I’m a locksmith, and… I’m a locksmith

Your bus pulls up to the stop and you get off. As you walk down the street, you consider your next step with the Multiplier.

You really like Penelope (and Sigrid, and Eleanor, and it’d be nice to get to know Maggie better, you liked her, and…), but… is this going to happen every time you talk to a woman for more than a few seconds? Not that it’s a bad thing, it feels really nice, but… well, it’d be useful to know.

Maybe if you experiment a bit – see what happens when you have a very limited interaction with a woman. Like you had with Sonia, except Molly’s presence was probably a confounding variable there. So you need a controlled environment where you can interact with a woman alone, and ideally it’d be someone who you’ve never met before, in order to not have previous exposure as a factor either. And also it’d be good if it’s in a setting where you can plausibly end the interaction and leave after a short time.

You’re pondering how you might set this up when you arrive at the locksmith’s shop.

Ah.

“Hi,” you say. “I’d like to get a key duplicated?”

The locksmith smiles at you. She’s really pretty – slim but curvy, black hair in a ponytail, about your age, muscle shirt exposing biceps that are covered in tattoos.

“Sure!” she says. “Can I see your original?”

You pass it to her. She examines it.

“By the way, that’s some amazing work on your arms there,” you say.

She smiles again. “Thanks! This is a Rabson twelve plus. The Rabson blanks are on the third rack from the left; if you want one with a pattern, that’s an extra three bucks.”

You pick a blank with an outer-space pattern on it and hand it to her, and your fingertips brush against hers. “Thank you,” she says, and inserts the blank in a weird-looking machine, and then inserts Tammy’s key in a different part of the machine and makes some adjustments. You watch closely, fascinated.

The locksmith glances at you. “… uh, yes?”

“Oh! Sorry, I just… I never saw a key being duplicated before, and I was wondering how it works. Is this a standard machine?”

“Oh. No, this is a George 347, it’s over thirty years old. It was my dad’s. Still works perfectly.”

“Second-generation locksmith?”

“Third,” she says, and then turns on the power. Metal screeches, and engines whir, and wheels spin, and she pulls levers, and little mechanical arms go up and down and back and forth, and there’s a loud hum. After a lot less time than you expected, she turns the machine off.

“That’s it?” you ask. “It’s done?”

“Yeah, it’s done. Moment, please.” She extracts Tammy’s key from the machine and gives it to you, then extracts the new key and holds it up to the light and peers at it. She blows on it a bit, then picks up a wire brush and strokes it over the key a few times, then repeats the hold-up-to-the-light, blow, brush cycle a few more times until she’s satisfied.

“Eighteen dollars,” she says.

You give her a twenty, and she hands you the new key. “Keep the change,” you say. “Oh, and – could I have a full receipt? Sorry, it’s for the insurance.”

“Sure, no problem.”

She goes to the computer at the back of the shop, types rapidly on the keyboard, and then brings you a receipt from the printer. You glance at it.

HENDRICK LOCKSMITH

KEY DUPLICATION

• Rabson LB12+ key blank, Outer Space pattern: $8

• Service charge: $10

• You were served by: JANINE

  ---

You look at her. “You’re Janine?”

She smiles. “That’s me. Nice to meet you.”

You put the keys in your pocket, tuck the receipt into your wallet, and walk out.

You really were impressed by her tattoos. You really were interested in how the key-duplicating machine works. Once she told you it was her dad’s machine then it was perfectly reasonable to ask a simple question about her family. You really do plan to ask Maggie if you can include the duplicate key in your claim, because you wouldn’t have needed it if not for the fire, so you really did need a receipt. And seeing her name on the receipt and then using it – totally normal.

There was nothing fake about anything you did in there. The fact that you were able to use these small interactions to experiment with the Multiplier... that’s a bonus.

Tammy’s boutique is close enough that you can get there on foot. It’s a really nice day out, and you’re fifty-fifty on checking the Multiplier as you walk, versus enjoying being outside on a beautiful September afternoon.

Then a guy who’s texting as he walks bumps into you, and before you can catch your balance you fall into an old lady carrying shopping bags.

The texting guy is very apologetic, and helps you get to your feet, and both of you help the old lady recover the contents of her shopping bags. She’s okay too, thank god, and reassures you that she knows it wasn’t your fault. As you walk away, the old lady is tearing the texting guy a new asshole for being careless.

You decide you’ll check your phone later.

Ten pleasant minutes in the afternoon sun later, you’ve arrived at the mall where Fashionissima is. You’ve never been to this mall before, but you find your way to the boutique relatively easily. (Okay, you ask a security guard for directions.)

The boutique is a lot bigger than you expected, and you have no idea where Tammy might be. Well, if you go to a side wall and follow it all the way to the back, and then follow the back all the way to the other side wall, you’ll probably find Tammy’s office eventually, right? Before you can start on this plan, though, a sales clerk comes up to you.

“Good afternoon, sir,” she says. “Can I help you?”

She has a definite accent, although you wouldn’t be able to identify it more specifically than ‘probably Slavic’. Then you notice that her name tag says “Olga”, and you drop the ‘probably’. She’s slim like Janine was, but not as curvy, and really, really cute, with… you guess that hair color is called “sandy brown”, in bangs. You’re not sure about her age, but you’d put her within five years of 30 in either direction.

“Hi,” you say. “I’m looking for Tammy Carter?”

“Certainly,” she says. “Right this way.”

She’s leading you in the exact opposite direction of where you’d planned to start your search, so this has saved you probably upwards of a half-hour wandering through the place. And speaking of ‘saving’, as you and Olga walk past an aisle, she steps on a wet spot on the linoleum and slips and loses her balance, she’s flailing her arms and swearing in whatever language that is, and she falls over backwards and you catch her.

She’s a little heavier than she looks, but Steel-Driving Man means you can hold her up for longer.

“Oh my god!” she says. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Thank you so much!”

“I mean, it’s just a reflex,” you say, as you help her back into an upright position. “Someone falls, you catch them. But you’re welcome.” You feel a buzz from your phone.

She’s smiling at you. “It’s a good reflex,” she says. “Just through here,” and she leads you off the sales floor and into a narrow branching hallway with dozens of boxes stacked against the walls. At the end of the hallway there’s an office, and in the office, Tammy is seated at a desk fussing with stacks of paperwork.

“Hey, Tammy,” Olga says. “There’s a slippery spot on the floor at the end of Aisle 3, I almost fell, but this hero saved me!”

Tammy’s face lights up as she sees you. “Jacob!” she says. “Hi!”

“Hey, Tammy,” you say. “Here’s your original key.”

She starts to get up, but Olga is still here, so you just toss the key onto her desk.

She takes it and puts it in her pocket. “Thanks,” she says. “Olga, go put up the Wet Floor sign.”

“On it,” Olga says. “And Jacob – thank you again.” She smiles at you, and shakes your hand, then leaves.

“Everything going fine?” you ask Tammy.

She doesn’t answer for a few seconds, and you realize she’s staring at your crotch.

“Tammy?”

She blinks. “Oh! Yes, uh, sorry, everything’s going just fine. How was your morning?”

“I went to my building – dammit, my old building – to take pictures.”

“It’s that bad?”

“Might be salvageable, but it’d probably take months of work. Wouldn’t be ready before winter.”

She winces. “If you’re staying that long, we’ll have to do something about the bed situation. … You can’t just keep sleeping on the sofa, I mean!”

You nod.

“Any of your stuff salvageable?”

“Actually, it looks like some of it might be, yeah. Penelope’s gonna take tomorrow afternoon off to help me empty out the place, bring my stuff over to your place. She’s got a car.”

You hold your breath. Sigrid and Eleanor didn’t seem jealous of each other when they met, but Tammy was jealous of Penelope earlier – is Share and Share Alike retroactive?

Tammy smiles. “Oh, that’s nice of her! Why don’t you ask her to stay for dinner afterward? I’d really like to meet her!”

You exhale. “Yeah, I’ll do that. I also met with my insurance person, she says everything should be fine as long as I keep my receipts. Next I’m going to buy new clothes so I don’t have to keep wearing these,” and you motion to the clothes you’re currently wearing.

“Too bad we don’t have any men’s wear here, or I’d let you use my employee discount,” Tammy says with a grin. “There’s a Leopard’s Spot at the other end of the mall, you can start there.”

“Sure. After that… I guess I’ll be done for the day, so I’ll head back to your place, and, I guess, start looking for a new apartment. Real estate websites.”

She looks you in the eye. “You can stay with us for as long as you need,” she says firmly. “So… don’t settle for a place that’s not good enough just because you think I want you out.”

You smile. “Thank you. That means so much. Uh… I might regret this, but… are there any household chores I can help with?”

Tammy cackles. “Clean the bathroom,” she says. “Supplies are under the sink.”

You roll your eyes. “Guess I asked for that.”

She snickers. “You literally did, yeah. I do need to get back to work – anything else?”

“Uh… you were right, that shower I took this morning was really, really relaxing.”

Tammy’s brow furrows – then her eyes widen, and she blushes, and you know she’s realized you’re using her euphemism about jacking off in her shower. She takes a deep breath. “That’s good to know,” she says… then licks her lips, and winks at you. Her gaze flickers towards your crotch again, and oh god, now you’re starting to get an erection – but then she turns her head away. “I have to get back to work,” she says, smiling. “See you later.”

You close your eyes, and remind yourself that not only are you in a public place, you are in a women’s clothing store. Self-control. Self-control. Self-control.

Although technically, a piece of your brain says, this is the manager’s office, there’s even a door that you could close, so you could strip Tammy nude and fuck her on her desk, her legs in the air, your tongue in her mouth, Olga watching and groping herself and STOP, NO, NOT HERE.

Once you’re positive none of the customers or staff will complain about you being in the store with a visible erection, you open your eyes. Tammy is watching you… although you’re not sure if she’s watching your face or your dick.

“Have a good day,” you tell her, and walk out.

As you head towards the exit into the larger mall, you pass by Olga.

“Hi again, Jacob!” she says, beaming. “It was very nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too, Olga,” you say, and you suppose it genuinely was, even if you don’t really know her yet (so you’re expecting to meet her again? says the part of your brain that gave you the Office Orgy images a few minutes ago; you do your best to ignore it). For a second, you’re almost expecting her to hug you like everyone else has done today, and she starts to move her arms as if that’s what she’s going to do, but then she shakes your hand. She holds your hand for several seconds, looking you in the eye and smiling... then suddenly lets go. “Oh!” she says, and blushes. “I, uh, I… I already shook your hand! Sorry! Sorry!”

“It’s fine,” you reassure her, and leave Fashionissima.

You consider checking the Multiplier right now, but although you know yourself well enough to realize that you’ll probably backslide eventually, the old lady had a solid point about focusing on your phone while walking through a crowded place, and the mall is really crowded today.

Fine, you’ll look at it once you’re on the bus.