Page 39 of Fast Forward

“Nice evening, eh?”

I nodded. “Sure is.”

“You got a party on tonight or somethin’?” she asked with a frown, gesturing to the house with her hedge clippers.

A low hum of music drifted from inside and a van marked Big Night Caterers was parked alongside the house. My guess was my Lycra-clad neighbour was a bit miffed that she wasn’t invited.

“Ah, just a small family gathering,” I replied, edging away from the side fence in case she was planning on using her gardening tool as a weapon. “Well, I’d better get inside. Have a good night!”

I walked on before she could reply and pushed open the unlocked door. The kitchen and living room had been transformed from an average family home into something resembling a movie set. An animated movie set. Which didn’t really make sense because they didn’t have sets for animated movies, did they? It’s all done on computer screen, but anyway, it looked cartoonish. Brightly coloured paper flowers hung from the ceiling with glossy balloons, long streamers hanging from wall to wall and fancy multi-coloured lighting. Delicious savoury smells wafted past my nose as I looked towards the kitchen where four people in white chef outfits scurried about like elves, busying themselves with food preparation.

“Mum, you’re here! You better go and get ready, but first, let me take you on a quick tour of my creation.” Ryan, dressed in some ridiculous outfit, flourished an arm towards the living room. When he turned, I almost tripped on a tail-like thing attached to his back and dragging along the floor.

Was this the kind of clothing young people wore these days? How bizarre!

“Over here we have the Bliss Garden, where guests can sit down on one of the pods and enjoy a drink and relaxing conversation,” Ryan explained, as he pointed to the far corner where giant origami lotus flowers lay around the seating pods, similar to bar stools but lower and shaped like cylinders with a little round cushion on the top. Origami butterflies dangled from the roof and tiny lotuses floated in a birdbath.

Ryan led me outside, the summer night air sharpened by a hint of cool. “Out here on the patio is The Galaxy, an out-of-this-world space for fresh air and warm food.” A grey cushioned outdoor setting took up most of the space, above which hung tiny fairy lights that resembled stars. A colour-changing, heat-radiating lamp took centre stage, casting a sinewy rainbow on the tiled floor and holographic models of the planets floated in mid-air, powered by a small device attached to the wall.

“And the main area where guests will mingle,” he said as he led me back inside, “is the Party Hub, hence all the streamers and balloons and bright stuff everywhere.”

“Wow, you’ve done a really great job!” He had. Selena and Grant would love this!

“Well, I have to get as much practise as possible before I launch KC’s in-home decorating service next year,” he replied. “Plus, the photos I’ve taken here will be awesome for my final year university portfolio.”

Ah, so he did work for my company, or at least, would be once he finished his studies. A family business indeed. I looked at the time on my e-pad. “Well, I’d better go and get ready, huh?”

Ryan shook his head as though waking from a dream. “Oh yes, sorry I got carried away with my new world.” He pushed my lower back with his hands, walking me to the hallway near the kitchen. “Can’t wait to see what you’re wearing!” he said with a smile.

Wow. Not many twenty-something sons would give a flying hoo-ha what their mother was wearing to her birthday party.

I moved past the caterers – who were moving about like little robots – and entered the sanctum of my bedroom. Mine and Will’s bedroom. An image of us sliding underneath the covers together flashed in my mind. Almost as quickly, I shook it out.

Okay, now… what to wear?

I slid open the wardrobe but didn’t hold out much hope for a decent outfit. Not after this morning’s search produced only the coral-coloured atrocity. I flipped through the clothing hanging on thin metal hangers, silently scolding myself for allowing my fashion collection to be hung on such flimsy structures, instead of curved wooden hangers that kept the shape of the outfits, preventing that telltale pointy shoulder edge. Didn’t KC Interiors do coat hangers?

In frustration I sighed and leaned against the frame of the wardrobe, when suddenly the clothes began moving by themselves. They slid sideways on the rack, before curving around and disappearing into the wall behind. New clothes gradually appeared on the other side, coming out of the wall and curving around to the front. A rotating wardrobe!

Eventually it stopped and I had a whole new selection of clothes to choose from. These ones were much nicer, although a little mature for my taste, and I flipped through the choices. My lips formed a pout as I remembered the red dress I’d bought and was planning on wearing to my twenty-fifth birthday party and now couldn’t. I’d even bought matching underwear; a cute balconette bra with sequined straps and lacy bikini briefs. Well, hopefully I’d still get to wear them.

I continued appraising my options, pulling a few from their rack and holding them up to my body in front of the mirror, momentarily shuddering at my smudged make-up and artificially windswept hair. Scrunching my lips, I put the outfits back on the rack and looked through the selection again. A protective slip hung on the rack and I lifted the bottom of it to reveal what it was protecting.

My red dress! I’d kept it all those years! I lifted the slip off and slid the dress from the hanger, holding it up in front of me. The sequins adhering to the soft figure-hugging fabric twinkled under the bedroom lamplight and I smiled, pleased to have something with me from the past. Something to remind me that my old life wasn’t just some dream fast disappearing from my consciousness.

I held the dress up against my body and looked in the mirror. My smile sunk downwards as I eyed my dress – and then my body.

I lay the dress on the bed and examined it with my hands. It was stretchy, it might fit. I could possibly squeeze into it if I had some sort of figure-squishing support underwear underneath. Or even a portable liposuction machine.

I pulled open the drawers of the dresser and rummaged through each one, quickly closing the first one when I came in contact with Will’s underwear. The third one housed various singlets and stockings… and voila! This looked promising! I pulled out an unopened cardboard package with a picture of a slim woman wearing a skin-coloured support suit on it.

SlimFX Magic Suit – drop a dress size and reveal your slim inner Goddess!

It must be related to the YouthMagic Facial, I thought, as I peeled off the plastic and withdrew the beige suit, which looked tighter than the red dress. I might need support underwear to be able to fit into the support underwear and that could go on and on. I’d be my own Russian doll.

I turned the package over to see if there were instructions for the suit, but all it said was to lift it over the head and roll it down the body like so. A diagram showed a woman – who clearly didn’t need the suit – happily putting it on. It also said to put on the bonus SlimBriefs before putting on the dress-shaped magic suit. I tipped the package upside down and shook out the hidden briefs. They looked like they might just fit a seven-year-old.

Okay, here goes. I was going to fit into this dress if it killed me.

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