A World To Give - 2

A World To Give

Nelson steps in to help out his company when his twin sister, Rowan,
unexpectedly leaves to take another job. While assuming her identity, he
realizes that there is a lot more to the world than he’d previously known and
he decides to take some chances he never took before.

Nelson discovered a whole new world!

---

Author's Note: I apologize for suddenly changing the title to this piece, but that was necessary. I also hope you all are doing fine too. I appreciate those lovely comments you left and am eagerly looking forward towards more. Please enjoy this story all! ~Clara.

Image Credit: https://perchance.org/beautiful-people
 
 
Chapter 2
 
The salon was a modern, elegant looking place and much bigger than Nelson had imagined. Kris, a very tall, very shapely, very beautiful woman unlocked the door to let them in. When he saw her, Nelson realized that he’d seen the woman at several company/family events, but he’d not known to whom she’d been connected.

“This won’t be too hard,” Kris smiled. “His hair is longer than Rowan’s and their faces are nearly identical.”

There it was again: Identical.

“So… how long?” Nadine asked.

Kris pondered a moment. “Give me three-and-a-half, four hours and she’ll be ready to go.”

“Four hours?” Nadine said glancing at her watch. “It’s nearly seven. Four hours is eleven… is there anyway to do it quicker?”

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” Kris said.

“It’s ‘he’ not ‘she,’” Nelson said.

“What?” Asked Kris.

“You said ‘she.’ I am not a ‘she.’ I am a ‘he.’”

“Not for long,” Kris said in a playful manner.

“Do you have the key to Rowan’s apartment?” Nadine asked Nelson.

“Yeah… why?”

“I need to go get you some clothes,” she explained.

“Oh.” He dug in his pocket and handed her his keys, all of which were color coded. “It’s the white one.” He told her the alarm code and she hurried away.

“Come on Cinderella,” Kris said. “Your fairy godmother has a lot of work to do to get you ready for the ball.”
 
 

 
 
“Something he’ll be comfortable in,” Jessie said, as she and Nadine looked through Rowan’s closet full of work clothes. “Nothing fussy.”

“Slacks, then?” Nadine asked.

“I don’t think that slacks will work. Rowan’s thicker in the hips than Nelson. Slacks might look too loose on him.”

“And he has no butt whatsoever,” Nadine said with a smirk.

Jessie gave out a half-laugh, but she was in a rush. It was already past eight and she needed to get something put together for Nelson to wear pretty damned quickly if this plan was going to work.

Nadine pulled out a hanger with a blue/gray skirt suit on it. The jacket had three large buttons in the front, and it was matched with a pencil skirt. Then she pulled out a silk, long sleeved blouse. “How about these?”

“No. He’s never worn a skirt of any kind before. A skirt that narrow will drive him nuts. The blouse is nice, though.”

Nadine nodded and returned the suit to its place and put the blouse over the back of a nearby chair.

“You really think he can pull this off?” Nadine asked as she returned to searching through Rowan’s clothes.

“I sure as hell hope so. Rowan put us in a heck of a spot. This is the only plan I have. It has to work.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

Jessie glanced at Nadine and gave a look that said, ‘Don’t ask.’

“Here,” Jessie said, pulling out a high waisted, mid length, soft wool, light brown skirt with maroon lines running through it. “This will work with that blouse. I’ve seen Rowan wear that combination several times. It’s long enough to be comfortable and modest, and it’s an A-line skirt, so it’ll cover up his narrow hips and flat bottom.”

“Ok, great,” Nadine said, folding the skirt and putting it with the blouse. “We’re all set, then.”

Jessie shook her head and pulled open a bureau drawer. “We need a bra and panties, too. I think a camisole or slip would be good with a blouse that sheer.”

Nadine looked a little uncomfortable. “Do you think Nelson will have an issue with wearing his sister’s undies? It’s a little weird, isn’t it.”

“What do you suggest? Buy some new ones for him?”

“Well, yeah, I guess.”

Jessie handed three items to Nadine: a matched bra and pantie set, and a silk slip that appeared to be long enough to reach to just above the wearer’s knees. “Nadine, it’s not even eighty-thirty in the morning. The only store open that sells clothes is Walmart. Not only is it clear across the city, but it’s Walmart. Have you EVER seen Rowan wear ANYTHING from Walmart?”

“No. I guess not.”

“No. Me either. Here… take these tights, too. Now, let’s find some shoes that’ll fit him, she must have an extra pair of pumps around here, and find a coat, too. Then we’ll go to the salon and hopefully get back to the office before Bill O’Connell shows up. Hopefully, he’s not too early and when he does arrive, he’ll find the lovely Ms Rowan Egan working hard at her desk, surprised to see her favorite client in the flesh.”
 
 

 
 
The office was a wasps’ nest of activity. They were getting the conference room setup for the meeting, ‘coffee and’ was set up on the side table. Chelsea, another member of the sales team was rehearsing her part of the presentation with team members offering critiques, other clients were being dealt with with as much attention as required, but when their issues were resolved, attention was returned to the O’Connell account immediately.

“… our security systems are the best in the industry,” the Chelsea said, practicing. “Our record of success with over two hundred companies around the world is proof that we offer our customers the security and peace of mind…” she went on, gesturing broadly to graphs and charts that were projected onto the screen at the end of the room, trying to make a presentation she’d expected to give in an online format seem more interesting in a live format.

It wasn’t easy, but she was doing well.

“As you can see on this chart, your data will be stored in an isolated server that is one hundred percent separated from…”

“Holy cow!” One of her team shouted. “Rowan’s back!”

Everyone in the office turned towards the entrance to see Rowan Egan strolling into the office wearing a mid-length plaid skirt and a sheer white blouse. Her hair, as always, perfectly coiffed in her trademark pixie-ish style, tinted auburn with gold highlights, her eyebrow covering bangs parted just slightly in the center, her lips plump and painted a deep red as always, and her trademark walk that gave her the air of somebody ready to take on the world.

She was accompanied on either side by Jessie and Nadine.

They passed ‘The Bullpen,’ the area in which the sales department, the department which had been led by Rowan, and stopped just in front of Nelson’s office door.

Jessie turned and called everyone into the main office area.

“Listen up, everyone,” she called in a raised voice. “As you all know, at some point today, we will be visited by William O’Connell, CEO and CFO and pretty much everything else at O’Connell and Associates, one of the largest and most successful investment companies in the world. Now, we here at Global have been very successful up to this point, but if we land the O’Connell account it will launch us into a whole different level of success – And since everyone of you is a stockholder in this company, that could mean a very different tax bracket for each and every one of us.”

There were a few nodding heads.

“Mr O’Connell is a very ‘hands on’ kind of man. The kind who relies on his personal feelings about a company and the people who work there.”

More nods.

“Rowan Egan has been Mr O’Connell’s contact with Global for months now, and he has become very comfortable with dealing with her – which would be a great thing if Rowan hadn’t left us suddenly last weekend. Regardless, we are trying to make Mr O’Connell feel confident as we move forward, and to that end, Dr Nelson Egan has volunteered to… play the role of Rowan Egan for the purposes of this meeting.”

A murmur ran through the office.

“So, it is imperative that we all refer to Dr Egan as ‘Rowan’ for today.” She paused a moment. “Any questions?”

After a moment, an employee raised her hand and Jessie acknowledged her.

“What happens if we land O’Connell and Associates as a client? Are we just going to go on forever deceiving this guy? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that, especially since we are kind of selling ourselves as a company our clients can trust.”

“A valid point,” Jessie conceded, speaking above the rustle of chatter the question had provoked. “Listen…” Jessie considered her words. “… under most circumstances, I would have just called the client myself and explained, but the timing of Rowan’s departure could not have been worse, and Bill O’Connell is not your typical client. He’s this… old fashioned, ‘I need to know who I’m dealing with’ kind of guy – Which I respect! But we’ve invested so much time, energy and money into landing this account that I just can’t take the chance that he’d back out just because Rowan left. And besides – this was supposed to be a remote meeting. We only found out last night that he planned to surprise us this morning. That was a little unfair on his part, too.”

“So, let’s just get through today, let him get comfortable with Nadine and the rest of us, then, hopefully, he’ll see what a great team we are. Then, in a week or so, I can call him and explain that Rowan has moved on to a new position, but we’re all here for him. Then everything will go back to normal.”

“So,” the woman who asked the question had another, “he’s going to look like Rowan for a week? ‘Cause it’s kinda freaky how much he really looks like her.”

A little nervous laughter ran through the staff. Even Nelson snickered a bit.

“No,” Jessie smiled. “I expect that Dr. Nelson Egan will be rejoining us tomorrow.” Then she looked at Nelson and smiled. “What a great team player he is being, though, huh? Let’s have a big hand for Nelson!”

Everyone cheered and applauded.

Just then one of the girls who works at the front desk ran in. “He’s here! Mr O’Connell is here. They just called up from the security desk. They’re getting his guest badge now. He’ll be up in about five minutes.”

“Alright,” Jessie took a deep breath. “Battle stations, everyone! Let’s do this right!”
 
 

 
 
“May I help you?” The receptionist asked the man.

He was very handsome. Six foot three inches tall, at least, slender and fit as a fiddle. His dark hair and deep blue eyes complemented each other in an almost artistic perfection. And when he spoke his voice was deep and resonant and seemed to aurally project the smile he wore so perfectly just above his chiseled jaw.

“Ms Rowan Egan, please,” he said.

“May I have a name?”

“William O’Connell,” he smiled at her and she nearly melted.

She made a show of looking at her screen. “Is Ms Egan expecting you?”

“Probably not,” he chuckled, “but we are scheduled to have a remote meeting today. I’d just rather do this kind of thing in person.”

“I see.” She picked up the phone and dialed an exchange. “A Mister William O’Connell to seen Ms Egan.” A pause. “Thank you.”

“Someone will be right out.”

Bill O’Connell busied himself by glancing at the artwork in the foyer. In less than a minute, he heard his name.

“Mr O’Connell?”

“Yes.” He turned to the approaching woman and shook her extended hand.

“Nadine Baker,” the woman said with a smile. “I’m part of Rowan’s team… kind of the second in command, you might say. So nice to meet you.”

“And you, Ms Baker,” O’Connell smiled.

“We weren’t expecting you to come in person. We all thought that we were doing this remotely.”

“Gotta keep you on your toes,” O’Connell said in a teasing voice. “I like to meet the people I do business with. Look them in the eye. Make sure we’re all on the same page.”

“I see.”
 
 

 
 
“What the hell am I doing?” Nelson said, and not as quietly as he’d intended, sitting at the desk in his office.

The door to his office was closed, which was rare. He had only been in his office with the door close six or seven times since he’d moved into it – and on those occasions there had always been another person in there with him and the situation had called for some privacy. Now, he was extremely, anxious, very confused and, to be honest, petrified for a lot of reasons.

“I must be out of my freaking mind!” He continued.

He felt trapped.

He’d never expected things to escalate this far.

‘Just pretend to be your sister for a few hours’ had escalated to ‘who the heck is that person in the mirror? It sure as heck isn’t me!’

His appointment at Nadine’s wife’s salon had started as he’d expected. A quick shampoo and then he moved to another chair.

Then it was as if a trap door opened beneath his feet and he fell into the deepest pit he’d ever seen.

First there was the hair coloring. Kris, Nadine’s wife, didn’t waste any time. She didn’t explain anything, she just went to work.

Once a plastic cap was on his head to protect the dye as it worked, his seat was reclined and Kris went to work with a hair removal cream on his cheeks and neck while she sculpted his eyebrows, a surprisingly painful procedure.

Then, and without comment or warning, his ears were pierced, earrings were installed, and before he’d even had the time to process the fact that holes had just been punched into his body, a small, flat stud was installed on the side of his right nostril, just like the one Rowan had worn since ninth grade.

“Maybe you could warn me before permanently maiming me again,” he’d said sarcastically.

“Don’t be a baby,” Kris said, not slowing for a second to even acknowledge that he’d protested. “You haven’t been permanently maimed. If you take the earrings out, the holes will heal. Besides, none of this is my fault. You came in asking me to make you look just like Rowan. Rowan has piercings, so I gave you piercings in order to make you look like her. Now, hush and let me finish.”

She worked quickly, saying very little.

Soon, she was drying his hair with a blow dryer and curling iron. She refused him a glance in the mirror until she’d done his makeup.

Makeup was odd. It felt kind of heavy on his lips and eyes, but he figured that if fifty-one percent, probably even more, of people on the planet wore it all the time, he could tolerate it for a day.

“Finished,” Kris finally said. He was about to sit up and find a mirror when Kris added, “And just in time. Here’s Nadine and Jessie with clothes.”

The two women barged in and stopped dead in their tracks as they looked at Nelson.

“Oh, babe,” Nadine said to her wife, “you’ve outdone yourself!”

“Unbelievable,” Jessie said, looking truly surprised. “I think this will work!”

“In here,” Kris said, opening a door to the salon’s back room. “You can dress her in here?”

‘Her?’ Nelson thought once again, but he didn’t have the opportunity to say anything.

Then came the clothes. He’d expected them to bring him some slacks and maybe a sweater, but no! They brought these soft, loose, feminine things that he could not stop thinking about. How did women wear things that felt like this!? So soft! So light! So wonderful! Even the underwear felt amazing! Everything was little, and elegant, and silky, and so damned… pretty! They felt so alien to him, and yet so wonderfully… right.

How could that be?

And you could see right through the sheer blouse to the lace of the slip he wore beneath. He’d noticed women wearing that kind of blouse before and he thought it was odd. Wearing it himself… feeling the silkiness… seeing the delicate lace pattern… it made him feel… like… like a woman, he guessed.

Whatever it was about these clothes, they definitely made him feel… heck they seemed to even make him think… differently.

All that aside, “What the hell am I doing!?” He said, for probably the fiftieth time since he’d entered his office.

“That’s it.” He stood. “I’m getting out of here.”

He opened the file drawer in his desk where he’d placed the purse that Jessie had given him, and he was reaching for Rowan’s heavy, woolen coat which hung on a hook on the back of his office door when someone knocked.

He froze for just a second before realizing the opportunity to escape had passed. Now, he’d made whoever had knocked wait a moment. He had to cover for that. He hurried back to his desk, and put the purse back in drawer, grabbing the receiver of the phone on his desk and held it to his ear before shouting, “Come in.”

Nadine opened the door and stepped in as Nelson pretended to end a conversation on his phone. “Yes, I will get those numbers to you immediately,” he said. He looked at a pad of sticky notes on his desk and jotted down a few numbers as he sensed someone else entering the office behind Nadine.

“That’s great,” he said into the phone. “Yes. Ok. Call me if you have any questions when you get my email. No problem at all.” He continued to write nothing on his sticky note. “Talk soon. Bye.”

He hung up the receiver and finished his fake note, removing it from the pad and posting it on his desk calendar as Nadine, a little confused by his acting, said, “Rowan… Mr O’Connell is here for his meeting with you.”

Feigning surprise, he looked at Nadine. “Here? I thought we were…”

“I’m afraid I decided to surprise you by coming in person,” Bill O’Connell said, stepping forward and extending his right hand. “And it’s Bill. Not mister.”

Nelson had stopped speaking mid sentence for a number of reasons. Yes, Bill O’Connell had started speaking, but that wasn’t all that had happened. Something very sudden and very electric had happened. It may have been caused by O’Connell’s voice, or maybe it was the deep blue of his eyes, or his powerful jaw, or the jet-black color of his hair… whatever it was, it had hit Nelson like a lightning bolt and froze him in place.

O’Connell held his hand out to the unresponsive person across the desk for a moment longer before repeating, “Bill. Bill O’Connell.”

Nelson shook himself back to consciousness and extended his own right hand, which O’Connell completely enveloped in his own as the shook.

“I suppose your neighbor mentioned that I came by your place yesterday in the evening,” he beamed.

“My neighbor?” Nelson was still enthralled in the sheer male beauty of Bill O’Connell.

“Yes. Nice girl. Dressed like a nurse, or a hygienist, or something. See, on an impulse, I went by your place yesterday evening to, oh, I don’t know, maybe just get a drink before our meeting today. Maybe give you a heads up that I was coming in person. Something like that.”

“Oh?” Nelson could think of nothing else to say.

“Yeah, so when I went to your place, I brought you some flowers, which I ended up giving to your neighbor instead. She seemed to be under the impression that you were away and not going to be here today. I’m actually a little surprised to see you in person.”

Finally able to think again, Nelson smiled just a little. “Same. I’m surprised to see you in person, too.”

O’Connell smiled and chuckled a bit. “I hope you’re not disappointed,” he teased.

“Not in the least,” Nelson said in an accidentally flirtatious tone. He was lightheaded and a tiny bit giddy in a way he’d never experienced before, and he was not acting at all like himself.

Luckily, he was acting an awful lot like Rowan.

“Ahem,” Nadine said, and she cleared her throat. “Ummm, Rowan, perhaps we should bring Mr O’Connell…”

“Bill,” he corrected.

“…to the bullpen to meet the troops and get things started. What do you say?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Nelson said, as he turned to grab his laptop and tablet.

“This way, Bill,” Nadine said, stepping out and heading towards the conference room.

Bill stepped out but let Nadine go on without him. He waited until Nelson stepped out to join him.

“You’re a doctor?” He asked, sounding impressed.

Without thinking, Nelson replied. “Yes. I have a PhD in applied mathematics.”

Bill nodded. “What’s the ‘N’ for?

“The ‘N?’” Nelson was confused.

“The sign on your office door says Dr. N. Egan. What’s the ‘N’ for?”

“Oh,” Nelson gave a nervous laugh. “Umm… Rowan is my middle name,” he said, honestly. He tried to lead Bill away, but he persisted.

“I see, but you didn’t answer my question.” He smiled and… oh God, that smile… “What does the ‘N’ stand for?”

“My first name.”

Bill smiled. He wasn’t going to let up, but his tone remained sexy and playful as he asked again. “Which is?”

Drawing a complete blank, Nelson finally responded, “Nelly.”

“Nelly!?” Bill tested the word. Then he looked at Nelson with a look of such warmth and affection that Nelson’s knees nearly buckled. “Nelly. I like it. It suits you.”

Nelson felt a hot flash of… of who knows what… and felt himself blushing fiercely. He stared and smiled for a long moment. “This way,” he finally said and led the client across the office, while everyone who worked there watched in amazement. Somehow this strange math geek who hardly said three words a day to anyone other than Rowan or Jessie was pulling this off.

“Please,” Nelson said as they arrived at the door to the conference room, “take a seat at the head of the table. Chelsea, could you help Mr O’Connell with some coffee and… whatever?”

“Of course,” Chelsea said with a warm smile. “Right over here, Mr O’Connell,”

“Bill,” Nelson heard as Nadine pulled him back outside the door.

“You’re doing great,” she whispered to Nelson. “I think he really likes you.”

“You think so?” Nelson asked. It was a logical question, of course, but the tone and inflection of his voice indicted something more than logic impacting Nelson’s brain.

“Nelson,” she half-hissed. “Are you falling for him?”

“What?” He asked, shocked at the idea. “Of… of course not. I just meant… oh, I don’t know what I meant. I just want things to go well. You know… to close the deal. That’s all.”

Nadine nodded but had her doubts. “I’ll go get Jess. Why don’t you call the sales team into the conference room?”

He nodded.

Minutes later, everyone involved was settling into the conference room. Jessie sat on Bill O’Connell’s left, making small talk with him.

Nelson was about to take his usual seat near Jessie, but Nadine took him gently by the arm and led him to the other end of the table. “Rowan always sits with the sales team during a pitch meeting,” she whispered.

He nodded and sat at the first seat near the doorway.

“Ok,” Jessie finally said in her ‘I’m in charge’ voice, “let’s get things started. Bill is a busy man and hasn’t got all day.”

“In fact, I do,” Bill smiled and took a leisurely sip of coffee.

“Nadine?” Jessie said.

Nadine began her well rehearsed pitch. She spoke about the company’s record of success designing similar security systems for dozens of different organizations around the world. Their 24/7 availability to their clients. The services they could offer O’Connell and Associates, etc.

Then Chelsea began her spiel, focusing on the specifics of their plan for Bill’s company. It was very impressive and concise, but very dry and technical. Bill asked a few pertinent questions along the way, but the presentation stayed on track throughout.

Nelson glanced towards the other end of the long table and sensed that Bill was not all that impressed by what was being presented. It was all very generic and impersonal. Nelson had been to dozens of meetings just like this since his arrival at Global, and he had developed a sense for how well or poorly the client was reacting. Bill wasn’t asleep yet, but he was losing interest.

This was where Rowan could show real talent as a salesperson. She knew how to turn around a tedious meeting and engage the client in a personal way. She could rattle off the algorithms that Nelson designed just as well as he could, but she could do it in a way that would engage the client.

They needed Rowan.

But Rowan wasn’t there.

Well… maybe she was.

Suddenly Nelson stood and moved to front and center of the room, just as Rowan would have. Both Nadine and Chelsea shot him a worried look, but when he glanced at Jessie, she smiled and nodded. Rowan was their closer. Now he was Rowan. Now he was their closer.

“Bill,” he smiled, and his eyes shined through his lovely, makeup laden eyelids. “You’re a guy who understands numbers, so here are some numbers. Your company brings in approximately sixty-two million dollars an hour in income. If your system is attacked and your system locks things down for as little as a few hours, you could lose half-a-billion dollars in profits before coming back online. If you’re locked down for twenty-four hours, then you’re out … what… ten billion, maybe ten-and-a-half-billion in a day – maybe even more. Here’s what Global can do for you…”

The next fifteen minutes was Rowan Egan at her best. Maybe even better than Rowan at her best. It was a concise, precise, and personal presentation. It offered a well-developed protection plan that was tailored to the needs of O’Connell and Associates but offered many ways to keep the system current and grow with O’Connell and Associates’ changing needs and concerns.

It was pure Rowan Eagan, but it was Nelson. Not Rowan. And Nelson was telling jokes, something he never did, and Nelson was being flirtatious which he’d never been. And Nelson was smiling, something else he never did.

Jessie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Was this really Nelson? How was this possible?

When he finished, he let out the same nervous laugh that Rowan always gave on these occasions. It wasn’t intentional, but it was perfect.

“Any questions?” Jessie asked Bill.

“Just one,” he smiled and looked at Nelson. “You are a very impressive woman, Rowan Egan. Will you go to dinner with me tonight?”

All heads turned towards Nelson.

The flash of heat returned to Nelson and once again he blushed deeply. “I… I think Jessie was referring to the presentation,” he sputtered.

“Oh, well, that’s a given,” he smiled. “You are all great and I’m happy to be in business with you. Jessie, just send the paperwork over to my office, my lawyers will look it over, we’ll do whatever tweaking we need to do and then I’ll sign it.”

Jessie tried extremely hard not to smile too broadly. “I’ll have it sent over later today.”

Bill nodded, then turned his attention to Nelson. “Returning to my earlier question: What d’ya say? Pick you up around seven?”

God, that smile! What was happening? What kind of enchantment was this man casting on him? Nelson wasn’t gay, was he? He’d never been attracted to a man before, so… God, that man was so freaking handsome. What was happening? Why was his heart beating so hard? Why did he feel so flushed and warm? Why was he thinking about how wonderful it would be to be kissed by those perfect lips?

None of this made sense.

He couldn’t possibly do this.

He knew exactly what he needed to do.

He needed to say ‘no,’ and he needed to say it emphatically so that everyone in his office understood that he was not gay.

He was not a woman.

He was not Rowan.

He was Dr. Nelson R. Egan – straight male, end of story.

That was that. And that was all there was to it.

So, he looked straight at Bill O’Connell, took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and knowing he was about to disappoint every single person in the room, he stood his ground and said, “Yes. That would be lovely. Seven would be fine.”
 
 

 
 
“Do you want me to call him and say that I have an issue with my employees going out on dates with our clients?” Jessie asked at about three-forty-five that afternoon. The initial paperwork had been sent to the lawyers for O’Connell and Associates and Jessie was feeling pretty good about things after speaking to the firm’s senior attorney. He had indicated that he approved of the deal but was just going to send her a few requests for changes in the language. Nothing big. “I know he’s a little taken with you… well… Rowan, but I’m sure he’d understand if I explained that it was a company policy.”

“Ummm…” Nelson pretended to ponder this for a moment. “No. I’ve come this far. I think it might make sense to follow through for at least tonight.”

Jessie looked up from the paperwork on her desk and considered the young, brilliant man who stood on the other side of the desk looking very little like a man at the moment. “Are you sure, Nelson?”

He nodded.

“Have you… ever… been on a date, Nelson?”

A tad embarrassed, he responded, “No. Not really. Why?”

She considered continuing down that path but thought better of it. This was probably not the kind of thing an employer should discuss with an employee. She leaned into the back of her desk chair and thought for a moment. “What do you plan to wear?”

He looked down at the outfit Jessie and Nadine had found for him in Rowan’s crowded closets. “This, I guess.”

Jessie shook her head, more out despair than disgust, at Nelson’s lack of female fashion knowledge. “No, you certainly are not wearing that.”

“Why not. This morning you said it would do.”

“For work, Nelson, yeah, but not for a date with handsome billionaire.” Now, she sounded a bit disgusted. “He’s not taking you to The Olive Garden, or Friendly’s. He’s taking you someplace classy. You need to dress appropriately.”

“So… what should I wear?”

“Rowan must have several little black dresses. You should be able to wear one of those, I guess, but you’ll need to coordinate your jewelry and makeup…”

“I’m wearing makeup.” Nelson interrupted, sounding oddly sure about this one fact.

Jessie shook her head. “How is it possible that you have such a fashionable twin sister, and you are clueless? I thought you two slept in the same room growing up.”

“We did,” Nelson said, a little offended, “but we stopped changing in the same room at the same time, when we were like eight!”

“Ok. Sorry,” Jessie conceded. “Suffice it to say that you’ll need a nice dress, evening makeup, better shoes, some accessories, an evening jacket, and a nice purse. I’m sure Rowan has things to choose from if we dig through her closets. Lord knows she has an awful lot of clothes.”

That was true.

“We?” He asked.

“What?”

“If ‘we’ dig through her closets?”

“Yes, Nelson; we. Unless you have the ability to learn everything you need to know about women’s clothing in the next couple of hours, you’ll need help. So… yeah… WE.”

He nodded. She was right. “Ok,” he said, and turned to go.

“Oh, damnit,” Jessie suddenly cussed. Nelson turned. “Your legs.”

“What about them?”

“They’re probably hairy, Nelson. We didn’t deal with them today because you’re wearing tights.”

“Can’t I wear tights tonight?”

Jessie just shook her head, then picked up the receiver on her desk phone and pushed a button. “Renee, can you come in here for a moment?”

A moment later, a very tall, very beautiful woman entered the office. Renee worked at the reception desk and did her job very well. She was currently taking night classes at Worcester State University at the company’s expense. Jessie obviously saw a lot of potential in her. “Yes?” she asked as she entered. Then glancing at Nelson, she said, “You look great, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Nelson mumbled.

“Renee,” Jessie asked, “would you mind running an errand down to that Sephora store on Franklin?”

“No, not at all,” Renee answered, eager to get out of the office for a few minutes. “What do you need?”

“Get a good hair removal cream or gel for Nelson, and some body makeup so I can match the color of his face to his legs. I’m sure they’re pale white and will look even paler when the hair is off of them.”

Nelson felt a bit embarrassed, hearing his body discussed this openly in front of a woman he barely knew.

Renee looked at his face closely before saying, “Ok.” She left.

Jessie glanced at the time. “She should be back by four-thirty. When she gets back, we’ll go get you ready.”

“At four-thirty? But we’re always here until six.”

“Desperate times,” Jessie shrugged.
 
 

 
 
“Hi, mom,” Bill O’Connell said into his phone. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m very well, William. You sound very upbeat.” Bill’s mother was a very spry sixty-three-year-old woman who had retired from her teaching job in Ohio a few years earlier. As a retirement present, Bill had bought her a very large, very beautiful, very modern condo in Naples, Florida where she now resided. It was in the same luxury apartment building as his own, seldom used condo. She loved the town, the activities it offered her, the number of theaters and museums in the area and, of course, the ocean. The incredible waters of The Gulf of Mexico were just outside her window, and she loved spending evenings on the beach, or her veranda watching the sunset.

“Having a good day, I guess,” he laughed. “I found a great company to upgrade my internet’s security systems and I’m going out to dinner tonight with a beautiful woman. It’s a good day all around.”

He heard her laugh gently. “Who’s the girl?”

“She works at the company doing our security upgrade. I’ve been talking to her online and on the phone for a couple of months now and we got along great, so I asked her out. She was a lot different in person than I expected. A very impressive girl.”

“Well, I hope you have a nice evening, honey,” Mrs. O’Connell replied. He could hear the smile in her voice. “When are you coming down for a visit? You’ve hardly visited that condo of yours since I moved down here. I thought we would see each other more.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re lonely!” He joked. “I’ve seen your social calendar. I know you’re keeping busy.”

“Of course, I am. I can’t just sit around all day waiting for my only child to visit.”

“Oh, come on. I call every day. You’re probably sick of me by now.”

“Never,” she laughed a little again. “By the way, I have guests coming to stay for a few days this weekend.”

“Retired teacher friends?”

“Of course. I love showing off my little palace to them. I’m a very popular person you know. The Ohio Retired Teachers Association newsletter will probably be writing an article about me in their ‘places to visit’ section. I enjoy having them come to stay, though. It’s good to see old friends enjoying themselves. I wish you’d start enjoying yourself a bit, too, William. You know, ‘all work and no play makes William a dull boy.”

“Yeah, I know that one. Did you ever hear this one; ‘Make hay while the sunshine?’ That’s what I’m doing, mom. You know the plan, stow the money away and retire before forty if possible.”

“Yes, I know. I miss you, though.”

“Miss you too, mom. Look, I gotta run. I’d like to shower and have my suit pressed before my date. I just wanted to check in. Love you, mom.”

“Love you too, William. Come soon.”

“Ok, mom. Bye.”

“Ba-Bye, William.”
 
To Be Continued...