David Greene's last day as David Greene

In the future, they have an autoshower which automatically washes and dresses the user, but not a toilet which would automatically lower the seat. When David Greene leaves the seat up one too many times, his wife begins to retaliate by loading up his autoshower with her clothes. Eventually, David has to face the consequences of his actions.

Groggily, David Greene reached over to the incessantly buzzing cell phone and numbly thumbed at the touchscreen until he finally managed to turn off the alarm. He could tell it wasn’t the first time it had rang that morning by its  increasingly frantic sound, but he didn’t know how late he was until he opened his eyes and looked at the screen. 7:43 AM, September 20^th, 2075, the gently flowing characters read.

With a jolt, David rolled out of the bed, got on his feet and walked out of the bedroom. Gradually, he became aware that he was home alone. His wife, Gloria, had already left for work, as was the custom ever since she had gotten her latest promotion. Before, David had often felt frustrated over how they kept getting under each other’s feet during their morning routines. He had been looking forward to having the mornings all to himself, however without Gloria nudging him to get up, he found that all of his mornings were spent rushing from bed to the front door, hoping not to be late for work.

The morning of September 20^th, 2075, was no different. On his was from the bedroom, David made himself a five second cup of coffee and, after scolding his tongue with the first sip, put it down on the counter and sped off to the bathroom. There, he relieved himself into the toilet bowl, then stepped into the autoshower, joyfully anticipating the soft caresses of the warm water spray. However, as soon as the sprays began, he noticed an alien scent in the air around him. He glanced at the toilet from the corner of his eye. As soon as he realized that he must have left the toilet seat up again he knew what was going on, however there was no way to stop it from happening. A few moments later, his vision was completely obscured, first by the mist, then, by the busy movements of the mechanical hands around his body, accompanied by nervous, yet somehow decisive whirring.

At 7:55 AM, David Greene emerged from his house in a public transport pod, wearing his wife’s pastel blue skirt suit, white silk blouse and white pumps, complete with the appropriate hairdo and makeup, as well as lingerie underneath his clothes. By that time, David was fully aware that his wife had intentionally set the autoshower to her settings for punishing him for leaving the toilet seat up, however there was nothing he could do about it. The public transport pod was on an automatically controlled course and just by making it turn around he would waste enough time to arrive alarmingly late at work, let alone washing and dressing himself manually. By that time, David has accepted his fate that he would come to work dressed as a woman, again.

At 7:58 AM, David Greene’s public transport pod caught up with the mass transit system. He stepped through the sliding doors into a sunlit compartment and sat on one of the many unoccupied seats.

“At least the morning rush is over,” David reflected on the one positive side of running late, then looked in his lap. Bashfully tried to tug the hem of his skirt over his knees, encased in shiny, translucent stockings, but gave up eventually and decided to simply enjoy the rare luxury of sitting down during his morning commute. From past experience, he knew that apart from showing too much leg, there really wasn’t anything to worry about. Since he was of very similar size to his wife, her clothes fit him just as well as her, and the autoshower always did an impeccable job of hiding his true gender with the makeup and hair styling. With the clever use of a corselet and a push-up bra even the flatness of his chest was masked well enough that he didn’t have to worry about being recognized for a man until he would reach his office.

At 8:20 AM, David got into a public transport pod again, and let it take him to the company building. Although his anonymity would end as soon as he got out of the pod, David wasn’t overly worried. The RFID card in his purse would deal with his identification at the numerous security check points on the way to the office, and the office itself was busy enough for him to slip undetected to his cubicle. Of course, he would have to eventually communicate with other people, but his closest co-workers were already familiar with his wife’s punishments so he expected the day to pass without major embarrassment.

But as soon as he identified himself at the second-to-last checkpoint, both with the RFID card and a retina scan, a young security officer approached him.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” she said, “You’ve been randomly selected for a voice identification test.”

Before David could think a way to get out of this gracefully, the young girl, dressed in her blue and yellow uniform, was already holding her tablet against his face.

“If you were so kind to say your name for me?” she said.

Secretly, David had been practicing his female voice since the last time he spent the day in his wife’s clothes, but in this particular situation, it would be of no use.

“David Greene,” he said, in his regular, man’s voice.

“Oh,” the girl said, surprised, but quickly regained her professional composure. For a second, she viewed the screen of her tablet, then tapped at it four times.

“All’s clear,” she said, waving him through with her tablet in her hand, “Have a good day, Mr. Greene, sorry to have bothered you.”

David couldn’t deny that his heart was racing but, having passed the security check unscathed in the end, calmed down soon enough. By the time he reached his office area, he even knocked merrily on the cubicle wall of his co-worker, Stuart Denkers.

“Left the toilet seat up again?” Stuart asked him as he walked on towards his cubicle.

Relieved that he made it to work on time, he turned on his computer and set to work, but moments later, a pop up message appeared at the screen.

“Mr. Greene, please come to the HR office for brief consultation, immediately.”

John Ross, David’s HR manager, was one of the people who knew, and understood, the true reason why he sometimes came to work looking like a woman, and was quite happy to let David get on with his work. Usually, the point of such consultations were just to satisfy the company’s administrative regulations, though David still met the note with a good deal of unease.

Yet, as he really had no choice, he logged off his computer and, forgetting he was wearing high heels and a tight skirt, he deftly jumped off his chair. As soon as the soles of his shoes hit the floor with a resounding click, he remembered his attire though, and expected to lose balance and make a spectacle of himself falling down. Instead, he surprised himself by staying on his feet, regardless of his high heels. He briefly smoothed down the front of his skirt and tugged at its hem again. As he walked toward the HR office, he reflected with a sense of pride, as well as alarm, that he has had enough practice walking in high heels to handle a three inch heel without any trouble whatsoever.

“What’s up?” Stuart asked him as he saw his feminized colleague pass his cubicle again.

“I’m wanted at HR,” David replied.

“Ooh,” Stuart said and turned towards his computer.

“What?” David asked.

“Nothing,” Stuart said.

David shrugged his shoulders and walked away. He reached the HR office after a couple of minutes, knocked on the door and entered without waiting for John’s reply. Rightly so, it turned out, as John wasn’t in the office. Sitting in his chair, was a young, black haired girl, wearing a brown knit dress and knee high black leather boots. He noted that the heels on her boots, although much wider, looked about as tall as the heels of his pumps, and that she must have been at least ten years younger than him.

“Excuse me,” David said, in his woman’s voice, “I have an appointment with Mr. Ross.”

“Hi,” the girl said, “I’m Kara Beecher. I’ve taken over from Mr. Ross.”

“Oh,” David said, “I was hoping I could still take up my issue with him personally, as he is very familiar with it.”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to help you just as well,” Kara said, “Are you David, by any chance.”

“Yes, I am,” he said, defeated.

“Please, have a seat,” Kara said.

She waited until David sat in front of her desk, then picked up her tablet.

“First off,” she began, “I would like to tell you that the company’s attitude towards employees gender issues is generally very welcoming, and that no discrimination whatsoever is tolerated against employees whose gender does not fall into the standard binary gender definition.”

“This is a bit embarrassing,” David smiled, “But you see, the real reason I’m dressed as a lady today is not really gender related, but it’s a thing my wife does to me. You see, sometimes she sets up the autoshower to her settings behind my back and then I can either go to work dressed up like that,” he pointed at himself, “Or go back home to change, which would make me arrive quite late at the office. Not that I enjoy wearing ladies’ clothes, but personally I prefer to put in a good day’s of work, putting aside any personal inconveniences.”

All that time, Kara was staring at him silently, which made him wonder if she had been listening to him at all.

“The company offers considerable support for employees who wish to change their gender,” she continued, reading from the screen, “However the employees are required not to alter their gender too frequently, i.e. with the frequency of less than once every five years.”

“As I said,” David smiled again, “This is really not a gender issue. Mr. Ross was well aware of that.”

Kara looked blankly at David, then looked at the screen of the tablet again.

“It says here that this isn’t the first time you’ve come to work as a woman,” she said.

“Unfortunately, no,” David said, forcing a nervous chuckle, “I mean, one would think I’d have learned to leave the seat down, but there we are.”

“I can see in your file that the last time you turned up at the office as a woman, you agreed with Mr. Ross that should this repeat itself, you will be treated as of female gender,” she read.

“Well,” David said, even more nervously, “He put that in to cover his ass, so to speak. I mean, he couldn’t put in what we really agreed upon, could he?”

“I should hope not,” Kara said, putting down the tablet, looking at David, “Any agreement against the company policy would have been null and void.”

“Well,” David swallowed, then said cautiously, “Do I have an agreement with you?”

“Of course, Mr. Greene,” Kara replied matter-of-factly, “I will put out a circular that you are now a woman, and remind your colleagues that professional attitude will be expected at all times. In line with the company’s supportive stance, I will help you change your legal citizen status accordingly.”

David looked at her for a second, then, licking his lips, began to speak in a low voice.

“Is there a way to deal with this differently?” he asked.

“There is always a way,” Kara replied.

“So, what are my options?” he asked.

“Your options, Mr. Greene,” she said sternly, “Are to carry out the actions I have just told you about, or you can be escorted by security officials out from the company’s premises.”

David thought for a second. Ever since her latest promotion, Gloria had been increasingly demanding of him, both regarding his career as well as his involvement in the household tasks. He tried to imagine how she would take the news that, instead of getting a promotion himself, got fired. It would be even worse when she would find out that getting fired was in fact an option he’d chosen himself, regardless of what the other option would have been.

“Could you please consult Mr. Ross on this issue, please?” David said desperately.

Kara leaned over the desk on her elbows.

“Between you and me, David, there’s a reason why Mr. Ross isn’t here anymore,” she said, “I’m not sure what sort of deal you had with him, but personally, I think that switching your gender back and forth every day is highly unprofessional and disruptive to the work process, and your office environment. The company is very supportive of transgender employees, and insists that they are treated with undiminished level of professionalism,” she said, tapping her finger at her desk, “But the employees have to exhibit the same level of professionalism themselves!”

“Look, Kara, please,” David began, but Kara silenced him with a strict gesture of her fingers.

“I understand that each person is an individual, and that there are times when one is confused about themselves, so we allow for a transition period,” she said, “Due to the negligence of your former HR manager, I cannot be fully familiar with the details of your case, but from what I can find out, it is clear that you have clearly used up any length of the transition period that the company would be willing to allow. I’m putting an end to it right here and now. Either you start showing the level of professionalism this company deserves, or walk out the front gate. Your choice.”

She stared at him across her desk for a second.

“Oh, and speaking about professionalism,” she added, “It’s Ms. Beecher.”

“Sorry,” David muttered.

Kara waited for another moment, then rapped her fingernails impatiently against the desk.

“What’ll it be?” she asked.

“It’s hardly any choice, is it?” he said, defeated, “I certainly don’t want to get fired.”

“Of course not,” Kara said, picking up her tablet again, “And it would be a shame to let you go. The company does view you as a valuable asset.”

“Thanks,” David replied bitterly, but Kara didn’t seem to notice.

“Which name would you like to use from now on?” she asked him.

“I beg your pardon?” he replied, dumbfounded.

“I assume you won’t want to be called ‘David’ anymore, seeing how it is a traditionally men’s name,” she explained.

“Oh,” David said, then paused for a second.

“My wife likes to call me ‘Susan’ sometimes, when I’m dressed up like that,” he replied.

“Okay,” Kara muttered, running her fingers over her tablet one last time before putting it down.

“Do I understand correctly that you would like to change you first name to ‘Susan’?” she asked him, in a formal voice.

“Yes, I suppose,” he replied.

“Do you wish to keep your last name?” she continued.

“Yes, please,” he replied.

“Okay,” she said, in a more relaxed way, “Could you step around the desk for a second? I need to do this on the computer.”

Obediently, David got off his chair and walked around the desk until he stood by Kara’s chair. He noticed that Kara has already logged on to the citizen administration website.

“I’ll just change your first name here,” she said, “Then change your gender from male to female. Is that alright with you?”

“Yes,” he whispered.

“There,” she said, “All done.”

“Are you sure? It seemed awfully quick,” David said in disbelief. His experience with the citizen administration website so far had been very different.

“Of course, if you were to do this yourself, you’d have to put in a request, then wait for your citizen administrator to process it,” she replied, “But as you HR manager, I have the administrator rights over your citizen account, so I can do these things right away.”

“Don’t I have to approve anything?” he asked.

“No,” Kara replied, “You’ll be notified of the changes next time you log in, that’s all.”

“That seems a bit…” David paused as he searched for the right word, “Unusual.”

“As your HR manager I have different administrative rights than your civil status administrator,” she said, matter-of-factly, “In fact, according to the company regulations, I could have changed your gender as soon as your file popped up, but I’m a firm believer of the personal approach. You’re just lucky the company still allows the optional interview before administrative action.”

She picked up her tablet again and browsed through the messages, ignoring his presence.

“You can take your seat again, if you like,” she said, absently.

He walked back around the desk and sat down.

“There may be some pending administrative matters following your name and gender change,” she said, “But nothing that would require action on my part. I have to inform you that you also have the right to consult the company physician for medical and surgical procedures linked to your transition.”

“Surgical procedures?” he asked incredulously.

“Facial hair removal, minor facial cosmetic surgery, breast augmentation, …chtomy, vaginoplasty, hormone therapy, to name a few,” she said, reading off the tablet, “But that’s not anything we need to deal with right now. Just pop in anytime you’re ready.”

“Is this…” he began cautiously, “Mandatory?”

“It’s entirely up to you,” Kara replied, “The company is offering you help with these procedures, that’s all. However, I do need to notify you that you are now required to keep to your new gender’s dress code, though judging by your attire today, I don’t think this will be a problem.”

“I see,” he replied dryly.

Kara put the tablet down again.

“Well, enough formalities,” she said, with a merrier voice, “Let me be the first to congratulate you on your big decision, and to welcome you among women. I’m sure you will find out that being a woman is not just about wearing pretty clothes, but I don’t want to spoil your fun today. Enjoy the first day of the rest of your life.”

“Thanks,” he said, somehow expecting her to extend her right for him to shake, but both her hands stayed firmly on the armrests of her chair. He paused for another second, then got up and turned to walk the door.

“Oh, Susan?” she said.

“Yes?” he replied, noting painfully the use of his new name.

“A bit of friendly advice,” Kara said, “There are no company regulations about being overdressed, but you still might want to tone it down a little. You’re a systems analyst, not a CEO.”

David looked down at his smart skirt suit.

“It’s what my wife usually wears,” he shrugged.

“Well, then I suggest that you ask your wife nicely to take you shopping today,” Kara replied, “Floral prints are all the rage this season.”

As David walked out the door, a security officer approached him again.

“Excuse me, Ms. Greene?” she said, “Susan Greene?”

The young girl seemed strangely familiar to David, but he put it down to the ubiquitous uniform she was wearing, the blue skirt and jacket with twin yellow stripes at the side, a yellow blouse and the yellow epaulets on the shoulders of her jacket. By the epaulets, David realized that despite her apparent young age, her rank among the security personnel formally bound him to answer all her questions until she relieved him.

“Susan?” the girl said again.

David had expected to feel outraged at being addressed as a woman for the first time, but now he actually felt relieved to be able to use an identity that was so much more in tune with his image.

“Yes?” David replied in his womanish voice.

“I’m not sure you recognize me,” the girl said, “But I identified you earlier this morning.”

“Oh,” David said.

“You know,” the girl leaned closer to him, conspiratorially, “When you were still Mr. David Greene.”

“Yes, I remember, now,” David said, “What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to tell you, ma’am,” the security officer replied, “That when I pulled up your file, a special message to security forces appeared.”

“Oh?” David said, “What did it say.”

“I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you,” the girl said, biting her lip, “But it said that you might turn up in women’s clothes and when you do, the best course of action was to ignore it. I don’t remember it word for word anymore, but it also said you were confused. Under the company regulations, I should have just let you through, but then, if it said you were confused, you should get help from your HR manager. That’s why I acted against the instructions in your file and notified Ms. Beecher.”

Good old John Ross, David thought, all it took was one act of a concerned official to undo safeguard against the company’s policies.

“I immediately recognized your name when I got the circular,” she said, “And when I read it, that’s when I knew I made the right choice.”

David stared numbly at the girl.

“Anyway, I wish you all the best, ma’am,” she said, “Have a nice day.”

Acknowledging that she had officially finished their conversation, David nodded politely and walked back to his office. He slumped in his chair, logged into his computer again and started reading the messages in his inbox. The first one was from the company, congratulating him on his transition and wishing the best of luck in the future. The following ones were work assignments and he was happy to take his mind off the outcome of his meeting with his HR manager.

He kept himself busy with the analysis of crop growth patterns in pilot colonies, until he remembered Kara’s parting advice. He hadn’t taken it seriously at the time, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt he should do exactly as Kara had told him to. Reluctantly, he took his phone out of his handbag and called his wife.

“Hello?” she said, “Who’s this?”

“It’s me,” he said quietly, in his man’s voice.

“Oh, hi, honey,” she said, “For a second, I thought someone called Susan was calling.”

“Actually, that’s something I need to talk to you about,” he said.

“I’m sure it’s very interesting,” Gloria interrupted him, “But can it wait until later? I’m in the middle of something here.”

“Sure, if we can just meet after work,” David tried to say, but Gloria cut him off again.

“I’ll be a bit late today,” she said, “I’m hitting the gym before coming home. Can you take care of the diner?”

“Sure,” David said, “What would you like?”

“I’d like you to take care of it,” Gloria snapped back, “Can you handle that?”

“Sure,” he said sheepishly.

“Great,” she replied, “Then you can tell me all about everything over dinner. Bye!”

As soon as he put down the phone, he heard a knock on his cubicle wall. He turned around to see Stuart Denkers.

“Excuse me, Susan,” Stuart said, “Are you finished with the grain growth analysis by any chance?”

“Who’s Susan?” David replied, making his voice as manly as he could, forcing his mouth in a wide smile, but Stuart’s expression remained unchanged.

“The grain growth analysis, please,” he repeated, “Susan,” he said with an added pause for emphasis.

“I’m sorry,” David said, now in his female voice, “I’ll have it ready in half an hour.”

“Ok,” Stuart said and walked away.

“Hey, Stuart?” David called after him, “Maybe grab some lunch later?”

“Maybe some other time,” Stuart replied.

Despite the company felt that changing his gender was a merry occasion, David finished the rest of his shift in complete solitude. On his way home, he stopped at the upscale grocery store to get some food for dinner. Without a clear idea what to cook, he wandered aimlessly around the store until he thought he had filled the shopping basket with enough fine ingredients. He thought about stopping in a clothing boutique, as he had spent enough time in the grocery store already, but he didn’t want to be late with Gloria’s dinner. He didn’t have much experience with cooking. He knew that Gloria was aware of that and didn’t expect him to make something unbelievably demanding, yet at the same time, she was used to fine dining, so she did expect him to really make an effort.

With the help of online instructions, David managed to cook a three course dinner, and set the table properly, just before Gloria arrived. If she was surprised to find him still wearing her clothes, she certainly didn’t say it. As they ate, David to listen all about his wife’s day, about her board room victories, about her troubles with subordinates and about how much iron she pressed at the gym. David had always found her boasting about her performance at the gym a bit childish, though he had to concede that the last time he had found the time to go to the gym himself, his own performance was far lower than Gloria’s.

“That was really nice,” she said, putting down her dessert spoon and dabbing a napkin at the corners of her mouth, “Now, you said you wanted to tell me something?”

David took a deep breath and began explaining to his wife all about legally becoming a woman called Susan. As he was explaining, his emotions ranged from being apologetic, to outright accusing, feeling how all this was his wife’s fault. In the end, however, he wound up feeling helpless and frightened, and hoping that Gloria would be able to help him out of this fix.

“Talk about bad timing,” she said when he stopped speaking, “You’ve been due for your promotion for months now, but when it finally comes, this makes it look like positive discrimination now.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” David asked his wife incredulously.

“Well, what else?” Gloria asked him.

“The fact that I am legally a woman doesn’t bother you at all?” he said.

“Oh, honey,” she cooed, “You know I love you no matter what. Whether you’re called David or Susan, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“But it does matter to me,” David moaned, “I really didn’t want to change my gender!”

“It didn’t matter to you enough to leave your job, from what I can tell,” Gloria muttered.

“You think I should have left the job?” he said, stunned, “Is that what you’re saying?”

“With your promotion due any day now?” she replied, “That would be just plain stupid.”

“But… that’s…” he caught himself on the verge of bursting into tears, so he stopped for a bit to recompose.

“Can you see if you can help me switch back to being a man, again?” he finally asked his wife.

“Gimme your tablet, let me see what I can do,” she said.

Expertly, she logged into his citizen account and browsed through the settings.

“You can request another gender change as a citizen,” she said, pausing to tap the screen a couple of times more, “But not for another five years. Looks like this setting is locked by an administrator account. Sorry, not an administrator account, but a very specific one. It says Kara Beecher. I’m guessing that’s your HR manager, right?”

“Right,” David confirmed.

“Well, unless she personally unlocks the setting, you’ll be living as a woman for the next five years,” Gloria stated casually, “Maybe it this time, you’ll finally learn not to leave the toilet seat up.”

“Oh, God,” David moaned, horrified, “Is there anything you can do about it? With your account, I mean?”

“My account only gives me the authority over GeoDyn employees,” she said.

“That’s what I was getting to, actually,” he said shyly.

Gloria looked at him sternly.

“I will pretend that I haven’t just heard you suggest that I use my position to hire a close relative,” she said.

“Sorry,” he said, glumly.

“Anyway,” she said, “You should stick with AgroCorp at least until you hit them up for a free boob job.”

“Boob job?” David asked.

“You did say they were offering you medical procedures related to your transition, didn’t you?” Gloria said.

“Yes, but…” David replied, but Gloria didn’t let him finish his sentence.

“Breast augmentation seems like it might fit the bill, doesn’t it?” she sai.d

“Yes, but…” David replied, exasperated, “Don’t you get it? I don’t want any of that.”

“No, honey, it’s you who doesn’t get it,” she said, “For the next five years, you will be living as a woman. Now, of course, you don’t want any of that now, but in a couple of months, you’ll start complaining how your breast forms make the skin on your chest itch, or whatever, and you’ll want real tits. Well, realer. Or, how all those extra close shaves make your skin irritated and you’ll want laser beard and body hair removal. Or you’ll want your Adam’s apple shaved. Or you’ll want hormone therapy to make your skin softer, or you’ll want something else, that will then come out of my wallet.”

“It doesn’t have to,” Donald replied, hurt, “I’m making decent money, too.”

“These things cost more than decent money,” she smiled, “But OK. Are you saying that you’d rather pay for your breast augmentation yourself than have your company pay for it?”

“All I’m saying,” David began slowly, “Is that at this moment, I don’t want any of those procedures.”

“I’m not saying you should have them all now,” she said, “I’m just saying you should keep your options open.”

“OK,” David said, defeated.

“Fine,” Gloria said and stood up from the dining table.

“Actually, there’s one more thing,” David said shyly.

“Yes?” she asked.

“I was supposed to ask you for some new clothes,” he said, “Kara’s orders.”

“If that’s all…” she said, taking his tablet again. Using her credentials, she logged onto her favorite clothes retailer’s website and gave him back his tablet.

“Here,” she said, “My treat. Go wild.”

She turned to walk away, but stopped.

“Well, not too wild,” she added, then went to the living room.

David started browsing, keeping in mind Kara’s advice. He was quite engrossed in the shopping experience when a pop up message from the citizen administration center grabbed his attention. He ran, as quickly as his high heels and tight skirt allowed him, to the living room.

“Honey,” he said warily to his wife, “Have you just annulled our marriage?”

“Yes, I have,” she said, matter-of-factly.

“Why?” he asked, stunned.

“I noticed that after your HR manager changed your gender, I was automatically prompted if I wanted to continue our marriage or I could have it annulled on the grounds of your gender change.”

“No, I mean, why have you annulled it?” he said, “I thought you said you loved me no matter what?”

“Oh, honey, of course I do,” she said, “But when that message came, I thought it would be a good chance to redefine our relationship. After all, I took you as my husband, remember?”

“Oh,” he said, feeling a little relieved, “So, we’re just going to redefine our marriage, right?”

“Sure,” she said, focusing back on her tablet.

“Can we do it right now?” he asked.

“Actually, let’s wait a little and see how this all plays out,” she said.

“I was hoping that we would do it sooner,” he mumbled.

“We can try to find something fitting while we wait until we’re ready to get married again,” Gloria proposed, “How about that?”

David was not happy about that at all, but he knew he had little say in the matter, and a temporary solution was still better than no solution at all.

“Sure,” he said.

“Let’s see,” Gloria said, browsing through the options at the citizen administration website.

“Oh look. Here’s something interesting,” she said, “I’ll be your part-time employer.”

“Part time employer?” he asked, “What does that make me?”

“Part time employee, of course,” she smiled, “That is, if you agree?”

“Yes, sure,” he said, “What will I do? I mean, under your employ.”

“Domestic help,” she said, reaching for his tablet, “Seems the most straight-forward.”

She pulled up his citizen administration account, tapped a few times, and put it down in her lap, happy with the realization that taking up her former husband in her employ now gave her more administrative rights over his account than before.

“There!” she said happily, “You’re my domestic helper now. Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” he said, then remembered something.

“Wait,” he said, “If I’m under your employ, does that mean you have to pay me?”

“Not really,” she said, “It says here as long as your primary employment is elsewhere, you can work for room and board. Hey, maybe I’ll even get a tax deduction on your new clothes.”

“Speaking of which,” she looked at his tablet again, “Let’s see what you’ve found.”

She viewed his selection, then looked at him.

“What the hell have you been doing?” she asked him.

“Mrs. Beecher told me to get some floral prints,” he shrugged.

“That doesn’t mean you should buy every damn floral print dress in the catalogue,” she said, then started clearing out his shopping basket.”

“Floral dresses are nice, but you don’t need more than three or four, at least right now,” she said, “What you need are some blouses, skirts, a blazer or two, and some lingerie. And off-work clothes, of course.”

“I don’t really need off-work clothes,” David said.

“You can always wear your office clothes all the time, it’s your choice,” his wife said to him, “But trust me, that shit gets tiring after a while.”

“I mean, I don’t need new off-work clothes, I have plenty already,” he said.

Gloria lifted her eyes off the tablet and looked at him.

“No, you don’t, honey,” she said, “You can’t keep on wearing your old clothes anymore.”

“Well, not to work, obviously,” he said, “At home.”

“Why would you want to wear men’s clothes at home?” she asked him.

“Because I’m a man,” he said, though only with a feeble voice.

“No, you’re not, Susan” she replied with a tone that left no room for arguments, “Not for the next five years.”

He lowered his eyes, and she returned to the tablet.

“Out of these five floral dresses,” she said finally, “Which one do you like the best?”

David looked at the screen and was disappointed to see that all of the long dresses have been eliminated from the selection. Out of the remaining ones, he picked a white, knee length silk dress, a full skirt, short sleeves with a stalk of red roses up front, and rose petals printed elsewhere.”

“I liked that one, too,” she said, “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll get you a pair of silicone breast forms, this dress, a red blazer and red shoes, and some lingerie on fast track delivery, so that you can wear that tomorrow. You’ll get the rest of the stuff by regular delivery, though if it’s not here by tomorrow evening, I’ll just fast-track another outfit.”

“OK,” he said.

“Just OK?” she said, “How about ‘thanks’?”

“Sorry,” he said, “Thanks honey.”

“You’re very welcome,” she said, “Now why don’t you start earning your upkeep and clean up after dinner?”

Obediently, he went to the kitchen and started taking the plates and the silverware to the kitchen. Before he could finish, the doorbell rang.

“That’s the delivery,” she said, “Go and get it.”

He went to the door, and was relieved to see that it was by robot this time. He went back inside to get his RFID card, identified himself to the robot, and brought the delivered parcel inside.

“When I saw it would be delivered so quickly, I put in a nightie and a dress for you to wear around the house,” Gloria said as he started tearing up the packaging.

Despite everything, he found unwrapping his new clothes strangely exciting, until he found a black maids uniform among the lot.

“Oh, no,” he said, fighting back tears of shame, “This is too much, Gloria. I mean, being a woman, and your domestic helper is one thing, but a maid’s dress? That’s just humiliating.”

Gloria stood up, then silently handed him his tablet.

“I would suggest that you use the following fifteen minutes to read these instructions and learn how a domestic helper should behave towards her employer,” she said coolly, “There’s also a part about punishment, but if you’re strapped for time, you can skip it as you’ll get to learn all about it anyhow.”

Fifteen minutes later, David stood before his former wife, dressed in a black satin petticoat, with a white frothy petticoat, a white lacy apron and a white mobcap in his hair. Gingerly, he plucked the fabric of his skirts in his finger, placed his right foot behind his left one, bent his legs at the knees, keeping his gaze to the floor.

“Thank you for the pretty clothes, ma’am,” he said.

“That’s better,” she said, “You’re most welcome, Susan. You’ll have to put away all your old clothes, of course, but maybe today has been a long enough day already. Why don’t you just hang your new clothes in the guest bedroom and make it your home?”

“Guest bedroom, ma’am?” he asked.

“Please don’t think I’m bunking up with the help,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, dropped another curtsey and went to do her bidding.

“Susan?” Gloria called from her bedroom.

“Ma’am?” he said, as he curtsied to her a minute later, wearing his new nightgown.

“Getting into bed already?” she asked her former husband.

“Yes, ma’am,” he curtsied again, “It has been a long day.”

“Can you get me ready for bed, too?” she said.

“Certainly,” he replied.

“Turn the lights off first, please,” she said.

As her new maid slowly divested her of her clothes, Gloria tried to keep still, but when she was left only in lingerie, she couldn’t contain herself any longer. She grabbed David and kissed him forcefully on the lips, as he sagged like a doll in her muscular embrace. Effortlessly, she carried him to bed and kissed him again.

“Susan,” she whispered in his ear.

“Yes, ma’am?” He replied, lying on his back.

“I’m afraid I’m not being very professional now,” she said, “But there’s something else I fast-tracked today.”

Instead of replying, David gasped as he felt her take hold of his erection, then expertly roll a condom over it. He reached out for her, but couldn’t find her. Suddenly, he felt her spread his legs, then lean over him again. For a while they kissed, until he could feel something probing at his behind. Before he knew what was happening, Gloria had already pushed her strap on dildo all the way into him.

“Oh… no…. no…” he moaned, but to his surprise, he realized that he could easily accommodate all of his ex-wife’s new appendage. Though it made him almost cry with shame, after a while he found himself responding to her rhythm, until his whole body contracted in climax and he filled the condom with glob after glob of hot semen.

“Don’t say you didn’t enjoy that,” she said after he had cleaned himself in the bathroom.

“I won’t, ma’am,” he said “I did enjoy it.”

He turned to leave to his new bedroom when he heard Gloria call his name again.

“You wouldn’t say it way too small, would you?” she asked.

“Oh, no, ma’am, not at all,” he hurriedly replied.

“Come on, you don’t have to worry about hurting my feelings,” she said, leaning against the door to her bedroom, “This one was just the fast-track one.”

“One?” he asked warily.

“I’m getting the bigger ones by regular delivery,” he heard his ex-wife say, just before she closed her bedroom door.