The Alternate Universe by The Alternate Universe

Author:The Alternate Universe [MM] (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-09-06T04:00:00+00:00

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Each suit had been paired with shirt-sock-shoe combinations: a linen suit of maroon and kelly green stripes with a purple shirt with French cuffs and sparkling buttons; a yellow suit that appeared to be made of laminated flowers with a shirt mottled with hand-stitched bumble bees; and a plain black suit that was refreshing in its simplicity, with a shirt patched together from multiple fabrics, representing every pattern from plaid to polka-dot.

The black suit was the obvious choice. He considered switching in the purple shirt but decided that whatever intelligence had chosen the combination—his mother or a house-PAL’s algorithm—probably knew more about fashion than he did. The suit fit snugly but wasn’t tight, and the fabric was so light that he felt almost naked. The accompanying shoes—made of a soft, synthetic fabric that looked like black pewter—felt as cozy as slippers.

Examining his reflection, he felt a guilty pleasure. He looked good. He looked sexy. He looked rich. What would Carolien think? He wanted to send her a picture but couldn’t. Hades. What fun was there in dressing up if he couldn’t get Carolien’s take on it? Guilt over keeping Jay and the party a secret reared up, and he vowed he’d tell her everything tomorrow.

He still had to brush his teeth and fix his hair. And he needed a belt. Well, perhaps he didn’t actually need it. The trousers fit perfectly, hugging his waist and thighs like ivy on a wall. But he didn’t feel right without one.

He stepped into the hall and treaded down the corridor to his mother and Millstone’s suite.

“Anyone here?” Claude yelled. “Mom? Step-daddy?”

They were probably in what his mom called the face parlor—a fully automated spa where PALs used facepaint, bio-toxins, hair polish, and other tricks to make sure that she and Millstone looked their camera-ready best.

Since he’d last seen their suite it had been re-styled with an underwater theme, including the walls, which had been replaced by floor-to-ceiling tanks filled with fish and swaying sea plants.

He was tempted to snoop—he was especially curious about the decorative objects, including a crumbling-looking chest that looked as if it had been swiped from the Bollywood set of Treasure Island—but if he didn’t want to be caught, he needed to hurry.

Tiptoeing into what he surmised from the smell of cologne was Millstone’s dressing room, he cautiously—half expecting an alarm to sound—opened closets. The closets themselves were rooms: one was exclusively for suits, another for shirts, and still another for shoes and accessories, including two long racks of ties and another long rack of belts. Most of the belts were indistinguishable from each other, raising the question why Millstone needed so many.

The logical choice was to pick one from the middle, where Ted would be least likely to notice, but Claude was drawn to the one at the end, which was made of such soft leather that it seemed to glow. And it happened to fit perfectly.

He knew he should leave—that Millstone or his mother

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