Chapter 4

While sipping on her latte she imagined her being with GIS and what she knew about her future job. Then she remembered Jeanette’s revelation about the martial arts training, realizing her wardrobe was lacking any appropriate and suitable attire.

Remembering the spark in Janette’s eyes when she had admitted she had no experience in any kind of martial arts made her feel excited, knowing she was going to learn something new.

Natalia thought that Jeanette looked amazing and she was actually looking forward to working on her physique, hoping someday she could exude the same amount of confidence as Jeanette.

Now she had a goal she left the little cafeteria hunting for sporty leggings, sturdy crop tops and some decent sport bras.

She entered her favorite store and searched for the trendy sports leggings wondering what size she needed to get. She took one of the leggings from the rack and wondered if it was her size. Suddenly the leggings changed in color and it looked like they had gotten a reddish shade.

“How interesting,” Natalia said softly as she hung them back onto the rack and chose a size larger. To her astonishment the color of those leggings changed as well but instead getting redder they looked greener.

She looked around and as soon as she was convinced she was alone she asked aloud but soft enough that others in the shop wouldn’t hear her, “Okay my little nanites: are you telling me that green hued clothes will fit me and the red ones won’t?”

She wasn’t completely prepared for what she saw in front of her eyes: she saw a large green tick-symbol projected in the air and she realized that those little creatures were able to communicate directly into her eyes.

But that was not the only shocking revelation: Those Nanites somehow knew her size and they must have an extremely smart algorithm to be able to calculate whether a piece of clothing would fit her or not. It was hard to fathom let alone to believe it was possible but somehow she didn’t dare to question the creatures which had already made her life a lot easier.

She played it safe and complimented the nanites by saying softly, “That’s so cool! It will save me so much time. Thank you!”

The warm hug was assuring and Natalia decided to experiment what her little friends were capable of doing.

After browsing around the shop it was clear that the nanites needed to have a full view of the piece of clothing before they could give her an advice.

As she was looking at a pretty crop top she started to evaluate what had happened to her in the last 24 hours. She still had some reservations about the fact that she had allowed herself to be injected with a billion little pieces of alien technology. So far she could see the benefits of the helpful nanites but what if something happened to her that was caused by the little creatures which she couldn’t accept? She shuddered knowing she couldn’t give a coherent answer on the scary dilemma and decided that the unsettling uncertainty was the ultimate price she had to pay for being cured from her horrible disease. She sighed deeply and made the resolute decision not to look into that dark corner of her mind again.

Meanwhile the crop top had a hellish green glow and she had to giggle as she said to her little friends, “Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen it but I was thinking about something else.”

In the end she bought seven pairs of leggings, ten crop tops and eight sport bras without going into the changing cabin once.

With time to spare she decided to buy a new pair of Prada’s to replace the ones she had lost in the escape of those horrible men. She knew where the shop was and she decided to take the shortcut through a few shady alleyways. She reckoned it would save her a five minutes’ walk in her 4 inch high heels which were starting to annoy her muscles.

With a sturdy tempo she walked towards the narrow street and as soon as she turned the corner the outside rim of her view turned bright red accompanied with large letters “DANGER!“

Then she recognized several of the postures of the men who were walking towards her: they were the gang who wanted to rape her!

With the heart in her mouth she instantly turned her heel and walked back into the main street. To her dismay she heard one of the men saying, “Guys, is that not our little girl who managed to escape us?”

Trembling like a leaf, she ran out onto the street desperately looking for a way out. She spotted a second hand shop opposite the street and with some daring dashes between the lanes, accompanied by a few cars hooting at her, she crossed the street in record time.

She was extremely pleased when she could open the door and rushed in, ignoring the young man at the checkout.

“Good morning!” the young man shouted, clearly wanting her to acknowledge his presence.

“Hi,” Natalia said with a sweet voice while thinking how to escape those men. She knew she had to change clothes and, as she was looking around the racks, her eyes fell on a short black leather jacket. She was pleased to see the pretty jacket had a green hue and in an instant she had formed a plan on how to escape the gang.

At the other side of the narrow path she was in, she saw a black short net skirt which was her size according her little friends. She quickly grabbed the skirt and dove in to the grubby change cabin which looked more like a cupboard with a curtain in front of it.

As she looked at her reflection in the mirror she asked, “Can you change the color of my hair into black?”

To her amazement she saw the roots of her hair becoming darker and it slowly grew out to the rest of her hair. She smiled as she knew that her major concern was taken away and said, “Yes! Thanks.” She stepped out of her heels and shimmied out of her skirt.

Natalia was pleased she had bought the black leggings and the matching crop top and within a minute she had completely changed both her dress and overall appearance.

Bare footed she admired her new look: the net skirt combined with the leggings and on top, the short black leather jacket which made the crop top look less revealing. It all made her look like a gothic girl.

“Alright my little friends,” she said excitedly as she saw that her hair was almost black, “We are going for a gothic look. So, black lips and nails.”

In a split second the ruby red of her lips changed into a shiny black and she couldn’t stop touching them realizing the drastic and complete change of her demeanor.

“Perfect!” she praised with a slight tremor, “Now, the eye lines need to be three times thicker. I think I would like to have a black eye shadow starting real black at the end and a lighter shade at the beginning of the eyes. We need a narrow band of black eye shadow right underneath the eye and oh, my eye brows should be black as well.”

She had trouble to believe her eyes when the nanites had followed her instructions to the letter. She looked absolutely fabulous, in fact she thought she looked stunning and she knew it was all too perfect.

She appreciated her looks by turning her face and sighed deeply when she had made up her mind. “Now, I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to like what I going to ask,” she said with a soft and soothing tone, “but I would like to have dark rings under my eyes, my skin needs to be a lot paler and can you guys put some pimples on my chin and cheeks?”

As she already expected nothing happened and she pouted a little a she continued, “You know, I look too pretty now and I don’t want those scary men going after me.”

As she received a warm hug from the collective her face started to become much paler and she felt a knot forming in her stomach as soon as she saw the pimples appear on her skin. It immediately brought back those frustrating memories when she was a struggling teenager.

The dark rings under her eyes made her look 10 years older and she shivered realizing how much it affected her state of mind. “Thank you,” she said subdued. She still managed to produce a genuine smile towards her reflection and she was pleased as she felt the warm hug linger just a few seconds longer.

She pulled her hair into a ponytail which made her face look suddenly a lot paler but she couldn’t take the chance that the men might recognize her.

She quickly put her office clothes in the shopping bag and the only thing left was to hunt for a pair of black flat shoes. She had seen them when she had taken the jacket and again her alien palls had indicated which pairs would fit her like a glove.

As she stepped into the black shoes she became aware she was transformed from a pretty business woman into an unhealthy looking Goth and it had only taken her 5 minutes.

She walked towards the checkout and said enthusiastically to the boy, “I’m so pleased you still had this jacket!”

He looked up from his book and as he blatantly checked her out, “Is that the only item you’re going to pay for?”

Natalia blushed a little and said, “Well, err no. You see, the jacket needed something more so I had to find a matching skirt and those shoes are so cute.”

The guy rolled his eyes and lamented, “That brings it to 40 dollars, please.”

Natalia thought the price was a little on the high side but considering she didn’t have the time to haggle about the price she fished the emergency cash out of the hard case of her phone.

“Do you have a bag for me, please?” She asked the boy.

He looked at her for a moment before he reluctantly gave her a large paper bag.

“Thanks,” she responded as she transferred her office clothes into the spacious bag. As soon as she turned towards the door she stashed the other shopping bags in there as well, knowing that everything that might link to her before she went into the shop was now hidden away.

She stepped onto the street hoping that none of the men were waiting for her to come out. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned right towards the direction of her next appointment.

Right in front of her stood the leader of the gang leaning against a lamppost. Their eyes met and she just couldn’t stop staring at him. Her stomach churned seeing his deranged look but to her surprise he suddenly looked away, clearly disgusted by what he saw.

Normally Natalia would be quite upset if someone would react that way but now she was convinced that her plan had worked out great.

Relieved she walked on and could only smile when she heard the man shout gruffly, “Kevin! Go in there and see where the hell the little cunt is hiding!”

Natalia sat on the toilet waiting for the nanites finishing changing her hair back to its natural color. She also had asked to remove all the makeup except for the feline eye-line which she thought looked great on her.

On the way to the restaurant she had noticed that people were very judgmental. Her black make up and her rounded physique while wearing the daring clothes which were quite revealing earned her a lot of disapproving looks. In the end she had to zip up her jacket trying to cover her protruding bare stomach.

Luckily the staff was occupied as she entered the restaurant and she could slip into the ladies’ room without being noticed. She had entered the restroom noticing one other person occupying a toilet cubical which gave her the chance to change back to normal without being seen.

“Your hair is back to normal, Natalia, “ appeared in front of her eyes in olive green letters which brought her back from memory lane.

“Thank you so much,” she spoke softly, “I’m so pleased we managed to escape those horrible men.”

“Your plan to become a gothic woman saved you.“

“Maybe,” she replied as she didn’t want to take all the credit, “but you guys made it possible.”

“Glad to help you, Natalia, “ the green letters showed which was followed with two large purple hearts.

Her phone chimed and she already knew it was Jessie and with a big smile she answered the text message by telling her she was already in the restaurant.

She got out of the cubical and looked at her reflection in the mirror realizing she actually liked the black leather jacket. It needed some TLC but it fitted her just fine. She untied her ponytail and let her auburn hair flow freely over her shoulders.

She winked at her reflection and left the restroom looking forward to having lunch with Jessie.

Natalia had to wave to Jessie to get her attention as the woman was looking straight past her.

With a large smile on her lovely face, she hurried towards Natalia and hugged her tightly. Natalia inhaled the pleasant combination of Jessie’s perfume and the crisp, cold air from outside.

As they parted Jessie admired her friend’s new outfit and shook her head in disbelief.

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” said Jessie with a playful but accusing tone as they sat down opposite each other, “Where did you get this amazing jacket?”

Natalia chuckled as she saw Jessie’s hands stroking the soft leather. “I saw it in a secondhand shop a few streets from here. Do you like it?”

She bit her bottom lip before she huskily said, “You look so hot, I think the black leather is such a sexy contrast with your complexion.”

Natalia looked down as she replied softly, “I look far from sexy.”

Before Jessie could say anything a waiter came up to their table and said jovially, “Good afternoon ladies. Can I get you something to drink?”

Natalia looked up and addressed the man by saying, “I would like to order two glasses of champagne and we like to have lunch please.”

The waiter hesitated for a second but then he smiled as he replied, “Excellent choice! Two champagne and I’ll bring the menu.”

Jessie waited until the man was out of earshot before she asked incredulously, “Do you know the insane amount they are gonna charge us for those glasses of champagne?”

Natalia looked straight at the mesmerizing brown eyes of Jessie as she said nonchalantly, “This is a celebration, Jess. I have a new job and you, my dear, are going to milk this golden cow of an opportunity completely dry.”

The Latina gasped as she suddenly understood what the beautiful redhead was saying.

“You are playing dangerous games, Nat,” Jessie said as she narrowed her eyes.

“Am I really?”

“Uh huh,” nodded Jessie, “Randal told me to take all the time I need to get as much information as possible from you.”

“Good,” quipped Natalia, “It will take at least 2 hours before the alcohol in your blood will be on an acceptable level again.”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t...”

“Nonsense,” Natalia cut her off, “We are going to enjoy this afternoon and Randal is going to pay dearly for what he has done.”

The waiter returned with two generously filled glasses of champagne and as he handed the menu he said, “Enjoy ladies. The specials of today are written down on the black board on your left. I’ll be back shortly to take your orders.”