Detachment

Bailey despised her roommate.

Even before the show she had heard enough complaints from Thomas to know Sarah was a coldhearted bitch. Now that she was **** to room with the woman? The hate was quickly becoming personal.

Both mornings thus far, Sarah had promptly woken up at 5:00 AM. It would have been annoying on a good day, but for someone trying to sleep off a hangover? It was pure ****. What did she even have to get up early for? It's not like she was going to work...

This morning Bailey had tried to fall back asleep after Sarah had so thoughtlessly banged about the hotel room, but it was a losing venture. Eventually she gave up, threw the covers back, and blew a loose curl of her hair out of her face. Thanks to her transformation, the annoyance of being woken up so early was making her horny but it was manageable for now. Seeing nothing else for it, she got out of bed.

She walked into the bathroom. Heading for the sink, she wet a washcloth with cold water, and wiped the crusty remnants of sleep out of her eyes. The cool refreshing water made her feel more alive, if not any more rested.

I need to stop staying up so late. She stood in front of the mirror examining her face. Fortunately, there where no bags under her eyes. She moved down the bathroom vanity to where her makeup and skincare products were. She'd been delighted to find that they had apparently been transported here along with her clothes. After applying her daily moisturizer, she moved on to her makeup. She decided to keep it fairly simple today, with a bronze eye shadow that sparkled on her rich brown skin. She applied some mascara to her already long lashes, then finished up her look with a light pink lip gloss.

Satisfied, she made her way to her wardrobe closet. She shed the pink silk nightie she slept in and began to pick through her clothing. She pulled out a pair of blue high waisted panties, and a matching push-up bra. Having put those on she then selected a green sundress. She slid into it and posed in front of the full length mirror that was in the closet. She frowned at her reflection. Something was missing...

Bailey returned to her drawers. She pulled out a light brown leather belt with a brass buckle and cinched it around her waist. There. Now the look was complete. She stood back and admired her reflection. The push-up bra accentuated her already large D-cups and the plunging neckline of the sundress made for a stunning view. The leather belt she had added tightened the dress around the rest of her generous curves. With a nod at her reflection, she grabbed a leather purse and stepped out of the closet. She looked good. She felt ready to seize the day and do...

...what?

What exactly was she going to do? She stood in the middle of her hotel room, hand on her hip, all dressed up and nowhere to go. Instinctively, she reached into her purse for a cellphone that wasn't there. She had never really understood how dependent she was on that connection until it was missing. Without that link to her friends she felt untethered, adrift. Sighing, she flopped down on the edge of the bed.

She had spent most of yesterday aimlessly wandering the hotel, and once that had grown boring perusing the street outside. Sure, there were plenty of amenities, stores, and restaurants available here, but what was the point? She'd been torn away from her friends and fiance so who was there to go out with? The other women? They were mostly complete strangers to her. Robert? She had heard Thomas sound off enough about his coworker to know that was a laugh. Her fiance thought the man a boring oaf with the personality of dry white toast, and thus far she hadn't seen anything to cause her to think otherwise. She couldn’t even fully throw herself into partying to forget. She had found a nightclub, but it turns out clubs are really boring when the only people there besides you are the DJ and the bartender.

She supposed she should be out getting to know the other women, but to what end? Sarah was a non-starter and all the other girls just seemed so...plain...compared to her friends. Cassandra was the only one that seemed semi-interesting. Bailey had spent a good part of yesterday trying to find the former starlet, but she had come up empty.

With a sigh, she got off the bed and made her way to the door. She spent all this effort to look nice, might as well not waste it.

******

Cassandra had some shopping to do.

While Samantha's entire wardrobe had been magically transported to her walk-in closet, Cassandra had been dismayed to discover that her own closet now only contained outfits fit for a red carpet. Evening gowns and ballroom dresses and more heels then you could shake a stick at. Her roommate had oohed and aahed over the glamour of it all, but Cassandra was not pleased. She couldn't go through the rest of her life wearing only formal wear.

Cassandra had taken advantage of Samantha's absence last evening to enjoy her hotel room to herself. She had discovered that you could pay BP for room service, but also there wasn't anything stopping you from just carrying things out of the dining hall. After putting together a plate piled high with various cheeses, crackers, and bread, she had snagged a bottle of red wine and retreated to her room. She had drawn a bath, and spent a relaxing evening soaking, snacking, and sipping.

The next morning she felt surprisingly recharged considering the circumstances she found herself in. Samantha had yet to return from her date, but Cassandra paid that little mind. She knew exactly what her mission for today was.

After a quick breakfast Cassandra stepped out of the hotel, and onto the sidewalk. Before she could proceed any further, the Masterwork Theater across the street caught her eye. The large marquee that had previously been blank had now been updated.

NOW PLAYING

SAMANTHA MARTINEZ: 6 VP

SARAH BRIDGES: 0 VP

BAILEY WINTERS: 0VP

CASSANDRA LAYTON: -2 VP

ROBIN LEVY: -2VP

CHLOE TAYLOR: -2 VP

Cassandra sighed, remembering how she (and Robin and Chloe) had been penalized for her poor performance in the popularity poll. Lowering her gaze she noticed the six glass poster boxes flanking each side of the theater entrance now held character posters of each woman in the harem. Cassandra crossed the street to get a better look at them and discovered that each poster was a high quality print of an individual woman. Cassandra noted with some dismay that the photos were candid shots that all appeared to have be taken sometime after the first transformation round. Robin's gothic makeup and Samantha's ears were both on full display. Poor Bailey's photo seemed to be from the moment she was so mad she nearly orgasmed during the show intro. Cassandra came to a stop in front of her own poster and looked it up and down. It was evidently taken during the studio tour. Her hair, makeup, and evening dress combined to make a stunning view, and the heels she was wearing in the picture put her shapely calves on full display. Walking down a sunny “California” street, she looked the very image of a Hollywood star. She hated it.

Turning away from her poster, she consulted the hand-drawn map of the street Sarah had given her at breakfast. After Sarah, Robin, and Chloe had made their list of stores and restaurants, Sarah had taken the time to draw and label a rough map for each of the women on the show. She'd been pretty apologetic when giving it to Cassandra, telling her it didn't label the multitudes of restaurants on the street, but it did have each individual store that didn't sell food marked.

Cassandra took a second to use the map to get her bearings, then set off down the sidewalk. Her heels clicked sharply with each step as she walked briskly, leaving the hotel and theater behind her. After a short walk, she found her destination: Yamanaka Clothing Store.

The store front was rather drab and unassuming. However Cassandra was rather surprised when she entered the shop and discovered a wide, well-lit sales floor with racks and racks of clothing. Everything from more casual styles to formal gowns were visible. The only thing she didn't see was any staff.

“Uh...hello?”

“Hi!” Cassandra nearly jumped out of her skin as a voice piped up from behind her. She spun around to find a short Japanese girl that had seemingly materialized out of mid-air. She had a wide grin, and was waving at Cassandra with small, quick motions of her hand.

“Can I help you?” The girl asked, tilting her head and looking Cassandra over.

“Yes, I just wanted to buy some clothes.” Cassandra's heartbeat was slowly returning to normal. “Is it ok if I browse some?”

“Go right ahead!” The overly chipper shopkeeper respond. “If you can’t find something you want, feel free to ask! I’ll be at the front counter.”

The girl spun on her heel and headed for the front of the shop while Cassandra began to browse the clothing racks. It was a comforting, familiar act. The clothes were largely organized by style, and each garment had a small tag marked with the price in BP. Something was missing off the tags though…

“Excuse me!” Cassandra called across the store. “I don’t see any sizes marked on any of these?”

“Oh! That’s because all clothing is guaranteed to fit your dimensions at the time of purchase perfectly!”

Wow. A true “one size fits all.” Cassandra resumed her wandering, occasionally picking up an outfit and examining it, before returning it to the rack. As she looked over the clothing she soon noticed a disturbing trend. The more revealing the clothing, the cheaper it was. A full sweater cost 1000 BP, while a tight tube top was only 50 BP.

She had precious little points, so she decided a small experiment was in order. Browsing the store, she hunted down the cheapest pair of sandals she could find. Carrying them up to the front counter, she laid them down and informed the shopkeeper that she wished to purchase them.

“Of course!” the shopkeeper was all too happy to exclaim. She scanned the price tag on the sandals with a very dated looking cash register.

Sandals – 50 BP

Cassandra: 800 BP → 750 BP

Cassandra immediately took the sandals and slipped them onto her feet. She enjoyed a brief moment of flat-footed relief, before she felt her heels begin to slowly rise off the floor. With a sigh, she watched as the sandals slowly shifted into a pair of plain strapless two inch heels.

I figured that would happen, she thought resignedly. At least I only bought a pair of shoes. She picked up the heels she had worn into the store, while pulling out Sarah’s rough map of the street.

Where was that transformation shop again?