The Bet - Chapter 61(Wednesday – week 9 Part 5 of 8)

The Bet

By Karen Singer

Chapter 61(Wednesday – week 9 Part 5 of 8)

     Mel really just wanted to talk to Gloria right away.  She couldn’t wait to tell her what had just happened at Feinbaum’s offices a little while ago.  But the moment she was about to dial Gloria’s number, her phone rang instead. And the moment she saw Robin’s name on the caller id, she had a feeling that it could only be trouble.  “Hello?” she said into her phone.

      “Mel!” Robin exclaimed.  “I’m so glad I got you!”

      “What’s wrong?”

      “Ray was in the break room a little while ago and he was asking everyone if they knew anything about your bet with Sissy.  But he has everything all mixed up!  He somehow thinks that Sissy is dressing like he is because he already lost the bet with you!  And he also keeps mentioning something about money… and I don’t know anything about that!  And that’s not the first time he’s asked me about it all.  He came down to my desk yesterday too.  But this time he asked about it in front of everyone!  And now they’re all convinced that Ray’s story is what’s really going on and they all seem to think that I should know everything… and I thought I did, but I don’t!  So now I don’t know what to do or tell anyone!”

     Robin’s words were flying so fast that Mel almost missed some of it.  “Calm down,” Mel told her.  “I talked with Derek last night and he told me that he had told Ray everything.  But he wasn’t sure how much of it that Ray would remember since Ray was so drunk at the time.”

      “Yeah,” Robin replied, “I talked with Derek a few minutes ago too and he said the same thing.  Then he suggested I call you.”

      “Yeah, good thing,” Mel replied, trying to calm the woman down. 

      “Mel?”

      “Yeah?”

      “What was Ray talking about when he keeps asking about money?  I know there was nothing in that contract that you have about money.  Nothing at all.  Okay, you agreed to buy him some furniture, but I didn’t get the impression that Ray was talking about that.”

     That was the part of all this that irked Mel the most.  Ray was somehow fixated on her money… because he wanted it!  “There isn’t anything in the contract about money… and there is no money involved at all.  Ray somehow found out that I got a bit of an inheritance when my family died and now he’s after it.  That’s what it’s all about.”

      “Gold-digging?”

      “That’s it in a nutshell.  And quite frankly, he’s got me pretty mad!  I threw him out of my apartment over it last Sunday.”

      “You did?”

      “You better believe it!”

     Robin was starting to calm down a bit.  “So what about the fact that he thinks Sissy already lost the bet?”

     Mel thought about that for a moment.  “Let him think that… and let everyone else think it too.  Did he mention the incontinence part?”

      “He never mentioned it.  Like I told Derek, it’s like he never heard about it.”

      “All the better then.  For now, let’s go with Ray’s version of things.  It might be better in the long run… maybe easier on Sissy too.”

     Robin thought about that.  “Yeah.  Maybe it would.  But that’s still a big maybe.  What about the money thing?”

     Mel thought hard about that one.  “Let everyone think what they want about it.  You and I know the truth, Derek too.  Let them all think what they like.  We can always straighten everything out later… after this is all over.”

      “So what exactly am I supposed to tell everyone?  They all keep hounding me to tell them what’s going on!”

      “Don’t tell them anything!  Nothing!”

      “Not at all?  That’s going to be hard!”

      “Then tell them that Sissy will explain it all in person when he gets back.  We’ll leave it at that.  Can you do that?”

      “Maybe.  I can try.  You don’t know how hard some of these women can pry!”

      “Oh, believe me, I know very well!”

     Robin wasn’t at all sure about that.  Mel didn’t have to face all the women that she worked with.  “Okay, I’ll try,” Robin repeated.”
      “Good,” Mel replied.  “Oh, and if you can reach him, maybe you should let Derek know what’s going on too.  Just in case Ray tries to ask him all over again.”

      “Yeah, I’ll do that,” Robin agreed. 

      “Good,” Mel replied, now anxious to end the call.  She had other things on her mind instead.  “Now I’ve got to go.  I have more calls to make.”

      “Okay Mel,” Robin said.  “See you Saturday?”

      “Saturday!” Mel agreed.

     Mel hung up her phone.  Ray was still causing trouble, but if things worked out, then that trouble might not be so bad.  But now she still wanted to talk to Gloria… just as she had planned before had Robin called her – only now, she had more to discuss.  And once again, just as she was about to dial, her phone rang.  Except this time, she saw that it was Gloria calling her!  “Gloria?  I was just about to call you!”

      “Hi girlfriend,” Gloria laughed.  “This time I got you first!  I hope you can ditch Sissy long enough to meet me for lunch today, because I’ve got some juicy stuff to tell you about what I did to Ray yesterday.  You’re going to love it!”

      “What you did to Ray?” Mel asked.  “He’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about too!  He’s causing trouble again!”

      “He is?” Gloria asked, her concern growing.  “What’s he done now?” 

      “I’d rather tell you in person,” Mel replied.  “And… I’ve got more news!  Big news!  Something that happened with Feinbaum this morning!”

      “So lunch is on?  You can ditch Sissy for a while?” Gloria asked.

      “Um… No!  I’m afraid Sissy is going to have to be there.”

      “That doesn’t sound like a very appetizing way to enjoy lunch!  I’d rather not try to be out in public with him at all… especially if you’ve got him in one of those silly dresses again.  I’d die of embarrassment!”

     Mel looked back toward Sissy.  He was curtseying and greeting a group of people entering the mall.  She giggled.  “Sorry Gloria, I can’t leave him.  And today I’ve got him in his really cute little blue outfit again.  And everyone seems to love it!  I’m sure he’ll be no problem.”

      “Wait a minute!  Where are you girl?”

      “The mall.  Outside actually, for now.”

      “The mall?  And you’ve got him dressed like that?”

      “Of course.  It’s perfect… for him!”

     Gloria was rolling her eyes.  “We really need to talk!  But like I said, I’m not sure I could manage lunch with him around dressed like that.”

     Mel thought for a minute and decided to push it.  “Why don’t we meet in the food court here for lunch?  And you’re right, we definitely need to talk!  You’ll just have to put up with him for a little while.  Trust me… you’ll love it!”

     Gloria wasn’t at all certain about that.  But she did really want to talk to Mel in person… the sooner the better!  Hesitantly she replied, “I don’t know.  Maybe,” she finally agreed.  “Maybe!”

      “Good!” Mel proclaimed as if Gloria had definitely said yes.  “I’ll see you here in a few hours.  Now it’s time for a little more fun with Sissy.”

     Gloria set her phone down.  So far she had managed to avoid having dinner with Mel while Sissy was there.  She had also managed to avoid lunch as well with him.  But this time it looked like her luck had run out.  She really wasn’t happy about having lunch with Sissy anywhere near her, but it looked like Mel wasn’t going to give her a choice this time.  How did she manage to get roped into these things?

     Mel put her phone away and walked back up the sidewalk toward Sissy – who was now greeting two women who were just approaching the mall.  She saw them stop to stare at him.  She couldn’t see the looks on their faces since their backs were to her, but she could just imagine how amused they were by the way they were pointing at various parts of Sissy’s dress to “appreciate” it.  She walked up next to them.  “Sissy, show them what you’re wearing underneath that dress.”  She ignored the quizzical looks the women were giving her.

     Chad wasn’t exactly happy about Mel’s latest request, but at the same time, it did stir his sexual interest because of the humiliation involved.  He once again grabbed the front of his skirts and raised them up high, totally exposing the diaper he was wearing underneath.  To his embarrassment – and delight, the two women broke out laughing.

      “Wait a minute!” one of them said.  “He’s wet!  His diaper is wet!”  The two women laughed harder than ever. 

      “You can lower your dress now Sissy,” Mel told him.  “Grab your bag and put your bottle back in your mouth.  It’s time to go inside.”

     Laughing, the two women headed on toward the entrance to the mall while Sissy lowered his skirts and picked up the heavy diaper bag.  He had known they would be going inside eventually.  There was never any doubt.  Especially not after the way Mel had behaved at that legal firm earlier.  And as usual, he both dreaded it and looked forward to the humiliation it would mean.  One thing was for sure, the last few days may have been easy as far as the humiliation he had to endure, but so far, Mel was doing everything she could today to make up for it!  He hoisted his heavy diaper bag up onto his shoulder, stuck his bottle back in his mouth… and that’s when Mel’s phone rang again.

      “Oh hell!” Mel exclaimed.  “I might as well be back at the office!”  She quickly fished the phone out of her bag.  “Hello?”

      “Hi Mel,” Derek’s voice came back. 

      “Derek?  Did Robin call you?”

      “Yeah, she did,” Derek confirmed.  “But I just wanted to touch base with you before I returned some of these phone calls I’ve been getting from Ray.”

      “Don’t tell him anything!” Mel replied quickly.  “Right now he thinks Sissy is doing what he is because he already lost some bet.  Let him keep thinking that.  And whatever you do, don’t mention anything about the incontinence angle.”

      “Yeah, I sort of got that from Robin,” Derek replied.  “But Mel, I told Ray everything there was to tell before.  All of it!  He’s got to remember some of those other details.”

     Mel thought about that.  “I don’t think he does.  And from what Robin is telling me, the one and only thing that’s driving this is his interest in my money. If we don’t mention anything else, he probably won’t have any reason to remember it.”

      “But you don’t have any money… not like he thinks.  Do you?”

     This was making Mel angry.  Her money was her private business.  Nobody else needed to know about it!  “Derek,” she replied, “let’s not go there.  Please!”

     Derek listened, but what he heard instead was confirmation that perhaps Ray had been right about Mel’s money.  “So what do I do?” he asked.

      “Don’t talk to him!  If you can manage it, don’t talk to him about the bet at all!”

      “I can try,” Derek replied.  “But I’m not sure I can.”

      “Just don’t do it!” Mel returned with more than a hint of anger in her voice. “You can outright refuse to talk about it if it comes to it!”  Geez!  Why were these men so hard headed? 

      “So how about later?” Derek asked, trying to change the subject.  “I have to be here at the construction site all day, but afterwards I’m thinking about a nice big steak.  And I know Sissy has to be there too, so don’t worry about it.  I’ll pick you up say… about seven.”

     Once again Mel noticed that he wasn’t asking anything at all about what she might like.  And after the way other things had gone today it simply made her mad.  “Forget it Derek!  I’m tired of nobody thinking about what I might like or be interested in.  And right now my only interest is in Sissy.  So do me a favor and just stay away for a while.  I’m going to be busy!”  With that, she abruptly ended the phone call.  “Should have done that sooner!” she muttered as she put her phone away and strode toward the mall doors.

     A wide eyed Chad followed.  This was the first that he had heard about Ray thinking that he had already lost the bet.  Where did Ray get that idea?  And Mel wanted him to keep thinking that?  He supposed it was actually a lot better than the truth.  Knowing that Mel was now out to overly humiliate him today, he followed her into the mall.

     Derek stared in disbelief at his phone.  What was up with Mel today?  That certainly wasn’t like her.  And what did she mean about nobody being interested in what she’s interested in?  He was interested in spending time with her… maybe a little sex too.  Wasn’t she just as interested in spending time with him?  Well, if she was in that kind of a mood, then maybe it wouldn’t hurt to stay away today… maybe tomorrow too for that matter.  He’d see what kind of mood she was in on Friday.  Women got over these little spats after a day or too.  By then he was sure she’d come back to her senses.  Maybe then they could go out for a good steak dinner!

     Since this bet had started, every trip to the mall had been a nightmare for Sissy.  Every trip out of the house for that matter.  But every time they came to the mall she found some new way to make matters that much worse for him.  The last time they were here, she had marched him around and bought that schoolgirl outfit for him, then made him wear the darn itchy thing all over the place!  But this time she was making him wear one of his stupid silly dresses instead.  It wasn’t the first time he had worn one to the mall, just the first time he would be wearing it all over the mall.  Or at least so he expected.  Things had a way of changing rapidly whenever Mel was concerned. 

     They hadn’t gone very far inside the entrance when Mel turned and headed directly for one of the stores.  In fact, it was the very first store they came to.  Chad had no idea why Mel would be interested in entering a pipe and tobacco store, but with his baby bottle in his mouth, he followed her inside.  Mel took her sweet time strolling around the store… looking at this, touching that, while Chad stayed slightly in the background.  There weren’t any people there except the one proprietor… who never once took his eyes off of him.  Chad figured Mel could have easily gotten away with stealing something if she wanted to since the guy was so fixated on watching him.  In a way, it was as if he was the perfect distraction. Surprisingly, Mel didn’t buy anything at all in the store or do anything else.  Eventually she wandered back out – where she headed directly into the very next store she came to.  And naturally, Chad followed. 

     All around the bottom level of the mall.  Every single store.  Every single department.  Occasionally Mel bought something that suited her fancy… clothes or a little knickknack.  And every time she bought something, she handed the bags containing her purchases to Sissy for him to carry.  But not once did she even mention buying anything for him.  Yet!  And all through it, since Mel was going so slowly, everyone else in the mall had more than ample opportunity to ogle at the way Chad was dressed… not to mention the ever present baby bottle in his mouth.  Often, whenever Mel noticed a group of people staring at him, she had Chad curtsey and say hello to everyone, which always brought smiles and a bit of laughter to everyone who saw it.

     Every time Chad finished one of his baby bottles, Mel made him get a fresh one out of his diaper bag and keep drinking it – in front of everyone.  He could feel his diaper getting wetter and wetter.  What would happen when it started leaking?  He was quickly coming to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be much longer!  Would she change him right here in the mall?  He could just picture that – being all stretched out on the floor somewhere, right where everyone could see him, and Mel removing his soaked diaper as if he was a real baby and replacing it with a dry one.  She wouldn’t do that?  Would she?  The scary truth was, that today, she just might!

     Chad was also more than aware of every security guard in the mall.  Sometimes they were in the stores, sometimes out in the common areas of the mall, but he noticed them often.  Why weren’t they saying anything?  They just watched critically for a while before moving on somewhere else.  He supposed that since he wasn’t doing anything really wrong – other than the way he was dressed, they had no choice but to leave him alone.  But what would they do when Mel started changing his diaper?  Maybe Mel would take him home first!  Somehow, he doubted that.

     Store after store, not skipping even one, they slowly worked their way around the bottom level of the mall. They were taking long enough that Chad was actually beginning to feel a bit more comfortable about the situation… if you could call still feeling horribly humiliated and having everyone constantly staring at him, comfortable.  Maybe he was just getting used to it. 

     They were in one of the major department stores when it happened.  He had drunk so much already that there wasn’t much of a warning at all.  It wasn’t just a tiny little spot this time, when his diaper started leaking, it broke down totally and quickly sent a small river of pee rushing down his leg straight at his pretty little anklet socks.  “Mistress!” he called quickly.  “I’m leaking!  Bad!”

     Mel turned quickly.  She had been expecting it soon.  She looked at his leg as he held it out and was surprised to see it running down like it was.  “Find something to wipe that with before it ruins your socks!” she said quickly.  “You couldn’t let me know sooner when you were leaking?”  Only then did she bother to check the time on her watch.

      “But it just started!” Chad replied as he set his diaper bag and all of her bags down on the floor.  He quickly opened the diaper bag and grabbed a fresh diaper to wipe his leg with.

     Mel looked all around her.  The people in the area who had either heard Sissy or had just been watching him were all looking at them now… closer than ever!  That part didn’t really bother her at all, but she still needed to be careful about where and how she chose to change him.  As far as she could see, there was no place she could easily take him into to take care of it.  Not even a changing room anywhere around.  But the clothing racks were placed fairly close together to get as many of them into the area as possible.  She smiled a bit.  It would be good enough.  “Come along Sissy.  This way,” she said, totally ignoring everyone who was watching.  She led Sissy further back between the clothes.  Finding a spot where she felt at least somewhat secluded, she had Sissy hold up his fluffy skirts as best he could to keep them out of the way. She could still see everyone watching carefully over top of the racks in-between, but none of them seemed to be moving any closer.  She didn’t really care if any of them did.  If they wanted to see what she was doing up close, then that was up to them.  So far, none of them were moving.  She unfastened his soggy leaking diaper and let it fall to the ground.

     Chad could actually feel his face growing red – despite the fact that the clothing racks hid most of him… somewhat.  He turned his head and he could easily see half a dozen people watching him.  Did they know what was happening?  Of course they did.  How could they not?  He had made sure of that himself when he had announced that he was leaking.  Shame faced, he looked down into the mass of skirts he was holding out of the way while he felt Mel placing the diaper he had just used to wipe his leg with up against his front side… then pull it through his legs tightly up against his backside as well.  Then he felt her tightly pulling on the tapes and pressing them into place, securing the diaper firmly onto him.  It felt good to have a fresh diaper on again, even though he liked them wet even more.  Wet was more humiliating!  And before Mel’s hand even left the last tape, he felt himself wetting the fresh diaper a tiny bit again. 

     Mel almost missed it as she pressed the last of the tapes into place, but her eyes noticed the very slight color change at the bottom of the diaper.  She immediately reached out to cup his crotch.  He had wet so little that she couldn’t really feel anything different, but she knew what had just happened – it happened often enough that it was only what she expected… and wanted.  She looked up straight into his eyes with a rather wicked smile on her face.  “Good baby!” she said softly.  Chad’s face turned a bit redder.

     Before Chad was allowed to pick up all the bags, Mel led him a short way back towards the people who had watched it all.  “Lift your skirt and show them your new diaper,” she ordered. 

     With the clothing racks somewhat in the way, Chad pulled the front of his skirt up again and walked around just a little so more of the people could see. 

      “Is that thing wet already?” one woman asked.  “Didn’t you just put it on him?”

      “What can I say?” Mel replied.  “As you can see, he deserves to wear them all the time.”

     The woman chuckled a bit before moving on and Chad was allowed to get a fresh baby bottle – as well as all of the bags he now had to carry.  And once again, Mel started moving slowly through the store.

     A little while later, Mel checked her watch again.  Almost lunchtime.  Gloria would be along in a little while.  She surprised Sissy a little when she suddenly changed direction and started moving faster.  With his arms loaded and his baby bottle still in his mouth, Chad had to hurry a bit to keep up with her. 

     The mall hadn’t been all that crowded when they had arrived, but now a lot more people seemed to be around.  And the food court was already fairly crowded.  Mel had wanted a table out in the middle somewhere where more people would notice Sissy, but those tables were all taken and she had to settle for one further out.  Chad was just grateful he could put all the bags down again.  Having to keep his bottle in his mouth made carrying everything fairly difficult – especially with the heavy diaper bag slung over his shoulder as well.  But now the main thing on his mind wasn’t so much the way he was dressed and the way everyone was staring at him… now he was starting to think, and worry, about all that baby food that Mel had put in his diaper bag earlier.

     Mel glanced at her watch again, Gloria would probably be along in a few minutes.  She had no doubt that since they were meeting here at the mall that Gloria would be a lot more rushed for time.  With that in mind, she immediately started glancing around at the food choices available.  Quickly making up her mind, she dug her wallet out of her purse and handed Sissy some money.  “Put this in your little purse, Sissy,” she told him.  When the money had been properly stowed away she told him what to get and sent him to stand in line to buy the lunches.  Since time was going to be a factor, she had him just buy two of everything.  With Sissy gone, she sat down to enjoy watching Sissy’s embarrassment while she waited.  She was glad to get off her feet.  The darn shoes she had chosen to wear today were starting to kill her!

     As Chad headed for the crowded lines of people to order the food, he thought about what Mel had ordered him to get.  Two of everything!  Why?  She couldn’t eat that much.  Was she going to relent and allow him to eat normally again while they were here?  If you could call eating lunch amid a large crowd of people while wearing the silliest dress in the world, normal.  It certainly sounded promising though.  Maybe it was because he was doing so well at getting his diaper to leak today.  That had to be it!  Reward!  He smiled at the thought as he joined the back of the short line of people waiting to order their lunch.

     Chad hated this… standing in line with lots of other people while he was dressed so… embarrassingly.  There was no way that anyone wouldn’t notice him.  He stuck out like a sore thumb.  So many people smiled at him… so many people stared at him… it felt like nobody could take their eyes off of him.  And he really couldn’t blame them.  He would do the same if he were in their position.  But having all those people watching him was deeply unnerving. 

      “Love your pretty dress,” a woman said to him as she reached out to feel the material of his puffy sleeve. 

     He curtseyed, “Thank you,” he said in his stupid, silly, sissy voice before curtseying again.  His actions and voice only brought more interest from everyone around. 

      “Where did you get it?” the same woman asked.

     Ugh!  Curtsey.  “It was a gift,” he replied, meaning that Mel had given it to him.  The woman didn’t need to know anything more than that.  Curtsey.  At least he didn’t have his baby bottle to worry about putting in and out of his mouth right now.  His pacifier either for that matter.

      “Well, it’s very pretty,” the woman said again.

     Chad could tell that by now she was doing everything possible to keep from outright laughing at him.  Curtsey.  Sissy thank you.  Curtsey.  Gratefully, the line moved quickly and he was able to order before long.  Of course, more people watched closely as he had to fight with his tiny purse to get the money out that Mel had given him… and then drop the change back into it afterwards.

     As he waited to get the food he had ordered, he heard someone else calling out a number over and over again, and nobody was coming up to claim their food.  The number was called for perhaps the fifth time before one of the men in the crowd finally woke up and realized the lunch he had ordered was ready.  He had been so intent on watching Sissy that he had completely forgotten that his lunch was due up.  Chad didn’t have that problem.  The minute they called his number he got his food and hurried back to the table with it. 

     As Mel separated the food out between herself and the chair next to her, Chad dug her change out of his tiny purse, which was no small effort.  As soon as Mel was finished, he handed her the change and started to sit in front of the other food. 

      “What are you doing?” Mel asked.

     Chad curtseyed and pointed toward the food in front of him.  “Isn’t that for me?  You had me get two of everything.”

      “Absolutely not!” Mel replied rather emphatically.  “You should know better!  I’m waiting for Gloria to join us.”  She glanced around looking to see if Gloria was there yet, but she didn’t see her.  “Since she’s not here yet, you can sit over here,” she said, indicating the chair on the other side of her.  “We may as well get started on giving you your lunch while we’ve got the time.”

     Chad felt like someone had just ripped the rug out from under him.  He was more aware than ever of the wetness in the crotch of his diaper as he sadly made his way to the other chair and sat down.  A minute later, his embarrassment increased as Mel tied a bib around his neck.  But it wasn’t until Mel started spoon feeding him the baby food straight out of the jars that he felt the worst.  He couldn’t even look around to see if anybody was watching.  He didn’t have the nerve to look around.  Not that he needed to, he had no doubt that everybody in the place was watching him getting fed like a baby.  Totally, horribly, miserably, wonderfully, deliciously, humiliating!