Alice parked her SUV and headed inside the local Indian restaurant. After being seated, Tom started perusing the menu. “What do you recommend?” he asked Alice. He knew she liked her food pretty spicy. “I’d like to see just how well I can handle spicy foods.”
“Hmm….” she said, looking at the menu. “What about pork vindaloo? I should warn you, though. It’s pretty spicy.”
“Well, I’ll give it a try. Worst case scenario, you can take it home and have it for leftovers.”
Tom ordered the vindaloo, while Alice ordered chicken kuzhambu. “So, what did you do this afternoon after I went back to work?” she asked after the waiter had left.
“I sorted through the kid’s stuff. It was mostly clothes. Found his wallet and ID. Do you know we share the same birthday?”
“That’s bizarre!” Alice said, taking a sip of her chai. “I wonder if that had an effect on your brainwaves being compatible.”
“I dunno,” Tom said, running a hand through his red hair. “It’s certainly weird.”
“You’ve picked up some new habits too, it seems,” Alice said.
“What do you mean?” Tom asked.
“The way you run you hand through your hair like that. You never did that before. I’ve noticed you do that numerous times today. Especially when you’re nervous or concerned.”
“Yeah, but I never had hair this long before,” Tom pointed out. “I probably would have done this in my old body if I had ever let my hair grow out this long.”
“When are you planning on getting it cut?” she asked.
Tom shrugged. “I’m not sure. I might keep it long for a while. I feel like it suits this body really well, and it just feels comfortable, you know?”
“I guess. Aren’t you worried about work?”
“Not necessarily. Ryan has his hair in a ponytail, and he’s never had any problems with clients before,” Tom said, taking a drink of his water.
Alice giggled. “Yes, but Ryan is also 6’5” and 275 pounds of pure muscle. You look like a teen kid who barely is over 110 pounds! Don’t you think that your clients might have a problem taking insurance advice from someone who looks like they haven’t graduated high school?”
Tom thought for a moment. She had a good point. “Well, I have plenty of clients whom I’ve met with numerous times before. And I don’t know. I hadn’t really talked that much with Bill beforehand to figure out how the logistics of everything is going to work. Maybe I should talk to him tomorrow…”
“Oh, that reminds me!” Alice said. “I’ve got to tell you the latest news about Janet and Michael at work…” Alice started talking about her co-workers and the latest drama that was going on. Normally Tom tried to give his fiancé his utmost attention when she was discussing her work and her daily life, but he found his mind wandering again. What would happen with his work? Would he be able to keep his job as an insurance broker? They had age discrimination laws, right? How does that work? Was he protected by that? I mean, legally he was still 35, but would anyone else think of him like that? Would he always be considered to be a teenager? Would he have to go back to school? Start over in a career?
His train of thought was derailed when the waiter brought them their food, which was good, as it served as a distraction from whatever Alice was discussing. He didn’t want to think that he had missed anything important, but it seemed his younger brain had a harder time focusing on things.
He looked down at the steaming dish in front of him. Pieces of meat with vegetables in a steaming reddish-brown curry. “Well, here’s to spicy foods!” he said, taking his fork and taking a careful bite. The flavor was incredible! It was something he had never tasted before in his old body, and he had a feeling that his new body had probably never had it either. But either way, his taste buds took off with delight at the delectable spiciness of the food. This was, however, instantly followed by the burning sensation that instantly caused him to start sweating. He knew better than to try to drink water after eating something spicy. Instead, he reached for a piece of naan bread and ate it, allowing the bread to absorb some of the spices in his mouth. He took off his hoodie due to the rise of his body temperature.
Alice was giggling at him across the table as she ate her own meal. “Your face got super red when you ate that. Considering how pale you are, it definitely brought a color to your cheeks!”
“Hey, it’s actually pretty good!” Tom said, taking a drink now that the burning sensation had lessened. “I mean, this kid has a decent threshold of spiciness. I probably would have been on the floor breathing out fire in my old body!”
“Well, whatever the case, it makes you look cute!” Alice replied with a smile.
The two continued to eat their food, and Alice started talking more about stuff relating to her work. Tom, though, was still enjoying the food, nodding along to make it seem like he was at least paying attention, but he found his brain drifting to the decorations on the wall. He wondered what they represented. Some sort of Hindi mythology? Didn’t Hinduism have tons of deities? He wondered how many of the pictures on the wall represented deities. Did they have to pray to each one separately? That must be exhausting. Do they bow their heads and close their eyes when they pray, or is that just something that Christians do? Do other religions do that too?
“Tom? Are you okay?” Alice said, looking at him from across the table.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” Tom asked.
“You were just sort of spaced out looking at the walls. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Tom said. “Just a little tired, I guess. You were talking about your coworkers?”
“Yeah, about 10 minutes ago. I was telling you about how Brittany and Jeremy want to get together next Friday.” Brittany was Alice’s sister, and Jeremy was Brittany’s husband. Tom and Jeremy didn’t hang out a lot, but they always enjoyed each other when they did, watching football and drinking beer.
“Oh, right. Sorry. Yeah, that sounds fun. When do they want to hang out?” Tom asked.
“Next Friday! Geez!” Alice said, shaking her head in frustration. About this time, the waiter came by and brought the check, handing it to Alice. She seemed surprised for a moment, and then she realized that the waiter thought that she was paying, since it seemed like she was the adult at the table.
She handed the check to Tom. “I guess I’m going to have to get used to that. People are going to think that you’re my little brother or something.”
“Come on, it’s not that bad!” Tom said, pulling out the worn black wallet. “Besides, I’m still the one paying for it.”
“Where’d you get that wallet?” Alice asked, as Tom pulled out his credit card.
“What, this? Oh. It was the kid’s. I went ahead and kept it. It seemed important.”
Alice looked at him inquisitively but didn’t press the issue further. The waiter came and took the bill and the card, clearly surprised that Tom had paid for it as opposed to Alice. He brought it back a moment later, and Tom signed the credit card receipt, returning his card to his wallet and pocketing the wallet again.
“You ready to go?” he asked Alice.
She nodded and the two of them stood, got their things, and returned to Alice’s car. “So, next stop is to see if we can get a suit for that beanpole body, right?” she asked, as they pulled out of the parking lot.
Tom rolled his eyes but nodded. He felt that the dynamic in his relationship with Alice was shifting, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to broach the subject with her. Then again, she had said that she would need time to get used to his new body. Maybe things would get back to normal soon. He tried not to let his mind wander in that direction, instead allowing himself to get lost in the nighttime streets. He held his hoodie up and breathed the smell of marijuana in. His thoughts relaxed significantly. He was concerned by the fact that it seemed that this kid definitely used marijuana, but he knew that since he had never used it, it wouldn’t be a problem for him…right?
They drove in silence until they reached Men’s Wearhouse. Tom and Alice got out and entered the store.
“Good evening,” one of the workers addressed Alice as they entered. “Are you here to get your son fitted for prom?”
“What?” Alice said, looking confused. Tom realized that the worker thought that Alice was his mom.
“I’m actually looking to buy a suit,” Tom said. “It’s for my job. And she’s not my mom. She’s my fiancé.”
“Oh!” the worker said, clearly taken aback and looking between Alice and Tom. “I’m so sorry. You just look so young. I apologize.” He paused for a moment and then quickly regained his composure. “Of course. Let me get the measuring tape and we’ll see what we have for you.”
The man walked back to the counter, and Tom saw that he was whispering something to another worker who was back there. They both threw furtive glances at Tom and Alice’s direction, and Tom saw Alice was visibly upset.
“I’m going to go wait out in the car,” she said. “Just let me know when you’re done.”
“Babe, are you going to be all right?” Tom asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Alice said, walking out of the store. Tom wanted to follow her, but the worker returned with a tape measure.
“Let’s see about getting you fitted, then,” the worker said. “If you could remove your hoodie, please.”
“Oh yeah, of course.” Tom removed the hoodie and placed it on a nearby countertop. He held up his arms as the gentleman took measurements of his body. He briefly wondered if the smell of marijuana from the clothes would be strong enough for the guy to realize what it was, but if he did recognize it, he didn’t say anything. He wondered if any of these guys in the store smoked pot. The worker who was assisting him looked fairly young, probably in his early to mid-20’s. Tom also noted that he actually looked somewhat attractive. Tom had never been attracted to guys before, but he couldn’t help feeling his uncut dick getting a little hard as this guy wrapped the measuring tape around his waist and measured the inseam down the length of his leg. He tried to switch to thinking about business stats, which usually helped calm his libido, but his teenage hormones seemed to have a stronger influence in his mind. He was trying to get his mind off of the whole situation when he realized the worker was looking at him expectantly.
“I’m sorry, what?” Tom asked.
“I was wondering if you were wanting a custom-made suit, or are you looking to pick up something that we have in store?” the worker asked.
“Oh! Well, I need some suits for work next week, so I’d like to go with what you have in store. I would definitely want at least fiVE to make it through the work week. But ideally, I prefer custom suits,” Tom replied, annoyed that his voice cracked in the middle of the sentence. He cleared his throat to try to prevent it from happening again.
“Obviously, if you want something custom made, it could take a week or two; however, we can also submit a rush order. If it’s something in store, we can get adjustments completed by Sunday, if that works with you as well. I don’t know if we’d have five full suits available in your exact size, but we can get some from other stores if needed. It will definitely be expensive, though.”
“That’s fine. I figured it would be,” Tom replied. He made good enough money that he should still be able to cover the cost of the suits without it affecting him too much, but he still felt annoyed that he had to even get a whole brand-new set of clothes for work. Still, at least it would help him get things back to normal. Eventually he would get some more suits, and this wouldn’t be a problem. The gentleman helping him went to go get the correct parts of the suit to fit Tom. While he was away, Tom took the moment to regain his composure and walk around the store, mindlessly running his fingers along the various jackets and shirts on display. His boner had died down, fortunately, but he still felt a bit of his teenage hormones racing in the back of his mind. He attempted to focus on the task at hand but keeping his brain on the matter at hand seemed to be a herculean task.
The worker returned with a gray jacket and pants. “Would you like to try these on and let me know how they fit?”
“Oh yes, of course,” Tom said, taking the jacket and slacks. He walked to one of the changing rooms and slid off the skate shoes and jeans. He pulled the slacks off the hanger and held them up to his body. *28” waist against a 30” inseam. God, this kid really needs to put on some weight,* he thought as he slid the pants on. They fit well. He tried the jacket on, and looked at himself in the mirror. His shaggy hair and braces seemed to offset the well-fitted suit, and despite its professionalism, there was no doubt that he was still very much a teenager.
He walked out of the changing room, and the worker came over to him. “How does it feel? Does everything fit all right?”
“Yes, it fits fine. It’s just a bit weird,” Tom replied. He thought about how best to explain everything without getting into the whole situation. “I’m just not used to wearing a suit, that’s all.” A total lie, but easier then trying to explain the whole Mind Store Machine Project. He thanked the clerk and returned to the dressing room to change back into his clothes. He came out with the suit and handed it to the clerk. The clerk had also come back with a black and navy blue jacket and slacks, which Tom also gratefully accepted.
“Now, for your shirt, based on your sizes, we could do a youth XL or a male small. They’re both roughly the same size and should fit your measurements fine. There are a variety of colors that we have available for you. Do you have any preference?”
“Um, definitely the men’s size small,” Tom replied. He didn’t need any more reminders that he was in a teen’s body.
“Of course, sir. Our shirts are over here.” He led Tom over to a selection of dress shirts, and Tom picked five dress shirts to last for the week. While it wasn’t a huge variety, it was at least something to last for a while at his work. He shuddered to think about what all this was going to cost…
“Do you need ties, socks, or shoes?” the worker asked.
“Nope, no ties or socks, but I will definitely need some new dress shoes,” Tom replied.
“All right. What size shoe do you wear?”
Tom paused for a moment. He realized he had no idea what size his new body wore. Previously he had worn a size 13; however, he knew that his old shoes didn’t fit him anymore. “Umm…I’m not sure. Let me check,” he said. He leaned over and pulled back the tongues of his shoes, but the shoe size tag had either worn off or been removed. He hoped he didn’t look too foolish not knowing his shoe size.
The clerk walked away for a moment and returned with a shoe size measuring tool. “This will help us determine what shoe size you wear,” the worker stated. “Please, have a seat and remove one of your shoes.”
Tom did as he was told, and the clerk had him place his foot in the measuring device. “It looks like you’re a size 10,” the clerk said, looking at the numbers next to the end of Tom’s foot. Tom slipped his foot back into his shoe and stood up. The worker went to the back storeroom and returned with a box with some black leather shoes. “These should fit you,” he said.
Tom tried on the shoes, and found that they did fit, although he could tell this new body was not used to wearing the stiff dress shoes. He put the shoes back in the box, and the clerk brought him up to the counter to pay for everything.
He put his credit card into the credit card chip slot. The clerk pushed a button on the computer, and then asked to see Tom’s ID. Tom realized that it would be hard to explain to the clerk about the two separate IDs, and he didn’t want them to think he had stolen anything. “Ah! I completely forgot my ID at home,” he lied. “Here. I can use my debit card instead.” He canceled the credit card payment and put his debit card into the slot instead. Fortunately, he had enough in his savings to cover the cost of his suits, relying on his PIN to verify his identity as opposed to his ID. The payment went through without any hassle. Tom breathed a slight sigh of relief. He would have hated to have called Alice in and made her pay for it. That would have made things even MORE weird than they already were tonight.
After spending WAY more than he had expected to tonight, he put his hoodie back on and walked out the door, heavily laden with all of the new clothes for his work. He knew that he could easily make up what he had spent, but it was still annoying that he had to do this in the first place. He also realized that he was going to need to call Bob and discuss things with him, just so that Bob would actually know what to expect come Monday. But it was already late, and he figured he could take care of it the next day. He found that he was starting to have another headache, which he chalked up to the frustrating experience of having to get the new suits.
He returned to Alice’s car, who opened the back to allow him to hang all of his new clothes. “Did you get everything you needed?” she asked when he got into the passenger seat.
“Yeah, I think so,” Tom replied. “Sorry that it took so long.”
“It’s all right. I was chatting with Brittany for a while, then just checking Instagram and Facebook.”
“Are you all right? I know that things have been awkward a couple of times tonight,” Tom said, looking at her as she pulled out of the parking lot.
Alice bit her lip, not responding immediately. “Yeah,” she finally said. “It’s like I said earlier, though. It’s going to take me a while to get used to this. I realize that this is probably going to be an issue for quite some time. You already look young for your age, and the last thing I need is having to deal with all the weird stares in public. Maybe we should just hang out at your place or my place for a while, until I feel more comfortable.”
“Of course, babe! Whatever makes you feel comfortable! I don’t want to make this even weirder than it already is,” Tom replied.
They drove the rest of the way in silence, and Tom found himself once again struggling to focus on anything while his mind went wild from topic to topic. Soon, they were back at his apartment. It looked dark inside. Matt was still out with his friends, and Steve was probably at the bar.
“Do you want to come inside? Maybe watch a movie or something?” Tom asked Alice hopefully.
“Mmm…maybe another night,” she replied. “It’s been a really hectic day, and I think I just want to go home, take a bath, and relax.”
“Well, what about tomorrow?”
“I can’t,” Alice said. “I’m doing spring baking with Jennifer and Sandy, remember? I mentioned it earlier at dinner.”
Tom did not recall Alice mentioning that, but he did NOT want to tell her that. “Oh yeah, I forgot,” he lied, running his hand through his hair. “Well, I love you! Call me when you guys get done tomorrow.”
“I will,” Alice said, leaning over and giving Tom a quick peck on the lips. “Love you too!”
Tom got out of the SUV and started walking towards his apartment when he heard Alice calling his name behind him. He turned around, hoping that she had changed her mind.
“Tom!” she said, having rolled down the passenger side window. “You forgot your suits!”
“Oops! Sorry babe!” Tom went to the back and grabbed all of his new suits out of the car, sorely disappointed that she didn’t want to spend any more time with him tonight. She waved, and he attempted to wave back, but almost lost his grip on his new suits. Blushing, he took his stuff into his apartment.