The cold war 05

“You’re back!”, Janice the receptionist announced as Ben and Irina enter through the front door of the nail salon, “love the new look, doll, very cute”, she added looking over at Ben and smiling.

Ben lowered his head and let Irina do the talking, “Hi Janice”, Irina announced, “yeah, Ben had a little accident and needs a patch up, can you fit him in? Ben show her your hand”.

Ben slowly stepped forward, the clip-clop sound of his pink wedge shoes, echoing throughout the small room as he raised up his right hand and tried to avoid eye contact.

“Ooh, yeah, that looks painful, I did say to be careful, right? But not to worry, cutie, we’ll get you fixed up right away, take a seat guys, I’ll see if Miki is free”.

Half an hour later, having had his acrylic tip removed, the nail beneath glued together and a new long acrylic nail fixed on top, Ben was glad to leave the nail salon. His finger felt much better having been patched up but having sat there aware of the other customers taking sneaky glances in his direction and hearing the staff compliment him on how feminine and cute he looked Ben felt as though he was about to have a breakdown.

“Can we get something to eat now? I’m starving”, Ben announced as the pair stepped out on to the street.

Irina took out her phone to checked the time, “not yet”, she replied, “it’s only ten thirty, I told you, we only eat between twelve and six, it’s better that way, it’s what all the celebrities do, you burn fat all morning and then stopping at six to give your body time to digest everything before bed”.

“Does that really work”? Ben asked hearing his stomach growl.

“Yeah, look at me”, Irina replied opening her coat to show off her lean fit physique, “you’re just not used to it yet, give it a few more days and you won’t even feel hungry in the mornings”.

“Fine, can we at least, get a coffee or something and have a sit-down, preferable somewhere quiet with no people”? Ben asked.

“That we can do, but sit down? Irina asked surprised, “you’ve been sat on your backside for the last hour having your pretty nails repaired”.

“I know, but my legs are aching from all the exercise and these shoes aren’t helping, the muscles in the back of my legs feel like they are being stretched and my toes keep cramping up”, Ben moaned.

“Again, you just aren’t used to it, give it time”, Irina announced”, you were the one who said I had it easy, we can swap shoes if you like, those wedges look a lot more comfortable than what I’m wearing”.

Ben looked down at the pink ankle boots on Irina’s feet with their tall thin heels and platform sole, terrified the thought of wearing such a towering pair of heels, and finding it hard to comprehend how she wasn’t in more pain, “err… no, you’re alright, I’ll stick to these, you’re right, I just need more practice”, he quickly replied.

“Exactly, so let’s have less complaining, ok? You can be a real downer sometimes you know? There’s a coffee shop around the corner, but we aren’t going to waste the rest of the morning sat around and as to finding somewhere with no people, this is New York City Ben, good luck with that”.

A little later, sat in the backseat of a taxi once again, Ben clutched his iced blonde vanilla bean coconut latte awkwardly between his palms. It tasted terrible, not helped by the fact he had always hated the taste of coconut, but as Irina had informed him, it was low in calories and at the moment her go-to drink.

Watching the city pass by out of the window of the cab, Ben looked out upon the familiar streets that had once upon a time seemed so scary and intimidating, but a lot had changed in the last few years and New York City, somewhere along the line, had become to feel like home.

Letting out a yawn, he lifted his pink furry arm with its delicate manicured hand popping out of the end, automatically up towards his face and instantly felt silly again.

Looking down at his pink pants, embroidered with unicorns, pressed tightly together, the way Irina had told him to sit, he wondered how long until she made him wear a skirt. It was a worrying thought, but he knew it was inevitable, Irina wore skirts most days, and he was surprised she hadn’t already tried to get him into one.

Looking across at his stepsister, Ben was met with a smile, “ok”? she asked.

Ben nodded and turned back to look out of the window feeling confused, most of the time, it seemed like Irina was doing her utmost to humiliate him, but at the same time, she was constantly checking to see if he was ok, and thinking back to his thought about the skirt, she could have made things much worse for him in the last few days, but she hadn’t. did she actually care about him? Was she in her own way looking out for him? But if that was the case, why was he currently dressed like a prissy twelve-year-old princess? It just didn’t make any sense.

With at least another hour to kill until he could finally eat, Ben didn’t need to ask what the next activity would be, and as the cab pulled up outside a large shopping centre his suspicions became reality.

Stepping inside, Irina informed him that he needed to get some proper workout clothes and some new underwear. He had been wearing a few new pairs of hers, over the last few days, but now, having come to the end of her supply, she informed him, he would need his own, as although she didn’t mind him wearing her clothes, now that he had removed, in her words, “all of his disgusting body hair”, she just didn’t feel comfortable with him wearing her underwear.

So, with Ben, mentally prepared for the humiliation ahead, they walked side by side through the busy shopping centre, only for a chance encounter momentarily change their plans.

“Good morning, girls, can I interest you in a little eyebrow threading today, it's half off for the next hour”.

Ben looked over at the area set up in the centre of the floor, two empty chairs sat in wait, “half off!? Irina repeated as a smile crossed her lips, “I could do with a little maintenance and my sister here is in dire need of some work, sure, let’s do it”.

Ben’s head shot around to look at Irina, but appearing unmoved by his pleading eyes, he knew she had already made up her mind and kicking up a fuss would just make the whole ordeal even more embarrassing.

“Great, take a seat over there, miss”, the woman said pointing to the far chair”, my colleague will take care of you and I’ll take care of your sister”, she added knowing full well, that Ben was in fact a boy, but professional enough to ignore the fact.

Ben shuffled over slowly, looking around at the pictures of perfectly arched brows all around him, and got a familiar sinking feeling in his empty stomach.

“Jump on up, miss”, the woman said to Ben, “is there any specific shape you want”?

“Make them look like mine”, Irina announced from the adjacent chair.

The woman was taken aback by the comment but looking down at Ben, she saw no signs of protest, “ok, sit back and try to relax, it might sting a bit at first”.

She was right about the stinging, as Ben looked up in horror at the woman, holding what looked like a bit of string, as she yanked the hairs from his forehead as a tear formed in the corner of his eye before rolling slowly down his cheek.

Irina was done first, of course, with only a few stray hairs needing to be removed, this gave her plenty of time to look around the little pop-up beauty station, where she came across a price list of other services they provided, “is your ear piercing half off too”? she asked.

“Yes, all services are half off at the moment”, the woman who had worked on Irina replied.

“Oh goody, I’ve been thinking about getting a third hole in each ear, can you do that right now”? Irina asked the woman.

“Of course, miss, sit back down in the chair and I’ll get the equipment”, the woman replied with a smile.

“oh, and I don’t want little sis, to feel left out”, Irina started, “she’s been talking about getting her first holes for ages but has just never got around to it, give her a hole in each ear too".

With his whole brow area now hot and sore, Ben wanted to run for the hills at the announcement he was about to have his ears pierced, but like everything else he had been through in the last few days, he instead, took a deep breath and thought about the money awaiting him at the end of the month.

“Ok, time to get what we came for and then we’ll eat”, Irina said to a grumpy looking Ben as they exited the brow station.

Ben nodded, feeling a little shellshocked after the experience, feeling an unfamiliar weight dangling from each earlobe and feeling a warmth in his brow area, “I need to use the bathroom”, he announced seeing a sign.

“Ok, I’ll wait over there, don’t be too long”, Irina replied pointing, seeing a seating area where she could wait.

Desperate to see what damage had been done, Ben set off, trotting along the floor and his cumbersome wedge shoes, following the sign to the restrooms.

Upon entering, he went straight to the sink area, where he came face to face with what he had been dreading. His slightly messy but perfectly normal masculine brows had been butchered, they were now a shadow of their former selves, and what replaced them sent a shiver down his spine, two thin slightly angled lines, thinning out to a delicate thin point at the outer edges.

He shook his head, once again feeling the weight of his new earrings as he stared on in horror as he noticed the two large heart-shaped pink objects piercing through his earlobes.

It was hard to imagine how a few small changes could change his appearance so dramatically, making him look much younger and feminine, but with the evidence staring him right in his pretty face, he knew he would have to just suck it up and get on with things, “it’s too late to back out now”, he thought to himself, “I’m going to see out the month, no matter what”.

“Err… miss, I think you’re in the wrong bathroom, this is the men’s room”, came a man’s voice to his left.

Ben took a deep breath, “I am a man”, he muttered quietly to himself, still staring at his feminized image in the mirror, the reflection looking back at him, contradicting his words.

(See image 3.2)