Kim flicked at her phone screen. "Spirit Halloween... Spirit Halloween... They should really delete these from the map after they shut down. So annoying." She tapped more entries. "Lots of party stores, some thrift shops, a dancewear store, and an 'adult superstore'. You'd think a city like this would have at least one actual costume shop."
Greg picked up his phone to help look. After typing in his search, he held up his phone. "Try searching for 'wig'. I found a bunch of wig shops. Actually, a lot more than I expected considering you couldn't find a single costume shop."
Kim changed her search and scrolled. "Here's a beauty and wig salon. It says it's the best hair styling and wig salon in Reno."
Greg grimaced. "Beauty salon? I just need a wig. We don't need them to do a full beauty treatment."
"Don't we though?" Kim countered. "Look, I could do your makeup here in the room, but these are professionals who could give you the full treatment. You might not like the process, but I have a feeling the results would be worth it and you'd be much more comfortable."
Greg sighed. "I dunno..."
"Again, nobody in town knows you," Kim reminded him. "Who cares what these people might think. If anything, it will give you a preview of what you might expect when we go out tonight -- but in a smaller setting."
Greg rolled his eyes. "It's probably expensive. Can't we get something more affordable? I only need the wig for a night."
Kim tapped her phone and poked around the salon's web site. "The photos show some older women. I'm guessing at least one of them is undergoing a cancer treatment."
"Okay, I was really considering it, but hearing that makes me even more uncomfortable." Greg tapped the first result on his phone. "Here's one. It looks like a big warehouse of wigs. Plenty of options. Probably cheaper than at a salon. We can be in and out quickly."
Kim tapped her phone one last time and brought up the directions. "Okay, let's do it." She grinned, happy with Greg's decision. Kim had suggested the salon knowing it might be hard to convinced Greg to go there. If he did, she'd have gone with it. If he didn't, she know that the warehouse option would seem better by comparison and he'd be more likely to agree to that.
"I suppose we should get dressed." Greg picked up his polo shirt.
"Maybe you should wear my clothes instead," suggested Kim. "I'm not sure you'll be able to hide those breasts."
Greg looked down at his chest. "My head still looks like a guy. If I wear your clothes, I'll look like a skinny crossdresser." Greg pulled the polo shirt over his head. His new breasts stretched out the top of the polo shirt. Even with his suit coat over the shirt, they would be hard to hide.
Kim's mouth twisted to the side as she looked at Greg's predicament. "We could get some bandages and bind your chest."
"Do you have some? Is there something in the room we could use?" Greg looked around at the outdated hotel room.
"No, I don't generally carry around bandages. Nothing more than a couple band-aids," answered Kim. "I'd say we could pick up some while we're out, but I don't think we should bother because we're ultimately going for the opposite effect tonight. You'll just have to wear your coat and try to hide them."
Greg looked down at his chest. "I guess so."
"As for me," Kim said while looking through Greg's suitcase, "I think I've outgrown any of my tops. I'll need to borrow one of yours." She pulled out a T-shirt with an image of mountains on it and "Denver" written in a stylized font beneath it. "Okay if I borrow this?"
"Go right ahead," Greg said as he nodded.
"I'll be stretching my bra to the limit, but I think I can still get it around my chest." She took a pair of socks from Greg's luggage. "I'll use these to stuff my bra." She didn't waste any time putting on her bra, stuffing the socks inside, adjusting the fit, and pulling the T-shirt over her head. "How do I look?"
Greg smiled. "I hope you'll forgive me if I say it looks like you've put on some weight. Since most of you is now my body, I suppose you have. You're also almost my height. Nobody should even question that you're a woman since your head looks the same and it appears you have breasts. That skirt hides the bulge too. Yeah, you're good to go."
Kim felt her waist as she looked at her reflection in the mirror on the wall. "Yeah, it's weird having a waist this large. It does look like I've been eating too much junk food, but somehow spared my face of the weight gain." She looked over at Greg and pulled his suit coat closed. "As for you, as long as you keep the suit buttoned, I think you'll be fine for now. It hangs low on your body, but at least the sleeves still fit you." Kim took a step back and smiled. "You look like a cute little man."
Greg frowned and furrowed his brow. "Don't call me that."
Kim laughed and hugged him. "Hey, you called me fat. Just getting even."
Greg found his head was now just above Kim's chest and her sock-filled bra. It was an odd sensation for him to be so much shorter than his wife. He looked up at her. "Wow, I didn't realize how big our height difference actually was until just now."
Kim kissed him on the top of his head. "I have to admit, it's nice being the tall one for a change." She took a step toward the door. "Should we head out now?"
Greg looked at the floor and sighed. "I guess so. Might as well bite the bullet and get this over with."
Kim tried to keep him optimistic before he changed his mind and tried to back out. "It's still before lunch time, so there's probably nobody else going wig shopping at this time of day." She took her purse and they left the room.
As they rode the elevator down to the lobby, Kim asked, "Should we walk? It's not too far and it's nice outside."
"Not today," Greg answered. "At least if we're in the car, nobody will see much of us from the neck down."
Arriving in the parking lot behind the hotel, Greg unlocked the car and sat in the driver's seat. He reached under the seat and pulled a lever and scooted the seat forward a few inches before reaching up and adjusting the rear view mirror. Kim sat in the passenger seat, but the seat was already all the way back and needed no adjustment. She noticed Greg making adjustments, but decided not to say anything.
The wig shop was only a few minutes away from their hotel. They pulled into the parking lot and went inside. As they entered the windowless storefront, they were a bit overwhelmed by the aisle upon aisle of shelves with wigs on display. There was a seemingly endless variety of styles and colors and the store seemed to be arranged by color with an assortment of unnatural colors found on the back wall.
Kim and Greg stood inside the entrance for a moment as they surveyed their surroundings. "Let's try something in your natural hair color," Kim suggested as she started walking toward an aisle on the left with various shades of medium brown. Greg silently followed behind and followed her into the aisle.
Halfway down the aisle, Kim stopped and looked at the various options on the left. Greg joined her in surveying the wigs on display, but also looked around to see if anyone would be approaching them. There didn't seem to be any other customers in the store. He saw two employees, but they were chatting behind a counter in the back near the colorful wig display and didn't seem to care that there were customers in the store.
Kim stepped forward and removed a wig from one of the styrofoam heads and held it up to Greg's hair. "This looks like a good match. Also, it's only shoulder length so it should hide any neck hair but it's not so long that it would be a pain and get tangled. Do you like it?"
Greg looked at it, unconvinced. "It's okay."
Kim raised an eyebrow. "Are you just saying that to get out of here? Is there something you'd like better?"
"No, it's fine. I like it."
"You'll at least have to try it on first." Kim pulled the wig onto Greg's head with the front first and then pulled down the back. She adjusted the fit and then ran her fingers through the wig so it resumed its style. She pointed to Greg's scalp. "I like the lace front. It gives you a natural looking hairline instead of an obvious, abrupt one."
Greg turned to look in a nearby mirror. "I look like I should be in a band or trying to convince people they should be running Linux."
Kim laughed. "Yeah, you do kind of look like you could be in a band. Once we get you shaved and I do your makeup and you're dressed up, I think the transformation would be undeniable."
Greg turned his head from side to side to get a good look. He ran his fingers through the hair and felt his hairline. "I can see the lace up here."
"We'll get some wig glue and that will hold it down and make it essentially invisible. Don't worry, it can be removed easily," Kim reassured him.
Greg brushed one side of the wig behind his ear. "I can still see my sideburns."
"We'll trim those up a bit. I think this is good. Should we get it?"
"Yeah. Okay." Greg pulled the wig off and handed it to Kim.
Kim brushed the wig with her hand as they walked to the back of the store. One of the employees got a small bottle of wig glue and rang them up and included a free foam head with their purchase. As they walked toward the exit, Kim turned to Greg. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Greg said nothing more than an acknowledging grunt. Back in the car, he reached for the steering wheel and noticed his hands. He had long fingernails with navy blue nail polish on them. He held them up and looked at the palms and the backs. As Kim got in the car, he turned to her. "Show me your hands!"
Kim held up her hands. She had short fingernails with no nail polish on them. The tips of her fingers seemed swollen. "I've got your fingertips! That was fast. I had my own fingernails just a few minutes ago when I took out my credit card in the store."
"Yeah, I've got my regular hands still but the tips are skinny with these long fingernails." Greg turned his hands over and looked at his fingertips. "I wonder if I have your fingerprints now."
"Yeah, probably," guessed Kim as she looked closely at her own hands. "Woah, look close! This is happening fast. I can actually see my fingers puff out slowly as I watch the transition line move down my fingers."
Greg looked close at his own hands and watched as hairs seemed to be pulled inward and his fingers were squeezed down into Kim's feminine form. They held their right hands up side-by-side and watched as tiny hairs would disappear from Greg's fingers and grow on Kim's fingers.
"This is amazing! Although at this rate..." Kim positioned a finger to the top of her other hand and put her thumb where the transition had reached. "If this is how much has changed in about one minute..." Kim then kept her finger and thumb spread apart the same distance and counted along her hand and arm. "...twenty one, twenty two, twenty three. Assuming the rate doesn't change, we've got about 23 minutes until our arms are completely changed."
Greg tugged at the sleeves of his suit coat. "These sleeves are about to look ridiculously long."
"Let's go back to the hotel, but swing by a Walgreens or CVS on the way so I can get some makeup." Kim was already looking up directions on her phone. "Looks like there's one only a block away. I can run in and out quick. ...and I don't know how you can type on this screen with these wide fingers! I kept hitting the wrong key."
Greg chuckled as he pulled out and headed to the pharmacy. As planned, Kim ran in, found the makeup she needed to help complete Greg's look, and was back a few minutes later. By the time she had returned, her entire hand had been transformed.
Greg held up his hand as Kim got in the car. "High five!"
Kim high-fived Greg and they left their hands together. Greg's hairless hand with navy blue nail polish was much smaller than Kim's hairy hand.
"This big hand on my thin arms makes it look like I had a bee sting and they've swelled up," joked Kim. "It kind of feels like I'm wearing gloves. Was so weird to be in the store and see these hands forming as I was making selections. I'm glad they had a self-checkout so I didn't have to hand over a credit card to someone."
Returning to the hotel, they noticed Beth behind the front desk as they walked through the lobby toward the elevator. They made their way back to their room and Kim dumped out the bag of cosmetics on the bed. "Why don't you go shower and shave," she suggested. "Shave as close as you can and cut your sideburns as high as you're comfortable. In the meantime, I'll get set up out here and I'm also going to change into a long sleeve shirt to try and hide the hairy arms I'm about to have."
Greg saluted Kim with a smile. "Yes, ma'am!" He headed into the bathroom to get cleaned up.