Part 31

“Frankly, I feel even closer to panic than before,” Carla whispered while we were entering the elevator. “Maybe all of my future depends on what will happen now. And yours too… and that is important to me.” She blushed slightly.

“Same with me,” I admitted. “At least I hope that this will convince him we are saying the truth.” I shook the bag with the two bodysuits. “But how he will look at it…” The elevator stopped at our floor, I took in a deep breath and pushed the door open.

When Fabricia saw us, there was a slight surprise on her face:

“Excuse me, have you… Mister, didn’t you applied before? Mr. Montafun didn’t warn me that you will visit again. And, Miss, are you applying for a job too?”

“Ummm… how to say it… I am not exactly applying for a job… I am here because I… Well, I must talk with The Bo… that is, Mr. Montafun…”

The surprise on Fabricia’s face increased. And I think that a pinch of curiosity joined it.

“Wait here, please.” She picked the handset and waited a few seconds. “Mr. Montafun? We have two visitors, one of them applied for a job several months ago… Didn’t you invite them?… I don’t know, they said nothing… Okay.”

She put down the handset.

“Mr. Montafun waits for you. The last door on the left.”

When we entered, I was again startled for a brief moment by the lack of recognition on the face of The Boss.

“Please, sit down. Mr… Rossi, if my memory does not fail me? What I owe the honor to? Are you still interested in a position here?”

“Ummm… You see, Mr. Montafun, I am not… That is, I am not because I actually already work here. For several months already…”

One of the brows of The Boss went up.

“Strange. I am not aware of that. And, thinking of it, I ought to be.”

I tried to gather courage to tell him about the bodysuits, but needed some time. He meanwhile switched his attention to Carla:

“It is my pleasure, Miss. Are you just accompanying Mr. Rossi? Or you are interested in a job, for example?”

“Not exactly… You see, I also work here for some time already… We come like this exactly because you ought to know it…”

The other brow of The Boss went up too.

“I apologize, but I don’t get the joke. Could you please explain it?”

“Well, we work here… how to say it?” I struggled to formulate words that would appear nicer but still explain the situation. “Undercover, so to speak… In disguise…”

Carla nodded energetically.

“I still don’t get the joke. My apologies, perhaps I am even dumber than you think?” Something in his tone hinted that he is not exactly amused.

“No, you are not!… Ummm…” I couldn’t find other words. There was only one thing I could do. I put the bag on the table and started unzipping it.

“Maybe it will be the best if we just show it to you,” Carla said and reached towards the bag too.

I pulled out one of the bodysuits – that turned out to be Carlo’s. Pushed it in the hands of Carla and took out mine:

“Remember when you couldn’t hire me because the situation constrained you to seeking a woman? By some luck I found a… it is called bodysuit. One that could make me appear female… I apologize most sincerely, I was really desperate for a job…” I unfolded the bodysuit and put it on the table. The likeness to the face I had seen in the mirror yesterday was apparent.

“Me, I had applied to many places, but they turned me down everywhere.” said Carla. “Nobody believed that a girl who looks like me can be a competent IT. Also chanced on such a bodysuit, initially couldn’t force myself to use it…” She unfolded it and held it. “But when I got the chance to show my skills to you, I understood that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and didn’t dared to risk missing it…” She put the bodysuit on the table, next to mine.

The Boss looked incredulously at the bodysuits. Then came to the table, lifted them one by one, examined them carefully.

Then went back to his desk, opened one of the drawers, shook out of a small pillbox two red tablets and popped them in his mouth.

Then dropped on the chair like a sack and started laughing so hard that the windows were ringing.

In a few seconds, the door opened and showed a very worried Fabricia. After seeing what the noise was, she calmed down somewhat, but still asked:

“Is everything okay, Mr. Montafun?”

He only waved his hand, incapable of stopping the laugh. In just a second, Filippo and Nicola Petruccio showed up at the door. Behind them, I could see the rest of our colleagues.

“Need help, Sergio?” quickly asked Petruccio.

“No… Don’t worry… It’s okay… Unless I die from laughter…”

Petruccio and Filippo exchanged puzzled glances, then looked at Carla and me suspiciously, but did nothing. Some time passed before The Boss could compose himself.

“Everything is okay… Thank you, you can continue working… Fabricia, wait a moment, please. Are Lexie and Carlo here, by any chance?”

“No. And I am wondering why they are late. They are the kind of people who will give a warning if they will be…”

“Thank you, you may go…”

* * *

When she closed the door, The Boss went to the table with the bodysuits again. Picked them one by one and examined them very carefully again.

“So you indeed already work here… I don’t want to even think what is the probability, statistically speaking…” He chuckled again. “But I must admit that this is the best joke I have ever seen… Could you please tell me how did you obtained these technological marvels? I am really curious.”

“Well, by an omission by someone important and influential. Who prefers to stay in the shadows and is not happy with that omission at all—”

“And who is not Gianfranco Puglisi,” Carla inserted. One of the brows of The Boss went up again, but he said nothing.

“And it might be better if you don’t know how exactly they reached us. They did by wild chance, I would say…”

Followed a long and rather messed up explanation how everything unfolded, up to our decision to drop the bodysuits. Without some key details – where exactly we got them, who designed them etc. Not knowing that would be safer for The Boss, and we owed that to him.

“So… We both understand that lying to you was a very bad thing. But hope that you will forgive us. We were really desperate… And we are still the workers you know and value, even if with different appearances and names. Could we hope that you will consider keeping us?”

The Boss was lost in thought for some time. Finally spoke:

“This will be the best for everybody, including the company and me. However, there are some details to take into account. Ending your contracts as Lexie and Carlo and hiring your real identities is the easy part.”

“Can we help with something?”

“To start with, I noticed that the other employees saw the bodysuits on the table. Maybe some noticed their likeness. And it would be really strange if that is not connected to the fact that Lexie and Carlo suddenly are missing, without even a warning… I am afraid that it might be impossible to hide that they have been you.”

Both we sighed.

“Which brings other questions. For months, women had shared with Lexie things that are shared between women only. Used the changing room together with her etc. Ditto for Carlo and the men. All your colleagues here are nice people who likely wouldn’t cause a scandal because of that, but still. Also, I will do my best to moderate whatever negative reactions might arise, but you still might need to apologize and make amends.”

“We will. As many times as needed, and more… By the way, will they know who of us was who?”

The Boss looked at us and smiled.

“What about starting all this with something positive?” He picked the handset from his desk. “Fabricia? Could you please invite everyone to my office? It is time to announce the results of the voting for best employees.”

A minute later, all employees were in the room. And, judging by how they were looking at us, they had guessed who we are. Both Carla and I were blushing fiercely.

“As I see, you are already aware that two of our colleagues had had to work here for some time in disguise. For reasons that are their own business only.” The Boss looked at everybody through his glasses. “Now they can continue to work as themselves. There is nothing new, they are exactly the same people you already know, have the same skills and so on. We continue to be the same team and to work together.”

He waited for a few seconds, then continued:

“By the way, I have to announce the winners of the vote for best employees. As it is not hard to guess, we know them under the names Alexandra Manzoni and Carlo Gatti. Miss, Mister, this is one more proof that you belong and are valued here.” He took out of a drawer in his desk two small packages and handled them to us.

We thanked him, still unable to process everything.

“Now, it is time to continue work. I apologize for hurrying up, but we have to finish that big analysis about the AI acceptance by age…”

“Wow, you have to tell us about this!” I heard Lu whispering to Carla.

“I will—”

“Just a moment, before the men have dragged Carlo away.” Lu turned towards me. “Carlo, could you please help me with the new version of StatWhiz? It stubbornly says it is illegal copy. Is there something with the license?”

“Um…” I stammered.

“Maybe I can try, I think I know what it is,” interjected Carla. “He told me he has something else to do—”

“Great! By the way, is Lexie your real name?”

“Um, no… It is Carla…”

“Sorry?” suddenly interrupted them Nicola Petruccio. “Carla? May I know your family name, please?”

Carla hesitated for a moment, but the twinkle in the eyes of Petruccio could not be mistaken. He had heard her name and that she can deal with an IT problem, and had instantly put two and two together. So much for hiding who of us was who.

Not that it would be possible to hide it for long anyway, as Carla hadn’t been inventive with a name for the bodysuit at all… And even if she was, our skills were too different…

“Gatti… Carla Gatti…”

There was a dead silence in the room. Everyone had understood who of us was who.

I couldn’t lift my eyes from the floor.

After a minute of silence, Mommy said:

“We should consult about this. Nicola?”

“Yes.” He turned towards Carla and me. “My apologies, but this all will take some effort on our side to wrap our heads around. Could we the rest have a talk about it?”

I could only nod silently.

In half a minute, only The Boss, Carla and I remained in the room.

* * *

I was again in the clutches of the doubt and the fear.

What if our colleagues were too incensed by all that and demanded that we are fired?

What if they decided to call the police on us?

The Boss appeared to be understanding, but would he be able to save us if our colleagues were too angry?…

Almost half an hour passed before there was a knock on the door. All our colleagues entered and stood in a line along the walls. Mommy and Petruccio stepped ahead. Obviously they would be the speakers.

“Ahem…” Petruccio started. “We all understand the unique situation we are in.”

“But exactly due to its uniqueness, we believe that we should have a say in it too,” Mommy added, looking at The Boss. He looked back at her and nodded.

“We feel that those young people, despite appearing nice and kind, are unknown to us,” Petruccio continued. “Hence, we cannot accept working with them. I am sorry, but it is only reasonable on our part.”

My heart froze.

“At the same time, we well understand how indispensable to the company have become Lexie and Carlo,” Mommy said. “Without them, it would be impossible to work efficiently. They are absolutely needed here.”

What the hell did they want to say?!

“Due to this, our decision is to reject these newcomers and most categorically demand our old colleagues.” declared Petruccio. “We kindly insist, Mr. Montafun, that you take all necessary measures to ensure them back here instead!”

The Boss threw a puzzled look at him. Then suddenly his face lit up:

“Of course! You are completely right. Miss, Mister, I believe that you understand what this company needs from you.”

They… they wanted us to continue wearing the bodysuits?! Why?! What is the difference?! They do not add anything to our skills!

“No matter how decent and capable these young people are, they would never be a match for our dear Lexie and Carlo!” Mommy stated categorically. “We urge you to return them back here as soon as possible!”

“Do you want to discuss the situation between you?” The Boss asked Carla and me.

“Yes, please…” Carla replied.

We went out in the corridor, leaving everyone else in the office of The Boss.

“Frankly, I didn’t expect that,” Carla said.

“Me either… They demand us to continue wearing the bodysuits?! Should that be any of their business, damn it?”

“Well, we lied to them, so they have a bit of right to have demands… Wait!”

“What?”

Carla quietly approached the door of The Boss and put an ear to the wooden frame:

“Wait… They are laughing!”

“Huh?”

“They are pulling our legs, silly!”

“Are you sure?!”

“Of course!… Let’s turn the joke on them, eh?” She smiled mischievously.

How could I refuse a wish of my girl?

We entered back and Carla announced:

“Agreed. Tomorrow we are coming again as you know us.”

“Only tomorrow?” Petruccio protested. “We require nothing less than every day! A day without Lexie and Carlo is an empty day in this company!”

“Deal! From now on, we will be coming in that way!” Carla assured him.

“And hey, we can’t wait to see your marriage too!” Mommy insisted. “It would be a shame to the company if you don’t tie the knot soon!”

“Don’t worry, we will do that too,” Carla replied.

“Great! I can’t wait to help Lexie choose a bridal gown!” Lu piped. I felt my face burning, but heroically upped the ante:

“And we hope that we soon will become more, too!”

This time both Grace and Mommy couldn’t keep composure and started giggling. Filippo was already hiding his face and his shoulders were shaking. Even Tony and Nicola Petruccio’s eyes glinted. In a second everyone exploded with laughter.

“I bet that no woman would be able to tell better than Lexie what men would think about this or that gown,” Grace noted with a wide smile.

“And no man will be able to tell better than Carlo what women would think about this or that gift,” added Nicola Petruccio.

After the laughter finally subsided, The Boss knocked on his desk:

“A bit of attention, please. Given the situation, I would suggest that Mr. Rossi moves to the room of the analysts, while Miss Gatti comes to the room of the data processing team.”

“Reasonable,” Mommy replied. “However, Lexie stays in our room! Seriously! She belongs there and there only!”

The other women all nodded.

“And Carlo stays in ours,” added Nicola Petruccio. “So fine and decent young man would always be the pride of the male part of the company.”

I exchanged glances with Carla. Did they really expected us to come to work again in the bodysuits? Or just were telling us that, should we decide to do it, we are welcome in this way too? That we are forgiven and accepted?

I hoped it was that. And, judging by their reactions, I was right.

Still smiling, The Boss stepped forward:

“After everything is settled, I think that our colleagues might need the rest of the day to enjoy their awards and being themselves. Of course, I will expect them tomorrow to be at work.”

He nodded at us, then suddenly chuckled:

“Given the data we have, statistically speaking, the perfect man would be a woman, and the perfect woman would be a man.”