Prisms of Change -- The Green Orb

         Anna Lynne pushed her chair back from her desk, dropping her glasses on the cluttered surface and rubbing her eyes in frustration. Four hours. It was four hours since her shift had 'ended', and she was still staring at the same report. But at nine o' clock on a Friday, there was really no choice but to stay until it was finished... that, or go home with a half finished report and risk having no job to come back to on Monday.

         The past two years at Gamble & Proctor had been the most grueling of her life. The economy had hit the law firm hard, and as clients began to withdraw their retainers, the amount of staff the firm could support shrank. Whereas before the economy took a nose dive, the firm had been able to keep several paralegals on staff to be 'available' to the clients who 'might' just need legal services, now, the firm could only employ enough staff for the work it actually had. Or, more accurately, it could employ enough paralegals for the work it had at any given moment. If, on a month like this one, they found themselves buried in more work than they'd had in months... they just didn't have the staff to handle it. So everyone worked long, hard hours... and hoped that when the work died back down there was enough money to get through the next time things were lean.

         The constant stress, long hours and reduced wages had taken their toll on Anna. At twenty six, she should have been in her prime. Top of her class as a paralegal, she'd given up running track in school to focus on her studies, but she'd figured that once she graduated, she'd be able to shed the extra pounds in no time. That... hadn't happened. Hadn't close to happened. When she'd traded her size sixes in for size eights in college, she'd accepted that she'd be back in her 'skinny jeans' in no time. But those eights weren't her skinny jeans any more.. the size tens she'd traded up to after her first year at Gamble and Proctor were her wistful hope... but if she were honest, her belly was pushing over the tops of her size twelves in an increasingly unsightly fashion, and the band of her 38D bra was starting to dig into her softening shoulders even more than her 34C had back when she'd left college.

         At least, thus far, she'd managed to refrain from smoking like half the other legal staff in the office, but lately, she was starting to see the appeal more and more. If for no other reason than the fact that senior management seldom begrudged an employee the right to a 'smoke break'... especially since they all smoked. But as a non-smoker, Anna felt herself lucky just to get away from her computer long enough to use the bathroom, much less take an actual break during the work day.

         “Hey Anna,” a familiar voice called from the end of her aisle of cubicles. At this hour, the voice could belong to few people besides Kimber, the firm's most junior associate attorney, barely out of law school and working the same sort of long hard hours that most of the paralegals put in.

         “Hi Kimber,” Anna said smiling at the other woman's presence. Sometimes, it was good just to know that there was someone else there in the building with you after close, even if the stunning blond was likely headed to a hot night club after work while Anna headed home to her empty house. For the moment, they were both at work long after bankers hours, and could share in that bond. “I think there's  still some coffee in the break room if you need it. I was thinking about getting a cup myself.”

         “Nah,” Kimber said, fishing a pack of Virginia Slims out of her pocket along with a lighter. “But if you want, why don't you grab a cup and keep me company on the balcony while I light up. I think we could both use something warm and a little fresh cool night air before we finish slaying the paperwork beast.”

         “Sounds good to me,” she said, putting her glasses back on and grabbed her favorite mug that read 'The best part of the Work Week is that it ENDS.'

         “Actually Anna,” Kimber said when they reached the small break room. “Maybe you'd like to smoke more than I would. I.... I'd like to make you an offer,” she finished hesitantly as she withdrew a small green ball from her pocket. “Have you ever seen one of these before?”

         “What, a ball from a pool table?”

         “No, no nothing like that. It's an old piece of magic. There are quite a few of them wandering around. This one... it lets you take things from another person that you're jealous of. It has to be something you envy about them. Once you take it, they can't ever have back whatever you took. And... the person you took something from gets the orb. You can use it right back on the other person, take something else... but then they get the orb back. It can become a very... vicious cycle of jealousy.”

         “Seriously? Kimber... I know we've been putting in long hours, but you're going to get me thinking that you're smoking something other than those Virginia Slims.”

         “I'm serious. There are a few things you have that I want desperately... and I'd give a great deal to have them...  I know you're not going to believe me until you see it work, so I figured I'd offer up a demonstration... and give you first crack at me afterwords. Are you game?”

         “Yeah, sure,” Anna said as she finished adding the second pack of sugar and cream to her coffee. “Go right ahead,” she laughed.

         “Great, because I've always been really jealous of the way you keep from becoming a smoker in this place. I've always wanted to be the one that managed to hold out and not give in to the addiction.” As she spoke, the plain green ball in her hand began to glow, emitting a bright  light from deep within. Moments later, the orb vanished, only to reappear in Anna's pocket.... right next to her lighter and pack of Marlboro Lights.

         “What the? How...” Anna gasped, her surprise causing her to cough a bit and her heart to race.

         “I told you, the orb is magic. Come on out on the balcony with me, I'll take the coffee, and you can have a smoke. We'll talk about it and what I have in mind, then, you can let me know what you decide. If you don't want to help me, I'll let you pick one thing of mine to take, and you can have it as payback for becoming a smoker. But... I think you'll like my deal more.”

         Out on the balcony, Anna stood stunned as Kimber outlined her ideas. Stunned... and smoking. And it wasn't like it was her first cigarette... her body had craved it... felt like it had been craving it for hours when she lit up. Then, the smooth draw of smoke, calming the craving, soothing her nerves... it was like a familiar old friend come home.

         “So you're telling me that no one will know what we've done? They'll think things have always been this way?”

         “Yes. The orb bends reality... refracts it like light. When it's done, only the people who are present for the changes know that anything is different. The orb has been passed down for twenty years from woman to woman... in exactly the way I'm passing it down to you. And make no mistake Anna, if you give me back the orb and agree to take more, you will become it's proper inheritor. That will be the very first thing I take from you... if that's not a price you're willing to pay, then pick something small as compensation for the smoking and walk away.”

         “But I don't get it... if you want to leave your husband so badly... why not just leave him?”

         “It doesn't work that way. My husband... well, he became my husband eight years ago, right when I graduated high school. His previous wife was done living the 'trophy wife' life... she wanted my freedom. I wanted her money... her position. If I had been less of a fool, I would have taken more from her than I did. She'd been his kept wife for almost as long as I've been... and she'd taken the position from the woman before her.... For twenty years, Max Draylan has had a young, beautiful trophy wife... everyone knows it, and no one questions that his increasingly young wife is really only in it for the money. Maybe the first woman with the orb got a prize worth having... twenty years ago, max was in his fifties, still somewhat vigorous. Now... he's in his seventies... and his wedding pre-nup gets tighter each time the orb is used to move his marriage on to a new spouse. At this point, any marital infidelity annuls the marriage, and worse, requires the repayment  of any assets taken under 'false pretense.' Max won't die for years to come, he's too wealthy to suffer the frailties of old age without the best care money can provide. So it becomes a prison. You can be young, beautiful, rich... but Max, though loving, is no longer a man that can provide any level of intimacy. It gets lonely. Eventually, you start to yearn for freedom. And, when that day comes... you pull out the orb and go looking for someone to take your place.”

         “I guess. I guess it makes sense.  But if you walk away from this... what will you walk away with?”

         “Well, a great deal of that is up to you. You decide when to walk away with the orb. You need to be the one holding the orb in the end or there won't be an escape for you. I only took two things from my predecessor before she walked away... the first thing I took was her sense of style and sophistication... and she payed me back by taking my 'young and natural breasts.' At the time, I didn't understand why she'd want to be so flat chested... I was barely a B-cup at the end of high school. But, after the past eight years of carrying around this much silicone, I understand where she was coming from. And let me warn you, Max may not touch much, or often, but he's definitely a boob guy... you may find yourself under pressure for a set of implants yourself if you don't watch out... he's been after me the past few years to have mine redone... something in an F-cup he keeps saying.”

         “And what was the other thing you took?”

         “I took her intellect. She had a brilliant mind, and I had barely graduated high school. The marriage gave me the money to go to college, and she gave me the brains to do it. But when she showed me what she thought of that move... I felt like the price could get exceptionally steep. After she took her last thing, I walked away.”

         “What did she take?” Anna asked, trembling slightly with fear.

         “My family. She had been an only child, and her parents were long gone. I had an older brother, two younger sisters.... my parents loved me... we had just gotten a puppy for my youngest sister's birthday. I never thought I could lose them like that... but, when I ran across them that fourth of July, they were all out in the yard, laughing and running around the family pick nick with the woman who took them from me. I haven't been able to go back to them since.”

         “Oh Kimber....”

         “It's okay... I knew the game going in. Like I said, it can get ugly. But you're one of the nicest women I know here, and this isn't an easy company to be nice in. I trust you to not take too much advantage of me.”

         “Okay Kimber,” Anna said, snuffing out what was left of her cigarette and heading back towards the door. “Why don't we come in from the cold, and I'll take your deal.”

         “Thank you Anna,” Kimber replied as she followed the shorter woman back into the building. What would it be like, Kimber wondered, if Anna chose to take her figure, to carry around that much extra 'junk in the trunk?' Or to be that short... to have her thighs rub together as she walked? Would Anna take her perfect sight and leave her with those thick glasses?

         “Okay Kimber,” Anna said at last. “I know what I want first. I'm really jealous of the way men look at you. The way their eyes follow you as you walk across the building, the way they strain to see if you're going to expose just a little more cleavage when you walk and bounce. I'm jealous of the way they get awkward when you catch them looking and the confidence you have to know that they are looking. That's what I'm most jealous of.”

         Moments later, the orb reappeared in Kimber's pocket. A pocket that now belonged to a less form fitting jacket, with a less cleavage baring shirt underneath. Her skirt had lengthened several inches, and her heals had dropped a few inches. While still exquisitely tailored, her clothes now belonged to a woman who was used to going unnoticed by most men, even if the figure beneath was truly stunning.

         Anna, on the other hand, couldn't help but smile as she felt her breasts lift in a cleavage maximizing bra, pushing the limits of the scoop necked sweater she wore and highlighting the 'more to love' figure she kept the men of the office drooling over. Behind her, a fitted skirt accentuated every curve of her ample posterior, showcasing it's hypnotic sway wherever she walked, her steps marked by the sharp clicks from the spike healed shoes she now found on her feet. Yes, this is exactly what she wanted.

         “I expect that you'll be taking the curves that go with those looks shortly then,” Kimber said as she absorbed the changes. “So, you knew this is what was coming.... I'm jealous of the fact that you're not married to Max and I am. I'm jealous of the way you can attract any man you please, see who you want and not have to worry about who you spend your time with. I'm jealous that you aren't locked into a marriage with only one way to escape, that you don't have to be a kept woman and a trophy wife subject to the whims of your aging husband. I'm jealous of the fact that people don't see you as a gold-digging whore who's only out for money.”

         This time, the flash took only moments, moments in which the quality of Kimber's garments changed substantially, becoming the retail chic of a freshly graduated attorney who still had mounds  of student loans to pay off... professional for sure, but by no means extravagant.

         Anna's clothes, on the other hand, became the finely tailored garments of major designers, carefully calculated to show her best assets most, and minimize the 'roll' effect that her spreading middle tended to have. A heavy set of rings appeared on her left hand, with diamonds worth enough to buy most luxury cars, and ear rings to match. Finally, the orb itself appeared in her outstretched manicured hand, waiting further instructions.

         “Thank you Kimber. Thank you so much. But I think this is everything I need. I'm going to walk away now. I hope you understand.”

         “But wait...” Kimber cried out. “Don't you want more? My height maybe? Or maybe you'd like to be thin? Please... anything...”

         “No Kimber... I'm sorry, but I can't risk any more of myself. You were right to be cautious about what someone might take next... and I can't risk my family. I love them too much. But I'll make you a promise. While I can't take the chance that you would take my family... I can help you build your own. I don't think I need to work here... I tried... I really tried to be a normal woman after I married Max... but it just doesn't look like this is going to work out. But I've made a great friend here. A friend that I would like to hire as my personal legal assistant. I know it's not glamorous, but I promise the pay is good. We can get you away from the long hours that stop you from meeting people... maybe a good husband of your own... what do you say? Will you take my offer?”

         “Of course,” Kimber said, her voice cracking and her eyes filling with tears. “Of course I will.”