Rent or forfeit 21

Tommy couldn’t decide what was worse, the looks he was getting from the men, lusting over him or the women giving him evils, as he made his way into work on the crowded bus. He definitely stood out amongst the other commuters dressed one of the outfits, his sisters had picked out and purchased for him the night before, as he was dragged from shop to shop, losing count of how many skirts and dresses he was forced to try on, and all of them in different shades of pink.

It seemed for this week at least, he would need to get used to seeing himself dressed head to toe in his most hated colour, which along with his lilac hair, was the reason he now stood out in a bus of black and grey outfits.

Watching the rain, pound against the window, Tommy noticed a woman staring at him out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked over, she quickly looked away. He looked down at the woman sat on her aisle seat in her comfy looking outfit, and wished he were dressed like her. He imagined how nice it would be to blend in with the rest of the people on the bus, and how warm his legs would feel inside a pair of pants like hers, rather than the tight restrictive leather skirt encircling his legs.

The bus hit a bump in the road, send Tommy stumbling, despite holding on to the handrail for dear life. looking down past his fake breasts, obscuring his view, he tried to desperately to steady his feet teetering atop his patent pink pumps, unable to open his legs wide enough to balance

.just before he fell, he felt a strong pair of hands wrap around his tiny waist through his furry pink coat, Having avoided the tumble, Tommy looked up to see a young man grinning from ear to ear, “thank you, “Tommy said shyly”, but you can let me go now”, “Perhaps I better hold on to you eh, just in case you fall again”, the man replied rubbing his thumb along the side of his waist. “Hey, leave her alone dick”, came a loud angry voice, it was the woman who had been looking at him earlier, she had left her seat and was now standing to Tommy's right. The man let go of him and moved away a little, embarrassed having been shouted at, “miss, please take my seat, it can’t be easy to stand in those pretty shoes”. With the whole bus now watching and completely humiliated, Tommy thanked the woman and tottered carefully over to the empty seat, he sat down, lowered his head and started playing with his nails and the hem of his skirt, not wanting to look up to see if everyone was still looking.

Arriving at the office, wet and miserable, he listened as everyone complimented his hair and outfit before getting stuck into his morning tasks to take his mind off things. After a few hours of typing out emails and arranging some appointments for Mr Hopkins and feeling much better, Tommy headed into the break room to make himself a mid-morning coffee, unfortunately for him, his timing couldn’t have been worse as he found himself alone with the last person he wanted to speak to.

“Well, don’t you look precious today, that hair colour looks great on you, but that skirt is still a little long for my liking”, announced Jill stood by the coffee machine.

“Save it, Jill, I’m not in the mood”, Tommy said stopping in the centre of the room.

“Well, isn’t someone acting like a little bitch today, what’s your problem? You’ve been giving off a funny vibe all day”.

“Can you blame me after what you did”? Tommy said angrily.

Jill looked surprised, “And what exactly have I done”? she asked.

“On Friday, you just left me with that creep”.

“left you!” Jill exclaimed, “I’m not your mother Tammy, I assumed you could look after yourself, what was I supposed to do turn down a hunk like Connor to babysit you all night, and I have to say you looked rather cosy with Dom when I left”.

“I was drunk, I didn’t know what I was doing”, Tommy said quietly, wanting to believe he hadn’t enjoyed some of the attention”.

“Come on, nothing bad happened, Dom’s just a typical man, he had a few too many to drink and tried it on with a pretty girl, and besides, I hear you left your mark on him literally”.

“So, you heard about that”? Tommy asked, remembering the scratch he had given him, thanks to his claw-like nails.

“Ha, he called up Connor, just when things were getting steamy, I could hear him whining down the phone like a little girl, you can do much better than someone like him Tammy, you deserve a real man, you leave it to Jill, I’ll find you Mr right”, she said smugly.

The thought of being intimate with a man send a shiver down Tommy’s spine as he shuffled his feet and felt the leather of his skirt, compress his nylon covered thighs tightly.

Jill looked over at the timid looking girl in front of her, dressed entirely in pink, “listen, Tammy, I want to help you out, you’ve been doing a good job around here and the girls all seem to like you, it would be a real shame to lose you on Wednesday when Karen returns from her vacation, but you know, there could be a way to get you a permanent job here”.

Tommy thought about what she said, it would be nice not having to go back to the temp office again, and the money was pretty good, but he had a feeling there would be a catch, like he was signing his soul over to the devil, “Really? Why would you want to help me”? he asked curiously.

Jill smiled once again, “I like you Tammy, you remind me of myself at your age, just a bit more naïve about how the world works, anyhoo, if you want my help come into work tomorrow dressed to impress, I want to see you in a skirt you’re afraid to bend over wearing, and a cute top that shows a lot more cleavage, we need to charm Mr Hopkins”.

What should Tommy do? Vote in the poll

1) Listen to Jill’s instructions and try and get a full-time position at the company.

2) Ignore her, leave the company on Wednesday, and look for another job.