Sequel to: MAU: More Than Meets the Eye

Hector has a wonderful week with his fiance, but Jenna's success pulls him deeper into the pink side.

Hector was not looking forward to the return trip on the yacht.  The three day cruise from the island to Hawaii wasn’t too bad and it was even kind of relaxing. Never, in a thousand years, would he have ever imagined that he might enjoy lazing about in a skimpy bikini while drinking fruity drinks delivered by well-dressed waiters and waitresses, but there was something deliciously decadent about the yachting, ultra-rich lifestyle.

The bad part about the yacht was it limited his time with Natalie because he had to leave a few days early to make it back in time for shooting to begin.  While hobnobbing with the big guys was good for Jenna’s possible career, it sucked for Hector’s relationship with Natalie because he wanted to spend all the time he could with her.

“Geez, Hector. You’re more clingy them I am!” Natalie laughed as he procrastinated with saying goodbye to her.

Hector chuckled and kissed her again. “I’m sorry, but I’m just not ready to let you go and…” He sighed heavily and glanced over to the bed. Jenna’s small, single carry-on sized bag was ready to go and her clothes were laid out on the bed, ready for her to don. “I’m not looking forward to going back to being Jenna again.”

After four days of mostly uninterrupted man-time, he was just starting to get comfortable in his own skin again. It was nice not having to wear a bra, wash a ton of hair and simply be a man with simple clothes, easy morning routines and quick bathroom pit stops.

The only interruption was the one time he had to briefly change back into Jenna to return a call from Mike. Jenna told Mike to just text her after that if he had any questions for her because she was going to be relaxing, out of touch and didn’t want to even think about the movie until it was time to return to the set.

Mike honored her request and decided to annoy Hector with offers to take Jenna out to lunch, dinner, dancing, drinking, etc. The texts didn’t stop until “Jenna” agreed to go out to a casual and friendly dinner non-date with him the last night of their vacation. Hector stressed the casual and friend part, but only if he’d leave Jenna alone until then.

“I’m sorry Nat, but I’m finally getting used to being a man again and I’d MUCH rather spend our last hour together by taking you out to dinner tonight instead of being taken out to dinner by Jenna’s lecherous co-star!” Hector groaned with frustration and, not for the first time, questioned his decision to use the machine to become Jenna. “I wish the movie was done already. Who knew doing a movie and dealing with a horndog of a man was going to be so fricking tough!?!?”

“Well, that’s what ya get for being such a hot and kick ass woman, but I think it’s made you a better man and it makes me love you even more.” Natalie hugged him tightly and sighed with regret. “I’d love to stay, but Sadie’s waiting for me at the airport and she’s anxious to leave due to the friendly mechanic that took a shine to her when she dropped me off.”

Hector chuckled at the situation. “Well, she’s pretty much every man’s ideal woman…” He realized he was skating on thin ice and quickly back pedalled. “Not mine, but you know, she’s a beautiful woman who can turn into a hot motorcycle, a bitchin jet and doesn’t need to eat or drink. She’s a cheap date!”

Natalie playfully punched his chest. “Hmmmph! I think Jenna should go out on a ‘date’ with Mike. It might teach you a thing or two.” She giggled into his chest before standing on her tiptoes, giving him a toe curling kiss on the lips.

The kiss threatened to delay her departure, but the pair managed to control themselves, barely. Once they came up for air, Natalie reached into her bag and pulled out a small, rectangular, gift wrapped box with Jenna’s name written on the tag and handed it to Hector. “Here, this is for Jenna. Don’t open it until after I’m gone, but it’s something she needs.”

He shook it once, but it didn’t make any noise that might betray its identity to him. “What is it?”

Natalie laughed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Girl stuff, you wouldn’t understand.”

Hector glanced at her with confusion. Didn’t she know he was Jenna?  Instead of fighting it, he shrugged his shoulders and tossed it gently onto the bed, next to Jenna’s small suitcase.

Surprise gift forgotten, he carried Natalie’s compact bag and proudly escorted his happy fiancé to the car, catching the jealous gazes of every man along the way.  He drove her to the airport and walked with her to where Sadie was parked.  He was a surprised to see Sadie’s hologram impatiently standing beside her plane body. “Hey, Sadie. What’s up?”

“Thank god you’re here!” Sadie turned and waved to a man dressed in mechanic’s coveralls standing alertly by the door of a large hanger. “Matt’s a nice guy, but I think he’s a little too smart for his own good. He spotted me land, but when no one got out; he came over to make sure the pilot was okay. I told him I was waiting for my ride.”

As Natalie faked hugging Sadie’s hologram, Hector glanced over to the mechanic before turning back to Sadie with a grin. “I think the poor man has a crush on you, but how are we going to do this?”

“Well…” Sadie gestured to an older couple loading their plane from their car parked next to it. “How about if you bring the car over and I’ll make it look like I’m your passenger while Natalie takes off?”

Hector nodded with agreement. “Okaay, I didn’t realize we could drive the car in here, but I guess it will work. How far can you project your hologram?”

“Not sure, maybe fifty meters, but it should be good enough to fool him.” Sadie hesitantly bit her lip. “I hope.”

Once he brought the car over, it took Hector a few extra seconds to say goodbye to Natalie. Sadie’s hologram waited for him to open the passenger door and she projected herself into the car. Their plan seemed to work, but Sadie was only able to keep the hologram solid looking for thirty meters due to the car windows. It flickered out completely after forty meters, but it was good enough to get him past the curious mechanic. He felt a little creeped out when she started to fade before disappearing completely as he drove away.

He made it back to his hotel and the room seemed so much emptier without Natalie. Her surprise gift for Jenna drew his eyes, but he glanced at the cheap alarm clock and sighed with frustration. He had thirty minutes before Jenna’s “date” with Mike and he had to switch and get ready.  Why couldn’t the man just hook up with some random chick and ignore Jenna, or better yet, fly his own damn girlfriend out and hang with her instead?

Sighing with frustration, Hector took off his clothes, jumped in the shower and initiated his Jenna transformation. The process still unnerved him a little. Especially the part where his penis retracted into his body and turned into a vagina, but what messed with his head more was the fact that he was starting to get used to and even enjoy some aspects of being a woman.  He would never admit it to Natalie, but he kinda liked all the options women had for clothes and how their clothes could reflect their mood or personality.

Pushing the traitorous thoughts aside, Jenna turned on the water and took a steaming hot, relaxing shower.  Even though she only had twenty minutes or less to get ready, she still washed and conditioned her hair. She wasn’t worried about the extra time because she had zero plans to do some elaborate style job with it. A quick blast with the blow dryer and a pony tail was all she needed because she didn’t want Mike to get the wrong idea. Casual dress was her plan and one perk about being a woman was the ability to be fashionably late for a date. It was almost expected.

With her hair done, she quickly got dressed in the light camisole top, denim skirt and beach sandals that Natalie had helped her pick out. A touch of lip gloss was all she needed for makeup and out the door she went, only five minutes late.  She quickly found Mike in the hotel lobby and, instead of lying low and not attracting attention, he was surrounded by adoring female fans. The self-centered jerk even had a stack of glossy photos to autograph for the girls.

Jenna growled with frustration as she made her way toward the gaggle of fans surrounding him.

Mike spotted her coming. “Oops, it looks like my beautiful and talented co-star, Jenna has arrived.” He quickly signed and handed out the remaining glossies.

Jenna forced herself to smile graciously as a few of Mike’s fans turned to her.  “Wow! You’re so pretty!” A teenage girl gushed with admiration causing her indignation to quickly fade.

After that, she found herself surrounded by adoring teenage girls and even a few young adult women while Mike smugly observed from the side.

“Mike said you do your own stunts. Is that true?!?”

“What’s it like being in a movie?”

“Is this really your first?”

“When I grow up, I wanna be just like you!”

“Can I get your number?”

How did they know so much about her? Mike couldn’t have been promoting her, could he?

She answered their questions, but the last request kind of threw her for a loop.  It was from a kid, no, older teenage boy who looked like he was in high school or maybe in his first year of college.  Her first impulse was to punch him, but she instantly suppressed the urge because judging by the nudges from behind he was getting from his friends; he was probably put up to it.

Jenna debated on how to handle this one. Her first urge was definitely not the best way to handle it and chewing the kid out in front of all the fans wasn’t a good option either. She motioned for him to come over as the girls watched anxiously to see what she would do. “So, umm, interesting question. What’s your name?”

He glanced back to his friends who were retreating from view. “R-Ryan and I’m, umm, sorry...” He blushed and tried to take a step back, but Jenna reached out and grabbed his hand, stopping him.

“Okay, Ryan.” Jenna pulled him into a conspiratorial hug. “Here’s how it usually works. Before you ask a girl for her number, you need to accomplish a few goals, okay?” She glanced out to the girls and their raptured faces.

Ryan hesitantly nodded. “Umm, I guess?”

“Right, so first of all you need to reach a comfortable level of rapport with the girl if you want to have any hope of getting her number or even the correct number.” Jenna grinned as a few of the girls laughed. “That begins with exchanging names, followed by some conversation centered around common points of interest.” She glanced over to a girl who looked to be closer to Ryan’s age. “You, what’s your name?”

“Rebekka…” The girl blushed as she became the momentary center of attention.

“Okay, Rebekka, what’s your favorite Mike Powers’ movie?”

“Umm, ‘No Surrender’...”

“Oh, that’s a good one!” Jenna stole a quick glanced at Mike before returning her attention back to Ryan. “What about you?”

Ryan relaxed a little. “I liked that one too. The fight scenes were pretty good and I liked that the chick in it could fight.”

“Whoa there Ryan.” Jenna turned him to face her. “Negative points there!” She looked over her shoulder at a smirking Rebekka. “You can’t refer to a girl as a ‘chick’. She has a name, but here is where you might be able to recover the fumble.” She studied his eyes expectantly for a moment. “What was her name?”

“Umm, Vivian?” Ryan nodded to himself. “Yeah, it was Vivian and I remember because I really did think she was a good character and I hated it when they killed her.”

Jenna glanced over to Rebekka, who seemed impressed with Ryan. “Okay Rebekka, what do you think? Should I give him my number?”

Rebekka shook her head. “No, not yet. He hasn’t gone far enough, but there might be a little something interesting about him…”

“Okay Ryan, why don’t go over and introduce yourself to Rebekka. If you can convince her that I should give you my number, then I’ll see if I can invite you both to the premier of the new movie.” Jenna glanced back to Mike. “Can I do that?”

Mike grinned and nodded. “Yeah, there are usually a few spare tickets available for fans.”

“Okay, lemme borrow your pen, please.” Jenna reached out expectantly as he smoothly retrieved the pen from his pocket.  Pen in hand, she stole Rebekka from Ryan. “Do you have something I can write on or maybe Mike’s picture?”

Rebekka quickly handed over her autographed picture of Mike in an action pose, showing off his muscular chest and rock hard abs. Jenna sighed with resignation as she held up the picture to Mike. “Really!?!”

He simply replied with a shrug.  Shaking her head with exasperation, Jenna resisted the urge to draw a silly, handlebar mustache on Mike. Instead, she turned the picture over and wrote her Jenna email address. “Now, don’t be handing that out please. If I get too much spam, I’ll have to cancel it.”

“I won’t.” Rebekka protectively clutched the picture to her chest.

With the fans satisfied, Mike guided Jenna to the doors and to a waiting limo. “Good job there. You’re a natural!” He smiled.

“¡Órale!” Jenna stopped in her tracks and gasped with surprise. It was only supposed to be a dinner with Mike, not something that would require a chauffeured limousine. She glanced to her side and felt a little annoyed by Mike’s smug smile and even more annoyed by the fact he was dressed up.  Not tuxedo dressed up, but all it would take for him to more formal would be a tie and suit jacket.

It made her feel decidedly underdressed and annoyed. “Esto se supone que es una simple noche a cenar!” Realizing she had just spoken in Spanish, she calmed herself. “I mean, this was just supposed to be a simple night out for dinner. What’s all this!?!”

Mike sighed with resignation. “You didn’t read your texts.” He gestured to the open door with the driver standing politely to the side. “Get in and I’ll explain on the way.” He glanced at his expensive Rolex and smiled. “We have thirty minutes and fortunately, I expected this.”

Inside the limo, Jenna was surprised to find Kimberly, her hair and makeup artist, standing by with a tackle box sized makeup kit. Kimberly patted the seat next to her. “Hi Jenna! Sit here. We have a lot of work to do.” She momentarily paused as she studied Jenna’s face. “Well, not a lot.” She tested Jenna’s hair. “And I see your  hair is its usual, annoyingly healthy self...”

Jenna’s head was spinning out of control. “What’s going on?” She glanced back to Mike.

“Well, the money and marketing folks back in the states watched some of the pre-production footage and they want to make a few changes.” Mike chuckled. “It’s kinda funny that you mentioned, Vivian, the female character from my previous movie.”

“Que?” Jenna slipped back into Spanish.

“Yes, because of the feedback from the fans and the desire to draw a larger female audience, they want to give your character a larger role and not kill her off in the end as originally planned.”

“Oh, I guess that’s good, but what’s all this?” Jenna glanced around at the interior of the limo and Kimberly’s makeup kit.

“The head of the studio and the director of marketing want to meet you.”

Jenna glanced down to her very casual outfit. “Mierda!”

Mike chuckled, but didn’t look concerned. “Exactly, but lucky for you; I’ve got your back.” He grabbed a garment bag hanging next to him and tossed it into the seat next to Jenna. “I took the liberty of consulting wardrobe to get your sizes.”

Jenna hesitantly reached for the bag. “Is this a...?”

“Dress? Yes.”

She unzipped the bag, revealing an ivory, beaded sheath dress with a matching pair of four inch silver heels. “Hijo de puta! You expect me to wear this and where in the hell do you expect me to change into this thing!?!?”

“Well, yes, unless you would rather meet them in that.” Mike lazily pointed to her current outfit.

Jenna huffed with annoyance. “Fine! But, I’m not changing in front of you.”

Mike laughed. “I’ve seen you naked, but we could pull over and you could change on the side of the road.”

Jenna lost it. The stream of Spanish that erupted from her mouth was strong enough to strip paint, but much to her annoyance, Mike obviously didn’t understand any of it.  She sputtered to a halt. “Fine...I’m so kicking your ass the next time we spar…”

He chuckled, confident in his ability to win. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Jenna sighed with resignation and rapidly stripped down to her panties. She felt a touch of relief offset by a pinch of male angst when she realized her current panties would match the dress and not show any lines. On the plus side, the dress was a braless design which meant she didn’t need to worry about matching her bra. She wasn’t at all ashamed of her body and due to her recent ‘guy’ time as Hector, going topless didn’t bother her. It was Mike’s presence that bothered her and made her feel self-conscious.

The dress went on smoothly and felt nice against her skin, but it only came down to slightly above mid-thigh. The damn thing was very short and she would have to be careful exiting the limo, else she might flash everyone her panties.  She tugged the hemline as far down as it would go and glanced over to Mike. “Seriously!?”

He irritated her even more by simply smirking and shrugging his shoulders as if to say, “Your fault for not checking your texts.” It was that or, “Hey, I got to see your boobs and you have great legs.”  She decided the horndog was probably thinking the former.

With the dress and footwear in place, Kimberly expertly applied a touch of evening makeup and styled her hair using a brush and some strategically applied hair spray.

Mike surprised her by being the perfect gentleman and assisted Jenna, allowing her to perform a graceful and modest exit from the limo. The strobe light effect of many flashbulbs going off surprised her. She didn’t expect to have her photo taken by some paparazzi and even more surprised when they shouted her name. The movie wasn’t even done filming, but she smiled and waved to a few as Mike expertly ushered her into the restaurant with a light touch against the small of her back. Once inside, the pair were escorted to a table with a larger contingent of expensive, suit wearing executive types than she expected.

“I’m not dressed for this!” Jenna anxiously clutched Mike’s arm and murmured through her smile. “I look like I’m going out to a nightclub, not a business meeting.”

“No, you look like a movie star…” He calmly whispered as they approached the table.

“Jenna, as usual, you look absolutely stunning!” Mr. Stevens stood and intercepted the pair.

Jenna gave Mr. Stevens a quick hug, but felt like a side of beef on display due to the ridiculous dress and how much attention it seemed to attract to her. “Thanks sir, but I’m feeling a little overwhelmed here. I’m not used to the movie business and if someone had warned me how hard it was, I probably would’ve laughed in their face, now, ¡Ay, caramba!, making movies is hard work!”

Mr. Stevens laughed as he turned back to the suits. “Did you hear that? She’s a gem alright.” He turned and whispered to Mike. “Thanks for bringing her.”

Mike replied with a simple nod, but on his way past, he gave Jenna a light pat on the butt and whispered. “Knock ‘em dead.”

Jenna refused to jump or acknowledge the pat. Instead, she smiled and turned her head away from the suits and toward Mike. “I’ll rip your hand off and feed it to my pappa’s pigs if you try that again…” She growled softly in his ear.

Mike laughed and swaggered to his seat, causing Jenna’s blood to boil until her attention was drawn back to the guests at the table by Mr. Stevens. “Now, for those of you who haven’t met her yet…”

Of the ten people there, there were four people she hadn’t met before and they were the ones who made her feel the most nervous because they had the power to end her career. John Herbert, the head scriptwriter could kill her character in the least memorable way. Kelly McKenny, the Director of Marketing could decide she didn’t meet some target demographic and Henry Jorgenson, the studio’s president could decide to not like her for any reason at all.  Lisa Reed, Henry’s Executive Assistant was also present and Jenna wasn’t as worried about her, but based on how much influence Sadie seemed to have over her boss, she didn’t discount her either.

She felt some relief about not being the only woman in the group. It also amused her to feel that way since less than an hour ago, she was a man. In addition to Kelly and Lisa, Stefanie from the legal department was present.  Stefanie was one of the people she knew already. She helped her during the contract negotiations phase and even though she worked for the studio, she made sure Jenna didn’t get screwed over by the deal. Of course, Jenna had Sadie and her own lawyer review it, but it all checked out.

Once all the hands were properly shaken, Jenna was directed to sit in the open seat next to Mike. Once again, he surprised her by getting out of his chair and pulling out her chair like a perfect gentleman. She thanked him as she carefully pulled down and smoothed the back of her dress while she sat. What she really wanted to do was ask him what in the hell he thought he was doing, but there were too many witnesses. She let him play his games because even though it was nice, it wouldn’t get her into his bed.

Kelly sat across the table from her and once Mike had reclaimed his seat, she leaned forward and smiled like she knew a secret. “You two seem to be getting along well. Is there something we need to know?” She laughed as Jenna turned beet red from embarrassment.

Mike leaned back and chuckled. “We’re not dating or seeing each other, Kelly. Our relationship is ‘strictly’ professional.”

Kelly leaned back with a frown of disappointment. “Ahh, that’s a shame. Since you and Gisele broke up last week...” She glanced back over to Jenna. “A match between the two of you would be a perfect PR for the movie.”

Jenna was shocked. She thought Gisele was a total babe and the one time she met her, she seemed like a nice girl.  Not at all stuck up and bitchy like she expected a supermodel to behave.  As a result, the news of their breakup caused her to gasp with surprise and glance over to Mike to make sure she heard what she thought she heard. The big jerk better not have broken the poor girl’s heart.“What?!?  She was nice! What did you do?”

Her accusation caused everyone at the table to chuckle as Mike raised his hands with mock surrender. “Whoa tiger. I didn’t do anything. I’ve been stuck filming on an island, same as you.  We just decided to move on with our lives.”

Mr. Jorgenson laughed and gave Mr. Stevens a congratulatory pat on his back. “Well! I can see why you picked her for this movie. Even though they both deny it, the chemistry between the two of them is clearly beneficial.”  He glanced over to Mr. Herbert and nodded with approval. “John, you have the green light to make the changes we discussed during the flight.”

“Yes, sir.” Mr. Herbert smiled and gave Jenna a knowing glance that raised a few alarm bells in her head.

“Umm, what changes?” Jenna glanced nervously between Mr. Herbert, Mr. Stevens and Mr. Jorgenson.

Mr. Jorgenson chuckled. “Well, for one, your character won’t sacrifice herself to save Mike as we originally planned, but also, a slightly larger role in the last half of the production, a little more romantic entanglement with Mike and the possibility of a sequel if it does as well in the box office as some of our folks are now predicting.”

“Oh…” Jenna didn’t know what else to say.

Hector and Natalie had been so star struck with the idea that they never considered what might happen if Jenna was successful.  They both figured it would be a once in a lifetime chance and like the majority of hopeful actors and actresses, nothing would come of it.

Hector as Jenna would have his fifteen minutes of fame and once over, life would move on. He and Natalie would get married. He’d go back to work building roads while she finished med school. Maybe a few years later, they’d have a couple of kids, maybe a dog or a cat. He’d have some good stories to tell his kids, but never once did he consider that Jenna could become a real movie star and how much of an impact it could have on his life.

Mr. Jorgenson glanced to Lisa and she nodded once as if silently acknowledging a telepathic communication. “You’re not thinking about modifying the terms of your contract, are you?” He sounded a little suspicious of her motives.

“What?” Jenna shook her head to clear the cobwebs. “Sorry sir, No, I’m just surprised.”  She glanced over to Mike, expecting him to be upset for taking some of the spotlight away from him in his own movie.  He winked, causing her to forget about being worried over his feelings. “I mean, I never planned on any of this sir. The audition came as a complete surprise and an even bigger surprise was getting the role to star opposite Mr. Powers. He’s been one of my favorite action stars for a long time now.”

She smiled mischievously as he visibly swelled with pride. “But not anymore…” She mimed an explosion with her fist, causing everyone at the table to chuckle as Mike pretended to be wounded. “I guess what I’m trying to say; is that I’m very grateful for this opportunity to be in this production and I’m glad you’re planning on making some changes. I do have a few suggestions though…” She hesitantly added as she thought about how the majority of women were portrayed in movies, especially in action movies.

The discussion that followed was only briefly interrupted by the main course and Jenna found it highly ironic that she might be viewed as a feminist.  Hector never cared how women were portrayed in film. Sure it was nice to see a hot babe show a little T and A on the big screen. Even better was when the babe could kick a little ass, but he never once gave it a second thought about how it might make women feel because it was just entertainment, a movie and everyone knew it was fake.  The fans in the lobby were sort of a wakeup call to her.  Those girls looked up to Jenna and damned if she was going to give them some brainless, two-dimensional and helpless chick as a role model to follow.

A few hours later, Jenna found herself in the center of three other women as they ganged up on the scriptwriter, the director, producer and Mr. Jorgenson over how Jenna’s role could be made to better portray a strong and determined woman who could be viewed as a role model for girls instead of a victim who needed a man to save her.  Surprisingly, Mike appeared to support her and even made a few good suggestions himself.  

She drank a lot of wine, but with her regeneration, the alcohol had zero effect on her. None the less, she was feeling a little more generous toward Mike when it was time to leave.  She didn’t flinch or pull away when he placed his hand on the small of her back to help guide her into the limo.  The touch was fleeting and his hand never strayed, but she felt a pang of confusion because his hand was warm and it left a slightly pleasant tingling sensation with its absence. Maybe the wine did impact her a little more than she expected.

Instead of moving to the seat that would place her as far away as possible from him, Jenna remained at his side, but instinctively crossed her legs. “I don’t understand you sometimes. Why did you help with the script modifications?” She turned to him once the limo pulled away from the restaurant.

“What do you mean?” He raised an eyebrow with confusion.

“The mods. It looks like I will have a bigger part. You’re not worried about me upstaging you?”

“Nah!” Mike chuckled. “It’s like this. I’m getting old-er. I’ve made eight movies and except for the last one, most sucked at the box office. Hell, if it hadn’t been for the last one, my career would be pretty much over. If the fans want a stronger female role and it sells more tickets, who am I to complain?” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh…” Jenna figured Mike would be a little more chauvinistic and this new side of him forced her to reevaluate her assumptions. “I’m sorry about Gisele. She was nice.”

“Thanks, but it’s okay. Our careers kept us busy and apart from each other.” His hand found its way to her thigh. “It’s kind of hard to maintain a relationship when you never see each other.”

Jenna didn’t know what to do because on the physical level, her body was telling her his touch felt nice, but on the emotional level, she was not happy. In light of his recent behavior, she was willing to cut him a little slack, until his hand started to slide north. “You have one second to remove your hand, or you’ll be pulling back a bloody stump.” She growled and started to put tension on her claw’s extension mechanism not caring about the consequences.

Mike’s hand jerked away. “Shit!” He moved himself to the seat opposite to give her some space, almost as if he really was sorry. “Sorry about that Jenna, won’t happen again.”

“Damn skippy!” Jenna glared at him, arms crossed to keep her from doing something she would regret because in spite of her anger, a small part of her liked his touch.

Jenna spent the first half of the ride in blessed silence, lost on her own thoughts. As a woman, it sometimes felt like she was cheating and a big fake.  Thanks to the machine, she was 100% fake and physically, an almost impossible ideal for other women.  Until this evening, what other women thought about her hadn’t been a blip on her radar, but the girls at the hotel plus the other women at the dinner meeting kind of drove it home for her. They all looked up to her and she didn’t want to disappoint them.

It was just a dumb action movie with hot women, shit blowing up and good fight scenes; it wasn’t supposed to be some social statement.  She felt a low growl escape her throat.

“Hey, I said I’m sorry.” Mike turned to her.

Jenna sighed and casually waved his apology away. “It’s not that and I forgive you.”

He gasped with surprise. “You do?”

She found his reaction funny and a grin danced across her face. “Yeah, yer a man, ya can’t help it.”

Mike started to reply, but stopped himself. “Ahh, never mind. You’re right.” He scooted himself to within kicking range and pointed to her feet. “Gimme a foot.”

“What?” Jenna glanced down to her heel clad feet. “I hope you don’t want your shoes back because I don’t think they would fit.”

Mike chuckled and shook his head. “No, but gimme a foot and I’ll give you a foot massage.”

Hector had given plenty of women foot massages, but he’d never had one himself. The women seemed to enjoy them, especially after an evening wearing high heels.  Giving a woman a massage was a great way to get her to relax and increased his odds of scoring with her. As Jenna, her feet were fine due to her regeneration, but the idea intrigued her. She figured the offer was probably just another attempt to get into her panties.

“I promise. I won’t go any higher than your ankle and I’ve had some training.” Mike rubbed his hands together to warm them.

Jenna wanted to, but hesitated and studied his eyes. After a few seconds, she raised her foot and placed it on his lap.  The last half of the ride went too fast for her. Mike was an excellent masseur and she learned a few tricks for the next time Natalie asked for a massage.

With Mike’s gallant assistance and her heels in hand, she managed to exit the limo without flashing anyone.  There were only two photographers nosy and quick enough to track down and harass Mike. He offered to walk her past the annoying photographers and into the lobby, but she figured they were more interested in Mike and she was pretty confident of her abilities to take care of them if they got pushy.

As she reached the doors to the lobby and safety, Mike’s limo started to pull away when one of the photographers yelled. “Jenna! How long have you and Mr. Powers been dating!?”

The question stopped her in her tracks. It was so ridiculous it didn’t deserve an answer. Jenna shook her head; amazed anyone could ever think they might be a couple. She laughed and it took her few seconds to bring it under control. “Sorry, that’s pretty damn funny. Wow, thanks, I needed that.” She cheerfully waved to the man and entered the sanctuary of the lobby.

In her room, Jenna dropped her heels inside the closet and silently padded over to the sliding glass door leading to the balcony. She had an excellent view of the ocean and decided to waste a few minutes simply enjoying it.  The only thing that would’ve made it better would be to have Natalie at her side, well, Hector’s side. Sighing with longing and regret, she made her way back into her room and spotted Natalie’s gift.

“Well, I’m Jenna. So, I guess I can open it now…” She gave it another shake test, but nothing came to mind. It was too heavy to be clothes though.  From the size and shape of the box, it could be anything from a hair curler to a small bottle of wine or liquor. With that cheery thought, she ripped it open and gasped with surprise mixed with revulsion at what was revealed.

“Natalie!?!? What in the hell were ya thinking?!?” Jenna dropped the adult sex toy, aka “dildo”, like it was a snake and wiped her hands against the covers with disgust, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the thing. The box proudly extolled the virtues and realism of her gag gift and it had to be a gag gift because Natalie couldn’t expect her to want to use it, could she?

Taped to the box was a small, hand-written note folded in half.  Without touching the box, Jenna carefully peeled it away and opened it.

“Jenna, I know Hector wouldn’t approve, but trust me girlfriend, you need it. You’re wound up way too tight and you deserve some relief!   Love, Nat.  P.S. Tell Hector I love him and xoxoxoxo”

“Sorry Nat, but there is no way I’m using that thing.” Jenna picked up the box with her fingertips in an effort to touch as little of the thing as possible.  She debated tossing it in the trash can, but didn’t want the cleaners to find it.  Throwing it off the balcony was also an idea, but what if someone saw her toss it or worse, it hit someone in the head? Desperate, she glanced around for someplace to stash it, but nothing came to mind that couldn’t be traced back to her.  Instead of tossing it, she stole a small hand towel, wrapped it up and stuffed it in her suitcase.

The morning and checkout came far too fast for Jenna.  She didn’t want to go back to the island, but, like the Army, she was foolish enough to volunteer and she had a job to do.  In anticipation of the yacht’s casual atmosphere, she wore her bikini under a pair of denim shorts and a white tank top with a simple pair of flat sandals. She found it somewhat ironic with how little clothes a woman could wear, yet still be considered fashionably dressed because the same outfit, in men’s styles would be considered far too casual with the tank top possibly referred to as a “wife beater” shirt.

After turning in her rental car at the marina, she boarded the yacht and spotted Kelly, the Marketing/PR Director up on the lounge deck. She was sipping from a fruity cocktail and the focus of her attention appeared to be on the shirtless men working on the boat docked next to their boat. All that changed when she spotted Jenna. She quickly stood and enthusiastically waved for her to join her. “Woo Hoo! Jenna, get your butt up here, girl. It’s happy hour!”

Wearing a bikini top and a simple wrap or sarong thing around her waist, Kelly made her feel a little over dressed, but not unwelcome as she excitedly motioned for Jenna to join her.  “Oh my god, Jenna! I totally hate you and can’t believe how awesome you look!” She laughed and saluted her with her martini glass. “Get up here girlfriend, I’ll get one ordered for you!”

Jenna lifted up her suitcase. “Sure, just lemme-”

The first officer interrupted her and smiled. “Go ahead. I’ll take that to your cabin for you Miss Vasquez.”

She was kind of looking forward to dodging Kelly for a few minutes, but there was no way she could do that now without making it look like she wanted to avoid the woman.

“Thanks.” She smiled with gratitude as she handed the man her suitcase before joining Kelly on the lounge deck.

With Jenna’s arrival, Kelly jumped up and gave her a friendly, welcoming hug. “I’m so happy for you and Mike!”

“What?” Jenna asked, confused by her greeting.

Kelly pointed to a Hollywood gossip rag lying on the table next to her drink. On the cover was a picture from last night with her and Mike as they entered the restaurant. He had his hand on the small of her back as he guided her into the doors and the headline proudly proclaimed, “Powers finds his mojo!”

The steward picked the perfect time to deliver her drink.  “Thanks!” Jenna gulped it down in one shot and handed her empty glass back to the man. “I’ll take another. Hold the juice and the ice.”