The answer

By Lynda Shermer

Chapter 5 - Carol in the city

It turned out, Alice's errands were to get me some jewelry, a purse, and some things related to that, and generally accessorize. I put my spare glasses, in a case, into the purse. Alice added a key ring with copies of my keys (and, it was to turn out, some of hers), some make up, a pen, a pad, a pay-as-you-go cellphone. And a rectangular pouch, with something in it. They were cylinders, too big for pencils. What was it? Then I realized.

"Alice! I hardly think I'll be needing tampons..."

"Hush; everyone carries those. It's mandatory, a requirement of sisterhood."

Finally, a shoe store. By this time, I was wearing a dress, shaped as a woman, in a good wig and wearing makeup; as far as I could tell, the store clerks took me at face value until I took out my credit card from my purse to pay. Then they gaped and called their co-workers to come and see. Fortunately, the staff was entirely female. They marveled at me, and snapped photos with their phones. And then complemented me on my choices, and gave me a 10% discount and bade me to come back soon.

We’d bought work heels, running shoes, strappy heeled sandals, boots, and higher heels for formal. I thought it was too much, as Paul only tended to have one or two pairs of shoes at a time, for most of his life, but Alice assured me that this was just a starter set, and a woefully inadequate one at that.

All this had taken until the early afternoon, so we went to lunch. She made good on her threat to make me eat salad, with iced tea, as it turned out. My capacity was reduced by the waist cincher, anyway. We talked over lunch on generalities. Unlike a lot of new couples, we couldn't talk about our relationship (too complex for public), and work (potentially too risky to discuss in public.) But we had a lot of books, movies, games, let alone music, to discuss.

After lunch, we returned to shopping. I tucked my purse under my arm, for security, and we looked at clothing to suit my new shape. We went to a boutique, I got dresses, skirts, tops, a couple of belts, a different purse for formal, Another place for jeans, which fitted...weird. Too low, although they rested on the hips the padding gave me. Fitted tightly in the back, cut in at the front, and TIGHT in the legs.. From there, it was a lingerie shop. Panties: utilitarian, lacy, a thong (impractical as that seemed to me at the time). Slips, camisoles, pajamas, shiny and flannel. Sleepshirts, long and short. I noted a couple of items that Alice seem to be particularly interested in for later, but I firmly turned them down.

"How big a wardrobe do I need? This seems like a big deal just for a day out and an evening in with you."

"You should have choices, that's all. Besides, we have to consider dealing with June. She'll want to see you, and we want to get even for her breaking you."

A shop specializing in makeup did my colors and suggested a couple of changes from what I had on, which I promised to take to heart. Body wash, bubble bath, deodorant, soap, shampoo, rinse, scented talc. Alice said that a girls smell was made up of all these things, and they had to co-ordinate. You couldn't just rub down with Dial anti-bacterial and throw on speed stick in sports talc, and be ready to go. Even a "low maintenance" girl needed maintenance. And I was going to need more maintenance than most. We looked for a scent for me, but gave up in frustration. I wasn't using the body products yet, so we decided we just couldn't judge it properly.

Finally, a relatively high end shop for a work suit. I didn't notice that, as we decided on the pieces, Alice put aside two of each.

And with that, we were done. My feet were starting to hurt me, despite the better fitting shoes. Alice declared me a wimp, and we went back to the car, already overflowing with all my shopping. I seriously worried how much all this was costing Alice; as I said, I knew what the pay was like at the service. I was determined to pay her back for all this, eventually.

We went back to her apartment, where we struggled getting everything up the stairs. She'd already made room in her closet, somehow. After we got all of it put away, she went to get dinner ready, kicking me out of the kitchen. I curled up on the couch with one of my favorite books, borrowed from her library. At one point, there was a flash of light again; another shot for the album; cute girl curled up on couch with book. She said I'd looked like a young innocent girl in her late teens. I thought she was pushing it a bit.

That night, we played Scrabble in our nightshirts, and then just cuddled.

Sunday, we mostly lazed around the apartment, talking. I'd used the grooming products we'd selected, so I smelled more feminine today. Alice brought out some fragrances she had, and we found a nice one for Susan to use. We also set up Susan's Flickr, gmail, and Facebook accounts. And finally, Alice broached the question of Monday. We were going to be working with June. Alice wanted a full-dress Susan to show up, instead of Paul. I wasn't sure that would do the trick, but if I WAS going to show up in a nice business suit and heels, I didn't want to use my Susan voice, June had already heard it. So we started to invent Carol, and I started to think I was going to need a scorecard to figure out who I was. We came up with a voice I could sustain, and which was different enough from Susan and Felicity to hopefully work. We got into bed, made slow, gentle love, and fell comfortably asleep. Why had I gone so long between girlfriends, I wondered, as I drowsed off.

Hours at the service for our shift Monday started in the early afternoon, so we had lots of time. I was very nervous, and for the first time had trouble staying in a voice. Maybe adding Carol had stretched things too far, I thought. Well, she was a temporary expedient. The wig we'd gotten was a full lace wig, able to be glued, so it could be put up. Akice showed me how put it up into a bun, and I put on my black framed glasses.

When it was time, We gathered our work stuff, did one last inspection before the mirror on the way out the door, and walked to the el. Alice gave me instructions on what to be careful of when traveling, in a whisper, holding close to me. In the loop, we walked to the office. I noticed a lot of people watching, which made me nervous, so I mentioned this to Alice, who admitted we probably should have downplayed my look a little, but it was a normal interview look. The idea was that I was supposed to try out at the service, and had been briefed on the system. Alice had used her admin privileges to add me as a temp to the system.

Alice went up first, and I lingered for a bit at the news stand in the lobby, so we wouldn't arrive together. I took the opportunity to pick up a few magazines: Scientific American, Vogue, Glamour, and something that seemed to involve working out called Self. Cosmo. The perfume samples clashed, and could be smelled even through my bag, which I figured would have been true for anyone and was good cover. We'd applied "sports length" fake nails to my fingers last night, and co-ordinated the colors, but I still had a way to go in understanding what we'd done, so I picked up a beauty magazine as well.

Arriving at the office, I opened the door, and walked in. "Hello?", I said tentatively, in my new Carol voice.

Alice took the lead, "Hello, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Carol Marshall, I was told to be here starting at two to cover phones."

"Yes. You can take that desk over there." Which was not my customary station, but rather, behind June, so she wouldn't look at me enough to get suspicious.

"This is June," Alice continued.

"Hello, Carol."

"Hello, nice to meet you."

I went to the desk that Alice had pointed to, and Alice showed me how to log in.

June addressed Alice, "So, we have no male colleague today? That is a little odd. What happened to Paul?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't heard from him since Friday."

"Oh, spooked him, eh? Funny, he didn't seem the type to run, and normally, he's so good about calling in. This will cost him."

The call volume picked up. As Paul wasn't around, Dr. Willis' calls were distributed amongst us at random. I got a few, June got some, and Alice got some.

Part way through the afternoon, I said I needed to use the washroom. June offered to show me where it was, so we went together. While I was in a stall, I heard a minor curse from the one next to mine.

"June, what's wrong?"

"My period has started, and I forgot supplies."

"Do you need a tampon? Here." I dug one out of my purse, and handed it to her under the stall wall.

"Thanks, you are a lifesaver. I hope you decide to stay."

We both came back to the mirror.

"So how did you hear about this place?", she asked.

"I answered an ad, I was having trouble finding work, writing press releases, and decided to give this a try. I imagine it will be good life experience for my other writing, too."

"Oh, yeah, we have some real characters. Phil the philanderer, and remind me to tell you about Paul and Susan some time."

"Phil and Paul are our male colleagues? Is Susan Paul's girlfriend, or a co-worker I haven't met yet? And who is this Felicity I saw on the system?"

"That's complicated, too. We'll tell you once you've met Paul. You'll like him, but there are a few things you should know after you meet him. You'll have to be careful not to break him..."

We walked back. Alice asked to see June for a minute, and I took all the calls while they used the office, which as I've said, was mostly storage. Coming back, Alice said "Well, June assures me that the two of you can get along, so conditional on meeting the boys, you have a job if you want it."

I said thank you, and hugged June. Then, backing up, Alice and I both broke into laughter.

"What's so funny?" she said, suspiciously.

"I'm afraid we've been playing a prank on you. You see, Carol here would normally be better known under the name Susan."

"Susan?"

"Yes, June, it's me." I said in my Susan voice.

"But, but, Susan is just some odd corner of Paul's mind," she started.

"Yep, that's right." I said, in my normal voice.

"Oh god, this is just getting too confusing. Wait, you're not stuck?"

"No, I don't get stuck as Susan anymore."

"And Carol?"

"We needed a way to introduce Susan into the office without you catching on. This is payback for breaking me."

"Not fair! Alice broke you first!"

"We're dealing with that, separately."

"And when did all THIS," she waved her hand up and down my form, "happen?"

"Saturday."

"You've only been doing this for 2 days, and I just spent 15 minutes in the ladies room with you? I borrowed a tampon from you? Girl, you are just WASTED as Paul. Or ARE you wasted? Alice, what have you been up to?"

"Under advice of counsel, the witnesses decline to answer any questions at this time," she said with a smirk.

"Gorgeous and taken, the story of my life. Can I at least have Carol? You can have Paul, Susan, and Felicity..."

"Sorry, it's a package deal."

"I'm happy for all of you, although it sounds crowded. Is there anyone else I should be introduced to?"

"No!" Hopefully not, at any rate...

After that, I went back to being logged in as Paul. Alice hot-wired the system so that I could also fill in on female required calls, and June was going crazy as I went from Susan to Paul to, occasionally, Felicity, "If we're not careful, you'll end up covering two people's jobs, and we'll be laid off..."

"This is temporary, you'll see," I placated her.

"If it's temporary, can I have that suit you're wearing?" she riposted.

The next day, I showed up as Paul, as normal. I just did male and nonspecific calls, and those requiring Felicity.

I called Aunt Phyllis, on Susan's pay-as-you-go phone.

"Hello, Phyllis Wallace speaking."

"Hi, aunt Phyllis, it's your niece, Susan. I just wanted to give you my new number."
"Susan? I don't have any... Oh, Susan! It's nice to hear from you. Is Paul there? May I speak to him, please?", She sounded worried.

"Sure, just a second."

"Hello, Aunt Phyllis?", I said in my normal voice.

"Oh, thank god. After what you'd said about getting stuck, I was afraid you neuroses had eaten you. You don't sound panicked, so I assume you can turn it on and off now?"

"The voice? Yes. The person? Well, that is a little more complicated. As you'd suspected, it turns out Susan is nothing but another part of me. I owe you a good dinner next time I'm in town."

"And you found a safe place to let her out?"

"Yes, and hopefully next time you come to visit, I'll also be able to introduce you properly to Alice."

"Alice, your supervisor, the one you said no one could quite figure out? My, my. When you start taking chances, you go all out, don't you? I quite look forward to meeting the woman who could get Susan out of her shell, possibly at Thanksgiving, which I was calling to mention I'd be visiting over, before you quite trumped that news with yours... Now let me talk to Susan again."

"Aunt Phyllis, it's not like I have to hand the phone to her; it's all one mind, one body...", I said as Susan.

"Yes, dear, but you yourself keep doing it when you call, don't you? It's just a cross I bear because my nephew has an overly developed sense of the dramatic. Besides, as Susan, you are subject to different social strictures. It's convenient to maintain the illusion that there are two of you, and a useful reminder. And you always did enjoy acting, and entrances and exits are SO important. I do wonder, though, if you won't find that there are some differences in how you think."

"Well, I did notice that I was treated differently in public."

"You've gone OUT? You are moving quickly. When I'm cleared to travel for Thanksgiving, I am going to drop in for a visit, as I said. I can't wait to see my niece in the flesh. I don't suppose there are pictures?"

"Yes, I'll send you the URL of my Flickr page."

After work, I started down to the bar.

"nuh-uh, girlfriend." Alice stopped me.

"What?"

"You need to prep a little. A girl doesn't just go straight from work to a place like that."

With that, she and June pulled me down the hall to the ladies room, and proceeded to change my daytime interview look into a night time one. Making my eyes more dramatic, lips bolder, and my face a bit more contoured. They showed me how to roll the waistband of my skirt to take it up a little, unbuttoned blouse buttons, shaded cleavage.

Alice pulled a set of 3 inch heels from her bag, "It's time to take the training heels off."

My hair came down from my bun, and was brushed into a draped arrangement.

And I put my thick black framed glasses into my purse, taking out the gold framed second pair.

"Ah, she's been thinking ahead," Alice observed.

---

That night in the bar was...different.

We inevitably experienced some male interest, but we handled turning them down with humor, and didn't have to resort to mean spirited comments. There was one rather inebriated individual, but the three of us dealt with him with the aid of a hostess.

"So, what do you think, any of them look attractive to you?," June queried.
"No, the male physique still leaves me cold. I guess that's invariant," I replied. And it was true; I still was interested only in women, even if one of the candidates was, narcissistically and from a purely aesthetic standpoint, me.

Leaving the bar, we hugged goodnight, June copping a bit of a feel, wondering about my boobs, I think, before she went her way, and Alice and I departing to catch the subway train together.

Wednesday, I had off, but Alice had to go in, working with Phil and Beth, another co-worker. I got dressed, and did a little...Special shopping, at some of the places we'd gone on Saturday. Thursday, I went to work as normal, although June seemed a bit disappointed to see Paul again so soon. Friday was another day that Alice worked, and I was home. On Susan's keychain was a key to Alice's apartment, I went early, got ready specially, and started cooking. When Alice came home, I called to her, and she came to the kitchen.

There was a meal cooked and on the table. After dinner, I escorted her into the bedroom, and my dress fell to the floor on the floor, showing the lace body suit and thigh highs she'd so clearly liked at the lingerie shop. I curled on the bed, posing for my lover.

"Nice cleavage, by the way," she observed, noticing the breastplate I'd gotten.

"Thank you, but I really can't take any of the credit," I said, and giggled shyly.

In bed, we got to nuzzling each other, and the sort of affectionate play that couples do as an alternative to making love, and just before we both dropped off, she asked me, "Any other surprises, or are you the last sibling I need to meet?"

"No, Paul was an only child. Carol was just for the sake of the gag, and is gone. Susan and Paul are the only ones that have any sort of existence, although I guess I'm stuck with Felicity for the duration."

"She'll be perfect for Steampunk cosplay. Victorian/Edwardian finery. We should think about that, when the season starts up, next year. We'll need a nice hat, though. So who is going to work tomorrow? Paul, or Susan? Nobody new, please. This week has been confusing enough as it is, and right now, I'm just worried the payroll system will start spitting out checks to Felicity and Susan, and I'll have a lot of explaining to do..."

"Paul it is, then."

"Not Albert, or Sam?"

"Not unless you want to volunteer. My male identity is the least mutable, there you're stuck."

"No, you mean Paul is stuck. But at least, we found out how to fix that. Oh, by the way. Speaking of siblings, are you busy weekend after next? Want to take a trip?"

"What do you mean?"

"My sister is having a little trouble with my parents over her fiance and their commitment ceremony. Originally, I was going to give it a miss to express my displeasure with their meddling, but I just thought of something better. I have a plus one, and would like to support her. "

"So you're asking me to be your plus one."

"Well, no. I'm asking Felicity to be my plus one..."