The Lady Invisible 5

Chapter 5: Grown-ups Playing Dress-up



  Suzanne ended up wearing her light-blue-with-dark-blue-circles zentai the rest of the day, until it was time to turn in. She even kept the hood up over her head, face and all, except when it was time to eat. It had not taken her long to discover she could drink through the fabric covering her face, though she didn't want to do so with anything but water, lest the coffee, wine, and such cause stains that would not wash out.

  It was after Marlee had taken some photos of her sister and the two had changed into nightgowns (Suzanne was 'headless' and 'handless') that she asked her "You really like those suits, do you?"

  "Yes, I actually do. Remember when we lived in St Paul and I loved wearing those scarves around my neck and half way up my face?"

  "How could I forget?" Marlee laughed. "Some women never seem to wear the same outfit twice, sometimes it seemed to me you never wore the same scarf twice!"

  A giggle emanated from the air above the neckhole of Suzanne's plaid nightgown, then her voice said "And when it got especially cold at night I would pull the bedsheet up over my face..."

  "And Mom would wonder where you were when she would check on you to make sure your forty extra winks didn't become four hundred!" The Kergulen family had always enjoyed something of an easy-going relationship among themselves, and that approach to life had somewhat helped the sisters cope following their parents' deaths several years earlier. Now they realized that while they still were not all that thrilled about their changes, at least they were beginning to accept things as they now were and were even starting to see new possibilities that had not been possible before.



  "I guess I should wear my 'interview suit' first" Suzanne said to her sister Saturday morning as they ate breakfast, referring to a navy blue skirtsuit she favored for interviews. "Katya and her other models did look so professional in their outfits, I should too, as much as I can."

  "Sounds like a good idea" Marlee said in response. "You would look as good as them, I think."

  "Though I don't think I can do anything about my face" Suzanne now said with some bemusemnt. "I'll just have to go as is."

  "I'm sure they won't mind too much."

  Once the sisters were done eating and cleaning up, Suzanne went into her bedroom, pulled off her nightgown and began dressing for 'work.' She zipped herself into her tan zentai, then slipped on a white blouse and fastened the buttons. Next, she pulled on a skirt so that her blouse's hem would be tucked in, then reached behind herself to zip up the skirt's zipper. After slipping on a pair of pumps, she added a necklace, then pulled on a jacket to match the skirt. Last but not least, she put on her wig, then looked herself over in her floor length mirror. When she decided she was ready, she stepped out of her room so her sister could photograph her with a small digital camera.

  "Sue, you look great, very professional."

  "Thank you, you might yet become a professional photographer yourself." Marlee was a longtime hobbyist shutterbug who also did photoshoots on the side, though she had never before done any of her sister.

  "Are you ready, Sue?"

  "Ready whenever you are, Marlee."

  Marlee took several photos of Suzanne in her business outfit, both full height and waist up. In some she appeared to be looking straight ahead at the camera, in others her head was turned toward one side or the other. Marlee also photographed her sister from the side, then Suzanne made a suggestion.

  "Take some pictures of me...from behind me."

  "Really?"

  "Yes, really. I sometimes wonder what I would look like from behind." She giggled for a few moments, then her voice took on a slightly more serious tone. "I'm sure in a jacket hem on up photo, no one will be able to tell if I hold my hands like this" she said as she clasped one fabric-covered hand with the other in front of her waist.

  "You are right, I can't tell either" Marlee said soon after, as she photograhed her sister from behind. "You look like anyone else." She giggled briefly, then asked "Are you thinking of sending one of these to Katya?"

  "I just might." Now Suzanne was starting to giggle.

  Once Marlee did finish photographing her sister from behind, Suzanne had another suggestion.

  "We need to get some photos of me at the computer" she now said.

  Marlee immediately agreed with her sister, adding "That will be something different. No one will be able to tell what exactly you are looking at."

  "And no one will be able to tell if my eyes are even open!"

  "I presume you also want me to take pictures of you typing on the keyboard?"

  "Of course! And you need to get my face - haha - in all your photos."

  Marlee proceeded to do just that, sometimes standing to Suzanne's side, sometimes on the other side of the computer so she could shoot directly at her sister's fabric covered face. Afterward they looked at the photos in the camera's display panel, then Suzanne said "I think I'll email Katya that one...that one..." until she had picked out about a half dozen to send. Once she had finished choosing she said "I think it is time for me to change."

  "What are you going to put on next?"

  "You'll see" Suzanne smiled under her mask as she headed for her room. When she came back out she was wearing the same zentai and wig, which was now tied into a casual ponytail. In place of her previous outfit she was now wearing a tank top and running shorts and athletic shoes.

  "Planning to go for your walk to the park?"

  "You got it."

  "You sure?" Marlee was still a little doubtful, despite their excursion to the mall yesterday. At that time Suzanne had gotten a fair number of stares, but she was far from the strangest sight around Orlando nowadays. Nor was her change or that of Marlee anywhere near the most extreme. For example, quite a few conventioneers literally could no longer wear anything but their Star Wars stormtrooper suits, let alone remove their helmets while in public. Others had undergone mind-boggling physical or mental transformations. At least two Kubla Con attendees had become fire-breathing dragons, and it was said only half-jokingly that there were now enough Jack Sparrows to man a small pirate flotilla by themselves. Though no one yet really had a handle on the number of people affected, it was thought possibly hundreds of conventioneers now believed they were the characters they had been portraying, with no memory of who they previously had been.

  "Well, I can't stay cooped up here all the time, you know I get antsy when I do. Want to come with me?"

  "Sure, as soon as I can get ready" Marlee said before heading for her own room. When she came back out she was wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and running shoes much like her sister's. She also had strapped a set of weights around her ankles for 'ballast.'

  "That will keep me from bouncing too much as I walk" she said.

  "Got the camera?"

  "Of course! You do want me to take pictures of you, don't you?"

  "Indeed. Maybe I'll send one or two to Katya later."

  When the sisters did return from their 4K walk, with several more photos of Suzanne on the camera's memory card, she decided to change before they had lunch. Stripping off her clothes, she then hand washed her zentai and hung it up to dry before putting on her pink suit and a colorfully striped sundress. She didn't replace her wig, nor did she put her hood up right away - that would wait until after she had eaten.

  "Sue, have you thought of being the 'headless horsewoman' for Halloween next year?" Marlee asked her when she sat down with her sister for lunch.

  "No, but it does sound like a good idea. That, or being a goblin. I think my long orange skirt and black blouse would be a good combination. I'd only need a jack-o-lantern for my head, and those clawed gloves I used two years ago."

  "I like it!" Marlee now enthused. "That is another very good one."

  Following lunch, Suzanne pulled her suit's hood up over her head, zipped it closed, and put her wig back in place. After another round of picture-taking, she returned to her room for yet another change. When she came out for the fourth time she was wearing a casual denim skirt and jacket with a t-shirt. More snapping of photos ensued, then Suzanne thought she would call it a day, as least as far as this modeling gig was concerned.

  "Don't you want me to photograph you in one of your pants outfits?"

  Suzanne shook her head as she answered "No, I'm starting to think maybe I have changed in more ways than one."

  "How?" Marlee wondered.

  "I'm already thinking of these suits as being kind of like pants for me now, somehow it just doesn't seem to make sense for me to wear other pants over them. I think dresses and skirts and even shorts would go better with them...and I have ideas for designs I might not want to wear anything over..."

  "Do you still want to get those pants and jeans you were going to get yesterday?"

  "Right now I'm not so sure...actually maybe I'll get more casual dresses and skirts and tops next time I do go...and I'll have to ask Katya if she can send me a pattern for her zentai so I can make some of my own."

  "I think you'll look good no matter what you wear, you always did have a way. You looked more natural than so many of those models you'd see at those shows, and I think you still would..."

  A few minutes later one of those cartoon inventor's lightbulbs went off inside Marlee's mind.

  "Can I borrow your tan...suit, Sue?" she asked. The two sisters had the same height and build, so they could easily borrow clothes from one another, and sometimes did.

  "What do you have in mind?"

  "We should photograph ourselves in those little black dresses we got a few weeks ago" Marlee said before pausing to giggle. "With your suits on under them no one will be able to tell who is who!"

  "Ooo...that will be fun...my tan suit should be dry by now..."



  The sisters' little black dresses were similar but not identical. Both were sleeveless with hemlines well above the knee, but Marlee's was v-necked while Suzanne's had a jewel neck. Marlee's dress was solid black while her sister's dress had two narrow white stripes at the waist and two more just above the hem of the skirt. Suzanne had pulled on a pair of high-heeled black pumps, while Marlee had strapped on a pair of high-heeled open-toed sandals. Both sisters were also wearing wide-brimmed floppy hats; this time Suzanne had chosen to forgo wearing her wig. The two regarded one another for a few moments, then Suzanne said "Marlee, you look great, like you are ready for a day at the races."

  "Thank you" Marlee answered, she actually sounded like she was blushing under her fabric mask.

  "How well can you see out?" Suzanne asked her sister.

  "Well, everything does look pretty fuzzy, but I can see OK. Just don't ask me to read!"

  "Don't worry, I won't make you." Suzanne paused, then asked "How DO I look to you now?"

  "You look devastating, Sue. You could probably blow a lot of guys' minds with your outfit. Just remember to put on your wig!"

  "Speaking of wigs, I think you would look even better in your outfit if you wore my wig. I mean, who really wants to see a bald woman?" Suzanne joked. Marlee looked herself over in a mirror on the wall, and agreed with her sister.

  "You do have something there. Your pink and blue suits would both look OK with or without a wig, but I don't think tan would look as good without."

  It only took Marlee a few moments to adjust her borrowed wig to her satisfaction and replace her hat back on her head, then the sisters pronounced themselves ready for yet another photo session. Marlee's camera had a ten-second delay button, so she had plenty of time to get into position alongside her sister. After some early trial-and-error, they found the right distance and snapped off several photos of themselves in various poses, including some in which they did leg kicks (not too high!). When they decided they had enough photos Marlee doffed her hat and wig and unzipped her hood so she could view the photos along with her sister. Because she could see equally well with her hood either up or down, Suzanne left hers up.

  It did not take the sisters long to pick out another pair of photos to email to Katya, including one in which they had an arm on each other's shoulders and kicking up their left legs.

  "We look like we are doing the can-can" Marlee quipped.

  "Ooo...now there is another idea for Halloween next year, or even the next convention, though right now I cannot imagine they would have another Kubla Con after what just happened...but who knows?" Suzanne added. Both sisters found themselves expressing surprise at having seen no can-can girls at Xanadu, although they had seen several women - and Arthur - dressed as ballerinas and others in other dance costumes.

  The sisters were just beginning to discuss what to have for dinner that evening when Marlee said she wanted to be photographed in one more outfit over her borrowed zentai.

  "What will it be this time?" Suzanne asked.

  "You'll see" Marlee smiled at her sister before heading for her room. When she came back out she was wearing a sailor-inspired top, pleated miniskirt, high-heeled boots, gloves, the works. Were it not for the fabric obscuring her face and the color of her wig's hair (Marlee had put it up to make it seem shorter) she could have passed herself off as Sailor Mercury.

  "Ah, I should have known!" Suzanne could barely restrain herself from laughing hysterically, it had been her sister's costume this past Halloween. Marlee had chosen it because some of her friends and neighbors had thought it would be the last thing she would wear, more than a few trick-or-treaters had done double-takes when she greeted them at the door.

 

  It was only after the Kerguelen sisters had changed back into 'normal' clothes (pants and top for Marlee, a t-shirt and light blue denim skirt over her pink zentai for her sister) and had had dinner that Suzanne finally got around to checking her email. Katya was indeed favorably impressed with the photos Suzanne had sent her earlier, now she had a request to make.

  {Please send more pictures of yourself, in casual clothes!}

  {Gladly!} Suzanne replied. She ended up sending one photo of herself in her tank-top-and-shorts outfit, two of her in her sundress, another pair of when she was wearing her denim skirt and jacket combo, and finally, the two she and Marlee had earlier chosen of themselves in their little black dresses ('guess which one is me!'). Both sisters were giggling when Suzanne hit the 'send' button on her computer.

  Katya had appearently been checking her own email at the same time, for not fifteen minutes later Suzanne got a response from her, possibly inspired by a Lord Kitchener recruitment poster, and perhaps Yoda as well.

  {You are the woman I want. Quite the fashion model you are. And which of those little black dresses are you wearing?}

  Suzanne couldn't help but smile under the fabric covering her face as she typed her response {I'm wearing the dress with no cleavage!}

  Marlee and Suzanne found themselves in high spirits when they parted ways to turn in for the night. Despite the ongoing challenges they would have to deal with due to the changes wrought upon them by the Xanadu Effect, today was by far their happiest since the events of a week ago. Somewhat to her surprise, Suzanne was indeed looking forward to modeling with Katya, in the past she had always preferred the behind-the-scenes side of the fashion business. She also was looking forward to making her own zentais; Katya had emailed her the patterns she would need, and she was already starting a to-do list of designs she wanted to make. For her own part Marlee too was looking forward to getting back to work; two of her coworkers and her boss had also been caught up in the Change, and she was wondering how they were doing. Not being the only one affected also meant the news of her own change was much less of a shock than it might have been.

  The only sour note of the day, if it could even be called that, had been provided by Suzanne's hair. Try as she might and despite Katya's earlier advice, every time she had zipped or unzipped the hood of her zentai suit her hair would get caught in the zipper, and she had to gingerly work it free lest some of her hair pull out, or worse, break the zipper. She also had noticed that the hood of her suit looked noticibly lumpier than that of her sister - Marlee's hair had always been naturally less full than hers.

  Suzanne was sure she would get better with more practice, but as she lay in her bed after turning off the lights she began to think 'If I am going to be like this for the rest of my life, is there really any reason for me to keep my hair? No one is ever going to see it, not even me. Maybe I should just shave it off. I could be a little cooler in summer in my suits and I can always wear a wig whenever I want or need to...hmm...and if I want to change my hair style all I would need to do is change wigs. No more messy hair dyes or trips to the hair stylist!'