Wild Wednesday

~~~~~

Cady sat on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table and stared at the TV, still in her mother's nightshirt. Springer was on, discussing moms who dress like hoochies, but she wasn't really watching it. After having Cady call her secretary and cancel all her appointments, her mom had left for school, dropping Shep off on the way. Now Cady was left home alone, hoping her mom wouldn't embarrass her at school and trying to figure out what could have happened to them. She wracked her brain, but couldn't think of anything out of the ordinary that happened the day before. She didn't even know what she was looking for. Really, when she thought about it, Cady knew there was no plausible explanation for what had happened to her and her mother. After a while her brain hurt and she though,Maybe I should just go back to bed and I'll wake up and everything will be normal.

Instead of going to bed, Cady just stayed in front of the TV, aimlessly flipping channels. She felt her mother's stomach rumble, but she had no desire to eat. When the phone rang it had her jump. Cady let the machine get it, knowing that a call in the middle of the day couldn't possibly be for her.

"Dr. Foster, if you're there, pick up the phone. Please, it's an emergency." Cady recognized the voice of her mom's secretary, Colette. She knew she really shouldn't answer, but the poor woman sounded seriously upset and Cady thought if something was really wrong she could get her mother on the cell and let her know.

"Hi, it's me. What's up?" Cady asked, picking up the cordless.

"Uh, Dr. Foster?"

"Yeah, what's happening?" The woman sounded confused and Cady realized that while she was speaking with her mother's voice, she certainly wasn't speakinglike her. She took another stab at it. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't sure it was you. Mrs. Reed is insisting on coming in this afternoon, even though I told her you had to cancel all your appointments for the day. She said, "The secretary paused while she located the message and then read into the phone, "'I'm sure that bastard is cheating and I've I don't get to see the doctor I'm going to blow his head off.' I didn't know what to do except to call you."

Damn, Cady thought. She knew sometimes her mother had patient emergencies and had to rush off to help people in crisis, but her mother was not going to be able to do anything this time.Maybe I can wing it, Cady thought.How hard can it be? Her mom was helping her by going to school in her place, so Cady thought the least she could do is help with this.All I have to do is sit and listen, I think. "I'll be there as soon as I can. If she gets there before me just tell her I am on my way."

Cady ran upstairs to take a shower and change, but in the bedroom she paused before the mirror. She did not want to see her mom naked. Just thinking about it was gross.Maybe I can get dressed with my eyes closed, she thought. No, that wasn't practical. She was just going to have to deal. Anyway, her mom had taken a shower in her body, a thought Cady found equally disquieting.Here I go. She pulled the nightshirt off and looked at herself through squinted eyes. Things didn't look so bad that way.

Honestly, her mom was holding up much better than she thought. Her breasts had very little sag, although it was weird to look down and see Tess's modest b-cups instead of her own big globes. Her mom didn't have a gut or anything, and her ass wasn't bad, but everything was just looser than on her body. Cady ran her hands over Tess's body and instead of the firm, soft skin she was used to she felt flesh with give to it. Regular exercise kept Tess in great shape, but even so a forty-three-year-old's body was quite a shock to an eighteen-year-old girl. Cady looked at her face in the mirror and pulled the skin tight.Oh my God, I have wrinkles, she thought.I'm, like, old. She turned to the side.Where's her ass? She smacked Tess's ass and was shocked by the amount of jiggling flesh. Cady wondered if this was what she had to look forward to, if so, she was all for plastic surgery.

After a quick shower Cady did the best she could with Tess's hair and tried to find something to wear to the office. It seemed like all of her mom's business clothes were so boring. There were some outfits that weren't so bad toward the back of the closet, but Cady knew those were "going out" clothes and her mom rarely wore them. She certainly wouldn't wear them to the office. But even so, did she have to be boring to look professional? Cady thought of the outfits she saw professional women wear on TV and thought her mom could do much better if she tried. She finally found a pair of black slacks she thought she looked good in, but her mom's blouses were hopeless and she settled for a plain white blouse that she could at least leave a few buttons open on.

When Cady arrived at her mother's office, there was an attractive middle-aged woman sitting in the waiting room staring at Colette. She assumed the woman had to be Mrs. Reed. Colette gave her athank God you're here look. Cady told Mrs. Reed that she would be right with her and walked back into her mother's office.

Cady closed the door and leaned against it, trying to stay calm. Now that she was there she thought maybe going wasn't such a good idea. What if Mrs. Reed was really crazy and Cady said the wrong thing and she attacked? She looked around the sunny office and spotted a line of blonde wood file cabinets along one wall.I can check her file out, Cady thought. There were labels on the drawers and Cady pulled on the one marked "P-Q-R," but it didn't budge. She dug her mom's keys out of her purse and went through three before she found the right one. The drawer was full of thick files and she thumbed through them, murmuring, "Rafelson, Rankin, Reber, Reed, Reed. Dammit!" There were two Reed files and both of them were for females. Sally Reed and Marcie Reed. Did that woman look like a Sally or a Marcie? Cady thought both were dreadful names and thought the woman in the waiting room could be either one. She pulled both files and carried them to the desk.

Both files had multiple audiocassettes, which she set aside immediately. There was no time to listen to those. Sally Reed was a sex addict was afraid she'd destroyed her marriage by opening it up to third parties.Kinky, she thought. The Mrs. Reed in the waiting room looked pretty normal to her, but Cady knew that you could never tell what someone might be like in private. She was intrigued and read further. She never got to the other file because Colette buzzed her and warned that Mrs. Reed was getting fidgety. "She probably needs to get laid," Cady joked to herself. She really hoped that Sally was the right Reed and asked Colette to send her in.

Mrs. Reed strode purposefully into the office and sat on the couch with her hands folded in her lap. She rapidly tapped her foot and was seething, but did not speak.

"What seems to be the problem?" Cady asked.

"That cocksucker is fucking around. I'm sure of it this time, I have incontrovertible proof!"

"Okay," she replied, drawing out the word. What should she say? Kick him to the curb?If Sally had opened her marriage to other people could she really blame him if he was fucking around behind her back, Cady wondered. Wasn't her mom's job to make people confront the truth? She decided that her mom would be honest with this woman, even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear.I think I could get the hang of this.

"Isn't this sort of your fault to start with?" Cady ventured.

Mrs. Reed exploded. "How could this be my fault?!?"

"If you hadn't started things maybe he would have never gone with anyone else. This was all your idea in the beginning, right?"

"My idea? What is wrong with you, Dr. Foster?"

Uh oh. Wrong Mrs. Reed? "Gimme just one sec." Cady swept both files off her desk and spun the high-backed chair around so she was facing the window. She openedMarcie Reed's file and found out that she was a paranoid with father issues. Marcie Reed's father had left after a string of affairs and she'd never been able to trust a man. While she did eventually get married, she constantly thought her husband was cheating, despite the lack of any evidence. She could barely resist the urge to call her husband on the hour whenever he left the house.What a nut job, Cady thought. She took a deep breath and turned to face Marcie Reed.

"I'm sorry, Marcie. I didn't mean to put it that way. But you always think he's cheating. Why are you so sure he really is this time?"

"Well, when we went to dinner last weekend I caught him staring at the young tramp they had on display as the hostess. I mean really, can you believe the way young women dress these days? Anyway, I knew he was looking at that girl and then last night he told me he had to work late, which he almost never does, but when I called him at work he didn't answer. When I confronted him he had the nerve to yell at me and storm out of the room! Can you believe the nerve?"

"What did he say when you confronted him?"

"He told me I'm crazy and that he ended up taking a client out to dinner. He even showed me the receipt, but I'm sure that was from dinner with his tramp."

I'm with him, Cady thought. "Is it possible he really was with a client? I mean, does he ever have to do that?"

"He works in sales, but you already know that."

Of course I do, Cady thought. "So he could have been telling the truth, couldn't he? Listen, Marcie, I've got to be honest with you. Your behavior would totally freak anyone out, you're even freaking me out a little, so it's no surprise that your husband got angry."

"But I know he was up to something."

"You don't know, Marcie. You're letting your mind play tricks on you. You've know some crappy guys and you're letting it play tricks with your head. Listen, I like totally understand. My friend Crystal got cheated on by her first two boyfriends and now, like right around three months, she cheats on every boyfriend she has because she's all like, 'I might as well do it before he does it to me.' So I know how hard it is to trust. You might even be trying to push him away without knowing it, but you've got to chill. If you love him you've got to believe in him."

Marcie Reed was looking at her like she was crazy and Cady realized she'd stopped acting like her mother for a moment. "But Dr. Foster, I don't know if I can ever completely trust. I really do love Robert."

"You have to hold onto that. Don't try to read into every little thing and when you start getting all frazzled you have to keep telling yourself your mind is playing tricks on you."

Cady kept talking to Marcie Reed until it seemed like she's finally calmed down enough to go home and apologize to her husband. Cady even recommended she do a little something to make him feel appreciated. When the woman left Cady was feeling pretty pleased with herself.

~~~~~

Meanwhile on the other side of town Tess felt like she'd been dropped into the middle of a strange country where she barely spoke the language and had no idea of the local customs. Even though Cady had written her schedule out and even wrote down where the classes were, Tess still managed to get lost and was almost relieved when she saw her daughter's friend Darby. Darby was dressed very similar to how she was and Tess couldn't believe she'd changed the girl's diapers. She went with the plan and claimed a sore throat so she wouldn't have to talk much, but it turned out she needn't have bothered since it seemed Darby could talk endlessly with just the occasional nod on her part.

Watching how her fellow students behaved and dressed made Tess feel very old. Cady was right, she never would have fit in with the outfit she'd chosen. She thought most of these kids' parents would be mortified if they knew how their children behaved when they weren't around. Tess thought her own daughter was basically a good girl, but now she had to wonder what Cady was really like.I guess I'm going to get an idea, she thought. Darby certainly wasn't the quiet, respectful girl she pretended to be whenever she came over to the house. She cursed a blue streak, talked about boys in ways she'd hoped Cady never eventhought about and even smoked.

It didn't help matters that Tess couldn't manage to get comfortable in her daughter's skin. The calf-high black suede boots that Cady matched with her outfit were difficult to walk in and she wasn't used to her clothes being so tight. There was also just the general discomfort of looking down and not seeing herself. More than once she bumped into someone with her daughter's much larger chest.

Tess was relieved when the final bell rang and the school day was over. There'd been a math quiz and she knew she'd owe Cady an apology for how she'd done. She did note interestingly, though, that her handwriting was her own, despite using Cady's hands. She wondered if she would feel things like herself or Cady and thought maybe she should do something later to find out.

The prom committee meeting was in a classroom and Tess sat in the back, fully intending to stay silent, but then it was obvious that Darby wasn't going to stand up to Charity about the DJ thing and Tess knew she had to act.

"I think we've seen and heard enough to make a decision," Charity said after they'd listened to just three DJ's tapes. She really was a snotty little thing, Tess thought, and there didn't seem to be a real thing about her, from her bottle blonde hair to her enormous implants. Even Tess had trouble not staring at them, especially since the girl was wearing a shirt that wouldn't fit a six-year-old. To her eye, it looked like Charity was already working as a stripper. Tess could understand why Cady hated the girl.

"Let's just make sure we pick the best one," Tess said quietly.

"Did you say something, Cady?" Charity asked with a sneer.

"I just want to make sure we pick someone because they're the best, not because of something like nepotism."

"Nepo-what? Anyway, I think DJ Swerve is totally the best." Charity announced and a couple of her clones, who sat beside her, nodded in agreement.

"Uhm, I don't think so." Tess remembered that she had to try and sound like Cady, who would never have used the word nepotism. "He, like, so sucked. He's got hardly any CDs."

"That's true," Darby agreed, emboldened by her friend. "He doesn't have shit."

"You guys are trippin. Besides, I think there are enough people with me that what you think doesn't matter." When Charity said this she thrust her chest out and Tess's attention flicked to the three boys who were on the committee. She realized they were going to be the swing vote and that if Charity was going to flaunt her saline she was going to have to use Cady's God-given talents as well, whether she was comfortable with it or not. She consoled herself with the knowledge that if was just what her daughter would have done.

Tess pushed back from the desk and slowly rose to her feet, taking her time adjusting her skirt in the back.God, I hope my ass isn't hanging out, she thought. As she walked to the middle of the room Tess could feel the boy's lusty eyes switching from Charity to her and she stood even straighter, thrusting Cady's breasts forward.I'm going to have these boys eating out of the palm of my hand.

She thrust out a hip and rested a hand on it. "Listen, I think all the blood must be sucked out of your head if you think I'm going to let you push this Swerve on us. What kind of name is Swerve anyway? You're not getting your way this time, Barbie."

"Excuse me?" Charity shrieked.

Tess walked over to where the boys were sitting together and leaned her butt against the edge of a desk. With them sitting, her breasts were right at eye level. "That's right, Barbie probably has less plastic than you."

There was an audible gasp and Charity screamed, "You little redheaded slut. I don't know who you think you are, but I don't think someone who's Mommy throws her friends out should be telling anyone what's cool to listen to."

And then Tess lost it. "You little fucking bitch." She took a step toward Charity and the boys were out of their seats, eager for a good view of the impending catfight, but Darby came between the two girls.

"Listen, there's no reason to get in a fistfight over this. It's just about who the best DJ is. Go back to your corners and let's just vote." Darby said, dragging her friend away from the fuming blonde.

Tess more than lived up to the stereotype of the fiery redhead and that, combined with her display of sex appeal, seemed to have won the day because when the voting was over Charity's choice was out. By the time they left the meeting Tess was feeling energized. Somehow being in her daughter's body had become freeing, like she didn't have to be so reserved. She also had to admit that she felt a charge from the way the boys looked at her when she was strutting her, or really Cady's, stuff. She felt a tingle, though that she chalked up to overactive teen hormones.

"I can't believe the way you unloaded on Charity in there. I know she's a bitch, but I didn't think you were the type to just pounce like that." Darby said.

"I guess I'm just not myself today."

"Well, I thought it was pretty cool, but I just hope she doesn't start a war over it. She can be a really vindictive bitch."

Tess hadn't thought about the fact that Cady would have to deal with the consequences of her outburst. "I'm sure everything will be fine. The school year's almost over anyway."

"That's true. Good for you for putting that bitch in her place. You should have done it years ago."

"Don't get too excited. I'm sure I'll be back to my old self by tomorrow."

As the girls exited toward the parking lot a voice called out, "Hey," and Tess turned to see Darrin leaning against the wall with his skateboard.

"What are you doing here?" Tess asked.

"You told me that you could probably sneak away for a while today because of the meeting, remember? You said your mom wouldn't be expecting you home right after school."

"Oh, right." Tess answered.That sneaky little thing.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone then. See you tomorrow, Cady." Darby said as she departed.

Darrin put his arm around her and Tess went stiff when he kissed her. The boy noticed she wasn't kissing back and asked, "Is something wrong, Cady?"

"No, nothing." When he kissed her again she knew she had to kiss him back because that was exactly what her daughter would have done. She took a deep breath and gave herself over to kissing Cady's boyfriend. Darrin was a sloppy kisser, but his lips were so soft and Tess felt Cady's body reacting to the kiss. Her heart beat faster and without thinking Tess really threw herself into kissing the boy back. Darrin clutched her tightly and she felt his hand settle on her ass.

"Damn, you've been holding out on me. Why haven't you ever kissed me like that before?" Darrin asked breathlessly.

Tess was feeling quite breathless herself. "Uh, I don't know."

He took her hand and led her around the corner of the building, where he'd left his '97 Firebird. Tess was still pissed that Cady had lied to her about Darrin and really wasn't in the mood to go anywhere with the boy, but al she did was ask where he was taking her as he helped her into the low car. Tess found it difficult to keep her skirt in place as she pulled her legs in.

"The boathouse, where do you think."

"I don't really have a lot of time. My mom will know something's up if I'm gone too long."