Revenge - Chapter 20

Revenge

By Karen Singer

Chapter 20

Steve didn’t wake up Saturday morning – Karen did.  And as per her instructions from Susan, she would make sure that Steve remained solidly asleep for most of the day.  And it was a day that she was very much looking forward to.  She had to go and clean Monica’s apartment.  After her phone call with Susan last night, cleaning was one of the things she loved to do most in life – along with humiliating Steve, who unfortunately wasn’t going to get to participate in anything today.

As she showered and shaved herself smooth, she hummed an old song to herself – “I enjoy being a girl.”  It was going to be a great day because she was going to get to be a girl for most of it.  Diane was coming soon to help her pick out what to wear to clean in for the day, but her first big question was, what should she wear when Diane arrived?  Something pretty and feminine for sure.  She only hoped that she would like whatever else that Diane picked out for her to wear later.

She dumped the two suitcases that still held all her pretty clothes out on the bed and sorted through them.  She chose the simple red skirt outfit that she had worn in St. Thomas because it was cute and comfortable.  Then she found all her makeup and did her best with it.  When she was done, she looked at all her pretty clothes jumbled on the bed.  That wasn’t where she really wanted them.  She began hanging everything that needed to be hung into the closet.  She had to make room for most of them by pulling out some of Steve’s older clothes that he didn’t wear much and dumping them into a heap on the floor.  She did the same with the things that needed to go into the dresser.  When she was done, she piled Steve’s clothes that she had thrown into the pile into one of the suitcases and put them away.  She felt much better now that her closet and dresser held mostly her clothes.  Why did guys have to have such boring clothes anyway?  Absolutely uninteresting.  Her things were much nicer.

While she waited for Diane, she made the bed, probably neater than it had been made in a very long time.  Then she began cleaning the apartment.  By her estimation, it really needed it.

When Diane knocked on Steve’s door, she thought she heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner being turned off inside.  Steve was about to spend the day cleaning Monica’s apartment, why would he be cleaning his own now?  But when the door opened, she was totally shocked at what she saw.  Steve was dressed completely femininely and was smiling and looking like he was really happy.  “Steve…” she started, staring at the feminized guy in front of her.  “Umm…you look…good.”

“Thanks, Diane,” Steve replied, seeming to sound really happy about her compliment.  “Come on in.” 

Was it her imagination, or was there something different about his voice?  Diane entered his apartment, but couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

“I was just cleaning up a bit,” Steve told her.  “The place needs it, don’t you think?”

Diane barely looked away from Steve and could only nod her head. 

“Come on,” Steve continued, leading the way toward his bedroom, “I hung everything in my closet this morning.  I can’t wait to pick out something interesting to wear.”

Diane followed him into his bedroom, totally unsure what to make of the person in front of her.  She had expected him to be apprehensive over what was about to happen or at least show a bit of nervousness, but instead, the “person” in front of her was bubbly and happy and excited about it all.  From what she thought she knew about Steve, it wasn’t making sense.

Steve led the way to his closet.  “I hung everything up in here earlier so it would be easier to see.”  He then started pulling various items out and holding them up for Diane.  “What do you think, should I wear this…or this?”

Diane was so confused she didn’t know what to say.  “Umm…what’s going on?” she finally asked.  “I thought you didn’t like all this.”

“Oh, normally I don’t,” Karen replied.  “But today I do,” she added happily.  Then she went back to pulling things out, “This or this?”

Diane just stared at Steve for a few seconds then finally turned to look at the items he was holding up.  She still didn’t know what to make of it all.  Steve was acting completely crazy.  “Tell you what,” she finally said, “wear what you have on, but pack several other outfits so

you can change later if we want you to.”

Steve seemed to become even more excited.  “That’s a great idea!  What shall we bring?”

“You pick a few things,” Diane replied, not at all sure she wanted to really pursue the plan with the way Steve was acting.  She was so unnerved by Steve’s behavior that she really just wanted to get out of there.  “Tell you what, I’ll just meet you at Monica’s.  Okay?”

“Great!” Steve replied, going back to his closet and happily sorting through the different clothes in there.

Diane headed for the door to get out of there, but the moment she heard Steve start singing, “I enjoy being a girl,” she nearly ran.

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

A little while later, Diane entered Monica’s apartment.  “Where’s Steve?” Monica asked, realizing that her friend had come alone.

“Oh, he’ll be along in a little while I’m sure.  But I’m telling you now, you’d better brace yourself!”

“What for?”

Diane just shook her head.  “You’ll see when he gets here.  You’ll see.  Frankly, I don’t know what to make of it.”

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

Steve didn’t get to Monica’s house until nearly half an hour later.  In fact, by the time he did get there, Monica was beginning to think he wasn’t coming.  But since Diane wouldn’t tell her anything else about what happened at Steve’s apartment, she wasn’t at all prepared for Steve’s arrival.  And she was just as flabbergasted as Diane was when a very excited and happy Steve came through her door, dressed in a flirty red skirt outfit, dragging his suitcase behind him. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Steve practically gushed as he walked in.  “I didn’t know what clothes to bring so I packed a bunch of stuff.”

Monica was totally surprised by his appearance, especially since it was the first time she had seen him fully dressed.  But she was much more surprised by his attitude.  Instead of being reluctant and acting humiliated, he seemed as happy as he could be.  She looked over at Diane questioningly.

“I told you,” Diane said. 

Monica looked back at Steve again.  “Nice outfit you picked out for him Diane.”

“I didn’t pick it,” Diane replied.  “That’s how he was dressed when I got there.”

Monica raised her eyebrows in surprise again.

“Can I start cleaning now?” Steve asked like he couldn’t wait.

Once again Monica was taken aback by his attitude and could only nod.  “The vacuum cleaners in…” she pointed toward the hall closet.

“Great!” Steve replied as he made a beeline for her closet and pulled the machine out.

Monica and Diane sat side by side on her couch and watched in amazement as Steve began vacuuming the apartment.  “Is he singing?” Monica noted after a few minutes, unsure over the noise of the vacuum cleaner.  She couldn’t hear him that well, but it sure looked like he was happy and singing away like there was nothing better in the world.

“I think he’s singing, ‘I enjoy being a girl,’” Diane replied.  “That’s what he was singing when I left him this morning.”  Still totally unsure what to make of any of it, Diane pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.  “Carla?  This is Diane.”  …  “Yeah, I’m at Monica’s.  Get over here as fast as you can.  You’ve got to see this!”

Monica looked over at her friend and nodded her approval.  “Call Ruth too.”

A little while later, Steve had finished with the vacuum and was just about to start on Monica’s already spotless kitchen when someone knocked on the apartment door.  “I’ll get it,” Steve called out.  Monica and Diane were once again flabbergasted at what he was doing.

Steve pulled the front door open, and when he saw who it was, put a big smile on his face and said, “Hi Carla.  I’m so glad you’re here.  Monica and Diane are watching me clean.  Come on in.”

Carla’s first instinct was to laugh when she saw Steve completely dressed up, but there was something about his attitude that made her stop and just stare for a moment.  For some unknown reason, it looked like Steve was liking everything he was doing.  She entered the apartment.  “What did you do to him,” she asked Monica and Diane.

“We didn’t do anything,” Diane answered.  “He’s been this way since I knocked on his door earlier this morning.”

Carla looked back at Steve who was now wiping down Monica’s counters and was humming to himself while he cleaned.  “I’ve got to admit, the outfit he’s wearing is kind of cute on him.  He looks totally ridiculous in it of course, but it still looks cute on him.”

“Yeah, it does,” Monica agreed.  “He looks ridiculous, and not too bad…all at the same time.”

Carla looked around Monica’s apartment.  “How long has he been at it?  The place looks spotless.”

“It was spotless before he started,” Diane answered. 

Monica looked a bit ashamed.  “I can’t help it lately,” she replied.

“Not much of a challenge for him then,” Carla noted.  “Or a punishment either.”

Monica just shrugged her shoulders.  “Like I said, I can’t help it.  I’m much more fanatical about it than I used to be.”

Carla smiled at her.  “I understand.”

Diane was still watching Steve.  “The way he’s acting, I think you’re right.  This doesn’t seem like it’s much of a punishment for him at all.”

They all watched Steve again.  He was still humming happily to himself and almost dancing as he cleaned the kitchen.  “Yeah,” Monica finally agreed.  “I don’t really understand it.  I was so sure he wouldn’t like all this.  Instead, it’s almost as if he loves it.”

“I think he does love it,” Carla decided.

“Yeah, this is doing nothing at all to punish him,” Diane agreed.  “Hey, I’ve got an idea, let’s look through the other clothes he brought with him and see if we can find something more interesting, or uncomfortable, for him to wear.”

Monica’s face seemed to brighten.  “Good idea!”

Two minutes later, Diane lifted Steve’s suitcase onto the bed and started pulling clothes out of it so they could all see what he had packed.  Carla immediately seized the gold shoes that Steve had once worn to the club in St. Thomas.  “Oh God,” she exclaimed, “I love these.”  She looked at them closely.  “Too bad they’re not in my size.”

Monica pulled the gold dress out of the suitcase.  “Looks like this goes with them.  I guess we have our first outfit for him to show us.”

“Looks good to me,” Diane replied.  Then she giggled.  “I can’t wait….  Oh, let me get the camera from my purse.  I want some pictures.”

Carla giggled.  “Yeah, get some of the outfit he has on now too.  It’s cute.”

A few minutes later, Diane was snapping pictures of Steve cleaning, and Steve was striking pose after pose as if he loved it.

“There’s something wrong here,” Carla noted quietly.

“Yeah, there is,” Monica agreed.

“Okay,” Diane said to Steve, “time for another outfit.”

“Oh good!” Steve replied gladly.  “What did you pick?”

“Yeah, definitely something wrong,” Monica muttered.

Diane snapped picture after picture of Steve in various outfits, while Steve smiled, and laughed, and posed, and cleaned.  He was loving it.  The girls were enjoying watching him, but they still couldn’t figure out why he suddenly seemed to be enjoying himself so much.  Too much in fact.

Someone knocked on the door and once again Steve offered to see who it was.  “Ruth!” the girls heard him exclaim happily as he opened the door.  “Come on in.  We’re having a great time today.”

Ruth followed Steve into the room and began glancing back and forth between Steve and the other women.  Finally she had to ask.  “What happened?”

“You tell us.” Carla replied.

“He’s been like this since I went to his place this morning.” Diane added.  “You should have seen the outfit he had on when I got there.”

“It was cute,” Monica noted.  “We have pictures.”

Ruth glanced around the small apartment.  “It looks spotless.  At least he’s doing a good job.”

“Oh, he’s doing a good job alright, but it was this way when he got here,” Carla replied.

“Humph!  Not much of a punishment then.”

“No, probably not,” Monica admitted.  “I’m sorry!  I just can’t help it.  I like it clean!  Okay?”

“Monica, that’s a good thing!” Diane said.  “Don’t worry yourself about it.  We’re just wondering about Steve in there.  Okay?”

“Sorry,” Monica apologized.

“Ha!” Ruth snorted.  “If you want to punish him by making him clean something, send him over to my house someday.  That’ll keep him busy.  Between the kids and my husband, it stays a mess!”

Monica seemed to think about that for a moment.  “I guess we could do that if you want.”

“I truly wish we could!” Ruth replied.  “But with the kids and my husband, I don’t want him anywhere near them!”

Diane jumped on the idea though.  “I wouldn’t mind having him do my place for me.”

“What the hell,” Carla added, “I hate cleaning.  He can do mine too for that matter.”

Monica looked at Diane and Carla, and smiled.  “I guess he’s going to be busy then, isn’t he.”

The three women sat and watched Steve spraying polish on the furniture and then dusting.  He was still humming to himself.  His actions were anything but masculine and he seemed to be enjoying himself way too much.  It was Carla who finally put it into words.  “That’s not Steve.”

The others looked at her.  “What do you mean?” Diane asked.

“I’ve dated Steve too many times in the past.  I know him pretty well.  And that’s not him.”

“Of course it’s him,” Monica replied.  “Who else can it be?”

“I don’t know.  But I’m telling you, that’s not him.”

The four women sat and watched Steve for a few more minutes.  “So what happened to him?” Ruth finally asked. 

The silence was long as they all sat and wondered.  But finally it was Monica who spoke.  “The Sorceress.”  The others looked at her.  “It has to be.  She didn’t want me to punish Steve.  She wants me to leave him alone.  So somehow, she’s done this to him.  Instead of punishing him, it’s almost like we’re rewarding him.  He’s loving it!  It has to be the Sorceress!”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Diane.  “But how?”

“I don’t know.  How has she done everything else?”

The women all sat and pondered that for a few moments.  Finally, Ruth got up to leave.  “Well, I’m out of here.  I’ve got kids at home.  Let me know what’s going on.”

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

It was late in the afternoon when Karen finally got back to her own apartment.  She was still jubilant over the wonderful day she had just had, and it really had been a blast.  She had gotten to clean Monica’s apartment, and not only that, she had gotten to model a lot of her new clothes.  She couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day.

She knew she was supposed to return her body back to Steve again when she got home, but as she looked around the apartment, she realized that it really could use a good cleaning too.  She hung all her clothes back up in the closet again and got down to cleaning. 

Finally, the apartment was spotless.  She logged into Steve’s computer and sent an email telling Susan about the magnificent day she had just had.  By the time she was done, the sun was going down and it was getting late.  She sighed.  Susan had said that she had to return control back to Steve.  There was no reason left to delay that.  Oh well, there was always tomorrow.  She smiled at that thought.  She was going to get to do it all again at Diane’s apartment tomorrow, and then she was going to get to do Carla’s place on Monday night.  She got undressed, laid down on the bed, closed her eyes and woke Steve up.

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

Steve rolled over and opened his eyes.  The light in the room was dim.  The sun must have been just coming up.  He glanced at the clock next to his bed, then glanced at it again.  Almost eight thirty?  Then he looked closer…PM.  He groaned, it wasn’t even fully light yet.  His clock must be wrong.  He got up and turned on his TV.  The evening programs were on.  Puzzled, he went and found his watch.  It confirmed the time on his bedside clock.  And his apartment was still getting darker.  The sun was going down.  He had slept through the entire day! 

Then he remembered something else – Monica!  He was supposed to clean her apartment and if he didn’t do whatever she said, she could ruin him.  Panicked, he grabbed his phone and called her.  “Monica!  I’m so sorry.  I know I was supposed to be there this morning to clean your place, but I just woke up now.  I don’t know what happened!  Please don’t do anything bad.”

Monica was completely puzzled.  “Steve, what are you talking about?  What do you mean you just woke up?  You’ve been here all day!”

“I have?”

“Of course you have.  We all saw you here, cleaning and posing for pictures – all day.”

“But I just now got out of bed.  I’m not even dressed yet!”

“Stevie, you were here.  Remember?”

“No…I don’t remember.  How could I have been there if I just now got out of bed?”

“Stevie, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.  We’ll see you tomorrow at Diane’s place.  Now goodnight!” 

The phone connection clicking shut startled him.  He had been at Monica’s all day?  Tomorrow at Diane’s?  He didn’t remember any of it.  He realized that once again he had lost a lot of time.  What was happening to him?  Maybe what he needed was a good doctor.  Losing time and not remembering could be a sign of something serious.  Or had the witch been at work on him again.  That was probably the more likely answer.  What had she done to him now?  All he knew for sure was that he was still a pawn in a very cruel game.  And he had no way to solve that problem.

His stomach growled.  He headed into his kitchen to make something to eat.  As he looked around, he noticed how good his apartment looked, almost like it had just had a thorough cleaning.  What had gone on all day?

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

Susan smiled as she read every word of Karen’s email.  Monica and her friends had tried to punish Steve, but they had unknowingly been faced with Karen instead.  By Karen’s description, Monica and her friends didn’t know what had happened.  They weren’t at all satisfied by their attempts to humiliate Steve. 

Monica may have won the first round in the battle by making Steve wear panties, pantyhose, and now a bra under his clothes all the time, but that was only because Karen hadn’t been able to get her email in time.  But Susan had definitely won this round.  And Monica would soon find out that Karen couldn’t be punished – in any way.  No matter what they asked her to do, Karen would love it. 

Monica may not fully realize it yet, but she was now locked into a battle of wits…with the Sorceress!