to face me, and I turned my head and let my eyes meet his.

“But you know I have to.”

His voice was quiet and sympathetic, and his eyes searched deeply into mine.

I swallowed hard and nodded. Yes, I knew. As much as I hated it, I knew. He reached out and gently brushed a lock of hair from my face, then offered me a kind smile that made me feel so warm inside that I broke my gaze with him.

“It’s not for me, dear,” he said gently. “It’s for them. All those poor souls that are unhappy with their sneezes. Surely you understand.”

I nodded again before adding, “But I don’t have to like it.”

“Well… honestly…” he said as he rested his hand on my shoulder, “I don’t like it either. At least, not the way I used to.”

“Y… you don’t?”

Michael shook his head as he began to run the tips of his fingers up and down my arm.

“My heart’s not truly in it anymore, Roxanne. Not since I gave it to you.”

I felt my cheeks begin to redden uncontrollably, and I turned my face into the pillow to hide it.

“Dearest,” he said, his voice quavering just the slightest, and I looked up to see his face working emotionally as he carefully weighed his words. “I… I think I have an… idea.”

“An idea?”

“Y… yes. A… way we can make this work. And I understand if you don’t want to hear it, but-”

“I do,” I interrupted. “I do want to hear it.”

A broad smile stretched across Michael’s face, and he gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Good.”

*****************************************************************************************************

tonyboy723@gmail.com: Where the hell are you?!

TSM@einrot.com: I take it you’re in the room, then?

tonyboy723@gmail.com: Yeah, and I’m the only one here. What’s going on?

TSM@einrot.com: You’ll see soon enough. For now, please sit on the bed. Cross legged, in the middle.

tonyboy723@gmail.com: Okay, I’m doing it.

TSM@einrot.com: Good. One last thing then.

tonyboy723@gmail.com: What?

TSM@einrot.com: Put on the blindfold.

*****************************************************************************************************

Tony cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably as he sat on the bed. This was crazy. What the hell had he been thinking, answering that post online? Why had he agreed to come all the way down here? He adjusted his blindfold one last time before he heard the door swing open.

“I have a black belt in karate!” he shouted before he could stop himself. “I’ll beat your ass up if you-”

“That won’t be necessary, dear,” a quiet man’s voice cut him off. It sounded foreign, probably somewhere in Europe. “You won’t have to defend yourself this evening. I promise.”

Tony felt his shoulders slump.

“You’re a guy.”

“Indeed,” answered the voice. “Thank you for noticing.”

“I’m not so sure if I’m cool with a guy touching me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your texts said you’d have to touch me. I don’t know if I want you to touch me. No offense.”

“None taken, dear,” said the voice, and the footsteps drew closer, pausing at the foot of the bed. “None taken at all. I’m not the one that sent those texts.”

“What?! But… but aren’t you the… the…”

“The Sneeze Mentor. Yes, that’s me. But who said there was only one of us?”

Tony suddenly became aware of a second set of footsteps that approached the side of the bed, and he felt a soft hand with slender fingers and polished nails lay delicately on his shoulder.

“Just relax,” said a woman’s gentle voice. “We’re about to change your life.”

Edited September 15, 2017 by randomguy

[Alabaster]

Honesty wonderful! Fetish aside (and you weave it through beautifully, I thought I was going to die), this is just a great piece of writing. Not to give away too much personal detail but I literally teach writing, and this is truly great and you have such control over the story and it's characters. That said, I looove what you're doing here with consent and getting her to be able to be in charge of her own sneezes; just symbolically that's lovely. And of course, I'll be in love with Michael forever haha. I really hope you contiue stories with this two. Thank you!