Chapter 1

"Hey, babe!"

I almost dropped the hot cup of espresso I was holding as a pair of hands took hold of my waist from behind.

Steadying my hands, I said without looking back, "Chris! How many times do I have to tell you? When I'm like this, you do NOT touch me!" I punctuated it with an elbow up his ribcage.

"Ow," he said, "I didn't think you were serious. Come on, Pat, let's stop with all this bullshit and just be yourself. It has been a week since you ran out on me on Christmas morning. Just let go."

"I AM myself, you lousy piece of brain-dead bastard. Get your hands off me. NOW!"

"OK, fine. If that's the way you want to play it," he said as he released my waist and stepped back.

"That's better," I said, still holding my cup of espresso and not looking back, "Now you listen to me, when I'm like this, you treat me like you always treated me. When I'm in my other form, that's a different story."

I heard him open the fridge and rummage around for something in there.

I took a sip of the espresso and said without looking at him, "Do you get me?"

"Sure, I get you," he said, his voice sounded so close, before he proceeded to pour some water on my head.

"What the fuck?!!!" I said, putting the cup on the counter before wiping my hair with my hands and untying my ponytail.

Despite the transformation from female to male, my hair still remained blood-red and long. I tried to cut it, but apparently, my new hair was invulnerable. Who ever heard of an immortal hair? The only consolation was that at least it only reached a little way down my back now.

"Is this OJ?" I asked after a few drops entered my mouth.

"Make up your mind, will you? Do you want me to act lovey dovey or do you want me to be a jerk? Maybe this will help clear that cobweb between your ears," he said before again giving my head another pour of the OJ.

I turned around and shoved him away. "Stop it!" I said as I walked out of the lounge.

As I headed to the washroom, I wondered what exactly I ever saw in him last Christmas.

"Willows, come to my office now," was the IM that Mr. Stuart, my boss sent.

I wonder what that was about as I sent, "Coming."

I got up from my chair, then grabbed my 'misc' folder along with a pen. It's a habit of mine whenever I was summoned to Mr. Stuarts' office. I never went there empty handed, Sue said it was likely because I didn't want to appear idle in front of the boss, but really, I only brought the folder so that I'll have something to hold in my hands.

"Lynda, Mr. Stuart asked me to come. Can I see him now?" I said to his personal secretary. Lynda's workspace is a small room filled with cabinets all around and connects Mr. Stuart's entrance to the rest of the office. That doesn't mean Mr. Stuart's office is isolated though. He could still spy on us from his blinds.

"You must be here about the newbie. Just go in, he's waiting for you," she said right before she went back to doing some kind of spreadsheet.

What's this about a newbie though?

I knocked on the door to Mr. Stuart's room and pushed it open when I heard him say, "Come in."

Mr. Stuart is a somewhat elderly man, though not by much. He's only 45 years old, give or take, but already sporting a very obvious potbelly and half-bald. When I walked in, I saw that he was shuffling some blank papers and looking intently at another blank paper. In front of him, sat a gorgeous brunette who was sitting crosslegged. She looked very european, as in east european.

"Ah, Mr. Willows, please have a seat," he said giving me a glance and went back to looking at those papers before snapping his head up to give me another look. It wasn't a very comfortable feeling to be stared in such a way.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Stuart?" I asked, the very same words I often said whenever I was summoned to his office. Although he's a bit laid back in office affairs, he is extremely strict when it concerns formality. He never calls anyone in the office with their first names. I heard he was a West Point graduate and went for a military career for a few years before he was dishonorably discharged. Nobody dared to ask him if it was true though. The last one who tried asking him that, disappeared the week after. Nobody dared to ask Mr. Stuart if he killed and buried her in his backyard either.

"As a matter of fact, there is. This is Ms. Ariel Ivanova. She'll be joining our department following the resignation of Mr. Henry."

"George is quitting? I've never heard that." I asked. George Henry, or as we call him, 'Mr. Comedian' was a great guy. He always filled the office with laughter. But I have not heard of a single rumor that says he's going to quit.

"Well, now you know, Mr. Willows. Please tell your coworkers that the company will pay for anything you need for Mr. Henry's farewell party, but that is not what I ask you to come here for."

"Anything else then?" I said after giving the girl, Ariel Ivanova, a glance.

"I want you to show Ms. Ivanova the ropes. She's just out of Caltech and this is her first job."

"First real job, sir. I used to be a part-timer at Macy's," she interjected with a giggle.

I wasn't prepared to hear Mr. Stuart's guffaw. "Please, call me John." 'Call me John'? What the fuck's got into him?

"OK, John. I'm sure Miss Willows will get me settled in," she said as she gave me a wink.

"Miss Willows!" he said as he guffawed again. I could see tears flow from his eyes. "She does have a point, Willows. Cut that hair," he said right before he fell backward along with his chair. Even while on the floor, he was still laughing. I've never seen him like this. Did he get super lucky on the slopes of Switzerland or something?

Just great. I really need to get rid of this hair. Why is it that people make such a big deal out of this? Steve in the mail room had longer hair, yet nobody called him a girl. Sure, my hairs much softer and more beautiful than his, but still ... plenty of guys have long hair.

"Well, if that's all, I shall take my leave, Mr. Stuart," I said to an empty table, as Mr. Stuart was still rolling on the floor laughing his ass off.

The girl, (Ariel Ivanova) followed me as I left his office and closed the door behind her.

"Hi," she said, her voice was like a thousand flowers in a spring garden, "I'm Ariel Ivanova. You can call me Ariel." She extended her hand and gave me a smile.

I took her hand, and said, "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Patrick Willows, you can call me Rick. Is that Ariel as in, the little mermaid?" I laughed a little, to show her that it was just a joke.

"Hehe, my mother loved the cartoon. I suppose maybe that was the inspiration for my name. So, where are we going now?" she asked as she stepped out of Lynda's room.

I gave a wave to Lynda, who didn't seem to notice, before I left.

"First, we'll get you sorted up. I think there's an empty cubicle near mine. You can't take George's place as he's still using it. Are you going to be taking his job?" I asked as I walked to the empty cubicle I mentioned. I noticed that aside from a handbag, she didn't carry anything else.

"What job would that be?"

"Systems analyst," I said, wondering if she agreed to the job without having any idea what she was supposed to do.

"Oh yes, that's it. What does a systems analyst do, though?" she said in a bimbo-ish tone.

I proceeded to tell her everything a systems analyst do the moment she sat on her chair. Thank goodness I didn't have to teach her everything from A to Z.

We were sitting at the cafe across the street from our building when I spotted Sue coming in. Behind her was Liz and Tammy, as always.

"Sue! Over here!" I waved at her.

Sue saw me and walked over. The moment she came eye to eye with Ariel though, she froze, causing Liz and Tammy to collide with her back.

"Oy! Don't stop so suddenly, will you?" said Liz, who had to pick up the handbag she dropped to the floor when she collided with Sue.

Sue mumbled a 'sorry' before taking a seat in front of us. Her eyes fixed on Ariel's. I looked at Ariel and saw that she also had her eyes fixed on Sue's, except that instead of Sue's shocked expression, Ariel had a bit of a snarl.

"You guys know each other?" I enquired, seeing how intent they were at trying to outstare each other.