A Tale Of Summer (in The Mountains) free porn video

[I wanted to write a quick erotic TG story about a summer vacation but I ended up falling in love with the characters and wrote a whole book. I hope you enjoy it.] A Tale of Summer (in the Mountains) By Rohmer Fan I briefly considered driving off of a cliff before Kayla asked me another question about Ben's feelings. As the highway began curling around the Appalachian Mountains the nagging had actually gotten worse, as if neuroses were somehow strengthened by elevation from the sea floor. We had been planning this trip for a month and this worry had been the main topic of conversation practically the entire time. "Are you sure he wasn't just being nice? Clint? You're sure, right?" I tried to hide my wince. She couldn't let it go. Ben had offered us his mountain cabin for our summer vacation when we'd brought up that we were thinking about breaking our yearly beach habit. We had worked together for years and he happened to join Kayla and me for lunch the day we were discussing possible plans for our trip. Ben was a colleague of mine in an IT department for a large bank as well as a longtime buddy, kind of. Ben and I had always gotten along but I wouldn't call him a close friend. We had initially bonded over a few sci-fi films, otherwise we had little in common. To most people our jobs would seem similar, but I had recently transitioned from server manager to a more administrative or middle management IT position which put me in a different world. Compared to me, Ben was very special. He had personally written and designed almost all of our systems and so while not in an executive position he would always "outrank" me and on top of that had already made a fortune on consultant work. The little I enjoyed having him around was dwarfed by those other differences. We also seemed like an unlikely pair from the outside, because our looks and demeanor couldn't have been further apart. I ran every morning and played basketball, and had done both since high school and all through college. I stood a lean six and a half feet while Ben was short, grossly obese, and probably only left the house for work and the Chinese buffet we'd occasionally meet at. To be honest, I'd suspected for some time that he was more interested in making time with Kayla than being friendly with me, and that made her suspicions that he was "just being nice" all the more annoying. "Kayla, the guy is made of money. God knows how many houses he owns. I'm sure that not only does he offer a lot of people he's friends with the same thing, but that we're probably not the only people staying at this house this summer. That's the vibe I got from him when he was weirdly specific with me concerning the dates we were going to be there." This was true. Ben had badgered me about my itinerary incessantly. "The more you worry, the harder you're going to have to work to relax when we get there." Kayla smiled at me in that cartoonish adorable way she does sometimes and then nodded, reminding me of her earnestness and open heart, qualities I thought I loved about her. She always listens to me. I snuck a glance at her while she was looking out the window, noticing the lacy purple panties peeking out of her extremely low-rise jeans which were beltless for the duration of the car ride. Kayla comes from prime New England stock, with bright blue eyes, long dirty blonde hair, proud jawline and a very trim figure. Hers was a perfect northern European physique. I knew she was self-conscious about her moles, but her fair skin was one of her finest attributes. Considering how many times I'd almost broken up with her in the past month, these quiet moments and quick glances were important reminders to me that our relationship was about more than worrying about fucking Ben, goddammit. ~ Despite the seemingly endless driveway, the two-story house didn't look like much as we pulled in front of it. I knew the stay was a gift and I should've been less critical, but the house had that boxy wood and glass appearance which I wasn't too keen on. I preferred the older looking mountain homes with big porches we'd seen on the way here rather than this modern style. Kayla was out of our SUV and exploring before I knew it. "80 acres and it's on a lake. Wild," she gushed as she made her way around the house and out of my sight. The acreage was appealing to me because according to Ben there were trails everywhere. I was looking forward to a good hike or run after I'd gotten past the weariness of the five hour drive. Kayla and I often exercised together, especially when I wasn't working. We first met when we were in college. I was finishing up my Bachelor's in Information Technology and she was starting her courses in Communication. She had been making eyes at me at the University's gym during my regular morning routine and I had been staring at her 19-year old ass tightly wrapped in some yoga pants. We had barely introduced ourselves before we were lying naked and sweaty in my apartment. "Wow," Kayla said as I followed her around the side of the house and saw what had gotten her attention. As the higher ground sloped down into a lake, the back of the house seemed massive. I counted three stories high including what looked like a basement even further down. In addition to the long wooden walkway going towards the shaded dock, there was a modest sized pool and then a Jacuzzi tucked away closer to bottom level's sliding glass doors. As I felt a gentle breeze, I stood motionless for a few seconds taking in the mountain lake view and enjoying the sound of summer cicadas emanating from the ample vegetation all around. I could easily envision myself having a great vacation here. I needed the peace and quiet. The recent promotion at work gave my salary a big boost, but it was also stressing me out. To use an old clich?, I was tired of herding cats. "Kayla, let's go ahead and unpack. I want to grab some beer and relax for a while." The pool looked freshly cleaned, and I was hoping to get a lot of use out of it. I loved Kayla in a bikini. I think I had a fetish for swimsuits or something, because it was usually a given that any pool flirting would end up with my cock inside her. If we had the place to ourselves, that is. She always looked for an excuse to fuck when I had my shirt off, too. She loved my toned body and knew that I had spent a lot of time working on definition since I worked out at the gym she part-timed at. As I began making my way back around to the front of the house, I noticed something strange. About halfway across the dock there looked to be a bunch of flowers placed around a shrine. I had only ever seen something similar placed at sections of road where people had died in auto accidents. I had the thought that I would definitely need to call Ben and ask him about this later. He had family everywhere in this area; in fact he mentioned that he would be visiting with his dad while we were here. The first room in this mountain home had hardwood floors, a large fireplace and a few couches in it, but it also extended all the way into an open kitchen. I couldn't cook at all, but Kayla was like a master chef. She had taken a lot of culinary arts courses and her family was always throwing cocktail parties when she was growing up. She learned a lot from those experiences. I could request almost anything and she would make it. The kitchen and the living room area were separated by a dining room table area and a bar which already had a bottle of wine and two glasses waiting for us, presumably courtesy of Ben. The wood and glass style of the house made it feel very spacious, and there were stairs leading to the second floor which began off to the side of the living room. On the other side of the living room there was a small hallway which led to a laundry room and then a room with a couple of small bunk beds, I assume for kids. The second story consisted of two bedrooms with queen sized beds and a master bedroom with a large king size bed. Each room had huge bathrooms and closets as well as terraces overlooking the lake. There was little in the way of art, but mirrors and windows everywhere reflecting the natural light and vegetation found outside. I turned on the overhead fan and started unpacking while Kayla stretched out on our large bed's cream colored sheets. "I love big beds like this. It sucks we can't fit one in our apartment." I had to agree with her. Because of my height, bed space was a constant issue. "I'm looking forward to my feet not hanging off the end of the thing for a week or so," to which she nodded with an "ah, right" expression. ~ After unpacking, Kayla took a quick nap and I gave Ben a call to tell him we'd made it and to thank him for the wine. He was practically manic on the phone. "Glad to hear you made it there safe and sound. I am just glad I could help, Clinton. Don't mention the wine, but it is very good stuff. Really high quality. I think it's one Kayla and I had talked about once." I knew enough about wine to get by but those two were aficionados. They were also the same age while I was four or so years older, so they made me feel old occasionally. In light of his crush, if I even felt mildly threatened by Ben I'd probably toss the wine out of spite, but despite his obscene wealth I knew he'd never be able to make a move on Kayla. I don't think he's ever had a girlfriend or even gotten laid. Also, one look and the guy would wilt over any confrontation, unless it was directly work related. His nervous titter of a voice made me pity him for his crush on Kayla more than anything. I should devote myself to helping him find a real girlfriend. Maybe internet dating? He needed a fat girl who's into comics. "Much appreciated, Ben. When we get back I owe you a big night out or two. Quick question, but what is with the flowers on the dock? Is that a shrine?" I had gone out earlier and taken a second look at the flowers. There was a name placard with "Jessica" on it adorned with glitter. "Yes, oh. I forgot to mention that. A young girl named Jessica drowned there earlier this summer. I'm not sure how it happened but apparently she was mentally disabled and got away from her parents who were staying at a house near you. Mentally disabled. Very sad stuff. I didn't know her or the family. My Dad might have met them, though. He only lives about ten minutes away from there. Actually, you might see him because he goes fishing on that lake fairly often. In some ways you remind me of him, Clinton. I think that you two will get along very well." Great, incoming unannounced old guy visits. Oh well. There was a part of me that was curious about getting into fishing. "One more thing, Clinton. I'm going to be coming by early in the morning to give you the key to the projector room. It's usually off limits to guests, but for you two I'm not holding anything back." My eyes widened at the mention of a projection room. I would love to watch some classics on this vacation. I rarely had the time to watch anything anymore. "Ben, you are a champion among men. When will you be dropping by?" "No problem! 8:30 AM. Meet me at the dock at exactly 8:30 AM." I hung up happy about the additional amenities but perturbed at Ben's continued bizarre behavior regarding times and scheduling. I was on vacation. Just because I'm grateful for the use of the house doesn't mean you can take advantage of me and manage my life. Right? After finishing my conversation I looked over at Kayla. She had found a spot earlier on one of the off-white living room couches and fell asleep watching TV on her tablet. I decided to wake her up. I sat down on the couch at her feet and started rubbing her legs. She squirmed a little letting me know she was waking up and I moved on to giving her a foot rub. I licked my lips and said with a knowing tone, "Kayla, you should help me out with something" and placed one of her feet on my crotch. She sleepily grinned at me and began using her foot to slowly get me hard. I started massaging her breasts under her tight pink shirt and pushup bra. She knew I loved the way her tits looked when she wore that kind of bra and her undergarment wardrobe was almost exclusively "pushup." "Clinton, thank you for driving all the way here today," she cooed. I looked at her with the smuggest expression I could muster and responded with, "Kayla, if you want to thank me, get your skinny ass over here and suck my cock." "Mm, you know I wanted to do that the whole trip," she said with a mischievous smile as she slid down to the ground and crawled towards me. She positioned herself on her knees facing the crotch of my pants and started rubbing my dick under my jeans with her palm. As I unbuckled she slowly took off her shirt revealing her perky cleavage and grinned at me. We both helped pull my jeans down then my fully erect and larger than average penis made an appearance. Kayla started licking my shaft and balls and then put it all into her mouth. I put my hand on the back of her head and looked on approvingly as she bobbed enthusiastically. While I enjoyed the feeling of hitting the back of her throat and hearing Kayla's loud slurping sounds, I wondered if I would fuck her or just let her suck me off. I was leaning towards the latter as punishment for annoying the hell out of me on the ride. I could tell she needed to get fucked though, so before I came I stood up, laid her down face first on the couch long ways, and tugged her jeans and panties down right below her ass. She turned her head looking up at me and plaintively said, "Oh, yes Clinton. I love you so much." This was her favorite position. I spit on my fingers and made sure her pussy was nice and wet while she arched her back and pointed her tight ass in the air. I then hovered over her and stuck my cock deep inside her while her legs were still pressed together. She moaned loudly and a few minutes of prone boning later we came together, which was common for us in this position. I grabbed my phone and made her arch her back more to take a photo of her cream-pie for my collection. She playfully told me to stop but still let me have my picture. Kayla cleaned herself up and went to bed, but I decided to relax on the couch and read the news on my tablet. ~ I woke up on the living room couch with my phone going off. It was Ben. "I'm running a little behind but I'm pulling into the driveway right now" he said, as I heard his car door close outside. I watched the strange figure of a man waddling around the house to the back. Why did we have to meet at the dock? He could just come to the front door. "Okay, see you in a minute." I knew better than to come between Ben and his occasional eccentricities. Besides, I had a morbid urge to look around that dock. As I walked out the back door I checked my phone, it was 8:28. Running late, huh? What was going on with this guy? I locked eyes on Ben and made my way towards him. He was directly on top of that shrine. "Ben, I don't want to sound like a jerk but shouldn't you maybe give the shrine some space?" "Ah, yes. Sorry. Here are the keys" and as he handed them to me I noticed he was holding a cup and a little maroon bag. Before I could ask him about these items he swallowed whatever was in the cup and then started starting at me. I smelled alcohol. "Kind of early, isn't it?" I joked. He didn't reply but kept staring. Finally after a few moments had passed, I said, "Ben, what the hell is going on?" This had gone beyond peculiar and into creepy. He let out a deep breath and sighed, "it's probably better that it didn't wor-" and before he could finish he fell flat on his back on the dock. As I looked at him I began to feel the blood rushing from my head and my heart started palpitating. What had Ben done? I couldn't feel anything as my body slammed into the dock and then everything faded to black. ~ I dreamed that I was on the dock looking into the water and seeing shapes. Movement that I knew wasn't fish or lake grass, but human body parts and eyes looking out at me. I felt like these were a mass of people or maybe it was all one person. I felt scared and uncomfortable, and as the dock started shaking I screamed and fell into the water, breathing it into my lungs and feeling hands on my face. In the lake I was being pulled apart by hands and being looked at by eyes everywhere. I was scared. The hands were taking everything from me. I would soon be like them. Just parts floating in the water. I tried to scream but I knew it wouldn't be any use. Suddenly everything changed. The hands felt warm against my cold wet skin and I felt comforted and unafraid. They began massaging my toned, muscular male body adoringly. The massaging became rhythmic and soon I began to notice changes. In places where the hands were massaging me my body was becoming smaller. I embraced the hands and I wanted to fall deeper into them, to become part of them. ~ I jerked awake. Kayla was standing over me tugging at the blanket I was wrapped up tightly in. "Ben gave me some cash to go grocery shopping so I'll be back in before dinner. Try not to sleep the whole day, 'kay?" As she walked out I wondered if she realized my situation, since I couldn't move or speak to tell her. Sleep? I was practically paralyzed. I felt terrible, like my while body was numb from being beaten. The after images from that nightmare were more than a little unpleasant and seemed all too real considering my state of being. What in the hell did Ben do to me? Drugs? This trip is over. I'm going to beat Ben's brains out unless there's a damn good explanation. Once I can even move, that is. Right now it looks like I'm lying in one of the bunk beds on the first floor and I have a killer headache. For the moment, I can't do anything but rest off whatever the hell this is. I relaxed my head into the huge pillow and felt hair on my neck. I knew I needed a haircut but I'd put it off because I figured to do so right before vacation would be pointless, but it had gotten out of control. I stretched out my legs into the roomy bed and looked up at the bottom of the top bunk. These beds looked so small but I guess that was just in comparison to how immense this house is. There is no way I'd be able to stretch out comfortably on a normal bunk bed. "Can I come in, Natalie?" Said an unfamiliar male voice from right outside the door. I tried to speak but couldn't, though I did manage a faint gurgle. The person that came in holding a glass of water and a medicine bottle was tall. Very tall. Maybe taller than me. His face looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place it. We must be sharing this house with another couple, this guy and someone named Natalie. Were they connected to Ben's bizarre behavior earlier? I tried again to speak. "Who? are you?" I croaked out. My voice was raspy and barely audible, but this was progress. "It's Ben, Ben Leitner. You're staying here at my house, remember?" He smiled. Who was this asshole? I tried to laugh but only managed to gurgle some more. "Get? Ben? in here? now." I stiffened up under the covers and tried to look menacing. "It's me, I'm Ben," he gulped and looked away, as if looking for an escape route. That was the first sign he had gotten nervous. "You're going to kill me, aren't you? Look, I can explain. I had no idea it would work and just now I thought you might be like Kayla and not know anything was different. I really had no idea it would really work that I would come out? like this." He sat down in a chair next to the bed looking at me guiltily. Whoever this was they were an amazing actor. They had Ben down: speech, southern accent, body language, eye movements, complete inability to deal with confrontation, and the nonsensical babbling that was impossible to follow. What they lacked were the heavy gut, love handles, receding hairline, thin lips, and short, fat, waddling walk that my friend had called his own. "No fucking way. Prove it." My voice was getting better, but I just couldn't get it loud enough to show how pissed off I was. He pulled out his driver's license and showed it to me. Ben's name and address, his face. They did look related. "Not enough. Which is your favorite David Lynch film?" "Dune, Clinton. You know that?s the only one of his I like. The rest make absolutely no sense. Also, Dune looks great on blu-ray, I think you?d change your mind about it if?" He cut his rambling off. This was definitely Ben. Whatever was in that drug he'd given me was enough to paralyze someone so maybe he had a line on powerful stuff. Had he taken some sort of pituitary enhancer? Testosterone? He had stubble, something I'd never seen him with before. Much more muscular, but proportionate. It's not like he became a body builder overnight. How is this possible? From being super rich, I guess. "Why did you drug me?" My voice both sounded and felt foreign to me. I could use that glass of water about now. "I didn't. This isn't drugs, Clinton. It's magic. My grandmother was always talking about hexes and witchcraft, nobody believed her about any of it but? she told me that if I held a certain talisman she gave me and it was at a... certain spot and an exact time of year, early morning, and I drank alcohol I could make a wish for happiness, or actually in this case to? take someone's. I didn't think it would work but? your life with Kayla, I just wanted that, but I wished for you and I to still be close. Now that I think about it that was a weird and selfish wish too." I stared at him. It was absurd. Insane. He had lost his mind. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what I've done to you, Clinton. I seriously don't know how I can fix this or what punishment will be fair." He stammered, "I have no idea how to fix this." My body still felt strange but I felt like I could at least move it now. As I reached for the glass of water Ben brought I said, "Look, I'm feeling better. This wasn't magic but if you don't know how you drugged me then maybe-" I cut myself off as I noticed something: the arm I was using to hold my water was not my own. I stared at it and stopped breathing, panic washed over me as I realized something was very, very wrong. My slender arm shook as I sipped my water. It looked like a woman's arm. I put the glass down and pulled the comforter over my head. I started feeling all over my body. I had breasts. I squeezed my boobs and my pulse quickened. I felt my heart leap into my throat as I put my hand down my pants. I knew before I made it there that I would be feeling pussy lips. I flung the covers off of myself and leaped out of bed, nearly hitting my head on the top bunk and found a mirror to confirm my fears. I was a woman, there was no mistake. I had a very small frame, long hair, large breasts under a light blue tank top, and a tiny waist and curved hips mostly hiding under some gray sweatpants. As everything hit me all at once I felt angry and afraid, which turned into rage. Ben averted his eyes as if he'd known what to expect all along as I closed the distance between us and punched him as hard as I could on the side of his head. ?What the fuck did you do to me!?? He barely budged. I repeated myself with more fury and hit him with everything I could muster again, lunging with my body and putting all of my weight into it. The second one was aimed right at his jaw and when it connected it hurt my hand so bad my eyes watered. He flinched and rubbed where it landed. Ben looked at me with a pained expression. "Keep going, it's fine," he said. "Maybe I should kill myself. I've taken my best friend's life." He was in tears, and not from the punching. I raised my fist again but stopped myself. This was Ben, the lonely and pathetic guy who had never even gone on a date, who considered me his best friend probably because I was his only friend. Of course he was jealous of me and would try some dumb magic. People wish for irresponsible things all the time because wishes never come true and it's just a safe form of living in a fantasy world. I stood still for a moment and looked in the mirror. How could this be possible? Despite the absurdity of the situation, it was strangely soothing to look at my reflection because the girl looking back at me was so attractive. Pretty girls always had the ability to calm me down, no matter how upset I was. I guess my moods mostly ran on libido. I rolled my eyes and slumped into another chair. Ben looked confused. I was worn out, overwhelmed, and just wanted to close my eyes and make all of this go away. What could I do against magic? This was not only unfamiliar territory, it didn't even feel like realty. "I may change my mind and hit you again. Look, I believe you about the magic. It?s insane, but I believe you." I touched my throat instinctively. My voice sounded a lot like my younger sister's. The chair was huge. Now I realized why the bunk bed seemed so large: I was short. Five foot nothing, at first guess. I was only a little taller than Ben when he'd been sitting down while I was venting my rage at him. I probably weighed right around a hundred pounds. No wonder he'd shrugged off my punches. ?I am so sorry, Clinton.? "Let's think through this, Ben. First, how did I get into these clothes? I mean, neither Kayla nor I own anything like this. Second, can your grandmother turn us back?" I could think of a million other questions, but those would be a good start. Ben paused before speaking. "Okay. I'm a little surprised at how quickly you took this all in." "Good point. It could be part of the magic or maybe I'm just smart enough to know that I'm in shock and it's best to make decisions while I still feel like I'm in control before I break down. Answer the questions." "As for your clothes, I woke up on the dock and we were both wearing the clothes we have on now. I had no idea who you were. I thought I had killed you and raised that drowned girl Jessica from the grave, Clinton. I didn't understand anything about this magic, I just knew something had happened. Then I carried you into the house and put you in the first bed I saw, that bunk bed. I spent about an hour staring at myself in the mirror, and then Kayla woke up." That's right, Kayla. What on earth was I going to do about her? "She saw me as a woman and knew me. How does that work, Ben?" Thinking back to right when I woke up, she had seemed to look at new like her normal caring self. "She knows you as Natalie Pipenko, I just assume your family is the same as it was before the change, because of the last name. You and Kayla are roommates apparently. I think the magic changed? everything to accommodate my wish. I can kind of follow the logic. If both you and Kayla need to be here with me and I need? for the wish to come true, this situation does seem to fit. I can only imagine how much of our own history is different now." Ben was obviously in despair. "Ben, what about your grandmother?" "The talisman and the spell had been a gift from her to me after my mother died two years ago. My grandma said it was a powerful spell that would let me find a mate and true happiness. That was her final wish for me. My grandmother died soon after my mom, maybe you remember that was when I was out of work for a few months." I remembered. He had told me about his mother dying, but not anything else. "We should try and repeat the spell, to change us back." He nodded. I put on the small running shoes that were beside the bunk bed and we walked outside together. I became even more conscious of how tall Ben was and how small I had become. Frankly, he towered over me. He probably didn't even break a sweat carrying me back to the house this morning. I wonder if he even realized his strength yet. Probably not. It's a good thing he didn't fight back when I was hitting him. I suddenly felt extremely vulnerable. What was incredibly distracting above all else was the absence of a penis between my legs. I felt it missing with every step. I tried to compare it to before and found that my walk felt more like a glide than a stride. The boobs were much more noticeable while walking, too. I felt so slim which made the contrast of these weights on my chest seem so odd, even with the sports bra strapping them back. The other strange things were my arms. How slender they felt while I was walking or folding them in front of my chest, was one of the changes that kept ringing alarm bells in my head that something was different. At the dock Ben tried all kinds of combinations of wishing and repeating the aspects of the ritual other than the talisman. Ben said that he hadn't looked in the maroon bag because he was told not to and that it would destroy its power, but he had felt it and said it was, "like a big toe" and there were some other things in it that crunched between his fingers like dried leaves. This was getting us nowhere. We both agreed that the best outcome would be for it to just "wear off." Ben said he would leave and go rummaging around his grandparents' old home looking for clues. In the meantime I was to stay here and "play along" with Kayla. We made sure each other's mobile number was in our contacts and Ben left. ~ I needed a shower. That much was made painfully apparent by my very own sense of smell, which seemed to have gotten a tiny bit more sensitive. I also had to pee. I figured I had another hour or so before Kayla got back. If she was still the Kayla I knew she would drive an hour out of her way to go to a local co-op or organic only place. I wonder how much my being a girl in this realty had had an effect on her. If we were just roommates, how did we meet? I was a lot older than her and we had mostly gotten together because of intense sexual compatibility. I made my way to the master bedroom and saw that Kayla had already laid out her blue bikini that she had had the whole time we've been together. I guess she was planning for a nighttime dip in the pool. Well at least that hadn't changed, she loved night swimming and I loved fucking her by the pool. When I woke up from this dream or nightmare or, if it really was real, when Ben got his shit together and turned us back, I was definitely going to need to get laid. Looking around I noticed that my clothes were nowhere to be found. I checked the closet and drawers, noticing that this room had nothing but Kayla's stuff. Wait, of course. We weren't a couple anymore, why would we be sleeping in the same room? It was a disturbing thought, but I also immediately said to myself, ?Well, why does Kayla get the master bedroom?? I sighed and looked in the Queen-sized bedrooms and the one above the kitchen and closest to the stairs had a huge suitcase in it that looked a lot like the one I bought Kayla a couple years ago. I guess the girl me shared similar taste in luggage. How much had ?Natalie? followed in my footsteps? I shuddered at the thought and pushed it out of my mind, focusing on the tasks at hand and went to the bathroom to pee. For some reason I didn't look down at myself when I pulled my sweatpants and underwear down to go. It was almost as if I wanted to put that revelation off for a while. If I didn't think about it, urination wasn't too different from just sitting down and doing it as a guy. I must have been holding it in for a while because it was an enormous relief to piss. I wiped and flushed, heading into the bedroom. I contemplated clothes. Women?s clothes. I knew nothing about them. I knew that when I was out shopping with Kayla I avoided going into the women?s section with her. It?s chaotic and seems to never end. I usually wander or look at my phone. I knew about bras, panties, dresses, tights, and god knows what else that I would never be caught dead in. Unless there was a men?s clothing store around, I?d need to put something on. My choices were going to be limited. I decided to take a complete inventory of everything Natalie owned, cracked open the suitcase, and began laying clothes out onto the bed. There were a lot of dresses and skirts. Almost all of them had flower prints or stripes. One solid black one looked extremely small, and that one made me wonder what Natalie thought she'd be getting up to on this trip. Maybe I was just being hypercritical of my female self's moral fiber. The shirts were all solid colors: mostly white, some blue and pink. Some were tank tops, a lot were the 'baby doll' style with the tiny sleeves. There were around a dozen t-shirts and they all seemed small, very small. Beside the stack of those shirts was the one pair of jeans she brought, very dark blue ones with a Diesel tag. They appealed to me, though I was sure they were skin tight. I went through a tight jeans phase a couple years ago and once actually tried on girl jeans because they might fit better for that style. None of them were long enough in the legs for me. So among the inventory, there was a type of girl's clothing I'd worn before. A novelty. Natalie brought a lot of tiny pairs of shorts. A few were black but most were gray, for the plentiful "running or sleeping shorts" selection. It looked like the pair of sweatpants I was wearing was the exception as I didn't see another pair. There were khaki shorts and jean shorts in the "shorts with pockets" category. I never wore shorts, actually. I always thought my legs were my least appealing feature. They were practical hairless which had gotten me picked on in high school. My great- grandfather was Japanese and had passed down a few Asian traits over the generations, at least that what we in the family suspected. It seemed like a third of what she brought was underwear. There were three slips: black, white and tan. I had no idea when to wear a slip under a dress. Did all dresses need slips? I think I took a slip off a girl once I had meet at a reception before we hooked up. I don't remember Kayla ever wearing them, but she only wore dresses to weddings and funerals. She liked jeans or little dresses with tights. Natalie had countless pairs of panties. They were almost all thongs. Some were lace but mostly they were plain nylon or cotton of almost every color of the rainbow. Which ones did I wear with the running shorts? I assumed it was the handful of smaller lacy pink and blue ones because I was wearing a pair right now. I had realized I was wearing thong shaped panties earlier because I had to adjust them. The idea of working out in these seemed relatively okay to me, but before today I wouldn't have expected thong underwear to be comfortable to exercise in. Honestly, it sounds nightmarish but while wearing them I felt fine. When I played basketball I almost always wore jock straps to hold things in place, and this felt the same for the most part. The bras were intimidating. There were a lot of different styles. Four looked like typical bras. Two were padded and seemed pretty casual, one tan and one white. While the other two were lacy cotton, white and then black. Almost all of Kayla's bras had some kind of lace on them, so this all seemed normal to me. The others were very different. One was strapless and another fastened much lower so I assumed they were for different kinds of necklines. I also had a few sports bras which would definitely come in handy. I was wearing one under my tank top right now and it didn?t give off nearly the same ?girly? vibe as the rest. There were a few pairs of shoes, and except for the running shoes and some flip flops all of them were strappy with heels and platform soles. I?m guessing that Natalie was self-conscious about her height. She only had white ankle socks like I was already wearing, and I assume they were all for running. There were also two bikini sets, one black with white flowers while the other was plaid and looked insanely small. I did a quick overall survey of the clothes and decided to hang them up later. A part of me was waiting for this all to wear off at any time, no need to add unnecessary work. Natalie hadn't bothered to unpack already either, so we clearly shared a taste for procrastinating annoying tasks on vacation. I stepped into the bathroom and took notice of what was already on the counter: a toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, a hairdryer, dental floss, a wad of elastic bands, and a big bottle of some lotion. I also saw the familiar cup of contact solution and thought "it figures," as bad eyes ran in my family. There was also a bag under the counter, but I'd check it out later since I desperately needed to clean up. I turned the water on and made sure it was set to blistering hot. I had a stack of towels all sat neatly on a shelf, which showed remarkable foresight in Natalie. I probably would have forgotten the towels if Kayla didn?t remember for me. I stripped off my sweatpants and tank top quickly but then slowed down for the underwear. I slowly slid my panties down and glanced at myself. Very little public hair. Natalie obviously kept herself very trim downtown. I'm not even sure why she kept the small amount that she did. I looked in the mirror and took a close look at my face. I had big brown eyes, narrow cheekbones, a slightly upturned snub nose, softly curved jawline, gently angled dark brown eyebrows, and a generally round face framed by long locks of dark brown naturally curly hair falling to both sides and halfway down my back. I slid both of my hands down to my crotch and felt my pussy lips. The entire area around them was extremely sensitive. As insane as the situation was, the sensations were pleasurable. I could easily just lose track of time playing with myself down there. I slipped a finger into myself and all of a sudden decided that maybe I had gone too far. I felt a little like an invader. Next was the sports bra, which was black like the couple others I had seen. I hadn't really realized how constrictive it was until I pulled it off over my head. The first thing I thought of when I looked down at my breasts wasn't how big they were, that I had already felt and known. It was how large my nipples and areolas were. It was all so soft and feminine, I grabbed them to feel their weight and said "damn" out loud. I admit it, I loved them. I held them both up by the nipple and then releases, watching them from above and in the mirror as they bounced against my ribcage. I had looked at a lot of boobs in my life, not just the ones that had been shaking in front of me but in porn as well, and these were just so intensely sexy that I thought they might be ?perfect.? I spent a long time checking Natalie out. There was a sense of powerlessness to the body. I realized that I could never not be ?exposed? in a certain way. I tried squeezing my legs shut and noticed a gap between my upper thighs. There was no position I could find or way to stand so that someone couldn?t force their way inside my vagina if they wanted to. When I had a penis, I fantasied about raping Kayla, and we had role-played it a few times. The idea seriously gave me pause now. I would have seen a body like Natalie?s and thought, ?I?d love to see that bouncing on my dick.? It was bizarre, but I still felt that way looking at this body, like it was a different person. I decided that I needed to stop staring at her, thinking vaguely that it wasn?t good for the soul. Before getting into the shower I put an elastic hair band on, because I realized I didn't want to be drying my hair for half an hour afterwards. With my long curly mop tied back into a loose ponytail, I got into the shower and began lavishing my body with attention. I immediately felt exposed and conscious of my new sex because the water running between my legs reminded me of the empty feeling there. I had a goal and I just wanted to be clean so I could focus on that and less on my missing pieces. The only thing other than that that really felt different was washing under my boobs, otherwise I just tried not to get my hair wet. Pulling it all the way around the front so I could wash my back was a new sensation, though not too strange. Everything else was now soapy and clean. I had needed that washing up like I had never needed one before. I turned the water off and grabbed a towel. As I stood drying myself on the tile floor, I looked in the mirror opposite the shower stall. Even if I showed them a picture of this body from every angle I think someone who hadn't seen her in real life still wouldn't understand just how beautiful Natalie was. It was intoxicating to look at. Her petite body and large breasts were the fantasy of every photographer interested in erotic nudes. I arched my back and gave the boobs a squeeze. My hands barely covered the large pink areolas and again I thought about how much has been hiding under that constrictive sports bra. I turned to the side to look at them in profile noticing that they were fairly firm and the nipples attractively pointed upwards, like Kayla's. I knew Kayla wore a b-cup and these seemed two or three times larger, but maybe it was an illusion created by Natalie's small frame. Her tiny waist drew my eyes toward her tight stomach which had noticeable muscular definition. It was nothing like a six-pack, just a nice line letting you know she worked out her core. I placed my hand on her tummy and started feeling down towards the crotch. It was so smooth and clean. I ran my fingers over the small, pyramid shaped tuft of dark hair she had right over the wide gap between her legs and then squeezed her thigh. Despite their athletic look, her legs were smooth and squishy. For this kind of thing I admit to a bit of a fetish. Every girl I'd ever been with I'd tried to give as much attention to their inner thighs as I could get away with. Touching them this way on my own body felt amazing. After putting on some deodorant, I turned around to check out my ass in the mirror. It was a revelation that since the counter was so tall I had to get up on my tiptoes to see it. I slapped at one of the cheeks and it barely moved. It was nicely round and had a slight bubble to it, but it wasn't Natalie's defining feature. Her body was just too tiny to have an award-winning ass. I smirked at the thought. Still on my toes I bent over and tried to spread my cheeks apart, getting a quick look at my pussy from behind. As far as lady parts were concerned it was a very nice looking one. Two full pinkish lips with a tiny bit of inner labia poking through. I relaxed and turned to face the woman I'm the mirror. She looked familiar, maybe because we were ?related.? I noticed that the cool post-shower air had made my nipples hard and stretched my arms over my head. I bounced a little letting my boobs jiggle and then shook them left to right just before I heard a car pulling into the driveway. Probably Kayla. I walked into the bedroom near where I?d laid out the underwear and picked up the lone relatively bigger pair of white cotton panties that had ?DKNY? in white letters on a purple elastic band at the top. When I pulled them up I realized how alien it felt having tight underwear flat against my crotch without a penis there to adjust. I looked at how they fit in the mirror and saw that they were boyshorts style and cupped about half of my ass in the back but only just came up over my pubic hair in the front. It was a very flattering look. I first considered going without a bra, but I thought it couldn?t hurt to at least try some on to see how they felt. Having just let my breasts free, I decided against the constrictive sports bras and looked over at the four ?normal? ones. I had no problem getting them on having watched plenty of women get dressed before and I tried on all four. The comfort provided by the support of the bra made up for the bother of having to wear something around my chest. The two lacy bras scared me off because they were a little sheer and I noticed that at least with the padded ones my hard nipples wouldn?t show through, so I chose the white padded bra. I picked up the dark blue jeans and started working them on. I knew they would be tight but it wasn?t as bad as I was expecting, they just fit snugly. After I buttoned them up, I took a look in the mirror. The jeans were a really close fit around my ass which made me look much more impressive back there than I expected. They were very low-rise which showed off the dimples above my butt and between my legs you could see my gap perfectly. Looking down past my stomach into the waistline I could make out the purple band on my boyshorts, so I guess someone could get a good peek there if they were in the right spot. My heart sank as I recalled that I had been checking out Kayla?s panties the same way on our trip here. I could hear her putting groceries away in the kitchen directly below this room and sighed thinking about the confusion of this reality. I grabbed the first white shirt I could see and put it on. It was a snug baby doll t-shirt that only left an inch or two of my midriff exposed and had a conservative V-neck. It had a cartoon turtle on it and with letters saying, ?turtle time.? Cute, I guess. Of course the turtle and words were a little stretched out because the shirt was tight and those boobs looked huge in it. I flopped down on the bed on top of the pile of dresses, then turned over and buried my face in them. They smelled nice, like soap. ?Cute Natalie, I?m glad you finally got up.? Kayla walked in and got down beside the bed near me, laying her head on my hips. Her ultra-fine hair tickled my exposed stomach and I brushed it away without really thinking about it. ?Hey, why are you wearing your ?fuck me? jeans? Is Ben coming back later?? she asked as she raised her head up to look at me. ?I don?t think so. If he comes back he?ll probably text or call first.? The implication that I was wearing these jeans to impress Ben annoyed the hell out of me. I stiffened up. ?Well it was nice of him to pay for our first round of groceries. I think this will last us most of the week. He?s a really nice guy, you know. I think I only really got an idea of how rich he is when we came here. How many houses does he have?? I had no idea. Even if I did know, it may be that the Ben in this reality was completely different in how he used his wealth. I started to stand up and Kayla hugged me from behind. She was bugging me but I couldn?t really get mad at her. ?I bought us some tuna. I?m going to sear it and make seared tuna sandwiches like you love. Will that cheer you up?? ?Oh wow. Yes.? My stomach growled loudly. Kayla frowned at the sound. ?Yuck. Let?s eat. C?mon.? As we left the room together, I rolled my eyes due to finally realizing that Kayla was about half a foot taller than I was now. She was wearing white yoga pants and a red camisole with spaghetti straps. I knew from experience she wasn't wearing any panties under the yoga pants. I thought about how badly I wanted to pull those pants down and stick my cock inside her. I had been planning to get a lot of good sex in on this trip. I?d been tired and stressed from work lately, so we?d mostly been doing it on weekends. Kayla had explicitly told me that I was free to fuck her anytime and anywhere while we were on vacation. The entire time we?d been together her sexual appetite had been incredible. I knew she was desperate for a long two weeks of screwing. I sighed. I no longer had a dick. I shook my head and thought, ?Thanks, Ben. You asshole.? While I contemplated fucking Kayla, I couldn?t help comparing Natalie?s body to hers. I felt like my perspective on this had completely changed. Kayla's torso was just so extremely long and so were her legs. In comparison I don?t think you could choose any body part of Natalie?s and say it was out of proportion except for those breasts. Kayla's hips also seemed too thin which increased the effect of her walk seeming like she had a stick up her ass. Why was I being so hypercritical of my girlfriend's looks all of a sudden? I grabbed my iPhone before walking out and tried to put it into a pocket but couldn't. All the jeans pockets were fake. I sighed again in frustration. Maybe the 'fuck me' jeans were a bad idea for lounging. Kayla started preparing the food while I got out a bottle of wine. It was a cheap red blend that Kayla liked, Big House Red. Thankfully it was a screw-top. I poured us each a glass. "Here's to Appalachia, land of enchantment," I said as I downed half of my wine. Kayla was searing the tuna and said, "I'm glad you could take a nice chunk of vacation days. You were going to lose these if you didn't take them, right?" I wondered at the comment. My position at the company allowed me an extremely nice benefit package, especially after my promotion. I estimated it would take five years of my not taking a vacation to hit the point where I'd start losing days. "I don't know." She probably just forgot the details of my program. That is, unless Natalie had a different program. I tried to think of a way to bring it up without directly asking about Natalie's life, not that Kayla would ever suspect I was anyone other than who she already thought I was. Otherwise she might just think I'm joking and play along. "Yeah, work had been a bit stressful lately." I sipped some more wine. "Especially with the, hmm, you know." I let myself trail off, hoping she would fill in the blanks. "Ugh, has Mark been fucking with you again? That guy needs to keep his cock in his pants, or grow up or whatever. You should really talk to HR about how he treats you. I know it would just look like sour grapes, but still." Natalie didn't get along with Mark, I take it. Mark was a guy around my age who worked for me who had been with the company forever, I think. I liked him okay, I guess. We talked a lot of shit together, but he did good work with the right direction. She finished making the food and handed me a plate with some lightly toasted sandwich bread filled with sliced soy sauce seared tuna, spinach leaves, and what looked like a little spicy mayo. There was also a salad. I was so hungry. Before I started eating though, I interrogated further with, "sour grapes?" I began stuffing my face. It was delicious. "Yeah, you know. You'd look like the bitchy office lady because you didn't get promoted. You put up with way too much there." Goddammit, I didn't get that promotion. I was still just working in server management. I continued eating. I'm going to text some hate mail to fucking Ben ASAP. "I think it was messed up that they made you two compete against each other for the position in the first place. It sounds like they were just leading you on and then it gave Mark so much more new harassment material. How is the sandwich?" I smiled and nodded and then went back to brooding. What the hell was up with that? For me, the male me, they had just called me in and offered it to me. I didn't have to jump through any hoops. I took a big gulp of wine and something new happened. Natalie's memories came flooding in. ~ I had half an hour before my presentation to the Executive committee of our Board on the restructuring of our server management division. It had grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years and since the previous director had left, there was a leadership vacuum. They wanted to promote from within, and had narrowed it down to two candidates; myself and that prick Mark. I wasn't supposed to know Mark was the other final candidate, but it was pretty much an open secret. I had a folder ready with all my handouts on my cubicle desk and was doing some last minute spelling and grammar checking on the PowerPoint. "Good luck out there today. Maybe you should undo a few more buttons on that blouse. It's all guys at the top." Mark appeared at my worst moments to talk shit like always. I wished him dead, right there on the spot. "Mark. Kill yourself." I needed to maintain composure but I was in no mood for his crap. He scoffed. I glared at him. "Shouldn't you be pulling the wings off of flies or at least getting ready for your presentation right now? Leave me the hell alone." "Hah, nah. I've got this in the bag. You know they're only including you in this nonsense to look like they care about diversity. Be nice to me, little lady. I'll be your boss soon." He grinned. He had said this and worse before, so I just ignored it. I saved my PowerPoint to my flash drive and put it in my purse, it was like a small piece of gold or a ticket to a better world. I knew he would keep pushing my buttons and I knew the best way to get away from Mark was to hit the ladies room. I stood up. "Don't try following me into the bathroom again, you pervert." "Oh, are you running away? Am I not telling you the truth? This is why everyone thinks wannabe manager girls are so shitty, they can't take a little honesty." I could feel him smirking as I walked away. I rounded the corner from the cubicle area and headed directly towards the women?s bathroom. I felt a wave of relief hit me as I pushed open the door and walked inside, my high heeled platform shoes clacking on the tiles. As I walked up to the mirror I took in the biggest reason why I had to fear failure today: I looked ten years younger than I was. I thought of everything I had done to present an illusion of maturity: my hair was in a bun; I was wearing glasses instead of contacts; I'd used mostly clear foundation so any facial lines would stand out more; I was wearing a conservative navy skirt suit with black pantyhose; I'd even worn a bra I'd bought just for this meeting that would flatten my bust. I always felt like the second people noticed my boobs they stopped taking me seriously. My nails were polished, my eye shadow and lipstick were tasteful but noticeable and I was standing firm and feeling empowered and? I still looked like a seventeen year old playing dress up. I had to get this just right. I spent the remaining time working on my phrasing for the presentation and trying to anticipate questions. A little before go time I grabbed my materials and nervously headed to the large conference room. I was the first one there so I made sure the AV was set up and put the handouts out in front of each chair. I went to the kitchenette area in the back and got a pitcher of ice water ready and set it out on the big conference table along with plenty of glasses. I flattened the hem of my skirt and found my confidence as the suits started coming in. I gave them all firm handshakes as they entered and called them by name, "Mr. Bradley" "Mr. Forsythe", etc. "A pleasure, Ms. Pipenko. I'm looking forward to it. I don't think we've met, I'm Ben Leitner." I knew Ben Leitner entirely by reputation. He mostly worked from home and even when he came in he wouldn't be bothered with my department. It was beneath him. I just assumed he was some antisocial freak like the rest of the high-functioning autistic IT code guys. The tall gorgeous model wearing jeans and an untucked Oxford shirt that shook my hand might as well have been an alien from another planet. I had to focus. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Leitner. Now that we're all here, can we get started, everyone?" I said as I picked up the clicker. I must say I delivered a flawless presentation. They laughed when I wanted them to laugh, they leaned in when I got to the important decisions that had to be made, and it was effective. The ogling wasn't even excessive. I felt like a success, which is why the complete silence that followed afterwards when I asked if they had any questions scared me to death. "Anyone?" After a pause, Ben Leitner raised his hand and spoke, "I have a question, though it's not really for Ms. Pipenko. It's for this committee: why are we here?" He raised his hands quizzically. "When have we ever bothered with this elaborate nonsense before? Ms. Pipenko has great ideas and I've read her file, everything is a perfect fit for management. We should have just offered her the position outright." At this dialogue I was elated and worried, simultaneously. I had tried not to look at Leitner during the presentation because I was worried he would distract me. I was probably on the money, because right now I couldn't take me eyes off of him. What was he up to? The head of HR spoke up, "this is all clearly outlined in the employee guidelines, Mr. Leitner. That's a fact." I knew his name but his personality said, "Nameless Suit" to the world. "Still," Leitner replied. "Then again, I guess since I'm rarely here I'm a little out of the loop." Nameless Suit gave the impression he'd won with a smug, knowing nod. There was a long pause. "Any other questions?" I asked with a smile, trying to exude confidence and grace. I looked towards the CEO, Mr. Bradley. "Thank you, Natalie." He smiled that way a boss smiles when they're done with you. I grabbed my things and walked out. I needed some alone time, so it was back to the ladies room. I was all smiles as I walked past the girls I worked with who worriedly waved at me. There were hardly any women that worked here, but we were all tight-knit. I usually got along fine with guys, but in a boys club like this, I would lose all my hard won respect if I was seen as being flirty. Everyone knew I hated Mark, so no worries there for the rumor mill. In that strange way he was the man I was closest to at the company. As that disgusting thought entered my mind I walked into the bathroom, found an empty stall, closed the lid, sat down and slammed the door shut. I was relieved. It was all out of my hands now. Ben Fucking Leitner had been a revelation, though. His looks and confidence were something else. I was incredibly attracted to him, obviously. I was so obvious. I bet he could tell even when I was trying to ignore him. I heard the door open. Great, it was probably Andrea coming to see if I was okay. She was the most likely person out of the six or seven women I worked with. Andrea was our old boss's secretary and had been doing administrative work for our department in the interim. I guess she'd be my secretary if I got the promotion. I heard heavy footsteps and then the unmistakable sound of a deadbolt locking behind them. "Hello?" Was it the janitor? "Ms. Pipenko, can I have a moment of your time?" It was Leitner. My jaw hung open, "uh, one second." What was he up to? I asked myself for the hundredth time this morning. I opened the stall door and saw Leitner leaning against the wall looking at me apologetically and holding a key. "I borrowed it from a janitor. I didn't want this chat to be interrupted." He smiled charmingly. I placed my purse on the counter, checked myself out in the mirror to quickly make sure I wasn't a wreck and then looked at him. "Mr. Leitner, a girl could feel very threatened in a situation like this." I tried to make it obvious I was being facetious. "Those assholes don't know what they're overlooking," he gestured towards me. "Please call me Ben. My Dad is the only Mr. Leitner I know." I took note. "You're older than me, you know. I bet they look at you and think? fuck them." He cut right to my deepest fear. "They didn't take me seriously, did they??? It was a statement, not a question. "All they talked about after you left was that Mark guy. Apparently he's been here longer and had management experience. I reminded them that it had been as shift manager at a Pizza Hut, but it didn't matter. I came after you before being forced through the rest of this sham." He looked pissed while I just felt dead inside. Manager Mark was going to be hell on earth. I needed to update my r?sum?, recession be damned. "I don't know if I can stay here after this." As I said this my heart sank when I saw his forlorn reaction. "Maybe things will change. If not, here's my card in case you need a reference. Don't be afraid to put me down." I filed the card away in my purse. I smiled at him and said, "Ben, call me Natalie. Look, you have been really great on one of my worst days. Thank you." I suddenly wanted to leave before anyone figured out we were in here together. Ben smiled back and started heading towards the door. "Pipenko. Is that Russian?" "Ukrainian, actually. My great-grandparents were from there." "Ah." He unlocked the door. "Are you going to the New Year's Eve party?" I never went to work outings. It was usually just computer nerds awkwardly trying to pick me up or making up bullshit to talk about so they could stare at my tits. No thank you. "Probably not." "Well if you change your mind, text me. My mobile number is on my card. I'll go if you go." "I'll think about it." I was definitely going now. 'Super-hot guy sort of asking me out' ranked pretty highly among my turn-ons. He grinned and walked out. I also had 'letting me have the last word' on that list. I relaxed, leaned against the counter, and sent Kayla a text asking her if she had New Year's plans. ~ "Hey, you okay?" Kayla was looking at me with concern. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. It's just the wine I guess." On the inside I was flipping out. I had practically relived a piece of Natalie's life. I felt her self-consciousness about her looks, the internalized lower self-esteem from the shit she had gotten used to dealing with, and all those other unspoken thoughts we take for granted and don't think about. It was incredible to see life through someone else's eyes. Even though I had been living in Natalie?s skin for the past few hours, I had felt like an outsider. That memory had felt like someone taking me by the hand and filling my mind with another person?s feelings, ideas, and desires. I was left quiet by the intensity of it. I tried searching for more of her memories but nothing came up. I could think back to this one though, and the stronger emotional responses like hating Mark or being attracted to Ben stuck with me. The power of those feelings was gone but not forgotten. I had occasionally thought some men were good looking, models or actors, objectively, but it was a whole different world being attracted to a guy because they were a man. From the moment I met him in the presentation room I had been conscious of him. When he was in the bathroom with me, the way he looked at me had turned me on and I had actually felt her vagina warming up. I also got the impression that Natalie was nervous about liking him, as if she was holding a lot of feelings back from herself. That left me a little confused. It was also painfully obvious to me as a guy watching a girl get hit on that Ben was completely full of shit. His good looks were blinding Natalie to his true intentions. Ben had only voiced his concerns during her presentation as a precursor to getting into her pants. He probably did mean what he said to an extent, but I?m sure he had mixed motives. Following her into the bathroom and locking the door was the clincher. Nobody did anything like that unless they were some asshole pick-up artist. Poor Natalie must have fallen for it purely because the situation was so bad in every other way. I sympathized with her. I thought back to it and even though I was now conscious of his motives, the words of consolation and sympathy had felt really nice. I tried to get back to the present and sipped a little wine. The last thing I remember from the flashback was texting Kayla. I remember Natalie thinking that she was going to send her a message to go with her to the New Year's Eve party so she'd have a little company and use her to get out of any annoying situations. I was thinking she might be asking to bring someone but whoever it was I couldn't think of them. I finished my salad and then took the last couple bites of my sandwich. "I was just thinking about New Year's Eve." I looked at Kayla and tried to read her expression. She raised both of her eyebrows, "oh. Mhm." She looked downward and away. This felt awkward. One of the things that always got under my skin about her was this habit she had of letting you know she felt uncomfortable about something but not coming out and saying anything about it. I gritted my teeth as she got up and cleaned up around the bar where she had been sitting.