Eve was snapped out of her drowsy daydream barely in time to hit the button for her stop. Once the bus pulled up to the stop she walked past the driver on her way out the front door and saw the look he gave her. Feeling guilty she offered a quick apology and hastily slipped out the door.
Once off the bus she took a deep breath of the cool morning air, turned the music up in her headphones and started to walk the last stretch of her morning commute. Walking along the same way she did every day her sleepy mind wandered off again. Deep down she knew she shouldn’t have agreed to take that extra shift at the bar the night before. But being able to eat anything other than noodles for the next week, made the sleep deprivation worth it. Even if the bad tips last night meant that whatever she could afford, would still be served with noodles.
After about a 10 minutes walk she’d made it to the door of ‘Beth’s Fashion’. The biggest clothing store in town, and her day job. She was almost an hour late walking through the door. But she knew that Beth, yes that Beth, wouldn’t mind as long as it was not her turn to open. And it wasn’t.
Beth was the best boss eny one could ever have asked for. And definitely the best Eve had ever had. The first time she had been late Beth had just told her not to do it again. No lecture and no threats, just that. The second time she had done it Beth had asked her to come to her office, sat her down and asked why.
So Eve had told her the ‘daytime soap opera’ like sobb story her life had become. How her ex had faked her signature and taken out credit cards in her name, stuck her with a massive debt and then lodging his stupid ass in prison. Leaving her to pay it all off on her own. And how she could barely afford to eat with the money she was making. So she would pick up extra shifts at a bar at night, even if that left her so tired she was barely able to get out of bed in the morning.
Once Eve had finished her story she had been sure she’d be fired. Or more accurately she had been from the moment she had been called into the office. But Beth had just sat there quietly listening to her talking with that stupidly good poker face of hers not saying a word. After a long silence Beth cleared her throat and then said the last thing Eve had ever expected to hear.
“I am afraid I can’t pay you more than I already do.”
“What? No, I was not…” Eve started to say. But Beth raised her hand so slammed her mouth shut with an audible click of teeth.
“I can’t pay you any more than I do,” she started again. “But you are a good and honest employee, when you are here.”She winked and smiled at Eve as she said that.” And for some reason I kind of like you.So what I will do is see between the fingers if you come in late. As long as it is not too late or it’s your turn to open. If it is your turn, call me and we can talk about it. Alright?”
Eve was stunned and all she could do was nod in slack jawed amazement.
That had been a few months ago now. And not only had Beth let her come in late. She had also helped her with some extra hours now and then. It had helped Eve a lot. Money was still tight. But not nearly as bad as it had been.
As she walked in the door Carrol looked up when she heard the bell on the door and they gave each other a quick wave. She quickly weaved her wave through the racks in the main store and ducked through the door at the rear leading into the back room.
In the employee break room she put away her coat and bag in her locker. Picked her coffee muck out of the dishwasher and filled it from the pot. Then just as she inhaled the lovely life giving aroma and was about to head out to join Carrol out in the store Beth poked her head out of her office door.
“Hey Eve, you got a sec!”
Eve tore her attention from her coffee and turned around.
“Yea, boss?” She called back.
“Do you want to stay late and redo the window display tonight after closing? It would give you an hour or two of overtime. Carol was supposed to do it but apparently something came up.”
That was not what Eve wanted to hear today of all days. She was so tired already. But she thought about it. Tomorrow was Saturday so she did not have to open until 10 so she would get a few extra hours of sleep. Making up her mind she exhaled a sigh and called back.
“Sure thing. Thanks boss.”
The rest of the day passed reasonably painlessly. Apart from a pair of bitchy women walking in acting as if they owned the plaze. One of which insisted she could not possibly be a Medium. She had always been a Small so obviously it was Eve’s fault the shirt did not fit. Eve just stood there practicing her own version of Beth’s mask like poker face, while on the inside imagining how it would feel to feed the offending skirt to her. All in a day's work of a retail worker.
Then finely the minute hand inched itself up to the top of the clock face one final time and it was closing time. At last.
“Isn't it funny how it always seems slower on the way up?” Eve mused to herself as she locked the door behind Caroll. Who she thought scurried away a little too happily, leaving Eve to take care of her display work.
She didn’t blame her though. Caroll had told her that boyfriend was coming into town unexpectedly and so she wanted to spend time with him instead of the store mannequins. And she knew Eve wanted the hours, and actually rather enjoyed working with the mannequins.
Even so Eve knew that the faster she got it done, the faster she could go home and fall unconscious. Hopefully into bed, although that might not be a requirement at this point she thought. So as soon as she’d locked the door she had picked up the first two of the four mannequins and carried them into the store room one under each arm. Beth had a strict policy about never changing the mannequins in the window. Ruins the illusion she said.
As tired as she was Eve had a hard time staying focused. So while she started to undress the first plastic dummy she found herself taking to it.
“Hello, I am Eve and I will be m’lady’s ladies maid this evening. Would m’lady care to disrobe? My goodness, how scandalous, m’lady is not wearing any under garments. Quite unseemly. Not that you need it, eh. It's not as if you have anything to hide and those sweater puppies never knew the kiss of gravity right?”
To punctuate her last few words she clapped her palm on one of the mannequins' smooth plastic breasts.
She folded and hung the used clothes on hangers and fetched the outfit Beth had picked out for it to wear.
“Ready for a makeover m’ lady?”
She kept at it until she had changed the outfits of all of them except for the last one. It was wearing a sleek looking black dress and Eve did take a moment to admire it before pulling it off the mannequin.
“Oh my, that is one pretty number you are wearing there. Bet you are sorry to let this one go, yea’.”
She pulled the dress over the mannequin's head before going on. “I must admit, I’m kind of jealous of you dummies. You always get to wear the newest pretty clothes and,” she is interrupted by a jaw cracking yawn. “And, you don’t need to sleep either.”
Eve started to put the black dress on its hanger when she saw something stuck to the collar.
“What's this? Looks like a label.”
She held it up and turned so she could read the text on it.
“‘Female Mannequin, standard size. Property of Beth’s Fashion’. Heh, look girl, I got your ID.” She said and waved the small sticky backed label in front of the unseeing glass eyes of the mannequin. And then on an impulse she stuck the label on her own chest just below the collarbone.
“There, I stole your identity. Now I am the mannequin you and you can be me,” she said before breaking down laughing.
“My goodness I am losing it. Let’s get you dressed and back in the window so I can go home and pass out.”
Eve quickly redresses the mannequin and replaces it in the window with her three friends. Made a quick trip to collect her things from her locker before heading home. But as she turned out the light in the brake room she could see that the light was still on in Beth's office. Beth usually never stayed this late. Eve thought she must have left the light on. And having by necessity learned to save money wherever she could she walked over to turn it of. But saw that Beth was still there working at her computer.
“Oh, hey boss. What are you still doing here?” Eve asked.
Beth turned away from her screen and looked up at her.
“Hum? Oh, Ihave just some budget stuff I needed to work out.”
“Oh I see. Nothing serious I hope.” Eve asked, a little worried. Her own financial situation always made her worry whenever someone spoke of money.
“No. Not to worry it will be alright.” Beth said. And then she squinted her eyes at Eve. “What is that? You seem to have something stuck on your chest?”
Eve laughed. “Oh just me being silly. It’s a label for one of the mannequins. It came off with the dress and I thought I would steal its identity.”
Beth did not laugh. Instead she looked at Eve with a strange look on her face. And it threw Eve off a little.
“Soooo, I’m done with the displays so I am going now.”
“Yes you do that.” She said, still with that look in her eyes and with a hint of a smile growing too. “I think I might just have found some wiggle room in here” she said thought fully. “I’ll see you tomorrow, good night.”
“Ok,Night.” Eve said and left for home.
After another almost too long bus ride, she finally got home. She did not waste any time and shed her clothes and just let them fall where they may on her way to her bedroom. She took a quick detour to the bathroom, then fell onto her bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow. The mannequins label still stuck to her chest, completely forgotten.
Come morning the alarm on her phone woke her up. In Eve’s opinion several hours too soon. But ignoring her thoughts on the matter it mercilessly kept making noise all the same.
“Shut up, you infernal piece of… Snooze dame you, snoooooze!
But as she reached with her hand to make it stop she realised that to add insult to injury she had left her phone in her bag. So she had to drag herself out of bed and find it before she could make it stop. And once she had she thought that since her morning was ruined anyway she might as well get going. So instead of falling back in bed, she headed for the shower.
The initial hit of cold before the water warmed up did help to wake her up a little more. And letting her soapy hands move all over her body always made her feel nice. While doing that she did notice that her legs felt a little prickly though. But decided she did not have time to deal with that if she was going to be in time to work. She’d just to wear jeans today.
When she got out of the shower she saw the label still stuck to her chest. Proclaiming her to be a ‘standard sized mannequin’. She snorted out a laugh remembering her sleep deprivation induced antics and reached up to remove it. But with her hand half way there she… changed her mind. Shaking her head as if turning to dislodge an unsettling thought but then decided she liked it and left the label where it was. Instead she reached for a towel to dry herself off.
After getting dressed she put on a bit of makeup while her morning coffee was brewing. Poured the coffee in a thermos mug and then went out the door. She was making good time this morning, she hardly even had to run to catch the bus.
Since it was her turn to open, she thought she would be the first one in. But when she unlocked and stepped through the door she saw the lights were on. While she headed to the back she tried to remember if she’d turned them off the night before. But when she got to the staff room she saw that the light was on in Beth’s office and breathed a sigh of relief. And before she put her things away she poked her head in.
“Morning, you are here early.”
Beth looked up from her computer screen at the sound of her voice. She looked tired to Eve.
“Hu? Oh, good morning Eve. Yes, I still have a lot of paperwork to get through,” She minimized the window she had been working in before continuing. “I saw the display on my way in. Good job with that.”
“Thank you. I was happy to help. And I had a nice chat with the girls. It felt like we really got to know each other,” Eve said, ending with a laugh.
“Did you now,” Beth said and her eyes flicked down to the label showing through the neck of Eve’s shirt. “It is good you are getting friendly since it looks like I might have another job for you by the end of next week that involves the ‘girls’.”
Eve saw the movement of Beth's eyes and felt herself blush a bit in embarrassment and had the urge to be somewhere else.
“Right, um, I better go and mind the store.”
She quickly stashed her bag, went out and flipped the old fashioned sign in the window to ‘Open’. Then she found herself some busy work to have something to do while she waited for the first customer of the day. The work did keep her hands busy but it did let her mind wander. And it wandered back to the embarrassing moment when Beth had seen the silly mannequin label she had left on her chest. Not wanting anyone else to see it she decided to try to remove it again. But the second the thought had finished forming in her mind and she lifted her hand to pull it off, she faltered. She felt an odd sensation in her head and ended up rubbing at her eyes instaid.
The odd sensation passed a moment later. And again, thinking about it, she realised she kind of liked having the label stuck there after all. Proclaiming to any one that saw it she was one of the store's mannequins. Not that she was a mannequin of course. She knew that, and so would everyone else that saw it. But the thought made her smile to herself anyway.
Eve was standing at the counter in full view of the store while lost in her thoughts. So she didn’t notice Carol coming in. But as she did she casually looked around, her eyes just sliding over Eve and somehow not seeing her. This made her think Eve had left the store unattended so she cursed and hurried into the back to put things away while wondering where Eve had got to.
Eve shook off her day dream as she heard Carolls hurried footsteps and wondered why she was in such a hurry. And a minute later when she came back out she sounded annoyed when she spoke to Eve.
“Where were you!? You can't just leave like that.”
“What do you mean?” Eve asked her confused. “I have been right here since I opened.”
“No you weren’t. I couldn’t see you when I came in.”
“I don't know what to tell you. I was standing right here. Did you get your coffee this morning hun? You don't seem quite awake.”
Carol's brow furrowed a little.
“I… No, I didn't. But I could have sworn you weren't here.”
“Believe me, I wish I weren’t. I’d much rather still be in bed.” Eve said with a laugh.
Carol was about to say something else but was interrupted by the bell on the door as their first customer came in asking for help finding ‘the like totally best hot date dress ever’.
The rest of the day unfolded pretty much like any other Saturday. Except for a few times when customers would browse the racks close to Eve, ignoring her but then ask Carol for help to find something. Once a customer even stuck their finger down the back of her shirt to fish out and look at the tag. When she turned to confront them for touching her they simply looked confused and walked away. That had never happened before. But once she calmed herself down she put it down to the person being a little touched and went back to work.
It was not until a few days later Eve was starting to realise something was really not as they should be. People seemed to notice her less and less. Walking by her on the way to ask someone else for help when she was working at the store. And when she was working at the bar patrons seemed more and more not to notice her. It even started to affect her tips. She was starting to get worried.
And then it was Friday morning. It started like any other morning. Alarm going off, Eve groaning into her pillow. After about a minute of contemplating calling in sick, or to say she quit, she admitted defeat and rolled out of bed and headed for the shower.
Surprisingly though, even if she would have liked to stay in her warm and comfy bed she wasn’t really that tired. And once she felt the warm water on her skin she did not even miss that too much. And as she soped herself up it felt even better than normal. Her skin was so sensitive and smooth under her fingers. It felt so good she let her hand slip in between her thighs. Her slick soapy fingers playing, rubbing and sliping inside. And soon her hips joined in and her other hand grabbed at her breast and she cooed in delight.
As she was coming down after a lovely orgasm she kept stroking the smooth skin of her sex. A little too smooth in fact. She remembered that she had not shaved in over a week. But there was no stubble, there was no stubble anywhere. She stopped breathing in shock for a second, because she realised she never shaved her pubic hair at all!
“What the hell!” She exclaimed the mellowness her orgasm had left her evaporating in a second.
She quickly rinsed off the last of the soap and jumped out of the shower. Still dripping wet she ran into the bedroom and stood in front of her full body mirror. She had not taken the time to really look at herself in a while. And at first everything looked the same, apart from the obvious lack of body hair. But then she started to notice things.
Looking for hair she also saw that her eyebrows looked immaculately plucked. And she had not done them for at least as long as she had neglected to shave her legs. And her skin was unusually clear too. She let her eyes move down from her face to her body, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She thought her breasts seemed to sit a little higher on her chest than usual and her nipples seemed notecibly paler.
Concerned, she grabbed them in her hands. But they felt normal to her. Biting her lip nervously She kept looking. And when she reached her abdomen she saw another change. Her appendectomy scar was gone. And her belly button had gone from an innie to barely a dent in the middle of her tummy. And she looks overall a little more toned. Like someone had almost sculpted to an idealised version of her body.
“What the fuck is happeningto me.” She whispers to herself really freaked out and she feels the panic building. But then she suddenly felt an unnatural calm come over her and she calmly takes in the changes.
“Hum, it's not like anything has changed for the worse. But how, why?.” And then her eyes fell on the Mannequin’s label still stuck to her chest. And she starts to wonder. But then shakes her head.
“No, that can't have anything to do with it. Can it? It is just a sticker?” She says to herself. Her musings get cut short as her eye catches a glimths of the watch on her phone.
“Shit, I’m going to be late!”
She quickly dries herself off, grabs a dress and quickly pulls it on before rushing out the door. And in her rush it is not until she is sitting down on the bus that she realizes she forgot to put on underwear. And for the first time she is grateful for people's strange tendency not to notice her as she spends the bus ride sitting with her legs tightly closed.
After getting off the bus and a brisker than normal walk Eve finally walks through the door at work. There are a few customers milling about so she heads straight for the door to the back room. But once she is in the back she finally stops and breathes a sigh of relief.
She stands there for a minute letting her stress levels lower a bit and for the unthtineth time since she left home mentaly berating herself for being so stupid as to forget to put on atlest a pair of panties before goign to work. Thankfully though she works at a clothing store. And just as she was about to go and find herself a pair to wear, she heard a voice behind her.
“Seriously, who left this in front of the door.!”
Eve tried to turn around, but some how she could not move!. And before she had any real chance to process that fact she felt someone put their hands on her waist. And pick her up!
“Ooof, this one is heavier than the others. That's odd.”
As Eve is lifted and moved she is overcome with an odd sense of calm and contentment, even a brief feeling of arousal. And it felt completely natural not to move. It all flooded her mind and it felt wonderful. She recognizes the voice as belonging to Jane, one of the part time girls.
“There now it is out of the way at least. But if I’m going to put it with the others I am going to have to get the dolly.”
As Jane leaves, giggling about something. Eve remains standing there, frozen in place. Her mind slowly reformed from the poodle of contentment it had melted into when Jane had picked her up. Several minutes pass, then an hour. Both Jane and Carol walk past and none of them spared her so much as a glance. And if not for the relaxing feeling of rightness still echoing through her mind she would have been in a blind panik.
Then she sees Beth come in. She expects her to just ignore her like the others. But instead she stops right in front of her and looks straight into her eyes and says.
“Good morning Eve. Having a good one?”
Eve tries desperately to answer her, to move, to twitch, to do something. But she still can't.
“Freaking out? I am sorry. I will explain what is going on. But first you need to breathe.
And as she said that Eve realised that she wasn’t. She desperately tried to suck in air and to her relieved surprise she felt air fill her lungs. And as the air moved in, she could move again. She was so surprised she collapsed on the floor.
“Oof. I can move again!” She exclaims.
“Of course you can. Now let's go to my office. I have been puting of to tell you something and I think that now you might actually believe me when I do.” Beth said cryptically.
Eve frowned at Beth, But the other woman would not meet her eye as she turned around and scurried off to her office. Yes, scurried as if she was afraid of her. She never thought she would see Big Bad Beth do anything of the sort. Now she was really getting worried.
Eve followed Beth into the office and she motioned for her to close the door. And once Eve did she started talking.
“Ok, so remember that night when you stayed late and redid the displays? When I was in here working on the budget?”
“Yea, I remember that.”
“Well, I was here so late because I could not get it to work. No matter how I tried I could not get things to come out in the black...”
“Are you going to have to close the store?” Eve blurted out worried. If she lost this job she was in big trouble.
“No.” Beth said but did not sound totally confident. “I think I found a way for almost everyone to keep their job. Diana was last in so I will have to let her go. But I think she already found a better job somewhere else and was just waiting for a good time to tell me.” Beth grew silent for a moment.
“You are killing me here, Beth.” Eve said really worried now.
“You… um. You are one of the biggest expenses to the company, Eve.” Beth blurted out. And then held up her hands to silence Eve when she was about to retort. “In a purely economical sense. With the amount of hours you do I could take in two part timers instead and actually save money. But I could not do that to you. You know that!”
“O… ok so I still have a job.” Eve squeeks out.
“Yes of course. I may have done some, shall we say, creative restructuring to make it work though.”
“I am not following, are you cutting my hours or something? I need those.”
“No… let's say I’m temporarily reassigning you,” Beth said and pointed at the label that could be seen in the deep neck of Eve's dress. “That same night you came into my office wearing that. And it gave me an idea of how to fix things. Did you ever try to take it off?”
Eve looked down at herself and the tag sitting there.
“No, I…” But as she thinks about it, repressed memories start to surface in her mind. “I mean yes, but I couldn’t. It's as if it dont want me to.”
“That is because it is part of a spell I cast on you.”
“A spell? As in magic? You gotta be joking,” Eve said, snorting a short laugh at how absurd that was. But was it though?
“Well not 5 minutes ago you were standing frozen in place out there not breathing yet where fine. And I bet you felt pretty good too,no? I did cast a spell that, amongst other things, would make that label true.”
Eve stops to think for a second.
“So all the strange things that's been happening to me the last week is because I am turning into a mannequin?”
Beth nodes.
“Yes.”
Eve shakes her head.
“Why? Just… why?”
“Because if you become a mannequin Eve will never have existed.”
Beth saw the alarmed expression on Eve's face and held up her hand as to say she was not done with her explanation yet.
“But as soon as you are back to being human again everything will be back to normal. Almost. And that “almost” is the important bit and why I cast the spell. You see, if you stay a mannequin for about a month, your old existence will start to fade. People you only met once or twice might not remember you. And things you are just loosely connected to you won't reconnect. Things like, oh let’s say, signatures on credit card applications…
And that is when it all connected in Eve's mind.
“So if this is really happening. I could be out of debt in a month?”
“If you stay a mannequin, yes. And then you can cut down on your hours and still have more money left over, and I don't have to fire you.”
“Stay a mannequin? You make it sound like I have a choice.”
“But you do. The changes are not done yet. It should be another day or two. But when they are you won't just be unable to move. You will actually be made of plastic. Just like your friends in the window. And all you have to do for it to happen is to breathe out as much as you can and hold your breath. But once you breath in again you will be back as you where”
“So just like that I would not be human any more?” Eve said, amazed.
“Well,” Beth said, squirming in her seat. “See, you're not exactly human now either. Mostly just on the outside really. I mean you are still you, but when was the last time you felt hungry or thirsty? And Jane said she moved you out of the way before I came and found you. How do you think she could do that? You probably only weigh about a 3rd of what you used to.”
Eve's mind was racing. When had been the last time she had eaten anything. She couldn’t remember. Monday night maybe? And she was not hungry or thirsty. In fact, she felt great. And she had said she was jealous of the mannequins when she put the label on hadn't she?
Beth sinks a little lower in her chair before asking in a careful tone.
“Sooooo, are you mad?”
Eve looks at her thinking. Then says
“Yes!. But mostly because you did not tell me!”
Beth grimaces at her words.
“Sorry. I just did not think you would believe me. And it is totally reversible at any point. Apart from what is lost from the world weave if you stay a mannequin for too long.”
“Maybe lead with that next time.” Eve huffed.
“Sorry,” Beth said again.
“Stop saying that. I forgive you.”
Beth's face lit up as she heard her say that.
“Really?”
“Yes.” Now it was Eve’s turn to squirm a little in her seat. “As a matter of fact. If you would have asked me yesterday I might not have… But…”
“But…” Beth prompts
“But before, when Jane picked me up and stuff… That felt really good.”
Beth nodded with a grin on her face.
“Uhu I bet. That’s because you were seen and treated as what you are supposed to be.”
“Right,I see. Eh, any chance I can experience that again? Maybe soonish?” Before she had finished Eve’s face was turning red.
Beth laughed out loud. Finally breaking the last of the tension.
“Sure! Why don’t you go back out and stand where I found you and strike a nice pose. And I’ll tell Jane to put that mannequin she mentioned with the other spares.”
Eve got out of her seat as she said.
“Sounds like a plan. Then I’ll just...” She points awkwardly out the door before walking out. Hearing Beth’s chuckles behind her.
On her way back, Eve’s mind was still spinning as she was trying to get a hold of her situation. She knew in her heart that Beth had both of their best interests in mind. She had never been anything but straight with her. But she still had a hard time truly accepting what was happening. But she did know two things. If Beth’s scheme worked she would be debt free. And whatever had happened to her when Jane had picked her up… That had been incredible. So she decided to trust Beth and roll with it.
Having done that, once she got back to the spot where Jane had put her earlier she did what Beth had told her to. When thinking of a pose to hold, the first one she thought of was the pose of the mannequin she had taken the tag off of. And thinking that was strangely fitting she decided she would use it. So she posed herself with her hip cocked to one side with one hand hovering just above it and the other behind her head.
Then she mentaly steeled herself, and then breathed out. And just like that she froze in place again. But this time she was expecting it. And being ready for it made it a fundamentally different experience. Even though she was held rigid her muscles felt relaxed and comfortably warm. And with no panic to fight against it the feeling of rightness enveloped her mind. She felt wonderfully calm and relaxed and as if she was exactly where she was supposed to be at this moment.
She could hear Jane before she saw her. She came around the corner pulling the store's box dolly behind her, whistling some tune Eve as sure she knew but did not bother to try and remember.
Jane sets the dolly next to her and then grabs her around the waist to lift her on to it. And as she does Eve can feel the sense of rightness swell. Like it is just right for her to be moved around like this. Just like a mannequin would. And by the time Jane starts to wheel her off to join the other mannequins she knows she made the right decision.
Once next to the other spare mannequins Jane carefully lifts her off. And then without even stopping her whistling she starts to tug at Eve's dress. And a little bit of her old worries shine through the fog of contentment as she realises that they never store the mannequins with clothes on. And for the first time since she got on the bus that morning she was glad she only wore a simple dress and a pair of shoes.
Jane simply swung her arms up and pulled the dress over her head and tilted her to each side to remove her shoes before walking off with her things. They were both just over a week old and had both come from the store. So they would probably end up in the discount bin and be resold. She kept thinking of her clothes in an effort to not to think that she was standing around stark naked holding a mannequin pose.
But as her embarrassment started to build it was suddenly yet gently muffled by the now familiar sense of right and contentment. She was becoming a mannequin right? And this was how they stored the mannequins, how they stored her. Jane did not see her as human so no one else would either. She was just a thing to them. Just another mannequin… Why did those thoughts sound so good so…hot?
Some time later Beth came up to her.
“Hey Eve, are you ok?”
It took a little while for Eve to realise she was talking to her. She had sunk pretty deep into the mindset of the mannequin she did not realise she had a name for a bit. And then it took even longer for her to remember how to answer her. But she finally drew in her first breath for hours.
“Hey Beth, ya I’m fine. A little befuddled but fine.”
Beth released the breath she had been holding in.
“Oh good. So are you still ok with this?”
“Mmmhum”, Eve mumbles. Still feeling nice and relaxed until she realizes where she is. “Shit, where are Jane and Carol?”
Beth chuckles before putting a hand on her arm to calm her down and saying.
“Dont worry,they both went home an hour ago. You have been standing here for almost 12 hours.”
“Relay? It felt like an hour, tops.”
“I guess that is good. Standing around could get boring otherwise right? Anyway, you are already starting to look a bit shiny. I think if you freeze yerself again you will be made from plastic before morning.”
Eve almost surprised herself when she blurted out
“Awsome, can’t wait to join the girls in the window.”
Beth laughed then.
“And here I was worried you would want to back out or be kept in the back.”
“Don't you dare”, Eve said mock scowling at her. “It is strange. At first I was embarrassed thinking about standing around frozen for anyone to see. But then I realised that I am a mannequin now and that’s what I was made for. I know that some of that conviction is not really mine. But I think I like the feeling of knowing I was made for a purpose.”
Beth nodded once and said, “WEll if you are that sure.” And then walked up to the whiteboard nearby where they posted the work schedule for the week and erased Eve’s name on all her shifts.
“I guess I’ll speak to you in a month, Mannequin.”
“Sure thing Boss, I’ll be here”, Eve said, struck her pose, breathed out and froze.
Beth smiled at her one last time. Then she walked away. And a few moments later the lights went out.