The Boston Bubble: Lora's Story. Part Three free porn video

The Boston Bubble: Lora's Story Chapter Six: "Friends, Neighbors, Countrymen..." "Yes sir, I'll take care of it. I know exactly who to call with this. I'll set it up for this morning." Hanging up the phone, she looked down at the front page of the newspaper sitting on her desk. "Boston's Heroine Addiction." Catchy headline. That, plus the picture of a beautiful, slightly rumpled girl sitting up in her hospital bed... this would probably be a record sales day for the Herald. She picked up her phone and pressed a single button. "Betty, could you get me someone in the director's office at Massachusetts General Hospital? Thank you." She hung up the phone again and picked up the newspaper. She was captivated by the girl in the photo with her open, honest smile. After a few moments, she flipped the paper over and scanned the story below the fold. "How in the world does someone go through all that and still smile for a camera? Absolutely amazing." Startled by the telephone, she reached over and picked it up on the first ring. "OK. Beckett? Thanks Betty." There was a click on the line as the call was connected. "Good morning Mr. Beckett... I'm fine, thank you. I'm calling on behalf of Governor Bingham. Yes sir. He's concerned that there might be some lingering fears among the general population about non- existent health risks associated with the bubble affectees. Yes, sir, I've read the report from Atlanta. The Governor is concerned that unfounded prejudices might form, in spite of the "all-clear" from the CDC. He would like to help reassure the citizens, and he's decided that the best way to accomplish this is to give a press interview jointly with one of the affectees. I understand you have a Miss Lora Williams there as a patient. Yes, I understand. Very low key. The Governor, myself, a reporter and a camera operator. Eleven o'clock. No sir, it would be best for security if no one else knew we were coming. I would appreciate it if you could do your best to see that she isn't discharged before we get there. Yes sir. Thank you for your help. I'll see you at eleven." She hung up the phone and looked down at the front page photo again. "Let's just hope you voted democrat last year, Miss Lora Williams." She pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed the personal number of the news anchor at the Boston CBS affiliate. You don't become the press secretary to the Governor of Massachusetts without having a few good contacts. "Hi, Bob? Claire Evans. How would you like to have a little chat with the Governor this morning?" ----- My hair was still damp from the shower when she shyly eased into the room. I was expecting Kelly with some clothes, so I was a bit surprised to see someone else coming in. "Miss Williams?" "I suppose I am." I smiled. "Please, call me Lenny." "Oh, I'm sorry. The newspaper called you Lora... so I assumed..." "No, no, that's fine. The reporter came in yesterday just as my nieces were... well, anyway, you can use which ever name you're comfortable with." "OK, thanks. I'm Donna." She stuck out her hand. As I shook it, I could feel a slight quiver in her grip. "I just wanted to say thank you." When she saw the look of confusion on my face, she added, "Oh, ... I'm sorry. You don't..." She hitched in a breath. "I'm George's daughter." "Oh. Hi." I stood up. "George was saying he lives with you?" She nodded. "They won't let me in to see him. How is he?" She pulled in a deep breath. "They still have him in a coma. They say he came through the first twenty-four hours without any problems, so it looks as good as it can right now. But we won't know anything for sure until they start waking him up tomorrow." Trying to make small talk, I offered, "He told me about coming home after the change. He said you wouldn't let..." I stopped talking when I noticed that she was struggling to maintain her composure. "My daughter told me about the video on the computer. I wasn't interested at first, but she made such a big deal about it." She paused. For a few seconds, I thought she was done, but she swallowed a lump in her throat and continued. "I saw... I saw what you did and... Oh, Lora, I can't..." She put up her hand. With her jaw trembling, she tried to go on. "I can't thank you enough for..." That was all she got out before she lost it. Looking into my eyes, her face contorted into a mess of emotions. I couldn't think of what to say, so I stepped up and pulled her into a light, one-armed hug. It didn't feel awkward; it just felt like the right thing to do. When I thought she was ready, I let go and took a step back. She was embarrassed by her tears and sniffles. Offering her a box of tissues, I asked "Are you going to be OK?" She took a tissue, wiped her eyes, then pulled in a slow, deep breath. "Oh, I'm fine. Really." She smiled. "I'm just so grateful for what you did for Dad." "I wish I could have done more." "More?" A teary giggle popped out of her. "You silly little thing. An army of firemen couldn't have done more." She dabbed at her eyes again. "You know, Dad was right about you. He called me the night before he got hurt. He said I shouldn't worry about him, that he'd met a good person, everything was going to be OK." I was a little choked up at that. "I don't know what to say." "You don't need to say anything. I just wanted to come up and ..." Kelly picked that moment to walk in. "Lenny?" "Oh. Hi Kell. Yeah... c'mon in." She walked into the room, all big eyed and smiling. I went on. "This is Donna. Her father was hurt in the fire, too. Donna, this is my sister Kelly." Kelly pried her gaze away from me long enough to look at Donna. "Hello. How's your father doing?" "He's improving." She reached out and took Kelly's hand. "You have an amazing sister." She looked back at me. "I'll get out of your hair now. I just wanted to meet you and tell you how grateful we all are." She smiled and turned to leave. "Donna, wait a sec." I went over to the night table and got out a pen and paper. I wrote my down cell number and handed it to her. "Call me as soon as you know anything about your father." "OK, I will. It was nice meeting you Kelly." "You, too." Once she was gone, I turned my attention over to my sister. One look at her face was all it took. The scene with Donna had pushed it right out of my mind... I forgot, this was the first time Kelly had seen me. "Holy shit, Lenny, look at you." She was gaping. "Jess told me you looked good, but I just couldn't imagine it. I was expecting something that looked like my brother in drag, not... not this!" She scanned me from head to toe. I really felt naked, standing there in the hospital gown and slippers. Again I found myself stumped for words. Her reaction to me, plus the 'brother in drag' comment left me ruffled. So I just raised my eyebrows and shrugged my good shoulder in a sort of what-are-you- gonna-do expression. We just stood there looking at each other for a second until I broke the moment by asking, "Are the clothes in the bag?" "What, oh yeah." She didn't even try to hide the fact that she was staring at me. "Lenny, I'm sorry, but this is really weird. It's kind of like I'm bumping into someone I went to school with thirty years ago. You know, the old I-recognize-the-name-but-I-can't-place-the-face sort of feeling." "OK, if it'll help, I can play along with that." I turned my back on her, then slowly turned to face her. When we made eye contact, I changed my neutral expression to one of surprise. "Kelly? Kelly Williams? Oh my god, it is you! Wait, you don't have any idea who I am, do you? Remember, we sat beside each other in grade six breakfast... in Mr. and Mrs. Williams' kitchen. Oh, c'mon... how could you forget me? I was the one who was always making those farting noises! Yeah, that's right, it's me! Your brother Lenny!" Kelly's grin slowly grew into a real smile. "You really are in there, aren't you?" "Kelly, I understand how you feel. I've had days to get used to this, and every time I look in a mirror, it still startles the hell out of me." She sat the bag of clothes down on the bed, walked up and hugged me. "Aah aah, watch the arm, watch the arm." "Oh, sorry." Letting go, she stepped back, looked me in the eyes and smiled. "Let's get some clothes on you and see if we can get you out of here." She picked up the bag and started reaching into it. "When Jess showed me what she was sending, I laughed in her face. I told her there was no way my brother Lenny was going to fit in these jeans. But look at you." She was right about the jeans, they looked tiny. "They're a little too big for Brenda, plus they're stretchy. See?" She pulled on the waist band. "I don't think you'll have any trouble slipping in to these. If anything, they might be a little too long for you." Along with the jeans, there was a plain white T-shirt, some underwear and a sweater- coat. "We weren't sure what to do about shoes, so I brought these." She pulled out a pair of mules that looked like a pair of white tennis shoes from the front. "Thanks, Kell." I picked up the jeans, T-shirt and underwear with my good arm and headed for the washroom. "I'll be out in a sec." Thinking of something, I walked back up to her. "Can you do me a favor? Can you undo the strings on the back of this. I always seem to be pulling them into knots." She reached up and pulled the slip knots undone. As I felt the cool air on my back, she said, "Aw, shit." I turned to face her. "What's wrong?" She made a long face. "My damn brother has the nicest ass in the family." I looked over my shoulder at her and grinned as I wiggled my butt, then headed off into the washroom. To my back, she said, "I am soOo glad I didn't have to grow up with you looking like this. I never would've gotten a date." Getting dressed was simpler than I thought it would be. The T-shirt was stretchier than the jeans and it had a scoop neck, so sliding it over my cast and then pulling it over my head was easy. The jeans fit pretty good, but I couldn't get the button done up with just one hand. When I came out of the washroom, I drafted Kelly for button-doing-up duty. Just as she finished, the phone on the night table rang. "Hello." "Hello, Miss Williams?" "Yes." "Good morning. How are you today?" "I'm fine.... ?" "Wonderful. My name is Morris Beckett. I'm the hospital's assistant director." "What can I do for you, Mr. Beckett?" "Miss Williams, I'd like to ask you a favor. Do you think you could you spare about a half an hour to help us out?" "Well, that depends on what you'd like me to do. You're not going to ask me to shovel snow, are you? Because I do have a broken arm, you know." He chuckled. "No, nothing like that. There is some concern about how the affectees are going to be accepted in the community now that the quarantine has ended. We're filming an impromptu public service announcement this morning, and the people setting it up have asked that you appear in it." "Why me?" "I take it you haven't seen a newspaper this morning?" "No, I'm sorry. So that reporter managed to get his article in this morning?" "Yes, Miss Williams. His article made it into the paper." He sounded like he was grinning. "That's how your name came up. Anyhow, do you think you could help us out?" "How long would you need me?" "We expect to have it all wrapped up by noon at the latest." "OK, just a second." I looked at Kelly. "Are we in a hurry?" She shook her head. "All right, Mr. Beckett. Where should we go?" "Wonderful. They're waiting for you in one of the conference rooms. Just go to the main reception desk in the lobby and I'll meet you there." "OK, we'll be there as soon as we can." We said our good byes and hung up. I looked at Kelly. "Well, that was out of the blue." "What's going on?" "They're filming a public service thing downstairs and they want me to be in it. Something about the folks caught in the bubble." "Right now?" "Yup. I said we were on our way." Kelly smiled. "I guess this proves that you really are Lenny inside that head." "What makes you say that?" "Only a guy would agree to being on camera without spending a few hours in a hair salon first." ----- As is true in almost every hospital in every city, getting lost would have been easy. It seemed like we were following Mr. Beckett along a maze of corridors for at least ten minutes before he opened a door for us and said, "Here we are." As soon as Kelly and I walked into the room, an efficient looking woman left a small group of people sitting at the front of the room and came walking up to us. She smiled and offered me her hand. "It's Miss Williams, right?" "It's going to take some getting used to, but yes, I suppose I am." I shook her hand. "This is my sister Kelly." She turned to Kelly and greeted her. "Hi, pleased to meet you." Looking back at me, she glanced at my sling and asked, "How is your arm?" "There's a bit of a throb there, but it's not so bad." "Good. Miss Williams... Can I call you Lora?" I tilted my head slightly and nodded. "Thank you, Lora. My name is Claire Evans. I'm the press secretary for Governor Bingham." She started leading us toward the others in the room. As we walked, she continued. "He's concerned that rumors about the affectees might lead to difficulties for them. He would like to do everything he can to help prevent this from happening." As we approached, the three men stood up. One of them walked away and started fiddling with some camera equipment. The other two looked at us and smiled. Claire made the introductions. "This is Lora Williams and her sister Kelly. Lora, Kelly, this is Governor Bingham, and this is Bob Goodale from CBS news." After a round of hand shakes and pleased-to-meet-you's, Claire indicated three chairs set up in front of the cameras. "Governor, Lora, Bob if we could get started?" She looked at me. "OK, Lora, there's no real plan for this. The cameras are going to start, Bob will open with an introduction, and then everyone will just have a friendly chat. We just want people to get the idea that there's no reason to avoid contact with the affectees. OK?" I definitely felt more than a little out of my element. "OK. But I have to tell you, I've never done anything like this before." "Just act like it's three people having a chat, and you'll do fine." I smiled. "All right, but you've been warned." Once we were comfortable, the camera guy gave us the thumbs up. "Hello, I'm Bob Goodale. I'm here today with Massachusetts Governor Jack Bingham. Good morning, Governor." "Good morning Bob." He smoothly turned and faced the camera. " A few days ago, thirty thousand men, women and children were caught up in a unique event in downtown Boston. Since this event occurred, every available expert has been trying to determine two things. First, what mechanism caused this event, and second, are the results contagious in any way. Although every effort is still being made, no one has yet been able to determine what caused this. But I can tell you with certainty that since the original event, no one anywhere has been affected. Every test has proven that there is no risk whatsoever that this is contagious in any way. Yesterday, the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta ended of the quarantine in Boston." "Now, the good people who were affected by this are going to need our support in their efforts to get on with their lives. Remember, they are the same friends, neighbors and family members who we have always known. Please treat them the same way that you would want to be treated. Thank you. Bob..." "Thank you, Governor. Also with us today is one of the people affected by this, Miss Lora Williams." "Hi Bob." "Lora, I understand you've had an unusual week." That drew a crooked grin out of me. "It's certainly been one for the books, Bob." "You seem to be coping pretty well." "Well, a good friend of mine recently gave me some wonderful advice. She said I should look on the bright side of things. And she's right, it really is that simple. I'm healthy, I have a family that loves me, and hopefully I have another eighty years to live. If I can't find a way to be happy with all that going for me, then I can't blame it on the bubble." The Governor chimed in. "Miss Williams, you certainly have a way with words. How would you like a job writing speeches?" I gave him a surprised looking smile. "A career in politics... now there's something you can blame for an unhappy life." ================ Chapter Seven: Welcome to the Sisterhood I was just looking out the window, watching the city go by, when Kelly broke the comfortable silence. "So tell me, how did the newspaper end up referring to you as Lora?" "Yesterday, when Brenda and Terry were visiting me, they decided that was going to be my new name. You know how they can be like a pair of dogs with a bone... Anyway, just as I gave in, this reporter walks in. So of course, the girls badger him into calling me Lora, too...." "Yeah, but who came up with the name?" "Oh, Jessie suggested it. She said Mom and Dad were going to call me that if I'd been a girl." "Oh, really." It was just a flash, but she looked like she was about to say something and then changed her mind. She recovered quickly and went on. "Well, how do you feel about that name. Do you want to be a Lora?" "Well, someone dropped in at the hospital and..." I changed my mind about passing on that little piece of news just yet. "Oh, what the heck, it sounds OK with the last name. It's better than Gertrude or Myrtle." I thought I would have at least gotten a smile with that, but nothing. She just deadpanned, "OK then, Lora it is." She went back to her thoughts for a few moments. "So anyway, where are we going." "You know, it's funny. An hour ago, all I could think about was getting out of that hospital. But that's as far as it went... I never thought about where I wanted to get out to." "Sooo... do you want to go home?" I thought about that for a second. "No, I don't really feel like being alone right now. I left my car near the restaurant... how about we stop by there?" "Oh, good. I was hoping you'd say that. Jess asked me to canoodle you into showing up there." "Aw, you two aren't planning anything embarrassing, are you?" "No, she was just worried that you were going to go home and lock yourself in. She said the sooner you get back into a routine, the better." She glanced over at me. "And I think she's right." "Yeah, you're probably right." I was quiet for a minute. "Kelly, do you think there's anything to worry about? I mean, even the Governor is worried people might look at me like I'm some kind of a Typhoid Mary." "Honestly? You're worried about that?" She pulled over, shut off the motor and turned to face me. "First, give your head a shake. No matter what you think about the guy's motivation, the bottom line is that Bingham is just another politician. And every politician is always thinking about the next election. Do the math. Thirty thousand affected people mean that there's at least two hundred thousand people who know and care about them. That's two hundred thousand voters who are going to see that spot you just helped make and think 'That Bingham is a great guy.' You know what I mean?" I nodded. Yeah, maybe you're right." "Don't get me wrong... there's nothing wrong with the message he was sending out. Just don't worry that he was reacting to some crisis, because he wasn't. The villagers are not out chasing you with pitchforks and torches, OK?" That brought a relieved little giggle out of me. "But, I do think you need to keep few things in mind. This might seem obvious, but I have to say it anyway. Your not a guy any more." I thought I knew where she was going with this. "Kelly, you really don't have to explain to me what goes through a guy's mind when he's looking at a girl." She shook her head. "No, it's more than that. It's not just that you're female now. Everybody knows that there are idiots out there who won't take no for an answer. But things might be a little worse for you because now every one of those knuckle-draggers think they have a new category of girls to bother. They might look at you and think 'She used to be a guy, so she wants sex as much as I do.' Am I right?" I never thought about it that way, but she had a point. "So what do I do... find a hole, crawl into it and hide for the rest of my life?" "You don't have to hide. Just try to blend in with the rest of us. It shouldn't be that hard; put a little effort into it and you'll be fine." "What do you suggest? I should twirl my hair and punch buttons on a cell phone all day?" That got a grin out of her. "Well, for starters, you might want to stop telling people to call you Lenny." "Oh, yeah. I do do that, don't I?" "Yeah, you do. I understand where you're coming from with that, but I think you'll regret it if you keep it up. If everyone gets in the habit of looking at your new face and calling it Lenny, you're going to be stuck with that for the rest of your life." "OK, what else?" She hesitated. "C'mon Kell, I know there's more. It's OK, just throw it out here." "OK, you asked... here's the biggy... for chrissakes, girl, have a little modesty. Don't make it so obvious that you just grew those tits a few days ago." I looked down at my chest. "I need a bra?" "Yes, Lora needs to wear bras." "Well you can't blame me for how I'm dressed. I'm only wearing what you brought me." "Don't go gettin' all huffy. I'm just making sure that you're up to speed on how the world is going to be looking at you from now on. Just put a little effort into looking like you've been a chick for more than a few days and you'll be fine." The cross dresser in me wasn't upset by that in the least, but the remnants of Mr. Macho Lenny felt a need to put on a show of resistance, if only for appearances. "Hiding in a hole is starting to sound pretty good right about now." Again, she hesitated, but then went on. "I'm afraid it's a little late for that." "What do you mean?" "Honey, I don't think there's a hole deep enough." She took a quick look around and seemed to find what she was looking for. "Wait here, I'll be right back." She grabbed a couple of dollars, got out of the car and ran across the street to a convenience store. The throbbing in my arm reminded me that I was due for a pill. It took me a minute to remember what I'd done with them. Oh yeah... leaving my hospital room this morning, I realized I didn't have any pockets. My wallet, keys, phone and pills were all in Kelly's purse. It took a few seconds of digging around before I found my prescription. I dry- swallowed a pill just as Kelly was getting back in the car. Putting my pills away, I held up her purse. "I guess I'm going to need one of these." "They do come in handy. I never could understand why guys don't carry them." She handed me the newspaper she'd just bought. "This is why it's too late to hide in a hole." It took me a second to realize the face on the front page was me. I looked up at Kelly. She had a smiling, amazed look on her face. I looked back down at the paper. More than half of the front page was taken up by the headline above a huge picture of me. "Holy shit." She was giddy. "I know." "That reporter said he was writing an article on the bubble, and that he just wanted to get my perspective on it. I had no idea it would end up like this." "I guess he thought there was a chance you might clam up if he told you it was going to be all about you." After a few seconds, it occurred to me that it really wasn't that big of a deal. "Wait, Kell. This is just today's paper. Tomorrow, there'll be something else on the front page, and a couple of days from now, no one is going to remember this." "I'm not so sure about that. You're in the paper because of that video of you and George. As of this morning, there were more than six million hits on it." That made me look up from the paper. "I took a look at it last night... there's thousands of comments under it. A few of them are from idiots saying it was staged, but most of them are saying really good things. Hell, there must be at least five hundred marriage proposals there." "Jeez." "You're famous, Lenny. Shit. No, scratch that... you're famous, Lora." "Oh, c'mon Kell. No one really pays attention to this kind of stuff. Do they?" "Didn't you wonder why they asked you to do that TV thing this morning?" "I was thinking about that. I was just guessing that I was the only affectee in the building when they needed one." "Oh come on. Do you really think Mister Governor-of-Massachusetts- himself showed up at Mass General because that conference room had good acoustics? No, he scurried across town this morning because 'he' wanted to be seen with 'you'." I tried to think of some other explanation... of some little piece of logic that she was missing. But there weren't any holes in it. She went on. "So let's add up what we've got here." She started counting off on her fingers. "One: your name and face are all over the front page... shit, they are the front page. Two: a video of you being Super girl is getting, oh, I don't know, about a million hits a minute. And three: you're going to be on the tube with the Governor twice an hour for the next three weeks." She paused to take a breath. "It's going to be a long time before the world stops wanting to know which hand Lora Williams wipes her ass with." "I had no idea." Deep breath... "I guess you're right. It is a little too late to try being invisible." "Yeah, invisible is out. So just try the fade-into-the-background thing. You know, hide in plain sight." Looking directly at me, she seemed to be appraising me. "You already look just like any other woman on the street. Like I said, with a little bit of effort, you should have no problem just blending right in with the rest of us." I couldn't let this one pass. "So you're saying you think I should have surgery?" "What are you talking about?" "A frontal lobotomy." She didn't get it, so I went on. "If you're serious about me trying to blend in with you and Jess, then I think the best place to start is with having my brains scrambled." She put a caring look on her face. "Oh honey, don't be silly. You don't need to pay a doctor to do that. Just make another wise-crack like that, and I'll scramble your brains all over the dashboard for free." She started the car. As she pulled away from the curb, I came back with, "You never talked to Lenny like that." She didn't miss a beat. Reaching over to pat me on the knee, she smiled and said, "Of course not honey, he was bigger than me." ----- Kelly pulled over in front of the restaurant, but she didn't shut off the car. "You're not coming in?" I've got a couple of errands to run. I'll be back in a while." "OK." I turned to get out of the car, but she reached out and touched my arm. "Aren't you forgetting something?" "Like what?" She started digging around in her purse. "You really are going to have to get yourself one of these." As she handed me my things, I let out a sheepish little giggle. "Oh, yeah, thanks." I reached to open the car door when she stopped me again. "I'm really glad you're OK. I just want to say that if there's one person I know who can get through something like this without losing their marbles, it's you." I opened my mouth to say something, but she stopped me. "Wait, I'm not finished. It's going to be tough just making myself call you Lora, but that's about the hardest part of all this for me... learning to use a new name. For you, everything is different. I really need you to understand that I'm here for you, I want to do whatever I can to help. Something like this could drive a person off the deep end, and it would kill me to lose you. So if you ever feel like it's all getting too heavy for you, promise me you won't just try and do "the guy thing" and suck it up on your own." "Kelly, I..." She turned to look at me. "Please, Lenny, I'm really scared about this. You gotta promise." I could see how serious this was for her. I looked straight in her eyes. "Kelly, right now, I think I'm OK. But if I ever start feeling like I'm not, then I'll find whatever help I need. I promise." Letting out a deep breath, she smiled at me. "Thanks. I really, really needed to hear you say that." I smiled back. "Wow, I think we just had our first sister talk." That broke the tension. "Yeah, well get used to it, sis." ----- It was the middle of the afternoon, so there were only a couple of customers in the place. Jessie was in the kitchen, cleaning up from lunch when I walked in. She looked up and beamed at me. "Well, if it isn't the most famous burger flipper in the world!" She dried her hands, came up to me and gave me a light hug. Looking down at my cast, she asked, "Did anyone give you any idea how long you're going to have that?" "I have to go back next week to make sure it's healing right. They said if everything goes like normal, it'll take about a month and a half before it comes off for good." I decided to clear the air about something. "Kelly just asked me where the name Lora came from. When I told her that you suggested it, she got all mysterious." Jessie just looked at me. "Mom never came up with that, did she?" She looked like she was making a decision. "OK. No, she didn't." I could feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck, but I had to know. "So what made you suggest Lora?" She pulled her mouth to one side for a second, then blurted out, "You did." She stared at me for a reaction. My knees felt weak, but I asked for this. "You know?" She just nodded. "I gotta sit down." She followed me into the office. "Who knows?" "Me and Kelly." I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. "How did you... ?" "Last summer, before Ben, me and the girls went away, I googled Niagara Falls. One of the things that came up was a video called Transvestite Tourist." I didn't say a word, so she went on. "It had that French music that you always listen to, but while I was watching it, I still had no idea. But when it was over, a bunch of related videos came up and one of them looked like your kitchen." I rolled my head back and looked at the ceiling. "So you called Kelly and told her." "Not for a few days. But I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I had to talk to someone." "You could've talked to me." "That's not fair. We both know that's not true." I lowered my gaze from the ceiling. She went on. "If you wanted me to know, you would have told me about it." "You're right, I'm sorry." "If this bubble shit never happened, neither me or Kelly would've ever said a word to you about this. Never." "So I still don't know why you made up that stuff about Mom picking the name." "I wanted to talk to you about this, but couldn't think of a way to bring it up. I didn't plan that, it just kind of popped out." "Why now?" "Because I worry." She took a deep breath. "You joke around about all this and try to make it look like it's easy for you, but it's got to be a lot harder than you're letting on." She looked at me, searching for some kind of reaction. But I was just plain out of words. "C'mon Lenny... with all the shit you've got going on right now, I figured it would be a little easier if you didn't have to hide the fact that you know how to do your nails." There was a please- tell-me-I'm-right expression on her face. I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding. Carla came into the kitchen and sang out, "Jessie, we've got an order up." "Be right there." She lowered her voice. "Do you want to talk about this?" "I will, but not right now. I need to get used to the idea. " As we stood, I asked, "Just you and Kelly?" "Just me and Kelly." "Can we keep it that way." She smiled. "It'll be one of our sister things, Lora. I promise." ===================== . Chapter Eight: Jumping in the Deep End . "Ok Erica, what's next?" "The Johnny Knoxville interview is scheduled for five minutes, plus ninety seconds for his Britney Spears / shit house clip." "Just five minutes?" "Have you ever seen him live? He's a bit of a doofus. Any more than that and people are going to start changing the channel." "All right then, people. We've got an eight minute hole to fill on Tuesday. What have we got?" "Oh, oh, has anyone seen that bubble babe video? There's been millions of hits on it. You know, the one where this girl with a broken arm pulls someone out of a fire." "Right... that Boston thing. Has anyone done anything with her yet?" "I don't think anyone's bothered. Everyone's worried that the whole bubble thing is still a little too touchy." "The good Samaritan hero angle is different." "I like it. Any ideas on who she is?" "The newspaper in Boston did an interview with her. I could look up the reporter and..." "OK, Rachel, you're on it. You've got forty-eight hours, track her down. Erica, I want you to catch tonight's show at the Laughfactory. Pick a comedian to do five minutes on Tuesday in case Rachel bombs out with the bubble chick. OK folks, Wednesday. Did Matt's people call back?" ----- The mild throb in my arm woke me up, but I just lay there with my eyes closed for a couple of minutes. I was surprised I hadn't had trouble falling asleep, what with a dozen things conspiring to keep my mind whirling. George's condition, my chat with Jessie, seeing myself on television with the Governor, the sexy little baby doll that I wore to bed... But just like the cliche says, I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Slowly opening my eyes, I let them get used to the morning light oozing through the closed curtains. It felt so good to wake up in my own bed. Kind of a secure, everything-is-good-with-the-world feeling. As much as I just wanted to lie there and wait for the alarm, I knew that if I didn't get up and take a pill, my arm was going to start yelling at me. I got up and arched my back in a stretch, then paused to look at myself in the mirror. I think my heart skipped a beat... girl, you look good in lilac. Shit, with that smile, you'd probably look good in a burlap sack. I tore myself away from the mirror and took care of the three P's; pee, pill and put-on-the-kettle. I had just sat down to work on a half finished crossword when the phone rang. "Hello." "Hi, Aunt Lora?" I rolled my eyes. "Good morning Terry. You're up awful early." "Wait, wait... I love saying that. I've gotta do that again. OK, ready? Here goes... Hi Aunt Lora." "OK, are you done?" "Umm, no. One more time." She cleared her throat. "Hi Aunt Lora. Yup, that's it, I'm done." "Maybe I should have picked a different name." "Like what?" "How about Onio." "That's not a name." "Sure it is. Say good morning to me again, but use that name." "OK. Good morning Aunt Onio." I chuckled. "Say it a little faster." "Good morning Antonio" "Buon giorno, bella." "You know, it's not just your body that's changed. Uncle Lenny was weird, but you're weirder. Can I ask you a serious question?" "You could try, but I really don't think you know how to be serious. But go ahead, give it a shot..." "Could you hear it when your mind snapped? I mean, was it loud?" She giggled at her own joke. "Here, Brenda wants to talk to you." I heard her hand the phone to her sister. "Hi Aunt Lora." There was a smile in her voice. "Here we go again... Good morning, Brenda. You're up awful early." "Could you do me a favor? My friend Emma slept over. Can you give her a ride home when you pick us up?" "That depends." "On what?" "Does Emma live in Nebraska? Because I'm not driving to Nebraska. I hate trying to get through the traffic in Chicago." "No, she lives in Scotland. You could drop her off and be back by, oh I don't know... next Friday." "Oh, all right. But I've gotta stop at Loch Ness. I want to round out my collection of mythical sea creatures." That finally got a giggle out of her. "What time will you be here?" "Does eight-thirty sound good? I'd like to get an early start." "You boy!" "What?" "Only a boy would expect three girls to have breakfast and be ready to go in an hour." "OK, I guess I'll just have to go shopping by myself. I'll get by somehow..." "You won't go without us... you'd have to tie a string to the door to find your way back out of the mall." I laughed. "All right, all right, nine o'clock." "Bye, Aunt Lora." "You girl!" She giggled and hung up the phone. ----- I'd started sorting through my clothing the night before, trying to figure out what was useful and what should go to charity. After about a half an hour of going through my men's clothing, I realized I that I really didn't want to do this yet. Almost none of it was of any use to me now, but I just couldn't make myself let go of the idea that I might wake up tomorrow as a man. I just put it all back in the drawers. Surprisingly, I had the same problem looking at my women's clothing. I found that anything stretchy still fit me pretty good; most of the underwear, lingerie, leggings, a few T-shirts. I even had a clingy "little black dress" that looked phenomenal on me. But a lot of it was good for nothing; shoes, boots, jeans, all of my outerwear... not to mention all of my wigs, padding and silicone. I put it all away, just in case "Lenny" came back and wanted to look pretty some day. The exercise wasn't a total waste of time, though. After all, I did end up wearing that cute baby doll to bed. After a quick shower, I pulled on a clean T-shirt, underwear and the rest of the clothes that Kelly gave me the day before, hopped in the car and went to pick up the girls. ----- "Shotgun." That one word out of a teenager shuts down any arguments. Brenda took the front seat while Terry and Emma slid into the back. The three normally bubbly girls were unusually quiet as they piled into the car. "Good morning, ladies." Not a peep out of any of them. "What?" From the back seat, Terry piped up with, "See, I told you." I thought I knew what was going on. "Oh, I get it." I looked in the rear view mirror. "Hey there, Emma. Am I the first person you've seen who was changed by the bubble?" "No, my cousin was there, but she only lost a bunch of weight. She's pretty happy about it." "Well then Terry, what's the see-I-told-you all about?" "She didn't believe you were the girl in the video." "Oh, that. Yeah, well, that was me." I tried to change the subject as I started backing out of the driveway. "So Emma, Terry tells me you live in Scotland now." "Huh, wha... no." Emma was every bit as forward and outgoing as my nieces; I suppose that's why they were friends. She completely ignored my redirection attempt and plowed on with her line of questioning. "Brenda says to call you Lora. Is that OK?" "Sure, that's fine." "Cool name. Is it OK to ask you about what happened?" "That depends on what you want to ask." "Why did all those people come out of that tent and leave you two in there?" "A big piece of metal fell on us and knocked us down. I guess nobody saw us." "Is the other girl OK?" "I hope so. She's still in the hospital." "Did you know her?" "Yeah... she's a good friend of mine. Listen, can we change the subject." "Can I just say something first?" I didn't say no. She reached up and touched my shoulder. "I gotta tell you, what you did was just friggin amazing." "Thanks Emma." She got me thinking about George; I could feel a lump forming in my throat. I knew that if we kept talking about this, I was probably going to start crying. I'm pretty sure the three of them could sense something, because the rest of the drive to Emma's place was filled with small talk. I pulled into her driveway, and after a round of goodbyes and see-ya- laters, I asked the car in general, "So where are we headed?" "Natick" was the response, in perfect two-part harmony. ----- As I shut off the car, I decided that I better lay out a few ground rules. "I want to have a talk before we go in there, OK?" I turned so that I could see both of them. "I need you both to understand something... this is going to be the first time I've been around a lot of people looking like this. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be fine with it, but if I say we gotta go, then we gotta go. OK?" "Sure." "Uh-huh." "OK. And I know you're both probably dying to get me into Victoria's Secret or whatever, but it's not gonna happen. OK? All I need today is a few basics to get me through the next week or so. Clothes that I can get in and out of with one hand. Got it?" Before Brenda could agree, Terry asked, "What about the restaurant?" Immediately, Brenda chimed in with, "Yeah, you're gonna need something to wear at work this afternoon." They were right, I hadn't thought about that. "We'll figure something out." With a nervous smile, I took a deep breath and said, "OK, let's do this." ----- "Oh, this is cute." I looked over at Terry. She was grinning and holding up a pink spandex micro-mini that said "Babe" across the butt. I put a look of fake eagerness on my face. "Sure thing. I could wear that at work this afternoon." Brenda held up a little white tube top. "Yeah... that skirt, this top and a pair of killer pumps. Business would triple." Grinning, I shook my head. "Basics, ladies... remember, I said I need basics." Terry countered with, "Oh come on Lora, you'd have no problem getting in and out of this with just one hand. That seems pretty basic to me." That brought a nod of agreement from her sister. These two were a force of nature. When Brenda had called me the night before to cajole me into going shopping with them, I put up a show of resistance. But the truth was that I had hoped this would happen. I knew that they were going to do their level best to get me to be a girly-girl like them, and everyone knew that I had never been able to resist giving in to them. So if I suddenly appeared wearing things that weren't even remotely masculine or dowdy, it would be easy to blame it all on them. "OK, you two, let's make a deal. Besides what I have on, I have practically nothing. So if we spend the next two hours concentrating on things like plain old jeans, T's, sweaters, shoes and underwear, then I'll put myself totally into your hands for half an hour. Deal?" All it took was a glance between them before they looked at me and chorused, "Deal." That was almost too easy, as if they already had something planned. But it did the trick; by noon, the three of us were back at the car, throwing arm loads of bags into the car. I had what I came for and now it was their turn. The slam of the trunk lid seemed to be the signal they were waiting for. Without a word they each latched on to an arm and started marching me back into the mall. "You don't have to take me captive, you know." Brenda tried to explain. "It's chilly out here. We're just being cosy." I countered with, "...said the spiders to the fly." I expected to be tugged back into one of the many youth type clothing stores. But they didn't even glance into any of them as we appeared to be making a bee-line for the food court. Just as I was thinking they were only planning on having lunch, we headed up an escalator and wound up standing at the Piercing Pagoda. All three of us knew the power they had over me, so they weren't surprised when I didn't even try to resist. "OK, just once. I don't want ten holes in each ear, OK?" A thirty-ish looking woman read my hesitation and took control of the situation. "OK, honey, just pick out a pair of studs and we'll have this done in no time." I looked at the girls. "Go ahead and pick something. Just nothing gaudy or goth, OK?" Since birth, the twins had always been a pair of cute little attention magnets. So all morning, everything seemed perfectly normal whenever I caught someone stealing a glance at us. That had always happened whenever I was out anywhere with the two of them. So it surprised me when the woman working there seemed to be paying no attention at all to them. After a minute of pretending to fuss about, she finally worked up the nerve to ask, "You're Lora Williams, aren't you?" I couldn't place her; I was thinking that maybe we had met at the hospital. Curious, I answered, "Yup, that's me." When she didn't immediately go on, I asked, "I'm sorry, but I don't remember where I know you from." She seemed embarrassed by that. "Oh, no, you don't know me. I read about you in the paper yesterday." Now I was the embarrassed one. The twins interrupted their stud- hunting and turned to us. Terry smiled and poked Brenda in the ribs. "See, I told you." I looked at Terry. "Told her what?" Brenda explained. "She said people have been recognizing you all day, but I wasn't sure." She handed a pair of studs with little pink gems to the attendant. "She'll take these ones." She took the studs from Brenda, scanned them and turned to me. "I thought it was you when you were walking up, but I wasn't sure until I saw the cast. Would it be OK if I took a picture with you?" This definitely felt surreal, but I decided to just go with it. "Sure. Ah... what's your name?" "Oh, I'm sorry. Natasha." "OK, Natasha. I guess it'd be best to take one now. I'm not sure if I'm going to be in the mood to smile after you pop a couple of holes in my head." She laughed nervously, stuck her head beside mine and snapped a shot with her cell. ----- Have you ever chipped a tooth? You know there's this little, sharp pointy spot on one of your teeth, but no matter how many times your brain tells your tongue to stay away from it, your tongue always ends up going back there anyway. My hand was like that with the little pink studs embedded in my ear lobes. On our way across the parking lot, Terry stopped walking, crossed her arms and gave me an "angry mother" look. "Will you leave it alone, you're going to get that ear infected." "I am so glad I only promised you two half an hour. Any longer, and I'd probably have one of these in my navel right now." As if on cue, they both sang out, "There's always next week." Sometimes it was spooky how they seemed to act with a single mind. Before I had a chance to respond, my phone started ringing. "Hello?" "Hi, Lora?" "Yes it is." "This is Donna, George's daughter." "Oh hi. How are you?" "I'm doing OK. I just called to let you know they woke Dad up this morning." "How's is he?" "Well, he's responding to questions... and he understands what happened to him." There was a relieved little flutter in her voice. "Lora, it looks really good. The doctor says that we can probably expect a full recovery." "Oh, Donna, that's fantastic news. You must be so relieved. Do you have any idea when I can come see her?" "Her. You know, I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that. My Dad is a her. Oh, but listen to me... if anyone understands that, it's you right?" "You can say that again." I chuckled. "But anyway, can I come see your Dad?" "Oh, right. They want to keep him where he is for another day or two, so no, not just yet. But he asked about you. At first, I was worried that he was not quite with it... he was asking about his friend Lenny. It took me a few minutes to realize he was talking about you. I told him that we met, and about your arm. He was more worried about you than he was about himself." "Your father is one special person, Donna. You need to make sure you call me the minute it looks like I can come and see him, OK?" "Count on it." We said our good byes and hung up. I had been so wrapped up in the phone call, I didn't even notice that I'd followed the girls right back to the car. "That was my friend George's daughter. He's awake and it looks like he's going to be OK." The two of them seemed a bit confused. Brenda asked, "Is that the girl from the fire?" "Oh, yeah. Her name is George. I feel like I've known her forever; I forgot you never met her." Terry cleared up the confusion. "You were saying he and him. It didn't sound like you were talking about a girl." "I suppose it's going to take a lot longer for some of the affectees than it will for me. Not everyone has a pair like you to do an instant girl-ification on them." Brenda wrung her hands together, doing her best imitation of an evil mad-scientist. "Girlified? Bwa-hah-hah... you ain't seen nothin' yet." I felt a few butterflies in my stomach at that. I just couldn't tell if it was from excitement or terror. ----- "Well don't you look spiffy? I love the blouse." Jessie kept chopping carrots while she looked at me. It was amazing how she could do that without chopping off her fingers. "Pretty puffy, isn't it? It wasn't easy finding something with sleeves big enough to get over the cast." "Where are the girls?" "I dropped them off at home about an hour ago. Ben said he'd get them here by four." Jessie moved to put the tub of chopped carrots in the fridge. "I see you let the girls talk you into getting your ears done. I like the pink." "Please don't make me feel self-conscious about this, Jess. I'm jumping in the deep end here, and I'm not sure I can swim." "I'm just saying... honestly, you look good, OK?" I smiled and took a deep breath. "OK. Thanks Jess." I started heading for the office. "I've got a week's worth of paperwork to catch up on. If it gets busy, you know where I am." "Sure thing. Oh, and Lora..." I turned to look at her. "Nice legs." I rolled my eyes. "Jess, please?" She smiled and pulled her finger and thumb across her lips, zipping her mouth closed. ----- Having a broken arm, I wasn't good for much of anything around the restaurant except greeting the guests, seating them and making sure they had menus. But with Saturday evening being our busiest time of the week, this was a job that definitely needed doing. It wasn't the first time I'd done this job, but it was the first time I'd done it as a hostess. I didn't really expect to see anyone who would recognize me, but I only managed to seat three tables before a familiar face came through the door. "Well hello there, Ken Donelly with one N." I was a bit on edge at being seen in a blouse and skirt by someone who knew who I was a week ago. I decided to deal with my nervousness by hiding it behind a smile mixed with a little bravado. "Are you here to get more 'perspective', or are you moonlighting as the Herald's food critic?" "There's a rumor going around town. Folks are saying there's a friend of the Governor working here. I just had to see for myself." It almost sounded like he was more nervous than me. "Don't believe every rumor you hear. Can I get you a table?" "Actually, I just need a few minutes of your time. Is there somewhere we can talk?" "Sure, just a second." I flagged down one of the twins. "Brenda, can you take the door for a few minutes?" "No problem. Hey there, Ken with one N. You here to make my aunt more famous?" He looked a little startled. "Something like that." While he was following me back to the office, I caught sight of him in the mirror behind the bar. I could tell by the way he was staring at my backside that he didn't mind seeing me in a skirt. It was a strange sensation... I wasn't sure how it made me feel, but I knew I could learn to like it. As soon as we were sitting down, he pulled out his cell phone. "I got a phone call from someone who's been trying to track you down." He held up his phone and asked, "Do you mind talking to someone?" "Can you tell me who this mystery caller is?" "I could tell you, but I'd really like to see the look on your face. Do you trust me?" I took a good look at him. He didn't seem like he was trying to pull anything over on me. "Sure, what the hell." "Great." He punched a button on his phone and put it to his ear. "Hi, Ken Donelly... Yeah, she's right here." He handed the phone to me. "Hello?" "Hello, Miss Williams?" "Yes." "Miss Williams, my name is Rachel Bextor. I'm an assistant producer for the Jimmy Kimmel Live show in Hollywood..." ========================== To be continued...