The Pick-Up Artist

Alina Lopez and Abigail Mac sit on the couch in Abigail’s living room. Alina takes a steady breath and tells Abigail she’s gorgeous. Abigail raises her hand. "Hold it," she snaps. "Never compliment first. Haven’t you learned anything from my book?" She jabs a finger at How To Pick-Up Chicks, For Chicks, By A Chick, the volume face-up beside them. Alina fidgets, eyes down. She hasn’t read it, she admits, but she paid for the seminar and wants the lessons. Abigail smirks. Fine. They’ll start at Chapter One: “Taking Stock,” a live pick-up test. First, role-play swap. Abigail will approach Alina the right way. Abigail settles back, gaze fixed on nothing. Silence thickens. Alina parts her lips to ask what’s happening. “What did she say?” Abigail shoots, feigning deafness to the nonexistent bar noise. Then the trap. “You know, that eyeshadow really draws attention away from your nose.” Alina blinks, hurt blooming. Abigail stops the game. Perfect illustration, she says: Chapter Five’s “Ignore And Call Her A Whore.” Ignore first, wound second—easy access to low self-esteem. Alina protests, but Abigail barrels ahead. Next lesson. Chapter Two: “Be the Alpha Female.” Abigail slides close, voice low and certain. “What do you want for breakfast tomorrow morning?” The unspoken claim lands. When that confident advance fails, Abigail pivots, gliding her fingertips along Alina’s bare thigh in soft, constant strokes—“You Gotta Touch,” a technique that creates traction through contact. Alina recoils. Feels like a creep, not courtship. Abigail insists the methods are battle-tested. Her bestseller sits unblinking at number 127 for two straight weeks. Alina starts to mock, but Abigail moves in fast: the final play. “Go Big or Go Home.” The kiss crashes against Alina’s mouth before she can react, and for a heartbeat desire answers. Then Alina pushes back, flushed and angry. Her hands shake as she peels Abigail’s dress down and tongues the hard peaks of her nipples. Abigail moans, spreads, fingers diving beneath Alina’s thong while Alina grinds against her palm. Techniques forgotten, Abigail surrenders to a lesson she never saw coming.