Dave, known disaster bisexual, is in love with Marie. But Marie is dating Dean, the handsomest guy in town.
After being gifted a magical bracelet, Dave gains the ability to transform into a totally different person...Jade, a beautiful, alluring al...
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The jade bracelet remained on my mind for the rest of the week. As I ate dinner, went to bed, woke up, got dressed, went to work and ate lunch, it occupied almost all my waking thoughts. I had gone so long without trying it on again, and part of me yearned for its spell.
The bracelet wasn't the only reason for my being on edge, however. Mom had started sending me messages asking me when I was going to return home. I mostly ghosted her or made up some dumb excuses or replied something like "Soon." However, Mom has always been very persistent. Nothing really gets past her. As it usually does when under stress, my appetite decreased a little and I found myself skipping breakfast to go directly to work, if only to avoid having to pick up my phone.
In between shifts, I left it muted and ignored all the message and call notifications, choosing to focus on issues that needed to be fixed about the apartment (the toilet that wouldn't flush, the area of the wall where the paint had come off slightly, the floor that needed to be vacuumed). I bounced a few texts back with Leo about home repairs that needed to be carried out, my tone no longer noncommittal but now seriously focused.
Most people didn't really notice a difference in my behavior, but Leo did. "You seem restless," he said. "Are you waiting for something?"
"Uh, Amazon package," I replied.
This was not entirely a lie, except that I had not yet ordered anything from Amazon. However, I did really need the drain cleaner, so I went ahead and put in an order for it that night. The next day, I went to William Sherman and got a paint sample. I spent that afternoon on my knees repainting the discolored patch on the wall and fussing over the stubborn little flecks of grime.
"Wow, look at Dave, taking care of this place like a real man of the house," Valentina remarked. "Maybe you should take a leaf out of his book," she nudged Leo.
"Why? I already have a role," Leo smiled.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm his stay at home wife, of course," Leo replied, grinning cheekily. I rolled my eyes at him.
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The next day, my Draino and replacement flapper ball arrived. I started reading the instructions and got to work setting up the flapper ball while boiling a pot of hot water. The chain needed to be readjusted first, and I needed to count how long the new one would be. "Five...seven, eight, nine," I muttered, then remembered I needed to shut off the water valve. I found it on the side of the toilet, near the bottom. The toilet made a loud flushing sound as the water drained from within its tank.
