Semi-Random Reflections

Read time: 1 min.

Safety concerns always forced her into Brent mode at work. If only people knew how much of Judith that still included.

She smirked as she applied her invisible lipstick, or, as anyone else would call it, lip balm. Besides the psychological sleight of hand, it helped build her desired appearance in the long run by keeping her lips smooth. She also found the pomegranate flavor as delicious as its mythological associations.

She reached for her deodorant next. Gentleman’s antiperspirant, the bottle claimed. Scent of bergamot. Scent of Captain Mae Vieillard from Judith’s favorite audiobook.

Toiletries done, she moved on to clothes. She considered the black polyester pants unisex, but she couldn’t spin the grey polo shirt very much. At least the stripes across the chest matched the demi pride colors. Pulling the garment over her head necessitated hair brushing. That took all of two seconds with her short, straight combover. The same style appeared on two posters: a sun-bleached chart in the barbershop her father patronized and a framed Victor/Victoria advert in Judith’s room. As for her eyebrows, most people hadn’t noticed their pointed tips before and didn’t notice their clean curves now. They didn’t notice clear nail varnish, either.

The last thing she did before leaving was slip into her penny loafers. What arcane magic did the shoe store’s hanging “men” sign possess that blinded everyone but the really extreme grunt-and-club crowd to the loafer’s basic prissiness? She didn’t know and she didn’t care, just so it worked.