Clockin' Out and Headin' Home

It really doesn't take that much effort to finish off the remaining reports. Before look, everything is put away, and the storage room looks like it's in tip-top shape. Granted, it probably won't even take a week before things will need reorganizing again, but hopefully I never have to deal with anything this bad ever again. And to think we couldn't have done it without the very person who messed everything up to begin with...

Once we're finished, Carmen comes in to check our work. I can tell she's looking extremely hard to find even the slightest thing to call us out on. Luckily, there's not really a way for her to lie in this situation, since all the evidence is right here in front of her. After she's spent a little too long looking over everything, she finally turns to me.

"I guess this is acceptable. But don't make a habit out of this kind of behavior," Carmen lectures. "You're lucky no one needed you for anything while you were sorting this out. I have no doubt that if Audrey had been in the office today, there would have been no time for this foolishness."

Great. Even when everything is perfect, I still can't catch a break. Still, this is probably the best outcome I could have hoped for. And Carmen has a point. If Audrey had been here all day, there likely would have been even more work to do. I shudder to think what I would have done in that scenario. This also confirms that Rae really didn't sneak in any mistakes. She actually did the job correctly. That's still the most difficult part to believe out of all of this, if I'm being honest.

After Carmen leaves, that basically ends the work day. Luck and I end up waiting around a bit, but soon enough, it's time to head home. And as exhausting as today has been, I must admit that any day that I don't have to stay late can't be considered a total disaster. This is probably the point where most employees would say goodbye to each other or wish people a good night or whatever. However, there's no one for me to really do that with, so I mostly just walk out in silence with Luck following closely behind. I do catch one last glimpse of Rae as she gets in her car. She actually gives me a small wave before quickly driving off. As we get to my rusted vehicle, Luck grins at me.

"So? How was my first day?" She asks.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that question?" I ask back.

"Nah, not really. I don't need anyone to tell me how fantastic I was," she exclaims before warping into the car while I get in the normal way. "Now, how about that feedback you were going to give me?"

"Well, let's start with, oh, I don't know, turning Rae back to normal."

Hearing that actually causes Luck to pause and make a confused face.

"Huh? What do you mean? You still don't like her?"

"No! She kept doing all sorts of weird stuff! One second she tries to be nice, the next she looks like she's about to slit my throat!" I yell.

"I already told you, those kinks will iron themselves out in time. Besides, you haven't even figured out what I did yet," Luck points out.

How the hell am I supposed to do that? Rae was all over the place the entire time she was in the storage room with us. I mean, clearly the idea was to make her **** and more understanding, but that can't have been it. The way she looked at me, how she addressed me, hell, even that weird aura she had. It all seemed like there was something more to it. I just can't put my finger on what it was. The best guess I could make would probably be...

"I don't know, did you make her fall in love with me?" I ask in defeat before it occurs to me what I just said. "Please don't tell me you made Rae McKinley fall in love with me."

The desperation in my voice causes Luck to giggle.

"No, I... well... I guess I kind of did, but not in the way you're thinking," she responds vaguely.

"I have no idea what that's supposed to mean," I tell her as I start the car and pull out of the parking space. "Listen, I don't care about the specifics. Can you just turn her back to how she was before? I don't know if I can handle her being all attached to me or whatever you would call that. Especially not when she looks like that..."

"Oh! Is that the problem? Are you just not into MILFs? I get it now! Kyle, if you were a such a big fan of itty bitty titties, you should have just said so!" Luck says as if she's had an epiphany.

"What?! No, I didn't say-" Suddenly, I stop as something clicks into place. "MILF... that's the same term you used to describe Rae's new body earlier..."

"Well, yeah. Obviously. You do know what that term means, don't you?" Luck asks.

"Of course I know what it means," I reply curtly. "I just didn't understand why you kept using it, but know, I think I might. Ever since you changed her, she's been weirdly loving. I mean, she literally asked if she could help take care of a problem she caused. Aside from the little flickers of the old Rae coming back out, she's been much more mature, less concerned with herself, and strangely attentive to me. All of those qualities are considered pretty... maternal. Combine that with how you changed her body and keep referring to her as a 'MILF...'" I pause a moment before looking over at Luck accusatorily. "Luck? Did you make Rae think she's my mom or something?"

"Ding ding ding! Wow, would you look at that? I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed, Kyle. You don't have all the exact details figured out, but I thought it would take you longer to put the general idea together," Luck smiles from ear to ear.

"What is wrong with you?" I scoff.

"What? Doesn't everyone need a work mom?"

"Why are you so obsessed with moms? Isn't having one enough? Why do you have to give me three?"

"You say that like you have three women in your life constantly doting on you. Do you really consider either of your actually moms all that motherly?" Luck genuinely asks me.

That question makes me stop and think for a moment. I hadn't actually considered it that way. Obviously, I never really considered my second mother Alana all that motherly considering she was a man not even 24 hours ago, but my real mom Melinda has never been all that motherly either. Honestly, for a lot of my life, it's felt more like having two dads, only one would occasionally put on makeup and a dress. That's not to say that Melinda would make a great father either. Really, neither of them are good in either role. Still, that doesn't make the thought of Rae suddenly turning into a loving mother the most appealing idea.

"Can we leave my parents out of this for a second and focus on how you tried to age up my coworker and inject maternal instincts into her brain? Please, just undo it," I request.

"Okay, I think I understand where I went wrong with her. Hearing your notes, I think I have a much better idea of what you want," Luck says.

"No, no, no. I just want Rae back to her old self," I repeat.

"No need to fret. I got the message loud and clear. By tomorrow morning, Rae will be back in her old body" Luck assures me.

"Promise?"

"Absolutely!"

Seeing how chipper Luck is makes me doubt the validity of that promise, but I suppose I have no way to know for sure until I see Rae tomorrow.

"Now that we have that out of the way, we should talk about some of the other ideas I have," Luck continues. "I've noticed quite a few major issues in your life that still need to be addressed. "

"I'm willing to bet you're referring to Carmen and my parents," I give Luck a side-eye.

"Oh, good! So you've been paying attention too!"

"You mean paying attention to my own life? Yeah, you could say that. How many times do I have to say that I don't want you to do anything to anyone?" I ask her.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that I'm here to make your life better? You keep resisting, but I assure you that everything will work out if you just let me do my thing," Luck tries to convince me for the umpteenth time.

I... I can't take it anymore. I can't keep having this conversation over and over and over again. We just keep repeating ourselves, with neither person giving an inch. I'm getting sick of it.

And that's when something occurs to me: Luck is never going to give up. Why would she? Her very existence is something I can't even comprehend. How could I ever convince someone like her that I know better than her? There's just no way. I still don't even know how old she is. For all I know, my life could just be tiny fraction of hers. Just a miniscule blip on the road that is her reality. If that's true, she would have all the patience in the world. I just have no idea.

But whether she's 20 years old or 20 million years old, that doesn't change the fact that she only ever seems to listen when I'm going along with her. She's willing to take my suggestions, but has no interest in me telling her "no." Even after convincing her to turn Rae back to normal, she immediately pivoted to altering someone else. And even then, I'm still not confident she understands why I asked her to reverse what she did to Rae. The more I think about it, the more it seems like my only chance at a better life is to work with Luck rather than keep trying to pushing against her. At least then I might be able to maintain some level of control, even if it isn't much. And in that moment, as I realize that, I feel something inside of me snap.

"Woah... You alright there, Kyle?" I vaguely hear Luck's voice in my right ear. "You look like you're having an existential crisis or something. Come on. Lighten up. I'm sure whatever's going through you're head right now is just you drastically overthinking things. Just calm down and go with the-"

"Fine."

"Huh?" She stops herself as she looks at me.

"I said fine. Go ahead with your plan to fix my life. If that means you want to keep tinkering with everyone in my life, go ahead. You have my... you have my permission. Though I'd still prefer if we could tone the sexual stuff," I tell her, my eyes never leaving the road in front of me.

"Seriously?! YES!" Luck cheers gleefully, seemingly ignoring the last part of what I said. "Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that! I mean, I was planning to go along with my ideas anyway, but this is going to go so much more smoothly now that you're actually on board!"

"Just to be clear, I'm not 'on board' of anything. This is at best **** acceptance," I make clear.

"I'll take it! But honestly, Kyle, this is fantastic! You won't regret this!" She claims with enthusiasm.

"R-right," I mumble, trying to fully take in what I just agreed to. "Just... please try not to go overboard. Even though I have to deal with all sorts of difficult people, they're still people. Just try to keep that in mind. That's all I ask."

"Don't worry. All I want is to make things a bit more fun for everyone. By the time I'm done, I'm confident everybody will be more than satisfied, you especially!"

I hope so, Luck. I really hope so...