Part 13 - At The Wright Time

Dee gave a bigger wave than Korri as Regina left. Only once she was past the bend in the hallway and the sound of her footsteps could no longer be heard did Korri relax.

Dee looked after her and remarked, “I liked her.”

Korri sighed and noted, “You don’t have her for a mom.”

Dee shrugged. “I don’t really have a mom anymore.”

Korri winced at her own words and muttered, “I’m…sorry.”

Dee shrugged again. “Been a long time. I lived with my aunt for a good while until I moved out. She’s the one responsible for the person I am.”

Korri nudged the chair vacated by Regina back in its place. “New Age candy bar lady?”

“Yeah. That aunt.”

She mulled this tidbit of information about Dee’s life as she adjusted her top around her shoulders. Then, Korri asked, “Do you think I’m wrong?”

Dee gave her a long, calm look before posing, “About…?”

Korri flipped her hand in the air. “I know you were listening to all that with my mom.”

Dee held his arms behind his head. “Somewhat. So what’s there to be wrong about?”

Korri pondered her words, looked downward, and sighed. “Everything…”

Dee relaxed his arms and bent his head. “I don’t think so.”

Korri hunched over her desk area. “I’m not really a ‘girl’…” Her voice carried the air-quotes.

Dee smiled. “I know. Neither am I.”

That earned a look from Korri. Despite his slightly-effeminate nature, Korri knew she wouldn’t really mistake Dee for a girl anyway.

A beat later, Dee added, “But…suppose…just theoretically for a moment, you were a girl. Suppose you chanced upon a set of permanent nanites. No mental mess. Just a permanent change.”

Korri looked down at herself. She gazed down at the curve of her chest and hips. She took in the sensations of her clothes. She took in that particular smell of herself. She thought about the tone of her voice. She tasted her lips curled in as she sat there pondering.

Korri shifted her mouth around. “Does it have to be the girl me from right now?”

Dee wobbled his hand. “Thereabouts, I guess.”

She took a quiet moment to ponder that. She imagined that every day after she would be just like this. For the rest of her life. Her first thoughts considered how mundane it would feel after a while. Even wearing a dress like this...

[https://i.imgur.com/u4EMpm2.jpg]

Some hypotheticals made her grimace but the whole, mental experiment prompted fewer shudders than she expected. She blinked and looked to Dee as she asked, “Uh…was there a question too?”

Dee shook his head. “Nope.”

“Okay then…” She coughed lightly.

Dee looked amused at Korri as he remarked, “You do realize that every girl has a choice about how they act, right?”

Korri nodded. “Well, yeah….but there’s social stuff.”

Dee waved his hand. “There’s social stuff everywhere and with everyone.”

Korri put her hands on her knees. “There is…”

Dee rotated his hand and posed, “Therefore…?”

Korri tried, “There’s not as much difference between guys and girls?”

Dee rested his head. “Depends on who you’re asking but that’s a thought worth pondering.”

“What do you think?”

A faint trace of a smile crossed Dee’s lips as he remarked, “Depends on when you ask me.” Korri found that answer strange but she gave a little nod by way of recognition. She didn’t try a response to that but she chewed on the words for a while as Dee fiddled with his cap and poked at his papers. The fan provided the only sound.

Korri started work on her own closing papers. After some good progress, she cracked her knuckles and leaned back. Dee did similarly and remarked, “You mind if I tell a little story?”

Korri turned her head and blinked. “If you like. What kind of story?”

Dee composed his hair with a brush of his hand. “Nothing huge. Just something from the months before you were an employee.”

She nodded and said, “Cool.”

Dee focused his shoulders into an orderly shape, breathed precisely, and began, “I’m sure you’ve heard the tale of the customer with the sword. It’s probably the most popular story among employees.”

Korri stretched her feet in her shoes. Both ankles gave a satisfying pop. She nodded. That story had drifted around for all the time she’d been here. She’d heard about three versions. What she found most amusing was how each contradicted the other. But they were good stories.

Dee added, “…Don’t expect anything like that. This is just a boring story I remembered.”

Korri narrowed her eyes at Dee and gave him an incredulous look. Dee ignored it, laid out his hands, and remarked, “This department used to get a lot more returns because most people were…and still are…unfamiliar with the kind of products we sell. It used to be quite busy all day long. This was…before Christmas.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

He pointed to the entrance. “Through that door walked a girl, about your height right now. Girlish face. The rest was ambiguous. She was dressed in a head-to-toe woolen bodysuit. Mistletoe green.”

Korri tried to visualize it and rested her chin on her hand as she listened to Dee. Her mind was still tired but she listened.

He continued, “She’d been given the outfit as a pre-Christmas gift to help her keep her figure through the holidays. It was meant to be used by a man to change his shape. But she was using it as a regular, old body-shaper.”

Korri gave a nod. “Oh yeah, because most of those things don’t take original gender into account. A lot of customers do that.”

Dee nodded back. “Exactly. I just figured it was a defect of the body-shaper. But…there was the same effect with every fix I pitched. It took a little while but I got the true story out of her. This wasn’t her first time buying a product from us. It turns out she accidentally bought something from the store towards when it first opened. It turned her into a boy. She messed around with it then tossed it out and she thought that was the end of it.”

Dee held up a pinkie and continued, “One time. For curiosity’s sake. But curiosity is persistent. A couple weeks later, she buys something else which turns her into a boy. But she said it started to make her feel nervous that family or friends might see her as a guy. What will they think of it? So, she chucks that too. Can you guess where I’m going with this?”

Korri leaned her head back and remarked, “Binge and purge?”

Dee fanned his fingers out. “So many times. She even tried to plan one of them as an “accident” around family to turn herself into a boy. But she always dropped it and tried to tell herself it was stupid. She returned it or tossed it out. But, as you know, some nanite products leave usually-insignificant traces. Management for abuse. And the body-shaper didn’t agree with those traces.”

Korri watched Dee’s outstretched fingers. She slowly lowered her head and asked, “So, what happened then?”

Dee smiled. “Fortunately, clearing traces is easy but she decided against the shaper…and went for her regular brand of product. I have no idea what happened to her after that.”

After a moment of quiet reflection by Korri, Dee noted, “Told ya it was boring.”

Korri shook her head. “It’s…okay. I guess I’ve kinda heard stuff like that.”

Dee shuffled his papers. “I don’t think this store sifts for or against people who don’t want to be changed.”

“Hmm?”

Dee rotated a finger. “You mentioned something earlier about believing this store sorts those who least want to be changed.”

Korri remembered. She leaned towards Dee. “So, what do you believe?”

Dee rotated his finger the other way and glanced at the wall. Then, he glanced down at his watch. “I believe…I believe we should get ready for closing soon…and the myriad of last-minute arrivals.”

Korri shot a look. “Oh, come on…I know what you don’t believe. Can’t you at least give me a hint?”

Dee dropped his finger and brushed a couple papers on his desk. “I thought my story was rather self-evident. You get what you really want around here. One way or another.”

Looking ahead, Korri set her palms flat on her papers. “So, you’re saying I really want to be a girl? But almost all the times were accidents.”

Dee bowed his head. “Of course they were…”

Korri’s hands fidgeted. “I don’t like doing any sort of typical, girly stuff.”

“Does that matter? Plenty of girls aren’t typical.”

Her fingers rose. “I especially don't want to be a girl all the time.”

“Not everyone does. We have plenty of female customers.”

She curled her fingers under her palm. “I’m not a girl…” It was not a proclamation, like she’d made to her mother. It almost sounded like she’d buried a question mark at the end of her words.

Dee turned his chair to face her. “I believe you are a girl. Just…you don’t want to be one all the time…” This time, Dee left words unsaid. Korri didn’t notice because the words he did say surrounded her thoughts.

She swallowed and let out, “…Maybe. I dunno. I mean I know I’m still me as a girl. But…that ‘I’ am a girl? What does that even mean?”

Dee held two fingers up. “Well…a certain surfer offered some words about that. He’d probably cite yin and yang.”

Korri wrung her fingers into an uneven ball and said, “I…do like…um…some girl stuff. I like things…I like you. And….I like being around you. Even when I’m a guy. I feel…I feel for you.” Her words quivered, mashed, and shook with each sound. Words released like air never to be sucked back in. She gasped and fought back from an edge of tears. She felt afraid but, somewhere inside, she also felt instantly stronger.

She couldn’t imagine what came next.

Calmly, Dee answered, “Yeah...me too”

Korri’s eyes widened. “You…too to?”

His voice remained calm and even. “To it all. To being around. To…not wanting to be a girl all the time…because I was born one.”