Trust Machines - Infidelity

Carlo smiled wearily. Home at last, at the end of the week.  He opened the door, swung it wide, and called out his usual, “Mi Amore!  I am home!”

Somewhat unusually, this was met with a stinging slap across his face.  Before the second one could land, Carlo grabbed the wrist it was attached to.  “What the hell, Ginny?”

“You lying bastard.  You’ve been cheating on me!” she screamed.

Carlo dropped his wife’s wrist in shock at the accusation, and got another slap for his inattention.  This time he grabbed both wrists.  “That hurt!  But the accusation hurts more.  I have ever been true to you, mi Carina.”

“Judy saw you last weekend.  With a big-boobed blonde bimbo.  She even sent me a picture!  Let go and I’ll show you.”

Cautiously, Carlo let his wife go, keeping his hands up in a defensive posture.  “She must have made a mistake...”

“No mistake.  See?”  Ginny shoved her phone in his face, and the picture was very clear.  There was Carlo, dressed to the nines as always, dark hair slicked back like he used to do when he was on the prowl.  Across from him sat the aforementioned blonde bimbo, and the way they were looking at each other made it clear they were in love, or at the very least, in lust.

Carlo started to laugh, big, lung-clearing peals.  Ginny looked hurt.  “This is funny to you?”  She wound up for another slap, but Carlo caught that one.

“Don’t you remember?  Last weekend, my birthday.  Your gift to me was a trip to the Venn Machine, so I could make you into any woman I wanted.  Look at her, Cara.  Do you not see she has your face?”

“Oh.  My.  God.”  Ginny stared at the blonde, so different from her usual straight mousy hair and less than generous curves.  “That’s what I looked like?”

“How could you not know?  You spent an hour in front of the mirror.  Not that I blame you, you were mmm... bellissima.  I could have stared at you all weekend.”

“You did stare at me all weekend.  It was a little embarrassing at first, then it was...”  She looked down at the floor contritely, with a faint blush on her cheeks.  “I really must make amends for the slap.”

“Slaps.”

“Would letting you make me your dream girl again be...”

Carlo scooped her into a hug and a fierce kiss.  Ginny figured that was a yes, and melted into his embrace happily.

“One weekend for each slap,” he said, after they came up for air.

Ginny nodded eagerly.  “Yes!  I mean, I accept your terms.  Going to take your first one now?”

Carlo reopened the door, and gestured Ginny through grandly.  “Your chariot awaits.”

At the Venn Machine, Carlo hesitated.  “I’m not going to get slapped again over this, am I?”

Ginny giggled.  “Maybe.  I’ll owe you another weekend for each one.”

He grinned.  “Then slap away, my dear.  Still.  I’d rather not spread terrible rumours about us seeing other people...  I suppose I can restrain myself so your friends will still see you as you.”

“Foo.  That’s no fun...  Oooh, what if I changed you too?  Someone dark and foreign.”

“And handsome, no doubt.”

“Of course!” she grinned.  “My Fabio.”

“Mi gattino.  Have your fun, then.  I look forward to meeting your dream lover.”

As Carlo played with the representation of his wife’s form, the last term of endearment he’d used stuck in his mind.  “Gattino...”  A bubble there, and...  Well, that was interesting.  Very cute.

“Ready, mi gattino?” he asked.

“I think so, Fabio.”

The emerged, and examined their handiwork.  Neither could be mistaken for their original selves.  Carlo had bronzed skin, shoulder-length wavy hair, and rippling muscles.  He posed for Ginny with a smile, but couldn’t take his eyes off of her.  She wasn’t quite as top-heavy as he’d made her last time, or as thin.  She was trim, muscular, with just the right amount of padding in all the right places.  Her lean, lithe looks were complemented by the slightly feline cast to her face.  Her nose had a hint of a triangular pad on the front, her eyes were slitted and green, and two cute triangular ears peeked up out of her hair.

Ginny’s ears twitched, and she turned to the floor-length mirror the mall had installed beside the Venn Machine.  “Oh my...  I’m a kitty!”

“Mi gattino for real.”

Ginny posed and twirled in front of the mirror.  “This is incredible.  I feel so strong, so flexible.  Is it really me?”

“For the weekend, at least.”

Ginny turned to look at Carlo, and nearly swooned.  It was mostly an act, but being caught by his strong arms made her heart flutter and her breath grow short.  “This feels so naughty.  If you were to put on an accent, I’d almost forget you were my husband.”

Carlo grinned, and set her on her feet.  He summoned up the accent he always acquired whenever they visited his parents.  “Ciao, bella.  My apologies for nearly knocking you over.  Can I buy you a drink to make amends?”

Ginny could barely breathe.  She nodded, and let this hunk of a man lead her to the nearest bar.  They made small talk as if they had only just met, marveling anew at the tastes they had in common.  Carlo did cheat and order her favourite bellini without asking her, and grinned at her reaction to it.

They drank, they dined, they danced.  She called him Fabio.  He called her Kitty, when he didn’t just call her mi gattino.  They walked down familiar streets made new by their company.  He paid for a hotel room, which they turned into their illicit love-nest.

Ginny wished it would never end.  It was so very hard to go back to work on Monday as plain old Ginny.  She missed the ears the most, for all they’d gotten her stares from everyone they met.  She even missed the stares.

That night, when Carlo got home, Ginny met him at the door with a kiss instead of a slap.

“Mi gattino.  That is a much better way to come home.”

Ginny trembled against him.  “I want to be your gattino again.  Please?  I talked to my boss at work, and she said it would be OK.”

“That sounds lovely.  But I can’t go to work as Fabio, the biometric scanners at the entrance...”

“Don’t care.  Fabio was fun to play with, and I would like to go dancing with him again.  But it’s you I love.”

“As you wish, my love.  I cannot object, you were lovely as mi gattino, and I will cherish you either way.”

On the way to the mall, Ginny got a text message that made her giggle.  “Judy says thanks.”

“Ah?”

“I told her about what we did last weekend.  And this one.  She talked her sweetie into it, and is... very happy with us for suggesting it.  In her words, ‘bang him for me, will you?’”

“Then we shall do just that.  Once you are my pretty kitty again.”

Ginny purred happily.  “I wonder how hard it would be to change my name to Kitty.”

“You’d do that?”

“Just... thinking.  Call me Kitty instead of Ginny for a while, we’ll see if I like it.”

“Of course, Kitty, mi gattino.”

And they lived happily ever after.  Until Thanksgiving, when they had to go visit Kitty’s parents and explain why their daughter had fur and a tail.