Ashley's Wedding (4 page)

Everything that had been done to her would be considered incredibly sexy by some people, she realized. The rings and diamond were profoundly feminine. Her eyes, which had been able to take on a look of deep seriousness before, now appeared only playful, amused, surprised and carefree. They looked huge beneath the cute, boyishly-curly hair. The overall effect was both that of a cuddly little sprite and an acutely sexual woman at the same time.

Susan turned to Ashley. Her cousin looked pleased as she bent to touch Susan's cheek in another gesture of reconciliation. But Susan recognized something else in her cousin's eyes. Something that told her that her own transformation wasn't over yet. Something that told her that her cousin remained very much in control.

The parting clouds caused the early morning sun to filter through the cracks in the curtains and fall directly across Susan's face. Still not surfaced from sleep, her head turned instinctively away from the sun. Sharp stinging in her right ear woke her up immediately. Somehow, she’d managed to sleep deep enough that the piercings hadn’t disturbed her during the night. She reached up to her short curls - less than a day ago they’d been a long, full mane of gorgeous brunette hair. Her fingers gingerly touched her earlobe and felt the three rings there. They hurt worse than when she’d gone to bed. The left ones did too. Strangely, the diamond in her nose didn’t cause nearly the soreness that each ring did in her now triply-pierced ears.

She pulled herself out of bed and went into the bathroom. She fumbled for the switch in the dark and was directly facing the mirror when the room burst into light. She gasped again at the strange reflection. The curly-haired pixie that looked back at her with astonishment bore little resemblance to the vivacious woman who’d looked out at her before. She bent close to the mirror, running a slender finger over the single row of hairs which were all that remained of her formerly thick, alluring eyebrows. Their height on her face and smoothly curved shape gave her a look of surprise which was almost impossible to overcome with any expression she tried. All seriousness, much of her look of intelligence, and her appearance of contemplative understanding had been completely taken from her when those new brows were formed.

Susan heard a knock at the door and Ashley's voice. "Suzi, I set your new makeup on the vanity in your bathroom and your dress for the bridal shower is hanging in the closet. I'll see you downstairs when you’re ready. OK?"

"I'll be down in about 45 minutes," Susan replied emotionlessly. Fleetingly, she realized she hadn’t even reacted to being called “Suzi,” which seemed to have started yesterday with Ashley and the other girls. She really wasn’t Suzi. She was Susan. Right?

She showered quickly and dressed in the white leather short skirt, halter top and high-heeled white sandals which all of the bridesmaids were to wear to the shower. She used a small amount of mousse on her hair and tousled the curls as she’d been shown. Numbly, she put her makeup on as Ashley's friend Elsa had done it the day before - a line of pencil along her thin brow, heavy eyeliner and mascara, eye shadow and lipstick.

Her aunt, who hadn't seen Susan at all the day before, thought she looked cute and said so. In fact, her aunt thought that the idea of all the bridesmaids looking the same was a tremendously creative one on Ashley’s part. She was absolutely convinced that the concept would be revolutionary and much admired by their society friends. It would serve to add to the uniqueness of the next two months of showers, parties, and the wedding itself.

The shower that afternoon was the first of five events over the next two weeks. By the time the two weeks had passed, Susan had fallen into the routine of dressing and looking like her cousin wanted. She had gotten friendly with the other bridesmaids, who all looked just about like her. The parties themselves threatened to be boring at first, but became increasingly more fun for her as time passed. Somehow, she found herself wanting to fit into the social scene in a way that had never interested her before.

Something was different that at first she couldn't put her finger on. Then, sitting alone in her room after the fourth party, she realized what it was. She had not had a serious conversation with a single person she’d met for the first time at any party. In fact, most of the time she’d been treated like someone who couldn’t possibly have a serious opinion about anything. To Susan, this was in sharp contrast to her previously strong position in any discussion, where people seemed instinctively to look to her for an intelligent viewpoint on the subject at hand. It hit her like a shock. It was the way she looked now that was causing new acquaintances to dismiss her opinion, to think of her as some silly character that could only look cupie-doll surprised. My God, she thought, Ashley has not only changed me physically, but changed everyone's perception of me. And so many of those changes are irreversible! How did I let this happen?

* * * * *

The next day started early. A pool party was coming up and Ashley had told Susan that there was more to be done for her to be ready. Elsa arrived with her bag of utensils just after breakfast.

All of the bridesmaids had been given tiny, thong bikinis that they were to wear to the pool party. The thong bottom was so small that Susan's pubic hair protruded all around it. Elsa was ready with Ashley’s electrolysis wand and went to work on Susan's lovely, soft, private curls. The distant pricking, mostly numbed by an antiseptic/anesthetic astringent, continued until dinner. By then, nothing protruded from the bikini at all, and Susan's once full crop had been reduced to a small mound. The next morning, at Ashley's insistence, Elsa returned and worked on Susan most of the day. By evening, Susan was as clean as a six-year-old. She was also red and sore.

Of course, the pool party was a big hit. Susan also had a good time. She was able to put aside her jumbled, confused, uncertain thoughts for a while and just have fun. It occurred to her that maybe she’d overrated serious conversations.

* * * * *

Jack arrived the day after the fifth party for a weekend stay. Susan had never been more nervous. She waited in baggage claim for him to get there from the plane. What would he think of her? How would he react? Would he still love her? Would he still desire her?

There he was looking around. She walked rapidly up to him and said, "Jack," loudly, as soon as she was close enough.

"Wha ... what! Susan?" His voice rose to a pitch Susan didn't know he could manage.

"Jack ... Jack, don't hate me, please! This is what Ashley wanted for her bridesmaids and I went along and before I knew it my hair was gone and then they pierced my ears and ..." She spoke rapidly, her words fired as though from a machine gun. She was afraid to stop and let him say anything. Afraid of what he’d say. Afraid his words might crush what was left of her now-fragile spirit.

"And your nose!" He exclaimed. "And your eyebrows are gone! Holy cow, Susan! Your eyebrows are gone!"

"Jack ... please." She barely held back tears. She couldn't let herself cry now. Not until she knew how bad it was, how badly she’d hurt him by being weak in the face of Ashley’s onslaught. She needed to know but was deathly afraid of how he was going to feel.

Dropping his bag, he held her by both shoulders. Bracing herself, Susan thought he was going to shake her. Instead, he held her at arms' length and paused to examine her face. He turned her head from side to side. He gently touched the diamond in her nose and lightly tousled her hair.

"Susan," he said at last, "I don't think I've ever been more surprised in my life. In a million years, I never thought you'd do anything like this."

"Jack ... please don't hate me for how I look ..."

"What?" He interrupted. "Susan, how could you think that I'd ever hate you or how you look? I told you before you left that I'd love you whether or not you had any hair at all. I'll admit that the earrings and the diamond in your nose are a bit of a shock, and your eyebrows are sure different but ... Actually, Susan," he paused in thought and began again, "I think you look very sexy!"

"You're only saying that to make me feel better," And she was so glad he did say it!

"No, Susan, I mean it. You look different … Wow do you look different! But I can feel that it really turns me on!"

And sure enough, she could see the bulge growing in the front of his pants. How could that be?

* * * * *

If Susan had harbored doubts at that point, they were to be completely erased by their lovemaking that evening. They had one of the guest suites in her aunt and uncle’s huge house. They’d stayed at the table after a sumptuous dinner just long enough to avoid being rude to their hosts. Jack couldn’t keep his eyes off her during the entire meal, even when he was talking with someone else. When Ashley asked Jack how he liked Suzi’s new look, he beamed from ear to ear and was lavish in his praise. Susan could hardly believe it. And when Jack said he was happily blown away by his new, sexy Suzi, she was both delighted with his compliment and shocked that he had called her Suzi! Finally, the need to be alone together had become so acute that they’d spontaneously gotten up at the same time to excuse themselves and make their way, hand-in-hand, to their suite.

Susan couldn't believe how Jack was responding to her. True, he was always quite attentive in bed, and an active and thoughtful lover, but that night's experiences were beyond anything she could remember.

As Jack unpacked a few things in the bedroom, Susan filled the sunken Jacuzzi and set candles on the ledge around it. She had a bottle of Cristal Champagne chilling in an ice bucket, within reach of the tub. Jack entered the huge bathroom in his boxers and put his arms around her from behind. He inhaled her scent as he kissed the side of her neck right where it met her shoulder.

Susan oohed with pleasure. She couldn’t resist commenting as she broke out in goose bumps. “Oh Jack, that feels so good. I love the warmth of your breath against my neck.”

“Darling, you can plan to get a lot more of those kisses. I like it that there’s no hair in the way when I hold you from behind and bend down to nuzzle your neck.”

She turned to face him. “Do you really, Jack?”

“Oh yes.”

“I always thought you loved my long hair,” she couldn’t avoid an overtone of petulance in her voice.

“I did love your long hair. But, somehow, this style excited me almost instantly … as soon as I actually recognized you, that is. This is very pretty on you, Susan. And it’s incredibly sexy to me. I’m just being honest; you look really hot, really desirable right now.”

“You called me Suzi before.”

“Yeh, I guess I did. I heard Ashley call you that … I must have thought it fit.”

“I look like a Suzi now?”

He chuckled. “I suppose you do. I hope I didn’t upset you. I suggest you don’t waste any brain power worrying about it. I won’t call you “Suzi” anymore if you don’t want me to.”

She thought for a moment before responding. “No, I guess I don’t mind. I suppose I agree that I do look more like a Suzi than a Susan now. This has all happened so fast, and so unexpectedly, that I’m still coming to grips with it. On the one hand, I don’t like the fact that someone else has changed me. On the other hand, my biggest worry – that you wouldn’t think me desirable – has turned out not to be an issue.”

“Oh Babe, I find you infinitely desirable!”

“More desirable than before?” Could it be true?

Jack cocked his head to one side and smiled. “Actually, I think I do. I’ve always been uncontrollably drawn to you, there’s no doubt about that. But I have to admit that I’m finding you an order of magnitude more sexy, seductive and desirable right now.”

Susan could feel her breathing quicken. She believed him, and the evidence was clear on his face and protruding from his boxers.

“Then get out of those and climb in the Jacuzzi. I’ll join you in a moment.”

As Jack got into the tub, Susan went into the bedroom to undress and toss her clothes on a chair. She returned to the bathroom and bent to open the Cristal.

“I see you’ve decided to shave down below again. I always liked it when you kept it that way, but I thought you didn’t like the stubble that appeared the next day. I remember trying to talk you into getting it waxed, but you said it sounded too much like torture.”

Susan popped the cork and looked at Jack wistfully. “Well, stubble isn’t going to be a problem ever again. As it happens, all the bridesmaids have these little matching thong bikinis for the pool parties. To make mine look right, Ashley arranged for electrolysis treatments to get rid of anything that stuck out. Then the next day the treatments continued until they got rid of all my curls down there.”

“Permanently?”

“Yep. What you see is what you get. Nothing’s gonna grow on that mound anymore.”