Swap Meeting

Many thanks to floss83 for all the hard work in editing and improving this story from a previous version.

*

Almost everybody who knew Barnaby Grant would describe him with only one word: bastard.

They had to admit he was shrewd in business and a master at making deals where he would come out ahead. But even though it was exciting being around a shark, most of the people he dealt with eventually tried to stay as far away from him as they could unless it was absolutely necessary to see him.

His private life was almost nonexistent. He often attracted women, but after a few doses of humiliation from him, they were cured. He didn't seem to care, because his phone list was full of high-priced call girls who'd do any degrading thing he wanted for enough money. They hated him, too, but they were whores; so they came when he called.

Tonight he was with one of them whom he didn't see often, because she avoided him unless she really needed the money. Though he took her to a nice restaurant, he spent the dinner telling her about Mrs. Roberts, his executive secretary, and the various ways he humiliated her in front of the staff, her husband and even her children. "I know she hates me, and she knows she could run the business without me, but because one of her kids has a lot of medical bills, she's at my mercy," he told her. He laughed heartily, and the hooker, whose name he forgot except when he looked her up, tried to smile because that's what she was getting paid for.

Barnaby never took any of his call girls home. He didn't want them in his house, so he always rented a hotel room for the night. He wasn't cheap, and it was always an expensive hotel. But it could have been a cheap dive once he and the pretty woman closed the door, because he delighted in prying out the one sexual request that the woman found the most detestable, and then he would demand it -- and get it. He enjoyed it even more if they were crying or gagging or both while he did it to them or they did it for him.

It soon came down to that this night, and the hooker was in a rage. She was refusing, but he knew she'd come around. His game was to see how little it would cost to force her to do it, and he figured that if it cost nothing extra, he was the winner. He usually won.

"You are the most disgusting excuse for a human being that walks this Earth," the woman was saying. "I just wish there was a way that you could be on the receiving end one time. I wish you could be me, and I could be you, and you could feel how degrading it is to have sex with you."

Talk like this didn't bother Barnaby. He loved it. It turned him on even more, because he knew by the end of the evening, he would have his satisfaction and the woman would be hating herself.

"Oh yeah?" he replied. "How much do you wish it? Would you pray to God or Allah or whatever you pray to for that to happen?"

"Yes I would," said the woman vehemently. "I would give anything to make you take what you've been giving. You'd be a whimpering coward in no time. I think you're just a bully. You can hand it out, but you can't take it."

"Oh yeah?" he said again. "Maybe you can find yourself a genie. Or why don't you go out on the balcony and wish on a star. Just don't fall off." He began to laugh.

She got up and staggered to the glass door to the balcony in her slip and pulled it open. He yelled, "Hey, be careful. You've had a lot to drink."

Who is he telling to be careful? she thought. He just doesn't want to be bothered explaining my dead body to the police. She opened the balcony doors and stepped out. There were a lot of stars in the sky. Why not make a wish? I know this is stupid, but I'm going to do it anyway. I wish that I could trade places with Barnaby. I'd be the rich businessman, and he'd be the whore. Yes, yes, yes. I wish. I wish. I wish. Oh, was that a shooting star?

She began to laugh and the laugh turned into a cough. It's cold out here, she thought. I'm shivering. But a second ago it was a nice night. What happened? Something feels strange.

She walked back into the room and began laughing again. "Barnaby Grant, you're through," she yelled at him as she poured herself another strong drink. She knew she was going to need it to get through this night. "I just wished on a shooting star, and you're finished, you hear me," she said.

"Oh I am, am I?" he said. "I'm really scared. Before I'm all washed up though, come over here. We haven't finished talking about that little thing that I want you to do, and it's getting late. That thing might take a little time, because I want you to do it very slowly, so you really enjoy it."

"Ugh," she said and shuddered. Suddenly she was just as chilly in the room as she had been outside. And she felt strange inside, too. It was probably the booze or the fear of what she was going to do with Barnaby. She poured herself another drink and walked over to Barnaby. She may as well get this over with as soon as possible.

A couple of hours later, he was fast asleep, and she was curled up in a corner of the bed weeping. In her four years on the job, this was the most humiliating and disgusting night of them all. Even being stinking drunk and delirious hadn't helped. She was too worn out to get dressed. So she cried herself to sleep in a drunken haze, repeating softly, "I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish..."

It didn't take Barnaby long to realize something was wrong. He slept in the nude, and when he woke up, he saw right away that he had two breasts, a vagina and no penis. He knew he was dreaming, so he rolled over on his stomach and put his head on the pillow, waiting to wake up.

After a few minutes, he felt no different, so he decided to get up and see where the dream might take him. He found himself in the hotel room from last night, and everything looked the same except himself.

There was a piece of paper on the coffee table, and he picked it up and read the note scribbled on it.

"I don't understand what happened, but I have to get out of here before I go crazy. I'll be back." It wasn't signed.

He walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the full-length mirror and saw that he had the body and face of last night's call girl, whose name he had forgotten. It was a nice body, he thought. The breasts were big but not the enormous ones he preferred. At least they weren't fake. The ass was small and round, just like he liked them, because the small ones hurt more when he penetrated them. She was in good shape, but then that's why she could charge so much. Her face was pretty good, too.

He wasn't in a bad mood, just a little impatient. This was quite a dream, but for some reason, he felt like he needed to wake up and get to work. There was a knock on the door. He looked around for some clothes, but his were missing. Then he saw that she had left hers there all over the bedroom floor. He put a towel around his waist and looked in the mirror and saw his breasts. He found the fancy white bathrobe and put it on and went to the door.

He pushed in right past him. He was him. Barnaby looked at the man. He was Barnaby, but this guy looked like Barnaby, and when he started talking, he sounded like himself. Weirder and weirder, he thought.

"Look," said the other Barnaby. "I am as puzzled and scared as you are. You are Barnaby, aren't you?" Barnaby nodded.

"Well, when I woke up early this morning, I was in your body, and I saw myself, you, lying on the bed next to me. I thought I was dreaming, but everything else was real. I started to put on my clothes and then realized that I looked like a transvestite, so I put on your clothes. I went back to my apartment and tried to figure out what to do. I still don't know, but if we work together, I'm sure we can come up with something. I don't believe in magic or anything, but this is something that's not natural. We've got to find a way to get our bodies back."

Barnaby listened. Some dream, he thought, but dream or not, he was Barnaby, and he didn't feel like changing his personality just because he was a woman.

"What are you talking about, bitch?" he said. "I'm going to work with you on what? Waking up? What's the idea of taking my clothes? Did you go into my wallet, too?" He looked around. "Where's my stuff?"

"I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to leave anything to be discovered here, so I took all your and my identification to my apartment. I figured we'd need it to work with when we go there later."

"I'm going nowhere," he said. "I'm staying right here until this dream is over. You're talking crazy. What the hell are you trying to pull on me?"

"You don't understand, we've got to get out of here, before anyone finds out," the other Barnaby said. "At least I do. I think you're making a mistake, but if you want to stay, I don't care. I'm leaving."

"You're going nowhere, bitch," Barnaby said and jumped at her. When she pushed him easily away, he found out that he didn't just have the hooker's curvy body, but also her woman's strength. And the other Barnaby had his well exercised body.

"Sorry, but I've got to go home now and think about this some more," said the other Barnaby. "My mind isn't working right. I'll come up with something and come back. You can't leave until I do." The man walked over and swept the hooker's clothes up from the floor into his arms, then rushed out the door.

A few hours later, the phone rang, and Barnaby picked it up. The voice was his. "I've told the hotel we're staying for a couple more days and my woman friend would be ordering room service," the voice said. "I'm working on this, and I'll see you tomorrow." The voice hung up and Barnaby slammed the phone down. He was getting tired of this dream. He spent the rest of the day eating, watching TV and drinking lots of booze. He thought of playing with his body, but decided that would be too spooky. He fell asleep in a drunken haze.

When he awoke the next morning, he was a little upset for the first time. This weird dream seemed to be going on a long time.

He ordered breakfast from room service and then took a shower. He put on the white robe. He thought about what he could do and what he should do, but he couldn't think of anything. He spent the day watching TV, eating, drinking and not thinking.

When there was a knock on the door around 8 p.m., he knew who it was, and he was even a little glad because it meant some variation from his boredom.

The other Barnaby went right to the closet. He was carrying some clothes. He hung up a couple of pieces and put the rest on the dresser. Then he cleared the meals that had accumulated on the round table and carried them out into the hall. He came back in and sat down at the table and said, "Sit down!" Barnaby grumbled but joined him.

"I spent the day with Mrs. Roberts," the man said.

"You did what? Why you little --"

"I was desperate. I couldn't keep going back to my apartment looking like you. I didn't know what to do, and I remembered you talking about her. Now, I don't have much time, because I'm going back to your office and working with her some more tonight. Thank goodness it's Friday. She agreed to work all weekend, but then she's used to that, isn't she?

"So if you want to hear everything I have to tell you, you need to shut up. If you start interrupting me, I'll just get up and leave. Is that understood? I'm not you, and I'm going to tell this in my own way, which means it may not be that logical, but you're going to listen anyway. When I'm done, I'll answer your questions."

Barnaby looked at the man and for the first time noticed he was wearing different clothes from the ones he had worn two days ago. They were his clothes. The man must have broken into his house. He began to get angry and started to say something but decided to be quiet for now.

"I went very slowly with Mrs. Roberts. At first, I pretended to be you. Boy is she frightened of you! She told me about the appointments you missed yesterday and had a list of people to call and your appointments for today. When I told her I didn't want to hear about any of that, she got really frightened. She thought I was playing one of your evil games with her.

"The more we talked, the more I thought to myself, I think I can trust her. Finally, I told her the story. Of course, she didn't believe me. She was trying to think of what trick you were pulling on her, so I told her she had my permission not to believe the story. She could think that I was hit by a car and it affected my brain, whatever worked for her. I offered to bring her here to meet you, but that really frightened her, so I dropped it.

"I remembered that you said she could easily run your business without you, and I told her that until I gave her other orders, that's what I expected her to do. I had to leave suddenly on business and won't be back for a couple of weeks is what she is telling everyone. Meanwhile, she will spend her time showing me what to do and teaching me how to be you. I had your address from your driver's license, and she told me how to get in your house without tripping the alarm."

"Why that --" Barnaby started to say and then he looked at the other Barnaby frowning at him and stopped.

"I went to your house and showered and put on some fresh clothes. You've got some place. It got me thinking more long term. Up to now, all I've been doing is trying to figure out how to survive in your hateful body. But I made myself a cup of coffee and sat at your kitchen table and thought hard for a couple of hours. I started writing things down. I'll read some of them to you now." The other Barnaby looked at the pad he had placed in front of himself.

"I decided my number one priority for now was you. No, I don't feel sorry for you, you sick prick, but you're in my body, and I have no idea how long this swap is going to last. I really don't believe in magic or anything supernatural, but I began thinking, what if something or someone was just teaching you a lesson and tomorrow or next week or next month, we would be swapped back? I couldn't have you wrecking my body before I got it back. So I'm going to take good care of you.

"That's why I brought you some of my clothes to wear. So you can get out of here."

There was a knock, and the man went to the door and opened it. A voluptuous woman wearing clothes too tight for her and heavy makeup walked in. "Barnaby, this is Tessy," said the man. "She's going to stay here with you for now.

"If you're like I am now, you're not going to change much. I feel like one of those men who say they are a woman trapped in a man's body. I'm still myself, and I'm not attracted to women. I did experiment already with your plumbing and found that I could make myself come with my hand -- even as confused as I am."

Barnaby now had his mouth open. He was absorbed in what the man was saying.

"Tessy is going to take care of me/you and make sure nothing happens to my body. She works for my friend, Tammy, who's a madam. I thought and thought of where I could bring you. Tammy believes in magic, and she totally got into my story. You can't stay here forever, and I can't trust you in my apartment. Tammy said she'd take you in if I paid your room and board. Mrs. Roberts showed me how to get access to your accounts, so that's not a problem.

"I see you're getting angry, but at this point that's the best I can come up with. I told Tammy to keep you happy until I could figure something better out. Some other girls are coming over tomorrow to take you over to Tammy's house.

"I'm not going to be seeing you for a while. I have to work on what I'm going to do with my apartment and bank accounts so they are safe in case I need them again. And I have to learn your business. But I'll be checking on you. I've got to go now. Any questions?"

A million things were racing through Barnaby's mind, but he couldn't put any of them in the form of a question. When nothing was forthcoming, the man got up and said, "Take good care of me, Tessy," and then rushed out. Barnaby looked up and saw the hooker was smiling at him.

If Tammy had any doubts, Barnaby's behavior soon convinced her that this wasn't her friend anymore but someone else in her body. He had finally realized that he had to at least temporarily deal with his new body, so he got over his astonishment and his real personality returned. He tyrannized her staff and found ways to humiliate and anger them. They went crying to the boss, but after she calmed them down, she told them they still had to take care of Barnaby.

Tammy lectured Barnaby, but he knew there wasn't much she could do. She told him that she thought of changing his name but decided that Barnaby could easily be a hooker name, so he would keep it.

Since he couldn't do anything else, he spent a lot of time on sex. The girls quickly discovered he was a virgin, and wasn't about to let anything be put into him, so sex consisted of the girls doing him with their mouths. Tammy told them they had to take care of him, so he enjoyed trying to make them as unhappy as he could.

Six months went by, and one day Tammy called him to her office. She had a big smile on her face. With her was the other Barnaby. "I see they've been taking good care of you," he said. "Tammy has been telling me what you've been doing to her girls, and I've been getting an earful from everyone at your office and all the people you know. I haven't found one person who likes you.

"Anyway, I'm not here for long. I've just come to tell you that I decided to cut loose. I have a feeling our swap is permanent. At least I'm not going to worry about it anymore. So you can do whatever you want with my body, and I don't care. I'm going to take good care of yours.

"Tammy says you can stay here and work for her, or she will have some of the girls take you out of town to wherever you want. I've given her $500 for you to tide you over. You won't have my ID, because I'm keeping that, but there are low-paying jobs you can get without an ID. Be careful, because I have a really sexy body, and you don't have the street experience I have. But I don't really care what happens to you at this point. If it's bad, you more than deserve it. Goodbye Barnaby."

When she left, Tammy smiled at him and said, "There's no rush, Barnaby. I'll give you three days to think it over. Meanwhile, the girls are going to give you seminars. All of us grew up as girls, so we've been learning what it means to be a woman our whole lives. You look like us, but you have no idea of what that means, especially the dangers and how to protect yourself against them. The way you are now, I don't think you could last out there a week, so before you leave, they're going to teach about life as a woman.

"If you stay here, you've got to start earning your keep. Or else we'll get you on a bus so you can start a new life somewhere else. If you can't figure out where to go, we'll pick a place. If you can't make a decision in three days, you'll be on the bus the next morning. But I hope you will stay with us. I have a lot of great ideas for you that I've been talking over with the girls." She smiled, and Barnaby shuddered.

The next three days, there was no sex for Barnaby. Instead, every waking hour, there was talking. One by one, the girls came to his room and told them their stories, the many ways men had abused them, demeaned them and raped them. What he needed to be careful of. Why he should never walk down a deserted street alone, and why he had to watch out whenever he went out by himself after dark, even in a car. What it was like working for a boss who pressured employees for sex. How vulnerable a girl with no money was, especially if she was good looking.

Barnaby listened but didn't make up his mind, because was also afraid of what he would have to do if he stayed there. He remembered what he used to make his call girls do, and that scared him as much as the stories the women told him.