Jan held the receiver against her ear, waving at her coworker as she answered the company's phone.
"Tellus Technologies, how may I direct your call?" she asked, watching while Linda, the head of the accounting department, stepped up to the front desk. "Yes, please hold."
"Jan, I remembered to bring them before I left!" the portly woman said. Although she ran her own department, she was down-to-earth and a little 'out there' compared to the other executives. Rather than their dreary gray suits, the older woman wore a bright red Christmas sweater with Santa Claus driving his reindeer across a white sky.
"Oh, good!" Jan said enthusiastically. "I was about to leave for the day, too!"
Quiet holiday music played over the company's loudspeaker and strings of red and green bulbs lined the large office, reflecting their lights on the dark wood paneling. Yet another gift from Linda. The other executives couldn't be bothered with the holiday.
"These are from two of my hens," Linda said as she opened a half-carton to show an array of light blue, brown and white eggs. "I can't believe they're already laying eggs! I'm so excited."
"Are you sure you're okay sharing your first batch?" Jan asked, touching the small eggs curiously.
"Of course I'm sure," Linda beamed. "You don't have to store them in the fridge or anything. Just put them on the table and cook them when you're ready! I'm going to make a soufflΓ© tonight with mine."
"I'll try an omelet," Jan told her, carefully closing the carton. "Thank you again. I've always dreamed of having my own farm so I'm going to have to just live vicariously through you!"
"Tell me how it turns out!" the other woman said. "And, Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas!" Jan told her as Linda walked away.
The young receptionist clicked a button on her console to forward her calls while gathering her purse and personal items. Finally, she clicked the power switch to her typewriter, grabbed the eggs and walked out of her building with a wave to the few people still working.
Cold wind swirled around the young woman as she stepped into the gray afternoon air. Driving snow pelted her face until she wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck while burying her nose deep into the thick, warm cotton folds. Her shoes crunched over the salted parking lot until she found her car. As quickly as she could, she unlocked the door with her key, tossed her purse inside and then closed the door behind her.
The small, boxy car complained as she turned the key into the ignition but finally, with a few pumps of the gas pedal, it started. She set the eggs down and then turned the vents to face her. The freezing air seemed to seep into the car through every available gap. Jan turned the handle for her window until her arm trembled from the effort.
With a look over her shoulder for safety, she backed up and slowly drove through the snowy streets with an iron grip on her steering wheel.
---
Cheers
played quietly in the background in the living room while Jan stood in her kitchen. She held her knife while listening to Frasier tell Sam about a client of his and she shook her head at the lie he was telling.
"That never goes we- ow!" Jan said, sucking in her breath as she lay her knife down. Three drops of blood welled in a line at the cut across her pointer finger. She tsked at herself for getting distracted and then sucked her finger briefly. When the blood stopped, she finished cutting the bell pepper and then pushed the pieces against the pile of chopped onions on the wooden board before her.
Opening a nearby drawer, the young woman grabbed a mixing bowl and a whisk.
"Alright, let's see how you do," she murmured, opening the carton of eggs. She cracked the first egg against the bowl and then a second one after it. After contemplating how small they were compared to store bought eggs, she grabbed a third and cracked it open. Egg yolk leaked down the side of the bowl. She wiped at it with her finger before absentmindedly cleaning her finger against her apron.
A splash of milk followed the eggs in the bowl before she added salt and pepper. As she beat the eggs, her finger begin to throb. Jan sucked at her finger again and the pressure seemed to help the slight pain, reducing it to a manageable ache.
Next, she turned her stove's burner on and cut a small pat of butter to scrape into the waiting fry pan. She reached around to scratch at her back while pushing the melting butter around. A small bump met her fingers and she idly toyed with it before reaching up to scratch the back of her neck.
As she took her hand away from her neck to move the pan around, small holes opened in her skin. Thin, slick shafts of keratin pushed through the holes in a wide pattern along her neck as her body began replacing her hair follicles with quills. The shafts dried and copper-colored barbed vanes pulled away to reveal her first hackle feathers.
Jan lifted the bowl to pour it into the pan. She stared at the soupy mess and then tilted her head in a quick gesture. The soft, white skin beneath her chin grew red. She scratched at it while trying to pinpoint a strange sensation beginning to arise within her body.
She felt
full
in a way that was nearly hard for her to describe. The woman shifted her feet uncomfortably and then blushed. It was changing now, perhaps due to how she moved. Now - now it reminded her of rising arousal. Of the emptiness she felt when she was turned on. And how it felt to finally have her lover's dick deep inside of her when she was craving it. It wasn't quite sexual-
"Oh," Jan whispered, cocking her head sharply to the left as she pressed her hand against her trim stomach.
She felt it now. Not exactly the fullness of sex but something close enough to make her breathe a little faster. To make her begin to ache deep in the pit of her stomach. Her fingertips brushed her sides and she shivered at her own touch, her skin suddenly too sensitive.
Goosebumps rose along her arms and her hackle feathers lifted in response. Small cramps assaulted her, sharp stabbing pains that quickly replaced the gentle waves of pleasure. For a brief moment, she thought it was her period but the pains were more mild and she'd just finished her period a week ago.