The Story Of Michael O. Cuffington free porn video

Author's note: This is the first full story I've written. I've been a fan of these types of stories for three years now. I'm really hoping that anyone who reads this story will enjoy it, and send me feedback, either through the reviews here, or at my email address at [email protected]. I have a lot more ideas, and a friend and I have been writing a synopsis for a large story that we hope to turn into a multi-chaptered story. So I really want to know what people think of my writing. Where it needs to improve, where it's horrible, where it's good everything. Thank you very much for reading this story. THE STORY OF MICHAEL O. CUFFINGTON I've always long wondered how cliches got started. I mean, if a saying is so cliched, which is such a negative thing to say about anything, then why is it used so much? More important to me, though, is how a cliche even got started. Obviously someone had to say it once, and at the one time it must have been very valuable wisdom. Because it spread from there. And it's still being used today by people to tout how worldly and wise he or she is. Of course, nowadays, anyone who uses such cliched wisdom is derided and put down as someone who can't think of anything clever on his or her own. I think that my favorite cliche of all time is, "You can always find help when you're least looking for it, and in the least likely of places." Well, okay, I'll be honest, I have no idea if that's exactly how it's read, but you've heard the expressions, I'm sure. By now you're probably wondering why I'm rattling on about cliches, and about that cliche in particular. It just so happens that that particular cliche applies to my life more than you could possibly know. And now I'm going to tell you all about it. It was a little more than a year ago. I, Michael O. Cuffington, 26 years old, had just been laid off by the company I worked for, Interscan Software Inc. They decided that I wasn't a valuable team member any longer, and because I had only been with the company for a little more than 2 years, I was left with very little severance. This was a big problem. Suddenly I found myself jobless and loaded with bills of all kinds: credit cards, student loans, car, rent, insurance, etc. You name it; I had to pay it. My problem was further compounded by the field I worked in, that being computer science. When I was first hired, the IT bubble had just burst, but I was lucky enough to get hired by a company that did not find itself affected greatly at the time. Two years later, however, was a different story. My company wasn't developing any new, cutting-edge product that appealed to other developers and manufacturers. The walls came tumbling down pretty quickly. I wasn't a favorite of my superiors, mainly because I never kissed their asses the way they seemed to want. Sorry, but I wasn't raised to be a fucking yes-man. Especially because the people who supervised me had never done anything cutting-edge in their own work. In fact, they weren't even computer science people. They were management majors, people who came in with the goal of simply bossing people around as they saw fit. I remember taking management classes and being told that the behaviors they practiced weren't how one was supposed to manage. Either they missed that class, or the upper level management classes reversed all the lessons taught in the intro classes. So my superiors didn't care for me. And I was having a tough time getting support for my ideas and innovations. The other people I worked with were either too concerned with their own work, or would immediately tell a supervisor that his fears about a project being too costly or risky were correct. Nice to have such teamwork in a corporate office. I have a pretty good feeling that some others also lied to the supervisors about me not being a team player, which wasn't true. I always supported others with their ideas even if I knew there was something wrong with it. So I had been screwed. After I was shown the door and set out on my ass, it became quite hard to find a new job. Three months went by, and nothing. I applied for every job for which I thought I was qualified, but never got a call back of any kind. Either I was applying too late, or these companies weren't actually hiring. Or they just didn't like my work "experience", if it could even be called that. Meanwhile, the bills piled up and I had no money to pay them. I was in a big bind pretty quick. That was especially true after the day my landlord came to see me and said that I had 30 days to vacate my apartment. I was completely taken by surprise. I had no notices, no warnings at all. I mean, it's not like I expected my non-payment to be tolerated, but I thought an eviction notice was a pretty drastic first step. But I had a decent landlord. He looked me right in the eye and said that he "didn't want to do this", "this" being following through with the notice. He said that if I could at least come up with some of the money in the next month, that he would make sure I'd keep my place. I think there was another reason for all of his kindness and good nature. He had previously owned the building where I lived. But financial difficulties of his own forced him to sell the building to a corporation, which at least let him remain landlord since their interest in the building was purely speculative. And what company bought the building? That's right, Interscan Software. Though he never said it explicitly, my landlord dropped hints that alluded to Interscan being behind the quick eviction notice. Either this was a standard policy, which I found unlikely, or this was a way for Interscan to further fuck me up the ass. Oh, I apologize for the language, but these memories just make me angry, and when I get angry, I tend to curse quite a bit. So anyway, I had this 30-day window with which I could save my apartment. It wasn't that the apartment was all that much to look at, but I needed a place to live. Everyone does. I decided that my best course of action would be to get a job, any job, as quickly as possible. I could still hope that a software firm would call me back, but I wasn't going to hold out hope for that. Armed with all of this knowledge, and all of these problems, I set out for my local mall one fateful afternoon. I walked throughout the entire mall. I went into every single store in the mall, some of which I had never set foot in before that day. This was depressing at the same time it was hopeful. A lot of places said "they were looking for help," so I filled out as many applications as I could and talked to as many managers as were available. Somehow, through all of this, I was starting to get a bit of a good feeling. I had still not gone into my favorite store in the mall. That store was Close Up Pictures, the store that sold movies, movies, and more movies. I made frequent visits here and was known by a few of the staff members, including the manager. They never seemed to be hiring at the times I went there, so I didn't have much hope on this occasion either. But, like I said, I was desperate, and there was no sense to be pessimistic at this point in time. Perhaps before I continue I should make something clear about myself. I was never much to look at. In fact, that's putting it very lightly. I was 6'4", 280 lbs. None of that weight was due to muscle mass, though. I probably had as little muscle as I could, excess fat being the dominant substance on my frame. I had brownish-blonde hair, dirty blond I guess you would say, with dull, hazel eyes. As you might guess from both this description, and my former job, I didn't have a social life. Yea, I was called a computer geek on more than a few occasions, and the term really applied to me quite a bit. It was never that I didn't want friends, or to have a girlfriend. I was just never willing to "do the work," so to say, to have friends and a love life. I guess I was being foolish, thinking that something would just eventually come my way. Of course, this philosophy had produced no theories proving it as of yet. But all of that was about to change. I walked toward Close Up at full speed, anxious to see if there were any new DVD's I might want to purchase and also hoping that this would be the day where they would tell me they were "looking for help." I was so lost in my mind at this point that I was completely ignorant of the rest of the mall pedestrians around me. Before I knew it, my life was about to change. She exited the store at full speed. At least, from my vantage point, she must have. Because just as I walked into the storefront at full speed, I smacked right into her, sending both of our bodies and the bags she carried flying every which way. I don't think that either of us knew quite what had hit us. Well, that's what I thought at the time. I certainly didn't know what had hit me at that very instant. Luckily for me, I was able to brace myself against the floor with my hand, and prevent my head from hitting the hard surface. As I picked my head back up, I saw that I had run into a young woman. "Oh, my God," I exclaimed, seeing at the mess I created with my clumsiness. "I am so sorry." The woman looked at me as she staggered to regain her senses. She had piercing blue eyes, the kind that I fell in love with in pictures, both moving and still. Her chest-length brown hair was in a bit of a shambles, having been knocked around from our contact and her fall. Then she spoke. "Oh, no, this was all my fault." She began to grab at her bags, making sure that none of the contents had become displaced. "Your fault?" I asked, trying to see if I could pick up anything for her. "I wasn't watching where I was going. This was all my fault." "I wasn't either," she said. I couldn't think of anything to say to that. "So I guess we're both responsible," she said. She smiled a bit, and I let out a small chuckle. "Uh, is there anything I can pick up for you?" I asked. "No, doesn't look like it," she said. "Everything's still here." By this time we had both staggered to our knees. I made a move to stand up. The only problem is, she did too. Our foreheads made solid contact against each other, sending both of us staggering backward once more. What a sight we must have been for anyone who was passing by at the time. "Was that your fault or mine?" I asked, clutching my head and grimacing. "I think it was yours this time," she said, laughing as she did. I was quite taken aback by her laughter. But I couldn't think of any reason not to laugh along with her, so I did. As I rubbed my forehead, I stood back up. She picked herself up off the floor at the same time. This time, however, we were able to avoid hitting each other. "God, I feel like such an ass," I lamented. "Thought that's nothing new." She laughed. "Oh, I'm sure that's not true," she said with a smile. Her smile was quite attractive as well as her hair and her eyes. It was at this point that I was finally able to get a good look at this poor women whose path I had so violently obstructed. She was young looking, maybe a year or two younger than me, maybe my age, though, too. I couldn't judge age worth a damn, so I wasn't sure. She stood about 5'7" or 5'8", which I was always told was a good height for a woman. She still seemed to short to me, though. Most people I knew or, ahem, ran into, did. She had a very nice, slender figure, though she wasn't a waif. That was good, as I always thought those women like Calista Flockhart and Kate Hudson could have used some nutrition from the looks of it. She had very nicely shaped breasts that were probably C cup, maybe D though. Again, this was not something I could judge. I mean, after all, I didn't have a social life of any kind. But I'm sure that statement didn't surprise you, anyway. "Anymore it is," I said, finishing her thought. "I haven't been very deft with my movements lately." "Well, are you okay?" she asked with a concerned look on her face. "Am I okay?" I asked, sounding a bit outraged. She nodded. "I can't believe you were able to get back up so quickly after I slammed into you." "I grew up with three older brothers," she said. "So getting knocked around by bigger guys is nothing new for me." She picked her bags up from the floor, and made it look like she was going to leave. But I couldn't let her do that. I felt so completely horrible after what I had just done. I couldn't just let her walk away without at least apologizing or offering help of some kind. "Look, again, I am so completely and totally sorry," I said, sounding perhaps a bit too sorry. "Can I help you with anything?" She smiled at me again. She had impeccably white teeth, which just helped her look all the prettier. "I think I've got everything under control. But thank you for being so sweet." "Oh, come on," I said, moving slightly in front of her so as though to block her way if she tried to walk away. "There's gotta be something I can do for you." She looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Well," she said. "I was just going to T.G.I. Friday's, if you'd like to come along." "Oh, please," I pleaded, "Let me buy you dinner to repay you for my clumsiness." "I still don't think you're the clumsy one," she laughed, "But I can't pass up a free dinner." I smiled, glad that she accepted my invitation. She extended her hand to me. "My name is Corinne, by the way." I shook her hand, feeling a bit odd in doing this for some reason, and said, "Pleasure, Corinne. I'm Michael." "Well, Michael," she said, extending her elbow out for me to take, "Lead the way." I crooked my arm inside of hers and we walked toward the restaurant. I felt so odd touching her in this way. I mean I had known her for all of five minutes, if that. I thought only couples walked arm in arm in this manner. We were only going to be a "couple" for an hour or so. But she had presented the situation, and I felt that it would be ungentlemanly not to take her arm as she apparently wished me to do so. As we made our way to the restaurant, it seemed that neither of us could think of anything really important to say. We asked each other what had brought us to that mall that day, other various small talk that amounted to absolutely nothing. I was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea after all. I was incredibly nervous, still feeling like a total ass for what had happened. And at the same time it had been so long since I had had contact with a female like this that I was being as careful as I could with what I said and did. By the time we reached the restaurant, I determined that either she felt the same way, or she was just quiet. In all honesty, I wasn't sure which one. I didn't think she was necessarily a quiet person, judging from the way she laughed when we were in front of the video store. She sounded like she got a lot of practice laughing, which I thought meant she was a little more talkative usually. I liked the fact that she had laughed so much previously. I could certainly benefit from being around someone with a sunny attitude at that time. Once we were seated at our table and had ordered our food, things started to get a little more interesting. "So is Michael your full name or are you just holding out on me?" she asked with a coy smile, as if she knew more than she let on. "Hey, you didn't give me a full name, either!" I quipped. She grinned wide as a Cheshire cat. "No, I didn't, did I? I was hoping you wouldn't let me get the advantage on you. Reed is my last name, which would make my full name Corinne Reed." "Michael O. Cuffington is my full name," I told her. "Hmm," she said. "What, pray tell, does the 'O' stand for?" Now I had a chance to smile at her. "Nothing. I just thought it would look good on a resume," I said, not really telling the truth. "Oh, come on, you're such a liar," she said. I faked being offended. "Excuse me? Just how would you come to that conclusion?" "Either you've watched 'North by Northwest' quite a bit or you just admire David O. Selznick a lot," she said. I laughed. "You got me. Actually, it's a bit of both," I admitted. "Oh, of course," she said. "Because Hitchcock named Cary Grant's character 'Roger O. Thornhill' and said the 'O' stood for nothing as a kind of parody of Selznick." "Well I see you're quite the movie fan, just like me," I said. "I certainly see my fair share of films," she said. "I try to stick to movies that are classics or ones that I think I'll like." I was impressed. This sounded a lot like my attitude toward movies. "So what movies have you seen this summer then?" She looked up, searching for the answers in her memory. "Let's see. X2, Matrix 2, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean and Hollywood Homicide." "That's quite the mix there," I said. "Yea, I go see every Disney movie, and every Harrison Ford movie. I like superhero stuff, too, so that's why I saw X2." "Why not Charlie's Angels then?" I asked. She scoffed. "Oh, please. That movie looked so stupid. I never saw the first one, either, so what would be the point? What movies have you seen?" she asked. "All that you saw, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, too," I responded. "I wanted to see a few others, but I didn't have the chance." "Which one did you like best?" she asked, "not that they can be really compared." "Yea, that's true," I said. "Pirates was my favorite; X2 I thought was good; Nemo I liked, but not as much as some other Disney movies; Homicide was decent; and Matrix was frustrating." "Frustrating?" she asked, her eyebrows rose in question. "That's an odd word to use to describe a movie." "Not to me," I said. "It was frustrating in that they seemed to spend too much time wondering about how much of an effect shot they could do, and let the story suffer. I thought there were too many characters, and it was hard to tell what some of the characters wanted, especially Agent Smith." I paused for a moment. "But maybe the third movie will explain all of that." "Maybe," she said. "But I have my doubts. Like you said, I think they spent too much time trying to just put in all of those fight scenes, and you could tell too easily when something was computer-generated." At this point I thought everything was going pretty well. We were definitely interested in some of the same things, and we seemed to have similar tastes and opinions. After a few more minutes of movie banter, the conversation turned elsewhere. "So, Michael," she said, "what do you do for a living?" Uh-oh, I thought. This was something I had hoped to avoid, if at all possible. I didn't want to let her know that I was in a pretty desperate situation, but I didn't want to lie to her, either. I mean we were hitting it off so well, I thought maybe this might go somewhere. And I didn't want a stupid lie now to rear its head at some point in the future and cause problems. "I'm in between things at the moment," I said. "I'm in I.T., and the company I worked for is taking its turn in feeling all those effects." "Oh, that must suck," she said. Saying 'suck' took me a bit by surprise, but I said it enough. "Any luck finding a new job yet?" "Not really," I said. "Looking as hard as I can. Something will turn up, though; it always does in this business. So what do you do?" "Me?" she said. "I help people." 'Help people,' I thought. That was kinda vague. I had to have her clarify. "You mean like you're a social worker or something like that?" She shook her head from side to side. "Mmm, sort of," she responded. I still didn't feel like I had a good grasp of what that was supposed to mean, but I didn't ask her to explain any further. I didn't want to keep prying and make her feel uncomfortable. I always believed that you should let a person say what they wanted to say and leave it at that. Especially a woman. "Do you need help, Michael?" she asked. Well, of course I did. But it wasn't as if there was anything she could do about that. "I think everyone needs help of some kind at any given point," I said, doing my best to be as vague as possible. "I can't say that I'm any different." She was just about to ask me another question when her cell phone rang. An annoyed look spread on her face as she stared at the phone's screen. Her expression changed as she said, "It's my boss. Sorry, but I've gotta take this." "That's okay," I said. "I understand." She gave me another beautiful smile and answered the phone. Strange as it might sound to the rest of you, but I can remember every single word she said into that phone. A few hours later, everything that she said would make perfect sense to me. "Hello? Hey, how are you?" she began. She continued, with pauses in between each phrase. "I'm having dinner with a friend. Which case, number fifteen? Yea, I'm doing work on that right now. No, no problems so far. Very much so. I think it's a definite possibility." Her face brightened once more, and she continued talking. "Really? This is it? That's fantastic. Oh, my God, I am going to squeeze you so tightly the next time I see you. No, a hug, silly," she laughed. "Yeah, I'm all ready, I've got all the stuff I need. Like I said, I think it's a definite possibility. Okay. Alright, well thanks so much again. Yea, I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Okay? Alright, bye-bye." She hung up. "Sorry," she apologized again, "but I'm 'on call,' so to say." I put up my hands. "Hey, I understand. Besides, it sounds like you get along with your boss really well. How many people can say that?" "Yea, she's a wonderful person," Corinne said. "By far, she's the best boss I've ever had. That's what I love most about my job. It's filled with such great people." Her level of satisfaction with her job impressed me. I certainly never had that at Interscan. "Yea, so she had some really good news about the case I'm working on right now," she said. "But anyway, what kind of help do you need, Michael?" Her look turned serious. She looked directly into my eyes as if she was trying to probe my brain telepathically. I was taken aback by the sudden level of seriousness both her expression and her voice conveyed. Everything had been so lighthearted up to this point. Again, I found that I couldn't mislead her with a few carelessly selected words. "I need a new beginning," I said. "I feel so trapped by the field I'm in, and I've always felt that way. If I had known what the corporate software world was going to be like when I was in college, I probably would have picked another field to study. But simply put, I need to start over fresh. Kind of depressing to say that when I'm only 26, but that's how I feel." She nodded throughout my explanation. "I know exactly how you feel," she said. "I felt the same way about two years ago, and I was only 22 then. Then I got my current job, and now I really enjoy my life." "Well don't get me wrong," I clarified, "it's not that I don't enjoy life. I just don't enjoy working life right now. Problem is I'm not sure if I can get myself out of feeling that way." "I think you can do anything you want to do," she said. "I think anyone can." Boy, I thought. Her outlook sure was sunny. Probably a little too sunny. But I suppose I couldn't blame her for feeling that way. She obviously had so much satisfaction in life right now that she couldn't help but feel the way she did. And she certainly was cheering me up quite a bit. Heck, even if I hadn't wanted to be cheered up that night, I don't think I could have resisted her charm. Our food was served and our conversation returned to small talk at this point. We talked some more about movies, and which were our favorites, and which we thought was the best ever. I picked either of The Lord of the Rings movies for my favorite, and Citizen Kane for the best. She went with the first Austin Powers as her favorite, and Casablanca as the best of all time. We talked a little about sports, and I found that we had a mutual love of the Yankees and Notre Dame Football. She made a few funny jokes about the Red Sox. I told her about the time I went to a USC/Notre Dame game at Notre Dame and saw a bunch of banners that said, "Catholics vs. Condoms" in reference to Notre Dame being a Catholic school, and USC's nickname being the Trojans. She thought that was pretty funny. After a few more morsels of nothingness, we had finished our meals. As I debated whether or not I wanted dessert, our conversation took a turn back to something more substantive. "Michael, there's something I'm curious about," she said. Her look was serious once again. "Do you believe in fate?" You can imagine what I felt hearing that question. To me, it meant that she had certainly felt something about what had transpired between us so far that night. I guess maybe she thought we were destined to meet. But I couldn't agree with her here. "No, I don't," I said. "I don't buy into the whole 'destiny' idea." "Why not?" she asked. "A couple reasons, I guess," I said. "First, I think that what happens to us is a result of the choices we make in life. Like, for me, I'm out of a job right now partially because I chose not to be a kiss-ass at work, and partially because I chose to go into this field in the first place. I'm sure things would have been much different if I had decided to major in film, rather than just minor in it. So I think my choices dominate my life, not some pre-arranged plan that I can't change." "Okay," she nodded. "That makes sense. But I disagree with you. I think that somehow you and I were destined to meet. I've had a great time so far, and I think you have too. To me that means our meeting wasn't an accident." "Well, I just think it was a coincidence, one that has turned out to be quite good, though," I added. "I have had a fun time." She smiled. "But I think I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on this one." She laughed. "What's so funny?" I asked, smiling back at her. "The way you said 'respectfully disagree,'" she said. "You sounded all high-class, like in some movie." I laughed. "It did, didn't it?" "Also," she continued, "Because that seems to be the first thing we've disagreed on all night long." I thought for a moment. "Yea, it is. That is pretty funny." We shared a dessert and then got our check. I paid for it, as promised. The bill wasn't so high that I'd have to worry about someone knocking down my door the next day. But now that we had reached this point, I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. I figured we would part ways, but I hoped that we would make some kind of a guarantee to see each other again. We left the restaurant and the mall altogether and basked in the warm August night air. "Such as nice night," Corinne said, staring at the moon above us. It looked like the moon was going to be pretty full tonight. "Well, can I make a request of you?" she said. "Sure," I said, "Go ahead." "Would you be so kind as to walk me home? I only live about 10 minutes' walk-time away," she said. "Now that's funny," I said, "Because I walked here today, and I only live about 10 minutes walking distance away." "But is it in the same direction?" she asked. I pointed east, away from the mall. "Then it is," she said. "Let me carry your bags for you," I said. "They look like they're starting to get heavy." "Oh, don't worry," she said. "You've already done so much for me tonight, and now I'm asking you to walk me home. I can't ask you to do that." "But I'm the one who's asking," I said. "Call it my fee for walking you home." She laughed again. "You have a strange method of payment, since this puts more work on you." I held out my hand, hoping she would put the bags in them. She did. Then I crooked my arm out to her, as she had done to me before we went to the restaurant. I was happy when she wrapped her hand around my elbow, and we walked toward her home. On the way I wondered why she wanted me to walk her home. Was she afraid of someone accosting her on the street at this time of night? Or was there something else that she had in mind? I shook off all thoughts from that point, though, as I realized it would be stupid to assume that there was something more she might want from me. In the little bit of prior dating experience I had had, I found that it was not a good idea to over think on a date. And also to never make assumptions about sex. I figured that if the woman wanted it, she'd be obvious in her want. Ten minutes later we walked up to what turned out to be my apartment building. "This is it," she said. "You're kidding," I said. "No, why do you say that?" she asked. "I live in this building," I said. "On the third floor." "Get out of here," she said. "I am dead serious," I told her. "I've lived here for four years now. I can't believe we never ran into each other before." Just then she burst out with laughter. It took me a few seconds to realize what I had said. I started laughing hysterically, too. "But we have tonight," she said. She stifled her laughter and said, "Yea, it is strange. But I'm always so busy either inside my apartment or outside doing something that I'm never around the building grounds. And I have my own elevator, too." "You have your own elevator?" I asked. That sounded bizarre to me. "Yea, I live in the penthouse at the top, on the tenth floor," she said. "The only way to get up there is by an elevator that only stops there." "I never even knew this building had a penthouse," I said. "I inherited it from my uncle about 2 ? years ago," she said. "I moved in a little after that, and then the building was bought by that company." "Yea," I said with scorn in my voice. "The company that fired me." "Really?" she said as she led me to where this private elevator was. "Wow, that must be weird." "It is," I admitted. "That beats what they did to me, then," I said. "How do you mean?" I asked. "When they bought the building, they tried to kick me out, saying that they wanted to use the space for storage," she said. "So I had to essentially buy them off from doing that. And then they raised the rent, probably just out of spite. That was after I had fully paid them, too. Oh, but what they did to you. Employ you, but get a lot of their money back because they own where you live. And then they fire you, but you're indebted to them for it. That is just horrible." It was funny how she put it. I had never quite looked at it in such a way. But she was right. "Yea, you're right," I said. I said it kind of half-heartedly. Something about the way she explained that whole situation was dancing about in my head. From the how she described that story, it sounded like she had a lot of money. Or at the very least, she was certainly well to do. But again I shook off such thoughts. What did something like that matter? We entered the elevator. It was through a little door in the back of the building. I remarked that I always thought that was the building's storage area. So up we went, all the way to the top of the building. The elevator doors opened right into the penthouse itself. I stepped out and took in the sights around me. The penthouse was certainly spacious. The ceiling was tall, and there was a skylight positioned directly above where her couch rested. She had a huge home entertainment system with a widescreen TV and a massive sound system. The floors were hardwood, and the walls were decked with posters of all kinds, mainly of classic movies like Casablanca, Vertigo, and Alien. I was certainly impressed. She caught me staring at the TV. "Don't even ask how much fun it was to get that up here." "Oh, I can imagine," I said. "A friend of mine works for a delivery service." "Can I get you a drink?" she said. I snapped out of my daze. "Oh, sure, whatever you have is fine." She walked to the back corner of the room where, sure enough, sat a half-sized wet bar. She poured something, I wasn't even sure what. I continued to stare around her vast living room. She walked back over to me and handed me the drink. "Simple scotch and soda," she said. "Cheers," she winked, holding her glass up. I clinked my glass to hers and took a drink. We both took a sip. "Mmm," she said while still swallowing. "I'll be right back. Gotta run to the bathroom." She set her drink down on the bar and disappeared into the hallway. I realized that I was still holding her bags. I put them down on the floor as my eyes continued to scan the vast living room. As I was admiring her DVD collection, I heard her voice call me from the hall. "Michael, could you bring those bags into the bedroom?" I set my drink down on the bar next to hers, and asked, "Where is it?" "Just at the end of the hall," her voice called back. During this time it did not occur to me that I was about to enter her bedroom. Most guys in my situation would have probably assumed they were about to have sex. But for some reason, at this point, in time, the thought did not enter my mind. I think I was still overwhelmed by her penthouse. I walked into her room and put the bags down on the floor. But she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly I felt something poke me in my sides. I just about jumped out of my shoes and spun around, saying, "Ahh!" as I did. "Sorry," she said with a wide smile on her face. "I couldn't resist." "I'm just a little jumpy," I said. She walked up in front of me and looked at me dead in the eyes again with that serious look on her face. We were standing so close to each other now that I couldn't help but feel aroused. She put her hands on my face and said, "I hope I'm not being too forward." She directed my face closer to hers. Then she placed a kiss on my awaiting lips. She forced her tongue into my mouth, and I returned the kiss to her. After what seemed like an hour, our lips parted. She continued to stare deeply into my eyes. I felt like I was in total bliss. I made the next move. "I hope I'm not either," I said, and I bent down and kissed her. This time it lasted much longer, and felt much more passionate. Slowly, one thing led to another. We began to remove each other's clothes. Soon we found ourselves on her bed, both of us completely naked. She rolled on top of me and took charge of our lovemaking. She thrust her breasts into my face and beckoned me to suck on her nipples. When she had derived enough pleasure from that, she started to suck on my lips once more and run her body up and down mine. I felt myself getting harder and harder. I honestly felt like I could come at any second. She straddled herself on my fully erect penis. She pumped up and down furiously. I sat up on the bed and resumed sucking on her breasts as my penis continued to thrust in and out of her vagina. I climaxed into her, but that did not stop either of us from doing what we were doing. She continued to pump on my penis while I could not remove myself from her breasts. I climaxed a second time and we both collapsed back against the bed this time. Sweat dripped off both of our bodies. She climbed back on top of me and I was afraid that she still wanted more. After what had undoubtedly been my most pleasurable sexual encounter, I didn't feel like I would be able to put out any more. But she just lay on top of me, resting her head just under my chin and wrapping her arms around my torso. I stared past her head up to the skylight that allowed the moon's light to fill the room. It was beautiful, just like the woman on top of me. For a few minutes we both caught our breath. She broke the silence. "Michael, remember when we were talking about fate at the restaurant?" I was still a little lost in the moment. "Huh?" I said. "Oh, yeah. Fate. What about it?" "I understand why you don't believe in it," she said. She picked up her head and looked into my eyes once more. I looked back at her now. "But it has affected you." I didn't understand what she was trying to say. For one thing, her comment indicated that she knew fate existed. She continued, "You were right when you said that choices cause things to happen. And things that happen to us do affect how other things happen to us. Like, for you, getting fired caused you to meet me." "How do you figure that one?" I asked, starting to wonder if Corinne was really sane. "I know why you need help, and not just because you told me," she said. "I know because you're my new case. You're the person I'm here to help now." As she told me this, I started to feel odd. A dull sensation filled my entire body from head to toe. I tried to make it go away by shuffling my toes together, but it remained. "How are you supposed to help me?" I asked with strain in my voice. She moved off my body and knelt on the bed next to me. "You just have to be patient and calm. Just be calm." She never took her eyes off of me. The second time she told me to be calm she said so in a pleading voice. "It will start soon." I was just about to ask what she meant by that when I felt something touch my shoulders. I turned my head and saw hair lengthening from my head. My eyes went wide as I watched long hair cascade down from my scalp and swarm over and around my head and reach down to my shoulders. I also saw all the slight traces of blonde disappear under a mass of brown. My hair started to look like Corinne's hair. "What is going on?" I shrieked. The sound of my voice gave me cause to shriek again. My voice cracked as I spoke, and by the time I finished my short sentence, my voice was high pitched and feminine. I began to panic. I could feel my heart racing within my chest. I felt I was about to hyperventilate. Corinne reached down and took a hold of my right hand. She placed it directly on her chest, over where I assumed her heart was positioned. Within an instant of my hand touching her bare chest, I felt calm. No longer did I feel panicked or worried. I looked at my hand on her chest and watched as my fingers all turned thin and slender. I could see and feel my hand shrink smaller while the nails on my fingers grew slightly longer. I looked at my left hand and saw the same changes had already happened. The thinning process continued as I watched my arms grow thinner. The thin hairs that covered most of my arms slowly retracted, shrinking back into the skin and completely disappearing from sight. My mouth hung open as I watched these changes happening to my body. Another dull feeling hit my body, only this time it was a bit painful, and it was concentrated in my shoulders. I felt them pushing toward one another, and my body felt smaller and thinner as a result. My face started to feel contorted and twisted. I put my left hand against my cheek and could feel the flesh of my face moving and shifting. My cheeks seemed to be getting softer, and they did not feel as they normally did. I touched the rest of my face and felt that my lips were bigger, my nose was smaller, and my eyelashes were longer than they had ever been. The dull pain shifted from my shoulders to my stomach and rib cage. I looked down at my flabby abdomen and was shocked to see the skin tightening as all of the fat underneath seemed to vanish into thin air. My breathing became short and quick, as the pressing of my stomach caused me sharp jolts of pain. But I was truly amazed to see all of the weight I had put on over the years melting away in mere seconds. The work of months long dieting was taking place in this short span of time. Ultimately my stomach became flat, with no excess weight or fat of any kind. I looked back at Corinne and saw that my stomach looked a lot like hers: fit and toned. My body continued to grow smaller as my waist began to cave in, becoming much thinner. At the same time, my hips flared out to the sides, taking on a curvy, feminine shape. I watched as my straight figure quickly turned into an hourglass-shaped figure. I felt my ass rise up against the bed underneath. I felt it with my hand and found that the flesh seemed to be getting rounder. My legs thinned next. Just as with my stomach, all of the excess weight I carried there was vanishing before my eyes. They also took on a tone that I had never seen in my legs before. They thinned to feminine proportions. But damned if they didn't look long and sexy. I looked at my feet and they appeared to be closer to my head than they had been for quite a few years. I guessed that I had lost some of my height. My feet, like my hands, grew small and dainty. I sure wasn't going to be wearing size 14 shoes anymore. The changes continued in my groin. My unkempt pubic hair began to recede. It completely disappeared in all but one thin line that stopped right around my penis, which during all of these changes had remained completely erect. The one line of hair that remained quickly grew short, into a finely trimmed mat of hair. An intense wave hit my entire body as my groin continued to change. I'm not sure if it was pain or pleasure, or perhaps even both. It was just totally indescribable what I felt as I watched my scrotum separate into two, the testicles inside shrinking and pulling in to my body. I felt something in between my legs that I had never felt before. It felt like a bit of the air had entered my body from between my legs. My scrotum and testicles had formed a vagina! My erect penis suddenly became soft and flaccid. It began to curl itself up into a ball of skin and flesh. It lost all form and could not even be called a penis anymore as it too grew small and pulled toward the new space between my legs. I watched as it began to disappear within the new orifice on my body. It made a soft, sucking noise as it disappeared for good. The final push inward caused me to gasp sharply with pleasure. I knew what was going to happen next. I looked at my chest and saw that my nipples and areolas were expanding in diameter. The nipples began to swell outward, pushing away from my chest. I moaned softly as flesh pulsated and grew under my nipples. The feelings were extraordinary. It felt so good, even better than the intercourse I had just had with Corinne. The flesh continued to swell as breasts formed on my chest. They grew larger and larger. Soon they were bigger than Corinne's breasts. They just kept growing, as they had to be at least D cup size. I felt the growing slow and two, I guessed, DD cup size breasts remained on my chest. Corinne released her grip on my hand. I let it slip off slowly, as my mind was still concentrated on looking at all of the changes in my body. I sat up on the bed, and began to look over my new female body. I was astounded. I ran my hands all over my body, feeling the soft, smooth, hairless skin. I ran my hands all over and around the new curves that shaped my body. I jumped off of the bed and ran in front of the full size mirror in Corinne's room. I felt strange. My balance was totally off, thanks to the two mounds of flesh that jiggled as I moved. I gasped again as I saw my full reflection for the first time. My face was...angelic, almost. It was smooth, with full lips, rounded cheeks, and blue eyes. I stared intently at my eyes. They looked exactly like Corinne's eyes. The color was dark and deep, and they looked as if they could pierce anyone's psyche. Just as Corinne's eyes had done to me earlier in the night. Again, I ran my hands all over my curvy body. It was absolutely amazing. There was no trace of what I had looked like only ten minutes previously. I was not a man anymore. I was all woman. My body was curvy and voluptuous. My facial complexion was without blemish, as was my entire body. There was not one freckle, pimple, or other kind of mark to be found. I stared in disbelief. I still couldn't believe what my reflection showed. "I'm gorgeous," I whispered. "Of course you are," Corinne said. I spun around and saw her climbing off the bed and walking closer to me. Suddenly I felt worried again. During the whole time when my hand was on Corinne's chest, I felt totally calm and collected. Even after my hand slipped off her body, I still felt calm. Now that she was talking to me again, and I saw exactly what had happened, I felt worried. Panicked, almost. "What's going on?" I asked, sounding a little worried. "I've helped you," she replied. She stopped walking toward me, leaving a space of a few feet between us. She must have sensed that I suddenly was not comfortable. I was shocked by her answer. "How did you do this?" "That doesn't matter," she said. "The 'how' is not important. The 'why' is important." "Okay, then," I said. "Why did this happen?" "For everything you told me at dinner," she explained. "Because you said yourself that you needed a fresh start. Now you have it." I couldn't argue with her on that point. And as she spoke, I started to feel more calm and relaxed once again. "Of course you couldn't imagine this is how you would get a fresh start," she continued, "But this was the only way it could be done. And now you have that fresh start. Your problems are over." I did not believe that could be possible now. "How are my problems over?" I asked, though I did not lose my temper. "I still exist. Michael O. Cuffington is still who I am." She smiled at me. It was a combination of a knowing smile and a mischievous smile. "Check your wallet," she said. I looked around for my clothes. I found the pair of jeans I had worn. I picked them up off the ground and instantly noticed something different about them. They were much smaller around the waist than they were when I took them off. It looked like they would fit me now with my altered appearance. I looked at her in shock and she just nodded at me. I pulled my wallet out of the back pocket. It was still my wallet, and the contents seemed to be the same. I found my driver's license and removed it from its spot. Once again, my mouth hung open wide in shock. The picture on the driver's license had changed. It was the picture of my face the way it looked now: female. The name clearly read, "Michelle O. Cuffington." My height was listed as 5'8", and my eye color as blue instead of hazel. My address was exactly the same, with one small difference. Instead of saying "Apartment 3C," the license now read, "Tenth Floor." I walked to Corinne and pointed to the address. "What does this mean?" I asked, my eyes questioning. "It means that you live here now," she said with a smile. "And don't bother to ask 'how,' because, like I said that's not important." I decided to take her word for it this time. "But I have to explain this to you. Remember the phone call I got from my boss?" I nodded. "It was about you. I said you were my current case, and if you remember, I told you she gave me good news about that case." I nodded to show that I remembered. "The good news was that you were my last case for her, as long as things went well between us." "Why would that make me your last case?" I asked. "Because," she said, "for my boss, the way she works, she has people work fifteen cases for her. You were my fifteenth. The significance of that is that I'm supposed to find my soul mate by that time, or else I keep on working for her." I shook my head from side to side. I just didn't understand what any of that meant. "I'm confused," I admitted. "You're my soul mate," she said. "You and I are meant to be together. That's why you were my last case. I was supposed to help you, and then I would be free to be with you." "So," I said, "that means that you and I...live together?" "Yes," she said. "We do everything together." I liked the sound of that, in all honesty. "But before any of that can happen, you have to accept what I've done for you. Or else there are severe consequences. For both of us." I looked at myself in the mirror again. I could not deny how attractive I looked. More importantly than that, I could not resist the urge to be with her and do everything with her as she said. So I was a woman now. So what? What was wrong with that? Was my masculinity really that important to me that I would want it instead of her? Not to mention not having any worries about no money and no job? I looked back at her. "So this means I'm free of bills, free of imminent eviction, free of everything that plagued me?" I asked. She nodded. "Yes, completely and totally. It is as if Michael O. Cuffington never existed. Only you, Michelle O. Cuffington." I nodded. Then I decided to leave a dramatic pause. It seemed that she frowned a bit at my silence. But then I smiled and said, "Of course I accept your help." She ran up to me and threw her arms around me. It felt so strange, yet so exhilarating to feel her breasts press against mine. My breasts, I thought. That was definitely going to take getting used to. She released her grip of me and held out her hand. "Come here, you have to see this now," she said. I took her hand and she led me out into the living room. "See anything different than before?" she asked. I did. All of my possessions were there, all mixed in with her own. Posters of mine now adorned the walls, my collection of DVDs were sitting next to hers, and some of my furniture was in the room. I saw my computer and my computer desk resting against a wall where there had previously been nothing. "It's all my stuff," I said. Then I marveled, "It's the exact same stuff." "Well, of course it is," she said. "You're still the same person. Just in a different package, so to say." She led me back into the bedroom and opened the closet. "These are all of your clothes now." They were feminine, as they would have to be. I did notice that a few of my old shirts were there. I guess I used those for sleeping, or something like that. We sat back down on the bed. "Is there anything else you want to ask me?" she said. Actually there was. "You said I was your fifteenth case?" I asked. She nodded. "Does that mean that the first fourteen got...well...the same treatment?" "Yes, they did," she said. "Uh...in the same way?" I asked. I felt like a horrible person for asking her that. She looked down for a second, then looked back at me and said, "Yes." I nodded. "Does that bother you?" she asked. She looked concerned. I was convinced that I had upset her now. Immediately I said, "No. I mean, that is..." Now I stumbled over my words. I groaned and said. "It can't. I mean, God, I don't know how to say this." She just looked at me with the same concerned look, though now there were traces of guilt in her eyes. I threw up my arms. "How can I ask you to apologize for your past?" I said. "It's not like that was my first time, either. So I'm not innocent or anything like that." Then I thought of a better point. "And anyway, those people are probably doing better and are a lot happier, aren't they?" I asked. She nodded. "Well, there you are, then." She smiled and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "See? That just proves how we're a match." I smiled back at her. "I do have one other question," I said. "Were you...helped?" She laughed. "It would seem that way, wouldn't it?" she said. "No, not like you," she said. "I was helped, but I've always been what you see here." "So how were you helped, then?" I asked. "Well, okay, this is a bit long," she said. I nodded. "I've already talked about my boss, and how I've helped these people, including you, as working for her. Well she helped me, too. About 2 ? years ago, when I inherited this place from my uncle, I inherited a lot more, too. I inherited $50 million, and lots of property." My eyes went wide with shock. That was quite the sum. She continued, "Well, I didn't know what to do with it all. I mean, I was just out of college, looking for a job, and now I was richer than I could ever be. So I moved in here, spent a bunch of money on myself, and then just kind of did nothing with it all. I didn't even invest the money that wasn't already invested. I just had all this money, and did nothing. What bothered me about that is that I felt useless. I knew that there was so much I could have done with it all. Then, one day, I met my boss. I thought it was just chance, but she said that it was fate. She said that she helped people in many ways. She said that she knew how I felt about having all this money, and she said she could help. She helped me set up a bunch of charities, scholarships, and benefit programs. Then she presented me with the idea of helping people on a one-on-one basis. This was how I helped you and the fourteen others. She had the means. And please believe me; you're better off not knowing what they are." I nodded. "You've been totally honest with me so far, so I'll take your word for it." "Thanks," she said. "But like I said, now my life is full of...well, it's just full. I have so many things that I do, and I love them doing them all. I love being able to help others. And even though you're my last one-on-one case, I'll still do everything else I've been doing." She looked at me deeply once again. "I'll be able to love you. Because I do love you." "I love you, too," I said. We kissed again. This time it was more passionate than it had ever been. Then we made love once more, only this time as two women. But it was more pleasurable and enjoyable that it had been before. So that's my story. It's been about two years since it all happened. During that time, Corinne and I have spent nearly every minute of every day together with each other. And not once has it become tiresome or old. We truly love each other. We run her charities, while still being able to live a life of comfort. With all the money she has, we still give away so much more than we keep for ourselves. It truly is a great thing to be able to help others the way we do. The two of us spend time here in the penthouse, as well as at her beach houses in California and Florida. Thanks to having private beaches, we usually go nude. There's just something fun about swimming uninhibited. Also, we both have a bit of vanity and can't stand tan lines. We spend a lot of our time watching and debating movies. In fact, we've become so proficient that we've both started writing reviews for a local newspaper. Luckily, we never review the same movie, as too often it would be the same. When we're not working on the charities or watching movies or spending time in the sunny climbs, we're usually having sex. I'd say that we probably average two or three love making sessions each day. If only everyone could experience that level of pleasure. We're thinking about applying for legal marriage, but we're not sure if we really need to. We have talked about having children, but for now, we've decided to wait. We're only 28 and 26, so we've got time. So like I said at the beginning, you can sometimes find help in the most unlikely of places. Sure, I was looking for help, but I didn't expect to find it from Corinne. But I would never, ever take back what has happened to me. All my problems disappeared, and I'm happier than I'll ever be. Now the only thing I want to do is to see if I can make other people as happy as me.