********************************

Saturday

Mark tried to ignore his headache as he brought breakfast to the table.  It’d been quite a while since he’d drunk as much as he had last night – or been this hungover.

"Where's Camilla?" Chloe asked, from the table.

"She's ... out."  He couldn't think of a better response. 

"What – like, at a guy's house?"

Mark twitched and spilled some scrambled egg on the table. His bad poker face apparently translated to other walks of life too, as Chloe immediately read his expression.  "Yep!” she replied.  “I guess so –haha!"

Kyle grumbled unhappily, no more keen to learn his sister's activities than Mark was.  But Kayla, the youngest, blinked in surprise and leaned forward in interest. "You mean SEX??" she whispered to Chloe, probably much louder than she intended. 

"Yes, Kayla," Chloe replied, rolling her eyes at her younger sister.  "Sex.  Heard of it?" she asked sarcastically.

"Girls..." Mark warned.

They were too absorbed, though. "Who with?" Kayla wondered aloud.

"GIRLS ..."

"I dunno," Chloe replied thoughtfully. "Her college friends are way far away.  She wasn't anywhere last night but here, and—OH MY GOD."

"What??" said Kayla.

"Chloe!!" Mark blurted anxiously.

"She slept with one of Dad's friends!” Chloe exclaimed.  “She MUST have!!"

"Oh my God, Dad," Kayla asked, turning her wide eyes to him.   "Is it true!?"

He hadn't expected this. He was flustered. "I ... that's... um, why would ... uh …"

"Holy crap, it's true!" Chloe affirmed. She and Chloe were REALLY animated now, sitting on the edge of their seats and bouncing with excitement. "Which one?  Which of your friends, Dad??"

Of all the ways to start my day, he thought, massaging his throbbing temples.  "We're not discussing it," he said dryly.

"Please, Dad??"  Kayla joined in too.  "Please please please please—"

Mark gripped the table, his face reddening.  “That’s enough!!” he roared, taking a big breath and about to launch into a tirade – when the door to the garage opened behind him.  He turned around to see Camilla strolling in, looking fresh and clean and well-rested – but wearing the same outfit as last night … that same low-cut blouse, showing far too much cleavage.  His eyes were drawn to her chest by simple male instinct, and this fact irritated him immensely.

"You're here!!" he heard both girls exclaim, as they rushed up to her.  As small as he felt next to Camilla, her sisters were much tinier still. She'd always been their 'big sister', but it was clearer than ever, lately.  Them craning their necks up at her made them seem several years younger than they were, by comparison.

Camilla gave a wry smile.  "What's happening?" she inquired, sensing the strange mood in the room.  She set her shoulder bag down, and Chloe immediately poked through it.

"Shampoo!  Deodorant! Change of underwear!  It's true!!"

Camilla turned a quizzical eye to Mark.  Mark stopped frowning unhappily at her chest just in time to look her in the eye.  The memory of what had transpired last night made her sudden appearance all the more rattling.

"They guessed where you were last night," he admitted sheepishly.  "I didn't tell them, but—"

"Who'd you sleep with??” Chloe couldn’t help but interject, bursting with excitement.  “Was it Alan?  He's kinda cute."  Mark's eyes boggled, as Chloe went on, "Or, um, what's his name ..."

Camilla was dying with laughter on the inside. This was just way too funny to hold in.  "It was Nestor," she declared.  "You know, the short one with black curls?"

THAT really stirred the pot. Her sisters screeched deafening, asking a million questions per breath. She also noticed her father visibly squirming and frowning – it was actually kinda cute, in fact.  Her brother also seemed unhappy and was trying to tune them out … and failing.

"Why HIM??" Chloe kept asking.  And some more personal questions, too: "Isn't he too small for you??" Etcetera.   Camilla rolled her eyes with a sly grin and let these questions go unanswered. 

But when Kayla asked, "So is he your boyfriend now?" Camilla laughed.

"God, no,” Camilla told them bluntly.  “It was just one night."

"But are you gonna see him again?" asked Chloe.

Camilla shrugged and replied honestly, "I dunno.  Maybe.  We'll see if I wanna call him again."

"Huh?" Kayla asked.  "Aren't guys supposed to call girls?"

Camilla chuckled down at her.  "Not anymore.  Things are switched now."

"Really??" Chloe asked.  She didn't seem aware of this – and neither was Mark, for that matter.  He frowned deeply.

"You bet," said Camilla.

She must be exaggerating, he mused.  Or expressing a minority opinion.

His thoughts were interrupted as Chloe turned to him now.  "How do YOU feel about this, Dad?" she asked.

His cheeks grew a little hotter.  "I ... don't have an opinion," he lied.

"Whaaat?  C’mon, you’ve gotta have SOME sort of—"

"It doesn't concern me!" he snapped, harsher than intended.  "She's free to date who she wants!"  Embarrassed by his outburst, he scooped some eggs onto his plate and ate angrily.

"Oooooh..." he heard his two youngest daughters whisper.  He made himself ignore them – but, oddly, Camilla was not so easy to ignore.  She sat down with them and didn’t say a word … but he could feel her eyes on him, watching him, gauging his thoughts.  Just like playing poker with her, he thought sourly, feeling an uncomfortable chill run through him.  God, last night was rough.  Losing money to her, and seeing her flirt with my friends like that, with her over-developed body on display, just like it is now, and …

He closed his eyes and massaged his temples again.  His headache seemed a lot worse now.  And as much as he tried to get her out of his head, he simply couldn’t.

********************************

Monday

 “Alright, see you kids later,” Mark said, as Chloe, Ryan, and Kayla left for school.

“Bye, Dad,” Kayla said cheerfully.  “Have a good day at work!”

“Um … thanks.”  He tried not to wince.

They left, and he headed toward the kitchen.  He froze with one foot in the door – Camilla was there.  He tensed up involuntarily.  It was too late to turn around, so he went forward.

“You really don’t wanna tell them?” asked his daughter, who was buttering some toast.

“What’s the point?”

“I mean, you might as well tell them now.  They’re going to find out eventually.”

“Well, not if I find another job first.”

Camilla had just taken a bite of toast, and she almost choked on it.  “Say what??”

He shrugged.  “With my qualifications and experience, I figure it should only take a couple days to land something comparable to my last job.  Even if the job market’s a bit tight, I—“

“Dad,” she said incredulously, “there is no job market for you.”

“Excuse me?”

I can’t believe I have to explain this to him!!  “Companies just don’t hire men to those kinds of positions anymore.  They just don’t.”

“What are you talking about??  Yeah, some companies – like my last one – have changed management and might have that kind of philosophy, but I’m sure there are plenty of other companies who are still perfectly reasonable and hire on both sides, and—“

While he was talking, his daughter inched closer to him, and now she reached out and touched his upper arm gently.  “Honey,” she interrupted, with a sympathetic voice, “I don’t think you understand the extent of how society’s changed.”

Looking up at her, he suddenly felt intensely uncomfortable.  She has literally never called me ‘honey’ before, he realized.  It’s like how she talked to the guys the other night – it sounds almost … condescending.  And with her roughly 9 inch height advantage over him, and broad figure, it made him almost queasy.

He wanted to back away, but he made himself stay put.  “I’m highly qualified,” he repeated.  “Maybe sales isn’t right for me anymore – I guess I can see that – but there’s got to be plenty of good jobs out there where I can use my people skills and organization skills in a less intense one-on-one environment, and … well, I think companies would be stupid not to hire me, frankly.”

Camilla was in disbelief.  Is he SERIOUSLY that blind?!?  And dense???  She took a deep breath and explained patiently, “It’s true that sales might be changing a little faster than other professions, but society’s only going to keep changing – and fast.  Women are wanting their men to stay home more and more.  What company would invest in a man, only to have him quit a month later?”

He seemed scandalized by this.  “Well, it’s a good thing I’m single, then!” he practically shouted, jerking his arm away.  “Obviously, that doesn’t apply to me!  I’m going to keep working and provide for my family!”

“I’m just trying to avoid for you the disappointment of applying for jobs and getting rejected,” she replied, very reasonably and helpfully.  “All that’ll accomplish is hurting your self-esteem, honey.”

For some reason, he REALLY blew up at this.  “I don’t need your advice – or your sympathy!!  This discussion is over.”

Camilla watched him storm away.  How can he be so … immature??  Yes, that’s the word.  For crying out loud, he’s acting like a teenager about this!  I know it’s a hard situation, but yelling and storming off won’t accomplish anything – especially when I’m just being helpful.

Still, it didn’t seem like her place to force the issue.  And she decided not to remind him about her own job, which she was starting that day – a saleswoman at a nice clothing store in the mall.  Just an entry-level position, but perfect for her right now, as she hadn’t yet finished her degree but had terrific people skills and ambition.  She’d start off on a (fairly low) fixed hourly rate, but eventually if – no, when – she performed well enough, she could start raking in some good money with commissions.  Who knows; maybe someday she’ll end up as a full-time saleswoman at a big firm like Dad’s old company!

She still really wanted to share this with him, and make him proud of her following in his footsteps and all … but with his immature reaction just now, she worried he might actually find a way to get pissed off about it, as ridiculous as that would be.  So she wouldn’t tell him for now.  Maybe if he grows up soon, she thought dubiously.

* * *

Camilla hit things off incredibly well with her new boss Vanessa that afternoon, as she showed Camilla around and got her set up.  Camilla was pleased to see that the store had recently upgraded their employee attire from their old unisex look of pants and button down shirt to a much more flattering and professional skirt suit look.  Vanessa explained that, with the entire sales staff now being female, an outfit that both men and women could wear was no longer an issue and so they were adopting a more stylish look.  And more professional, too – as Vanessa explained, with so many more women in the workplace now, professional looks were all the rage in women’s fashion.

The high heels were a bit of a surprise.  They were fairly normal – black, with a four inch heel, not especially showy.  But Camilla never used to wear heels when she was smaller, and now at her size she hadn’t really even considered wearing them.  “Won’t they get uncomfortable?” she asked, leery of wearing them for hours on the job.

“These ones have great arch support and padding,” Vanessa assured her.  “Trust me, you won’t even notice them at the end of the day.  However, if you really want to, we can swap you out for flats.”

“No, no, I’ll give them a try.”  Actually, Camilla was a little excited to see how the world looked from an even taller perspective.

She tried them on, and it was incredible.  She laughed delightedly, feeling like an absolute giant now.  A man happened to walk by, and he looked as tiny as a mouse!  It was even fun to look slightly down on Vanessa now, too.  “I love them!” she exclaimed.  “Gosh … can I bring these home with me, too?”  Just think how tiny my siblings will look – and Dad, too!  That thought really tickled her.

“Of course!  They’re yours to hang on to.  But you also get a nice employee discount on our entire store; I highly recommend taking advantage of that.”

“Oh, I will for sure!”  Definitely starting in the shoes section, she thought with a grin.  Her grin widened even more as she caught her reflection in a full-length mirror – Damnnn, I look hot!!  The skirt suit was tight and clung to her curves fantastically, without being constricting.  And it especially accentuated her prominent breasts, which pushed the lapels of her jacket apart and showed a tasteful amount of creamy cleavage above her moderately low-cut blouse.  The whole ensemble looked absolutely fantastic.

* * *

Camilla got along great with the customers, answering their questions as best she could or directing them to someone who could better assist them.  She was surprised by just how many more women than men were shopping there, even in the afternoon when most women (and still some men) were at work.  During a lull, she made friends with another new coworker – Maggie – and Maggie explained it this way: “First of all, women are growing, so they always need new outfits, which makes them come her much more often in general.  But also, men have a harder time getting here too.”

“Huh?” Camilla replied.  “It seems like this’d be the perfect time for guys to go shopping, while their wives are at work.”

“True – but how are they gonna get here?  They need to find someone to take them, which makes it harder.”

“Oh.”  Camilla frowned.  “I mean, it’s obviously too dangerous to let guys go out alone at night—“

“Clearly.”

“—but I guess I thought most guys were still free to go out during the day … right?”

“Oh, honey, you’re behind the times!  A lot of women might still allow grocery store trips and other stuff close to home … but letting a guy drive all across town on his own and be gone for multiple hours?  You’d be hard-pressed to find a woman willing to allow that.  Unless he’s supervised, of course.”

Camilla’s eyebrows rose.  She thought Maggie might be exaggerating – until she took a closer look around the store.  It was true: the few men in the store were all accompanied by a woman, sometimes older or sometimes younger.  But not a single man in sight was here on his own.

“Oh … my … god,” she breathed.  “Why didn’t I know about this?!?”

Maggie shrugged.  “Trends like this catch on really fast.  It wasn’t this noticeable just a couple weeks ago.  Besides, women generally don’t broadcast these types of family decisions; they like to keep it to themselves.  And I think the media tends to respect that, too.”

Holy hell!  “I thought I was up on these things, but … geez!” Camilla exclaimed.  “So, is it really just about the men’s safety?”

“Maybe.  I dunno.  You’d have to ask one of their wives.”

Camilla nodded pensively.  Gosh, I wonder if any of Dad’s friends are restricted this way; I never thought to ask!  I will DEFINITELY have to talk to Lynn or some of the other women about it!

It gave her an excited, almost giddy feeling as she resumed working.  She saw all these men at the store in an entirely new light now.

“May I help you find something?” she asked one such man – probably 10 years older than her – and now she was secretly thrilled when his first instinct was to bite his lip and turn his head toward a woman standing about 10 feet away.  The woman looked up from the clothes rack and strode toward them.

Actually, she looked a year or two younger than Camilla – so, way younger than the guy.  “Hi!” she said cheerfully.  “I’m supposed to help him find some new clothes for everyday.  His wife said his clothes look too ‘dumpy’, haha, and she could never convince him to go out shopping before.”  She turned his way and grinned.  “But now you’re stuck with me for the day – isn’t that right, Benny?”

He hesitated only a moment before saying, “Yes, Alice.”

“We’ll be here a while,” Alice added.  “Cheer up, big guy!”

The guy lowered his eyes and seemed a little sad.  Camilla found it cute, actually.

“We just started, and he’s already sulking,” Alice told Camilla, playfully rolling her eyes.

Camilla laughed.  “Well, I’m here to help!  What’s first on the list?”

“Do you have any of those European shirts with the low neck – know what I’m talkin’ about?”

“I sure do.  I think we have some over here …”

“Great.  I think his wife’ll love those.”

‘Benny’ looked crestfallen – he clearly hated that style.  But he seemed to know he had no say in the matter.

As Camilla led them forward, she asked, “By the way, are you two related?  You look a little similar.”

“Yep!  Benny’s my cousin.”

Camilla’s eyebrows rose.  “Really?  How much age difference, if I may ask?”

“Benny’s, like, 11 years older than me.”

Camilla’s eyes widened slightly, as Alice went on, “Hey Benny, remember that time when you took me shopping when I was a little kid??  You were, like, twice my size then!  Hahaha!”

“I remember,” Benny replied sadly.

Camilla was beaming now.  Society is DEFINITELY moving in the right direction!  This is so freaking cool!

“Well, I think it’s great that you’re watching over him.  Here – on the left, is that what you had in mind?”

* * *

“Wow, thank you SO much for helping us out for so long, Camilla,” Alice said, as they approached the register.  “You didn’t have to do all that!”

“No, I loved it!” Camilla said truthfully.  “Besides, it’s what I’m here for.”  At the register, Alice set a pile of clothes on the counter then Camilla laid the rest on top.  There’d been too much for just one person to carry.

Meanwhile, Benny sulked behind them.  Camilla turned and caught him staring at her body again, which made her want to laugh.  She’d caught him checking her out at least half a dozen times in the last hour, and each time he quickly looked away as if hoping she hadn’t noticed.  Camilla intentionally stuck her butt out a little extra as she set the clothes on the counter, and turned back to see him already staring at her again, his eyes a bit wider this time.

“Tsk,” she scolded playfully, and his eyes almost popped out as he straightened up and blushed deeply, seeming torn between feigning ignorance and apologizing.

He’d only spoken his mind once in the whole hour and a half, and that was to say how much he hated the outfit he was wearing and all the other outfits he’d tried on – but one threatening rebuke from Alice had shut him right up.  He hadn’t said a word since.  So … freaking … cute, Camilla thought.  And amazing, on Alice’s part.  I have to learn how she did that!

Her boss, Vanessa, happened to be running the counter at the moment.  She was quite surprised indeed with how much clothing had just been set down.  The bill, as she rang them up, ran into the several hundreds.  And the entire time, Alice kept pouring on praise: “Are you Camilla’s boss?  Well, she is by far the BEST saleswoman in the mall!!  She talked me into buying way more than I would have otherwise.  Seriously – I don’t know how long she’s been working her, but give that woman a raise!!”

Vanessa was pleased as punch.  “It’s her first day, actually.”

“WHAAAT???  No way!!  Camilla, you’re freaking awesome!!”  She literally hugged Camilla in front of her boss.  “Seriously, I’m gonna tell my friends to come shop with you!”

Camilla walked her out, waved goodbye, and returned to the counter.  Vanessa just chuckled and shook her head, with a big grin on her face.  “Hell of a start, Camilla.  You’ll do well here.”

“Thank you, Vanessa!  I’ll get back to it.”

Her boss still had a smile on her face as Camilla left.  Best start imaginable!!

* * *

Camilla helped a few other ladies here and there, then made her way toward the men’s section again.  On the way, a man intercepted her.  He was tall – about 6’3”, she guessed – which would put him 3 inches shorter than her normally, but more like 6 or 7 inches shorter in her heels.  He was stockily built, too, and may have even had a slight advantage over Camilla in body weight as well as muscle mass.  Quite impressive! Camilla mused.  Not many guys can say that, nowadays.

“Hey!” he accosted sharply.  “Are you Camilla??”

She eyed his aggressive stance with curiosity.  “Yes, I am,” she declared openly.

“So YOU’RE the bitch they hired to replace me, huh!?”  He jabbed a finger in the air not far from her shoulder.  “Think you can do your job better than me!??”

This was certainly a surprise, but Camilla adapted quickly.  “I’m not aware of the circumstances,” she said down to him smoothly, “but you’ll need to speak to Vanessa.”

“Bitch, I’m talkin’ to YOU!!  What the fuck gives you the right to take my job!?!”  He jabbed the air again, coming dangerously close to her collarbone.

She could see that reasoning with him would accomplish nothing – but she could not allow this to go on.  “I’m going to have to ask you to calm down, sir,” she told him flatly.

“Oh, yeah??”

“Yes.  And leave the store.”

He threw his head back and laughed.  Then he peeled off his jacket, revealing an even more impressive physique than expected.  Very few men would be able to match him in strength.  He flexed for show and said cockily, “Fucking make me!!  Oh, what, you gonna call some security guards to help you – huh?  Huh??”

He began shoving her shoulder – once, twice … harder each time.  On the third, Camilla had had enough.

* * *

“Owww!!!  Jesus – let me go!!!”

The would-be ‘macho man’ had degraded into a wimpy, mewling wreck after just a few seconds of Camilla twisting his arm behind his back.  He clearly had never seen it coming; he might have actually thought he was stronger than her, in fact.  And maybe he was still stronger than a handful of women nowadays … but not Camilla.  He put up quite a struggle at first, but the ever-increasing pressure from her arm was quickly bringing him to heel.

 “Holy fuck!!” he hissed, his face red with exertion and pain as he lost the battle entirely.

“Be quiet,” Camilla commanded.  She twisted his arm back even farther, forcing his torso to double over as he gasped and stumbled forward under her direction.  “It’ll only hurt if you struggle.”

The big, lumbering idiot kept stupidly struggling and crying out.  Finally, he got the hint and stopped writhing, and suddenly the pain went away – well, mostly.  She didn’t want to leave him any wiggle room.  She heard a few whimpers from him as he became totally docile, his feet shuffling to keep up with her measured pace.

Vanessa saw them coming and stepped out from the counter.  “What’s going on??”

“You know this guy?” Camilla asked calmly.

Vanessa bent to look at his downturned face.  “Chad??” she said in surprise.  Vanessa straightened and told Camilla, “Yes – he’s a former employee.  We let him go last week.  Why are you holding him like that?  What happened?”

“He was extremely belligerent and needs to be thrown out.  Apparently he feels I stole his job from him, and his solution was to try to bully and intimidate me.”

Vanessa slowly nodded.  “I thought I heard a man shouting.  I supposed I’m not entirely surprised he’d try something like this.  Shall I have a guard escort him off the premises?”

“I’d like to do it myself, if that’s alright.  I’ve been bullied by enough men over the years that it feels good to do something about it for once.  I won’t hurt him.”

“Fine with me, I suppose.”

Camilla nodded, then tugged the big guy’s wrist.  “Are you going to cause trouble if I let go of your arms, Chad?” she asked simply.

She could sense the bully in him still wanting to come out, but finally a spark of reason prevailed.  “No,” he said wimpily.  “No trouble.”

Camilla released his wrists immediately and helped him stand upright.  She kept a hand on his back, though, as a reminder.  “Alright.  Let’s go.”

His cheeks were red, burning with embarrassment and humiliation.  Looks like bullies don’t respond well to being knocked down a peg, she mused.  All the more reason why it’s important to put them through this.  She chuckled inwardly.  Listen to me philosophizing, haha.

She escorted him all the way to the entrance to the mall and then a few steps outside.  “Do I need to worry about you coming back here again?” she demanded.

The big jerk couldn’t even look her in the eye.  “No,” he mumbled, eyeing the pavement.

She took a deep breath.  God, I wish I could just rough him up a little.  I’m sure he’s just gonna go on being a dick once he leaves.  “Just remember,” she tried anyway, “I’m not the only strong woman around nowadays.  You might want to take a long, hard look at yourself and rethink your behavior – or maybe the next woman won’t let you walk away so easily.”

He took a couple steps and looked back.  “Yeah, whatever,” he sneered, flipping her the bird before storming off.

Camilla ground her teeth and clenched her fist.  Clearly much more is needed here.  If only I were allowed to—

She shook her head and returned inside.  He’s not even worth it.  Prick.

* * *

Other than that, Camilla had a stupendous first day.  She got home and wished she could tell her dad all about it – but he was in a mood again, and telling him would only make it worse.  Obviously, his job search had not gone well so far, but that was zero percent surprising.

She wanted to tell someone, though, and the first person that came to mind was Lynn – Phil’s wife.

“Hello?”

“Hi – is this Lynn?”

“This is she.”

“Lynn!  This is Camilla.  So sorry to call you like this.  I just had an amazing day and so many questions to ask, and you seemed like someone who would have the right answers.  I hope I’m not out of line …”

“What kind of questions?”

“Oh – about men, how to deal with certain things men do, how Phil has responded to the, um, changes – if you don’t mind me asking – and … things like that.”

“Ah.”  Lynn paused only a moment before deciding, “I’m happy to share.  But I suggest meeting in person might be best, don’t you think?  Say, why don’t you bring your father over some night this week?  I’ll have Phil make a nice dinner, and then the boys can do their own thing while we girls talk.”

“Wow, that sounds great!  Oh … but what if Dad’s not up for it?  It could be hard to convince him.  Most nights, he doesn’t even want to leave the house – especially if he’s in a bad mood.”  And he definitely will be this week.

Surprisingly, Lynn laughed.  “My … you DO have a lot to learn.”

“Huh?”

“If that’s the case, I’m certain you can find a way to change his mind.  There are plenty of tools at a woman’s disposal.  A man’s opinions aren’t that important, really.  Just pick a date and time and let me know – and worry about him afterward.  We’re free every night this week and weekend, by the way.”

Camilla was all but speechless again.  “Well … O-OK, then.”  She said some quick goodbyes then hung up and stared at the wall.  ‘A man’s opinions aren’t important’.  Wow – she sounded like she really meant that.

She knew that her situation with Dad was far different than Lynn and Phil’s, though.  She’d have to do some work to convince him – but maybe it was doable.