Introduction: Jim visits Adam in Hartford. They have a great weekend eating, drinking, and playing golf. It might have been too much wine, but Adam confesses he is transgendered. Jim takes the revelation quite well. There are some other interesting occurrences. Then the downturning economy bites Adam in the ass again; however, he finds a new job in Boston. Guess where he finds a place to live.

This is another story in the Cynthia Chronicles series. Other stories in the series are An Incremental Journey, Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend, Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver, Cynthia and the Moment of Truth, Cynthia and the High School Years - Part I, Cynthia and the High School Years - Part II, Charli and the Girl Cave, Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling; and Randi and the College Professor. The time frame of this story takes place about three to four years after Charli and the Girl Cave. If you haven't read the stories before, it might be a good idea to go back and start at the beginning.

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Once again Holly H. Hart has willingly provided her invaluable help in proofing and straightening out my poor English. Thank you so much, Holly.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

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Adam and the Three Wishes
 

Part 4

Chapter 7

"You are one lucky fella," Jim said as he took a sip from his Margarita. "I mean that is a 230 yard hole, and you knock into the hole on the fly with a five wood. It sure messed up the lip."

"That had to be one of the best shots of my life. I've come close to an ace before, but obviously nothing like that. I think the best thing though, was that you got to meet Bobbie Anderson and her husband. I had no idea they would be giving a golf clinic. It surprised the heck out of me that she remembered me. I mean I saw her for only a few minutes. She sure is beautiful, isn't she?

"Yeah, but she's definitely taken," Jim answered somewhat wistfully. "I didn't realize she was that tall. Now I can see how she hits the ball so far. She hits the ball a lot further than you do."

"That's not saying much. There're a lot of ladies on the tour who hit it as far as I do. Stories have it that she's never played from the ladies' tees since high school.

"Let's check that lamb. It should be close to being done; medium rare, right."

They sat down a few minutes later to a nice but simple dinner of rack of lamb, parsleyed buttered new potatoes, and lightly steamed fresh baby spinach. That had been preceded by a small Cesar salad garnished with a few fillets of anchovies. Jim was an anchovy freak, something that Adam had found out early in their relationship in college - pizza with everything plus anchovies, lots of anchovies.

Adam's Margaritas were rather powerful. It was just the way he liked them, but he didn't fix them that often. If he drank anything at all at home, it was usually a glass of wine or two with dinner. This time they split the better part of two bottles of a nice pinot noir. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that Jim was away from the fetters imposed by his wife.

Now it was time for dessert. Adam had found an Italian market in East Hartford that carried genuine gelato, and he presented Jim with a small bowl of the very rich and smooth tasting dark chocolate that he particularly enjoyed.

"You know, Adam, you'd make some guy a pretty good wife."

Adam felt the heat rising in his face. "Why would you say that?"

"I guess it's all that stuff I mentioned in Boston the other day, plus, I now know for sure that you can cook."

Too much alcohol can do strange things. Sometimes it emboldens, sometimes, it opens doors that have been secured for many years.

"Jim, how well do you know me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean do you really know me, the person who's inside," he said pointing to his chest.

"I thought so. Maybe I don't."

"Do you know what being transgendered means? I'm not talking about knowing from inside. I mean, are you familiar with the term?"

"I guess so. I've seen things about it on television and the newspapers. I remember Chaz Bono and that beauty queen from Canada. She looked pretty good. It's hard to believe that she's a man."

"That's just it. She's not a man. Do you know the difference between gender and sex?"

"I thought they were the same."

"Only when they match. Sex is the physical appearance of an individual, ignoring intersex which is a whole different ball game, whereas gender is the mental orientation."

"So, you are ...?"

"Transgendered."

"You're kidding, I mean you're not all swishy or limp wristed. You like sports. Well, that doesn't apply does it?"

"But you just said it. You said I'd make someone a good wife. You didn't say 'partner'. You said 'wife'. Whether or not you want to admit it, you see the inner me. I've tried to keep it hidden, but I don't always do it. That little girl I told you about, Charli, said I was a girl. I think her friend saw it, too. Out of the mouths of babes.

"Does this bother you, the fact that inside I may be a woman?"

"I don't think so. I mean how could that change our friendship? I'm not gay. You said you weren't gay. You don't think about having sex with men or me, do you?"

"Not as a man, I sometimes dream of being a real woman, having a lover and a family. I find women attractive, especially a woman like Bobbie. That whole area is a bit blurred at the moment. I think it's because of how I feel about myself. I thought things were pretty good between me and Pamela for a while, but I guess I didn't take charge enough to satisfy her. She wanted me to take her, dominate her. I wanted to cuddle and be gentle."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Nothing for a while; I'm going to have to save a lot of money. I'll have to find a shrink and a medical doctor who are familiar with this sort of thing. Once the psychologist agrees that I need gender confirmation surgery, I'll start taking hormones and blockers. My body will change a bit, but not enough. I'll need a lot of permanent hair removal, a whole lot, and that is expensive. I'll need facial surgery and breast augmentation to help make me look somewhat feminine. And, of course, there's 'the operation'."

"You mean a sex change operation?"

"I think more correctly it's called gender confirmation surgery. Then it's trying to find acceptance in a world that still hasn't come to terms with the condition. Hopefully, whoever I work for will accept me. The law says they have to, but it isn't always easy to gain acceptance. Companies do have ways to get around the law at times.

"So, now that I've let the cat out of the bag, what do you think?"

"I think you are very brave to tell me what you've told me. It's a bit of a shock, but now that you've told me, I do see it. You don't scream 'woman', but there is definitely a gentler side about you. Wow!" Jim said as let out a deep breath while looking at his best friend.

"So, what are you going to do," Adam asked.

"Nothing, I don't see how anything between us has changed. I wonder if that's what has put April off about you. Maybe she senses your inner woman, and she's not feeling secure about you. Well, I certainly won't tell her or anyone else about you. You can trust me on that.

"Does anyone know: your parents, brother or sister?"

"I don't think so. I'll have to tell them some day. The older I get, the more I think they're okay about this sort of thing.

"I want to show you something upstairs. The dishes can wait." Opening the closet in the front bedroom, Adam showed the movable panel to Jim. When he opened the panel, he had to take a deep breath. The clothes were gone.

"What's so great about that?" Jim asked.

"You're not going to believe this, but a couple of days ago, there was a complete woman's wardrobe back here: dresses, shoes, everything. They weren't my size, quite a bit too small, or I might have been tempted to try them out. They were very nice, some very nice labels. Esmeralda must have retrieved them. She said they were for someone else."

"Who's Esmeralda?"

"She's the property manager here."

They made their way back to the kitchen where Phantom was cleaning up the remnants of the lamb from Adam's plate.

"You certainly have a nice cat," Jim said as he took Phantom, who had received a mild scolding, from Adam. Phantom continued sitting on Jim's lap while he cleaned the remnants of the lamb from his whiskers and face. Adam was putting the remainder of the dishes into the dish washer, and Jim placed Phantom on the chair as he got up to help.

"You're not shitting me about this transgendered stuff, are you?"

"Not at all: for some reason, it just seemed right to tell you. I'm glad I did.

"Now about tomorrow, I don't see giving you any more strokes than I did today. I shot the best round of my life. I may never shoot a 76 again. If that ball hadn't gone in the hole, it probably would have gone off the green and into the lake. That could have been a four shot swing. Besides, you shot a net 68. That cost me two beers. I don't think I can give you more than four a side."

Jim headed back to Boston from the golf course. There weren't any holes in one, but both had good rounds that ended in a net tie."

"Adam, let me know how things are going. After what you've told me, I'm surprised at how positive you are about things. I did some checking on the internet this morning, and I noted that depression is something you must be dealing with. I'll be there for you if you ever need to talk about things." They shook hands, and at the last second exchanged a firm hug.

'All-in-all, this has been a pretty good weekend,' he thought as he watched Jim drive off.

Phantom was waiting for him when he parked in front of the house. Adam had given up thinking that he could lock the cat in. It was a very strange thing, because if Phantom went outside, he would always lock the door when he returned. Adam, rather jokingly asked him to do it because it would help keep the other animals out.

Adam's Tuesday had been set rather easily. He left for Bridgeport at 6:00 AM so he could get there before the traffic got too bad. He stopped at the IHOP located just off the Interstate in Orange, only a few miles outside Bridgeport. It worked out perfectly as the daycare he had to visit was only a few blocks away. His breakfast was acceptable, as was the coffee. His waitress was a pleasant young woman who couldn't cover up all the tattoos on her arms and neck. Adam wondered what the rest of her canvas looked like. He had never wanted a tattoo; however, the thought of seeing her slightly zaftig body covered in artwork was a bit erotic.

There were no problems noted in his survey at the daycare, but in spite of his having made an appointment with the director, he had trouble gaining access. They finally verified who he was with their agent, and he was allowed to complete his survey.

His next stop was a quick-stop along the old highway leading into the city. The proprietor rather reluctantly told him that yes he had firearms on the premises. Adam told him that as long as the employees were properly trained and their training was documented, there shouldn't be a problem. Of course it would probably increase their liability insurance costs. He couldn't tell them that, though, because he didn't know for sure what the underwriters would do when they saw the report. Underwriters were the most anal retentive bunch he had ever met. Not only that, they were consistent in their inconsistency. You never knew how they were thinking, and all it took was some poorly written memo to get them going off in six different directions.

Then it was time for lunch. He remembered his promise to Phantom, and had his extra shrimp boxed up. Once again there was more food than any two people should eat. He realized it had a lot to do with the fishing community. The fishermen worked long hours under rather severe conditions. When it came time to eat, they had to stoke up on the calories. Well, times may have changed a bit, but the tradition lived on.

His afternoon stop was the health food store in the chain of stores he had allegedly surveyed months before, although he was certain he hadn't. He arrived at the rather attractive mall about an hour early. That was by design. He just wanted to walk around a bit, do some window shopping, and if the mall had a good music store, check out the classical CDs. He had a flashback to the mall in Cape Girardeau. He thought about that strange shop with more aisles than he could see at one time. It couldn't have been his imagination! He'd met Bobbie Schmedlap, now Bobbie Anderson, there, and she had remembered him a few days before. It was beginning to settle in that there was something very strange going on, and it was continuing.

It was definitely continuing. Directly in front of him was a Spells-á´™-Us shop. He was next to one of the mall directories, and checked it out. The directory clearly stated that the location had a Hallmark store. He looked back. It was definitely a Spells-á´™-Us shop. It appeared to be identical to the one he had surveyed in Missouri.

"Hi Adam."

Adam turned to see Charli and Randi with two women and another young girl. The latter was of oriental origin.

"My goodness, what a surprise; what are you doing here?"

"Oh. We live near here back in the country a bit," Randi said matter-of-factly.

"Mommy, this is the nice Mr. Grunewald we told you about. He lives at the place where Aunt Esmeralda lives. Phantom lives with him."

"Mr. Grunewald, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Marissa Lewis," she said extending her hand. This is my good friend Hilda Brewer, and her daughter Lucy." They exchanged greetings all around. "So, what brings you to Bridgeport?"

Adam had to keep himself from staring at the gorgeous blonde. Now he knew where Cindy got her good looks from. Mrs. Lewis had to be one of the most attractive women he had seen in a long time, maybe just a bit more in the bust than he liked, but she carried herself very well. Hilda was very attractive, also. He figured out very quickly that she was from Germany. He also realized that Lucy and Charli were probably adopted.

"I'm doing an insurance survey. There's a health food store down that corridor that I'm supposed to survey. I just saw that store over there, that Spells-á´™-Us shop, and it's not on the directory."

"No, he never is. You should see him some time. His Wisdom is a wonderful man. You don't have a thing to worry about him. The children all love him."

"He looks like that Albus Dumbledore, but they are only cousins," Hilda added.

"I met your older daughter and her friend Bobbie in a store like that one early this year. I never could understand what they were doing in Cape Girardeau. I ran into Bobbie and her husband in Hartford last weekend."

"Oh, they were just visiting. They visit him quite a bit as do Randi and Charli. In fact, we were just visiting him a little while ago. I left him a dozen of my cookies."

"I gave one to Wolf. He likes mommy's cookies, but he's not supposed to have too many."

"Wolf! That dog really is a wolf! I didn't think anyone could have a wolf."

"He's grandfathered," Hilda responded with a chuckle. "No one could do anything about it anyway."

Adam looked up to see that the location was now filled with a Hallmark store. "What the hell just happened? I know the SRU shop was there just seconds ago. This can't be my imagination."

"No, it's not your imagination. He had an appointment in Taipei. He didn't tell us what it was about. He does a lot of things he doesn't tell us about. He can be a bit tricky at times, and he still gets carried away with things. But, he's not like the wizard you may have read about, at least not with us.

"His Wisdom is pretty much on top of things these days thanks to modern computers and the internet, even though he says he hates them. If you ever need to see him," Marissa emphasized 'need'. Go down that corridor towards the restrooms. You will see the rear entrance to his shop. He will let you in. He's expecting you."

"Why couldn't I just go in the front door?"

"Because he's not always here," Charli chimed in. "He's very busy, but he usually knows what we need."

Adam wasn't sure what to do. Obviously, in spite of his desire to ignore the facts, the SRU shop was real, and the Lewises, Brewers, Schmedlaps and others were in the middle of it. It was almost as if they were pushing him to the shop, and now that he knew it was real, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do about it. He had read too many tales about what happened to the unsuspecting when they entered the place. And now that he realized it couldn't all be urban myth, he wasn't sure what to believe and what to discount. Why would anyone want to help him anyway? What possibly could their motives be?

"It was very nice meeting you, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Brewer, and Lucy. It was good to see Charli and Randi again. I have an appointment down the hall I have to be to in just a few minutes. Maybe we will meet again."

"I'm sure we will, dear. I'm sure we will."

They watched Adam as he disappeared around the corner. "Is he going to do it Mommy?" Charli asked.

"I can't tell, Charli. You know that.

"What do you think, Marissa?"

"There's still too much uncertainty. Nothing's going to happen until the time is right."

Chapter 8

Fall turned into winter, and Phantom continued to grow. He reluctantly wore his collar with its rabies vaccination tag. He had found a way to slide it between the collar and his neck when he was stalking rats so that the noise wouldn't alert them. Most of the time, he just let it dangle.

Adam was able to meet Jim in Boston for drinks at the watering hole. The meeting with Adam's boss and the others was supposed to be a day meeting only; however, the company did spring for the hotel for both nights. Trying to get out of Boston at the height of the rush hour just wasn't a good idea. Adam had come in the night before as the weather was threatening, and he didn't feel that trying to drive on icy roads was the smartest thing to do either. As it turned out, the meeting lasted longer than was planned.

"Well, we got some news today that I've been expecting. They're going to close the Hartford office in 60 days."

"What does that mean for your job?" Jim asked.

They're going to let me work from home. I've been doing that most of the time anyway. They'll let me move the desk top to the house, and I'll get a printer that meets their specifications. It'll be one of those all in one fax, scanner and printer jobs. My printer's fine, so it'll get a bit of a rest.

"I'm beginning to think that my days are numbered, though. My workload continues to drop. There should have been an increase around the first of the year. Well, there has, but it's nothing like I expected. I don't think they'll be able to justify my existence much longer. The company's losing business to the big guys. The New York area's losing business just like Boston is. Nothing's been said yet, but I expect that Connecticut's business will be split between the New York and Boston offices very soon. I'm the junior consultant and I expect I'll be out of a job before long. I'm working on my resumé, and will be putting it out on the internet with one of those head hunting companies."

The end came a bit sooner than he expected. Two months later, he was given his 30 day notice. They were kind enough to give him six weeks pay. There was one bit of good fortune. Adam's company car was three years old, and it was at the replacement point. He was able to purchase it at wholesale. At least he wouldn't have to look for transportation, but that was an expense he hadn't planned on.

His resumé had been out there for a while, and he started getting inquiries right away. One in particular caught his attention. A third party administrator, a company that did claims and loss control (they called it risk control) and other things for insurance companies wanted to talk to him. What was happening in the industry was that insurance companies were farming their work out to these companies so that they didn't have to pay the salaries they were paying. They got rid of their employees, and reduced their expenses.

Adam called the company, which was in Louisiana, and the interview went very well. They basically wanted to hire him on the spot. Apparently, the references he gave were full of praise for him. They had openings available in the San Francisco area (too expensive), Dallas-Fort Worth (too hot), Arkansas (that didn't interest him in the least), and the Boston area (Jim was there; April be damned). He said he would take the Boston area, but he would need a few weeks to move. Hell, he didn't have a clue where he'd live, and he knew it would be more expensive than Hartford.

"Esmeralda, I've lost my job. At least, I will in a few weeks. They're giving my territory to New York and Boston."

"Oh dear, what are you going to do?"

"I have a job as a private contractor doing the same thing I am doing now. It looks like I'll be moving to Boston; however, I don't have a clue where to live."

"Let me check for you. We have friends there who might be able to find something satisfactory for you. I'm sure you'll have to find a place where Phantom will be able to live."

Esmeralda returned later that afternoon with an address. "This is a condominium unit that belongs to friends of mine. They say one of their residents is moving elsewhere, and wants to rent the unit rather than sell it. It's fully furnished, and the price is the same as you're paying here. Why don't you drive over there and check it out? Here's the address."

Finding the place on Google Earth was easy. A recent street view image showed what had obviously been a warehouse at one time. Someone had spent quite a bit of money turning the place into a condominium complex. There was no visible sign, but a quick internet search on the address made it an easy place to find - Harbour View Place was the name. It was owned by Lewis Properties, LLC, and was one of several units the company owned in Boston. They weren't cheap.

"Phantom, it looks like we'll be moving to Boston. Do you mind?"

"Chirrup ('I like it here, but I'll stick with you')."

The condo was better than Adam could have hoped for. It was spacious, very well equipped, nicely furnished, but not exactly to Adam's taste. The price made it perfect. Two weeks later, he rented a U-Haul box truck since he didn't have a hitch on the car, packed it up and moved his few belongings to Boston. He brought Phantom with the idea that he would leave him there overnight.

The previous owners had obviously had a cat as there was a pet door leading into the laundry, and a scratching post in the living area. Phantom sniffed the post briefly before claiming it as his own.

It was a quick trip back to Hartford to turn in the truck and pick up his car. He had two assigned parking places, and they were close to one of the entrances. He had a box of just a few items he had forgotten to pack earlier, and he held the box under one arm as he held the door open for a lady who was coming up from behind him. As he held the door, the realization hit both of them at the same time.

"What the hell are you doing here, freak?"

"Moving in, I guess. How about you?"

"I live here. So, does Jim know you're moving in? I'll bet he does. He's moving you in, and me out. Well, we'll see about that." April Dawn Matthews stormed off to the elevator.

The flabbergasted Adam watched as the door closed in front of him. He took the stairs to the second floor, and as he stepped into the hall, he caught sight of her behind as she turned the corner. The sound of the slamming door reached him before he got to his door.

Phantom greeted him at the door, and demanded to be fed.

'I don't like it when you leave me alone. The front door is harder to unlock than the other door was, but I can do it from both sides now. I'll have to show you.

'This place is big, but I couldn't find any rats. I may have to go down towards the water front before I can find any.

'I hope you had a nice trip.'

"The trip wasn't bad, Phantom, but the strangest thing happened when I got here. Jim Matthews lives here."

'Yes, I know. I smelled him. The lady who lives with him is not very nice. There's a cat there, too. It told me it wants to kill me. I don't know why. I never did anything to it.'

"Jim told me that he lived in a condominium complex. I certainly didn't know it was here. I have his email address and cell phone. That's the only way we've communicated.

"I wonder why she hates me so much?"

'She's evil, and so is her cat.'

Adam spent a few minutes arranging things before he sat down. Phantom, who'd been cleaning up, jumped into his lap and promptly curled up. Phantom was becoming quite the lap full.

"Hey, Jim, I'm in my place," Adam was on his cell phone. "Guess who I met a while ago?"

"I don't have a clue."

"Well, you never told me exactly where you live, and I guess I never told you exactly where I was moving to. Well, that's all moot now. I held the side door open for your wife a while ago. It seems we're about three units apart. April is not pleased to say the least.

"What is it with her, anyway? She said something about you moving me in and moving her out. That certainly doesn't make sense."

"I'll talk to her tonight about this. She's been threatening to move out for weeks. As far as I'm concerned, she can move back to Missouri anytime. I was talking to my lawyer today. I think I will just go ahead and file. There is something very strange about her. When we lost the baby, it wasn't so much about losing the baby, it was somehow my fault. The doctors tried to tell her it was nobody's fault, but she won't listen.

"I certainly don't love her anymore, and now that I look at it, I'm pretty sure I never did. She had me hooked for a while - no more.

"Tonight probably won't be the best time for me to come see you. I have a feeling that may not be an issue much longer. I'll be talking with you."

Adam quietly left his place a couple of hours later to get dinner. He needed to get to a grocery store, but that would have to wait. The dinner was nice. He had treated himself to a small fillet which was quite satisfactory.

That night he did something that he seemed to be doing more and more. He dreamed he was a woman. It wasn't so much what he looked like; it was more the comfort he felt. He could look down and see and feel his breasts. They were rather prominent, but felt so right. He was wearing a nice flared skirt and light blouse. It had to be spring or early summer. Then they were making love. The clothes were gone, and he was gently nursing on her before moving lower down. It was wonderful. Then he penetrated her. She wrapped her legs around his thighs, and pulled him into her.

"I love you so much Terri. This is so right."

"I know, Jim. Why did we wait so long?"

"I don't know, but we'll never have to wait again."

She came right after that. Fortunately, his pajamas caught most of his release. He changed bottoms, and went back to sleep. He probably had more dreams, but that was the only one he remembered.

Two days after Adam had moved in, April Dawn moved out.

Adam had to make several adjustments working with his new company. Now he was working with literally dozens of insurance companies instead of just one. Each company had different forms for the same lines of coverage. Each company had different 'hot buttons' that they wanted addressed. There was another very significant problem. Adam was self employed. He was responsible for all his tax withholding. He might have to find an accountant. The last thing he needed was tax problems. He had lost his company-owned desk top computer and printer/fax/scanner. He could get by with his desk top, but he would need a new scanner/printer and fax. His little printer just wasn't going to hack it. Fortunately, he found that prices had tumbled since he had last looked.

His work took him over much of New England. He even found himself back in Hartford every once in a while. Most of the work was in the Boston area, though. The variety of the work was very entertaining, and he went to many areas he had heard a lot about, but found that his mind's eye views were considerably different than reality. He loved the Cape Cod area, especially the gay friendly art community of Provincetown where he had to survey a restaurant, and a bed and breakfast. On the way back he surveyed a large grocery store in East Dennis, another delightful community that was quite different than Provincetown.

It was two nights later when he started having problems with his laptop. He had been downloading pictures of beautiful young ladies into his picture file. They were quite pretty, and each elicited that 'if only' response. There was one little brunette who capture his fancy. Her 'name' was Simoné, and there was just something about her that captivated him. Her dark eyes had a bit of an exotic look. Her breasts were high with beautiful, wide pink areolae. He probably downloaded a dozen or more pictures of her.

After enjoying the pictures of the pretty young ladies, he decided to go to one of his favorite TG fiction sites. That was when it started. First there was that ridiculous screen stating that he had won three wishes. 'This is absolutely preposterous. If it is too good to be true, it must be.'

Adam knew enough about computers to try the standard remedies, of which none worked. When he couldn't turn it off, he could think of only one thing to do: get Jim.

"I go to this site all the time and I've never had anything like this happen. The site is very reputable. They don't allow links to questionable sites. The material may not be to your taste, but it's not a bad place," Adam said as he and Jim approached the computer. "I can't get rid of this window that says I've won a prize. The thing's locked up on me."

"Well, it looks okay now," Jim said sitting down in front of the laptop. "What sort of anti-virus program do you have?"

Adam quoted one of the big name programs.

"Yes, I see it." He entered the program, and checked a few things. "It looks like you're keeping it up to date. Let's run a check. I have a feeling that it won't show anything.

"Do you have anything else for checking malware?"

"I use two programs. One was one that my old company required for any computer used for company business."

"Okay, we'll run those as soon as this virus check is completed.

"So this is some of the stuff you read; looks harmless enough."

"Yeah, that's one of my favorites," Adam said. He knew his face was flushed with embarrassment.

"Hell, I wouldn't worry about it. You should see some of the places I go to since April cut me off. I don't go to the hardcore stuff. I just like to see pretty women. I saw this one tonight: a cute little doe eyed brunet with the cutest little breasts. They just stood out there to be kissed.

"Yeah, Simoné, I think you and I go to some of the same places, but for different reasons. You want to make love to Simoné. I wish I was her. I don't mean her person, just her body."

Adam didn't realize what he had inferred until he caught Jim looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "I didn't mean it that way."

"What did you mean? If you were Simoné, would you mind if I made love to you?"

This was getting awful deep Adam realized. Maybe there wasn't any Freudian slip involved at all. If he were truly a woman, would he mind if Jim made love to her, er, him, er, her.

"You know, I don't think I would mind at all; however, I could never look like Simoné. I'll never be able to look half that good, in spite of all the surgical miracles they are able to perform these days. I would just hope that we could be friends."

"I don't think you have a thing to worry about.

"Okay, the virus check is clean. Let's check for the spyware and malware." Those checks also came up negative. "Look, I'm okay with this TG thing. It doesn't make you a bad or evil person. If you're going to do this transition thing, I'll be there for you. That's the least I can do.

"About your computer, I don't think anything's wrong. Your internet program may have just hung up on something. They do that all the time. I think you know enough not to click on any suspicious links, or send your bank account information to a dying widow in Nigeria.

"If that window pops up again, let me know. If I see it, we might be able to do something about it.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

As Adam led Jim to the door, the Three Wish Offer popped up again. It was there for Adam to see when he returned. 'Shit, I don't want to bother him again.'

Phantom was perched on the desk looking at the computer screen. "Mrrow."

"Yeah, I agree, Ol' Buddy, that's pretty weird. If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?"

"Mrrup. They're not my wishes. They're your wishes, but if they were my wishes, I would wish that you could be happy.'

It's not only the computer; there are a lot of strange things going on. There're too many strange things for them to be coincidental. Adam suddenly realizes something about all the strange women and girls he's been meeting. Finally, he's had enough. It's off to see The Wizard.