Swappers II Chapter One (Patreon)

This is a very rough draft of Swappers Book Two. Please excuse typos and grammatical issues.

Chapter One

They met at a small restaurant in Soho, in fact, the same small restaurant they’d met nearly a year ago when all of the craziness happened.

Mindy McTavish smiled as the host seated her. “Right this way Miss McTavish. And please let me tell you on behalf of Sensei, we welcome you to our establishment.”

“Thank you, sweety,” Mindy said, leaning up to give the host a kiss on the cheek. 

People had mobile devices out and pointed in their direction as Mindy brushed his cheek with her lips. She giggled, smiling for the social media, and gave a little hop onto the chair where Kamal, Tabbi, and their baby were situated near the back of the restaurant.

The host grinned and walked away, and Mindy took her sunglasses off and put them in her small purse. She pulled out a cigarette, but then saw the stormy look Tabbi gave her, and replaced it back in its case.

“Sorry, forgot we had young lungs to pollute.”

“Quite the entrance, Mindy,” Tabbi said. 

Tabbi had been Michelle, Justin's wife less than two years ago. But they had both found themselves in other bodies: Justin in Mindy McTavish, and Michelle, as Tabbi Radikal. She wasn't Mindy's wife any longer, she'd been in Tabbi for almost a year. "Tabbi" was a pregnant woman of color wearing a yellow blouse and tan jeans. She’d gained quite a bit of weight over the past year post-partum and wore her dark hair in a natural afro that surrounded her head.

Mindy giggled. “I’m big news lately with the release of Erotique.”

“I saw it,” Kamal said, adjusting the straps on the baby jumper he wore holding their infant son who appeared to be sleeping. “I loved the imagery.”

Kamal had originally been Mindy, but had swapped into Justin's original body, and then into Kamal Wilks to be with Tabbi. He was a young man of color, with a chiseled chin, skin that glistened in the light cast from the overheads, and a nearly bald scalp. Looking at him made Mindy’s heart flutter a bit; she’d love to strip him out of his jeans and find out what lie beneath.

“Thank you, Kamal, that means a lot coming from you, of course.”

Kamal grinned, hugging Tabbi. “I don miss it, but it seem you had…fun completing that project.” 

Mindy giggled, face blushing. “Well, it was my first excursion into adult videos since our…you know.”

Kamal nodded. “Kudos, Mindy. You deserve all the accolades.”

Mindy smiled and shook his hand. “Thank you! And you two appear to have kept busy…when is the baby due, Tabbi?”

“Oh, Lord, it can’t come too soon!” she rubbed her rotund belly. “Two more months, but it feel like two years!”

The waiter came and took their orders. Mindy ordered an onmusubi with misu beef, smiling as the waiter goggled at her cleavage barely contained within a pink microtube dress she wore.

“Are you enjoying your new life?” Kamal asked after the waiter had moved on after receiving Mindy’s autograph.

“Oh yes!” Mindy said, then shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I mean, it has taken some adjustment to get used to the height reduction of course, and these are always in the way…” she held her hands to the side of her enhanced breasts. “But, you know Jessica and I partnered a few months back, right?”

They both nodded, and Tabbi put her hand on Mindy’s arm. 

“And we are going through the pains of bringing in the assets from Leo Radikal’s estate, but "Michelle" has been a godsend, and I’ve hired her to be my chief financial officer.”

Tabbi laughed. “Must be strange having to see your ex-wife as your CFO!”

Mindy nodded. “Well, it is a way to ‘see’ you every day, if you know what I mean, but Michelle, whose new name is Kandi, is so different from you that it makes it a bit easier.

They nodded as their drinks arrived. Mindy took a taste of her wine, then set the glass back down. She really needed a cigarette but would wait out of respect for the baby. This meeting was more difficult than she’d imagined.

“So, now that we have the niceties over with,” Mindy said. “Why did you call me here?”

Kamal looked at his wife. 

“It’s your idea, might as well fill her in.”

“With the settlement and the court and all, you been able to get back on top of the financial picture of the company?”

Mindy nodded. “Yes, with Kandi’s help, and Jessica of course.”

“Are you back in the black? Or still in the red?”

“With Erotique doing so well, I will be back in the black next month. Which is no small thing, if you remember.”

“I’m amazed you done so well, Mindy. Truly. You taken my life, made it yours, and fixed the financial disaster. I didn’t think it could be done.”

She nodded, feeling a swelling of pride.

“And you been so generous to me and Tabbi, I wanted to thank you.”

She shrugged. “No thanks, necessary. I’m just glad I could help you two as well.”

Kamal nodded, smiling. “So, since the pressure is off, and if I’m not mistaken you are between projects—”

Mindy nodded.

“We thought it might be nice for all of us to go on a little…swapcation.”

Mindy blinked. “A what?”

He grinned. “We all go somewhere and swap into other people and have a nice time somewhere exotic.”

Mindy considered that as their food came. “You know I have all kinds of questions. Where would we go, when would it happen, how do we get there, and who would we be? Just to start.”

“We were thinking the Bahamas, next week, Airplane and you can be anyone you want to be.”

Mindy giggled, excited. She felt a bit of a thrill at the idea, a swapcation!

“I love the idea of it, but what if something happens? I mean…we worked so hard to finally get situated in our new lives. What if something goes wrong?”

Tabbi answered that one. “I’ma ‘bout to be saddled with not one but TWO young ‘uns for the foreseeable future. If we don’t do it now, and I mean RIGHT NOW, it ain’t never gonna happen.”

“What would you do with Nicholas?” Mindy looked at the baby, still sleeping in Justin’s romper.

“Mom coming out to watch him,” Kamal said.

Mindy nodded. She hadn’t actually reconciled with her mother since the swap and wondered what Kamal would tell her.

“And who would you two become?”

Michelle jumped in. “I want to be you, of course. Always wanted that, since we began this whole damn thang.”

The thought of Michelle in her body made Mindy shiver a bit.

“And you, Kamal?”

“I dunno yet. Thought I’d find someone from the swap boards and see.”

“So, if you become me, doesn’t that mean I’d need to become you?” Mindy said.

“Would make it easier, I won’t lie,” Michelle said. “If not, I can swap with someone, then swap into you, or we can work somethin’ out.”

Kamal set down his glass. “But you don’t have to if you don’t wish to. Being a heavily pregnant black woman in the Bahamas doesn’t sound like fun to me.”

Michelle glared at Kamal who grinned, sheepishly. “I mean, just saying.”

“You oughta swap into me, me into Kamal and Kamal can be you! That would be a perfect three-way.”

“No.” Mindy and Kamal said in chorus.

Tabbi threw up her hands. “I don’t give a shit. But you two figure it out and fast. I wanna do this MONDAY MORNING.”

Mindy looked at Kamal and shivered a bit. She wasn’t sure why, but she had zero desire to swap into his male form. It felt, wrong, on so many levels. She ran her fingers through her curly blonde hair, arranging it back into position.

“I’ll give it some thought, my darlings. I do agree it would be best to keep the swapping “in the family” so to speak, but I’ll let you know this weekend. Is that fair?”

They both nodded.

“I do want to go on the trip, but this is exceedingly short notice and busy, busy, busy, as I’m sure you know.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Kamal said. “So we can go over details?”

“That would be perfect, darling,” Mindy said, rising from the table. “I’ll take care of the check, of course, and you take care of that adorable baby—” she leaned over and gently kissed the baby on the forehead. It goggled up at her.

“Oh, he is too cute!” she pinched his little cheek gently, then made her way to the front of the Bistro.

“Ms. Montana!” a fan said, waving her tablet at her. “Autograph?”

“Of course, my darling!” Mindy said, taking the stylus and signing her name in florid script under the image of herself on the poster of Erotique. 

It was wonderful to be her.