As Luck Would Have it

Annabel arrived as Betsy was cleaning the windows. “What does the maid do?”

“Not much. I was wondering if you would babysit so I could find a job. The man that made your counter potion might hire me.”

Betsy put down her dust cloth.

“He only wants to get your sexy body into his bed.”

Betsy picked up her tea. “I was a very shy woman before I met Henry.”

“My brother had corrupted you.”

“And I’m all the better for it. There is only so long you can put up with mediocrity.”

“Sometimes, I liked you better when you were a little mouse.”

Betsy threw her hands up. “Frankenstein isn’t happy with her creation.”

“You were talking about jumping into an active volcano. I have to cheer you up. You were a very straight proper woman and now look at yourself.”

“And what is your point.” Betsy crossed her legs, placing her hands on her lap bringing attention that she was a woman wearing men’s clothes. “I like me better now. I’m not going back to being a mouse.”

“You didn’t date a man before my brother.”

“No man ever asked.”

“So you married the first man that ever asked.”

“Who would want a woman as ugly as I was? I couldn’t afford to be fussy. I get to live in a large house. I have my freedom. What more could a woman act for?”

“You act more manly than my brother.”

“It ain’t hard. How did you know with Will?”

“We courted.”

“And you\'re telling me that your brother didn’t court me. I worked for him seven years before he ted ted me into a hotel room. It was not one night fling. He took me out to dinner and never let me touch the check.”

“I’m not saying you didn’t.”

“I was destined to be with him.” Betsy rearranged the books in her to-read pile. “Annabel, it’s my life.” Betsy looked around the room and all the nooks and crannies were dusted. “Housework is so boring. Henry is my life. I don’t stay here because I love housework. A witch with my talent could get a job anywhere.”

“You’re only saying that because you believe one day that he’ll kill you. If your mother is such a good seer, why doesn’t she make her money doing that?”

“People don’t want to know the real future. They want romance. We all die. We don’t want to know where and when.”

“Do you know where and when?”

“My mother hasn’t told me either. I don’t plan to spend my life worrying.”

“Betsy, if you could pass for a man, why didn’t you get a job for more money instead of nearly starving to death at my brother’s mill?”

“I didn’t think that I could until your husband broke my nose. I pretended to be a man once to vote, but to do it on the daily basis never crossed my mind.”

After Betsy had cleaned the house and made a few fresh bottles, she looked at the schedule for the diaper service and decided to take Cynthia for a in in the park. Paul called on Betsy after closing the shop. “Betsy, I thought about it. You might be a little strange, I dare say it eccentric, but you would be good for business. I know you can sell product.”

“Thanks, when do I start?”

“As soon as you like,” Paul said. “Is afternoon good?”

“Henry doesn’t come home until rather late. As long as dinner is on the table, he doesn’t care.”

Paul followed Betsy into the kitchen.

“I need to make dinner. Thanks for coming over.”

“Dress like a woman. Your short hair and masculine movements will really sell our sex toys. The men coming to our store won’t know what to make of you”

“They’ll call me a freak like my brother.”

“They’ll be asking you to bed. Trust me on this. You’ll increase my sales.”

Betsy checked the clock. It was six. There was more than enough time to heat leftovers, not in the mood to cook a big meal. She told Henry while watching him eat two-day-old pot roast, “I start work tomorrow.”

“Who will watch the baby?”

“Your sister. She’s bored since Will hired her a cook and a housekeeper. It’ll only be part-time.”

“You always manage to get me out of the mood. By the time, I’m interested again, Cynthia will cry.”

“Darling, I’m sorry. If I was a normal girl, would you have fallen in love with me?” Betsy put her hands down Henry’s back.

“I wouldn’t have felt sorry for you. You would have needed to be witty and charming.”

“That isn’t true.” Betsy tickled Henry.

“I invested a lot of time in you. We may have still got together. Would you still have been a pervert?”

“You may have had to teach me.” Betsy kissed Henry’s belly and put her hands on Henry’s organs. “Your John Thomas would have still felt as good in my mouth.”

“I like your perverted little mind.” Henry pulled Betsy’s head down to his bulging organ. They enjoyed each other until the baby’s crying took them out of the mood.

Betsy arrived at Annabel’s house at noon. “Would you mind watching Cynthia for the afternoon?” Betsy took Cynthia out of her pram and laid her on the floor.

“Did you get a job?”

“Part-time.”

“I would love to watch her.”

“Great. Her bottles and nappies are in the bag. I will see you around six.”

Betsy stepped out of the house and walked to the magic shop. Paul showed Betsy how to run the register. “Mattie, show Betsy the most common items in the store.”

“Hi.” Mattie raised her palm in front of her prominent chest. “Speak to me, not my breasts. You won’t be meeting them.”

Betsy looked at her blue eyes. “That is a nice dress. I’m Betsy.”

“Let’s get one thing ightight. You weren’t admiring the dress.”

Betsy took Mattie’s hand in hers. “I beg your forgiveness.”

“That is an interesting ring,” Mattie said.

“Thanks. My husband picked it out for me. Show me around the store.”

“We sell sexual paraphernalia, magical and mundane. Have you and your husband ever used sex aids?”

“That’s awful personal.”

“Are you going to blush when I explain what the items are?”

“Probably.” Betsy chuckled softly. “Definitely, I blushed three times at my own wedding.”

“You’re already blushing and I haven’t showed you anything yet,” Mattie said.

“Do your husband and you used any of this stuff?”

“Sometimes we use the flavored oils. He teased me about buying whips and chains.”

“I better not bring Henry here.” Betsy winched. “He could really torture me with half this stuff.”

“Some people are into that.”

“I’m not. Having a baby was enough torture. I’m not complaining. Cynthia is a treasure.”

“How old is your baby?”

“About a month.”

“And you’re working all ready.”

“I stopped working at three months. I couldn’t wait to get back.”

“What did you do before this?”

“I was a bookkeeper.”

“You’re a bit too strait-laced to work in such a place.”

“I need a part-time job.”

“Betsy, your blush is charming but you might be a bit out of your league.”

“My father is the head of Logan products. We sell many of his potions.”

“So you\'re familiar with one of our lines.”

“I have had sexual relations all four ways. That must worth something.” Betsy was lying but she was rather curious about doing it with a woman, especially if that woman was Mattie. Betsy couldn’t stop thinking about getting Mattie into her bed. Betsy wanted to experience with some of the devices in this room with her and Henry not necessarily at the same time. Although b wit with both of them sounded good, too.

“It shows you’re a pervert.”

“When my husband and I were courting, he told me that I was freak by nature and a pervert by choice,” Betsy said.

“There is hope for you.” Mattie laughed.

A ntiantial customer entered the store and Betsy helped the lady find a few potions and oils. Betsy tried not to blush when a young woman brought a vibrator. She wasn’t surprised when an older rather homely woman brought assorted sex toys. A man came in an asked her about sex toys used for dominance and submission. Betsy managed to keep a straight face as she directed the man to Mattie.

“If a customer asks a question about S and M, you can’t direct them to me,” Mattie said.

“I wouldn’t have minded if he tied me up.”

“Flirting with the customers is good, but don’t over do it,” Mattie said. “You really like both men and women.”

“I told you that I did. Have you ever?”

“Yes, once. It did nothing for me.”

“You obviously didn’t have a very good teacher.” Betsy licked her lips.

“Behave yourself. Do you think handle the store an half an hour?”

“Yes.”

“If you do a good job, I’ll give you some pointers to drive your husband crazy.”

“At this point, he would be happy if the baby didn’t cry during it. Do you have children?”

“I have been only married five months. My husband wants to wait at least a year before we have children.”

“Lucky you, we had a shot-gun wedding. Not exactly, Pop threatened to turn Henry into a toad if he didn’t give my child his name.”

“Are you going on your break or what?”

“I love talking to you.”

“We can talk until we close up for the night.”

On the following Friday, Paul gave Betsy her first check. Betsy squinted at the check. Paul said, “You worked a full time at the mill. This is part-time.”

“Mrs. Henry Newcastle,” Betsy read off the check.

“That is your legal name,” Paul said.

“When did I become an appendage of my husband?” Betsy asked.

“I run an above board business. Mrs. Newcastle, you may have used a pseudonym at your former place of employment but the coppers use any excuse to shut establishments such as mine down.”

“I’m sorry,” said Betsy. “I was always Elizabeth Logan at my last job, even after I married Henry. I feel like you wrote out my existence with your pen.”

“I didn’t mean that.”

“I don’t even look like Elizabeth Logan. I made her vanish with my glamour potion.”

“You have no magic in you,” Paul stated. “When you started working here, you smelled like glamour potion; now the musk odor is gone. A temporary spell leaves a mark when it lingers in your fat cells before it expires.”

“How does that work?” Mattie asked.

“A long term spell attaches to the fat in one’s body and when the fat is broke down for energy the magic is released. Eventually, the magic is used up and the spell fades. Most fat based spells last from two to six months. If one is obese, they could last years,” Paul said.

“So there is no magic attached to my fat cells,” Betsy said.

“Not to my knowledge. I can see magic when most can’t. Betsy, it won’t expire. You’re no longer that ugly girl you told me about.”

“Permanent. I’ll have to chew on that a few weeks. Paul, I hope you aren’t offended but I would like a second opinion.”

Mattie put her hand on Betsy’s shoulder. “Are you giving Paul a hard time?”

“I never had a check written to Mrs. Henry Newcastle before. When I worked at the mill, I was always Elizabeth Logan.”

“You’re a married lady now.”

When Betsy showed the check, Henry burst out in laughter. “You should work for your dad; he’d pay you a decent wage.”

“I couldn’t work with Frank. As you probably have noticed, we don’t get along. Darling, is there something wrong?”

“I came home early today and you weren’t home.”

“I like working.”

“I’ll find something to do on the rare days that I come home early.”

“I only work twenty four hours a week.”

“ke hke having you home.”

“You expected me to give the baby to Annabel and return to work full-time,” Betsy said. “This was never part of the plan.”

“I didn’t expect to love you this much,” Henry said. “I miss you when aren’t here.”

“I miss you all the time. You work such long hours.” When Cynthia started to cry, Betsy warmed the bottle. “I’ll look in on her.”

“How much longer to Frank kicks the bucket?”

“I don’t know. My mother has never been too exact on those types of things. Everything that she predicts does come true.”

“If Frank dies wi a y a year, I’m moving to another country.”

“You better pack your bags.” When Betsy picked up Cynthia from her crib, she felt the wet diaper. Betsy changed her and gave her her bottle. “Sometimes, I think our lives are too normal.”

“Why do you work is in such a place?”

“It’s interesting. You should hear the suggestions that I get and I thought I was a pervert. Mattie, my co-worker, wants to meet the famous Mr. Henry Newcastle.”

“Why am I famous?”

“Because you got a man-hating suffragist like myself to marry you.” Betsy laughed as she sat down.

“You’re getting a bit of a mustache.”

Betsy touched her upper lip. “So I am. My healer said the medicine she gave me will cause me to enter menopause. A bit of a mustache I had handle. I hope my vagina doesn’t get dry.”

“If it does, we can buy some of those jellies the magic shop sells.”

“Mattie suggests we also buy the flavored oils.” Betsy licked Henry’s ear. “You would taste so good rubbed with oil.”

“You should try to apologize to Frank before he croaks.”

“You’re almost as crude as I am.” Betsy sat on the sofa to give Cynthia her bottle while in a more comfortable position. “He won’t accept my apology anyway.”

Henry sat beside his wife and daughter. “Will he die from an accident or illness?”

“Illness. Pop will take his carpet to get me but it will be too late.”

“At least, he won’t be strangled by someone who loves him.”

“I never said strangled. Mother never told me where your hands will be.”

“I hope it isn’t during sex.”

“I hope it is. I would prefer to go out that way.” Betsy kissed Henry. “Would you like to find out if I’m growing hair in other places?”

“Now, I’m curious about the store where you work.”

“They have some neat toys there.”

Mattie arrived at the house early Monday morning. “You can’t live here,” Mattie said as Betsy walked her into the living room. “Your living room is bigger than my whole apartment. You must have a maid.”

“Only a girl that come in an hour a week to dust,” Betsy said. “I can clean with telekinesis. What brings you here? You don’t need me to open the store.”

“No, I just wanted to see Cynthia.”

“She’s in her crib. It’s rather boring watching me dust. Would you like some tea and toast?”

“That would be wonderful.” Mattie followed Betsy to the kitchen. Mattie poured two cups of coffee from the percolator.

Betsy looked at Mattie sitting at the butcher-block kitchen table. “I never slept with a woman. I lied.”

“Would you like to?”

“Are you offering?” Betsy touched her hand, bent toward Mattie and touched her lips to hers. Betsy put her hand on Mattie’s hand.“You’re very pretty.”
thi think we should do it in the bedroom.” Mattie kissed Betsy deeply.

Betsy took Mattie’s hand and led her up the stairs. With her free hand, Betsy opened the bedroom door. Betsy picked up Mattie and carried her to the bed. “If you say anything about the size of the bed, I\'ll drop you before we get there.”

“You suse mse me.” Mattie fell onto the bed. She was about six inches shorter than Betsy and about 20 pounds lighter. Her raven hair fell in curls about her face.

“I have always been strong. Henry had me chop trees on our first date.”

“Sounds romantic.”

Betsy put her hand on Mattie’s face. “You’re so beautiful. I could look into your eyes and drown.”

“You’re crazy.” Mattie kissed Betsy then undid her dress and bodice. Betsy moved her hands over Mattie’s body. Mattie started to undo the buttons on Betsy’s silk blouse. “Your hands are soft.”

Betsy took off her peasant blouse and skirt. “My hands must have gotten soft while living with Henry. I grew up in the back woods of Maine. After going to a liberal arts college, I went to work in a mill. My hands have always been rough from hard work.”

Betsy tossed her blouse into the hamper. She placed her hands on Mattie’s breasts then bent down to kiss one and thought back to the time Mattie said she wasn’t going to be meeting them. Mattie laughed, as Betsy tasted her. Mattie wrapped her arms and legs around her and Betsy fell onto the bed. Then Mattie went to work on Betsy. “Do you want to shower first?” Betsy asked.

“We can,” yelled back Mattie. While the water was running, she joined her in the shower. “Paul is expecting us at work. We can’t spend all day showering.”

After lathering up a washcloth, Betsy slowly washed Mattie’s back. “Why not?”

“I never cheated on my husband before.” Mattie giggled. “Well, never with a woman. You have a little hair above your lip. Do you want me to shave you? I shave Jack.”

“Turn around.” Betsy kissed Mattie’s shoulder and moved her hand down Mattie’s back. “I like to meet your breasts, again. I wish I was as beautiful as you.”

“You’re beautiful.”

“You have feminine curves. I’m so tall and straight. My hands are so much larger than yours. I don’t even act like a woman.”

Mattie took the washcloth. “I’ll wash your back first then I’ll get a razor.” In the warm water, Mattie shaved Betsy, first above her lip then the few whiskers on her chin. “I’m not touching the body hair. I think body hair is sexy on a lady.” When the water turned cold, Betsy turned off the water then wrapped herself and Mattie in freshly laundered towels. Betsy glanced at Mattie fixing her bodice as Betsy dressed in her boring blouse and skirt.

“I haven’t gone to the bank, ” sa” said Betsy. “Would you like to accompany me?”

Mattie slid her shoes on.

The baby began crying. “I need to heat her a bottle,” said Betsy. “Would you like to change her napkin?”

“Sure,” said Mattie.

“I have a pail in the nursery.” Betsy started heading downstairs. “Thank you.”

Mattie, carrying the baby, came into the kitchen. “You have a gorgeous house.”

After testing the bottle, Betsy sat Cynthia in his arms to feed her. “Thank you.”