by Marci Wilcox
"Ask away," Chuck said. "I'll do my best to answer any question you have."
"Do you have statistics on people's mental health," Dane said. "You know. After they've been treated."
Chuck frowned.
"I know there are bogus stats saying that the suicide rate among transgender people is high," he said, "but that's not because they regretted changing genders. It's because society is so hard on them for being who they are."
"That's not what I meant," Dane said. "I'm not just concerned about physical side effects caused by exposure to your DNA scrambler. I'm also worried that the machine might cause mental or emotional stress that doesn't surface until months maybe even years after the procedure."
Heather kicked herself for not suggesting this herself. She and Candi had intended to track down former clients, but Dane gave them the perfect excuse to talk to them.
Chuck sat back in his chair and pressed his fingers together.
"I could contact our former clients and see if any of them would be willing to talk to you about their experience," Chuck said.
"How will I know for sure that you won't cherry pick names of people who will say good things about TGI?" Heather said.
Chuck held out his hands in a helpless gesture.
"You got me there," he said. "I'll give you our entire list and you can choose how many of them you wish to contact. Just remember that they're not obligated to talk to you."
"We'll also ask them if they're willing to meet with our doctors," Dane said.
"Absolutely," Chuck said. "In fact, you can start with me."
Heather and Dane glanced at each other and then stared at Chuck.
"You were a woman?" Dane said.
"That's correct," Chuck said. "I used to be Charlene Thorn. I changed my last name to Rosewood because I wanted a fresh start as a man."
Heather felt the room spinning. She couldn't believe it. She'd finally found Charlene, but she wasn't Charlene anymore.
"How did you end up working for TGI?" Dane asked.
"I was already working here," Chuck said. "As a scientist. I'm one of the first employees here at TGI. I worked closely with Dr. Tile on the development of his machine. Other than Henry, I don't think anyone knows more about how the machine operates than me."
A wave of nausea swept over Heather as the implication of Chuck's words hit her. Charlene knew how to operate the machine better than anyone other than Henry. Could she have been the one who showed Jarod how to use the machine? Did she know that Jarod planned to use the machine on Henry? Henry loved Charlene. He was going to ask her to be his wife. Did she betray him so that she could become a man?
Heather stumbled to her feet.
"I hate to rush off but we need to get back to the office," she said.
"Are you okay, Ms. Malone?" Chuck said. "You look a bit pale."
"I skipped breakfast. Maybe my blood sugar is low."
"Let me take you to lunch."
He stepped toward her and she jerked away from him.
"Maybe some other time. We really need to go."
Dane got to his feet and stood next to Heather.
"She's right," Dane said. "We need to get back to the office. Can we get a rain check on that lunch?"
"Of course," Chuck said.
"In the meantime, we'll have our people contact your people and we'll get the ball rolling on this possible business deal."
"Excellent."
"Yes," Heather stammered. "Excellent."
She gathered her briefcase and her purse and rushed out of the conference room. Dane joined her at the elevator. They didn't speak on the way down to the lobby. Dane watched Heather with a look of concern on his face. He started to say something and she waved her hand at him to stay silent. He waited until they were in his car.
"I understand completely," he said.
"You do?" Heather said.
"The idea of somebody getting their DNA scrambled is one thing. But actually, meeting somebody who's actually done it is a whole other ball of wax. Admit it. That was creepy as shit."
Heather laughed. The laughter quickly turned to tears. If Dane only knew. She regained her composure and dried her eyes with a tissue.
"Well, we might be paying for that creepy shit," she said. "I don't know about you, but I could really use a drink."
Dane turned on the engine. The dashboard clock read 11:30AM.
"A bit early in the day to start drinking," he said. "Besides, didn't you say something about needing something to eat."
"We can eat while we're drinking. The two activities are not mutually exclusive."
"Good point."
Dane drove out of the parking lot. Heather looked out the window and watched TGI get smaller and smaller.
Chapter Eight
Jarod stood at the window and watched his landscaper mow the lawn and trim the hedges. The landscaper didn't know it yet but today was his last day working for Jarod. Jarod couldn't afford to keep him on. Maybe Jarod could bring him back later, but for now he had to go.
Ever since Malik Nasser got busted giving an underage boy a blow job in a men's bathroom, Jarod has had no one to whom he could sell his bimbo sex slaves. He thought sure he would find another buyer, but the Saudi government did a crackdown on prostitution and the market for sex slaves in that region dried up. He went looking in other countries including the Netherlands, Greece, and Thailand, but had no luck breaking into their already established markets.
Jarod switched to male sex slaves. Most of the market for them was in the United States which made getting his product to the consumer easier. But there just wasn't a high enough demand. When Jarod sold Peter last week, his buyer told Jarod that he couldn't afford any more.
Jarod was forced to cut back on his spending. He'd already let his domestic staff go and for the first time in years, he had to cook his own meals. And he was a lousy cook.
He moved away from the window and sat at his desk. He was hoping for good news from Chuck Rosewood. If the meeting with Braddock Insurance went well, then that would be a new revenue stream for TGI. Jarod would be able to raise his salary. The fact that the money would be legitimate took some of the fun out of it, but Jarod had plenty of illegitimate ways to spend his money. To start with, he could afford to replace Peter. He might even be able to afford a couple of sex slaves.
Jarod punched in the number for Chuck's direct line. It rang four times before Chuck picked up.
"Jarod," Chuck said. "Good to hear from you."
"Tell me some good news," Jarod said as he put Chuck's call on his speakerphone. "Tell me Braddock Insurance was impressed and that they're going to do business with us."
"If you had attended the meeting like I asked you to, then you'd already know the outcome."
Jarod rolled his eyes.
"I already explained why I couldn't make it."
"Not really. You just said you had some business to attend to. I thought your business was running TGI, yet you haven't been here in months."
"I'm sorry, Chuck. Is handling TGI's day to day operation too much for you? It takes a big man to do this job. Maybe you're only a man on the outside and still a whiny girl on the inside."
Jarod propped his feet on his desk and leaned back.
"The meeting went better than I hoped it would," Chuck said.
Jarod could hear the tension in Chuck's voice. He was straining to keep his cool. Jarod liked yanking Chuck's chain. It was Jarod's way of reminding Chuck that Jarod was in charge.
"So, Braddock is going to cover the procedure," Jarod said. "That calls for a celebration."
"I wouldn't pop any champagne corks yet," Chuck said. "Braddock Insurance agreed to take the initial steps toward offering coverage. They'll need to go through our files and interview our clients before they make a final decision. I've contacted our lawyers to set up the parameters for what they'll be allowed to have access to."
Jarod dropped his feet from the desk and stood. He glared down at the phone.
>
"Are you fucking insane?" Jarod said. "We can't let Braddock see our files."
"Why not?" Chuck said. "We have nothing to hide."
Jarod clenched his fists and forced himself to remain calm.
"Of course, we have nothing to hide. I just don't like anybody poking through our property."
"As for the patient interviews, I'd like to include some of your charity cases. That would really impress Braddock and I'm sure the patients' testimony would cast a positive light on TGI."
Jarod plopped down in his chair. Whenever someone came in who couldn't pay full price for the procedure, Jarod had his staff send them to him. These were the people who agreed to be "product endorsers" in exchange for a free sex change. When Chuck found out what Jarod was doing sex changes but not listing them in TGI's patient files, Jarod told Chuck that the people were charity cases. What he didn't tell Chuck was that they didn't get the procedure for free. They paid for their sex change by becoming Jarod's mindless sex slaves.
"I'll look into it," Jarod said, "but I doubt any of them will agree to be interviewed. Most of them wanted to be anonymous."
"Still, I'd like to see that patient list. I think we should do some follow up exams to make sure they didn't experience any side effects from the procedure."
"Listen, Chuck. Part of our agreement when I put promoted you was that you would let me make the final decisions. And my final decision on the charity cases is that I handle them personally without interference."
The tension between Chuck and Jarod had been growing. Jarod was beginning to wonder if putting Chuck in charge was a mistake. Just because a machine had turned him from a woman into a man, maybe he didn't have the balls to run TGI. Maybe it was time for Jarod to move back to Seattle and take complete control.
"The people from Braddock Insurance asked about Henry," Chuck said.
"What did you tell them?" Jarod said.
"The same story you told me. I'm not sure they believed me. I'm not sure I believe that story either."
"It's just like I told you. He's busy working on a new invention. That's why he signed the company over to me," Jarod said.
"I want to talk to him."
"He doesn't want to talk to you."
"How do you know that?"
Jarod was getting sick of Chuck's questions. He leaned close to the speaker.
"Bandersnatch!" he said.
Chuck laughed. It poured out of the speaker and filled the room, setting Jarod's teeth on edge.
"Is that my magic word?" Chuck said. "The one that's supposed to put me in a deep hypnotic state so that I'll do whatever you command me to do?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jarod said.
"When I showed you how to operate the machine, you promised not to hypnotize me when you did the procedure on me. But I knew you would. Once a person changes their sex, they can't change back, but I found a way to use the machine to remove any hypnotic suggestions implanted during the procedure. I had mine removed over a year ago."
"If you didn't trust me, then why did you ask me to operate the machine for you instead of asking Henry?"
"Because I knew Henry would refuse. But that's all water under the bridge. I want to talk to Henry."
"I told you, he doesn't want to talk to you."
"Henry and I were very close. Why would he agree to talk to you and not me?"
"Because I didn't break his heart."
Jarod leaned back in his chair. He'd prepared this lie for Chuck a long time ago and was waiting for the day to use it. It was the best kind of lie because part of it was true.
"I don't understand," Chuck said.
"Come on, Chuck," Jarod said. "You knew Henry was in love with you. Well, with Charlene that is. That's why he kept putting you off. The machine was ready. We were ready to go into business. But he was stalling, hoping to convince you to stay a woman."
"Henry was in love with me?"
"He was going to ask you to marry him."
That was the part that was true. Now Jarod was ready to deliver the lies.
"How do you know all this?"
"The lovesick fool told me."
Henry never told Jarod he loved Charlene, but it was obvious to anyone who bothered to notice the way he reacted whenever she entered the room.
"But why didn't he tell me?"
"Like I said, he was hoping to convince you to stay a woman first. When he found out that you had changed into a man, that's when he signed the company over to me. He was too heartbroken to be around you."
"If he really loved me, then it shouldn't matter what I have between my legs."
"Maybe that's not important to you, but it was important to Henry. He wanted to have children someday. I guess adoption with another man just didn't cut it for him."
"I suppose not."
The anguish in Chuck's voice was sweet music to Jarod. Crushing Chuck's heart almost made up for having to fire the landscaper.
"Listen, Chuck," Jarod said. "These negotiations with Braddock Insurance could get tricky. I'm sure you can handle it on your own, but I'd feel better if I was personally involved. I'm going to come back to Seattle."
"That's a good idea. You should do some face time with Heather and Dane."
"I thought you were just dealing with Dane Braddock. Who's Heather?"
"Heather Malone. She's part of Braddock's management team."
"What does she look like? Is she hot?"
"Come on, Jarod. Show some respect."
"Hey, it's just us guys on the phone. Does she have a nice ass? How big are her tits?"
"She's a very attractive woman. Brunette. I admit she has a nice body. In fact, you couldn't have designed a better body."
"She sounds great. You should ask her out. I'm hanging up now, Chuck. I'll get in touch soon."
Jarod hung up. He paced the room. He was sure there were plenty of women named Heather who fit the same physical description as Heather Tile. But when Chuck said the thing about designing a body, that sent off the alarm bells in Jarod's head. He'd designed Heather's perfect body because he wanted her to be the perfect sex slave.
Could this Heather Malone actually be Heather Tile?
The last time Jarod talked to Malik, he had called Jarod to complain about Heather. He said he'd had enough of her insolence. He was going to slice off parts of her body and toss her in the ocean. The next time Jarod tried to get in touch with Malik, he found out that Malik was in prison. He assumed that Malik carried out his plan. It wouldn't have been the first time Malik had tortured one of his girls to death.
But what if Malik didn't kill Heather? But even if Heather were still alive, there was no way she would have been able to come back to America and there was no way she would be a representative of a large healthcare provider. It couldn't be her. It was impossible.
Or was it?
There was only way to know for sure. Jarod rushed down the hall to his bedroom. He pulled out a suitcase and started cramming clothes into it. He had to get to Seattle as soon as possible.
Chapter Nine
Heather didn't remember how they ended up in Dane's apartment. Or how they ended up on his bed. Or when they started kissing and taking off their clothes.
"I've been dreaming of this since the first time I saw you," Dane said.
He kissed her neck and nibbled on her earlobe. He reached between her legs and tugged at her panties. Heather arched her back so that her breasts pressed against his broad chest. He was a handsome man. His touch was electrifying. But he didn't feel anything for him.
Heather found out that the woman she loved didn't exist anymore and that her last act as a woman may have been to betray the man Heather had been. If ever Heather needed an excuse to get drunk and get laid, this was it.
Dane got his hand inside Heather's panties. He played with her pussy as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Heather moaned as she ran her fingers through his hair. He dipped a finger inside her wet pussy and rubbed her clit. Heathe
r moved her hips in anticipation.
"Take off your underwear," she said.
"Your wish is my command," Dane said.
He yanked off his underwear and tossed it across the room. Heather leaned over his torso and licked the mushroom head of his cock. It was Dane's turn to moan. She sucked on his cock as she cradled his balls in her hand. He closed his eyes and savored the feeling of a warm mouth enveloping him. He wasn't the biggest cock she'd ever sucked, but it was filled her mouth and tickled her throat.
He was on the verge of coming when he gently pulled her away.
"I want to be inside you," he said.
At this point, he was down to his T-shirt and black socks. Heather was down to her bra and panties. She took off her bra and straddled him. She rubbed herself against his cock through her panties. He reached up and played with her sensitive nipples. Feeling him so close with just a few strips of fabric between them was driving her crazy. The smell of their combined musk was in the air. She wanted his cock buried deep inside her, but she wanted to tease them both a little while longer. Get them both to the boiling point before she gave herself to him.
"I can't tell you how badly I've wanted you," Dane said. "You're an amazing woman. I could really fall for a woman like you."
Heather held still.
"When you say you could fall for me," she said, "you don't mean like falling in love?"
Dane smiled up at her.
"Would that be so bad?"
Heather climbed off of Dane and gathered her clothes strewn about the room.
"I'm sorry, Dane," she said. "I can't do this."
Dane sprang up and wrapped his arms around Heather.
"What's wrong, baby?" he said. "Was I moving too fast?"
Heather put her palm on his cheek.
"We came here for different reasons," she said. "You wanted to start something. I wanted to end something."
"Can't we do both at the same time?"
"I realize now that I'm not ready to let go of the past. I'm sure the sex would have been great, but I can't. I just can't."
Dane hung his head and let go of Heather. Even his cock began to droop. They both got dressed and he called her a cab. She left without giving him a goodbye kiss.