Page 80 of As The Shifter World Turns

Not Micah’s voice and not Micah. I lifted my gaze. “Martin!”Gods, no.

“Hello.”

Micah clattered down the stairs holding Patch and I wordlessly handed him the book. He glanced from me to Martin and whispered, “Do you need me to stay?”

I shook my head. This was my disaster and I had to deal with it. I pictured myself, the me that Martin was now staring at. Long blonde wig, a face full of makeup and a colorful robe tied around the waist.

But I had a client scheduled in less than two minutes. “Can you come back in two hours and I’ll explain.” I didn’t owe him anything. I could tightrope walk outside Sunshine Manor and still wouldn’t need to explain myself to Martin. But I wanted to. “I’m busy.” By saying that, I’d probably given him the impression I had a John waiting in my bed. “I have a call scheduled but will be free then.”

I poked my head around the door. “Is Toby not with you?”

“With his grandparents.” That was the first thing out of his mouth since my name.

“Good. See you later.”

He nodded. Poor guy. He must be wondering what he’d stumbled into. But I had to work and I couldn’t afford to be distracted.

Two hours later, I flung my robe off and grabbed my wig, ready to throw it onto the bed. But put the robe back on and brushed the wig before applying more lipstick. Along with my explanation, Martin needed to see how I dressed at work, not just a quick peek at the door. And if he couldn’t deal with it, that wasn’t on me.

He was right on time. “Come in. Sit. Would you like a glass of wine? Or a beer?”

“Nah, but thanks.” He stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room. “Neil, I’m not here to judge your lifestyle or who you are. If you’re transitioning, I’ll support you. Whatever you need. Or if that’s not what this is...”

I cut him off but not before taking a deep breath. Maybe things would be okay between us. “Thank you. That’s very sweet, Martin, but I’m not. I work from home and dress like this for my clients.” I jerked my head toward the other room. “I have a camera set up in there.”

“W-What do you do?”

I shrugged. ”Whatever they want.” This was beyond awkward. I wasn’t going to reveal every detail. That was up to me to decide if and when I disclosed that to Martin.Please don’t judge me. Please don’t judge me.“Mostly they want me to listen. I have one client who watches while I apply makeup and he critiques my technique. Many of them need a friend and I provide that.”

“Okay. I get that. There are a lot of lonely people out there.” He sat on the sofa. “I’d like that beer now if you’re still offering.”

I joined him, each of us with a glass in our hands and I pulled off my wig and wiped the lipstick off with a tissue.

“That color suits you.” He raised his glass.

“Thanks.” With the stress evaporating, I volunteered the reason for getting into this line of work. “When I stopped playing professional soccer, I needed a job and no one would give me one. I had to create one.”

“You should be proud of that.”

“I am.”

30

SOMETIMES YOU CAN’T SEE WHAT’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU

Micah

“You have to go today.” I hated being so bossy, but the fact that he was sick again only proved that he needed medical intervention. This wholeI’ll go when I’m not hurling anymoreconcept made no sense. One of the things they had on his paperwork was to watch for puking and this was that.

Sure, he had a time of feeling good in the middle but still.

“I don’t want to get anyone in the lab sick. It’s fine. Not like before.” He pushed himself up off the floor, flushed the toilet, then went to the sink to rinse his mouth.

“You need to go today.” I was going to be a broken record until he listened.

“Move,” he barked. There was plenty of room for him to go past me, but instead of doing so he said it again with more bite. “I said move!”

There was no anger in his words. It was something else. I wasn’t sure exactly what, but anger wasn’t it.

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