on my older
body.”
“Get them and change. You must
keep up the illusion for now, until there are many more of us,”
Kelly said.
Greta drew her clothes on and scooted
across the hall. Jacob assumed that she was getting her other clothes
and doing as Kelly had instructed. He went into the bedroom and got
dressed. When he finished, he called out.
“Is it safe for me to come out?
Is Greta gone?”
“Not yet,” Kelly answered.
“Give us a few minutes.”
Jacob took the time to make a mental
shopping list.
Steak, pasta, anything with protein and carbs. What the hell? I
don't normally eat like that. I guess I've used more energy in the
past few days than I have in a while, even when hauling stuff around
the yard. I'm not complaining though.
He ran through the memories of some of
the things he'd done the last few days and realized that he was
turning himself on.
None of that until later, he told himself. I need some real food before I do any of
that.
He heard the door shut and Kelly's
voice called out.
“It's safe now.”
He went back to the living room and the
two of them waited until Greta returned. When she came back in a few
minutes later, she was in her younger form again. Jacob thought about
commenting on her choice of clothing but held his tongue. She looked
good, really good, in the short-shorts and white t-shirt she was
wearing. She obviously wasn't wearing a bra and a flash of pink flesh
at her crotch let him know she was going commando too. The sandals
she was wearing completed the theme, with every piece of clothing she
wore exposing more than it hid.
They left the apartment and headed for
Jacob's car. On the way down the stairs, Greta called out:
“Shotgun!”
Kelly looked around quickly.
“Where?” she asked.
“No, it's slang. It means I'm
claiming the front seat. I want to ride next to Jacob,” Greta
said.
“Oh, that's fine,” Kelly
replied.
The drive to the lumberyard normally
took about ten minutes. It took longer today since Jacob was worried
about having an accident. Greta's hand dropped into his lap when the
car started moving and he had problems concentrating on the road.
They pulled into the parking lot of the
lumberyard and all three of them got out and headed for the office.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob saw Keith heading towards them.
“That's one of the assholes I was
talking about,” he told Kelly in a whisper.
“The tall blonde one?”
“Yeah, the one coming this way.
He's probably going to try to start shit with me.”
Kelly took a moment to digest the
euphemism, or maybe she read the meaning in his mind.
“If he does, I will intercede,”
she said.
“Don't get yourself hurt,”
Jacob said.
“I won't.”
They made it into the office before
Keith got to them but Jacob knew he'd be waiting outside after they
were done.
“I need to pick up my check,”
he said.
“You're in trouble Jacob. You
called in sick once but the last two days you were no call, no show.
That's gonna get you fired,” the receptionist said.
“Lisa, I have to quit. I'm sorry
I didn't call in but I need to pick up my check please.”
Lisa slid a blank sheet of paper on top
of the desk along with a pen.
“Why don't you write that out,
date it the day before yesterday. Maybe I can convince the bossman
that he just didn't see your resignation when I put it on his desk.
He's always got a stack of papers in his in-box.”
“Thank you Lisa. I don't want to
cause you any trouble though.”
“No, you wouldn't. You're not
like some of the other guys here. It's a shame to see you leave.”
Lisa looked from Kelly to Greta, then
back to Jacob.
“At least, I thought you
weren't,” she said softly.
While Jacob wrote out his resignation,
he heard Kelly talking to Lisa in soft tones. He signed the paper and
looked up to see Kelly drawing her hand back from Lisa.
Shit, what was she doing there? Lisa's always been a sweetie to
me, I don't want anything bad to happen to her.
“Here,
Victoria Alexander
Sarah Lovett
Jon McGoran
Maya Banks
Stephen Knight
Bree Callahan
Walter J. Boyne
Mike Barry
Kit Tunstall, R.E. Saxton
Richard Montanari