The last year had changed Benjamin. Since the kidnapping he was a new person, turning his life around. It was hard without Lauren in his life, but he knew she’d be back. Her body was in hospital having her mind slowly reconstructed. It was an experimental procedure so there was no telling how long it would take. He never went to see her and only wanted to do so when she was awake.



While he waited for that day, Benjamin focused on himself. He quit his job, moved to a new house, and began to take better care of his body. He now worked closely with Raymond Jones, the CEO of the company Lauren works for. He had met the man after the ordeal he and Lauren went through at the hands of Nicholas Potts. Raymond had been like a second father to Benjamin during this time and took him under his wing while he was still head of R&D.



Raymond was the one to encourage Benjamin in his change in lifestyle. First was the name, Ben was too casual, Benjamin was more formal and helped him go forward quicker in his new career. As Raymond himself said, when he was Ray he was just the nerdy tech and was often overlooked. When he started using Raymond his bosses started listening to him more. Upper management liked formality.



After the change with his preferred name, Benjamin changed his look to match. Instead of wearing shorts and casual T-Shirts, he now wore button up shirts and ties. He also grew a beard, he kept neatly trimmed and had his haircut short. He also started to work out daily and began to buff up. His past self would hardly recognise himself anymore.



Because Benjamin had been gone for a month, he had missed the lease renewal on the townhouse and had been evicted due unpaid rent. Lauren and Ben were looking to move eventually anyway, so he just took this opportunity to do so. With Lauren’s thirty-thousand dollar bonus and the payout from the company, Benjamin was able to place a down payment on a house. It was in a nice neighborhood with much better security. He did regret not consulting with Lauren first but they had an idea of the home they wanted. He also wasn’t home much anymore so it was a blank canvas for her to alter as she chose.



Life was going great for Benjamin. The only thing missing was his wife.

* * * * *

“Good morning, Tamara.” Benjamin greeted Raymond’s ever faithful assistant.



“Good morning, Benjamin,” Tamara gave her usual eerie smile. “Mr Jones will be with you shortly, why don’t you take a seat.” She stood up and gestured towards the couch outside his office. “I’ll go make you a coffee while you wait.”



Tamara has come out of her shell since Benjamin first met him. She used to be cold and dismissive. But now she was extremely polite and eager to please. She also changed up her looks as well. She used to have Dark Brown hair, often tied in a professional bun. Her outfit was usually a gray blouse with a modest skirt. Now she had long and wavy bleach blonde hair, applied more makeup and wore brightly coloured dresses that showed off her figure as well as ample cleavage.



Benjamin had once questioned Raymond about the change in Tamara’s personality as well as dress standards. Raymond told him that he wasn’t fond of her new style. She had changed to attract the attention of important people, it was a way to catch them off guard. Raymond had insisted he tried to discourage her from dressing this way but he could only say so much before he’d get into trouble for making comments and that it was ultimately her choice. The important thing was she got her job done.



“Here you go,” Tamara handed him the cup of coffee before returning to her desk. She kept smiling at him as she went back to her work.



Watching Tamara, Benjamin had to agree that he preferred the old version too. There was just something unauthentic about how she acted. Not many people looked into her eyes anymore, as they found their attention drawn elsewhere. Benjamin did though and behind them, she looked dead inside. He admitted he missed her fiery gaze, even if he found himself at the end of it.



“Mr Jones will see you now,” Tamara said as she answered her intercom.



Benjamin got up off the couch, still holding his coffee. The power walked past Tamara as quickly as he could. He knew that she was watching him, smiling as always.



“Ah, Benjamin.” Raymond smiled as he entered the glass doors of his office. “Please take a seat.” He guided Benjamin to the seat in front of his desk. He then walked around and took a sip of coffee from his favorite mug.



“You called for me?” Benjamin stated as he put his own mug down on the coaster in front of him. He didn’t know why he had been summoned as he was up to date on all his work and wasn’t due to present anything for a while.



“I did,” Raymond smiled and nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about your work. I think you’ve been pushing yourself too hard, you need to take a break.”



Benjamin stared at Raymond for a moment not sure what to say. Surely this wasn’t something a CEO would ask for. Though Raymond was more than his boss, he was his friend.



“I appreciate the sentiment Raymond,” Benjamin began as Raymond took another sip of his coffee. Benjamin was used to this little quirk of his by now so continued to speak. “It’s just that, I…” He tried to think of what to say about why he wanted to keep working. “I love working here. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I wasn’t working.”



Raymond put down his mug and gave Benjamin a huge grin. “What about visiting your wife?”



“I’m sorry after my parents I promised myself I wouldn’t see anyone in that position, not even Lauren.” Benjamin paused as he processed what he had just said. He had explained this to him before. He also noticed Raymond’s smile. “Wait… you mean…” Benjamin was at a loss for words. “She’s awake? When? H..how is she? Is she…?”



“I was informed she woke up this morning. She’s a little confused and isn’t talking just yet so I can’t say if we got it right.” Raymond opened a draw on his desk and slid the airline ticket to him. “You fly out first thing tomorrow.” Raymond took another mouthful of his coffee. “So go home and pack your things and I’ll see you next week.”



“Thank you so much!” Benjamin leapt out of his chair and took the ticket. He practically ran out of the room in his excitement.



Raymond smiled as he stood up and grabbed Benjamin’s mug. He walked over to Tamara who wordlessly took both mugs. “He’s going to be so disappointed when he finds out that it’s not Lauren. He’ll beg me to make him a Doll so he can live out the rest of his life with his true wife.”



“Yes sir,” Tamara stood there motionlessly.



“It also appears that the mind transfer was successful, so it’s time for phase two.” Raymond grabbed Tamara’s chin and tilted her head to inspect it.



“Yes sir.”



“Your Doll is coming along nicely. But you were basically a walking robot already, so eager to please me.” He smiled as recalled what he had put Tamara through. “Because I’ll soon have you as a Doll, I don’t need you anymore. There also doesn’t need to be two of you.”



“Yes sir.”



“So how about you sign your body over to my mother, it’s the right thing to do.” Raymond let go of her chin and took a step back.



Tamara wanted to scream. She had been Raymond’s loyal assistant for years, and this was her reward. Being controlled like a puppet, while still being fully aware. She knew Raymond Jones was an evil man, she just never thought she’d be on the other end of his schemes.



“Yes, Mr Jones. I… I would be honored to hand over my body to your mother.”