Mind
by Waldo
2. Chapter
I want to kill that woman. LayWanda did not consult with me and told one of our biggest purchasers that we were going to raise our rates by one percent. Our customer started looking for other sources and then called me to tell me that he found a competitor who would provide the services for our old rate. I had to cut our old rate by half of a percent to keep him. Then when I found LayWanda and told her what had occurred, she got mad at me.
“He wouldn’t leave us. He was just bluffing. Why did you give in to him so easily?” she screamed.
“Why did you tell him that our rates were going up?” I screamed back.
“Because we have to raise our rates. We aren’t making enough money.” she yelled.
“We are making enough money. Until you became involved, it was very adequate money.” I screamed back at her. I was just as mad as she was and I felt that I had a very good reason for being angry.
“You don’t think ahead and work hard enough. I want to be a multi-millionaire by the time that I am thirty.” she said.
I walked to the door and said “If you pull another fucking stunt like this one, you won’t live to be thirty.” I slammed the door and left.
I didn’t go to my office but went home. I went straight to my bedroom instead of checking in with Steph or with Val. My bedroom door was partially open and I paused in the hallway because I saw Val’s profile and she was almost naked. I stood still and watched as she held one of Steph’s dresses in front of her and looked at herself in the mirror.
She didn’t know that I was home or standing there watching her. I heard her say “Oh, Ralph honey, you wouldn’t have left me if I had been more dominating. You remember that time that you told me to be more like my friend Stephanie, Ralph. You said that she had balls and knew how to satisfy a man. Remember that Ralph. Well, I am trying to be more like Stephanie and I will be. Except that I will be better. One day soon, you will be very sorry that you left me. How do you like the way that I look in Steph’s clothes, Ralph?”
She was standing there in front of the mirror admiring herself as she held Steph’s clothes in front of her. I had seen enough. I eased back down the hallway and out to my car. I drove around the corner and used my cellular phone to call the office number.
After a couple of rings, Val answered “Positive Decorating, May I help you?”
“Hi, Val. I took off early and am on my way home. Did you or Steph need anything from the store?” I asked in a very innocent manner.
“No, she is no-no-not here now. She had a mee-mee-mee-meeting with her new customer which was supposed to take all afternoon. Could you get some cokes for the office fri-fri-fridge?” she replied.
“Sure. I will stop off and be home in about ten minutes. Bye.” I said.
That should give her enough time to get dressed and to have everything back to normal. So Val spends her time alone in our home, trying on Steph’s clothes and trying to act like Steph. I hope that she doesn’t take up smoking.
I picked up the cokes and pulled back into the driveway. This time, I went into the office and found Val dressed and working on assembling curtain hardware. As I put the cokes into the fridge, she looked up and said “Thanks.”
I smiled and went back to my bedroom. There was no evidence that she had been in there. I changed clothes and went out to my garage workshop and resumed working on a wood-working project that I hadn’t touched in over three months. I was trying to do things that relaxed me and to forget about the office.
I was very engrossed in sanding a piece of wood and did not hear Steph enter my workshop until she said “How would you like to get cleaned up and take me out to dinner?”
It startled me and I looked up quickly as I responded “And what happened to you today? You always have something that has to be done at night and never have time to go out.”
“I do have things to do, and my new client suggested that we have dinner together. She wants to meet you and is looking for new friends in town. She just moved here and would like some company. So I invited Val to come along also. I promise not to discuss too much business tonight. How about dinner?” she said.
I paused, thought for a second and smiled as I nodded yes. She smiled back and went into the house. I closed up my workshop and went into the house. Val was gone and Steph was in the shower. When she got out, I took my shower and dressed. We didn’t talk as we dressed and when we were both ready, I drove us to a favourite restaurant that we had not been to, in quite some time.
We got there early and were sipping on our drinks while waiting for Val and the new client to show up. Steph said “I just met my new client today and I really like her. Her name is Amanda Baker and she just moved here from San Francisco. She is a very attractive young woman with a very nice personality. She has never been married, is about our age, and enjoys any user participant sport that involves exercise. She jogs daily and participates in several ten-k runs. She is a licensed hypno-therapist and is setting up a new clinic. She will specialize in helping people develop will power to stick to diets and to quit smoking. We spent the afternoon going over my designs and she is very pleased with my choices. I like her and would like to invite her over the house for dinner this week.”
I caught myself getting ready to hint that Steph should become a client and try to give up smoking, when I remembered that we were trying to be pleasing to each other. I replied “Sounds interesting. I would enjoy meeting her and having her come over to dinner. Set it up whenever you want her to come over. How did she get started on that career path?”
Before I could answer, Val joined us. No one would ever accuse Val of wearing suggestive clothes or preparing for the Miss America contest. She was wearing a simple black dress that didn’t show too much above the ankle, high top, unadorned with any jewelry except for some small ear-rings, and a faint touch of lipstick. Her hair had been re-combed into the same tight pulled back fashion. If I didn’t know her, I would have guessed that she was Amish. I saw her coming and pulled out a chair “Hi, Val, We are waiting on the new client. What would you like to drink?”
“Hello John—Steph! I haven’t been here in a long time. I don’t go out much any more. Just a to-to-tonic water for now. I like that dress Steph.” she said as she sat down.
“I just bought it. You can borrow it anytime you want to wear it. All of my clothes fit you.” Steph said.
Before I realized that I was putting my foot in my mouth, I uttered “Except for the bras.”
Steph glared at me for hinting that Val’s boobs were bigger and that she didn’t have any boobs. Val tried to hide a smile and change the subject “What is our new client like. Does she really have a doctorate in ps-psychology?”
“I asked the same question. Yes and she specialized in hypnotic therapy. She told me that when she was a kid, she had ran away from home because she was having problems getting along with her family and wound up in San Francisco. She was working at temporary jobs as receptionist or secretary and went to a temporary placement with a hypno-therapist. He was a much older man and she enjoyed working for him. When her temporary time was up, he asked her to stay on. With his assistance, she returned to school part time and soon became his assistant. After she got her certification, he helped her set up her own business. She didn’t like the San Francisco climate and wanted to move to a more pleasant climate. So she packed up and moved here. She asked me to go jogging with her tomorrow morning and then we will spend the rest of the day going over the design specifications and budget considerations.” she said.
“You are going jogging. You! The woman that has never exercised a day in her life.” I laughed.
“Yes. John, don’t laugh at me but I have felt bad about my appearance for some time. I am getting fat. I need to do something to lose this weight and to stay in shape. I have to either start exercising or quit eating completely because my body is starting to spread out. I don’t want to be a blimp. So when she asked me to join her, I leaped at the chance. After we finish dinner, I am going to go buy some jogging clothes and shoes.” she said.
At that moment, a young beautiful woman entered the room and glanced around. Then she smiled and started walking toward our table. This could not be Doctor Baker. I had built an image of a middle-aged woman with gray hair that dressed like Val and looked like the sex therapist on TV—Dr. Ruth. This woman was in her early thirties, very attractive, long flowing blond hair, a very shapely body with plenty of cleavage and boobs being displayed by the low cut dress. The dress had a nice split that displayed an attractive set of legs under the dress. She was a little taller than the average woman, but she was very attractive.
“Amanda, did you have any problems finding the place?” said Steph as she rose. I quickly rose also and saw from the corner of my eye that Val was also surprised by the unexpected appearance of Doctor Baker.
“No, it was very easy. You give good directions.” Then she looked at me and smiled and said “Hi. I am Amanda. You must be John. I have been looking forward to meeting you all day.” and she turned to Val “And you are Val. I like the designs that you have done so far. You are a really talented artist. When we finished this project, I would like to commission you to do some original art work for my house. I feel very fortunate in finding a team such as you and Steph to work upon my office project. But enough of work talk, I came out here to meet you in a social environment.”
We sat down and the waiter approached the table. After we ordered a new round of drinks, I asked “How do you like our little town. It must seem quite after living in San Francisco.”
She laughed and replied “I couldn’t wait to get away from there and to get some place where I could live a normal life. I would have gone to a much smaller town but it takes a certain size city to provide enough people to support my occupation.”
Val quietly asked “I saw on your bu-business card that you specialize in Hypno-therapy and GD. What is GD?”
“Hypno-therapy is my favourite vocation but helping people stop smoking doesn’t really pay the bills. I belong to the International Gender Dysphoria Association and specialize in assisting people that have Gender Dysphoria; which is providing clinical treatment for gender dysphoric persons. In this city alone, there are 3,000 to 6,000 adults that consider themselves to be valid candidates for sex re-assignment surgery. Prior to having the surgery, the candidate must have appropriate clinic analysis and follow a prescribed clinical review and life-style study. You have one of the better centers in the Western hemisphere that offers surgical sex reassignment to persons having a multiplicity of behaviour diagnoses. So my main source of income is based upon referrals from the surgeons, who want me to do the clinical and therapy portion of their treatment. Possession of an academic degree in a behavioural science does not necessarily attest to the possession of sufficient training or competence to conduct psychotherapy, psychological counselling, nor diagnosis of gender identity problems. It is required that persons recommending sex reassignment surgery or hormone therapy should have documented training and experience in the diagnosis of a broad range of psychological conditions. License or certification as a psychological therapist or counsellor does not necessarily attest to competence in sex therapy and I am documented as one of the experts in this field. " she said.
I laughed and said “Transsexuals. I find it hard to believe that there are that many in this city. If anyone had asked me to guess, I would have said possibly ten to twenty.”
She gave a big smile and said “They are everywhere. Some people try to hide it and ignore it. Some people try to live between both worlds. Some people try to cross over but their overall appearance gives them away. Most people have the image of a Transsexuals as being a football player wearing a dress and walking as if he’s got a permanent hard-on between his legs. About half of the Transsexuals are able to pass for the other sex and a good percentage of those are almost undetectable. For all that we know now by looking around this room, five to ten of the people that we see, could have a strong desire to be the opposite sex. And the odds are that at least one person in this room has either investigated sexual re-assignment surgery or has dressed as the opposite sex. There are a lot of men that want to be women and have attempted that lifestyle. There are also a lot of women that want to be men. My job is to determine who can really live as the other sex and to help them obtain that goal if possible. If they cannot live as their desired sex, then my job is to help them adjust to the life that they do not want.”
“Sorry, but I had never considered it or thought about it. How did you get started in this field?” I asked.
“I was young, naive and starving. I didn’t know what I wanted to do and was looking for anything. You don’t know how close I came to becoming a brick-layer. But I went to work temporary for someone that is an expert in this field. I liked the work and stayed. He assisted me with my education and expanded his practice when I graduated. The field is relatively new and it is quite interesting work.” she replied.
Steph was lighting up another cigarette and I frowned as I glanced at her “After you get your office started, I am going to strongly encourage Steph to take your smoking cessation therapy.”
Before anyone could say anything, Steph blurted “Damn you. Get off my back about smoking. I will quit when I want to quit. And not because you want me to adapt to your perception of what you want your wife to be and to do to you. Quit harping about my smoking.”
The table went quite. Val tried to change the subject by saying “I haven’t be-been here in a long time. Their ro-roast beef used to be de-delicious. Have you had the opportunity to ex-explore the mall yet?”
Amanda picked up on what Val was attempting and said “I love roast beef. And I need to go shopping. Would you like to go with me and show me some of your favourite places?”
Val felt a little agitated now that the attention was turned to her “I do-don’t shop much. I have no ta-taste when it comes to my own cl-clothes. St-steph has perfect taste in cl-clothes and would be better for you.”
Steph glared at me and said “Excuse me for losing my temper but John knows how to expose my temper and he picks on my sore spots too frequently.” Then she tried a forced smile and changed her voice timbre as she uttered “I would love to go shopping with you and Val. I have been trying to get Val to update her wardrobe for some time and need your help to get her to wear something besides the Mother Hubbard clothes that she wears all the time.”
Val slowly bowed her head and Amanda picked up on it also. She glanced at me quickly and said “Sounds like we are going to have fun together. And what do you do for a living John?”
“I am part owner of a food distribution company. Everyone has to eat and we try to find ways to get a share of that market. Ah, here comes our waiter. Has everyone decided what they would like to eat?” I said, glad that the waiter was ready to take our order.
We finished the rest of dinner talking about other things that had occurred to us lately. I brought everyone up-to-date on the latest thing that LayWanda had done and how pissed I was at her. Steph talked about how she was going to change her wallpaper contractor because she didn’t like the way that the contractor finished up the last job. Val sat there like a bump on a log and didn’t say much, even though we kept trying to bring her into the discussion. After we finished eating, we said our good-bys and I drove Steph back home, with both us being quite. She hopped in her car to go shopping for jogging clothes.
I was burnt out and went to bed early. I was sleeping soundly, when I felt and smelt her slip into bed beside me. I was glad that she didn’t want sex tonight because I did not want to have sex with her.
When I woke up the next morning, she was gone already. I dressed and went to work. LayWanda came in about eleven and told me that I was right. She had screwed up and almost lost us a big customer. She didn’t apologize but came as close to it as she could. Then she left to go shopping. I was thankful because she couldn’t do any damage while she was out of the office and it was her own money that she was spending.
As I was getting ready to leave work, Val called “Hi, John. Steph called and is wo-wo-working late with Amanda. She wants you to meet her for dinner at 8 at DeLauren’s Restaurant. I am going close up and go home to feed Ca-Ca-Casper.”
“Ok. Thanks for letting me know. Do you know why she is still working on the design specifications? Usually she has finished the design by now and is working on lining up the contractors. Well, she will probably tell me when she sees me. Seeing as how I have to time to kill before my dinner date, how would you like to meet me at Harmon’s for an after work drink? I am buying.” I asked.
“Thanks, but I ha-ha-haven’t been to a ba-ba-bar in months except for last night. I feel very insecure so-so-sometimes in a bar. So I don’t go out very often. Thanks for asking.” she responded.
I told her that I understood and would help her anyway that I could. We hung up and I spent some more time at work before I left to meet Steph at the restaurant.