Chapter 3

With a start Natalia woke up hearing an alarm shrieking right next to her. Still groggy she grabbed her phone which was the source of the racket. She sighed as she remembered she had set the alarm; it was time to get herself ready for work.

With a flick over the screen the phone stopped the annoying sound and she flopped on her back staring at the ceiling. The street light peeked through the crack of the curtains which gave her bedroom a sinister glow.

Natalia blew her breath out forcefully as she suddenly realized that she had signed all the papers at Gregory’s office. She was now officially a member of the GIS and today was the day to give notice to her other job.

It all felt unreal especially after what happened last night; She had taken her time to read through the different papers because she knew it would be much more difficult, if not impossible, to change something after she had signed the contracts.

When she finally had put down her signature on the last paper, she was friendly but urgently asked to go home to have a proper rest. It was quite an anticlimax and she was disappointed there wasn’t any form of celebration that she had joined the GIS. But then, as she had arrived home, she was shocked to see it was past 1 o’clock in the morning.

Somewhat disconsolate she had gone to bed.

Now she knew she had to get out of her cozy and warm bed and make a start on her usual morning ritual.

She knew she had to dress up smart. A pencil skirt, blouse and a matching jacket combined with 4 inch high heels should suffice. Her boss wasn’t that tall and if she was wearing the 4 inch heels she could look him straight in the eyes, something she was looking forward to. She couldn’t wait to see his face the moment she told him to piss off.

With renewed vigor she got out of bed and strode towards the bathroom where she relieved herself first before she dared to look at her reflection in the mirror.

She took off her sleep T-shirt and stared.

She knew she had enjoyed life the last months a little too much but, as she studied at her reflection, she thought it wasn’t that bad. Her love handles were there as was her rounded tummy but all in all it could be disguised with a cleverly chosen outfit.

She raised one of her arms to observe the damage of neglect but she couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw the flawless shaven armpit. She moved her body towards the mirror to have a closer look. Expecting smooth skin she was surprised to see the almost invisible, transparent hairs lying flat against the skin. She slid her finger over the fine hairs realizing the blessing of what she saw; No more razor burns, no more ingrown hairs and no more an itchy stubble!

Natalia was amazed by the simple and incredible pragmatic solution the nanites had come up with.

In an instant she looked down and to her relief she saw the carefully groomed triangle was still in tip top condition. She couldn’t keep a gleeful smile forming on her lips as she felt the same smooth fine hairs coating the sensitive skin.

She knew that the nanites had again done an incredible job and whispered to her reflection, “Thank you! This is really awesome.” Now she definitely felt her skin get warmer for a second but that was not the only thing that happened; on her left cheek a little red heart had appeared. It animated a luscious beating for a few seconds before it disappeared again.

First she was shocked to see the little heart appearing on her cheek but then she realized that the little creatures had made their first attempt to make visual contact with her. It was something she never had imagined would happen.

Natalia giggled like a little girl who had gotten her first present as they were making her life a lot easier.

With a happy sigh she turned on the shower knowing she only needed to have a quick rinse.

Natalia stood in front of the mirror checking her outfit. The fabric of her blouse was just dense enough to cover most of the lace of her bra. It could be very warm in the meeting room of the office and it would be a sweaty disaster if she couldn’t take off her jacket.

The pencil skirt she had chosen was a little tight around her hips but the side slits stopped at a decent height. Her legs were not really her best assets but she decided to refrain from wearing stockings today.

She stood barefoot, staring at her reflection pondering whether she should put on some makeup. Thanks to her little nanites her face was immaculate already and she decided only to use eyeliner to create a feline look.

Natalia unscrewed the top off the eyeliner and brought the tip of the little brush to the side of her eye, marking the endpoint.

As soon as the tip touched the skin a perfectly formed raven black painted line appeared over the entire eyelid. She pulled away from the mirror and, totally bedazzled, she saw that both eyes were now accentuated with an extremely fine black line.

She slowly placed the brush back into its holder understanding she never had to fiddle with the sticky black fluid again.

The nanites seemed exactly to know what she intended to do and she had to admit it was extremely handy but she knew she needed to be cautious and determined not to take them for granted. The only thing bothering her was how those nanites knew what she wanted.

Creating a line like that was based on very specific information which was most unlikely already stored into the collective at the moment those nanites were injected into her body. Deciding to accept what just happened, she smiled warmly to her reflection as she said softly, “Wow, this is amazing! Will it be possible to make the line just a little bit thicker?” The thin lines on her eyelids became more pronounced and as soon as she thought they were perfect she said gently, “That’s it. This is really great!”

As she admired the immaculate painted lines she asked sweetly, “Perhaps you could move the ends just a little upwards?”

She was amazed how the curved ends instantly changed her look so drastically; she almost had a predatory look which would serve her perfectly today.

She clapped her hands in glee as she said, “This is so cool!” Natalia wanted this somehow stored into the collective and asked her reflection in the mirror, “Shall we call this the feline eye-line?”

Natalia laughed as soon as she saw a green ‘ticked’ symbol flash on her cheek knowing she could get used to this far too easily.

She carefully chose a lipstick which would complete her look for today and as soon as she had moved the lipstick close to her lips she wasn’t surprised that her lips were immaculately painted in the exact same color. “Wow,” she said in awe as she turned her face from left to right admiring the perfectly applied makeup, “this is perfect! Thank you so much!”

Natalia felt the nanites’ hug and realized she never had to worry about makeup failures anymore.

With a genuine smile plastered on her face she untied the ponytail to let her auburn hair fall lusciously down her shoulders.

She gasped as she saw her nails were painted in the same color as her lips. She looked at her nails with amazement, noticing that they were perfectly manicured. This made her a little uncomfortable as she deliberately didn’t want her nails to be painted. She thought it was over the top especially knowing that hardly any of the women at work painted their nails. She hoped because the nanites were so eager to help her that they had taken the initiative to paint her nails as well.

With her heart in her mouth she wriggled her fingers, flashing the ruby red nails in front of the mirror. She said with a lopsided smile, “Love what you’ve done but I think this is a little over the top. You see, I’m going to the office and I think that it would be just a little too distracting.”

In an instant her nails changed into their natural color and she smiled warmly to her reflection. She winked as she said, “We can play with this as soon as I get back to Enzuinia. I have something really fun in mind which we can do this evening, okay?”

Relieved she felt the warm hug knowing her little creatures accepted her proposition and awkwardly waved to her reflection knowing that they would still be with her. She knew she had to hurry and stepped into her heels, ready to go down as soon as her Uber had arrived.

Natalia smiled as her phone chimed. It was Alex, her regular driver, who told her that he was waiting in front of her door. She double checked whether she had her keys and phone before she pulled the door shut and then rushed downstairs, looking forward to having another fun chat with Alex.

The sedan was purring gently as she stepped into the luxurious car.

“Oh Natalia, darling!” Alex almost squealed as he saw the high heels, “Where did you get those cuties?”

As she settled into the seat she said happily, “Alex, sweetheart, I have had them for years. You really like them?”

Natalia was very happy to see the corpulent man again. His Hispanic features were accentuated by his neatly trimmed Mexican mustache and his perfectly styled raven black hair made him look like a Paella western movie star. At first Natalia had to get used to Alex’s camp mannerisms but in the end she truly enjoyed his candid banter.

“Oh yeah, they were made for you! But darling, no stockings? Those heels are begging for a nice pair of seamed stay-ups!”

Natalia laughed and said, “Come on Alex, you know I hate any itchiness on my legs.”

“I know darling, but you would look so super sexy. Anyway, you look drop-dead gorgeous in this suit,” he said as he switched on the indicator of the car.

“Thank you Alex, you’re such a sweetheart.”

“I’m just telling you the truth, darling. I assume you need to go to the office?”

“Yes please, that would be great.”

“Alrighty,” Alex said enthusiastically as he steered the car onto the road, “You’re lucky that the roadworks were finished last night, otherwise we would have quite a few delays.”

Natalia loved the little banters with Alex and she knew she was going to miss him. He always managed to cheer her day up but now her future dictated a different life, probably without any Uber trips.

“Alex,” she spoke with a somber tone, “I need to tell you something.”

“Uh oh,” he responded, “That doesn’t sound good, darling. What’s on your heart, my love?”

“Well,” Natalia started not really knowing how to soften the blow, “I’ve got a new job.”

They had stopped for a red traffic light and Alex looked at her as he said, “But that is great news, darling! You always wanted to do something else, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she admitted, “but it means I don’t have to commute anymore.”

Alex was suddenly fascinated by Natalia’s flawless complexion and asked, “Natalia, darling! OMG! What happened to your face? Who did your make up? It, it looks like your skin is flawless!”

Natalia stammered as she looked at his curious face, “I, I had some facial masks lying around which I have tried.”

Neither of them had noticed the green light and a car started to hoot loudly.

Alex raised his arm as he quickly accelerated the car, almost speeding over the crossing...

“Sure, darling,” he said incredulously as he turned his face towards her, “I bet you’ve used a very expensive sealer to smooth out your imperfections.”

As she saw their car swerving towards the side of the road she squealed, “Alex, pay attention to the road!”

He just could prevent the car from hitting a parked car and exclaimed, “Whoops, that was close!”

He drove on as he kept his eyes focused on the road and there was a tensed silence until they stood still at the next traffic light. “So,” he said a little subdued, “why all the effort to look so amazing if you going to give the sack?”

Natalia sighed as she recalled the heated conversation she’d had with her boss last Friday.

She wanted to take 3 weeks off after she had completed all her work but her boss had resolutely turned down her proposal. The reason she had asked for the extended period, was because she was still able to enjoy the free time before she became too ill. Somewhat offended she had asked the reason why it was not possible and her boss had made clear that no one was allowed to have leave for 3 weeks in a row. She had argued that she had saved up leave of last year and that she was entitled to take it up whenever she liked.

The man dismissed her argument and had asked her to leave his office.

The word ‘asshole’ had promptly left her lips as she had walked out, something she had regretted later that weekend. Somewhat shocked she realized it had led to her adventure drinking too much champagne at the pub.

“I want to feel at my best when I’m going to tell my ex-boss to piss off,” she answered his question resolutely.

“Oh darling,” he said with a low voice, “If I didn’t have another ride I would have loved to come and witness how you’re going to scoff your ex-boss!”

They had arrived at the building and before Natalia could say anything Alex had already gotten out of the car.

She was a little taken aback when she saw him standing next to the passenger door.

After he had opened the door the man reached out his hand so she could gracefully get out. Natalia stood opposite him which felt somewhat awkward because she was a head taller than him.

“Natalia, darling,” he said as they gently hugged, “I’m going to miss you.”

It was hard for her to keep her tears in check as she kissed him on the cheek and said with a broken voice, “I’m going to miss you too, Alex. Thanks for the fun rides.”

They parted from the hug and his smile reached his eyes as he said, “Go get your revenge, darling. And don’t forget to give Jessie my love.”

Natalia chuckled and replied, “I will.”

Not wanting to delay him any further she stepped into the revolving door of the office and as soon as she could see the street again she waved at him as he still was watching her.

He gracefully raised his arm as he disappeared from view while getting into the car. He hooted once more as he moved onto the busy street.