Lockdown! 20

Chapter 20

As he jerked his head back, Tim felt his newly extended hair brush against the sides of his face. He'd caught himself thinking about his last job, and for a second, he'd regretted not putting in a little more effort. At that moment, the realisation of how much his life had changed hit him like a ton of bricks. And what he'd give to have his boring old life back.

Glancing down at the long acrylic claws, recently attached to the end of each finger, Tim considered pinching himself but resisted the urge, knowing it would change nothing. It wouldn’t wake him from the living nightmare that was now his everyday existence. More than likely, it would just ruin the glossy finish on his new nails, leading to more time sat contemplating his life in the salon chair.

Studying the person he used to call a friend, a shell of a man who now wandered around the salon at Veronica’s beck and call, Tim wondered who had it worse. Debating with himself whether it was better to be aware of all the cruel changes forced upon them or just be oblivious to it all, like Paul.

Looking past his pumped-up, inflated lips, Tim gazed down to see two smooth hairless legs poking out from beneath an indecently short robe. Reaching down, he ran his hand along the top of his right thigh and shuddered.

Angrily Tim pulled his hand away, before averting his gaze back to the person responsible for turning his skin a milky white colour. Then again, was Paul really to blame? After all, he was just following his master’s orders, and in his current mental state, how could he defy her?

Perhaps, he'd just have to accept that the person in front of him was no longer his friend Paul. Something that would have been easy to believe, had he not seen the changes with his own two eyes. This zombified blonde bimbo, tottering around with an expressionless look on her over-painted face, was nothing like the confident, pig-headed man he used to idolise. Who would ever believe now that they were one and the same?

Veronica had also been the one to come up with the idea of using Tim as Paul’s training model while he looked for a new job. This allowed her ditzy apprentice to practice his hair and makeup skills away from the paying customers. And today, she had really put him through his paces. First, she talked him through the process of applying hair and nail extensions before beginning the skin colouring! A bizarre experience, to say the least, that Veronica called anti-tanning. Commenting that a lot of Asian women she knew, liked to keep their skin light. She insisted that it was a perfect opportunity to try out the technique.

Tim had protested, but it made little difference. It only left him feeling more annoyed, as he was forced to sit through the process that left his skin dry and irritable.

Over at the sink, with his blonde hair braided into pigtails that rested next to his ever-developing chest, Paul looked over at Tim and gave him a dopey smile. Narrowing his eyes, Tim stared back menacingly, causing Paul to quickly turn away.

Continuing to watch, Tim looked on in disbelief as the feminized salon assistant went back to the task of cleaning up. With no paying customers that day, Paul wasn’t wearing his usual uniform. Instead, he wore a more casual outfit. Well, casual for Paul, at least. With a denim miniskirt moulded to his backside, a cropped top exposing his slim toned belly, and long boots extending halfway up his shiny nylon encased thighs, most people would have considered it, quite a sexy look.

“Paula! I’m just going to make a quick phone call,” Veronica suddenly announced while picking up her bag. “I won’t be too long. Why don’t you give Kylie’s toes another coat of polish? The last one should be dry by now.”

“Yes, Veronica,” Paul droned back.

Veronica smiled. “Good girl. We’ll be done for the day after that,”

Tim watched Paul stand like a statue as Veronica skipped out of the room. But as soon as she left, he slowly wandered over towards Tim, only to stop right in front of him.

“My God! Look at the state of you, Buddy,” Tim announced in a gloomy sounding tone. “How the hell did it come to this?”

“I seem to remember someone messing and telling Mrs Morris that three women lived here,” Paul replied, suddenly sounding like his old self.

“Hey, I panicked, ok? She put me on the spot.” Tim replied calmly before his head shot up. “Eeehhh… what??? You… You’re you! But… How long??? Have you been acting all this time? While you were doing all this girly shit to me? What the fuck, Paul?

Bringing up his hand to his face, Paul looked away apologetically. “Yeah, about that. I’m really sorry, but I had no choice, man.”

Shaking his head and sighing loudly, Tim folded his arms and looked away, not quite believing what he was hearing.

(See image 29)

“Look, Tdog. I know this is a messed up situation, but we don’t have long,” Paul stressed. “Veronica will be back any minute. I’ve got to tell you something. It’s important!”

“Of course it is, it’s always important when it involves you, right?” Tim snapped back. “What is it? Veronica ordering you around too much? Did you break a nail while mutilating me earlier?"

Stepping closer, Paul assumed a kneeling position and cupped his hands together. “Please, this is serious! It’s Mrs Morris! She knows!”

“Knows?” Tim exclaimed. “knows what?”

“Who we really are! She knows all about our pasts. Everything!” Paul blurted out in a strong but hushed voice.

Looking into the face of his feminized friend, and seeing the terror in his eyes, Tim took a moment before he spoke. “Are you sure? She told you this?”

“Yes,” Paul stressed, leaning forward to grip his friends' legs. “She told me when I was over there for dinner. And I think she had a screw loose, man. It was really creepy how she suddenly just changed. Like she had been possessed by a demon or some.”

Tim brought his hand up to cover his mouth. “No, no, no! Shiiiit! We're screwed!" He expressed loudly. "As if life wasn’t shitty enough, but what happens now? We're going to end up behind bars looking like some prisoner’s wet dream.”

“Tdog, calm down, man. That's not going to happen. She hasn’t told the police yet,” Paul said, squeezing his panicked friend thigh, trying to calm him down. “I’m the one who’s screwed. She’ll keep our secret as long as I do what she wants.”

Holding back what looked like tears, Tim coughed to clear his throat. “You have to do it, Paul. Whatever she wants! If she tells the police, that’s it. Game over. I’d rather die than go to prison looking like this.”

“I know,” Paul replied crestfallenly, letting out a heavy sigh. “It’s just easy to say, right? when it’s not you doing it.”

For the first time in months, Tim suddenly felt empathic towards the life-sized Barbie doll knelt before him. Reaching down, he placed his long-nailed hand on his shoulder. “I’ll help. Kamsi too. Anyway, we can. What is it she wants you to do exactly?”

Paul’s slug-like bottom lip quivered for a second before he broke eye contact. He gulped and breathed out loudly, not quite sure how to articulate what he wanted to say.

Tim in return narrowed his eyes and waited, seeing the pain on his friend's face, but at that moment, Veronica burst back through the door.

“What’s going on here? She announced, glaring at the sissified men with a bewildered look on her face.

“Thinking fast, Tim came to the rescue. “He’s trying to paint my nails without any polish! I tried to tell him, but it’s like he’s not even in there. Are you sure he’s ok? Perhaps he needs to see a doctor?”

Smiling, Veronica shook her head. “She’s fine, Kylie. Probably just a little tired, that’s all. How about we call it a day for today. Kylie, I’ll give you the polish. You should be capable of putting on another coat, right? It’ll be good practice. I’ll come and see how you got on later. Now, come along, Paula. Let's get you something to drink.”