...it was me. An older me," Gloria explained far too casually for such a strange claim.
Danni was taken aback. "A-Are you sure about that, Ms. Vandergast? That's impossible. Surely you must be mistaken."
Gloria chided her secretary. "You think I don't recognize an older version of me?"
That sounded even crazier. "An older you! How can you even tell?!"
"Danni, I didn't get to where I am by panicking at whatever lurch life decides to through at me. Strange doppleganger aside," Gloria mused over the incident. "We had the same shape and general physique. Although she had some grays to her hair and a more robust figure, so clearly more seasoned than I currently am."
Danni's bosom rose and fell as if she was running a marathon. "How can you be so calm about this? This is like, something out of 'The Shining!' Or worse."
Gloria expressed her disappointment with her face. "Then come with me, Danni, and tell me what you think about all this."
The buxom secretary was at a loss as to how strange the day had turned. Meeting her boss to look over a new property acquisition was nothing new. 62 Newtrail Way looked to be a charming alpine retreat with a managerial business puzzle to tickle Danni's fancy. Okay, that most of the lodge was built into the mountain, like some sort of repurposed bunker, was unusual. Gloria claiming to see an older version of herself in one of the rooms had to be completely fictitious. Right? Surely nothing so crazy sounding could actually occur.
Yet, Danni had reservations as Gloria thrust her before the room in question she had previously inspected. Lo and behold, there was an odd teal light coming from under the crack in the door.
"Go on, look," Gloria demanded.
"I-I-I-" Danni reached for the doorknob and shrank back. "This is nuts! How can there be an older version of you?"
"We aren't going to find answers just standing here quibbling," Gloria said, hands on substantial hips as she tested the give of her winter coat. "Have a look for yourself and tell me if you have a better explanation."
Slowly, with great trepidation, Danni reached out for the doorhandles. Room 17, as indicated by the numbers. She quietly turned the handle to open the door a narrow crack. Barely enough to peer inside.
Danni held in a silent gasp. The woman inside certainly looked like an older version of Gloria. Bathed in the strange teal light from the room's lights, she sat by the unlit fireplace in an armchair. Gloria's features but with a few more wrinkles. Faded hair from the midnight black the 'younger' Vandergast sported, with hints of grey. An even fuller figure than the weighty kitchen boss, by a good thirty or so pounds, stuffed into a purple suit with a set of pearls around a chubby neck, an outfit Danni could easily imagine to be within her boss's wardrobe.
Clearly, an older Gloria Vandergast. Or was she really? The truth ended up being...
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