"How...how many do I get to choose from?" I ask anxiously, worrying about this whole endeavor.
"Oh well that's simple Mr. Hughes" Mark chirps merrily. "You'll get to pick from six profiles. Though you received far more offers than just these six I can assure you"
"More?" I mutter in disbelief.
"Hey, you're relatively young, in good health, and a man. I mean you're in a bit of a rough patch but most people can look past that to the golden opportunity you represent Mr. Hughes" Mark interjects, his tone oozing with his salesman charms.
"I...huh..." I murmur, still wrapping my head around the whole thing. "So...who did you pick?"
"A fantastic question" Mark exclaims, still fishing around in the digital desk for some lost item. "We had a whole team looking over the applications, we've picked nothing but the best for you" he declares confidently, freezing up as he opens one of the desks many drawers. "There they are" he grins, hastily snatching an extremely small set of rigid paper from within.
Mark places the straightened white sheets on top of the desk, evening them out so they all line up perfectly. Suddenly the sheets of paper rise up, floating between the two of us as Mark quickly scans over the paper.
"Alright, let's begin" Mark says, cracking his knuckles before leaning back in his chair.
"Okay so we have here... Miranda Winslow, Penelope Star, Akiko Sato, Caroline Sawyer, Jessica Cummings, and Melody Conners" Mark exclaims, his eyes briefly looking at each of the pages before moving on between each name.
"They're all..." I begin to squeak before getting cut off by Mark.
"Women, that's right. You were quite popular and the team apparently decided these women should be given the chance at being you" he explains with a nod. "So, who would you like to start with?"
I pause for a minute as I contemplate my position. I could hardly believe what I was about to do, to give up myself so that some strange woman could take over. However, it was the easiest way out and I was already this far in.
"Let's start with Miranda I guess" I say in a defeated tone, my shoulders slumping forwards as I sink into the uncomfortable wooden seat.
"Wonderful" Mark chimes, tapping the far left paper and causing it o float towards him.
Miranda is...Twenty-Seven, just a month old than you, and is gainfully employed, unlike you" he says with a chuckle, obviously enjoying the distinction. "She lives in a small town called...Adrian Creek. It's a rather small community, but I hear it's lovely this time of year" Mark explains, looking between me and the paper.
"What does she do?" I ask, my voice wavering as the fear of becoming someone else grips me.
"She's a librarian at the town's local library. That sounds nice right? You said you liked books in our first interview" Mark asks, knowing that I was a bit of a reader. "And she has a higher education as well" he claims, leaving out the fact that it was just a degree in literature and a short course in library systems.
"She rents a house on the outskirts of the business center of town, a nice freshly renovated cottage perfectly situated between the pine forests and the local..." Mark pitches, getting cut off by me as I ask another question.
"Why does she want to be...me? What's wrong with...um..." I pipe up, trailing off as I worry about being too harsh.
"Who says there's anything wrong about her?" Mark says with a shrug. He quickly rereads the paper, glancing at my unconvinced face before sighing. "She wants to be more respected and feels she can do that better as a man...That...And she is a little...Well she has let herself go a little since starting college and moving to Adrian's Creek" Mark explains, trying to mute and ease any negatives in the sales pitch.
"She's single, no kids, you'd have all the time in the world to settle in. And her...bodily assets are very generous" Mark continues, trying to make the sale. "Settling into the quiet life, all that time to read and relax in your cozy job and home as well as some explor...".
"I...uh...can we come back to...um..." I stammer, cutting him short as I begin to feel the pressure from the salesman across from me.
Mark seems to miss a beat as I ask to move on, pausing as he collects himself. "Of course, we have so many more to look at" he replies, a grin spreading across his lips as he sends Miranda's paper back before summoning the next one in the row.
"Here we have one...Penelope Star, she's twenty-one, and is...also employed" Mark says with a slight chuckle, finding it humorous how many of these people had work while I had been unemployed for months. "She lives in an old cabin that was passed down to her by her...aunt? great aunt? Doesn't matter, all that matters is that she owns this cabin outright in the rather large coastal town of Keyes Point" Mark continues, squinting at the handwritten virtual form as he tries to decipher the handwriting.
"Twenty-One? Homeowner? Why does she want to be me?" I ask in confusion, struggling to get a grasp on what her deal was.
"Well...let's see...It just says that she was urged into doing this" Mark explains, tilting his head to the side and shrugging his shoulders as the paperwork lacked the real explanation. Penelope had been paid by my mother to offer herself for the swap, becoming a pawn in her retirement plans. "I suppose she is a little uneducated" he continues, underplaying the fact she dropped out of high school.
"She is in a committed relationship to an long-term boyfriend, so you would need to navigate that. But aside from that hiccup you'd be free to continue her life as a 'free-spirit' as she described" he says, trying to up-sell her otherwise empty life as freeing.
"Can I hear about..." I begin to ask, wanting to see the next one.
"She's cute as a button too, a real catch in the community and...and...alright" Mark interjects, trying to finish the sale but recognizing from my unmoving face it was time to move on.
As Mark reads the next form a smirk appears across his lips. "You said you liked anime yeah? You mentioned you wanted to visit Japan in the past right?" he asks pointedly, bringing up facts from our long conversation in the initial interview.
"Yeah I..." I begin to reply before he quickly cuts me short.
"Well why not Akiko Sato? She's an exchange student here, finished high school around a month ago" Mark asks, leaning in a little. "She's from Japan, so you'd be free to go back and explore to your hearts content" he claims, leaving out the part about being from a poor fishing village.
"Ja...Japan? I would live in another country? Speak another language?" I mutter quizzically, my heart racing in my virtual chest as I imagine no longer living in the country that had been my home my whole life.
"Well you'd be from there, but she currently lives here" Mark clarifies, again leaving out facts as he fails to explain that she is set to return any day now.
"From what I heard from the other staff she is a knock out, that could be you. And her family are business owners" he hastily continues, twisting the facts around her families small restaurant in an effort to make it sound more grandiose.
"But I'd be..." I mutter, trailing off out of nervousness.
"In another country? If you don't like it then just come back for college" Mark smugly answers, unsure if Akiko would ever reasonably be able to leave her small village.
"I...I need a minute to think about...uh...this" I exclaim, my palms sweating as I wring my hands together.
"Alright, alright. Let's move on, you can always come back to these later" Mark say reassuringly as he swaps out the papers in front of him.
"So here we have Caroline Sawyer" Mark chimes, reading the head of the document and quickly scanning through it. "Nineteen, lives and partially runs her family farm, and just finished her schooling" Mark states, again twisting the truth a little as he brushes aside her flunking out of school as simply finishing it.
"Why is she wanting to become...me" I meekly ask, staring up at Mark in his elevated position.
"Apparently...She wants to find a new life where she can be more of an intellectual" Mark states, trying to avoid any discussion of her own intellectual difficulties or the expectations on her to 'milk cows, get married, and pump out youngins'.
"You'd be extremely fit, very athletic" Mark continues, eyeing up my slim build and its lack of defined muscles. "Part of the hard work you'd be doing on the farm"
"What about her...uh...relations?" I ask, trying to get an idea about her home life.
"Her father died a while back, and her mother is slowly retreating from running the farm so Caroline can take over. She is single currently, but has quite a few suitors around town and the surrounding farms" Mark explains with a grin. "You'd be quite popular amongst the local farmhands and cowgirls" she says with a chuckle, hoping that the allusion to Caroline's slight Bi leaning may tip the scales.
My face grows red as he brings up suitors. Having been single for quite a while the thought of being wanted and desired sounded like a fairly nice draw.
"I...Can we talk about the last two before I make any choices" I ask, curious if he had left the best for last.
"Next we have..." Mark begins to exclaim, pausing as the papers swap around. A sudden laugh croaks out from the otherwise calmer salesman as he reads the name, though he quickly recovers. "Jessica Cummings" he finally manages to blurt out, his lips curved into a subtle smile at the name.
I too can't help but smirk at the unfortunate last new, though it sounds somewhat familiar.
"She is nineteen, a college student, and while she is unemployed her parents seem more than willing to pay for her upkeep" Mark states as he reads the page. "Blonde, curvy, tall, she's a regular picture of privilege" he continues under his breath, scoffing at her description.
"Why the hell is she wanting to do this then?" I ask, immensely confused at why she'd want to be me.
"Oh that's simple, she doesn't want to, her parents apparently gave her an ultimatum. Either swap and make something of yourself, or be cut off from the family money" Mark explains. "I guess she feels it'll be easier to improve someone like you who is momentarily down on their luck than someone else" he continues, leaving out that it was her parent's who had chosen me for personal reasons.
"So I'd just..." I mutter, trailing off as I leave the sentence incomplete for Mark to fill in.
"You'd just have to live her life, go to college and keep her parent's happy. You may even get back to your body eventually if she does well enough in it. Her parent's a quite wealthy and could easily afford to pay for our services again" Mark chuckles, clarifying what my role would be as the new Jessica. "Though that'd include keeping up appearances, high end fashion, constant hair and nail appointments, you'd need to look the part of their vain daughter as far as I can tell" he says a little unsurely, wondering if her parent's would really want another copy of their disappointing daughter's lifestyle.
"That sounds...can I hear about the last one before I make any decisions?" I ask, my mind already leaning towards some of the options.
"Of course, lastly we have..." Mark chirps, this time trailing off as he turns a little flushed while he reads the name.
"Melody Connors, retiree but quite wealthy at fifty-four years old" Mark says with a cough, clearing his throat after choking up thanks to recognizing the name. "She lives in a very large suburban home with her youngest daughter, twenty-one, and still looks after her while she goes to college" Mark describes, trying to paint this woman's home life in a positive light.
"Fifty!? I'd be doubling my god damn age!" I shout in shock, reeling at the thought of that sort of jump.
"And you'd never have to work another day in your life. As I said she is quite well off, would you rather spend your next twenty years working or just enjoy the fruits of that labor now?" Mark asks rhetorically, trying to assuage my worries.
"She's looking at starting over, this time as a man after experiencing...life as an attractive woman" Mark explains, tastefully skirting around her past as a world famous porn star while also implying that I could be this attractive woman.
"What about her...um..." I begin to ask, my cheeks turning red as I try to ask about her partner.
"No husband, they got divorced nearly a decade ago. Though that doesn't mean she isn't down to...You know they say women sexually mature later in life and..." Mark begins to prattle on, causing me to cut him off.
"Okay okay I get it. She's just..." I begin to groan, getting cut off in term by Mark.
"Wealthy? Attractive? Free to do as she pleases?" he asks in a rhetorical fashion yet again.
There is a moment of silence as the questions hang in the air, my thoughts racing before being snapped back to reality by Mark as he clears his throat.
"Alright Mr Hughes, time to choose. Would you like to hear about any of the women again before making your decision?" he asks, waving his hands as the papers fall back onto the desk.
"I...no but...uh...I'm still not sure" I stammer nervously, wracking my brain as I try to make a decision.
"Take your time...well not too much time, I do have other appointments" Mark chuckles, taping his wrist as a subtle way to imply that time was of the essence. "Besides, I'm sure they all want to get into their new skin as soon as possible. It would be fairly rude to keep your future self waiting too long"
My stomach sinks, my heart pounding so hard I can feel it in my head. "I can't believe I'm..." I whisper under my breath, my eyes darting around the room in search for an answer.
"I...fuck...I guess I'll take..."
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