That night for the first time with Alicia that Henry failed to get it up despite her best efforts. Even taking some tablets didn’t fix Henry’s problem. He knew it was a metal problem rather than a physical problem but that didn’t help his cause. He just felt so inadequate. Alicia tried to soothe him by saying “It doesn’t matter” but to be truthful that was a lie. Before the wedding Alicia’s Mum had explained to her how as men got older their ability to get an erection waned and that as Henry aged there may be times when he could not perform. However, mother had suggested this might start once Henry hit the mid fifties not at 44 and on their honeymoon.
When Henry finally fell asleep in her embrace she found herself thinking of Alex the golf pro and the hard object in his crotch that had pushed against her as he taught her how to swing. Alex was a tall man. She did wonder exactly how big he was down below.
……….
Henry and Alicia were woken by his phone ringing at 6 am. Henry reached for the phone he had left on the bedside table then momentarily stopped. The hand reaching for the phone had long red fingernails. He recognised it immediately then glanced at his other hand. It too was Alicia’s. They had swapped hands!
Alicia also noticed the red nails then looked at her own hands. They were big and chunky. Overnight their hands had been exchanged. She checked further up and saw with relief that her arms were still her own. She then glanced at her feet. They were small once more. Her own feet had returned!
Henry overcame his initial shock and answered the phone. No name had come up but he guessed it was Gillian. “Hello”
“Henry. It’s Gillian. Simon said to ring you as soon as I found the store. I know it must be very early in Hawaii”
“Yes! Yes! It’s fine Gillian. Are you there? Is it open?”
“Yes it’s open”
“Well go in and see if there is an elderly woman in the store and whether she sells an item called a sugar doll. If so let me speak to her”
“Sure” Gillian sounded puzzled.
A few seconds later Gillian spoke to Henry. “Yes there is an old woman in a black dress behind the counter, but she is serving someone else”
“Um. No you had better just wait” Henry didn’t want Gillian to somehow antagonise the old witch, for that was what he assumed the woman must be.
There wait seemed endless. Henry inspected his new hands while he waited. Alicia had gone to the bathroom. Henry certainly had Alicia’s hands. He even had the enormous diamond on his left ring finger. He too was relieved to see the changes stopped at his wrist. There was a funny intermediate area at his wrist where his hairy arms narrowed down into Alicia’s hairless manicured hands.
Then he remembered about the feet. He lifted the sheet off and to his initial disappointment saw his feet also had red nails. But then he realised they were his own feet. The nail polish was what Alicia had applied to those toes yesterday afternoon. He had his own feet back! That was such a relief. His interpretation of the note had been correct.
Just then he heard distant talking on the phone. It was Gillian “Excuse me Madam, I was wondering if you sold an item called a sugar doll?”
“Oh, you must have met the woman I sold one to last week. I don’t have one at the moment but could create one for you. Was she happy with the result?”
“Um. I don’t know. Look my boss is on the phone and would like to speak with you”
“Your boss? Very well then”
“Henry. Here is the lady” that was much louder.
“Thank-you Gillian. Would you mind waiting outside”
“Oh. Okay”
“Hello. This is Margo. How can I help you?”
“Hello Margo. My name is Henry and I believe you may have sold my former wife something called a sugar doll”
“In that case you must be the unfaithful man who was marrying a gold-digger”
“Umm. Yes …. That sounds like how Maureen might have described me”
“And I’ll bet you are wondering what has happened to you?”
“I am. How did this happen and how do we fix it?”
“This happened because you are an unfaithful cheating husband. You can’t fix it. You must complete the process. As to how it happens that is for me to know and only me”
“What is the process? What do I have to do? I just want to be myself again”
“Just follow the directions that came with the doll”
“All we got was one small note”
“They are the directions”
“Okay we stuffed up. We didn’t take a sachet on the second night. We changed heights and now I’m small. How do we fix that?”
“By completing the process. Consuming all the doll”
“Surely there is a quicker way. Is there an antidote?”
“The only antidote is to complete the process. The note has a warning about what will happen if you forget a dose. You should have heeded it”
“So I’m stuck like this until all the doll is gone?”
“I imagine so. Though no doubt you will undergo a few more changes as you go through the process”
“What sort of changes?”
“Swaps of course. That is what the sugar doll does. You swap parts with your partner. It brings you closer”
“Can we speed the process up? What happens if we consume more than one satchel a day”
“I would advise against that. The effects would last longer. 4 days if you had two satchels. 9 days if you had three satchels and so on. No Mr Henry just follow the directions and everything will be over in 14 days. Longer if you have skipped a satchel though”
“But I can’t afford to be like this for 14 days. I am meant to be back at work before then”
“In that case you need to carefully select which swaps you use on those last days. Could I suggest maybe those that are not so obvious?”
“How do you select which swaps you get?”
“Mr Henry. I have other customers waiting and you are wasting my time. I’m sure you can figure that out for yourself. Good day sir” Silence. Henry realised she had hung up.
He began to relate the conversation to Alicia when the phone rang once more.
“Hello”
“Henry. It’s Gillian again. The woman called me in to collect the phone then pushed me out of the shop. She says she does not want to hear from you again. Is there anything I should do?”
“No Gillian you did great. There is nothing more you can do. Thank you for your help. I hope Simon told you to have the rest of the day off”
“He did Sir. Thank-you”