Meet My Ex (Part 2 of 2)

Braedon met Lia for dinner on Sunday. Lia was a little worried. “She didn’t say anything.”

“Not a peep or a flash.”

“That’s better than an outright no, I guess.”

“What brought on being a mannequin? And don’t tell me Janet did it.”

“Indirectly. More like how Janet influenced Courtney.”

“You never said anything about Courtney.”

“At first, I thought she’d try it. And even if she did enjoy it, she’d work at the shop like the other mannequins: a week or two as a mannequin, a few days off. No, not my Courtney. She insisted after her first two week trial that they keep her there for another month. Then two months, four. Right now, she’s on a six month shift.”

“I’m surprised Tyrel allowed it.”

“I may have given her some help with him because he was distracted making Janet’s birthday gift. By the time he noticed, Courtney was already in the middle of her four month shift.”

“This doesn’t explain why you wanted a necklace.”

“Being a mannequin in the store window is the only way I can spend time with Courtney,” she said flatly.

“Funny. Hold on. You disappear for most of an entire day sometimes. Have you been spending time in the store window?”

“I have. Never over night, at least not before the conference.”

“The conference,” he said rolling his eyes.

“Tyrel wanted to see if I enjoyed several days as a mannequin before finally giving me the necklace, although, that isn’t strictly required.”

“Why?”

“Because like Michelle’s necklace, this necklace can be taken off. And the wearer can end the transformation. It also has some other stuff.”

“He mentioned that. Did you enjoy your week at the conference?”

“I did. I needed a break from the wedding prep. It was perfectly timed. It also has me feeling calm about Janet. She’ll be happy for me finding my own bliss.”

“She probably will. But she’ll needle you for being a copycat.”

“Yeah.”

*****

Lia and Braedon kissed in the living room when they got home. Braedon started to walk out, “I’ll be in the bedroom waiting…”

She held his hand to stop him from going. She flipped her hair back and tilted her head so Janet couldn’t avoid seeing the chrome circlet she wore. “Hang on. Janet, anything you want to say or ask?” She waited a moment to see if Janet would flash that she wanted to talk. She didn’t. “Okay, let’s go have fun.” She said to Braedon and followed him to the bedroom.

“That was one way to deal with her,” he said as he got undressed.

Lia was already out of her dress and on the bed. “Toggle my speech after you see this.”

She transformed. She didn’t look like a mannequin. Her skin looked soft like a sex toy. He touched her, fondling her breasts. He went to the bathroom and came back before touching the stud to allow speech.

“That was kind of cool ignoring me like that.”

“Couldn’t you have just changed back?”

“Yes. But what would be the point before you have your way with your new doll.”

“Could I force you back to normal?”

“No, that trick instead can be used to lock my form. Hit the back stud with the front stud and say ‘three hours.’ It will lock me in this form for three hours.”

“That’s what you want?”

“Sure. What good is having sex as a doll if I can just end it?”

“Okay,” he said. He touched the two studs. “Three weeks.”

As the doll locked in place, it’s mouth reshaped into a hollow opening ready to be used. He pulled the panties off the doll to discover a rather realistic looking and feeling set of genitals, unlike the mannequin in the living which was completely smooth down there.

He laughed. “I didn’t think three weeks would work. Sorry.” He did as she’d said, having his way with the doll.

In the morning, the doll lay where he’d left it. Nothing he could do about it now. He got dress for work. As he passed through the living room, Janet flashed him.

“You didn’t want to talk last night. What’s different now?” He said. He passed her and went to get some coffee. When it was ready, he stepped back into the living room with his mug.

Janet flashed him again. He unlocked her voice.

“She sleeping in?” Janet said.

“Who?”

“What did I do?”

“You have an issue with something it seems,” he said.

“Maybe. I want to apologize to Lia for being… I don’t know what I was being.”

“Territorial?”

She laughed. “Perhaps. Did she really spend a week in Michelle’s store window.”

“Yes. Along with Courtney.”

“Where’s she been?”

“When you’re on speaking terms with Lia, ask her about Courtney.”

“Is she going to work?”

“Not for a while. I may have messed up.”

“How?”

“She stuck for three weeks because I fumbled her necklace.”

“Seriously? Fumbled it how?”

“The collar is setup kind of like yours and different in some ways. She can switch from doll to human and back whenever she wants.”

“Doll?”

“Sex doll, sex toy, yeah. Not just mannequins in her necklace. After she became a doll, I activated her voice. And then she tells me that instead of turning her back to normal when you use the second stud, it locks her current form. She had me silence her and told me to lock her form for three hours.”

“Just now? This morning?”

“No last night. I said weeks instead of hours.”

“And she’s still a doll.”

“Yep.”

She laughed. “This is the best morning. I guess I’ll talk to her next month.”

“Looks that way. I gotta run.” He turned her voice off and left.

Around noon, Lia entered the living room. Janet flashed her immediately. Twice.

“Hey, Janet. I wonder what Braedon told you.”

Janet flashed that she wanted to talk again. Lia relented and switched her voice on.

“I thought you were stuck for three weeks.”

“I did give Braedon that impression.”

“You sneaky thing. The second stud doesn’t lock your necklace?”

“Oh it does. Unless I block it. When he said weeks, I blocked the command. I just pretended to be stuck. I plan to be lying in bed still ‘stuck’ when he gets home unless…”

“Unless what?”

“First, I need to know you aren’t mad about the necklace.”

“Mad? Ever since I met you, you have a tendency to think I’ll be mad when I’m almost never mad.”

“Good. I just feel it’s better to ask than to assume. I probably will never get used to preferring we assume.”

“That’s just how I am,” Janet said. “I wish I’d thought of being a sex doll.”

“Michelle’s necklace does that. She suggested I’d like it.”

“Did you?”

“Of course.” Lia paused. She reached out to touch Janet’s necklace.

“Talk to you later,” Janet said before Lia could turn her off.

Except that wasn’t what Lia was doing. “Since you prefer action…” she said. The two necklaces flashed as she touched Janet’s necklace.

The mannequin said, “I’ll act first instead of asking first.”

Janet was looking at her mannequin body. The hand that belonged to the body she was in was touching the necklace. “What just happened?” Lia’s body said. “Am I in you?”

“Yes,” Lia’s voice emitted from Janet’s necklace. “I want you to spend the day as me.”

“Lia, I don’t want…”

“Just stop. Let me explain. Or silence me if you don’t want to know how to get back inside the mannequin.”

“Fine, I’ll listen.”

“You love Braedon.”

“No, we’re just friends.”

“I don’t believe you. And I don’t mind that you love him. I love him. You love him. And in fairness, you had him first. He obviously still loves you. He dealt with your mannequin fetish. And he didn’t bat an eye when I expressed the same desire.”

“It’s not the same. He just assumes you won’t hide from the world like I…”

“It’s okay to admit it. We know. And it’s not like you have to leave the apartment in my body. In fact, I’m hoping you’ll spend all the time Braedon is home as a doll lying in our bed, stuck for three weeks.”

“But, he’ll… Does he know about this swap thing? He’ll think I’m you.”

“Oh, no,” Lia said deadpan.

“You… I…”

“You might want to sit down. I don’t want you damaging my body if you fall.”

Janet sat down. “You want Braedon to have sex with me.”

“Well, it’s still my body. You’re mind will just be along for the ride. He’ll never know.”

“Until you tell him.”

“I will pinky swear with you that I have no intention of telling Braedon our two necklaces can mind swap us.”

“Why?”

“So you can sometimes experience being with Braedon without the burden of having to be his girlfriend the rest of the time. In the future you can play with our children or experience my pregnancy. Maybe even give birth to one of our ten to twelve children.”

Janet laughed. It sounded odd coming from Lia’s mouth. “I… This isn’t just a sex thing for you? You mean you want me to borrow your life occasionally so I can do things I never thought I could do?”

“Yes, Janet. I love you that much. I’m sure Braedon does as well, though, again, I have no intention of telling him any of this.”

“I’m overwhelmed.”

“That’s okay. You still have like 4 hours before you need to be on the bed in sex doll form. Tomorrow, after he goes back to work, we can swap back.”

“What if I turned you off just pretended to be you from now on?”

“Then I guess I should have listened to you all those months ago. I should have ran.”

*****

Janet felt weird lying, unable to move, on the bed. The unable to move part was familiar, at least. She actually enjoyed being so still, so peaceful, silent, unobtrusive. It was almost evening and she was playing the part of Braedon’s fiancee turned into an inanimate doll on their bed.

Part of her wanted to rebel against this idea. Would Braedon mind this trick Lia was playing on him? Was it really a trick? There wasn’t a ‘gotcha’ here. Lia straight up wanted her to experience being with Braedon again after years separated.

Part of her wondered if she did miss it. She’d told herself so many times she didn’t want Braedon that way. But she also knew how often she would stare at his ass when he walked through the living room. Being a mannequin made coupling with Braedon less than ideal. And that barrier to entry – heh, she thought – made it easy to dismiss them getting together ever again. Of course, he could have brought her to life for a short time so they could couple. She could have asked him to do this. She could have been a mannequin with benefits.

She didn’t want to be in love. It wouldn’t be fair to Braedon to get him to love a broken woman. That’s how she thought of herself. Broken. She knew it was foolish. She shouldn’t be defined by her reproductive capability. She had convinced herself of this in the same way she justified believing she wasn’t in love with Braedon.

Lia saw through this bullshit. Janet didn’t know how this was possible. Lia somehow knew Janet still loved Braedon, still desired Braedon. And now she was facilitating that desire. Why?

Should she let that stop her from getting something she desired? She had turned herself into an object to remain close to Braedon, forever a fly on his wall. Lia was shooing her from the wall and directly into his arms.

She heard the front door open and close. Braedon moved about the bedroom without acknowledging her. She was amused that he was treating Lia just like he treated her. He left. Several hours later, he returned. He removed his clothes and got into bed.

“How was your day?” He said. “Should I enable your voice? Or should I leave you completely stuck?”

She could flash the necklace. She decided not to.

“Nothing? Now I wonder if the lock you mentioned prevents the flash or not. No matter. What’s done is done. And what is about to be done can now start.”

With care and loving, he made out with the doll. Janet was shocked at how good it felt. She’d never savored a caress as a mannequin. His touches and movement across her doll skin were pleasurable beyond words. She was immediately horny and on board with him making love to her.

For what felt like an eternity, her pleasure grew. When he entered her it was more amazing than any other time she had made love to him or any other guy. She had loved having sex with him and she could no longer deny she had missed it. She had needed this. She… She couldn’t think. Her mind exploded as she climaxed.

In the morning, Lia watched Braedon walk through the living room. He said nothing to the mannequin. She smiled inwardly as he left. A little while later, her body walked up to her and activated her voice. “Well?” She asked.

“I… How do we swap back?” Janet said.

“That’s it?”

“No. I want to swap back and then have you animate me so we can talk face to face and alive.”

“Oh, great. Just touch the necklace I’m wearing and think ‘mind swap’.”

As soon as Lia was back in her body, she touched the second stud on Janet’s necklace and said, “One hour.”

When she could move, Janet said, “I was going to say we could talk later. I’ve been alive too much the past two days.”

“You can go back to hiding in your mannequin shell after we talk.”

They sat down. “Ouch. Is there a lot of blood? It feels like there should be a lot of blood.”

“Stop that. How was it?”

“I am not going to tell you if I enjoyed your boyfriend.”

“Fine, I’ll start. Standing in the store is more fun than standing here. The only cool part was when Braedon got home last night and breezed past me like I was part of the furnishings. At least that was until he went to bed and I assume drove you wild. When he just said good morning to me before going to work I at least knew you hadn’t spoken to him.”

“I find watching people rushing around distracting. I like the calm quiet of the living room,” Janet said.

“And…”

“And what?”

“Last night. Sex.”

“It was alright.”

“Alright?” She rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know what you hope to accomplish, Lia. I didn’t ask you to do this.”

“Why do you find it so hard to believe I want you to have a fulfilling life?”

“It is fulfilling.”

“It is? Settling isn’t fulfillment.”

“It’s not like borrowing your life will make me more fulfilled either.”

“No, I suppose it wouldn’t. But if you borrowed it often enough, you might resume your own life. You could be the live-in aunt to my children. You could take up a hobby to share with them. You could have friends, ones that you didn’t abandon so you could hide from the world. Sure, the world can be overwhelming. You crawled into such a deep hole. I just want you to fill it in a little.”

“I don’t want your pity. I don’t want to be rescued either.”

“I’m not so sure of that. You chose to hide away from the world in front of an audience of one. That’s no coincidence. You could have homed yourself in a closet. Instead you stand in a living room where you get watch Braedon’s life go by. If that isn’t a cry for help I don’t know what is. You’ve been asking for a life line. And now that I’m providing it you’re afraid to grab it.”

“You are making a lot of assumptions that aren’t true.”

“At least I’m doing something.”

Janet stood up and left the room.

*****

Braedon entered the bedroom that evening to get out of his work clothes. He looked at the Lia doll on the bed. “That’s not where I left you this morning.”

The doll shimmered and came alive. “Probably not,” she said, still staring at the ceiling.

“I didn’t think you were actually stuck.”

“I know. I fucked up.”

“Fucked up what?”

“I’d rather not say. I’ll deal with it.”

“Okay. Be mysterious.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Being you. Being accepting first. Being understanding.”

“It’s what I do.” He sat on the bed next to her. “What are we doing for dinner?”

“Oh, I didn’t even think about it. Order delivery, I guess.”

“Just because I won’t press you for details doesn’t mean you can’t just volunteer them.”

She snickered. “Yeah.”

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through various food delivery options, calling out types of cuisines and names of restaurants to see if any of them interested Lia.

“Thai?”

“Janet should move out.”

“Is that a yes or no to Thai?”

“What? No. Not noodles.”

“Okay, chicken?”

“You aren’t going to react to what I said.”

“No. I’m not. There’s probably a whole back story that comes before Janet moving out and until I have that part of the story, I’m not going to react. Fried chicken on the bone or something sandwich like.”

She rolled over onto her elbow to face him. “You are infuriating.”

“Pizza then? Buffalo chicken pizza. Frank’s or Luigi’s?”

She pulled the phone out of his hands. “Why do you allow Janet to waste her life?”

“Why does it bother you? You’ve never had a problem with it before.”

“We’re going to start a family. If we have a daughter, would having a mannequin in the living room be the kind of role model you want her to grow up with?”

“I’m kind of hoping a child being here could pull her out of her shell. You obviously want that too. You’re just being more aggressive about it for some reason.” When she just flopped down on her back again, he continued. “And technically she isn’t wasting her life. She’s delaying it. It’s not like she’s getting older as a mannequin. I asked Tyrel about this and he said ten years from now, she probably won’t even seem a year older.”

“I don’t know if that makes it better. Now we’d have to worry about our children inheriting the mannequin.”

“If they were raised with the mannequin, they’ll love it, too. What are you really trying to do?”

“She loves you.”

“She does. I love her. I have for a long time. I also love my father, mother, and brother. She’s family to me. You aren’t jealous of them.”

“I’m not jealous of her. I’m sad for her. She probably lusts for you every time she sees you. Maybe not consciously. Maybe it’s something she repressed. But it’s there. The love of her life is right in front of her and out of reach.”

“Lia, I love you dearly.” He took her hand. “And I feel exactly as you just said every time I pass though the living room. I only get by because I have you. You are the love of my life. But she’ll always have a place in my heart.”

“It doesn’t have to be like that.”

“That was not the reaction I expected.”

“I know. I feel like you two can also be together. I see no reason to impede that.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’ve seen you glance at her and want to go over and have a chat. And then you stop yourself. At first I thought you were doing it in deference to my feelings. But, I was wrong. You’ve probably made that glance and ignored it many times before I was living here, before you even knew me. You want to tell her everything. You want to sit with her and talk for hours like we often do. I’ve seen you glance at her, wishing she could contribute to some discussion we’re having. You don’t though. You don’t because you know she would complain if you did. And deep down she would regret pushing back on you. You’ve been denying yourself just as much as she’s denied herself.”

“She wants to be left alone.”

“Fine. I’ll move her body into a closet. There she can be alone.” She pointed at him. “Look at the repulsion on your face. I just told you to shoot your dog.”

“She isn’t a pet.”

“Don’t start that. And don’t try to derail a difficult conversation. She’s in your living room because you can’t imagine life without her. And you’ve settled for this mockery of a relationship to hold on to her.”

He flopped onto his back.

She didn’t say anything else.

After a few moments of silence, he said, “You aren’t wrong. I want to tell you you’re wrong. I want to just laugh it all away.”

She still didn’t say anything.

“I also don’t see how getting this out in the open helps. She won’t just stop being a mannequin.” He sat up. “Did you have this conversation with her?”

“I started it. Her body was human for an hour today. But I pushed a bit hard. She walked away. I sat in the empty living room until the mannequin reappeared in its spot. I feared she might rehome herself but she didn’t.”

“You’re leaving something out.”

“For now, yes. It isn’t important… well, it is important. But not for what we’re discussing.”

“You usually don’t lie to me.”

“Just let me have this secret. I told her I wouldn’t tell you something and I intend to keep that promise.”

“Okay. I trust you.”

She handed the phone back to him. “The pizza sounds good. Order it.”

“Okay.”

*****

Lia left Braedon thinking on the bed. She passed Janet on the way to the kitchen. “I hope you aren’t too mad at me.”

The mannequin didn’t react.

When the doorbell rang, Braedon received the pizza. As he passed through the living room, Janet flashed her desire to speak. Twice.

“Be right back,” he said to Lia as he set the pizza down. He turned Janet’s voice on.

“May I have dinner with the two of you? We should talk.”

“Two hours?”

“Four.”

He brought her to life. “You’re always welcome to dinner, Janet.”

She hugged him as soon as she could move.

He held her.

“You two can hug later. The pizza’s going to get cold,” Lia called out.

They laughed and joined her in the kitchen.

They ate in silence for at least one slice each. Janet was exchanging glances with Lia who for the most part just shrugged in response. Braedon left them to work it out.

“I’m going to tell him,” Janet said.

“I can’t stop you. And I don’t really want to stop you. I just said I wouldn’t tell him.”

“Tell me what?”

“You’re still amazing in bed,” Janet said.

“Thanks?” He sounded confused. “Does Lia brag about it?”

“No.” She paused. “I was the doll last night.”

He was shocked. “How?”

“Magic,” Lia said. She made wavy jazz hands to emphasize the word. Her humor didn’t create laughter. “Oh, well. I tried.”

Janet explained the process as Lia stayed true to her word about not telling him.

“Why, Lia?”

“So we could have this conversation. Or really the one after this one. The one I started with both of you earlier. It is painfully obvious you two are in love. And while I’ve never felt neglected by Braedon or second fiddle to Janet, it’s always been a drag on the mood of the apartment. You two laugh it off, rib one another, joke about it. But, there’s an undercurrent of you both wishing things were different. Out in the open now, things will be different. I know it’s scary. Change always is. We are all adults. And we are all three in love each other. We can make that work if we try.”

*****

It was only when Janet disappeared four hours later that they realized four hours had passed. Lia and Braedon cleaned up the kitchen. Lia stopped in the living room before they went to bed. “Good night, Janet. I’m sure you’re talked out for several days now.”

The mannequin didn’t react.

In bed, Braedon waited until the lights were out and they had exchanged their good night kiss. He said, “I didn’t want to say anything before. But, how does all this affect our wedding?”

“It shouldn’t.”

“Well, you’ve expanded our couplehood into a throuple.”

“Privately. Any children we have need to have the two of us in the parent spots on the birth certificate.”

“It’s just unfortunate there’s no way to make all three of us official,” he said.

“It’s not like Janet would want us to throw a big party. Getting her to attend our wedding is already difficult. Just figuring out where to put a mannequin that isn’t too centrally located as to cause lots of people to congregate around her but not so far away that it doesn’t feel like she’s there is tough to balance.”

“True. She doesn’t want to be the center of attention.”

“No, the complete opposite, really.”

They cuddled up and fell asleep.

*****

The wedding was a beautiful ceremony and party. Lia managed to pry Courtney out of the store window long enough to be her maid of honor. Janet was placed in a quiet corner of the room. A few times, Courtney and Michelle stood next to her as mannequins so she wouldn’t attract attention as the only mannequin in the room.

Lia had wanted to join them but didn’t even wear her necklace. It would be too distracting if the bride became a mannequin. Toward the end of the party, Lia spoke Janet.

“Just a half hour. When it’s over, you’ll return to the apartment. Clean and simple.”

Lia hadn’t activated her voice. Janet flashed no.

“Why not?”

No flashes appeared.

“I think you should have one dance with Braedon. Today. No one will care. And anyone who sees it will be drunk anyway.”

Darkness.

“For me?”

Janet reluctantly flashed yes.

“Thirty minutes.” Lia said. She touched the two studs on Janet’s necklace. No one noticed the mannequin was briefly chrome colored before she came to life.

“There are too many people.”

“Don’t look at the people. Look at Braedon. Or me.”

“I hate you.”

“Of course you do.” Lia tapped Braedon on the shoulder. He was talking to a friend as he turned. “Someone wants to dance with you.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Do it anyway.”

“Let’s get it over with,” Janet said. “You have to do what she says now.”

“I do not.”

“You said I do earlier. That’s how it works.”

They continued to banter as the walked to the corner of the dance floor farthest from any other dancers.

“Lia?”

She turned. It was one of Braedon’s friends, Jim, she thought. “Jim?”

“Yes. Isn’t that Janet?”

“It is.”

“You know who she is, right?”

“More than you know. I had to twist her arm to get her to do this much.”

“Look at how she’s holding him.”

“I know. They were made for each other.”

“That’s a rather weird thing for the bride to say about her husband and another woman.”

“They gave up on each other. She hides herself away from the world.”

“I never believed she was a mannequin till I saw her here today,” Jim said.

“She’s the old chair I’ll never convince Braedon to get rid of. I can do anything as long as he gets to keep his favorite thing around. Why should I fight it? I figure. And I do enjoy talking with Janet as well.”

Jim laughed. “He does talk about her sometimes. I thought he’d lost track of her when she disappeared from the friend circle.”

“How is it I never heard this?”

“We all agreed not to mention her around you. No one wants to hear about their boyfriend’s ex.”

“He introduced me to her two months after we started dating. And I’m glad he did. She’s a good friend to me. And I don’t think he’d be the same man if she went away. So to keep the man I love, I also keep his mannequin.”

“Cheers to you then,” Jim said, raising he drink.

“Cheers to them.”