Lauren: Proper Company, Part 2 (Patreon)

The crisp Autumn air was a little rough on Brian’s lungs first thing in the morning, but once he got up to speed and hit his stride it wasn’t too bad at all. Between the quiet clopping of his and Lauren’s feet and the satisfying crunching of leaves, Brian was appreciating the return of his morning runs. Back when he was doing it with Kat he had gotten used to going out every day, even if it only lasted a short while. Now with Lauren’s sudden but appreciatedly moderate interest in getting fit again to lose weight, he got to enjoy his morning exercise with the woman he actually cared to be with. Not that Kat was bad at all of course. Had things been different in the first place, he and that version of her might have worked out splendidly, but that wasn’t and never was going to be the case.

The difference in fitness levels and motivation was also different. While Kat would run around the block twice without stopping the entire way, this Lauren wanted to leave the neighborhood for trails and scenic routes and start walking about halfway through the exercise. From there the two of them would chat about work or what she wanted to do together outside of it.

“You know,” She said one day. “If you ever wanted to try golfing I could probably get us a discount on the course. I’ve met a few people at the club and they might help us out. Plus, I work there so I get club perks.”

Lauren was beaming at the idea, her bright smile further illuminating her sweat-glistened face.

(1)

Brian shrugged. “Eh. Golf isn’t my thing, but I wouldn’t mind checking out some of the amenities if they’re available. It’s not just the gold course, right? It’s the whole club?”

“Yeah, me and Alex just clean up the course for work, but the rest of the staff actually works inside the actual club.” Lauren stated with casual enthusiasm. “Not gonna lie, I’ve actually been wondering what it’d be like to be able to go in there and attend the functions.”

With their morning exercise over, the happy couple returned to the house so Lauren could get ready for work. It was nice to just be able to go about their daily business again, even if Lauren was still unknowingly transforming at random intervals. He listened to her gush about the parties and patrons of the country club, apparently enrapt by the idea. From what he knew of the local club, they weren’t exactly known for being inclusive, and he would have been very surprised indeed if a group of upper middle class white people actually allowed someone who looked like Lauren to join. Still, that didn’t stop her from babbling on and on about it from the bathroom.

Her accent was completely gone at that point, leaving her sounding like a standard American, albeit a second or third generation one. She no longer acted or spoke as if she was an immigrant or even someone who had ever even seen India in her life. It wasn’t quite like it was when she was still in her original body, Brian thought to himself in the car on the way to drop her off for work, but it was close.

When they arrived, the pair were immediately greeted by Alex, who to Brian was showing obvious signs of transformation as well. Her Hispanic features had faded slightly and her latina curves seemed less dramatic than before. Her skin was slightly lighter and her hair less full. Alex seemed to have lost a small amount of weight, but if anything the decreased curvage just made her look more elegant. Her facial features sharpened and her teeth and skin became brighter, giving her a much more upbeat and peppy look than her previous black-makeup and dark skin combination. The new look was almost glamorous, Brian thought. It took him a few seconds to realize that between the long, silky-straight black hair, slender face, and slender figure, Alex didn’t look all too different from the Luscious sisters. It was definitely the Great Value version, but the vibe was the same.

(2)

“Hey mamacita, whassup?” She beamed upon seeing Lauren. Alex too was completely devoid of her admittedly light previous accent, but Brian expected that that was going to happen eventually.

“Question.” Lauren began, touching her finger to her nose as she did. “Sooo do we get some kind of membership to the club for working here?”

Brian’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Lauren had already told him that she had some kind of special treatment already, but apparently that was something she wasn’t entirely sure of.

Alex looked confused for a moment as she animatedly droned “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…………Maybe? I know the waitresses and shit get a basic membership, but I’m not sure if we do.”

Apparently this Lauren was a bit impatient, the cautious husband noticed. He’d always been so caught up in the new appearances and situations that Brian rarely noticed any negative personality traits that came with them. To him they were either something that obviously came with the territory of being a meathead or a stoner that he never questioned it, but his wife in her current state was developing a few bad habits to keep an eye on. She was changing bit by bit, and though her growing propensity for reckless statements didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest.

(3)

Lauren bounced her leg restlessly as she listened. “Okay, so like where would I go to ask or whatever? I’ll see if you get it too.”

“I guess you could go into the main building and ask, but hurry the fuck up cuz we gotta get moving soon. There’s a shitload of leaves on hole 9 that need taken care of and I’m not doing that by myself.” Alex shrugged.

As the tanned woman hopped into her golf cart and drove off down the winding path, Brian and Lauren walked up to the main building of the country club with the latter buzzing with excitement. When they entered the Pearl Pines main building it was still empty save for a few bussers and waitresses setting up tables. The place was nice, though it was obvious that every single member of the kitchen staff was some kind of black or hispanic whereas the supervisor was a white woman doing hardly any work at all, nose buried in her phone and leaning back in her chair.

Lauren told Brian to wait where he was and bobbled off to the main office to inquire as to the status of her club membership or lack thereof. It was only after the door closed that he felt a sudden tenseness in the air. At first Brian looked around to see if his presence was offending anyone, but the longer he looked around, the more he realized that the world around him had slowed to a crawl, then seconds later, stopped completely.

“Here we go.” He said anxiously, and looked around as the lights dimmed and eventually shut off along with the ambient music.

In the back of the room, a large tv screen turned on with an eerie luminescence.

“Welcome to Pearl Pines, a wholesome community where the refined members of our esteemed community gather for fun, excitement, and to enjoy proper company.” A man’s voice said over the speakers.

On the screen was flyover footage of the golf course followed by scenes of notedly brown skinned service staff tending to haughty white women as they laughed together over glasses of wine.

“Our members enjoy only the finest luxury entertainment and are treated with the respect they want and deserve, be it during a lavish resort vacation at one of our many locations, or right here on our own state of the art golf course.”

Once again, the tv switched to a scene involving two well-dressed men high-fiving each other while a woman identical to Alex served them each a beer with a big smile on her face. Her top, Brian noticed, was especially low cut and her rounder-than-reality boobs threatened to pop out of her it as the top two buttons were undone.

“Come enjoy our fine dining experience at one of our extravagant late night galas, where you and your family can dance the night away, free of worry or care.”

This time, a man and woman sat acriss from each other, staring lovingly into each other’s eyes as a waitress with an uncanny resemblance to Lauren refilled their glasses happily. One lookalike might have been a coincidence, but a second was obviously an indication of what was to come.

“Pearl Pines: Celebrate Success….In style.”

The tv turned off immediately afterward. The lights kicked back on and the world began to re-accelerate to real time, leaving Brian to wonder what changed. The ad itself was obnoxiously prideful, he thought, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Lauren was going to be fitting in especially well here soon. The notion bothered him a bit, as the entitled mentality of the people alluded to in the ad wasn’t exactly something he considered to be a positive trait. Even so, it was out of his hands to stop it.

“Brian! What are you doing? You need to get out of here, my shift is starting!” Lauren said, startling Brian and causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.

The change was obvious this time. Lauren’s complexion had lightened considerably since they’d left the house, and her hair was now a shimmering bright brunette as opposed to black. Her uniform had changed as well to that of the wait staff instead of the basic white and black of the lawn crew. Brian couldn’t tell if her facial expression was a measure of a potential personality shift towards perceived superiority, or if she really was just annoyed that he was hanging around while she was supposed to be working.

(4)

“BRIAN.” She snapped sharply, pulling him from his reverie.

“Oh! Yeah. I’ll uhh…I’ll see you at home then.” He said, and walked out to the car.