Chapter 36

Day 478 Tuesday

It was early in the morning when Denise climbed out of Dale's bed. She looked at Dale while he watched her with a smile on his face. He knew that the time had come for her to leave. In a soft voice, he said, "I'm going to miss you."

"You've got Victoria to keep you entertained," Denise said with a smile.

"That's true. It is about time I found another young woman to join the program," Dale said.

"Don't worry about it," Denise said. She looked around the room and said, "I'm going to miss living here. It is hard to believe that I've come to think of here as home."

"It has been an interesting sixteen months," Dale said.

"That it has," Denise said. She wiped her eyes and asked, "Do you mind eating alone this morning? I'd like to spend a little time saying good bye to Victoria."

"Go ahead," Dale said.

Denise leaned down and kissed him. Rising, she said, "Take care of yourself."

"I will," Dale said. He watched her walk out of his bedroom for the last time.

She turned at the door and said, "Good bye."

"Good bye, Denise," Dale said. He stared at the closed door thinking about the past sixteen month. He sighed and said, "One day it will be my turn to fall in love."

Denise walked down to Victoria's room. She opened the door and looked at the young woman asleep in the bed. She slipped under the covers. Victoria shifted and then snuggled closer. Denise relaxed and rested while Victoria slept. After a few minutes, she could feel Victoria holding her tighter. She said, "I know you're awake, Victoria."

"How'd you know?" Victoria asked.

"Your breathing changed," Denise answered.

Victoria didn't move for a few minutes. Finally she said, "I'm going to miss you."

Denise could tell that the young woman was on the verge of tears. She said, "I know. I'll miss you, too."

"You could stay a little longer," Victoria said.

Denise shook her head and said, "No. I've got to move on. It is time for me to act like an adult and make my own way through life."

"I know, it is just that it is going to be so lonely here without you," Victoria said.

"Dale will be here."

"Not that I'm complaining, but he's going to wear me out," Victoria said with a giggle.

Denise laughed and said, "I know what you mean."

Victoria said, "You're a gorgeous woman."

"So are you," Denise said.

"Not yet, but I'm getting there," Victoria said. She didn't have any pretentions of glamour. There were still a lot of pounds to lose before she'd be turning heads.

"It isn't about what is here, but here and here," Denise said pointing first to the young woman's stomach and then to her heart and head. She said, "You're a beautiful woman. The fact that others haven't recognized it yet is a testament to their stupidity and blindness."

"Thanks, Denise," Victoria said. She kissed Denise and then said, "I really hated you for a long time. It took me months to get over the little episode in Dale's study."

"I know," Denise said. She sighed and said, "I didn't enjoy doing that."

"I know that now," Victoria said. She shook her head and said, "I was a real spoiled brat as well as a fat woman."

"True," Denise said.

Victoria laughed and said, "You've always been honest with me."

"I've tried," Denise said. She said, "There were a lot of times when I wanted to temper the truth with a little misplaced compassion."

"I must have been quite a trial for you," Victoria said.

"I was a trial for Susan. It is all part of the program," Denise said knowing that it was true.

"I'm not looking forward to that part of the program," Victoria said.

"I know, but the day will come when a fat woman moves in and Dale will look to you to help her through the program," Denise said.

"I dread the day."

"Don't be that way. There are rewards," Denise said.

"Like what?" Victoria said.

Denise leaned forward and kissed Victoria. She said, "Like that."

"I'd like to visit you sometime soon," Victoria said finding that it was hard to keep the tears at bay.

"Call me," Denise said.

Victoria said, "You better go before I start crying."

Denise kissed her and said, "Good bye, Victoria."

"Good bye, Denise," Victoria said.

Denise slipped out of the bed and returned to her room. She spent the time packing her suitcase. After she finished packing, she looked around the room that had been hers for a year. She tried to remember her old apartment and realized that time had dimmed her memory. It hadn't really been a home.

She sat down at the computer and watched the time-lapse video of the past sixteen months. It brought tears to her eyes to watch it. It was better than watching Cinderella. That was fantasy, but her video was reality.

She clicked on the picture that had been taken the previous night. The woman that stood at the posing station was a true beauty. After putting the proper paper in the printer, she sent the picture to be printed. She opened the picture that had been taken her first night in the program. She sent it to the printer.

She stood by the printer waiting for the pictures to be finished. She pulled out the first one and stared at it. Grinning, she thought about how Larry would feel to find it in his lunch bag. The second picture finished. She grabbed it without looking at it. She put both pictures in her purse.

She double clicked on her word processor and opened a file. She sent the document to the printer. It would take an hour to print. She sat back in her chair and read the pages as the printer spat them out. She smiled while reading parts of it, cried reading parts, and reflected on some of the philosophy that appeared in other parts. She knew each and every word. She had written them.

The time passed slowly. She listened to the normal morning noises as Dale and Victoria prepared for their day. She heard the front door close when Dale left the house to head for work. It wouldn't be long before Victoria raced out to head for school. She always left late and had to rush to get there on time. She smiled and returned to reading.

She knew that the last page had printed when the printer went quiet. She opened up a new document and typed: The Victorian By Denise She added a copyright below her name. The story was finished after six months of work. Inspired by Claire, supported by Larry, and curious if she could do it, she had spent a few hours every night adding a little to the story. A week ago she had realized that the story had come to an end.

She sent the cover page to the printer and typed up a simple submission letter. She sent that to the printer and packaged the manuscript for shipping to the publisher. She had no idea if it would be accepted, but she liked it and that was the important thing. She'd be able to say that she had done it. She added it to her luggage and closed it.

The sound of the front door closing with a frantic bang let her know that Victoria had left for school. She stepped out of the bedroom and went to the swimming pool. It would be at least a year before she'd have a chance for a swim in the nude. From now on, she'd have to wear clothes for all of her outdoor activities.

It seemed strange to her that she had become so used to casual nudity. Of course, that was nothing to being unashamed of performing sex acts in front of others. She tried to remember how many people had seen her engage in sex over the past sixteen months. It was a pretty long list of men and women. There had been a time when that would have caused her to die of shame. There had been so many changes in just sixteen months.

Wearing a dress that hugged her body in all of the right places, Denise stepped out of the house and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky, comfortable temperature, and bright sun. She turned back and looked at the front door. She said, "Sixteen months. It was sixteen months ago that I entered through that door a fat woman. Now I've left it a sexy woman."

She swallowed as the tears threatened to break through. She took a breath and said, "I'm not going to cry."

It was a whole lot easier to say than to do. Denise walked briskly to her car carrying her luggage. She opened the trunk and added it to the bag that was already there. She looked at the contents of the trunk thinking that it was rather strange that sixteen months of her life fit in two pieces of luggage. She sighed and slammed the lid closed.

Getting into the car she sat behind the wheel. It was time to stop by her new apartment and drop off her luggage. She had a small errand to run at lunchtime before meeting up with Susan. She started up the car and drove off without looking back. To look back would bring back memories and the memories would bring tears. There was too much to do for her to waste her time crying.

She drove the twenty minutes to her new apartment. She parked in the little covered spot and got out. She carried her luggage to the door of her new place. She stood there and said, "My new life begins today."

With a turn of the key, she entered the apartment. She dropped her luggage by the door and looked around. New furniture filled the living room. All of her old stuff was still in storage. The clothes that she had packed were all too big. The knickknacks reflected a person who no longer existed. Even her old kitchenware was crude compared to what she had learned to use at Dale's. The only thing that meant anything was her photograph album.

The apartment reminded her of Susan's place. Like Susan, Denise had decorated the place with the help of her fiancée. Most of the apartment had a slightly masculine feel to it, but the bedroom was her room and had a feminine appearance. There was even the study filled with technical books and a small desk. She looked at the study and smiled thinking of how happy Larry had been to shelve his books.

After picking up her luggage, she went into the bedroom. She threw her bags on the bed. She opened her luggage and hung her clothes in the closet. It looked empty, but that would change. She'd gone shopping and bought lots of clothes over the past sixteen months, but the majority of what she had bought no longer fit. Her undergarments went into her chest of drawers. It only took a single drawer to hold them all. It wasn't a lack of quantity, but a lack of material in them.