The Housekeeper - Chapter 42 Part 2 of 4

The Housekeeper

By Karen Singer

Chapter 42 Part 2 of 4

Janice finished up washing the few breakfast dishes she had created, while Ben-ben was licking his dog bowl perfectly clean of the dog food she had fed him.  As she had programmed him to, and as he had already done last night, the stupid dog had quickly devoured the entire thing – ravenously!  And now he was licking the bowl totally clean.  She bent down and grabbed the now empty dog bowl.   Ben-ben moved over to start lapping at the water bowl that had been next to it while she washed Roger’s purple dog dish in the sink.  When Ben-ben finished with the water, she grabbed that bowl and cleaned it as well.  As always, the rental cabin would be left as spotless and as fingerprint free as she was able to make it… not that she was overly worried about it, but it was better to not take chances.

With the breakfast dishes cleared away, she found the leash she had bought for Roger and attached it to Ben-ben’s collar.  Two minutes later, the stupid dog was pulling at the leash as she walked him outside to do his business there.  She watched carefully how he went about it.  Mostly, he acted like every other dog would, but there were a few things she thought that could be better.  Ten minutes later, she led the “dog” back into the cabin again.  She led him into the living room… and onto the plastic tarp that was still laid out on the floor.  “Sit!” she commanded.  As expected, he sat – somewhat like a dog.”  She removed the leash from the collar.  “Stay!” she commanded before she turned and carried the leash into the kitchen.  She attached the chain to his leg again, and tossed him the duck dog toy that she had gotten for Roger… Boots.  Ben-ben seemed to like chewing on it more than Roger had. 

She left the dog and went back to the kitchen… and her laptop computer there.  She spent twenty minutes going to various websites and double checking things she had looked into before.  But she wanted to make sure there were no changes needed to the notes she had taken on everything.  So far, everything looked… perfect!  She turned her computer off and grabbing her notebook, went back to the living room.  It was time to return Ben-ben to his human state again.  And then move on toward the future.

They were a few minutes earlier getting to the church than usual.  As Roger got out of his truck, he still felt embarrassed and out of place dressed the way he was, but like with all his other trips to the church, each time he came it seemed to get a little easier… a little less embarrassing.  Sort of.  For once, Bethany didn’t come running out to greet him – thankfully.  He and Carol went inside, and in the usual back corner, found Cassandra talking with Carlita.  No sign of Tracy or Bethany yet. 

“Candy!” Cass greeted Roger happily.  “And….”  But Cass couldn’t remember Carol’s name.

“Carol,” Roger supplied.

“Yes!  Sorry, Carol.  I’ve always had a horrible memory for names.”

“It’s alright,” Carol replied.  “To be honest, I don’t know your name either.  We’ve hardly met!”

“Cassandra,” Cass replied.  “But just call me Cass for short.”

“Cass was just telling me that she’s thinking of holding another hen party,” Carlita said.

“Hen party?” Roger asked dubiously.

“Oh you’ll love it!” Cass replied offhandedly.  “Actually, I hold these little get-together dinners a few times a year.  We call them hen parties because everyone there is either someone like you and me, or like Carlita here.”

“They really are fun,” Carlita added.  “And… somewhat helpful too.  I got some great help in the past from some of the others who usually attend.”

“Some of the others?” Roger asked.

“You don’t think I’m the only one around who’s a trans-woman, do you?” Carlita asked.

“Uh… no,” Roger replied.  “To be honest, I really hadn’t thought about it.”

“Well, there are a few others here in the church, and we all have a few friends as well.  The parties are kind of a way for us all to get together and have some fun… let our hair down among friends.  You know?”

“Sounds good,” Roger replied, not knowing what else to say.

“I’m thinking of week after next,” Cass told them.  “Right after church.  If you like, you can follow one of us to my house so you can find it easier.”

Roger wasn’t even sure he wanted to go yet.  Besides, Janice might have a big say in that.  “Um…” he started, trying to find a polite way out of it.

“Don’t even think about not going,” Carlita told him as she noticed his uncertainty.  “This will be good for you.  Trust me!”

“But… I may have to check with…”

“Candy,” Carol chimed in, “I think you should definitely go!”  Actually, she couldn’t wait to tell her mother that Roger would be attending a… “hen party.”

Roger thought about it a bit.  There would be people there who might be able to help him… well, offer him some advice anyway as to how he could make turning himself into a woman go easier.  There was no way anyone could help him with getting out of his predicament!  “Uh,” he replied, warming to the idea.  “I guess it sounds good.”

“Excellent!” Cassandra declared happily.  “Two weeks from today then.”

“What’s two weeks from today?” Tracy asked as she walked up.

“One of my hen parties,” Cass replied.

“Oh wonderful!” Tracy said with a suddenly great amount of enthusiasm.  “You’re last one was sooo much fun!”

“Yoo-hoo,” a voice called from the doorway.”

“Speaking of having fun,” Tracy muttered as Bethany hurried in. 

“What’s happening girls?” Bethany asked as she hurried up.

“Cass is holding another hen party,” Carlita told her.

“Oh fantastic!” Bethany practically squealed.  “I absolutely can’t wait!”

Roger saw Carlita rolling her eyes where Bethany couldn’t see her.

Joseph Halifax blinked and looked around.  He was lying on the plastic tarp, still naked, and the damn woman seemed to be watching him all too carefully.  Why?  What was she expecting him to do?  His brain was slow to realize that things in the room looked… different.  The last he could remember, she was torturing his mind unmercifully again.  And now… something was different.  He finally realized that she was dressed differently, but there was something else.  The light!  The light coming in through the windows was different.  Damn!  She had kept him asleep all night long!  Well, he supposed that was better than more torture, which was what he was now worried that she was about to do to him again.

Warily he stared back at her, afraid of what she might say… yet waiting for her to tell him to do something. 

Janice smiled at him.  “Have a seat, Mr. Halifax,” she said… and watched as he moved as fast as he could for the chair.  She almost chuckled.  “Relax Mr. Halifax,” she told him.  “It’s time to give your poor mind a break.  I think it’s time we discussed sending you on that little vacation I mentioned yesterday.”

“The cruise?”

Janice nodded.  “Exactly.  I’m very glad you remembered.”

After what she had done to his brain… again… he just counted himself lucky that he was still among the living, let alone that he had remembered it!  “What is it you want me to do for you on that cruise?” he asked.  Whatever it was, illegal or not, dangerous or not, he had no doubt that he would do it with a single minded determination.  Her will was his will, and her will was all that mattered.

“Why… nothing at all for me,” Janice replied.  “All I want you to do is… sleep and obey, Mr. Halifax, sleep and obey.  Sleep and obey, Mr. Halifax, sleep and obey.”  Once again, Janice took his mind down into a blissful, totally controlled state.  He went under very quickly, yet she was very thorough to make sure he was as deep as she wanted him to be.  Only then did she pick up her notebook and proceed.

“Mr. Halifax,” she said, “I want you to spend the next week looking forward to going on a nice relaxing cruise.  You want this cruise badly because you feel like haven’t been able to concentrate on things as well as you should lately and you need to take a break and clear your mind.  You are also looking forward to this trip because you will be spending it with your new pretty girlfriend who is the one who will be making all the arrangements and reservations for you and her both.  There will be no need for you to double check any of the reservations because she will be handling all of that for you.

“Mr. Halifax, I’m sure you will be happy to know that you and your pretty girlfriend will be going on a week-long cruise through the Caribbean and will be stopping along the way at many islands for sightseeing and fun.”  She then told him the exact name of the ship that he would be taking and told him that it departed from Miami.  She also told him what airline he would be taking to fly into Miami and what time the flight left.  There was no need to tell him of course that he wouldn’t be on that plane… or the cruise ship either.  She wanted him to look forward to the trip and to let everyone know that he would be gone for a while.

“After the cruise, Mr. Halifax, you and your girlfriend are planning on spending another week enjoying the beach in Miami and just having a good time together.  You don’t know which hotel you are going to stay at yet.  You are planning on picking a nice one when you get there.

“If anyone asks you about your plans,” she told him, “you can tell them the things you know so far.  You will be very excited about the trip and you can’t wait to start it.”

“Mr. Halifax,” she said, “before you leave on this trip, you are going to withdraw ten thousand dollars in cash for the trip.  You may need to plan this with the bank early in the week to make sure there will be no problems.  You need this much money so that you and your girlfriend can have a good time on both the boat and shopping on the islands.  You also plan on using some of it for gambling on the cruise ship as well. 

“Next Friday, you will drive to the Atlanta airport.  You will plan on getting there as close to five o’clock in the evening as possible to give you plenty of time before your seven o’clock flight leaves.  You will have with you the money from the bank and your passport for the trip in case you need it.  However, you will not bother to pack any clothes or suitcases.  The thought of packing these things or needing luggage for the trip will not even occur to you. 

“When you get to the airport, you will park in the long-term parking lot and take the tram to the south terminal which is the terminal the airline you will be flying on works out of.  When you get to the terminal though, you will not go inside.  Instead, walk all the way down to the baggage claim area and wait for me outside near very last entryway.  I will meet you there with the rest of your travel information.

“In the meantime, Mr. Halifax, I want you to continue to be interested in studying how dogs behave.  I particularly want you to pay attention to how they eat, how they drink, all the different things they like to smell and the times that they always seem to like to smell them.  I also want you to study very carefully how they go to the bathroom under many different conditions.  You will find all dog behavior to be very fascinating.  You are even thinking of getting yourself some type of dog in the future now, so studying how they behave so closely will make perfect sense to you.  You want to be well prepared just in case you do finally get yourself a dog.”

Janice put her notebook down and stared at him.  He had the same blank look on his face as when he started, but she had no doubt that every single instruction she had just given him was now thoroughly burned into his head.  He would have no possible course other than to follow her instructions exactly. 

A minute later, she had removed the collar from his neck and had him get dressed again.  It was time to send him home.  She instructed him to get dressed and come fully awake from his trance shortly after leaving the cabin… with the happy knowledge that he would soon be going on a two week vacation with his pretty new girlfriend.