by Varian Milagro
Chapter 12
After dropping Helen off at school, Cassidy drove to her very own Pilates studio. There was a class going and it was completely full, which made her quite happy. It wasn’t going to make her rich like Ryan, but if the studio kept up business like this, she and Helen should live quite comfortably.
At first she was worried that she’d make a mess of things. She’d never had a real job before and now she needed to run an entire business. But as the day went along she found that whatever situation arose, be it running a class, dealing with an upset customer, ordering supplies or handling employee questions, the knowledge popped into her head and she was able to deal with it.
During a break between classes Cassidy booted up her old phone to find that it was once again full of unread texts and phone messages. Most of them were from Penny, expressing her displeasure at being set up with a guy who wanted an occultist for a girlfriend. There were several from Desiree as well.
Before she could talk herself out of it she made a call to Desiree. It went straight to voicemail, making Cassidy suspected that the call had been rejected. She hoped that it was because Desiree didn’t recognize her mom’s phone number and not because she didn’t want to talk to her. She followed up with a text stating who she was and that she had a new phone. The phone started ringing less than a minute later.
“Hello, Desiree.”
“You don’t sound like Cassidy,” Desiree said with no small amount of scepticism in her voice.
“It’s me. It’s a long story, but I don’t look much like me anymore either.”
“As long as it’s you still in there, that’s all I care about. The rest is just window dressing. Do you still have the tattoo I gave you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s proof enough for me. You want to do something together?”
“Absolutely. I need to finish up at work and then we can get some food. I’m in the mood for some dancing too.”
“There’s The Good Night. It’s a bit of a dive, but it’s got it all. Food, alcohol, Karaoke and even dancing. It is 21 and over though. I’ve got ID for me, but are you covered?”
Looking at her mom’s driver’s license she said, “I have ID.” She was excited at the prospect of seeing Desiree again, but for some reason wasn’t so thrilled with her pick for a place to meet. Not that she had a better idea.
For lunch she decided to stop by a 7-11 to pick up some cigarettes. As soon as she got on the road she had an impulse to drive over to North Hollywood. It kind of reminded her of the sensation she’d felt when she’d picked the camping spot on Mt. Baldy, kind of like she was being guided by an internal instinct. Twenty minute later she pulled into the parking lot of a small strip mall. In addition to a tobacco shop there was also a salon, a clothing store, and a GameStop.
As she stepped out of the store with a carton of Virginia Slims she stopped in her tracks at the sight of a woman so beautiful that it nearly made her drool. The woman was struggling to get out of a red Mazda Miata so Cassidy hurried over to offer assistance. The problem turned out to be the woman’s six inch platform heels, which were making it difficult to stand up from the low profile car. Taking the woman’s hand, she pulled her up and out of the vehicle.
“Thank you so much, sweetie.” The woman slung her giant, bedazzled purse over her shoulder. “I thought I was stuck in there for good. I’m Cherry.” She held out a dainty hand, each of her fingers adorned with a glitzy ring and a two inch long, pink acrylic fingernail.
“I’m Ca...Helen. I love your dress,” Cassidy said, her eyes glued on the woman’s bountiful cleavage.
“Oh, you’re sweet, Ka-ellen.” Cherry straightened out the skirt of her gold, latex mini dress. “I got it on sale, right in there.” She pointed to the clothing store on the far side of the strip mall called, Dare to Wear.
“I’ve been thinking about getting some new clothes,” Cassidy said. She was fascinated by Cherry’s whole look, from her over teased hair, to the abundance of cheap costume jewelry, to her exaggerated curves.
“They will fix you up, honey.” She dug in her purse and came up with a business card. “If you show them this card it will get you 20% off anything in the store. It works at Fascinations, too. That’s where I’m going. I have an appointment to get my roots retouched.”
The business card was for Star Gardens and featured a silhouette of a busty woman hanging upside down from a pole. Under this, in a delicate cursive, was the name Cherry D’lyte. It listed her job title as Premium Exotic Dancer and Assistant Manager.
Cassidy suddenly knew where she wanted to meet Desiree, but she’d feel ridiculous walking into a strip club wearing an outfit that cost more than the cars most of the people had arrived in. Luckily she was standing right outside a clothing store that one of their dancers shopped at.
“Thank you for this. I’ll be sure to make an appointment with the salon, too. I’ve been thinking of doing something different with my hair.”
“The great thing about Fascination is that they take walk-ins. Well, I don’t want to keep you. Nice meeting you.”
Cassidy threw her cigarettes into her car and then headed into Dare to Wear. The clothing store looked like the kind of place that a girl with a low budget and a lot of daddy issues might shop. It was full of cheap, knockoff clubwear and lingerie. It made her feel like such a snob walking around the store wearing Louis Vuitton pumps and two carat diamond earrings. When she found a purse that was nearly identical to the Gucci bag she was carrying, but at a fraction of the price, she felt like a fool as well. Why spend thousands of dollars on something when you could buy a near identical item for pennies on the dollar.
She walked out an hour later wearing a tight leather skirt, a low cut lycra top that shoved her breasts up, giving her a delicious amount of cleavage, and a bag full of stockings, garter belts, push up bras, bustiers and wicked looking panties. All of it combined cost less than the skirt she’d bought in a clothing store on Rodeo drive the day before.
After storing her purchases in the car she walked into Fascinations and had them dye her hair platinum blonde. Once that was completed the stylist teased her hair so it was full and wild. She also had her nails redone, extending a full two inches past her fingertips and painted an iridescent indigo that match her new plastic hoop earrings and bracelets.
Before she could make it back to work she got a call from the school asking her to come pick up her daughter. The woman on the phone assured her that “Cassidy” wasn’t hurt or in any danger, but wouldn’t say much more than that.
“How could you get suspended on your first day back to school?” Cassidy said as she and Helen walked to the school parking lot.
Helen shrugged. Her headphones were around her neck, backpack was slung over one shoulder and the skateboard in one hand. “What happened to you? You look totally different from this morning.”
“Don’t avoid my question.” Cassidy wasn’t sure how Helen could see anything, The girl’s eyes were barely open. It was quite evident that she was stoned out of her mind. “To answer your question, I did some clothes shopping and had my hair colored.”
“The last time I went to high school if you got caught smoking in the girl's room the worst that would happen is you'd get a couple of days detention. Jeeze, they're uptight these days.” She dropped her skateboard to the ground and then stepped on it, riding it while her new mother walked. Even standing on the skateboard she had to look up to Cassidy who was wearing six inch, transparent platfom heels. “So, what’s with the new look? Ryan suddenly change his taste in women?”
“Ryan broke up with me when he figured out that I wasn’t you.” Cassidy fished her car keys out her purse. “I’ve been wondering if my new fashion sense was a part of breaking up with Ryan or if someone had visited Olga recently.” She shot Helen a nasty glare once they were both seated in the car.
“I didn’t do shit.” Helen pulled a baggie full of fat joints out of her backpack.
“You don’t think that you’re high enough already?”
Helen snorted. “Like that’s actually possible.” She lit her spliff then held the smoke for several seconds. “You know, you look really familiar.”
“Yes, that’s because I became you, remember.” Cassidy lit a cigarette and then started the car.
“Yeah, no shit. I mean you look different again. Not just the clothes. You look younger than this morning.”
Cassidy examined her face in the rearview mirror. It was hard to tell under the heavy makeup, but Helen was right. Her face had changed. She looked like she was in her twenties now. “I think I’m matched up with someone new. Are you sure you didn’t see Olga recently?”
Helen held her hands up. “It wasn’t me. I swear.”
“My tits are growing too, I just bought this top and now it’s too tight.” Cassidy looked down at her breasts. Her top could barely contain her new tits, which were a few cup sizes larger than when she’d left the clothing store a couple hours ago. If she were at a grocery store they might accuse her of shoplifting watermelons. Her cleavage spilled out of her top, shaking like jelly with every little movement.
“Can we stop at White Castle on the way home? I’m literally dying for some fries.”
“Okay, but once I drop you off I need to go meet Desiree. You can invite Tommy over. I know that you don’t like Nintendo anymore so I got you a present.” She grabbed a shopping bag from the back seat and handed it to Helen. “I have half a mind to take it back since you got suspended, but I suppose you’ll need something to do with all of your free time.”
Helen opened the bag to reveal a brand new Xbox, a couple of games and several other accessories. “This rocks! I can get Tommy to come over to our house with this. His place smells like old socks.”
“Well good. I’d rather have you home with me anyway, not that I’ll be around much tonight. I need to leave pretty much as soon as we get home.”
After a stop at White Castle, Cassidy dropped Helen off at the house and then made the drive back to North Hollywood to meet Desiree. She was kind of nervous, still afraid of Desiree’s reaction to her new age and also the fact that they were meeting in a strip club. Desiree had been surprised initially with Cassidy’s choice of Star Garden for a meetup place, but then said that she was just fine with spending the evening around a bunch of beautiful, naked women.
Cassidy had some trouble initially getting inside the door. The bouncer took one look at her ID and told her to leave before he called the cops. It occurred to Cassidy that her looks had changed enough that she no longer resembled her mom. It made her want to check out her reflection to see what she looked like now, but that wasn’t going to get her in the door.
Remembering that she’d met the assistant manager early in the day she said, “I’m a friend of Cherry D’Lyte’s”
A smile lit up the bouncer’s face. “Ahh, the new girl. You’re supposed to go in through the back door.” He looked her body over a couple of times. “But you’re such a hot piece of ass that I’ll let it slide today.” He slapped her bubble butt as she stepped through the door.
Despite never having been inside a strip club, it looked pretty much like she suspected it would, based solely off what she’d seen on television shows. The main difference was that the dancers were topless in this strip club. It also smelled kind of strange like too much perfume mixed with a combination of different body odors.
Spotting Desiree was easy since she was the only female in the place that wasn’t either on stage, serving drinks or behind the bar.
“What did you do to your hair? Is that a wig?” Desiree said as soon as Cassidy was within earshot.
Cassidy stopped in her tracks. This was the exact kind of reaction that she’d been fearing. “I got it dyed today. Is it ugly?”
Desiree’s eyes narrowed. “How did you even have time? Did you skip school?”
“Well, kind of.” In a way she hadn’t skipped since her mom was going to school in her place, but she wasn’t ready to explain that to Desiree, not with how she was acting. “Maybe this was a mistake.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m meeting a friend of yours in a couple of minutes. I’m sure that she’ll want to see you.” Desiree pointed to the chair across from her. “Have a seat. Is Jax with you?”
Cassidy set her purse on the table as she sat down. “Jax? Why would he be with me? Wouldn’t he be with Penny?”
The comment seemed to take Desiree of guard. “What’s going on?”
“This should clear things up pretty quickly.” Cassidy removed her sweater, revealing her sleeve tattoos. “It’s me, Cassidy. It’s a long story.”
“Oh my fucking god it’s you.” Desiree’s eyes were almost as big as the coaster sitting under her beer. “Do you know that you look almost exactly like Penny? I mean besides the hair and the tits you could be her twin.”
“What?” Cassidy rifled through her purse for her compact. After gazing at her reflection for a few seconds she said, “Holy shit. How is this possible?” Desiree was correct. She looked almost exactly like her best friend.
“I would guess Olga. Did your mom set you up with someone again?”
“She said she didn’t and I believe her. She’s so inert these days that unless it involves Tommy, skateboarding, gaming or getting high, she isn’t going to do it.”
“Well, there’s an easy way to find out.” Desiree whipped out her phone. “Olga will know if you’ve been setup with someone.”
Cassidy felt kind of foolish as she watched Desiree make a call that she should have thought to make much earlier in the day. She’d known that she’d been changing ever since she’d picked her mom up at the school. Why hadn’t she thought of contacting Olga on her own?
“Olga, it’s me, Desiree. I have Cassidy with me and we think that she’s been matched with someone without her consent again. Can you help her with this?” Desiree handed the phone over to Cassidy.
“Hello, Cassidy," Olga said. "Yes, you are in new match.”
“Did my mom set me up again? She said that she didn’t.”
“Someone very dear, but not mother. Listen to this and it should explain.”
There was a pause followed by a male voice that sounded like it was playing through a cheap pair of speakers. Cassidy recognized the voice instantly. It belonged to Ben Hahn, Penny’s dad.
“I’m looking for a woman who can be a mom to my daughter. Someone who’ll stick around and won’t run off at the first sign of trouble. Someone who’s in it for the long haul. I’ve never dated the most classiest of women, I know that. What can I expect when I meet ‘em in dive bars and strip clubs? What can I say? I like those kind of women. But these gals aren’t exactly Susie homemakers. I guess what I’m looking for is a woman who’ll keep a good house, can hold her alcohol, will be a wild thing in the bedroom, and also be someone my Penny would enjoy spending time with and would be happy to call mom.”
Cassidy felt like crying. She’d known Ben since shortly after becoming friends with Penny nearly a decade earlier. Never in that time had she ever had even the slightest romantic interest in him. That changed the moment she heard his voice over the phone.
“Are you alright? What did she say?” Desiree placed a hand on Cassidy’s shoulder.
“Just a second.” Cassidy held up a single finger. Olga was speaking again.
“If you no like match, let me know now. Once you see Ben perfect match will be final and you won’t want to leave him, ever.”
“I…”
“Cassidy, what is it?” Desiree shook Cassidy' arm. “Talk to me. Who are you matched with?”
Cassidy looked up to see a smiling male face standing directly behind Desiree. “Him.” She dropped the phone onto the table as she leapt to her feet.
Desiree turned in her seat to see a middle aged man with the kind of body that made her think that he had a job that required some physical exertion, but not too much. Maybe an electrician or a mechanic. Based on his beer belly and the way his worn jeans hung off his flat ass, she guessed that he was a plumber. He looked exactly like the kind of guy who hung around a place like Star Garden, leering at the toppless dancers and flirting the serving staff.
Ben strode over to Cassidy. “Darling, you are the prettiest thing that I have ever laid eyes on. May I buy you a drink?”
“Only if you agree to sit by me and not leave my side for the rest of the night,” Cassidy said.
“No place I’d rather be.” Ben grabbed the back of Cassidy’s chair as she took a seat. He waved his hand to get the waitress's attention and then sat down next to Cassidy.
Desiree folded her arms across her chest. “So, who are you and why does she look like my brother’s girlfriend?”
“Hmm, sister of my daughter’s boyfriend? That must make you Desiree. I’ve heard a lot about you over the last couple of days. I’m pleased to finally meet you.” He held out his hand, but Desiree refused to take it.
“You’re a sick fuck.”
“You may be right about that. I have been cursed for a long time. My mind has been filled with desires to do the most improper things with my daughter. I have resisted them, but it has nearly ruined my life. I’ve spent years in counseling, trying to rid myself of these desires without success. I’ve not known peace for many years. Now, thanks to Olga’s matchmaking I can live out my fantasy without actually committing incest.”
“You poor man,” Cassidy laid her hand on his. She knew all too well what it was like to desire Penny, but not be able to act on it.
“You can’t be with him, Cassidy.” Desiree held out her phone. “Call Olga back and have her end the match.”
“Cassidy?" Ben looked horrified. "Penny said that she was going to set me up with your mom.”
Desiree hit redial.
“It’s not her fault. I looked like my mom for the last couple of days.” Penny had been wanting her dad to find another wife since his divorce from her mother 13 years ago. Since then he’d had a constant stream of different girlfriends, each of them looking a bit trashier than the last. None of them were around long enough to be a decent step-mom for Penny. Now that she was becoming obsessed with the occult her real mom was likely to disown her. She’d need a step mom who really understand her. A woman who’d been her best friend for over a decade would be perfect.
Desiree held the phone out to Cassidy. “Tell Olga that you want this match ended and this goes away.”
Cassidy swivelled her chair so that she was facing Ben. “I need to know a couple things. Did you ever lay a finger on Penny?”
“Never.”
“Are you willing to have more children? A lot of children?” If she didn’t get pregnant soon she thought that she might go mad. Making matters worse, the urge to procreate seemed to grow every time she was intimate with someone.
“I guess I’d be willing to be a father again.”
“This last one is the most important.” Cassidy took Desiree’s hand in hers. “Are you willing to share me with my girlfriend?”
A lecherous smile spread across Ben’s face. “Depends. Can I watch?”
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