"Patricia" Mrs. Larsen said, "I'd like you to meet Brianna, 'your daughter'."
"My what?!" Patricia was standing now, facing the girl.
"It's me, mom!" Brianna said, giggling. "Don't you recognize me? Oh, I missed you, like, soo much!" and saying so, Brianna hugged her mother tightly. Patricia was still stunned, not knowing what to do.
"As I told you" Mrs. Larsen continued, "Christine told me she was very eager to help you, and I thought about it for some time… Since you are going to be an 'experienced woman', I thought it would be appropriate for you to have a daughter. This way, your new role in life will be beyond any suspicion. In addition, it'll make you even more immersed in your new persona."
"C-chris?" Patricia stammered. "Is it really you?"
"I don't know any Chris, mom!" the girl said, while she chewed gum loudly and wrapped a lock of hair around her finger. "I'm Brianna now! But you shouldn't call me that unless you're mad at me" she giggled again. "Just call me Bree! Isn't it the cutest nickname ever?"
Patricia was getting more and more shocked. How could that girl be her old middle-aged boss? Not only her personality but also her body was completely changed. But then she remembered her own transformation. If those people at the clinic had been able to turn a guy into a woman, they could easily make a female look like a younger and hotter version of herself, right?
"Chris... I mean, Bree, did you really volunteer to do this?"
"Of course, mom! Do you think I would let you have all the fun by yourself? I am, like, loving all this!"
"As you can see" Mrs. Larsen said, "Bree is very excited about being a young woman again. Not just because of the opportunity to support you, but also for the chance to live without so much worry at least once. She never had the chance to be a more relaxed person, you know, not even in her youth."
Patricia knew it was true. Christine was the most focused person she had even met, and because of that it was hard to believe the way she was acting now. If it weren't for the fact that Patricia now entirely trusted Mrs. Larsen – thanks, among other things, to all the hypnotic tapes she had heard – she might have suspected that something wrong was going on there, and that Christine hadn't exactly been a volunteer in that project. None of this went through her head, though, and it was her turn to hug, Christine – now Brianna, her daughter.
"Thank you, sweetie!" Patricia said. "It's so good to have you by my side again."
Patricia couldn't explain it very well, but she felt something new at that moment. Of course she had always liked her old friend, but it was different now. The feeling was so intense and deep... She realized how much she loved Brianna. She knew that she could do anything to protect the girl and to make her happy.
Wow, I think this is what people call motherly love, she thought, gaping. This seemed to be true. She could no longer see Brianna as anyone else but her daughter. It was weird, but the feeling was so real and wonderful...
I'm a mother… she told herself, feeling the weight of this finding. I don't know why, but I know it's true. at least for now, I'm mother.
A little later, Mrs. Larsen asked Brianna to leave for a moment because she needed to talk to the girl's mother alone.
"So, what do you think, Patty?"
"It's... unbelievable! But still, as I said, I'm happy she's here! How… how old is she now?"
"She's seventeen years old, soon to be eighteen."
"It means that I can't be thirty-one years old anymore."
"That's true, but you knew that you would need to be an older woman all the way long, Patty. Now it's time to make it happen."
"But what about the company I'm working on now? How will I explain my sudden aging?"
"Oh, you don't need to keep working there. I will inform your boss that unfortunately you had to leave the town because of family problems, and that you don't know when you'll be able to come back."
Patricia got sad to hear that. It meant she wouldn't be able to see Michael anymore. Well, I guess I'll be too old for him, anyway, she thought. But maybe, after I get the evidence against Mr. Hill, I can ask Mrs. Larsen to be this age again, then Michael and I...
She suddenly interrupted that thought, stunned. Why the hell was she thinking those things? She had dated Michael just to improve her role as a woman. It wasn't like she wanted to date him regularly let alone be a female forever! She had a fiancée, after all. Julie! Even though the time she used to be the Julie’s boyfriend seemed like a weird and distant dream now…
"Do you want me to give a special message to someone there?" Mrs. Larsen asked, almost as if she were reading Patricia's mind.
"Well, there are Lisa and Monica, two secretaries who have become close to me, and also Michael… we went out together, after all."
"Don't worry, my dear. I'll personally tell them that you're very sorry for leaving so suddenly, but you had no choice, and that you expect to see them again. Now, as I said before, we need to discuss the final part of your training."
"O-okay."
"From now on, we'll pretend you've never been a man. You are just a middle-aged woman who came to our clinic accompanied by your daughter to relax and have some cosmetic treatments. You've no idea about who Patrick Donovan is. As far as you know, this person doesn't even exist. Believe me, Patricia. This will be very important for your training, and this is a very serious things. There can be no exceptions! You can no longer speak or think about this name!"
"I... I see, Mrs. Larsen, and I trust you " Patricia stated, although she was feeling a bit afraid. That situation was getting even more extreme.
"That's good to hear, my dear. We'll talk more in the coming days. For now, I just want you to read it eagerly."
"Another book?"
"Oh no, darling. This is a diary. Your diary. Everything that happened in your new life as a woman, the only life you had for all purposes, is registered there. I want you to assimilate the entire content of this manuscript. It's your life, after all."
Patricia looked at the lilac cover of the diary with curiosity. She was about to open it when Mrs. Larsen stopped her.
"Not now, my dear. Wait until you're alone."
"Yes, Ma’am."
"You can go now. And remember, the next time we meet, you'll be just a woman. You've always been a woman, and that's the only truth."
"But what if..."
"Shhh... Just read the diary, my dear. You'll know exactly what to do."
While Patricia was walking back to her room, she couldn't stop thinking about what Mrs. Larsen had said. She looked at the diary she was carrying again and felt a shiver. What would be written there? What was her real story? She was a mother now... Who would be Brianna's father? How old would Patricia be now? So many questions… And the only certainty was that Patrick Donovan was dead for now. She knew how serious Mrs. Larsen could be about her ideas, so Patricia knew that any mention of her old self was forbidden. But how long would this last? When would she be able to leave behind that life of dresses, high heels, makeup, motherhood, and be a guy again?
And more importantly… Could it ever happen?