Tuesday, October 19
"Is this Charlotte?"
"This is... Char... yeah. Me." Charlotte had just finished masturbating 15 seconds or so to the memories of the previous night, before her phone began to ring.
"This is Doctor Cronin." She didn't recognize the name. This wasn't the grumpy man that talked over her the previous day. "I'm from St. Rose Hospital. We processed your blood panel. Do you have a moment to talk about your test results?"
"Yeah, is everything okay?" Her heart raced as picked her hairbrush up and moved into the bathroom, putting the phone on speaker.
"So, the pregnancy test came back negative."
"Good. But why do I feel like there's more?" She asked, popping a birth control pill into her mouth
"We'd like to have you in for more tests and questions sometime tomorrow for a couple hours. We noticed some interesting hormone levels that we would like to run more specific diagnostics on. We'd like for you to come in tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow? That might not work so well. I have --"
"There will be compensation. We're conducting research on cases like yours and your participation could be invaluable to many people."
"Am I at risk in any way?"
"Probably not. But that's exactly why we'd like you in as soon as possible."
"Okay, I can come in around 9AM, I suppose."
"Thanks for your understanding, Charlotte. And your discretion is appreciated with this."
"Discretion? Isn't that your job?"
"We'd also advise excessive stimulation, in the meantime," he said, ignoring the pointed question, "to avoid... potentially dangerous hormonal imbalances."
"Stimulation?" She didn't like the way he phrased that last part.
"Sex and masturbation."
"You've gotta be kidding me."
"Unfortunately, no. It's just a precaution. And we'll talk about compensation amounts after we run some quick tests."
"That was going to be my next question."
"Thanks for your understanding. Just get here when you can. Say you're there for Doctor Cronin and they'll take you as a walk-in."
Annoyed, she slipped on some of her looser jean shorts that had a bit of stretch to them, since the ones Derek returned her seemed to no longer be a viable option. It must have been bloating from whatever the heck was going on with her body. She removed the breast pump cups and emptied them into a half-gallon milk jug she'd been using, since Kim hadn't returned her pitcher yet. The jug was full despite her having started filling it only the previous day, so she poured the rest into a mason jar and stored it in the fridge. She carefully placed the jug into her large, white, vinyl purse. A surprise for Kim, she thought, smiling.
None of her bras fit anymore, so she put on an oversized mint-colored shirt that had some thickness to it, not caring if she looked frumpy today.
* * *
When Charlotte got to the tea shop, Kim was already standing in line. As she approached, she already regretted skipping on attempting to pull one of her undersized sports bras over her bust, since her shirt was rubbing on her nipples with each step. She had just pumped, so she should be fine for at least an hour, she hoped.
Kim was wearing stylish pink denim shorts with a baby blue shirt tucked into it. Her stance seemed uneasy, constantly adjusting her shorts and re-tucking her shirt. As Charlotte neared the door, she noticed the shorts hugged her thighs so that they bulged beyond the fabric slightly, accentuating her softness. Looking down, Charlotte realized her own shorts, which only extended slightly below the bottom of her shirt, were doing the same thing.
"Boo!" she said as she got in line behind her, prompting Kim to turn around. Charlotte's gray eyes widened. Kim's boobs were very clearly a size or two larger, and the spillage of her bust over the cups was visible through her shirt, a struggle Charlotte had grown to understand quite well. "O-oh. I guess I should have said 'boob'."
"That was lame even by your standards, Lottie." Kim furrowed her brows and looked down. "Are my boobs that much bigger?" She asked without a modicum of discreetness, drawing a glance or two.
"...No?" Looking her friend up and down, Charlotte supposed she was maybe a bit softer all over -- her butt and thighs had seemingly grown overnight, and she had a bit more of a muffin-top than normal, but the bulk of the growth was in her chest. Charlotte felt a tinge between her thighs, but didn't comment further.
"You're a terrible liar," she said, re-tucking her shirt after adjusting her gorgeous hair that just barely touched her shoulders. "I mean, it's pretty obvious why this happened, right?" Kim finished her order and Charlotte placed hers, both of them sitting across from each other at a table.
"I'm so, so sorry, Kim. It was my... you know..."
"Sorry? No. Don't be sorry. I freaking love it."