The Housekeeper - Chapter 70

The Housekeeper

By Karen Singer

Chapter 70

He was up all night polishing floors that were already polished and cleaning things that were already clean.  All in the name of worrying about what Janice might do if she didn’t like something.  All the laundry had been done and the bed linens changed.  He even polished the glasses in the cupboard and cleaned out the refrigerator.  The only thing he didn’t do was to finish painting the house.  He had just barely started that job.  At the rate he was going with it, it was going to take weeks!

He phoned Mike and told him he couldn’t come into work.  He was having unexpected guests.  Mike didn’t exactly understand, but Candy held his ground that he wasn’t going in to work that day.  Early in the morning he chanced going out to buy some groceries, buying some of the things he knew Janice liked. 

With the house clean and the refrigerator stocked, he changed clothes, opting for the sundress he liked so much.  He really hoped Janice would like it on him.  If not, then he dared not think what she was capable of doing.  Feeling so feminine in the dress, he sat down and continued with his latest quilt project.  A much more elaborate quilt than he had ever attempted before.  But he had a book to guide him now and he was enjoying the challenge. 

It wasn’t until late in the afternoon when he saw Janice’s SUV entering the driveway.  He expected to hear the garage door open, but she parked in the driveway instead, right near the new sidewalk that led up to the new front porch.  He went out the front door to greet her.

Janice got out of the car and saw Candy waiting for them on the front porch.  She nearly did a double take as she saw how much Candy had changed. 

“Is that?” Carol asked.

“Indeed it is,” Janice replied as she headed for the front porch.  “Candy!” she exclaimed.  “You look amazing!”

Candy could feel his face flush.  “Thanks,” he replied. 

“I love your hair!”

Candy reached up and pulled a few strands of it.  “It’s getting time to have it done again,” he said.  You should have seen it when she first cut it.”

“It still looks very nice,” Janice replied.

Candy glanced at her car.  “You’re not going to park in the garage?”

“It’s your house now, we’re just guests.  Do you want us to park in the garage?”

Candy was more than a bit surprised.  His house?  He knew better.  He wasn’t sure what kind of game Janice was playing, but he did know he had better figure it out as fast as he could.  “I see no reason why you shouldn’t park there,” he replied.  “My truck stays out all the time.  It doesn’t need to be kept in the garage.”

“Thank you,” Janice said, “I’ll move it later.”

Once she and Carol got in the house, Candy noted that she walked all around it, inspecting everything.  “Your house looks nice.  Very clean,” she noted.  “I can’t tell you how much Carol and I appreciate that.”

“Uh… thanks,” Candy replied.  “I try.”

“A woman should always keep a clean house,” Janice added as she continued to look around.  “No woman should ever be considered a slob!”

“Of course not,” Candy muttered softly.

“I see you’re still making quilts,” Janice noted as she walked over to the sewing table. 

“Well, the stuff was there and I… kind of got interested in it.”

Janice ran her hand over his current project.  “Candy!  This is beautiful!  So elaborate!  You could make a lot of money selling quilts like this.”

“I could?”

“Absolutely dear.  You should consider it sometime.”

“Maybe I will,” Candy replied.

Janice stopped looking at the house and looked at Candy again.  “I can’t get over how good you’re looking, how much you’ve change,” she said.  “And it seems like we were gone only a few days.”

Candy felt himself blushing a bit.  “I’m… still changing,” he replied.

Janice nodded.  “I see your breasts aren’t as big as when we left though.”

Candy’s eyes went wide.  He had been afraid she wouldn’t like his smaller breasts.  Fearful of what she might do, he quickly said, “I’ll change into something I can wear the breast forms with.”  He started for his room but he stopped when she spoke. 

“Candy?”  She saw him turn back toward her.  “You mean, you’re not wearing any forms at all inside that dress?”

Candy shook his head.  “To be honest, I haven’t worn the forms for a few weeks now.  Everyone kept telling me I should go without them.  So I… tried it.”

Janice moved closer so she could examine what she could see of his breasts better.  “How big are you now?”

“Not quite a ‘B’ cup,” he replied a bit embarrassedly.  “But with the breast forms I have now, they’re just too tight and uncomfortable with the ‘C’ cup bras you want me to wear.”

“I have no doubt!” Janice replied.  “No Candy, I’m not going to require you to wear the ‘C’ cup bras.  You can wear what you think is the most comfortable.”

“Thank you,” Candy replied sincerely as he looked embarrassedly down toward the floor.  “I… appreciate that.”

“That dress you’re wearing is lovely,” Janice remarked. 

“Thanks,” Candy replied shyly.  “I like it.  It’s… very comfortable.  Um… I had to buy a lot of new clothes again.  My body… I mean… a lot of the stuff I had before didn’t fit anymore.  Especially in the hips.”

“You got new clothes?” Carol exclaimed. 

It was the first thing Candy had heard her say since they got back.  He was about to say yes, but she was already heading quickly down the hall toward his room.  A moment later Carol was yelling from inside. 

“Momma!  You’ve got to see this dress she’s got!”

Candy didn’t know what kind of game Janice was playing, but he was quickly figuring it out.  He had to bring their luggage in from the car and put it in their rooms for them while they relaxed and watched TV.  And when he finished that, he got another surprise when Janice asked him what he was cooking for dinner.  He had assumed that Janice would do the cooking again, but evidently not.  Since Janice had left, he had quickly gotten back into the habit of fast food and TV dinners.

“Um… I thought we’d all go out for dinner tonight,” he lied.  “I… didn’t know what time you might get in today.”

“Probably a good decision,” Janice noted. 

Candy was relieved.  He smiled.  “And this time, I’m buying,” he said.  “I’ve been making pretty good money lately and a few days ago I got kind of a new job.  I’m pretty sure it will be the most money I’ve ever made.”

Janice’s eyebrows went up.  “It sounds like your new business is going very well Candy!”

Candy shook his head. “Actually not.  It’s not going anywhere.  Why don’t we all go out somewhere and I’ll tell you all about it over dinner?”

Forty five minutes later, the three of them sat across the table from each other in a restaurant, and Candy told them all about how he had gone to work for Mike, and that as of a few days ago, Mike had made him one of his foreman.  Candy was quick to add that he needed that experience in order to get his contractor’s license.  He didn’t bother saying anything at all about Fitz firing him or any of the other problems he had experienced.

Janice listened to it all with rapt interest.  “So you’re the boss now?”

“Not the main boss,” Candy replied.  “I’m just in charge of one of the crews.”

“But you’re still a boss.  Still part of the management.”

Candy nodded.  “Yeah.  I guess you could put it that way.”

Janice beamed.  “Candy, I am so glad to hear that another woman is moving into a position that is normally occupied by only men!  I can’t tell you how happy that makes me!  A strong woman can do absolutely anything!  Anything at all!  And I’ve seen time and time again that women have accomplished things that men could never do!  Ever!  So I’m very proud of you Candy.  Very proud!”

Candy smiled.  “Thanks,” he replied… even as his one main thought was that she was wrong.  He wasn’t another woman.  He was still a man!  Well, his brain was still a man’s… well, maybe not entirely anymore.  Lately he found himself thinking less and less like a man and more and more like… a woman.  But he wasn’t a woman!  Yet.

“And how are things going with your doctor?” Janice asked next. 

Candy rolled his eyes.  “Okay,” he replied.

“Is she… gambling again?” Janice asked.

Candy shook his head.  “No!  In fact, she has her own therapist now to help with that… along with me.  We meet every Friday night still for my therapy sessions.  She screws with my head and I keep her mind off the casinos.”

Janice smiled.  “She screws with your head?” she asked jokingly.

Candy nodded shyly.  “Yeah.  Kind of.”

“In what way?”

“Well…  First she spent weeks and weeks trying to get me to imagine myself being happy with a man.”  He shook his head.  “I’m afraid I failed miserably at that one.  I just can’t picture it.  Sorry,” he added, not knowing what Janice might think about that.  He should have realized!

“Candy,” Janice said seriously.  “Men can be very… distracting and fun at times.  Don’t underestimate that.  But at the same time, you are perfectly correct in realizing that you don’t need them.  This whole planet would be better off without any of them!”

Candy was quick to realize that Janice’s hatred of men was still firmly in place.  As if it wouldn’t be!

“What else have you been discussing with the doctor?”

Candy rolled his eyes again.  “Lately, she’s been hounding me and hounding me to think of myself as a woman and not a man.  And… I try, but I just can’t seem to really do it.  I mean… I’m not a woman yet.”

Janice was surprised.  “In what way?  Candy, from everything I’m seeing of you, you’ve become a lovely woman… more so than I expected to see already.  I’m surprised that you can’t see that.”

“I know,” Candy replied sadly.  “It’s just that… I don’t know.  I just can’t.  I guess it’s because I never wanted this in the first place.  And now that I’ve got it, it’s just… difficult.  Besides, I haven’t had the big operation yet and it’s going to be a few years before I can.”

Janice looked at him seriously for a moment.  “Candy, if you like, I can help you think of yourself as a woman all the time.  I think it would only take a few moments of putting you into a trance to make you see what I have no doubt the rest of the world is seeing now.  It could only help you.”

But the thought of being hypnotized by Janice again terrified Candy.  “Please no!” he begged.  “I’m sure I’ll be able to manage it… eventually.  I’m already getting a lot closer with it.”

Janice nodded.  “As you wish,” she said.  “But the offer is still there.  As I said, it can only help you.”

Candy nodded and said thanks, but he had no doubt that he would have more nightmares that night over Janice hypnotizing him again.

Candy didn’t know if he was lucky or not.  Since he had to be out the door to work so early, Janice said that she and Carol would handle getting their own breakfast and lunch, but that she fully expected him to cook dinner for them.  But when Candy confessed that he didn’t know that much about cooking, Janice was all too quick to offer to “teach” him.  So now he had yet another problem to worry about. 

There was one very bright spot though, Janice and Carol would be soon heading out on another of their extended hiking trips.  Candy had no doubt at all as to why… they would be coming back with more money.  His mind still boggled at all the cash he had already seen her putting into those quilts.

He had to do their laundry for them the night before they went hiking.  Janice even made sure that he took the time to iron everything of theirs that needed ironing.  By the time they left, he was glad to see them gone again.  Unfortunately, it would only be for a few days.

It was a Saturday night, shortly before school would be starting again.  Jennifer laid in Stan’s arms, fully sated after the sex they had just had.  The sex with Stan had always been pretty good.  But lately she had noticed that, particularly on Saturday evenings, Stan was always more… urgent about things.  He was different.  And the only thing Jennifer could see that was different, was that Stan went fishing every Saturday with Candy.  And it made her wonder about something.  “Stan, what do you think about Candy?” she asked.

“About Candy?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… what do you think?  Are you attracted to her?”

Stan nearly had a fit!  “No!  Definitely not!  How could I be?  He’s a guy for heaven’s sake!”

“Not anymore,” Jennifer pointed out.

“But he’s still got…”

“Yeah, I know that, but it’s got nothing to do with my question.  And don’t call her a guy. She isn’t anymore.”

Stan rolled his eyes.  “Why don’t we get something to eat,” he said, trying to change the subject. 

“No!  I want to know.  Are you attracted to Candy at all?”

“What are you jealous or something?  I just told you I wasn’t!”

“No I’m not jealous!  But you’re not even a little attracted to her?  Because I think she’s looking pretty darn good lately.”

“How would you know?”

“Stan, we’ve been shopping together a few times.  We even got together for coffee a couple of times too.  Stan, women like to talk and spend time with other women!”

“And he qualifies?”

“She qualifies!” Jennifer corrected him.  “Definitely!  Look, you’re a normal, very good looking guy…”

“Thank you,” Stan replied quickly with a touch of humor.

“And I find it hard to believe that as a guy you can’t look at Candy and feel some kind of attraction towards her.”

“Jennifer… guys aren’t attracted to all women!”

Jennifer shook her head.  “That’s not what I heard,” she muttered.  But there was something in the way he denied it so strongly that made her doubt what he said.  She was betting that Stan was at least a little attracted to Candy. 

Four days after Janice and Carol left, Candy came home from work, parked his truck in its usual spot on the front lawn, opened his front door, and found Janice and Carol hard at work making quilts again.  There was no money in sight, but there were scraps of material all over the living room.  “Oh!  You’re back!”

“Hi Candy,” Janice said.  “I hope you don’t mind, but we moved the quilt you were working on so we could start making ours.”

“Um… of course not,” Candy replied.

“What’s for dinner?” Carol asked.  “I’m getting hungry!”

“Um… I’ll have to see what I can whip up.”  Ten minutes later, he was hard at work in the kitchen, with Janice coming in and out offering suggestions on what he needed to do.  Cooking was a lot more work than he ever imagined it was!  But he was learning… like it or not.

That night, he finished folding some of their laundry that Janice basically gave him no choice at all in having to do, and carried the folded clothes back to Janice’s room.  When he got there, he was surprised to see several piles of money all over the bed and Janice’s little floor safe wide open and completely empty.  “Um… I’ve got your clothes done,” he said, holding out the things in his arms.

“Oh thank you Candy,” Janice replied as she came over and took the clothes from him.  “I appreciate that very much.”

But instead of leaving, Candy found it hard to take his eyes off of all that cash on the bed.  And his eyes now noticed thee more very large and very full backpacks lined up along the wall.  “Wow,” he said softly.  “That’s a lot of money.”

“Yes it is,” Janice replied proudly as she started sorting the money again.

“Why the different piles?” Candy asked.

Janice smiled slyly.  “Of course, you can’t ever tell anyone about this can you.”

Candy shook his head.  “I know I can’t.”

Janice pointed to the pile near the head of the bed.  “That money is all bills that could be on a watch list.  Money that has to be laundered.”  She pointed at the other pile.  “That money can go into the floor in case I need it for something.  I don’t have to worry at all about that money.  We need to deal with the other money first and get it out of here.”

Candy nodded.  It only made sense.  He turned in a daze and retreated from the room.  So much money!  It gave him something to occupy his mind while he cleaned both bathrooms in the house that Janice was insisting he do every single day now.

Janice watched thoughtfully as he walked out.  It had been a long time now since she had put him through one of her sessions.  And yet, he was still completely as under her control as he had ever been.  But then, that was only what she expected.  She knew he could never get free from it.  With everything she had done to him now, he was stuck for life… not matter what!

But for the first time, she wondered if maybe she hadn’t made a mistake with him.  It wasn’t a serious mistake, but a mistake was still a mistake.  With every other victim she had worked on… well, most of them until lately… she had firmly made them believe that they really were what they had become.  The bugs all believed they were nothing but bugs, and that stupid toad now believed he was nothing but a toad… a frog!  Ha!  They might have some small recollection of their former lives, but anything beyond that recollection was now firmly locked away behind impenetrable walls that by now were incomprehensibly thick and unyielding.  Her creations would now and forever more be those creations. 

But with Candy, she now realized she had made a mistake.  She had not told him that he would actually be a woman, she had only told him that he would be forced to turn himself into one… in every way that modern science could make him.  Perhaps if she had told him that he was now a woman… and that he had to fix his body to match it would have been better.  Candy, as good as she looked, still couldn’t think of herself as a woman.  And the more she thought about that, the more logical it sounded. 

And there was only one way she knew of to fix that situation properly.  She was going to have to have another session with him.  And when she was done, he would have no choice but to think of himself and to view himself as complete woman in every way. 

There was also another little advantage of having another session with him.  He had seen all the money she had now.  He had seen the way they had put it all into the quilts and shipped it out.  He might not know where the money had been shipped to, but the UPS records would have all that information and the deliveries could easily be tracked.  She and Carol would be leaving for good very soon.  They would be starting their new lives… far better lives!  And another session could only make doubly sure that Candy would never be able to tell anyone anything.  It would be good for him / her… and it would be good for herself and Carol.

She wasn’t worried anymore about hurting his mind.  He had an unusually strong mind and it had been a long time now since she had done anything with him.  She hadn’t even done a simple hypnosis session with him in a long time.  She could do it all right now with no problems at all, but she knew without a doubt, that the best time for it would be shortly before she and Carol were ready to move on for good… never to return.  The conditioning would be that much fresher in Candy’s head if she did it just before they left. 

She glanced over at the still full backpacks against the wall.  She mentally calculated how much time it would take to make that many quilts and ship them out.  If she and Carol worked tirelessly at it every day… as she fully intended on doing, then her best estimate would be at least a full month.  Most likely longer. 

She decided she would watch Candy closely.  Maybe even question her once in a while to see how she was coming along with her mindset towards being a woman.  She would give him two or three weeks… at the outside.  Then she would take over.  There could be another interesting advantage in doing it at that point too, she would be able to compare how Candy was now… to how different she would be after the session. 

So she would watch Candy closely now and take careful notes… and then see how different she would be after she had corrected… her mistakes.