People don’t take trips, trips take people - Antoine 21

The week following the trip to the salon, past by with no major incidents as Antoine was slowly getting used to life as Zara, a blonde fashion graduate working in a bridal store.

The days seemed to blend into one as he spent his days, running around on his high heeled feet between the stockroom and the main floor, and his evenings studying up on all the latest fashion trends, the memory of the Louis Boobaton incident was still haunting him, and he was determined never to look like a fool again if asked a question about fashion.

If truth be told, life as Zara wasn’t that bad, he still dreamed of returning to how things used to be, but after living her life for so long, he could now see some benefits. As Zara, he was meeting new people and found that unlike when he used to meet people as Antoine, people now were more interested in what he had to say, going out of their way to get to know him. The problem was the whole house of cards he had constructed was about to come crashing down. 

Outside on one of his breaks, Antoine found himself pacing up and down on his new red designer pumps, which were a little stiff and tight as he was still breaking them in. It was a lovely afternoon, and the sun was shining as he felt the warmth of its rays absorbing into his dark outfit, consisting of a loose-fitting long sleeve blouse and a pair of tight-fitting frilly shorts.

(See image 38)

But the weather, as pleasant as it may be, was the last thing on Antoine’s mind at that moment, as he clicked up and down the pavement, racking his brain for a way out, but no matter from which way he approached the problem, he kept coming back to the same conclusion, he would have to own up and finally tell the truth.

It had been a typical start to his shift in the store that day, having nothing really to do, which was fairly typical in the first few hours after opening, Antoine had found his usual stop to sit, out of sight at the back of the stockroom and had started watching videos on his phone until Annisa or Fifi came and gave him something to do.

It was around one thirty when he heard the door open. He quickly slipped on his red heels, which had been sat on the floor next to his chair and jumped up to look busy.

“Zara, are you here”? Fifi’s voice rang out.

Antoine quickly tottered around to the front of the room and came face to face with his famous boss, “Yes, I was just rearranging some of the dresses, so they are easier to find”, Antoine said, "how can I help"?

“You know, Zara, I don’t expect you to be running around all the time, I'm well aware at this time of the day, it's always quite if you are sat down when we need you, its, not a problem, you know,” Fifi said with a knowing look.

Antoine smiled, “I just don’t want you to think I’m lazy”, he replied, “it's just sometimes there isn’t that much to do in her, not that I’m complaining”, he quickly added, “I really love working here”.

“You don’t need to worry about that, Zara, we all know how hard you’re working, and we love having you here”, Fifi said with a smile”, that’s why I called in actually, do you remember last week, we asked you to bring in your degree certificate, we really need it for our insurance, you don’t happen to have it with you do you”?

“Err… no sorry, I’m so forgetful sometimes”, he replied in a panic, “I keep meaning to look for it, my bedroom is a bit of mess at the moment, I’ll have a look tonight”.

“Really? A mess, and this place is so organised”, Fifi said with a giggle, “well there’s no real rush but we really need it by the end of the month, otherwise we can’t keep you on here”.

Antoine nodded, “ok, understood”, he replied.

“Great, well with that out of the way, why don’t you came out the front for a while, most of the girls are in the staffroom, Annisa brought in some cake”.

Ten minutes later, having barely touched the cake, feeling too anxious to eat, Antoine had excused himself before going out to get some air.

Back outside on the street, Antoine was getting slowly getting his head around what needed to be done, the fallout would be devastating but with no other choice, he knew he would have to face it.

Looking up, he saw Marianne approaching as a heavy sigh escaped his painted red lips, “what does she want”? he thought to himself, “I could really do without this right now”.

“There you are”, Marianne announced as she approached, “what are you doing out here”?

“I just needed to be alone to think”, Antoine replied willing her to go away.

“It’s about the certificate isn’t it”? Marianne asked.

“What you mean the lack of one? Antoine shot back, “it’s not in her room Marianne, I've looked all over, she must have taken it with her, it’s over, I’m going to tell everyone the truth”.

Marianne looked surprised, “the truth, are you sure you want to do that? you know what that means right”?

“Well, what else can I do”? Antoine moaned, “I can’t exactly magic a degree certificate out of thin air”.

“True, but I think I have a solution”, Marianne replied smiling.

“I’m not going to like this am I”? Antoine groaned.

“Probably not, but hear me out”, Marianne said, “I looked on the university website and it just so happens, that next week they are having another graduation event for past students who were busy when they handed out the certificates the first time around", she paused for a moment to take in his stunned reaction before continuing, "Well, I decided to give them a call, pretending to be you, or Zara, I guess, and told them you had lost your certificate and wanted to attend the event, and guess what as long as you pay a small fee, they said it would be no problem”.

“What”? Antoine shrieked, “you did what? I can’t do that”.

“You can and I suggest you do”, Marianne replied calmly obviously expecting the reaction.

“No, no, no, this is too much”, Antoine said starting to pace around again, “people will know her, and I look nothing like her, I need to put a stop to this, this craziness has gone on too long”.

“Well, that's one option, but you know you could get arrested right”? Marianne announced.

Antoine stopped in his tracks his head pivoting towards her, “arrested”? He cried.

“You signed a contract as someone else remember? That’s called fraud, if they call the police you could go to jail and even if you didn’t, imagine the stories in the papers”.

Antoine placed his head in his hands and felt as though he was about to be sick, “You have another choice, of course”, Marianne added, “Go to the ceremony and pick up the certificate, you'll be in and out in no time, and besides, it's been years since Zara graduated, what are the odds one of anyone she knew will be there, think it through, ok? you don't want to make a decision you'll regret".

As Marianne finished her sentence she turned and sauntered away, back towards the store, as Antoine just stood in a daze watching her go, “what am I going to do now”? He thought to himself, “I thought this was over".

(See image 39)