Silence followed. Time passed. I had told Dana being inanimate led to a certain serenity. And it was true, my heart could not race, blood could not pound in my veins, adrenaline could not rage through my system, there was absolutely no sense of urgency in my mind about my predicament. I would not say I was calm. But I also was not worked up or anything even close to panicked. I could only look at the situation logically. The transformation would end eventually.
For what I presume was about five or six weeks, the only stimulus I felt was the occasion sound of a nearby locker opening and closing. Maybe a few voices calling out loudly to one another incoherently. But otherwise, it was pitch black, silent, empty, and timeless. Then it happened. The time expired on my transformation. I was now nearly naked in the back of a locked storage garage under a thin sheet. The other mannequins were pressed against me awkwardly and I had to pull myself to the floor where there was more room in order to get out from between them. I crawled out from under the sheet and some dust flew off it. Thankfully that dust was not in my hair.
"Help," I called out uselessly.
I needed to get to the door. Someone walking by might hear me banging on the door. Only problem was it was pitch black in here. And while I had vague sense of which direction the door was, there was a lot stuff piled up between me and the door. A lot of it had sharp corners, and I was wearing panties and a bra. Okay, that is two problems. And when the door opens I will need to explain why I am in the storage locker in my skivvies. Sigh. Okay, one problem at a time.
Goosebumps were rising all over my body as I shivered. Within minutes my bare feet were numb against the concrete floor. I tried wrapping them in the sheet but that just made walking dangerous. I was bruised in various places from bumping into stuff. My hand throbbed from getting caught between two pieces of metal somehow. And I had scrapes on my legs from climbing over a couple display cases.
Half a day must have gone by before I found the slatted door that could fold as it was lifted overhead. I banged on it for over an hour before getting too tired to bang. I was tired and hungry and cold and somehow fell asleep.
Someone fiddling with the padlock on the door woke me. I scooted back from the door just as it lifted up. I found it hard to focus in the fluorescent light of the hallway outside the locker.
"Amanda Holsten?" He asked.
I just nodded blinking in the seemingly harsh bright light.
He reached down and helped me stand up. And then he turned away from me as I was still nearly nude. "There must be something in the locker you can wear. Find something."
"Oh, thank you." I said, glad to turn away from the hallway lighting.
"Some friends of yours informed me that you might be in my storage locker. Something about having been Venned."
"Yeah. Um, why was the store closed? Where's Dana?"
"Well, Dana is in the hospital and when she got hurt she assumed you would run the store. But she did not tell anyone you were a mannequin at the time. Or actually she did and we all just thought she was delirious. Her other employee, Monica something, did not say anything about you being a living person."
"Figures. She never did like me." Amanda finished getting dressed. "You can turn around now."
My eyes were no longer blinded by the lights. As he turned back around I could finally get a good look at him. He was a handsome man, younger than Dana by probably a decade. He seemed confident and caring. I was staring at his eyes as a look of recognition played across his face. "You were the mannequin in the store window, weren't you?"
"Yes," I looked away. Did I blush? "But who are you? Is Dana all right?"
"I'm David Brooks. Dana's brother. Unfortunately, she had a severe head trauma and within days of the event she slipped into a coma. I'll take you over to the hospital if you'd like."
"Okay, but first I need a bathroom."
On the way to the hospital, we stopped by my apartment so I could put on my own clothes and find some shoes. Apparently the lease was due soon after Dana's accident so her brother decided to close the store rather than try to stay open with no one with the knowledge necessary to manage the store available. I was Dana's backup manager and they could not find me.
"How did you know how to find me today?"
"A woman named Michelle raised hell when she came to greet you at the store yesterday and found out the store was boarded up. When she was directed to me she was mortified to find out Dana had been injured and then asked what happened to you. That's when I found out where you were. I was almost expecting to find you were still a mannequin."
"Have you ever used one of the Venn machines?"
"Yes, but not for turning into an object. Were you aware this whole time?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I was very concerned when I was put into storage. Before that it was fun being in the store window. I highly recommend inanimate transformations. Not breathing, not feeling your heart pump, you don't appreciate how much they contribute to the human experience until they are gone."
"You recommend it after spending a month in a storage locker."
"Well, I don't recommend that part."
Dana was hooked up to a bunch of medical monitors. Otherwise she just seemed to be sleeping in the hospital bed. David told her about finding me and then I told him what had happened. Shortly a nurse shooed us out as visiting hours were ending.
David took me back to my apartment. On the way, he asked me out to lunch the next day to discuss reopening the store with me as manager. I said yes, of course.
Back at the apartment, Michelle and Mary asked me all about David. I told them I was far more interested in a long hot bath and some sleep. And they would be better off asking me after I see David for lunch the next day.
I got a bath and sleep but in the morning they pounced so I told them he was interested in reopening the store.
"Next time you need a mannequin you better come to me first," Michelle admonished.
"No problem," I said.
"Really?" Mary asked. "After Amanda's ordeal you would still do it?"
"Why not?" Michelle said. "This time we know enough to leave a detailed message saying some of the store merchandise is alive."
"And not to trust that Monica with the information."
Mary had a grin on her face. "You know," she began. "What if you had a special section of the store that was for clothing rental and it was stocked with Venned people?"
"That would be so cool," Michelle said with excitement. "Maybe I'm not you mannequin."
"I don't know," I said. "I'll bring it up when I talk to David."
* * *
Soft beeping sounds played steady rhythm. She was getting sick of them as she regained consciousness. Her eyes opened and the lights were so bright she closed them again. After a moment she could see a drab curtain and a tiled ceiling. The beeping was coming from some hospital equipment nearby. She was in a hospital bed. She croaked out the word "Hello?" as best as her dry throat could.
A voice said, "I think she woke up. Call Dr. Pierce." A nurse rushed up to the side of her bed. "Dana, can you hear me?"
Within a week of waking David brought Dana to the mall to see the new store.
"I wish you would tell me what the surprise is."
"Of course, you would, Dana," David said. "You could never stand being out of control, could you?"
"I just feel so bad about Amanda."
"Amanda has been running the store for a couple months now. She's fine."
"But you said she was in the storage locker for six weeks. It's all my fault."
"It's not your fault you were in car accident. Now stop." David said. "This way, dear."
"The store is that way."
"Not any more." David said, pointing the other direction. "Amanda insisted we move closer to the Venn machine."
"Why?"
"Patience, Dana, patience."
They arrived at the store. In the window were newer fashions than Dana remembered so it seemed Amanda was keeping up with recent trends. As they entered, a woman accompanying two other woman walked up to them and hugged David. "Hi, Dana," she said. "You're looking good. Do you remember me?"
Dana thought for a moment and then said, "Oh, your Amanda's roommate. I remember seeing you visit Amanda while she was ..." Seeing one of the other woman holding a receipt she paused.
"While she was the mannequin in the window." Michele finished the sentence. "Yes, I have to go. Can't keep the customer waiting."
"Customer?"
David chuckled and said, "Mind if we come watch, Michelle?"
"Not at all." Michelle continued escorting the two woman to the Venn machine. One of the woman looked at the receipt and set the time for the machine to 3 days. When the doors opened Michelle entered one side. The second woman then asked the customer, "Will you need help?"
"Would you mind?"
"Not at all," and the two entered the opposite side of the Venn machine.
"What's going on, David?" Dana asked.
"Well, the woman who set the machine is one of your new sales clerks. Michelle is also an employee. The third woman was the customer and she apparently just bought a three day rental."
At that moment the doors opened and the customer, unaltered by the machine, exited and went around to the other open door. There, she picked up an elegant black dress with rhinestone studs adorning the edges of a few translucent panels placed in strategic places. She was holding it up in front of herself when the sales clerk asked. "How do you like it?"
"Oh, it's perfect. Thank you."
"Would you please try it on so we can photograph it? The performers enjoy seeing how they turn out. And we can get a bag for the dress."
"Oh, okay." The sales girl looked inside the Venn machine to make sure all of Michelle was with them as she escorted the customer to the changing room in the store.
"What just happened?" Dana asked David.
"Come, I'll show you."
Inside the store, Amanda was talking to a woman standing in front of a kiosk Dana had never seen before. They were discussing pricing for a two week rental of several outfits. Amanda was explaining that she would need extra time to get the models lined for so many Venns. Noticing Dana and David, Amanda gave a little wave and then directed the customer to the back of the kiosk.
David led Dana to the kiosk. It was labeled Custom Rentals. Inset in the kiosk was a computer screen. Currently it was displaying a slide show of everyday women wearing a variety of well-tailored custom clothing. David said to Dana, "Amanda had this idea and it is rather popular. She has friends and acquaintances who like being inanimate. So she rents them out to people who want an expensive outfit they can't afford to buy. But renting a normal dress for a short time would cost us too much in dry cleaning and restocking costs. So her friends get turned into dresses, the customers get to have clothes they can't normally afford, and we make a decent profit on it."
He touched the screen and it displayed a simple form. There was a set of controls for picking the start and end dates of the rental. Then the type of outfit was in a set of lists for full outfits, outerwear, intimates, stockings, shoes, etc. David quickly picked a one day rental of a dress and the screen flipped to a tiled set of faces, some of the faces had the word "Unavailable" written across them. Below the faces were names. Dana recognized Michelle as the woman she just saw Venned into a dress. Her face also said Unavailable.
One of unavailable faces had the word unavailable disappear and David tapped that image. The image zoomed into show just her face larger, some additional images, and some information about her. She was older African American woman named Safrina. It listed her height. It said she preferred being changed into intimate apparel but never hosiery or shoes. There were three smaller photos with three different women wearing lingerie. One of the photos had the caption "A few moments ago".
"So, you see, the customer picks the time for the rental and the basic kind of clothing. They then pick the performer whom they want to become the clothing they wear. If the model is available, there's the Checkout button right there to initiate the purchase." He hit the back button and then hit the additional options button. "Here you can decide things like whether you want the performer list to include men and/or women. Or you might want include couples for a complex outfit. I think we have a pair of performers who like being shoes exclusively. Look over there."
David tilted his head toward the sales desk and Dana saw the customer with Michelle receiving a bag. The customer and the sales clerk exchanged pleasantries and the customer left the store with the bag.
David exited back out of the options screen and pulled up Michelle's image. As it zoomed in, the picture changed from Michelle's face to the image of the customer who rented her. The see-through panels hit the woman's body across the thigh and up the back, risque but not obscene. "Apparently she won't be wearing underwear," David noted. "Part of the reason we photograph the customers in the clothing is so they can show up here and give potential customers ideas about what they could be wearing."
Amanda stepped up as they spoke. As David finished she gave Dana a hug. "The best part is we didn't even pay for the kiosk programming. One of the performer's husbands did it for us. The next version, he says, will include credit card processing so the customers won't even have to bother the sales folks if they don't need help."
Dana had a lot of questions about the rental business but Amanda explained how much extra money they were making from the rentals. "That transaction I was in the middle of when you arrived will cost the customer $1200 for eight dresses rented out for two weeks. We split the money 75/25 with the majority going to the Venn performer. So that's $300 to the store for doing almost nothing. Normally the kiosk app will text the performers for when they have to come in and the staff doesn't have to do anything but take the money. For rush jobs, a few of the performers hang out here during late hours. But for an order as big as that one, I'll be calling the performer personally."
"You have eight, um, performers who will become dresses for two weeks?" Dana said.
"Yes, no problem. I have a dozen performers who only like long rentals that we never get to use because most rentals are for a weekend or shorter." Amanda explained. She gave David a deep kiss and headed toward the backroom office.
Dana looked surprised, "Hey, are you dating my brother?"
Amanda turned and said, "Well, yes."