By the time Alicia returned, Henry had completed the removal job and had found and put on Alicia’s golf shoes. He had decided they were comfortable enough and unisex enough that he could be seen in them. He had not heard back from Simon.
Alicia showed him her new purchases and the two of them headed off for an early lunch. In his hurry to do everything else Henry had forgotten about eating. Both thought that was probably a good thing. He knew he was overweight even before he had lost 6 inches.
Over lunch they decided they could go to the beach. Alicia was happy with the way her larger feet looked in her new sandals. She just wanted to apply nail polish first, so they matched her hands. Henry was also happy enough, with the nail polish removed his feet were not so overtly feminine. It just looked like he was a short fat man with particularly small feet.
While Alicia was applying the nail polish out on the veranda she noticed her heels were on the ground. How did they get there? Then she realised a possible way and giggled to herself.
“Henry” she called out. When he came to her call she asked “How did you find the heels? Did you enjoy being a bit taller?” as she pointed out where the heels had been left. Henry’s blush and silence confirmed he had been responsible. She decided not to push him any further.
They walked down to the beach, Alicia wearing her new sandals and her bikini under a wrap and Henry in his board shorts, a polo shirt and Alicia’s golf shoes. They had a swim in the shallows away from other beachgoers then found a shady spot under some palm trees and spread out their towels on the sand.
Henry was lying there admiring Alicia’s curves when his phone beeped. It was a message from Simon. ‘Can’t find any stores in Chesterville called Margaret’s but there is shop that fits the description called Margo’s. No phone listed’
Henry was immediately on the phone to Simon “Get someone down there immediately. Then ring me when you have the owner. An older woman I believe”
“It will have to wait until tomorrow. It’s late here. The shop will be closed”
Damn! Thought Henry he had forgotten the time difference. Well send someone there first thing in the morning”
“Are you happy if I send Gillian? She was the one who tracked the store down”
Gillian was Simon’s PA an older woman who had been with the company for years “Yes. Good choice. Gillian will be fine. Make sure she has my number and get her to call me as soon as she gets there. Don’t worry about how early it is over here” then Henry had an after-thought; “And tell Gillian if she can connect me to the owner she can have the rest of the day off”
“You’re the boss” replied Simon
“A break through?” asked Alicia who had heard one side of the conversation.
“I hope so. Let’s not get our hopes up too much but it does sound promising. However it’s late back home and Gillian won’t be at the store until tomorrow morning”
“So we will have to take another sachet tonight?”
“I think we have no choice. We don’t want this swap to linger as well” Henry gestured to his feet. “I just hope we don’t complicate things further”