Authors: Dianne Harman
As predicted, Elena was ecstatic. Maria hung up the phone and got undressed, walking in the nude to the open balcony doors, knowing that no one on the water could see her. Jeffrey turned the lights off and wrapped his arms around her as they both looked out at the ocean. He gently fondled her high, full breasts, caressing her nipples until they became hard and erect. He let one hand gradually slide down her smooth skin, stroking her luxurious pubic hair.
Thank God she didn't have the money for a Brazilian wax,
he thought,
I could do this the rest of my life and I just may.
As he turned her around to face him, he noticed she had tears rolling down her face.
"My God, Maria, what's wrong? Have I done something? This should be the happiest moment of our lives. Please, tell me what it is! Why are you crying? What have I done?" exclaimed Jeffrey.
"Jeffrey, I'm crying because I love you so much and I don't want to become ugly. I know you love me now, but what's going to happen when I start to age? Will you still love me then or are you going to leave me for some younger, more beautiful woman? I'm so scared of becoming old. Please, just hold me."
"Maria, I will love you forever. You and my work are all I care about. I promise you that I will never leave you. Come, we need some sleep. It's been a long day and we're both tired." He led her to the bed where they did sleep, but not until much later.
A week after they returned from Santa Barbara, Jeffrey took Maria to a fashionable French restaurant. Jeffrey had dined there recently with one of the executives from the company and wanted to share it with her. "Maria, there's something I need to talk to you about."
Maria immediately felt her stomach tighten. Usually those words meant that bad news was going to follow. She waited for the words, "I really like you, but this isn't going to work out."
"Yes, Jeffrey, what is it?" Maria stammered.
Jeffrey began, "I know what I'm going to suggest is unethical, but I believe I have discovered something that will keep people from outwardly aging. The research I've done with the rats in my lab has been extremely positive. All of their outward signs of aging have stopped. Rats normally have a life expectancy of three to five years, at the most. I have one who is nine and jumps around like a youngster. All of their coats are glossy, their eyes are clear, and none of them appears to have aged even one day.
"I know how worried you are about losing your youth and beauty, but I love you for who you are, not your beautiful face or your beautiful body. Yet I understand how important those things are to you. I have been injecting the rats monthly with a hormone I've discovered. I think it will work on humans, and more importantly, I think it will work on you.
"In the United States, the government has made it very difficult for any new drug or hormone to be approved before it can be sold to the public. They want years of data from clinical testing before it can go on the market. It's very unethical to try anything like my newly discovered hormone on a human until it has gone through all of the government approvals. It's also completely against Moore Labs' policies. Hell, I think I even signed something or other when I was hired about that, but I've decided I don't want to wait. I believe I can keep you looking just the way you are now. I do know that it's not a dangerous hormone. There has not been one single adverse effect on the rats. I would never expose you to anything that might harm you. I love you too much for that and I'm willing to do this because I do love you so much.
"There is just one thing I need to ask of you. No one must ever know. If Moore Labs ever found out what I was doing, that I was injecting you with the anti-aging hormone, I would be fired immediately. Worse than that, I would probably go to jail. If you want me to use the injection on you, you have to promise me that you will never tell anyone. What do you think?" Jeffrey asked, looking at her expectantly.
Maria was stunned. She knew that Jeffrey was risking his professional career to help her overcome her fear of aging that she'd had since she was in her early teens. What if someone found out? Would he grow to hate her? Would he later regret making this decision? And yet, for all the questions racing through her mind, the thought of never again having to fear losing her beauty was very compelling and powerful. If she could keep her beauty, she'd never have to go back to the barrio and the terrors that lived there.
Maria began to voice her fears to Jeffrey. "Jeffrey, I love you so much for even suggesting this. You know how terrified I am of losing my looks, but I don't ever want to be the cause of something that could potentially ruin your future. I'm almost sorry that you brought it up. If something were to happen and Moore Labs found out, you probably would be fired and possibly go to jail and it would all be because of me. I would never ask that of you. It's too much. I really don't think we should do it."
"Maria, if I didn't want to do this, I never would have suggested it. I don't see a downside. Neither one of us can ever discuss it with anyone. As long as we don't talk, how will anyone find out? This will work, I promise you."
When people want to believe something, they tend to downplay the negative risks that might be involved. Casting all of her concerns aside, Maria agreed to have Jeffrey administer the monthly injection that she so desperately hoped would keep her looking young and beautiful. It was a decision they both would deeply regret.
Jeffrey told her it would probably be several years before she would even notice anything. About the time others in her age group began to get fine lines around their eyes, thickening of the facial skin, a slight sag in the jawline, and a grey hair or two, Maria would stay exactly as she was at this moment, a stunningly beautiful woman in her prime.
The injections began that night. There was no pain or side effects. Maria looked forward to always being beautiful and Jeffrey looked forward to winning the Nobel Prize.
Their marriage took place at St. Vincent's Church in Santa Ana, the church Maria had attended from the time she was baptized. She took her First Communion there and the family attendance was a Sunday ritual. Her mother was at Mass almost every morning at 6:00 a.m. A strong belief in a rapturous afterlife eased the pain of Elena's present life. From the time Maria had been born, her mother insisted that the Catholic Church be just as important to Maria as it had been to Elena.
Jeffrey believed in science, not in a rapturous afterlife, but he agreed to be married in the church that meant so much to Maria and her family. His family was Episcopal and he had been baptized at an early age, therefore, they would be able to get married in the Catholic Church. Even though his was not a church-going family, Jeffrey knew his parents would understand what it meant to Maria for them to be married in her church. He even agreed to the premarital counseling that the church required.
It was a lovely wedding. Maria looked like a carnal angel when she came floating down the aisle on Fabian's arm. She wore a strapless cream-colored wedding dress with her lustrous jet-black hair pulled up into a bun covered by a short lace veil. Her light tan complexion was in sharp contrast to her dark eyes and hair. Two of her sisters stood with her, dressed in peach-colored, strapless satin dresses. The Rodriguez women were very attractive, but Maria was the beauty of the family. No one in the church could take their eyes off of her. There was an aura of smoldering sexuality and innocent beauty about her that was mesmerizing.
The youngest Rodriguez girl, Magdalena (everyone called her Lena), was the flower girl and the ring bearer was Maria's youngest brother, Miguel. At six and seven, they were adorable. Jeffrey's friend, Dan, from Moore Labs, stood with Jeffrey, as well as one of Maria's brothers. The rest of the brothers were ushers and the guest book was overseen by one of her other sisters. The church was packed with family, friends, and church members who Maria had known since she was a child.
Jeffrey insisted on paying for the wedding, knowing that Maria's family could ill afford to give their beautiful daughter a wedding. The reception took place in the outdoor patio of the church. It was a beautiful spring day, one of those glorious days just before the June skies in Southern California turned grey, as they did every year.
They honeymooned in the Tuscany area of Italy, a gift from Jeffrey's parents. His mother really liked Maria. She had always wanted grandchildren, but with Jeffrey's passion for science, she had long ago decided that a daughter-in-law and grandchildren were not to be. She was thrilled with the size of Maria's family, hoping Jeffrey and Maria would have many children. Maria didn't share with Jeffrey's mother the decision she had made at a very early age to never have children. Taking care of ten children had been enough for her. She told Jeffrey her feelings about not having children when their relationship changed from casual to something more. He understood and really didn't want children either since, in a way, science was his child. Although Maria had no education beyond high school and Jeffrey had his doctorate in Metabolic Medicine, his mother felt that the match was a good one. Maria's lack of higher education was far overshadowed by her nurturing, giving personality.
Tuscany was beautiful. Other than her trip to Santa Barbara, Maria had never traveled. When you lived in the barrio, you rarely got out of the barrio. She eagerly took to the Italian countryside, enchanted with its food, small villages and shops, the art, and the rolling hills studded with grape vines and olive trees. Away from his lab, Jeffrey was able to completely relax and he joined her in attempting to eat and drink as much as they could. For a welcome change, he even seemed somewhat normal.
The Italian men were as captivated with Maria as the American men. Wherever they went, she was the object of slavish male attention. Men passed her in the streets, softly telling her how beautiful she was, sending wine to her at dinner, and blowing kisses to her. If possible, Maria became even more beautiful, glowing in the spotlight of all the male attention. It was an unforgettable two weeks.
Maria and Jeffrey returned to California and settled into married life. They bought a condominium in Irvine near Moore Labs. Maria was soon promoted to what Moore Labs referred to as a "scientific assistant." Her new job consisted of doing secretarial work for a pool of five Moore Lab scientists. She loved the work and felt she was beginning to have a glimmer of what Jeffrey did in his scientific research.
Jeffrey was becoming renowned for his work on anti-aging hormones. Moore Labs had submitted his discovery to the Food and Drug Administration and they were now waiting for the government approvals to be completed. They wanted to be able to get the drug on the market as soon as possible. The FDA had approved their trials on the rats and they were now starting trials on humans. Everyone in the industry knew it would be one of the biggest blockbuster drugs to ever hit the market. The stock price of Moore Scientific Laboratories had risen dramatically in anticipation of FDA approval.
The discovery came at a very good time. The baby boomer generation was reaching their sixties and had a fear of all things which indicated they were aging. This was the generation that wasn't supposed to age. If there was a magic elixir to delay aging, the boomers would be standing in line to buy it. Billions of dollars in new sales were on the line.
Several years, happy years, went by for Maria and Jeffrey. Then one day, disaster struck. It came on a Wednesday afternoon, in Maria's office. She was preparing to leave for the day and decided to go to the ladies' room before she and Jeffrey met in front of the building for dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant. She left her purse on her desk.
Dan, Jeffrey's good friend and fellow scientist who managed the five scientists in the pool for which Maria had been hired, walked out of his nearby office ready to quit work for the day. He definitely looked like his life had been spent in a lab. Pale-faced and overweight with thinning hair, it was apparent to anyone who looked at him that this was a very cerebral man, not a gym rat.
He idly noticed Maria's purse on her desk and wondered if she had forgotten to take it with her. He walked over to it, intending to put it in one of her desk drawers. He noticed that the clasp on the purse was undone and it was open. He couldn't help but see a vial inside which was clearly labeled "Property of Moore Scientific Laboratories." He was very familiar with the vials, as all experimental products must be stored in them. There had to be a designation of what was in the vial so there would never be an inadvertent, dangerous mistake, which could prove costly to Moore Labs. He took the vial out of her purse and saw the designation on it for Jeffrey's experimental anti-aging hormone.
The government was getting close to giving approval for the hormone, but the approval was still months, if not years away. Dan began to have a sick feeling about his discovery. Jeffrey was the only person who knew how to make the hormone or have access to it. Had he allowed the drug to leave the high security lab without company approval? Could he be administering it to Maria? This was a violation of company policy that was both unethical and illegal. Dan heard footsteps in the hall and dropped the vial back into Maria's purse, realizing she had gone to the ladies' room before she had left for the day.
"Maria, I need to talk to you for a moment before you leave," Dan said. "I thought you had forgotten your purse and I walked over to your desk to put it in a drawer for you when I recognized a Moore Laboratories vial in it. Where and how did you get it?"
Maria knew that Jeffrey could be fired if Dan told anyone what he had discovered in Maria's purse. She and Dan had become friends since she had started working as his assistant. A number of different answers to his questions came to mind, but she quickly decided to use their friendship as leverage.
"Dan, can you keep a secret?" Maria asked.
"Yes, but I'm not sure that I should in this case."
"Dan, please, please, please," Maria said. "I'm swearing you to secrecy. Please promise me."