Derek King, a casual friend, had called me out of the blue—that was the norm for him—to ask to me to meet him at a restaurant for lunch. I was already there as he walked through the doors a few minutes late, spotted me at my table and hurried over. He seemed very, very edgy.

“Hey.”

“Hey Neil. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. You okay, Derek? You seem kind of nervous.”

“Nah, I’m great, I’m good.”

He really didn’t seem like his usual, oddball self. In fact, there had always been something kind of shady about Derek during the three years I had known him, but I liked his quirky sense of humor and we got along. We ordered our food and made somewhat forced small talk through our meal. I couldn’t help wondering why he even invited me to lunch.

This restaurant was always too warm, and today was no exception. The one odd thing I remember is that when I took my jacket off, Derek reached for it, and put it on his side of the booth, though there was plenty of room next to me. He continued talking as if nothing weird had happened. After that he ate his food pretty quickly, leaving a lot of it on the plate, told me he had to run, and threw some bills at me as he hurried out.

It was kind of odd, yes, but not so odd as to alert me to anything out of the ordinary. He really was a peculiar sort of guy. I shrugged to myself, paid the bill, put my jacket back on and walked outside. As I reached the sidewalk I was grabbed from behind and none-too-gently shoved into a waiting black van, which instantly took off. When I tried to ask what was happening, I received a blow to the head that knocked me out.

-o0o-

It had all happened so fast that I never even got a look at my abductors. All I know is that it must have been a long time until I regained consciousness, because when I opened my eyes I was not in the van, but in bed, under the covers, in a small room—not a hospital room, but more like a nondescript motel room, with kind of beat-up furniture. I felt really foggy, and ached all over, as if I had gotten the beating of a lifetime.

As I lay there trying to make sense of my surroundings and my situation, the door quietly opened and a man walked in. He looked tall, wore a black suit and white shirt, and even dark sunglasses. He glanced at his watch.

“Perfect, you’re awake, right on time. You’ve been a very naughty girl, but don’t worry, while you were sleeping we corrected your error in judgment.” He paused briefly, looking at me. “And you turned out pretty nicely, I must say. Of course you weren’t that manly to start with.”

His whole speech confused me; nothing about it made sense. “I’m sorry, but–“ my voice wasn’t sounding right to me. I cleared my throat and tried again, but it sounded the same. “I… have no idea at all what you’re talking about.”

“We found the ‘item’ in your pocket.” He said this in such a way that I could see the quote marks around ‘item.’ “You made a big mistake when you stole from us.”

“I—I still really don’t know what you mean. Item? I don’t remember taking anything from anyone.”

“It doesn’t matter now. We have it back, and we’ve taken a bit of, shall we say, Compensation from you. Your possessions have all been confiscated. Your identity has been confiscated. Basically your whole life is gone. You do not screw around with us. You now have two choices: work for us as a…let’s call it a Companion. Or you can go out on the streets and take your chances.”

“I’m sorry to be so stupid about this, but I am completely in the dark. Who are you?”

“That’s something you should know better than to ask, unless you want to buy more trouble. I’m going to leave now, and when I come back in a few hours you can tell me your decision.”

So saying he quietly walked out the door, and I heard a key turn behind him. I didn’t understand at all what had happened to my life, what I was doing there, why he called me a naughty girl, why I felt so terrible, or what his choices even meant. I slowly eased myself upright in the bed and instantly felt an unfamiliar weight on my chest. Looking down I saw there were breasts hanging there that did not belong to me! Putting a hand to one, it was warm, and I could feel sensation on the skin. MY skin. My god, they gave me implants?! The man had called me a “naughty girl.” Could it mean—? No, surely not! I put the same hand down to my crotch and couldn’t believe that the equipment which had been there all of my twenty-seven years was missing. I think I fainted at that point.

When I opened my eyes again I was still on the bed. The same bed, in the same room. Very shakily I got to my feet, discovering I had some kind of short, terrycloth robe on. I was as weak as a kitten. I turned to the mirror behind the dresser, bracing myself. There was a woman in the mirror. She did not look at all like me, but she moved as I moved. She looked every inch a woman, even to the curves. I sat back down. What the hell had happened?? How could they have done this? What did I do to deserve this? I sat back down on the bed.

I started to go over what I could remember. I had gone to that restaurant and met Derek there. He was acting funny. And then he did that weird thing with my jacket. Could he have planted ‘the item’ on me, and then told these bad guys I was the thief? And I remembered how quickly he got out of the restaurant. He could have met them and pointed me out when I exited.

Even speculating about all this I was no closer to coming to terms with what had been done to me. I was in shock.

And what did Mr. Mysterious mean? Was he implying I was to become some mobster’s girlfriend? Or a sex slave? Well, that was out! I’d take my chance on the streets before entering into any relationship like that. Frankly, I was amazed I was being given a choice.

Looking in the mirror again, I tried to assess this woman I saw. She was even more slender than I was, or than I remembered being. She had much longer hair than I did. How’d they do that? What else? She wasn’t terrible looking. To my eye she just didn’t resemble me at all, facially. Different nose, chin shape, jaw line… Edging close to the mirror I looked her over closely. If that was plastic surgery, well, all I could say is that they did a great job. But why put so much money into this transformation? Then a scarier thought struck me – what if they had somehow switched my body with this woman’s? (Give me a break; I was groggy.) They needed a man for some job, and she was the ideal mastermind? Shaking my head—too fast, as it turned out—I tried to stop thinking these kinds of things, which were making me feel like I was crazy.

Then a little glimmer came to me, a way I could find out if I was still in my own body. I pulled the robe up and twisted around to get a look at my lower ribcage. Aha, my odd-shaped surgery scar was still there. I was still me. Well, at least a little bit.

-o0o-

I sat there so long I lost track of time. Lying down I just let my mind skim over the shambles my life suddenly had become.

Suddenly the sound of the key in the lock brought me out of this tortured sort of fugue state. Mr. Mysterious came back in the room. I sat up.

“Have you made your decision?”

“Mister, the only thing I know is that I’m not going to be anyone’s ‘companion’ or sex slave. Can you tell me anything at all helpful about me or my situation?”

He mused for a little bit, and then said, “We are a fair organization. We consider your debt to us paid. You are free to go. If you find yourself starving and desperate, and change your mind about working for us, you can call this number. You’ll find some clothes in the closet.”

He placed a business card on the dresser, and as he was leaving the room he looked back and said, “I think you’d do very well with us. You’re a good-looking girl.”

My first instinct was to throw the card away, but then, what would happen if I couldn’t remake a life for myself? I had no legal identity, no possessions, I had no clue how to act like a woman. What would happen to me? First, though, I wanted to get out of there.

In a kind of zombie-like fog I went to the closet and found a bland gray shirtdress and a pair of sandals. Before I put it on I looked in the dresser and saw they were kind enough to leave me one panty and one bra. Putting it all on I regarded myself in the mirror again. Shaking my head I told the woman, “You have no idea what you’re getting into.” I put the business card in the one breast pocket, and, putting on the sandals I stumbled out the door and into my new life.

-o0o-

It was a nice day, thank goodness, since there had been no coat. It was not too warm, and there was a gentle breeze that felt good, helping my head feel a bit clearer. I didn’t recognize the part of town I was in, or even what town, but it was a main street, with strip malls, free-standing stores, and three lanes of traffic in each direction. It was apparently near nothing at all; the shops seemed to stretch for miles. Walking and walking, it didn’t take very long before I was too tired to keep going. I still was very sore and achy, and still very confused. I had no idea how much time had passed since my abduction, or when I had last had any food. Now at least I was able to answer one of those questions. A bank I was passing showed the time, date and temperature, and as near as I could remember, it seemed that two months had passed since that day in the restaurant. Two months. It staggered my mind. I think I was still too much in shock to break down.

There were benches on the sidewalk, and I sank onto one of them. After a while I noticed I was getting odd looks from people going by and realized with a start that I should have my legs together. A woman isn’t supposed to sprawl out on a seat, especially while wearing a dress. I quickly put them together.

I knew something about women, after all. Holly was my steady girlfriend, whom I loved, and—

I think all the blood drained from my head at that moment as I realized our relationship was over, dead. We had discussed different gender connections more than once during our time together, and she had sounded adamant that she would never consider a lesbian relationship – she said she just wasn’t made that way. Tears started spilling down my cheeks as I realized that one more thing had been taken from me. Up to now I hadn’t been much of a crier, but circumstances had changed that.

“Miss? Are you okay?” The words barely penetrated my consciousness. “Miss?” I looked up from my fog and saw the kind but concerned face of a middle-aged lady.

“I’m…I’m just having a very bad day,” I told her.

She sat down next to me.

“How can I help you?” she asked, very earnestly.

“Oh my god, I don’t even know where to start. My entire life is gone.” That started my tears up again. Until now I had been too shocked for any emotion to penetrate. The woman put her arm around me and I just bawled onto her shoulder. She made comforting noises to me, until I was finally able to somewhat pull myself together.

“Thank you, ma’am. Sorry for getting you all wet.”

“Nonsense. Can I take you to your home?”

“Ma’am, I have nothing at all in the world. No house, no money, nothing other than what I’m wearing.”

She looked at me for a while, sizing me up, perhaps.

“Why don’t you come home with me, and we’ll see what can be done for you? My name is Nell Whiteman.”

I opened my mouth to say who I was, but stopped. Who was I going to tell her I was? Some man named Neil Clayton? I had no identity anymore, certainly not a male one.

She was looking at me expectantly.

“You’re not going to believe this, but I don’t know my name.”

Her expression softened to more of a “you poor dear” look. “Well then, if you don’t mind, I think you look sort of like a Jeanie. Does that sound okay?”

I smiled gratefully to have the decision taken out of my hands.

“Come with me, Jeanie,” she said, pulling me to my feet.

-o0o-

Nell took us to her car and drove us to her modest home, about ten minutes from wherever we had been. Still nothing about the area was recognizable to me. Nell had to help me from the car into the house. I hadn’t realized just how weak I was.

She sat me at her kitchen table and brought out some cold food for me. I waited for her to get something for herself, but she just gestured for me to eat. It all tasted fantastic, which made me wonder how long I had been without oral sustenance. If I had been asleep long enough for all the surgery they must have done on me, and then the healing, I must have been on an IV or stomach feeding tube. I shook my head again, not wanting to think about that.

It didn’t take that much to fill me up Nell had watched me while I ate.

“You sure you’ve had enough, dear?”

“Thank you so much, but I really don’t think I can eat any more. It tasted wonderful.”

“Well now, why don’t you try and tell me what you meant by your life is gone?”

Could I actually tell her about this? The downside is that she could try and send me to the funny farm. But, well, what if she could help me put together another life?

I took a deep breath and looked at her. “Nell, you probably are not going to believe me, but the last thing I remember was two months ago, and I was a man.”

To her credit she didn’t interrupt during my short recital of what had happened after I left the restaurant and since I had woken up this morning.

“…And my theory is that my ‘friend’ planted something on me and then fingered me as the thief. So here I am, through no fault of my own with no identity or possessions, and having had my sex stolen. I have no idea in the world how to start again.”

Nell looked at me for a while as she considered this crazy tale.

“Jeanie, I have to say that is a remarkable story, and some things about the way you act and talk tell me that you are not used to being a woman. Going back to being a man doesn’t look as though it’s a viable option, so we need to look forward. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but now that you are producing no hormones, you will have to start Hormone Replacement Therapy, or you’re going to start to run into health problems. And you’re probably not ready to learn about dilation at this point.”

“Dilation?”

“Why don’t we talk about that later.”

“How do you know about these things, Nell?

She smiled and said, “I’m a part-time nurse. As far as establishing a new identity, though, that takes me out of my depth, but you can stay here with me and I will help you all I can.”

“Nell, you don’t even know me!”

“Jeanie, one of the ways I derive satisfaction in life is by helping others where I can. You really seem like you could use my help!”

“I… I…” words failed me as I started crying again.

-o0o-

Over the next few weeks and then months Nell taught me a lot about how to act like a woman and how to take care of my body. She took me to a doctor friend of hers who checked me out and gave me an HRT medication. Once I had figured out how to establish an identity, she could write me a prescription.

I felt very sorry for myself much of the time, and Nell often had to shake me out of a mood. I’d apologize, and she’d hug me and murmur things that made me feel better. The whole journey of becoming a woman was never something I had been interested in experiencing, and to be thrust into it was just something I had to tell myself again and again I needed to get used to. To me it never seemed I did a very good job of it, but Nell approved of my progress, and there was never anyone yelling at me that I was some kind of pervert.. Nell was such a godsend, such a wonderful friend.

-o0o-

I found out that I was some hundred miles from my one-time home. The notion never even arose in my mind to go visit my former existence. That was all gone; what good could come of it? From time to time I wondered what Holly had thought when I disappeared. Had I been declared dead? If the mob—or whoever these people were—operated like they did in the movies, my place would have been emptied out, phone cut off, all traces of me eradicated.

I would have loved to see Holly, but having her reject me because I was no longer a man just seemed like it would crush me. Better if she thought I was dead and could move on. This idea really pained me, and there were many nights I cried myself to sleep over my lost love.

As time went on I got stronger, but I had lost muscle mass, not that I ever had that much to begin with. Maybe I was as strong as the average woman now. I had never been a robust, well-built GQ-type man. I had a small frame, and wasn’t hairy, but as far as I was concerned I was never effeminate. That made it harder to understand why I looked so feminine now, instead of like a man reconstructed as a woman. But looking feminine and acting feminine are two separate things, and Nell taught me what she could to help make the behavior match the body.

I couldn’t imagine what they had done to make my voice higher, but Nell taught me to speak more musically, and about tonal inflections women tend to use. My new voice was not unpleasing.

-o0o-

Pondering the identity issue while doing some online research on Nell’s computer I found that the U.S. Marshal’s Service handled the Witness Protection area. It seemed like it could be worth a shot to take my problem to them. Nell drove me to the Federal building and we went in to see them. She stayed by my side, which I really appreciated. We were ushered into a small office and I introduced myself as Jeanie Whiteman, Nell’s niece.

“How can we help you, Miss Whiteman?”

“I have a very strange story to tell, but what I really need is to establish an identity.”

The man’s eyebrows raised, but he said, “Please tell me this story of yours.”

I told him the story of what had happened to me. I said I had no idea what the ‘item’ was or who any of the abductors were. In fact the only thing I knew, and not as a fact, was that I was pretty sure I’d been set up by Derek King. The final thing I gave him was the business card with the phone number on it.

“Would you please wait here?”

It wasn’t a particularly pleasant room, but Nell and I sat there together and waited nervously while he probably checked whatever parts of my story he was able to. He returned in about twenty minutes.

“I have confirmed that Neil Clayton was reported missing about three months ago. And Derek King also has disappeared. A body purporting to be Clayton’s was recovered from a car fire a week later.”

So, I was dead! And maybe karma caught up with Derek for setting me up!

“I knew there wasn’t much I could tell you that could be established as fact. I look nothing like I used to look. Even if you could find my fingerprints somewhere that wouldn’t tell you what happened to me. I just don’t know how to function in today’s world with no identity.”

“I think we can help you with that. The rest of this information we will keep on a sort of standby in case something else pops up in this case.”

“Oh, THANK YOU! You have no idea what a weight this is off my mind.”

My new identity papers were available after two weeks. In my case it wasn’t necessary to be relocated, since as far as anyone knew, no one was after me.

-o0o-

After a year I found myself working a job I liked okay, selling office furniture, and settling in. Nell and I were very fond of each other, I thought of her as a mother or aunt, and still lived with her. Being a woman was just a fact now, and I had adjusted mentally, for the most part. Of course there were still many things I had to learn about how differently women face the world, how they interact with men versus women, etc. But I was getting there.

The odds of this happening must have been astronomical, but after a couple more years at my place of business I found a new customer assigned to me: Holly. You could have knocked me over with a feather when she walked in. I wanted to run to her and hug her to bits, but of course Jeanie had never met Holly, and I couldn’t let her know who I was. I was professional with her, and we had a satisfactory business transaction. We did a lot of talking about what sort of desk chair she wanted, and she tried out many of them. She seemed to take a shine to me, and invited me out for a coffee. I knew it was probably a mistake, but it was also a good business move to accept her offer.

“It’s very odd, but I feel as if I know you,” she said, as we sat in the café.

That really startled me, though I tried not to show it. “It must be my resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor,” I joked.

She laughed, but continued, “No, it’s not your looks. You just have the same sort of… aura as an old friend.”

I raised my eyebrows. “An old friend? Do tell. Who was she?”

“Actually, not a she, but a he. He was practically my fiancé, and one day he just disappeared. And the way his things were so suddenly gone—all trace of him, really—I felt that some kind of foul play must have happened. And then they found his body in the wreckage of a car fire.”

“That’s extraordinary, Holly. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Yeah, he was a pretty good man,” she said, sadly.

“Did you ever find out what had actually happened to him?”

“No. The cops couldn’t find out exactly what had taken place. They just said it looked like his car had gone off the road, and then exploded.”

“That’s awful. I’m sorry.”

“The body was little more than cinders. I know it’s unrealistic, but I keep hoping that it wasn’t really him, and that one day he’ll show up, but I just can’t keep my hopes up like that. It’s been more than three years.”

“Yeah, you probably need to put it behind you, but I can understand why it would be difficult to completely give up.”

“Thanks. And thanks for accepting my invitation. I just had a feeling I would like you.”

I smiled. “You’re welcome. It’s been a pleasure.”

As we parted I kind of hoped she wouldn’t come back. It was just so hard to interact with her as, basically, a stranger. It left me depressed the rest of the day.

-o0o-

When I got home I told Nell all about it and let her comfort me.

“And the worst part is, if I did tell her who I am—or was—she wouldn’t be interested in being anything more than friends. She emphatically told me once that she had no lesbian tendencies at all.”

“I’m sorry Jeanie. This whole thing has turned your life upside down.”

“Well, I told Holly she needed to put it all behind her, and I guess I should really take my own advice. It was just so hard to see her, but be a stranger.”

Nell gave me a hug, and we then fixed dinner together.

-o0o-

It turned out that Holly had moved to my new city, and she did show up again at my business place, this time to shop for a new desk for her home office. This time she invited me to dinner. I really considered refusing, but after she said she felt so friendly to me, I just couldn’t say no to her. After all, she was all alone too and could use some friendly support.

That dinner turned into many dinners, movies, and shopping. I knew I was getting into dangerous territory, but now I didn’t know how to back out. I started to wonder how things might turn out if she did find out who I was. How bad could it be? We were now friends, and maybe we’d stay friends. But being girlfriends with my onetime almost fiancée was already difficult for me. On the other hand, I had no other romantic prospects, and couldn’t even imagine having any. No one I had seen since this happened stirred anything in me. I didn’t even know if there was anything inside me to stir.

-o0o-

Now that we were so friendly, Holly invited me to a spa day with her. I had never been to a spa before, and Nell told me what to expect. It sounded very relaxing.

We were pampered and oiled, manicured, massaged, and I really enjoyed it. There was no reason for me to be shy with her while nude; I had nothing to hide. But once we were in the hot tub she started acting a little odd with me.

“Is anything wrong, Holly?”

“I’m not really sure. There’s something I have to figure out.”

“Well, if you want my help you only have to ask,” I said.

She kept stealing glances at me the rest of the time we were there, and I started to get uncomfortable.

She drove us back to her place when we were finished. I tried asking her again what was wrong, but she just said to wait until we got home.

Inside we took off our coats and she asked me to sit down.

“Jeanie, there’s something really bothering me about you.”

“Well, I could tell that, but what is it?”

“When we first met I told you that you reminded me of my old boyfriend. Today I find you have a scar on your back that’s exactly the same as the one he had. I can’t fathom why he would have turned into a woman, but if he did, why wouldn’t he tell me he felt that way?”

I sighed to myself. Here it comes. Could I bluff it out?

“You don’t think it’s possible for two people to have a similar scar?”

“Not like that one, and in the same exact spot, no.”

There was silence while I tried to think of what to say, and while she waited for me to make some kind of excuse.”

“Please just tell me,” she pleaded.

“I’m afraid,” I said, my voice cracking. Saying that was the same thing as admitting the truth. My emotions were very much on edge.

“I swear I will not go crazy and scream. Tell me.”

“Oh Holly!” I said, my eyes filling with tears. “This was not something I did to myself. The mob, or something like it, was involved, but it was not my involvement. What I mean is, my so-called friend, Derek, met me at a restaurant, and managed to plant some object in my jacket. Then he left. When I left the restaurant I was abducted and knocked out. When I woke up, two entire months had passed!! I had been castrated, turned into a woman, and my entire life was ‘confiscated,” I was told. I had absolutely nothing. I was offered the opportunity to work for them as a Companion,” I said, using air quotes, “or to go on the streets. I chose the streets. Thank god I was found the same day by Nell, my savior. She got me back on my feet and taught me how to live as a woman.”

Her expression had gone from horrified to a look of pity.

“But Jea—Neil, why didn’t you let me know?”

“Please just call me Jeanie; I’ll never be Neil again,” I said, wiping my eyes. “How could I, Holly? You had once made it clear to me that you were no lesbian. If you thought I had died you could at least move on with your life. It has been so hard to be with you and not be Neil.”

With that I broke down completely. I felt her come and put her arms around me, and we cried together. When we were down to just sniffling, and starting to wipe our faces off, we just sat there next to each other. She looked at me searchingly.

“I can hardly see any resemblance,” she said.

“I know. Me too.”

“But you do have the same eyes.”

She was quiet, while still looking into my eyes.

“I never stopped loving you…Jeanie.”

“And I never stopped loving you, Holly. I’ve missed you terribly, even with our new relationship.”

I lowered my head, dreading to hear her say she would be unable to love me as a woman.

“Oh Jeanie, you’ve been through so much pain…”

“I should go,” I said abruptly, standing up.

“Please, don’t go yet,” she said, grabbing my hand and stopping me.

I looked down at her. “Holly, now that you know the truth, that should give you closure. You can move on with your life now, and let Neil go. He did die three years ago.”

“But what about you, Jeanie? What will you do?”

I shrugged. “I’ll continue on with my job. I have nothing else, other than my friendship with Nell.”

“What of our friendship?”

I looked at her in surprise.

“You still want to be friends with me?”

“Why not?”

I sat back down on the sofa, my mind whirling.

“I’m confused,” I said.

She was quiet for a minute.

“Jeanie, let me try something.” Holly leaned toward me and put one hand behind my head. She brought us together, our eyes closed, and she gave me a very gentle kiss. It was nice. I opened my eyes, but hers were still closed. I just sat there and waited. It was like she was trying to figure out the flavor of something she had just eaten. Suddenly she moved back in and she was kissing me again, only more forcefully now, and with some tongue. She was in charge. When she sensed that she stopped and looked at me.

“Aren’t you enjoying this, Jeanie?”

“Yes, very much so. I never thought I would ever kiss anyone again. Holly, I’m sorry but I really don’t have a whole lot of sex drive anymore. It’s another casualty of my situation. What about you? How do you feel about kissing a woman?”

“It was actually much better than I thought it’d be,” she said, smiling. “Your lips seem softer and you do kiss a little differently than you used to. Have you had any practice?”

That hurt. Could she really think…

“Holly! How can you ask that? The last person I ever kissed was you!”

“Calm down, Jeanie. I’m sorry I said that. I really can’t imagine all you’ve gone through, but I want to be here for you now.”

“Even though it would be a lesbian relationship?”

“Yes, even though it would mean a lesbian relationship. I still love you, and I would be a fool to throw that love away because of a bias. You’re still the same person inside.”

“I wonder if I am,” I said slowly. “I mean, yes, I do still love you, but I’m sure I’ve changed in some ways just from being forced into this new life.”

“Remember I said you had the same aura? To me that means you’re still the same soul I fell in love with years ago,” she said, and wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. I started crying again.

“What’s the matter, honey?”

“I’m just…I guess I’m happy. I never thought I’d find love again, let alone get the person back whom I already loved. I really never expected to see you again. But I’m still afraid you’ll decide you can’t love another woman, and you’ll dump me.”

“Jeanie, I swear to you that I will love you just as much as I loved Neil. Beyond that, no one can tell the future.”

We sat there wrapped around each other, happily and quietly enjoying each other’s presence. After quite a while we got up to think about dinner. I called Nell to tell her I wasn’t going to be home tonight.

“Does this mean what I think it means, Jeanie?”

“I really think it does, Nell. I am very happy right now.”

“That is wonderful, dear! I’m happy for you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you too, Nell.”

-o0o-

Our reestablished love affair felt so incredible to me, I thanked my lucky stars every day. As two women the dynamics between us were somewhat different, but Holly seemed to have very little trouble taking the role of the dominant sex partner. With my lowered sex drive I was just happy to be next to her and touch her. The rest of our relationship balanced itself out pretty satisfactorily.

I did end up moving in with her. I was sorry to leave Nell, but she had other people to save, and we, of course, remained good friends.

-o0o-

The man came into my office wearing a dark suit and carrying a briefcase. He sat down across from me. No one had told me I was getting a client. I started to greet him, but he held up a hand.

“Miss Whiteman, I have brought something for you. My organization sometimes has a pretty dark reputation, but we do try and be fair, as we judge fair to be.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m in the dark. Who are you and what is your organization?”

“Neither of those things is important. My only message to you is that we acknowledge you mistakenly took the rap for Derek King, and we’ve been looking for you to give you a sort of restitution package. Good day, ma’am.”

He walked out of my office before I could gather my wits. I didn’t even think to chase him, not that that would have been a good idea. Obviously he was part of the same organization which had profoundly changed my life. He was so nondescript-looking that I don’t think I would have been able to describe him to anyone. I just sat there blinking…and shaking. What package was he talking about? Then I noticed he had left the briefcase. Getting up I picked it up and placed it on my desk. I stood there looking at it for some time. Did I really want to know? Finally I reached out and opened the snaps. Pulling it open I saw the neat packets of bills. Grabbing my seat I fell back into it.

They gave me money as compensation for stealing my life and manhood. Evidently Derek’s deceit must have been discovered and who knows what had become of him. And so I was paid for my “pain and suffering” or something like that. Well, I suppose I did deserve some repayment, as all my possessions, and any other assets were gone. It didn’t really matter how much it was; it was more than I had ever expected to get, which was nothing.

I closed the briefcase and put it down next to my feet. When I left for home that day I brought it with me and Holly and I counted it. It was a hundred thousand dollars. Was that a fair price? I couldn’t say, and I didn’t really care. We would invest it and use it for the old age we intended to spend together.

The End.

Author’s Note: To me this doesn’t seem like my typical kind of story. If anyone objects to the way the mob is handled, the new identity or any of the other details, well, all I can tell you is it’s Fiction.