Phase I.VI- Investigation

"Hey, wake up."

Angel... Ange shook Ben awake. Ben got up, slightly groggy. He saw his mom wearing her sleepwear. Ben didn't know if it was just waking up in a complete daze, but his mom's pajama bottoms seemed to be slightly askew.

"Hey, baby." Ange cooed. "I was thinking: maybe today you could join me in my morning exercises."

"Oh." That woke Ben up. Did she know? Did she suspect it?

In truth, Ange still hadn't suspected a thing, but with them getting closer, figured that he should be at least part of this ritual for her.

"I promise I'll shorten it. Half of it is exercises and half basketball."

"I did like basketball last time."

"So, you in?"

"Yeah, sure mom." Ben pushed himself up.

"Alright, get ready, I'll meet you downstairs." Ange left, and Ben got up. He used to exercise himself during his basketball days, so there was probably some clothes for him. At least his normal clothes could do. First, he checked his phone. He had gotten emails back from both companies.

Both companies were surprisingly willing to delay their interviews until the next day, giving Ben some time to think it over.

Ben got ready in his bathroom and finally found his old workout clothes, which still fit him. He wore a grey sleeveless shirt and some sweatpants. He looked in the mirror. Surprisingly, he looked a little better than he had remembered. He put his hand over his now messy, unruly hair. Ange wasn't the only one whose hair had been growing.

He headed down to the gym, where he froze as soon as he saw his mother. Ange was wearing blue sports bra (that revealed a lot of cleavage) and some very, very tiny high waist black booty shorts. Her hair was now long enough to be tied up in a ponytail.

If her previous outfits hinted at her figure, this one practically showed it. Her abs in the midriff: her long, meaty legs; her ample, tight ass; and her breasts, large and firm.

Ange noticed Ben staring and looked down.

"There are a couple in there that were this size actually." Ange laughed. Ben laughed as well. Ange also admired her son, and how he had grown.

Ange shook her head and the two headed outside to the patio, and Ange laid down her yoga mat and exercise ball.

"Alright, babe, let's start with some stretches. Come and spread your legs out."

Ben sat and spread his legs, as Ange did the same. She met her feet with Ben's, and attempted several stretches for several second, commanding Ben to do the same. They would sometimes touch fingers.

After that, Ange grabbed onto Ben waist, and had him hold one leg up. Ben did the same to her waist (feeling her abs a little), and raised his leg. They alternated, and as they did, both their hands moved down.

After a few more stretches, the two were ready to move on. They locked legs and did sit-ups (getting very close when they pulled up), did push-ups right next to each other, and even pushed the exercise ball between them with their legs.

Ange then laid down face first on the ball, and had Ben left her legs. Then without the ball. Then, she cuved her back up and had Ben hold her legs as she did upside down dog.

The two knew on some level what was happening, but since it wasn't explicit, they didn't think about it much, despite their itch growing and growing.

When it came time for weights, Ange laid Ben down, and straddled him. She gave him her heaviest weights, and laid down herself to help him lift it. She would smash her body against his before lifting his hands. When she laid down to bring the weights back down, she and Ben were forehead-to-forehead.

Eventually, the timer went off, and the two grabbed the basketball. Even in the active game of basketball, Ange and Ben keep brushing up against one another, whether crotch to ass or torso to torso.

Ange won 6-1. They high-fived which turned into a chest bump. To spice things up (and to relieve a little tension), they also kissed.

Ange and Ben returned to the gym. Ange was the first to take a shower. Ben took small peaks to see Ange's naked body in all its glory. Ditto a **** Ange as she got dressed and tried to get views of Ben's body.

---

"So good", Ben closed his eyes in delight as he ate the pastelito de guayaba.

"My abuela made these every day for breakfast. Your grandfather, too. It was one of their most prized recipes."

Ange and Ben sat and ate their breakfast. Ange was wearing one of her signature detective suits, this time black jacket, white undershirt. She still wore her hair in a ponytail, though. Ben wore a football jersey and jeans.

"So, Angel-Ange, I have something to tell you."

Ange was concerned. "What?"

"I actually got two job offers today."

"Holy shit, that's great!" Ange crossed to hug Ben and kiss him.

"I know, but.... I just don't know which to choose. I was going to have some interviews with them today, but I didn't really get the vibe of either job, so I had to delay them."

"Hang on, how did you apply for jobs without getting a close look at them?"

"I applied through the Stepford app, and they didn't really have much on there. It just listed the company name, what they did, and what they needed (I applied for IT specialist). I only got their confirmation last night."

"Did you check their websites?"

Ben's eyes widened.

"It's okay!"Angel-Ange reassured her son. "Ain't a big thing, just want to know the context."

"Yeah, so I don't know which interview to go to tomorrow."

"Well, why not both?"

"What?"

"Look, on the ****, we didn't have a lot of 'smoking guns'-literally- and we had to find evidence and see what conclusions we could draw to get our guy. We had to then go to the guy with the evidence we had. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but we came to conclusions based on research."

"Mom, I know how investigations work."

"The same principle applies here. You can't just go into an interview without knowing the company. You need to compile the evidence on them, weigh the benefits, and see which is a good fit for you and your skills."

"I... didn't think of it that way."

"You know what?" Ange just had an idea. "Why don't we investigate together?"

"What?"

"Not like a big one like the ones we used to do on the ****. Just, let's use your computer skills to find everything we can on these two companies and which would be a good fit. Just, no hacking"

---

"... Alright, I think we've probed all we could. Here's the notes I've taken."

Ange and Ben had spent the past hour searching the web, archives, chats, forums, and databases with regards to Jing and Associates and Tranquility. With Ange's stipulation of no hacking, there was some information that proved enough to make preliminary thoughts.

Jing and Assoc. was founded by Francine Jing along with several other women and was originally a small firm based in Sacramento before moving to Stepford. It is currently run by Francine's son Mark. It handled many of the accounts of most of Stepford's biggest firms and was the main firm for many residents. It was extremely lucrative, with a very high pay rate by some accounts.

Tranquility Advertising is an arm of the "Tranquility Corporation", a company marked in complete secrecy. For the main company, no website, no news stories, no talking points. Just some government registrations, some inventory logs and a number of patents. Although, it seems to supply most of the businesses in Stepford and its sister communities and it had assets all over the country. As for its branches, they _did _actually have websites (if not much else of an extensive online presence), and Tranquility Advertising had a pretty detailed, if basic website. A lot of smiling families with products ranging national to local. No information on bosses, but apparently, it also had a pretty big pay rate and was rated well by ex-employees on the Stepford App.

Ange was slightly miffed. "Not a lot of information, but we do at least have some preliminary work done. And it seems these are both pretty well-paying jobs. Now, you have to move on to the second part of the investigation."

"Huh?"

"Documentation, websites, evidence, that can only tell you so much. You need to interview the suspects. Learn their side of the story. See if you could poke holes in their stories. See what details they could add, what matches up."

"I don't track."

"With a visit, you can see what it's like upfront. What they're like online vs. in person. You can get a feel of the places, and which one seems to fit with your plans."

"Oh, that makes a lot of sense."

"And these interrogations are key to at least getting details, positive or negative."

"I see what you mean. Hey, thanks, Mom for helping me out."

"No problem. Although, I would appreciate a little thanks."

Ange held her son with both her hands and gave another kiss on the mouth. However, to spice things, Ange and Ben bit each others lips intermittenly. This continued for several more seconds.

Satisfied, the two continued talking about the job, and practicing some interview questions.

---

Ben breathed in, and walked up to the reception of Jing and Assoc. A young brunette was sitting behind the reception, wearing a plaid pencil shirtdress with puffy sleeves and coke bottle glasses. She smiled at the young man, wearing his one formal suit, a standard black business suit with a red tie.

"You are Mr. Sanderson?"

"Yes?"

"You're right on time. Right this way."

She took Ben to the elevator, and hit the 14th floor. This building was probably one of the tallest in Stepford.

They walked out to rows of women at desks, all wearing swing or pencil dresses, all answering the phones or typing on their laptops or walking around, delivering various items to offices.

"What is this?"

"Oh, the typing pool. It's for all the girls who aren't attached yet."

The receptionist brought Ben up to an office. A fat 30 year old with a brown beard wearing a button-up and white pants was arranging papers on his desk.

"Mr. Delmount? Your 3 PM is here."

"So he is. Thanks Melissa."

Melissa walked away, and Ben moved to shake Delmount's hand. Delmount took out a folder with Ben's name on it

"So, we here at Jing are very impressed by your resume, and we just wanted to describe a little about what the job exactly is, and what it offers."

---

Ben was hit by lights as he headed through the corridors of the Tranquility Advertising with the receptionist, a 25 year old redhead in a white sweater and blue pencil skirt and sunglasses. There were multiple doors, showing various images being taken. The women were wearing much skimpier outfits than he had ever seen in Stepford, being taken doing a variety of activities, some intended to be embarrassing, with big smiles on their face next to a variety of products.

"So, they take the photos for the ads here? In-house?"

"Yep!"

"And they don't contract a photo studio?"

"In-house. More convenient that way."

The two continued to walk.

"And the models?"

"Also in-house. We are all three combined to make the best possible ads."

"Right, right...."

Ben suddenly bumped into a mustached, orange haired man in a sweater vest and khakis, looking through the doors and the models. Ben was star-struck.

"Holy shit, Emmett Cage."

Emmett ducked a little. "Sorry, you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Dude, I've seen _Venus _10 times. You've changed a lot, but I can still recognize you."

Well, shit. "Yeah, sorry, keeping a low profile since my transition. Can't have people harassing me on the street."

"What are you doing here, though?"

Uh.... "Good place to hide from Hollywood. Also, I was talking to some people about an endorsement."

"Oh, cool, I'm here for an interview. Maybe we'll see each other." Ben shook his hand again, and even took a selfie with the receptionist.

Oh, sure, you will....

In the meantime, there wasn't really a typing pool, but each office seemed to have a secretary anyway.

---

"I hope Earl Grey is alright." Debbie Vasudevan-Saperstein emerged with a trey containing a kettle and two tea cups. She was wearing a white pencil dress that looked like it clung to her form with a green cincher and green heels. Her bouffant hairdo and make-up were perfect and completely complimentary to her features.

Ange, wearing her tan suit, took a sip of the tea, but stared at Debbie as she sat in the couch diagonal to Ange. It struck Ange just then how slightly jealous she was of Debbie. The grace and elegance she seems to just innately have and convey with every move.

It was strange, because the Debbie Saperstein Ange remembered was, while attractive, modest, mostly a normal 41 year old with a modern fashion sense. Now, she looked and acted like a Hitchcock blonde.

"So, what brings you to Stepford, Angelica?"

"Well, the brochure was on my husband's body when he passed."

"Oh, yes, your husband was Tim Sanderson?"

"Yes."

"I met him a few times. Good man. My condolences about your husband's ****."

"Thanks, Deb. Anyways, I kept it with me, and after my son was almost caught doing something illegal, I figured this would be a great place to live or my husband wouldn't have chosen it! Plus I wanted to get closer to my son. What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you here?"

Deb put her white gloved hand to her chin and smiled.

"Well, I hope to tell you the whole story one day, because I find it quite riveting, but to keep it short, I was offered a Law Professor position here that didn't work out, I hunkered down here for a couple days, and eventually, I was offered a different position."

"Wait, you aren't a law professor anymore?"

"No, but it's for the best. I wasn't terribly good at being a professor, but I find my new position is pretty invigorating."

Ange was a bit confused, given she had been a well-respected professional and even a best-selling author, but decided to let it slip.

"What is your new position?"

"I am the Home Economics, Etiquette, and Social Studies teacher at Stepford Academy for Ladies."

"The what?"

"It's like a finishing school." The two turned to see Sita, wearing a pink and white striped swing dress, walking down the stairs. "Except with older girls. College aged and older. Like, I've seen women in their 60's there. Most largely can't attend Stepford University. "

Sita took her spot next to Debbie, who she hugged and kissed on the lips. Ange thought it was pretty romantic, though it brought back uncomfortable memories of recent weeks.

"Is little Aneesh asleep?"

"Very. I waited to make sure."

They kissed each other again, and held each other.

"So, you joined Professor Saperstein to here?"

"Yep." Sita turned to Ange, "And that's where we fell in love."

"We were actually just professor and student, but as we continued our stay here, we gradually fell in love, and now, we're married with this splendid house." Debbie seemed almost amused by this.

"It really is" Ange marveled at the house. Extremely luxurious and clean. "Sita cleans all this?"

"Oh, no, no, we share our duties." Debbie interjected I don't teach full-time anymore, so I can help out a little."

"Good arrangement." Ange looked around some more.

"So, how're you and your son doing? You getting used to Stepford?" Sita inquired.

"Oh, we're slowly adjusting. In fact, my son is currently going to two job interviews for 6 figure jobs."

Debbie perked up as Ange continued.

"Yeah, I'm hoping he gets a job soon, but I also feel like without him around..."

"What?" Debbie was intrigued.

"I feel like I'd just be stuck in that big house with no one and I wouldn't know what to do."

Debbie smiled and went over to Ange.

"Of course, that's not going to happen!"

"What?"

"Your son is the breadwinner! You have an obligation to take care of him. Once he brings in this money, no matter your relationship, it's your duty to make sure he's okay."

Ange thought for a minute, as Debbie continued.

"You said you wanted to be closer to your son? Well, you have to necessarily care for his needs, whatever they may be, and try to help him with ensuring he can do his job by any means necessary."

"I am starting to cook more for him."

Debbie was elated.

"That's what I mean! It's a great start, but you need to figure out all the other parts of that."

"Like, what"

"Too many to list."

Ange looked down for a minute, but rose back up. "I was thinking that I should try to be more supportive of my son, especially now. But, I just don't know exactly how to do it."

"Debbie could show you." Sita interjected. "She's helped people like you before."

Debbie smiled. "I would love to. I need a project outside of school."

Ange considered it. "Well, he won't be around me as much now, so I guess I need to cherish this time, and you seem to have everything in your life in order. I would love to learn how to better serve my son."

Debbie clapped her hands together. "Wonderful. Now, let's get to the first part: your makeup, hair, and accessories."

"My what now?"

"You have naturally great features, but make-up could augment that. Shows your son that you are willing to look presentable to the Man of the House."

"Also, you need a haircut! A good one" Sita laughed, while Ange smiled and danced awkwardly.

"Come," Debbie pulled Ange up and took her to the upstairs. "I have some make-up and clippers that would make you to die for. Even some extra jewlery for the new Man of the House.

---

Ben walked out of Tranquility Advertising, heading to a bus station to take him home.

He now had "interrogated the suspects", and had two options on his hands:

While both had the same six figure salary and decent benefits and retirements, and both involved working at home most of the time:

• He only had to come in once a month at Jing, barring emergencies and the retirement plan was really, really good.
• While he needs to come into the office a lot more in Tranquility, he also has two months of vacations and the benefits are a little bit better.

The million (literally) dollar question.