“Carl, you absolute filthy bastard!  I cannot believe I’ve put up with you this long!”  The auburn-haired beauty’s emerald eyes were flashing with rage. The slap to Carl’s cheek rang out with theatrical clarity, drawing all eyes at the bar.

“But Jolene, lovie dove...  You know I would never...”

Jolene spun on her heel, and stormed out of the bar.  Over her shoulder she called out, “No more ‘But Jolene.’  We’re through.”

Carl sighed and returned morosely to his beer.  Twenty seconds later, he heard the creak of someone sitting down next to him.  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.  Not the prettiest at the bar, but certainly pretty enough for his tastes.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

Carl straightened up and put a brave smile on.  “Oh, you know.  Something I said got taken the wrong way, and I made the mistake of arguing with her.”  He rubbed his cheek, then looked the girl over.  Honey-blonde hair, eyes like sapphires, and a kindly expression on her face.  “I should know better than to date redheads.”

The woman chuckled.  “Temper as fiery as her hair?”

“Some people run hot and cold.  She ran hot and hotter.  Hard to keep up.”

“Poor thing.  Want me to kiss it better?”

Carl smiled.  “Do I look like the sort of guy who’d object to a kiss from a lovely lass like yourself?”

“No, but you have that once bitten twice shy look to you.”  She leaned in to give him a gentle peck on the cheek where the red welt of the slap was brightest.  “There.  All better.”

Carl stuck out his hand.  “Carl, though you probably already heard that.”

The woman smiled and shook it.  “Sara.”

Carl smiled back.  “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Do I look like the sort of girl who’d object to a drink from a handsome lad like yourself?”

Carl laughed at her echoing of his own line.  “No, but I find it better to ask than assume.”  He gestured to the bartender. “Two of whatever she’s drinking.”

Sara’s smirk broadened as two very pink concoctions adorned with cherries and little umbrellas were set before them.  “You think you can handle that?”

Carl raised the glass in a toast to her, then took an experimental sip.  He tilted his head to one side, and mulled it for a moment.  “I’m getting hints of strawberry, citrus and...” He frowned in concentration. “I’m not sure.  Sort of floral, but I can’t place it.”

“Nicely done,” applauded Sara.  “That’s hibiscus syrup.”

Carl took another sip.  “It’s very soothing.  But...”  He eyed her suspiciously.  “No alcohol?”

Sara giggled.  “I find that bars can be very entertaining if one pretends to be drunk.  And no hangover the next day.”

“Do tell,” prompted Carl, and he was rewarded with tales of what Sara’s friends got up to when drunk.  He contributed several such tales of his own, including ones where he’d fallen victim to his own alcohol-induced stupidity, and found that Sara had the most infectious laugh.  Stories that in the past had made him cringe instead set him to giggling along with her.

In the process they went through several more of Sara’s favourite drinks, all of the fruity and very sweet variety.  When Carl asked the bartender for two “less fruity” nonalcoholic drinks, they got something based on ginger beer that made them both pucker at its taste, but they both agreed that it was growing on them by the time they’d finished.

Sara linked elbows with Carl as they headed out of the bar together.  “Feeling the sugar buzz yet?”

Carl giggled girlishly.  “Is that what this is?  I was wondering if one of those drinks had a little something extra in it.”

Sara rolled her eyes.  “Nah.  Harder to hide the taste of additives when there’s no alcohol to cover it.  Besides, that’s more of a third date thing in my book.”

“Sorry... what?  You’d spike someone’s drink as a date?”

Sara blushed.  “My own,” she whispered.  “I get nervous, okay?  It makes me all relaxed and loopy and...” The blush got brighter.  “Easy.”

“You don’t need additives to get loopy.  And you seem pretty relaxed to me.”

“I’ve gotten good at faking it.”  Sara rested her free hand on her stomach.  “Feels like I’m about to barf butterflies.”

Carl stopped, their linked elbows halting Sara after another step and half-turning her to face him.  “Look.  If you want to call it a night here, I’m good with that.  I’ve had a great time with you, and I’d love to see you again.  Let me give you my number, and you can call whenever you feel comfortable, okay?”

Sara sniffed once, and nodded, then added Carl’s number to her phone.  A moment later his phone pinged with a text message.  “Can I see you now?”

Carl laughed, and offered his arm once more.  “Indeed.  As much or as little as you like.”

Sara licked her lips lasciviously.  “Such a lovely offer.  How much farther to your place?”

Carl pointed up the block, and soon they were in the lobby of his apartment building.  On the ride up the elevator, Sara snuggled in against his side, and stayed as close as she could on the short walk to his door.

The door opened to reveal Jolene standing there, eyes catching Carl’s with burning intensity.

“Joe?” asked Carl in surprise.  “What the hell?  Why didn’t you venn back?”

“Venn?” asked Sara.  “Wait, was this all a setup?”

Carl winced and nodded.  “Yeah.  We use a Venn Machine to turn one of us into a sexy ‘girlfriend’, she starts a fight and slaps the other guy, then storms out.  Draws attention, makes for a nice conversation starter.  I even got a kiss out of it this time.  Thanks for that, usually the slap is for show but this time...”  Carl glared at the auburn-haired woman still blocking the door.

“Wait, wait...  Jolene isn’t always the girl?” asked Sara.

Carl shook his head.  “We take turns.  Last week I was Caroline, and Joe was himself.”

Sara’s frown flickered to a smile briefly.  “I’d like to see that.  Text me a picture of Caroline.  I’ll leave you two, you obviously have some stuff to work out and I’d rather not be in the middle of a domestic dispute.”

Carl turned to watch Sara go, waving to her as the elevator doors closed.  He rounded on Jolene.  “I liked her, damn it.  A lot.  Why fuck this up now?”

Jolene dragged him into the apartment and slammed the door behind him.  Before Carl could protest, she pulled him close and kissed him fiercely on the lips.  Carl was too surprised to do anything but kiss back.  He’d never kissed Jolene before, and the feel of those sexy lips he’d spent so long designing was beguiling.

When they broke for air, Carl stumbled back and fetched up against the apartment door.  “Where did that come from?”

“You’ve felt it too.  I know you have.  I’ve seen it in your eyes when you’re slapping me, it hurts.  God, it hurts to walk away.”

Carl stared at Jolene, as if seeing his creation for the first time.  “Walk away?  What are you talking about?”

Jolene’s pretty eyes closed, and started to leak tears.  “Can’t you feel it when you’re Caroline?  Oh, please tell me it’s not just me.  I’ve fallen for you so bad, it hurts.”

“You’ve fallen... for me?  But you’re a guy!”

Jolene stamped a foot.  “Do I look like a guy?  I’ve spent so many nights in this body, I sure as hell don’t feel like one.”

Carl frowned.  “Haven’t you been changing back?  After Caroline slaps you, my first stop is the Venn Machine so I can change back into a guy.”

Jolene shook her head.  “I usually come back and hang out in my room.  I’ve even bought a few vibrators to...”  She smirked at Carl’s sudden look of discomfort.  “What, too much information?”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because this body rocks!” shouted Jolene, throwing her hands in the air.  She started pacing back and forth as she explained.  “I don’t know what you did, but it’s like I’m on fire.  A couple weeks after we started doing this, the line at the Venn Machine was too long and I just wanted to go home, so I figured why not spend a few more hours as a girl.  Then I had a shower before bed, and, well... soaping myself up, playing with the spray.  God, it felt so good I didn’t want to stop.”

Carl coughed softly, then nodded at Jolene’s breasts.  Jolene blushed and snatched her hands away from them.  Then she grinned, and started stripping out of her dress.

“What the hell, Joe?”

“You’ve seen me naked.”

“Not like that I ha... ha...  Holy.”  Carl couldn’t help but stare at the bare breasts Jolene was flaunting.

“Exactly.  They’re amazing.”  Jolene hefted them enticingly.  “Come touch.”

Carl reached toward them, then yanked his hands back and took a step away from Jolene.  “What are you doing?”

Jolene sashayed toward Carl, breasts bouncing hypnotically.  “Trying a very hard sell indeed.  You’ve hooked up with worse, many times.”

“But you’re... you’re...”

Jolene ignored his protests.  “You get drunk enough, you’ll fuck anything that moves.  You don’t know how many nights I’ve lain there, wishing it was me.  It’s my turn, god damn it!”

“What?  No!  That’s not how this works!  You’re my drinking buddy.  Good ol’ Joe.  Go change back, and sober up.”

“Oh.  My.  God.  You’re sober.  How the hell are you not drunk?”

“Matched Sara drink for drink, and she was drinking these cute, tasty, nonalcoholic things.  It was fun.”

Fresh tears tracked down Jolene’s face.  “Are you in love with her?  After one fucking night?”

“I don’t know,” sighed Carl.  “I was looking forward to finding out until you pulled this stunt.”

Jolene stomped off to her room, cursing a blue streak.  Carl watched her go in utter confusion.  A minute later, a loud buzzing started up, and the moaning severely tested his resolve.

Carl found a pair of earplugs, and went to bed.  When he put his phone on the charger, he remembered Sara’s request, and started digging through his photo album.  He was sure he’d taken a selfie as Caroline at one point...  He grimaced at the image he found, but texted it anyway, with a note adding, “Not at my best here, but it’s what I could find.”

A minute later his phone chimed.  “She’s cute,” read the text.  “Wish I could get a better look at her.”

“Joe’s pretty volatile right now.  I don’t think I’d trust him to venn me.”

Sara texted a wincing smiley in reply.  “Could I find Caroline in your history if I looked?”

“Oh yeah, easily,” texted Carl.

“Meet me at the mall for a photo shoot?”

“I don’t have plans for Saturday.  Afternoon sometime?”

“I’ll buy Caroline lunch,” replied Sara promptly.  “Meet around noon at the VM?”

Carl sent a smiley in return, and agreed.

He went to sleep with a smile on his face.

*** *** ***

In the morning, Joe was still Jolene.  Carl raised an eyebrow.  “It has been more than eight hours, why haven’t you changed back?”

“There’s an escort agency next to the mall that’s gotten big on venning.  They do extensions cheap.  Not the first time I’ve spent the weekend like this.”

“You didn’t... work for them, did you?” asked Carl, eyebrows raised inquisitively.

“Would you care if I had?” huffed Jolene.  “You made your opinion of me pretty clear last night.”

“Oh come on, Joe.  You surprised the hell out of me.  How did you think I would react?”

Jolene sighed.  “Can you use my name, please?  That’s not too much to ask, right?”

“You want me to call you Jolene?  Why?”

“Because my extension wasn’t just for a couple days.  I’m staying this way.  I want to stay a girl.  Your girl,” she added in a husky voice.  “Please?”

Carl held Jolene’s smouldering gaze until he winced and had to adjust his shorts.  “God.  How did you get so good at this?”

“I’ve known you for over a decade, Carl.  I know what you like.”  Her voice dripped honey.  “Everything you like.  It’ll all be yours.”

Carl cursed and pushed away from the table.  He scuttled into the kitchen, then used the counter to hide his hard-on as he paced.  “I can’t believe this.  Are you seriously...  You want to be my girlfriend?”

“More than anything.”

“Why me?  With that body, you can walk into any bar and yell ‘Who’s next’ to get any man you want.”

Jolene smirked.  “I know.  Tried it a few times.  The man I want is you.”

Carl ducked his head.  “How can I do this?  I look at you, and think, ‘But that’s Joe’.  We’ve seen each other naked.  Seen each other through fucked up relationships, terrible breakups, and even worse hangovers.  How am I supposed to go from that, to...”  He looked up at Jolene, realized that her green silk robe had come loose and was showing her spectacular breasts, and completely lost his train of thought.

Jolene smirked, and strolled toward him, shimmying her shoulders to loosen her robe further.  “You made this body.  Dreamed it up out of a song and a fantasy.”  She strolled around the counter, glanced downward.  “Don’t lie to me, Carl.  I turn you on.  You want me.”

“Of course I do!”

“Then why won’t you bed me?” begged Jolene.  “Why?”

Carl started pacing again, staring at the floor to avoid looking at Jolene.  “Do you know why there have been so many one night stands, and nothing long-term in ages?”

“Why?” asked Jolene softly.

“Every girl I took home, I compared to you.  They were pretty enough, sure.  But they were never as pretty as you, Jolene.  And when they talked...”  Carl shuddered.  “But Sara’s different.  If you had done this any other night, with any other woman...”

Jolene laughed bitterly.  “You’ve got a date with her.”

“Meeting her at the mall in a bit.  She wants to meet Caroline.”

Jolene’s eyes lit up.  “You are not going to let her Venn you without a spotter.  There are rules, Carl.  You made them.”

Carl’s eyes went very wide.  “You’re not going to make a scene, are you?”

Jolene’s grin was all canary-eating-cat.  “Li’l ole me?  Make a scene?  I know you’d hate that.  No dramatics, cross my heart.”  Tracing her finger over her chest drew Carl’s eye.

With great effort, Carl looked away.  “Please say you have something more appropriate to wear.”

“Half a closet’s worth.  How soon are you meeting?”

“Two hours.”

This time it was Jolene’s turn to curse.  She fled to her bedroom.  “I have to get ready!”

Carl shook his head, and called out after her.  “Oh my God, you really are a girl.”

“About time you realized!” called Jolene from behind her door.

Jolene emerged from her room with minutes to spare.  She was wearing a long green dress with a modest neckline, and subtle, understated makeup.  Carl blinked at her twice.  “Wow.  You look... beautiful.  And terrifyingly normal.  What are you scheming now?”

Jolene smirked.  “Scheming?  Moi?”

Carl rolled his eyes and headed for the door.  Jolene followed along, moving smoothly in low heels as if born to it.  She kept quiet on the drive to the mall, and as they walked to the Venn Machines, but there was a knowing smile on her lips.

Sara waved to Carl as he approached, and didn’t even notice Jolene until they got quite close.  “Hey, what is she doing here?”

“When we started venning, we made rules.  No venning on the first couple of dates without a spotter.”

Sara nodded.  “Sensible.  I figure for eight hours, I’m not too worried.  C’mon, let’s see Caroline.”

Carl set up the Venn Machine for a third of the day, and gestured for Sara to precede him once the doors opened.  She blew him a kiss before entering, and he stepped into the opposite side.  Sara called up Carl’s history and studied it curiously.  “You haven’t been much.  Is that a purse?”

Carl laughed.  “Yeah, just Caroline really.  The purse would be why we have the spotter rule.”

“Aww, poor thing.  How bad was it?”

“Other than missing a day of work, not too bad.  Oddly intimate while being used.  She did something so that when she put her hand in me...”  Carl blushed.

“Oooh.  Tempting...”

Sara tapped the display, and when she touched the green circle Carl felt the familiar contours of Caroline settle around him.  He posed.  “Here I am.  What do you think?”

“Mmm.  Cute.  Could use a purse.”

Carl rolled his eyes.  “I’d rather be able to talk to you.”

“Next time, then.”

Carl chuckled.  “You’re keen on the weird stuff with these machines, then?”

As the doors opened, Sara nodded.  “Kinda, yeah.  I don’t have any friends who will do crazy things with me, though, and since you spend time as a girl I hoped...”

Carl posed outside the machine, a clumsy imitation of a modelesque pose.  “So.  This is Caroline.  What do you think?”

“Cute, but...”  Sara looked from Caroline to Jolene.  “Wow.  Did Joe even try?”

Jolene pouted.  “Hey, I did my best.  Carl’s just...” she sighed.  “He’s amazing at this.  A real artist.”

Carl blushed.  “Thanks.”

Sara clapped her hands excitedly.  “Do me!”

“Huh?”

“That selfie you sent, Joe’s the guy with you right?”

Carl thought for a moment, then nodded.  “Yeah, it was.”

“I can see the resemblance.  So you turned Joe into a hot female version of himself.  Do that for me.”

“Turn you into a hot male version of yourself?  I’m not sure...”

“No, a hot female version.  Duh.  So the competition is fair.”

Carl blinked at Sara.  “Competition?”

Sara glared daggers at Jolene, and got a similar look in return.  “It’s clear you haven’t made up your mind, and Jolene’s got an unfair advantage.  Make me as sexy as she is, and then...”

“I don’t want to live in some dumb harem comedy,” grumbled Carl.  “It’s not a game.”  But he was already turning toward the Venn Machine, and setting it up for a day.  Sara eagerly hopped inside.  Carl spent many minutes tweaking and fine-tuning Sara’s image, humming softly to himself as he worked.  Sara watched him work, expression rapt.

“Ready?”

“Heck yes.  Hit me!”

As soon as she felt the change, Sara tapped green on her side to open the doors.  She darted out to see herself in the mirror, and soon found herself flanked by Carl and Jolene.  Sara stared at the bombshell blonde in the mirror for long minutes.  “Woah.  Damn, you are amazing.  You should do this professionally.”

Carl shrugged.  “I’ve thought about it, but I like my day job as a graphic designer.  And once you’ve changed someone, they can go back to it whenever they like, so repeat custom is an issue; it’s not like a hairdresser.”

Sara glanced at Caroline’s reflection, then back at the two visions of beauty beside her.  “Oh, no no no.  This is all wrong.  Sorry, Joe, but I have to overwrite your work.”

“Eh.”

“What do you mean?” asked Carl.

“I mean, you need to design your own body.  C’mon.”

Sara dragged Carl back into the Venn Machine.  “Now reset yourself, then we can twin you onto me.  That way you can design for yourself, right?”

Carl nodded, and tapped the red circle that sent him back to his normal form.  Sara swore as her shirt and pants were suddenly two sizes too small.  “Don’t look!”

Carl studied Sara, who was squirming and looking anywhere but at him.  “Don’t look at what?  That the real you is still awfully cute?”

“I have acne, and I’m fat, and...  Damn it, I’ve been venned so long I forgot.”

Carl pulled Sara back to the mirror gently, then touched her chin.  “Look at the girl in the mirror.  She’s not ugly.  I don’t even see any acne.  And... why the hell did you make your boobs smaller?”

“Because I was fat and ugly and...”  Sara looked at her reflection, finally seeing it.  “Did you venn me?”

“How could I?  We reset.  This is you.  Don’t you recognize yourself?” asked Carl.

Sara shook her head.  “I was flabby and out of shape.  My roomie venned me muscles, and got me into working out with her.  It’s a pain to jog with big boobs, so that’s why the B-cups.  But... damn.  Where did this come from?”

“Exercise carries over,” said Carl.  “And it looks like you’ve been doing a lot.”

“Well, yeah!  I had a body that could really run.”  Sara jogged in place experimentally, and winced.  “Ugh, these boobs.  Can we get back into the machine already?”

“One thing first,” said Carl, then pulled Sara in for a hug and kiss.  “Mmm.  Not bad at all.”

Sara blushed, then cut her eyes over to where Jolene was watching with a scowl on her face.  “Better than her?”

Carl laughed.  “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

“But you did kiss her,” accused Sara.  “Before I kissed you in the bar, or after?”

“After,” admitted Carl.

“So I still have a shot.  Excellent.  C’mon, let’s get you venned.”

The first step was to turn Sara into a copy of Carl, so that he could start his work from the right place.  Sara giggled at Jolene’s reaction to seeing double, and it didn’t take much to convince Carl to sidle up to one side while she cuddled up to the other.  They both kissed Jolene on flaming red cheeks.

Giggling, Sara led Carl back to the Venn Machine for a much longer session.  When they emerged, Caroline’s shoulder-length hair had become a smooth ebon waterfall that fell to near her waist, and her eyes were black as night.  Sara was back to her prettied up self as well, and stood beside Caroline to compare chest size.  “Are you really sure you want basketballs like those?  You’re going to ruin your back.”

Carl shrugged.  “The Elvira vibe called to me.  I regret nothing.”

“Yet.”

Jolene just goggled at Caroline.  “How on earth...”

She got a wicked smirk in reply.  “You’re not the only one who knows which buttons to push.”

Sara distracted the two of them by offering to buy lunch.  They chatted in the food court about random things, and giggled at the guys trying to steal peeks at them.  A few approached to try to talk to them, but Jolene’s well-practiced glare left them stuttering.

Next, Sara declared that Jolene and Caroline needed proper clubbing dresses, and the three scoured the mall for something she considered appropriate.  Much time was spent giggling in changing rooms, with each in turn giving the others a show as they changed.  As they left the mall in their new dresses, Caroline admitted that she’d had vastly more fun shopping like that than ever before.

They had a light dinner before going clubbing, and the way Jolene smiled when Caroline pulled out a chair for her nearly melted her heart.  Sara just smirked at the two of them, and murmured something under her breath that sounded like “just kiss already”.

The club Sara guided them to was loud and bright, filled with energetic people.  They danced together, and deflected interest from guys and groups of guys by admitting up-front that not all of them were born girls.  It turned into a guessing game, and only one group got it right.  They hung out with the guys for a little while to have a drink and cool down, and found to their delight that the guys were actually three girls who’d venned themselves male for the weekend.  Before they parted ways, they begged for Carl’s number so he could make them pretty some day.

At the end of the night, Jolene was the “winner”, the one with the most guesses she was originally female.  This led to much giggling on the way home, and Jolene demanded kisses from both her companions as her prize.  She rated Caroline’s the best.  Sara then pulled Caroline into a kiss, and nodded her agreement.  “Definitely the best kisser.  But I think we need a more comprehensive test.”

“You just want more kisses,” accused Jolene.

Sara giggled and nodded.

Jolene looked over to Caroline.  “And you’re okay with kissing me?  Because I’ll take every kiss you’re willing to offer, and then some.”

Caroline looked from one bright smiling face to the other.  “Yes, Jolene.  Like this, kissing you is... somehow not weird at all.”

Jolene shot a wicked look at Sara.  “Game on, girl.”

The kissing didn’t stop there.  Abetted by the bottle of vodka in the freezer, the competition soon turned to who had the best boobs, first for kissing, then for fondling.

“This isn’t a useful contest,” mused Sara while watching Jolene motorboat Caroline’s immense cleavage.  “No matter whose breasts are best, Caroline wins – she designed them all!”

Jolene giggled giddily as she pulled Sara in for further testing.  “And she’s fantastic at it.”

The comparisons carried on further down, to hips and navels and then things got quite sweaty indeed...

*** *** ***

Caroline blinked awake, trying to piece together the most wonderful dream.  Then she saw Jolene and Sara sitting side by side on the bed, watching her with matching grins.  “Wait, did we just...”

Jolene and Sara nodded eagerly.  “Spectacularly so,” added Sara.  “These bodies are fantastic.  I’m going to keep mine.”

Caroline levered herself up to a sitting position.  “Uh.  I... God that was something else.  I just...  I can’t see myself this way full time.”

“That’s okay,” purred Sara.  “I want to see what Carl can do to this body.”

Caroline looked guiltily to Jolene.  “You too?”

Jolene looked down.  “I know how you feel about that.”

“When I’m a guy, yeah.  Sorry.”

“So that’s it?  Sara wins by default?  This sucks.”

Sara cheered, then turned to Caroline.  “Now what?”

Jolene put her hands together.  “Please.  I’ll do anything.  Be anything.”

Sara arched an eyebrow.  “I could venn you into lovely lingerie.  I’d wear you whenever I wanted to rev Carl up.  Which would be often.”

Jolene nodded eagerly.  “Anything.”

“I know how to make being lingerie so mind-blowing that after just a day you’ll beg for more.  After a week you’ll barely remember being human.  After a month... you’ll be mine for good.”

Jolene met her eyes without flinching.  “And if I let you change me for a year?”

“Oh, honey.  I would love you to bits.”

“Okay,” whispered Jolene.  “I’ll do it.”

Sara looked over to Caroline, who was shaking her head.  “No?”

“It sounds delightful for a day, but I’d hate to lose her like that.  I mean...”

“We know,” said Sara after Caroline’s hesitation went on too long.  “You talk in your sleep.”

“Oh lordy, what did I say?” fretted Caroline, ducking her head to hide behind her cascade of dark hair.

“That you loved us both.”  Sara tilted Caroline’s head up, and brushed the hair aside.  “Do you?”

“Yes,” whispered Caroline.  “But...  I still can’t make Carl plus Joe or Jolene work in my head.  I’m not built that way.”

Sara smiled brightly.  “Do you trust me?”

Caroline glanced over at Jolene and her wide, damp eyes.  “Yes.  Despite your plans for Jolene.”

“Mmm, may still do those someday.  But just for a day or two.  For now, I have a much better plan that starts with you, a Venn Machine, and you designing a sexy body for Carl.”

Both Jolene and Caroline thought that sounded like an excellent idea, though Jolene fretted when Sara asked her to stay behind.  “Trust me.”

Jolene slowly nodded.  “I was willing to give myself to you a moment ago.  I suppose I must trust you.”

The wait was many hours.  Jolene spent some of it tidying around the apartment, some on a shower and prettying herself up as best she could.  When she finally heard a key turn in the lock, she dropped the game controller and darted to the door.

Sara stood in the door alone, raising Jolene’s concerns.  But a moment later Carl stepped into view, more ruggedly handsome than ever before.  Jolene gasped to see him, then started to cry.  “This doesn’t help at all.  He won’t look at me the way he looks at you.”

“No,” murmured a soft, familiar voice, “but I can.”  A demure Caroline stepped into the doorway.  Her overblown curves had been dialed back to something more normal, and she had a girl-next-door freshness to her face, rather than the sultry beauty of before.  She was also wearing a black-and-white maid’s dress.

“What on earth?  Who are you?”

Caroline slithered between Carl and Sara and sidled up to Jolene.  “Caroline, just like before.  Sara venned me into two people.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be female full time,” Jolene protested.  “How is this going to work?”

“I stay here, Carl goes to work.  I’ll nap while he’s working, then...”  She grinned.  “Playtime when he’s not.  Well, that and doing some light cleaning.  This place needs it.”

Jolene’s face broke into a huge smile.  “That sounds lovely.  There’s just one thing.”

“Oh?”

She looked over at where Carl and Sara were snuggled together by the door.  “We’re going to need a bigger apartment.”