Turn 13 of 16

Jess forces the darker thoughts down and convinces Leo that she’s still herself underneath the changes. They return home and go to sleep, hoping everything will reset by morning.

Jess forced the intrusive escort thoughts down with every ounce of willpower she still possessed, shoving the idea of payment and clients into a mental corner where it could not spread further. She turned to Leo on the sidewalk, her plump filler lips curving into what she hoped looked like a reassuring smile beneath the heavy makeup and thick fake lashes, while her valley-girl voice fought to sound steady and familiar. The brown fur coat shifted around her surgically enhanced frame as she reached out with long crimson-nailed fingers to touch his arm, the heavy gold jewelry clinking softly in the night air. Shame still coiled tight in her stomach from the public intimacy, but she focused on the love she felt for him, using it like an anchor against the emerging mindset that wanted to reframe everything as a transaction. The platform heels kept her posture confident with that uncontrollable hip sway, yet she leaned into the gesture anyway, desperate to prove the real Jess remained inside this plastic shell.

"Like, oh my gawd, Leo, it's still totally me under all this," Jess said, the rising inflections unavoidable no matter how hard she concentrated, her breathy tone making the reassurance sound lighter than she intended. "I know I look and sound all different and stuff, but the changes are just on the outside right now. We can go home and sleep and maybe it'll all reset by morning, you know? I still love you the same and I'm fighting this so hard." She watched his alarmed expression soften fractionally, though confusion lingered in his eyes as he studied her dramatically tanned face, refined nose, and voluminous platinum waves. The platinum blonde had vanished from the restaurant window, but Jess felt her influence lingering like a shadow on the street. Convincing him took several more sentences delivered in that inescapable valley-girl lilt, each one costing her another sliver of dignity while she battled the warmth urging her to see him as revenue instead of her partner.

Leo finally nodded, though his movements remained hesitant as he slipped an arm around her fur-coated shoulders and guided her away from the restaurant toward their apartment a few blocks distant. Jess walked beside him with the natural sway now baked into her gait, the tight skinny jeans emphasizing her BBL and the Fendi bodysuit clinging to her implants with every step in the black patent platform boots. The fake LV bag swung at her side, its weight a constant reminder of how far the curse had already taken her, yet she kept talking quietly about their shared memories to reinforce that she was still herself underneath. The city night blurred past in streaks of neon and passing traffic, but inside her head the darker thoughts simmered just below the surface, threatening to resurface if her concentration slipped even slightly. Regret from the earlier intimacy mixed with an unnatural pang that she should have demanded compensation, and she squeezed Leo's hand tighter to drive those notions away.

Their apartment building rose into view after a tense walk filled with sideways glances from strangers who clearly took her enhanced, glamorous appearance for what it now advertised. Jess fumbled with her keys using the elongated nails, the heavy gold rings making the task awkward, before they slipped inside and climbed the stairs in silence. She shed the brown fur coat and jewelry in the bedroom with mechanical movements, avoiding the mirror entirely because seeing the hooker-like reflection again might shatter the fragile conviction she had built. Leo changed quickly and climbed into bed, his worry evident in the way he kept watching her, but he said little as if afraid of triggering more changes. Jess joined him under the covers, her new body feeling both too sensitive and too alien against the familiar sheets, the lust and mindset still whispering at the edges of her thoughts while she clung to the hope that sleep would undo everything by morning.

Morning light filtered through the curtains hours later, but when Jess stirred and finally glanced at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, nothing had reset. The platinum hair, deep tan, heavy makeup, surgical enhancements, and glamorous nails remained exactly as they had been, and her posture shifted into that confident sway the moment she stood in the platform heels. A fresh wave of shame washed over her, deeper now because the hope of reversal had proven false, and the emerging escort thoughts stirred stronger than before, questioning whether Leo might pay for the comfort of waking up beside her. She still loved him, the emotion a stubborn core inside her altered form, yet the curse had used the night to dig its roots further, narrowing her options and forcing her to confront that the transformation was only accelerating into the new day.