The Bet - Chapter 33 (Wednesday – week 5 Part 3 of 8)

The Bet
by Karen Singer

Chapter 33 (Wednesday – week 5 Part 3 of 8)

A little while later, Chad was back at his desk again, struggling to hold back his peeing. His efforts quickly became fruitless as he felt it starting to leak into his diapers. With a tiny grunt of relief, he just let it go. He glanced at his watch – eight minutes. Terrible! But it was still early in the day. Things always went better in the afternoons when he had less liquid in his system… and today he decided he would drink a lot less at lunchtime!
He heard Robin’s phone ring, then she talked briefly. A moment later he could hear her typing. She was busy. He opened his spreadsheet for tracking his bet progress. He stared at the row for today’s date. Thirty more days to go before the testing started. Basically, still one more month. But at least it was only one more month. Very slowly, the days were counting down. He put the cursor into the column for how long he had been able to hold back yesterday and filled in twenty-one minutes. Not very good. On Friday he had been able to hold it for an incredible twenty-nine minutes. Somehow, he had lost eight minutes from his record. But then yesterday had been a bad day. He had had way too much to drink – all day. That was a big mistake. He would watch himself more closely today. Of course, the coffee he had just finished a little while ago didn’t help things at all. He decided to have nothing this afternoon to drink at all – except of course his one required baby bottle while he was visiting Cassie.
That thought led him back to his current problem. How could he keep Robin from joining the gym? With a big sigh, he closed the spreadsheet. He had no ideas!

Gloria got out of her car in the restaurant parking lot. She saw Mel driving in and waited for her friend. They walked inside together. Two minutes later, they were sitting across from each other at a table. Neither of them said much. Both picked up a menu to glance at the contents, even though they both knew it by heart, as well as what they were going to order. The waitress was there to take their orders before either of them put down their menus. But once the menus were gone, there was no longer any excuse not to talk. They each stared at the other for a moment, wondering where to start, or who should start.
This time, Gloria jumped in first. “Look,” she said. “I really need to talk to him – alone! It’s eating me up inside that I might have done something unethical.”
“Of course you didn’t. I would never let you do something unethical!”
“Well, hypnotizing him without him knowing it sure seems unethical to me!”
“That was your idea, remember? And it was the right decision! Besides, would you rather he knew?”
“I’d rather I never did it at all!”
“This isn’t about ethical or unethical, it’s about helping out two friends who are trying to accomplish something together – something we both want! And there’s nothing unethical about it!”
“That remains to be seen.”
“You know he wants it, as much as I do. Probably more.”
Gloria shook her head. “He can’t want it more if he threw off the suggestions so fast. And he had some darn good reasons!”
“Maybe, but in the beginning he didn’t have any reasons.”
“Yeah, none that we know of at least.”
“He had none! That was why we entered into this bet in the first place – because he wanted it. And he couldn’t do it by himself. He’s too weak!”
“He’s not that weak. He threw off those suggestions by himself.”
“He is weak! And he knows it! He never did anything like this before because he doesn’t have the will-power to see it through – no matter how much he wants it. And that’s where I come in. I’m the will-power that he doesn’t have!”
Gloria shook her head. “I just don’t know! If I could just talk to him.”
“But why alone?”
“Because if you’re there, then he’ll react to your presence. I may not get a truthful answer. And I want the truth!”
“Isn’t there some way you can work around that? Convince him to tell you the truth even if I’m there?”
Gloria thought about that for a second. “I don’t know. It’s a very maybe thing. I don’t know that I can rely on it.”
Mel sat back and they both just stared at each other for a moment, each with their own separate thoughts. “I want the truth too,” Mel finally said. “But I want a different truth… well, about something different anyway.”
“What?”
Mel leaned forward. “I need to know how much progress he’s making toward holding back! You heard for yourself last week how well he was doing. I’ve got to find out if anything I’m doing now is making a difference!”
“You’re doing something different?”
Mel nodded. “Several things actually. But I really would like to know if I’m making any progress at all.”
Gloria thought about that for a few moments, saying nothing. Before she could respond, the waitress brought their coffee. They both sipped at the drinks, figuring out what to say, or argue, next.
Mel set her cup back down. “Look,” she began. “We both want him hypnotized again… we both want truthful answers out of him. Isn’t there some way we can come to an agreement on this? Some way we can both get what we want?”
Gloria thought about that. She did want answers and she knew perfectly well that Mel would never let her have him alone. She also knew that she wasn’t willing to set anymore suggestions into him that might affect his behavior one way or another. But what Mel had just said she wanted, answers – truthful answers, that wouldn’t be so bad. Not really. But was that unethical in any way? She wasn’t sure. There was still the bit about doing it without him knowing about it. But would it really be any worse than what she had already done? That was her hang-up.
But she did want answers – desperately! And she didn’t dare allow him to realize what she was doing. And if she only did what Mel was asking, just get answers, then she didn’t see any other way. She had to do it. Ethical or not, she wanted to know the truth. And that meant going along with Mel’s suggestion. Like it or not.
Mel was just sitting there watching her. She felt foolish, but it was better to be careful. “Okay,” she agreed.
Mel breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“As long as you remember, I’m not setting anymore suggestions in him. I just want to know the truth, and I guess I can find out what you want at the same time.”
“Perfect!” Mel replied happily. “That’s all I want.” It wasn’t really all she wanted. They had only reached a compromise. But it would be one that she would have to live with.

Chad glanced at the time on his computer monitor, it was lunchtime. He quickly closed all the programs he had open and pulled his purse out of the drawer.
“Hey Chad. Ready?” Robin’s voice called from the entrance to his cubicle.
“Ready for what?”
“To go to the gym, of course. Since we’re both going to the same place, I figured we might as well ride together. Then we can grab something quick to eat afterwards.”
Chad was shocked. All he could think about was Robin finding out what really went on at the gym. His worst nightmare was about to come true! “Um… You’re going now?”
“Well sure. I’ve got to sign up, don’t I?”
“Oh yeah. I guess so.”
“Then let’s go. Do you want to take your car or mine?”
She wasn’t going to back down from this. She was all too determined to go – one way or another. Why did he have to wear this stupid pink top today? That’s what started it all! “Uh… Wouldn’t it be better to take separate cars? I don’t really know how long I’ll be there.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you. I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of paperwork for me to fill out and maybe I can get another look at the place too.”
Chad well remembered the last time she had been there – at the same time he went. It was when she had found out that he was being called Sissy now. Ever since then, she had insisted on calling him Sissy too. And the name had spread rapidly around the entire company. Was there any way that he could delay going? Or maybe not go at all? Unfortunately, his diapers were really wet – again. He had to go. And he knew that Cassie had other responsibilities, she couldn’t wait for him forever. He had no choice at all. “Uh… Okay… I guess we’ll take my car then.”
“Great!”
Just thinking about needing his diapers changed caused Chad to glance briefly down at his crotch. Yes, he was sure it looked bulkier and more noticeable now than earlier. These new tighter pants weren’t hiding that very much at all. But would Robin notice when he got up? He hoped not. Getting slowly out of her chair, he prayed that she wouldn’t notice anything about his pants at all! Fortunately, the moment he started getting up, she turned toward the hallway. Chad walked next to her the entire way out to his car to minimize the chance of her seeing his pants. He had to throw his pink diaper bag from the front passenger seat into the back seat before she could get in with him. Searching desperately for a way to keep her from knowing what he really did at the gym, Chad drove out of the parking lot.
When they got there, Chad reached into the back for his diaper bag again. Robin stared at it while they were walking to the front door. “Did you have to get a gym bag like that? The darn thing looks more like a diaper bag than a gym bag.”
Chad nearly choked. “Um… It was a gift,” he lied. “Besides, I like it.”
“You would. Sissy!” She giggled as Chad reached out to open the door for her. All Chad could think was that she really had no idea! But would she know the truth soon? Probably!
The receptionist brightened excitedly the moment she saw Sissy opening the door, but then she got a bit of a shock as another woman – the same woman who had been here asking about him before – walked through the door ahead of him. “Hi…” she started to say, but the desperate look on Sissy’s face and the fact that he was trying to mouth something silently to her stopped her from saying anything else.
“Hi,” Robin returned politely, thinking the receptionist had been talking to her in the first place. “Remember me?”
The receptionist glanced back at Sissy. He was still desperately mouthing something at her. “Sure, I remember you,” she said to Robin. “Are you going to sign up this time?”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Fantastic!” the receptionist replied happily as she glanced back at Sissy one more time. This time she understood what he was mouthing – “Get Cassie!” She nodded toward him that she understood. She grabbed a thick stack of forms that has been put together already and handed them to Robin. If you want to get started on these, I need to see if I can find someone. I’ll be right back. With another nod toward Sissy, she left quickly to find Cassie.
“Geez!” Robin said as she looked through the stack of forms. “I expected a lot of paperwork to fill out, but not this much.” She picked up a pen from a cup on the counter and started working.
Chad felt relieved. So far, so good. But he knew it couldn’t last. At least the receptionist hadn’t asked for another curtsey today… or to see his diapers either. But with Robin going to the gym with him now, how long could that last?

“She’s with him?” Cassie asked the receptionist, not believing she heard right.
“She’s filling out the forms right now.”
“Wow! And how is Sissy acting?”
The receptionist shrugged. “Scared. Nervous. But I don’t know why he should. I mean, the cat’s totally out of the bag now, isn’t it?”
Cassie thought about that for a moment. “Maybe not so out of the bag as you think!”
Cassie led the way back up to the front of the gym. The moment she spied Sissy, she could see how worried she looked. Obviously, he hadn’t planned on his friend being here with him. But his friend was another customer, and customer’s had to come first! “Welcome back,” she said to Robin, totally ignoring Sissy. “Remember me?”
“Sure,” Robin replied. “Cassie, right? You showed me around last time.”
“Right and you’re…”
“Robin,” Robin reminded her.
“Of course! Forgive me for not remembering.”
“No problem.”
Cassie glanced again at Sissy. He looked a bit desperate. “Do you have any questions?” She asked Robin.
“Not now, but before I leave, is there any chance I can get another tour and maybe talk about what I think I’d like?”
“Definitely. Tell you what, I need to get Sissy here… uh…” She wasn’t sure how much Robin knew about him. What could she say? “Started,” she finally finished. She glanced back at Chad as he rolled his eyes. “Then I’ll be back and we’ll start from the top. Okay?”
“Perfect,” Robin replied. She turned toward Chad who had been happy to stay somewhat unnoticed. “See you later.”
“Uh… See you later,” he replied as he followed Cassie toward the back. How awkward!
As Chad followed Cassie, Robin glanced up from the paperwork to watch them before they turned out of sight. Something about Chad caught her attention. Something about his bottom looked different. Did it look bigger? Then he was gone. No, it had to be a trick of the shadows. She had only imagined it. She bent back down to filling out the forms.
“Hi Sissy,” someone in the gym called out to him as he walked through. Chad turned. A woman on one of the machines was waving to him. He waved back. Would the customers here ever forget what he had done on Monday? Probably not. A minute later, Cassie was closing the door to the little office behind them.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“She insists on signing up!” Chad replied. “Is there some way you can stop her?”
“Stop her? You’ve got to be kidding. She’s a customer now. And customers always come first – unlike you! Besides, we need some new ones, and she looks like a prime candidate.”
“But she’ll find out what I did. Worse, she’ll find out what we’re doing here!”
“You mean she doesn’t know?”
“No! And I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Cassie shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do for you. Everyone’s still talking about you. She’ll probably find out sooner or later.”
“I don’t want her to find out at all! Isn’t there anything you can do?”
“Sorry. Besides, it’s not really my problem… it’s yours! You might try telling her the truth – yourself – before she finds out from someone else.”
Chad shuddered at the thought. “I can’t! I don’t want her to know at all.”
“Like I said, sorry. Okay, are you going to get undressed or what? I’m afraid we’ll have to skip the fun part for you today so I can take your friend on another tour.”
Chad reluctantly began undressing. As soon as he was down to just his diapers, he laid down on the floor. Cassie handed him a baby bottle to start on while she removed his diapers. Her actions were faster and less personal than usual. A fact not lost to Chad. Before he realized it, she was pushing up on his legs and sticking another of the stupid suppositories up inside of him again. He hated it! More so because she wasn’t playing with him at all this time. Quickly, she fastened two more diapers onto him and before he knew it, she was done and standing up. He felt like he had lost something.
“Okay, she said. I’ve got to go take care of your friend while you finish that bottle. Maybe you better stay here till I come back. Besides, Mel asked me to make sure you get a bottle every day so I can check it for her before you leave.
She was out the door and gone before Chad could do anything else. He just laid there and sucked on his bottle – while he fretted about Robin joining the gym. What was he going to do?
It was a long time before Cassie finally came back. Chad had plenty of time to finish his bottle and get dressed again. “All ready?” Cassie asked as soon as the door was closed.
“Yes. What did Robin say?”
“About you? Nothing. We just walked around again and talked about what she wants. You’re in luck there by the way, she wants to come a few nights a week right after work and is very interested in one of the exercise classes we have.”
“So she’s not going to be coming here at lunchtime?”
“Not unless she wants to. Once she joins, she can come anytime she wants.”
“You mean she hasn’t joined yet?”
“Not officially. She hasn’t paid for anything yet because she hasn’t decided what plan to go for yet. But trust me, she’s joining!”
That was mostly good news for Chad. Maybe he could still convince her not to join. He was struck by another thought. “Maybe if she only comes in the evenings she won’t run into anyone who was here on Monday.”
“Don’t bet on it. There’s a few of those women who come to the later classes too. Sometimes they come early in the day, sometimes they come later.”
Chad was not happy at all to hear that.