Melts in your Mouth: New Items for the Dish
“Whoops, I’m gonna be late for work”, said Ember, noticing the time on her phone. She made sure her uniform was on straight and looking good. “I’ll see ya mom. Bye Dad”, she said, giving each a quick hug before leaving. She loved her weekly visits with her parents.
As she was closing the door, she observed an SUV pull into the neighbor’s driveway. It was the Finns, longtime neighbors of her family and Ember was still on great terms with them, though she saw them less often than she did growing up, when she baby sat quite often for their only son, Kelly, who was only four years her junior. She really liked the Finns, but she had always thought it peculiar that they were of Irish heritage and not Finnish.
“Hi Mr and Mrs Finn”, Ember said, as she watched them open their rear hatch to retrieve their groceries, “here, let me help you.”
“Ember! Well, isn’t this a pleasant surprise”, said Mrs Finn. “Thanks honey”, she handed a couple light bags to her.
Ember helped them get the rest of their groceries inside, making a couple trips.
“Well, let me look at you”, said Mrs Finn, looking her over, “you look as healthy and as beautiful as ever.”
Ember blushed, “thanks Mrs Finn. You both, uh, look good too.”
“Too bad Kelly isn’t here right now. He was just asking about you earlier”, Mr Finn said.
“Yeah, how’s Kelly doing? It’s his first year at university, right?”, Ember asked.
“Sure is. He’s doing great. He’s back in town today for the weekend though, out somewhere with ‘the boys’”, Mrs Finn said, waving her arms. “The bunch of crazy goofs. Probably getting themselves into all sorts of trouble.”
“I’m sure they are”, said Ember, smiling.
It was then that Mrs Finn noticed the shirt that Ember was wearing, emblazoned with the logo of Forbidden Dish on it. “Oh, I see you’re still working for that infernal restaurant”.
Ember knew that the Finns were vehemently opposed to all things Forbidden Dish. They had been shocked to find out from her parents that she worked there.
Ember looked down at her uniform, realizing there was no escaping the fact.
“I do hope that you always stay that sweet genuine little girl that we’ve always known and that you aren’t…corrupted by those vile women there”, Mrs Flinn said. Mr Flinn had a curious look on his face that Ember couldn’t read.
“Oh, you know me”, Ember remarked, the moment feeling awkward, “I won’t let some little restaurant change what I’m all about.”
She laughed and said her goodbyes, then quicker than a wicket, she was on the road to work.
***
Friday night at Forbidden Dish, the employee lounge area, 4:30 pm
Meghyn had asked all the waitresses to gather a half hour early, though she had told few of the reason why. Many of them had assembled in the employee lounge and some were still putting on their uniforms.
“They’re here. They’re here”, said the rambunctious redheaded waitress as she ran into the changing area.
“What are you going on about? What’s here?”, MacKenzie asked.
"We got the glow-in-the-dark vials and the MT Serum”, said Scarlett, giddily jumping around the others.
“The what serum?”, asked Kara.
“MT. Moment of Truth”, explained Scarlett’s partner-in-crime, Carina. The two could hardly be separated while at the Dish.
“Moment of Truth?”, said Misty, throwing up her hands to show she still didn’t know what that meant.
“Yeah, I guess the moment of truth is when they literally start to melt in your mouth as you eat them”, Carina replied.
“Ok”, said Danielle, “but why is it called moment of Truth?”, asked Danielle.
“Dunno”, said Scarlett. “Guess Meg will have to explain it to us. She wants us to meet in her office in 5 minutes.”
“Oh goodness”, said Lindsay, “what will they think up next?” She had no desire to try the new items out, especially the serum, since she loved the feeling of men squirming down her throat and in her belly.
“But Lindsay, you’ll be able to extract even more flavor out of the shrinkies”, said Janet, who thought the new items would introduce new elements of fun.
Lindsay looked unconvinced.
Just then, Ember barged through the swinging doors into the lounge, “Sorry I’m late. Did I miss anything?”
“Come on”, said Janet as she grasped her friend’s arm, “we’re all going to Meg’s office.
***
Meghyn’s office
A dozen waitresses crowded into Meghyn’s office as she turned her huge monitor around to face them.
“Now shhh everyone”, Meghyn said, “I want you all to pay attention to the video and then I’ll explain what’s happening and answer any questions anyone has. This is a demonstration of the MT Serum’s effect.”
“Briefly, let me describe the ‘Moment of Truth’, or MT, Serum. It’s the moment when the ultimate pleasure suddenly turns into extreme pain, as the shrinkies bodies suddenly prepare to be melted, than, in an instant, they just burst into a gooey, stick jelly substance. Basically, they just melt in your mouth”, Meghyn explained.
“Is this stuff even safe?”
“I talked to the head of the lab today after these arrived. Due to the enzymes in our mouths, this oil will have no negative or acidic effect on the consumer. Similarly with the stomach, due to the acids therein.”
“How long til the effect kicks in on these MT enzymes?”, asked Colby.
“About ninety seconds. So, if you want, you can still swallow them rather quickly and digest them in your belly. But if you want to get a burst of flavor and give the shrinky a great last minute and a half of pleasure, I recommend you let them ‘pop’ in your mouth. Give them the full treatment.”
”It just seems a bit cruel to me”, said Danielle.
“I understand what you’re saying Dani”, said Meghyn, “but there’s only about a second or second and a half where they experience pain before they burst. It’s actually more humane then the full digestion in regards to their suffering.”
She showed them a split-screen demonstration of what happened to one of the shrink volunteers, as he was being eaten. The demo was complete with audio and was set into a split screen. On one side was an ultrasound image of the shrinky as it was moved about within the consumer’s mouth. On the other was the facial image of the shrinky from a camera attached to the shrinky’s head.
One moment, the shrinky was moaning in pleasure, it’s eyes closed. Then there was a moment where the shrinky’s eyes open in stunned confusion and it’s face scrunched up in pain. The ultrasound showed the shrinky’s body stiffen, then suddenly, it’s body just exploded into a juicy gel, instantly liquefied. Finally, the consumer could be seen swallowing the fluids and sighing afterward in a happy “Ahhhhh”.
“That’s nasty”, exclaimed Jackie, scrunching up her nose as if she smelled something rotten.
Carina disagreed, “I think it’s pretty cool.”
Moving on to her next topics, Meghyn said to Lindsay, “Linz, are you all ready for your light show tonight? You’re the big selling point for the glow-in-the-dark shrinkies. You know where the outline for your suit is, right?”
“Sure am Meg”, Lindsay said confidently. “Yeah, I’ve already tried on the light outline. Shouldn’t be a problem boss.”
“And the guys have all texted you and said they would be here on time?”
“Yep.”
“Good, good”, said Meghyn. She stopped the murmuring by raising her voice, “One last thing, everyone!”
All the girls turned their attention to her.
“Jinx, Janice, you two will be tag-teaming the shrink booths tonight. Remember when I said we’d had some complaints about the shrinkies tasting salty? Well, we’ve set up a special cleaning area in the center of the shrink booths. I want you ladies to take turns, one doing the shrinking, one doing the cleaning. I don’t want any patrons going in to collect their shrinkies. That’s your jobs. So, let’s say Janice is attending the shrink booths, she will go in, pick up the shrinky, deposit his or her clothes and hand the shrinky over to Jinx. Jinx, then you would dunk the shrinky in the de-hairing solution for 10 seconds and then give him the rinsing clean-up. Don’t do those out of order now. It’s very important.”
“Yes Ma’am”, they both nodded their understanding.
“Oh, and ask the shrinky first whether they want to keep the hair on their head. If they do, just dip them in to about mid-face level. And remember to tell them to hold their breath for 10 seconds beforehand. I don’t wanna lose any shrinkies to drowning.”
“Uhum”, said Jinx, nodding.
“Good, good”, said Meghyn, “we went over this yesterday, but I just wanted to give you both a heads up now that we’ve got the solution in and we’ve got it set up. And remember to replace the solution after every fifth shrinky.”
“We’ve got it, Meg”, said Janice, trying not to show her mild annoyance. Geez, she’s like a mother hen, she thought, of Meghyn. She noticed Meghyn had forgotten to mention the different types of fruity edible body lotions that the shrinky’s consumer could choose from that would ingrain an extra level of flavor into their skin. But she was aware of it and knew Jinx was too, as they’d perused the different flavors the previous day when the shipments had come in.
***