He met Melyssa the following Monday, and to his delight, found out they would be working together. She was gorgeous and untouchable with long, silky, straight black hair that gently flowed to the side of her brilliant face, extracting the amazing beauty of her emerald green eyes. She was thin and had what appeared to be thousands of outstanding curves that were clearly evident through her classy, but sexy, clothing. She spoke with powerful warmth and confidence, and had shed an aura that was almost overpowering. She smelled of the most delicious fragrances that couldn't begin to be identified.

She had the job of managing clothing and other soft goods along with Joseph. Melyssa stood next to him, grabbing piles of clothes from a black bag, inspecting them, and gently and precisely folding them and adding them to a stack of outgoing clothes. He was lifted by her aura and very nervously did his work, never bringing up a single topic to the girl.

His job wasn't the most exciting. It was a thrift shop that took hundreds of donations each day. Melyssa and Joseph both sorted through the soft goods, filtering out useless items, folding sweaters, and pricing the accepted goods. They had a large carpeted table in the middle of a cozy room that was usually dormant except for the two. The work was easy, but after standing for 6 hours Joseph's legs were starting to ache.

Devoted as ever, he sat down in the tub with the warm droplets falling on his shoulders and masturbated, slowly at first, and picking up in speed as he remembered the traits that Melyssa had poisoned him with. He remembered earlier in the day how Melyssa smelled and how she initially smiled when she first met him. His foreskin was quickly starting to burn, and it was a clear sign that he was too frequently masturbating. But he couldn't stop, and so he spent an hour in the shower, painfully forcing himself to achieve.

It finally happened, but not without the burn of the sperm seeping into the cracks that he had made. He had failed with his commitment to refrain from masturbating too often. He knew he was obsessive and clearly out of control with his sexuality. He spent that night in his room, either writing music or reading, breaking yet another promise to himself. He was dreadfully tired from his day at work, but he couldn't get to sleep. He had promised that the headaches would go away and that he would force himself on a regular sleep schedule. It didn't happen.

The next day he attended work, Melyssa struck up a conversation while folding clothes.

"So, you needed a job?" she asked gently.

"Yeah, I need the money," he replied bluntly. Melyssa glanced into his eyes until she finally looked back down to the red sweater she was folding.

"It sure is a laidback job, hopefully you will enjoy working here. I'll help you out with anything if you need..." she added.

Joseph thanked her and seemed to disconnect himself from the conversation. It went no further, but it was enough for Joseph to believe that Melyssa could possibly be warming up to him. He took things slowly and never felt optimistic about women, almost hopeless, and he naturally didn't feel completely comfortable around Melyssa yet. They both finished their work in comfortable silence, far from awkward. Joseph felt warm in her presence, and conversation alone could never achieve the same effect.

That night he lay on his back, glancing out between the blinds into the black sky, feeling the ache of overworked muscles. His penis still burned, he was still in debt, and it was well past 3 in the morning. He looked at a random star between the blinds, dropped tears from his eyes, and closed them. Sleep quickly came and overwhelmed his tiny ounce of will to stay awake, and he fell into the deepest sleep he could have imagined.

It was his soul, completely inanimate but seen, that was floating in front of him while he dreamed. The lack of self-control he had tore his soul up. He watched his soul bleed from the innards and drop visceral matter on the floor. He picked up a nameless organ, stared at it, and promised to himself that he will no longer feed his addiction to sexuality. He promised that he would no longer feed his nocturnal behaviors. Finally, he promised that he would pay off all his Poker debts, and quit using unauthorized credit cards. It was an overpowering dark force that was going to keep him in line. The dream consumed him, until he woke up, feeling like a completely new person. He had another chance to change his behavior.