Right outside the front door of the hotel was a small fountain with a bench next to it. The whole thing was Pete's idea. He said it gave the place some sophistication; I thought it looked stupid.
I was grateful for that bench now as I sat there sulking. Two men wearing form fitting suits walked by, staring my way. The only thing they saw was a homeless looking woman having a mental breakdown. This was humiliating.
How could this have happened to me? I was a good person. When my grandpa told me to leave the city and come run this countryside hotel – I obeyed without much complaint.
Last year when our head chef got cancer, didn't I give her a five-hundred-dollar bonus check and an entire week off? I couldn't hold her job for her; I mean, who could? We had a business to run.
What the hell was I going to do now? I couldn't just walk around as a chick. I didn't know how to be a girl. Everything was uncomfortable and all I wanted to do was curl up and cry.
Those damn girls. Pete always said that playing around with these women would be my downfall. He had no idea just how right he was.
As I sat there, contemplating my new life, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
1 new message.
It was from Pete; I clicked it open.
Petey: I thought you were on your way in here.
Me: I was.
I couldn't tell him I was sitting outside, on the verge of tears because I lost my dick and grew boobs. Everything was so messed up.
Me: Something came up.
Petey: What something?
Me: It's family shit.
Petey: What kind of family shit?
I understood why he was confused. I wasn't very close with my family. Besides holidays and the occasional funeral, we barely spoke to each other at all. Even if something came up on that end, it wasn't like me to take an interest. But I couldn't think of a better excuse right on the spot.
Me: I'm going to be gone for a few days. My cousin will be coming here to help out while I'm gone. Her name is Nicole.
Ok, that would work. Even if it was far-fetched, Pete would have no choice but to go along with it. From his perspective, I would be gone and a woman would be here in my place. I had to say something.
Petey: What are you talking about?
Petey: You're joking, right?
Petey: You can't just leave.
Sorry Pete, I silently told my phone. I'm just as pissed and confused as you are. What else am I supposed to do though?
Petey: Where are you? I'm calling.
The phone rang but I quickly denied his call.
Me: I can't talk right now. Some serious shit is going down.
Really serious. I got turned into a woman- that level of serious. But I couldn't tell him any of that; it would be so much easier if I could. I had never been good at lying to Pete.
"Ok." I slid my hand across my forehead and down the length of my unfamiliar soft cheeks. There was no way to know for sure how long I would be like this. I did know that I had to empty that hourglass.
First thing was first. I had to get home and check out the hourglass. Then I could figure out what to do.
"That's a plan." I sucked in some air and blew it out roughly. "I'm good with plans."
~
When I got back to the apartment, twenty minutes later, I flung the door open with a dramatic flair. I expected things to look different. The witch, Vanessa, had come in at some point to drop off some kind of magical hourglass.
Everything looked exactly the same.
The couch that sat in front of out television set was the same one I had laid on with Pete many times. The room was separated from the kitchen by a half bar with two stools situated right across from each other. How many mornings had Pete and I eaten on those stools?
Would we ever be able to again?
I really needed to change back to normal. I had a life here. Me and Pete had a hotel to run – a hotel that was in a little bit of financial trouble lately. It was nothing we couldn't handle, of course. But I didn't have time for this shit.
My forehead was lined with my irritation as I crossed the small apartment to my room. Although we could have easily afforded a nicer place, Pete was set on this one.
Throughout the years, it had grown on me.
In my haste to leave earlier, I had left my bedroom door open. The room itself was a mess. Clothes were discarded on the floor and laying in every direction across the bed. It wasn't my style to leave it like this. My scowl disappeared, replaced by a need to clean up. I had only retrieved a single shirt from the floor when I spotted something that made me forget the mess completely.
On my clean white desk was an object that wasn't mine. An hourglass, just like Vanessa had promised. There was a faint blue light emitting from the glass.
"Shit," I whispered out loud. Unable to hold myself upright any longer, I sank down on the floor beside the desk until I was eye level with the hourglass. My curiosity got the better of me and I reached out one finger to press against the glass.
Surprisingly, it was hot to the touch. Probably because of all that blue light.
The worst part of it all though, was the sheer number of stones in that top glass. This was going to be impossible. No matter how long I lived, I would never be good enough to make all those stones fall.
As a man or as a woman – it was never going to happen.
Sniffing loudly, I ran the back of my hand across my top lip. It wasn't fair, none of this was fair. Those stupid bitches couldn't just go around and turn men into women. That's not how life was supposed to work.
So what if I slept around a little bit. Was that so wrong?
A loud sob came from my lips, followed by another barrage of tears. This was going to be my life now? Boobs and crying?
"It's not fair," I wailed. "I want my dick back!"