The Tauros Chronicles

Chapter 9 - The First Steps

When I woke, it was day. Light filtered in through the mini-blinds. I groggily blinked my eyes, realizing I was on my back on the living room floor. I thought for a moment it had all been a wonderful dream, but when I moved my head a bit, I felt my muzzle twitch, reminding me I was still a giant cow beast.

My udders were still massively huge above me. I reached up and squeezed them in a hug. They were squishy and full of milk from the night before and were almost pinning me to the ground like a turtle on its back. I must have rolled over in my sleep. There was an uncomfortable crunchy thing underneath me. Reaching a 3-fingered hand under myself I pulled out a small collection of broken wood. One of my dining room chairs. I had rolled over on it and crushed it in my sleep. I didn't have a clear indication of how much I weighed in my current form, a 10 foot tall female minotaur, but about a thousand pounds seemed likely. My penis was still nestled in my cleavage, but it had shrunk back down to it’s flaccid size.

“Good morning, sunshine!” I heard Kate say, coming around from the kitchen area. She was dressed in a T-shirt and in Homid form carrying a glass of orange-juice. Apparently she had digested all my semen and found time to milk herself back down, since her breasts and belly were back to their normal sizes. She set down the glass and moved over to me. “Let me help you up.” Kate helped me roll over onto my front so I was resting atop my bloated udders. Even though in her Homid form she was nearly half my height, her body belied an immense physical strength. From that position, I was able to regain my feet (or hooves, rather).

I was unquestionably grateful for her. Last night she had given me the night of my life, but even better, she was still here, now, with me. Somehow I had feared she would have disappeared or evaporated with the coming of the morning, leaving me alone like a newborn. Or worse, I would have woken up to find it had all been a dream.

“Care for some orange-juice?” Kate offered the glass to me. I gingerly took the now small glass and held it up to my mouth. I found drinking from a glass to be rather difficult with a muzzle, but I managed. The orange juice tasted refreshing and sweet on my tongue.

“First thing we should do,” Kate said, patting my huge udders, “is milk you down. You’re carrying too much to switch into Homid without spraying everywhere.”

I blushed at her, somehow embarrassed at my girth. I knew I should feel open and natural about it, but I still had lingering doubts. I felt vulnerable while naked, and almost ashamed of my massive breasts. I knew Kate was the same way; her body was no different from mine. It was nothing new to her, but the novelty of it still felt alien and perverted to me.

“On second thought...” Kate said, “Screw it, just go ahead and switch to Homid and we’ll rush you to the bathroom like we did for me last night. We won’t be here long enough to have to deal with the smell of spoiled, milk-smelling carpets.”

I closed my eyes and thought of myself as a human again. Smooth skin. Small frame. Feet instead of hooves. I pushed the imaginary slider in my mind, shoving it over to human form. I felt the changes taking place as I forced my body to respond. A warm dribbling sensation spread down my chest. I opened my eyes again as my balance began to tip forward.

I was back in Homid form, and my breasts were absolutely, obscenely massive. They must have been over 4 feet in diameter each, swelling roundly like fleshy weather-balloons. I couldn’t see them directly, but I felt my nipples spraying milk as I stood there.

“Let’s get you into the bathroom.” Kate said, leading me. My colossal breasts bounded and collided with each other as I made my way to the bathroom. I ended up knocking over several pieces of furniture and a lamp with their girth as we struggled to usher me to the bathroom. Kate helped me round the corners of my narrow hallway, and helped push my giant breasts through the doorway. I heard the frame crack and groan as we crammed my titanic jugs through. Aiming my nipples into the shower and kneeling down on the floor rug, I dropped my breasts into the bathtub.

My girth mounded over the brim of the tub by several feet, leaving me resting on my massive balloons which were cupped inside the tub. I rubbed my breasts as they leaked down, draining their milk.

“I’ll leave you to handle milking yourself. You’ll have to learn sometime how to do it.” Kate said, turning to leave. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”

I let my breasts drain for many long moments. I ran my hands across their girth, attempting to push the milk towards my nipples. There was no way I could reach my nipples with them being so huge. The process was slow, however, their size barely dropping after several minutes.

Losing patience, I hugged around as much of my girth as I could and squeezed for all I was worth. I felt the streams of milk from my nipples turn into blasting jets as the flow increased. Straining there for several seconds, I felt my hands sink into my breasts as they dropped in size. Then I could hold the crushing hug no more and I released my squeeze.

I had made progress, I could almost reach to my nipple, but they were still several inches out of reach. Trying again, I repositioned my arms and squeezed again, this time on slightly smaller breasts. Again I was rewarded with jets of milk spraying out of my nipples. The feeling was unquestionably erotic. The rushing fluid through my nipples felt like a tickling touch on the ends of my breasts. I watched several more gallons wash down the drain as I strained, squeezing more of my milk out.

After several waves of straining and squeezing I was left with breasts the size of an armload of laundry. I could reach my nipples now, but not quite touch my hands around them. However, as I continued to squeeze, my milk started to spray less and less. I guessed that I had shrunk back down past my flood point, since I was no longer leaking milk when I wasn’t squeezing. After a few more squeezes, however, I was unable to get any milk to come out, but I still had breasts the size of huge beach balls.

I thought for a few minutes and wondered if I could milk myself like a cow in order to get the rest out. I pinched my small Homid nipples and pulled, attempting to milk myself like I had Kate last night. But the effect wasn’t what I had hoped. My small nipples just didn’t have the girth needed to be effectively milked.

I remembered the Labrix form and the larger sized teats it had. I thought perhaps I could milk myself better in that form so I closed my eyes and imagined the changes happening. My body responded and I grew again, my lower udders swelling into existence as my body sprouted fur. I grasped the large teats of my upper left udder, unable to see what I was doing due to their rounded swell. The teats felt large and meaty in my hands, perfect for milking. Performing the motion I had learned last night, I blindly pulled at my teats, squirting streams of milk into the tub as I worked.

The sensation was fantastic. It was almost like masturbating. The ministrations felt wonderful on my udder, sending shudders of pleasure through my body. Thick milk flowed very quickly from my large teats, draining into the tub.

Within a few minutes I was down to the size of volleyballs, carrying only a few more gallons. I had intended to continue milking until I was empty, but Kate had come back into the bathroom, inspecting my work.

“Not bad!” She said. “It’s always easier to milk yourself with teats, rather than nipples, as I think you’ve discovered.” She sat down on the edge of the tub as I worked. “What I usually do is move up in forms until I find one I can reach my nipples in, then begin milking.”

Kate noticed my udders collapsing back to their smallest size, almost empty. “That should be good.” Kate said. “Leave a little bit in them, I have a trick to teach you. Go ahead and take Homid form again.”

I did as she instructed, struggling a moment to shift with my eyes closed. I found that it was harder for me to transform than it appeared to be for her. I hoped it was just a matter of practice. She had been doing it for years, so I guess I couldn’t be expected to master it overnight. After a moment, my body reverted back to it's human-looking form. My two lower udders collapsed back into my trim belly, the few gallons of milk left in them flooding to my upper pair, ballooning them up slightly. My soft fur receded, again leaving only bronze skin behind. My long tail disappeared and my hooves became feet once again.

Back in my Homid form, I stood up from my kneeling position. My breasts were still grandly swollen with perhaps a dozen gallons of milk. They looked like large watermelons on my chest.

“Okay.” Kate said. “This is going to be a bit weird, but I’m going to teach you some magic. It won’t be like a magic trick you see on TV... those are illusions. This will be real magic.” I was eager to learn what was possible with magic, as well as what I was capable of.

“The first thing a Tauros needs to learn of magic is how to hide her milk.” Kate continued. “It’s easy to see that you’re not quite natural with your breasts swollen like that. Additionally, since our bodies produce milk naturally throughout the day, whether we want them to or not, you’ll only get bigger. So the first thing we teach new Tauros is called Hiding Milk.

“Basically it’s a trick that will store your milk in the spirit world, allowing you to go about your business without having to worry about swelling up as the day progresses. Here’s what you do. Take your hands and place them over your nipples like this.” Kate grabbed my hands and planted them on my breasts, over my nipples. “Okay, now I want you to imagine that your breasts are giant sponges, full of water. What you’re going to do is imagine squishing them against your chest, forcing the water out.

“Remember the feeling of energy flooding into your udders last night?” I nodded, recalling the strange flow through my body. “Okay, you’re going to imagine feeling that in reverse while pressing in on your breasts, collapsing them down.”

I tried as she instructed, shutting my eyes and pressing inward with slow, even pressure on my breasts. I imagined my milk flowing back from my breasts into my body somehow, dispersing throughout my form; the opposite of what I felt before. After several moments of concentration, I felt my breasts start to shrink. My milk flowed back into my body, somehow dispersing through me and welling up somewhere else.

My breasts collapsed down on my chest under the pressure of my hands, stopping at the size I was when I first transformed into a girl last night. I pressed harder, trying to squeeze my breasts even smaller, but I only ended up leaving my breasts aching from being crushed. “How come I can’t go any smaller?” I asked, cupping my stripper-sized breasts. "I'm still way bigger than normal."

“You can’t go smaller than empty.” Kate said, smiling at me. “You’re a big girl, maybe bigger than me even.” She pointed to her tits. They were spectacular and big; but I didn’t know much about bra sizes. We looked larger than naturally possible. Like a pair of silicone queens with giant exotic dancer breasts.

“You’ll have to get used to it. Your breasts are about a G cup or so and there’s not much you can do to hide that. You can wear bulky sweaters or try to conceal them, but you’re size is still believable. People might think you have implants, but they won’t think you’re supernatural... we know different.” She winked at me, smiling again.

I cupped my large breasts, watching them shake and jiggle, getting a feel for how they moved. I felt an unnatural fullness in the back of my mind, however. The pressure was tolerable, but constant, like a headache or something. “Why do I have a headache?” I asked.

“That feeling is your milk in the spirit realm.” Kate answered. “The milk will remain there until either you let it flow back into your breasts, or until you can no longer hold it back. You should be able to hold it for a long while, but eventually you’ll have to release it.”

“I take it I’ll be in trouble if I’m not in private when that happens?” I more said than asked.

“Definitely.” Kate responded. “Don’t ever let that happen. Just excuse yourself to the bathroom or something and let your milk down. You can usually milk it into the toilet or somewhere inconspicuous. You should be able to go all day before you have to do that, but just be careful. If something starts feeling weird, head for the bathroom.” Kate patted my hand. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll be with you.”

“Thank you for all your help, Kate.” I said.

“You’re so welcome, sweetie.” Kate said. “I’ve really enjoyed it so far. It’s the most excitement I’ve had in a long time.”

“Me too!” I said. “Actually this is the most excitement I’ve had ever!” I corrected. “I’m really enjoying it though.”

“Good!” Kate rose and headed out of the bathroom. “Breakfast is ready.”

I followed her out to the dining table. She had prepared a mountainous stack of pancakes that looked absolutely daunting. We dove into them, quickly devouring more pancakes than I could have eaten in a week of breakfasts before the change.

As I ate, I felt my bottom swelling slightly beneath me. I looked down and saw that my hips were slightly larger than they were before, and my butt felt a bit swollen.

“Expanding boobs and butt.” I said. “This is too good to be true.”

“Oh, it gets better.” She said. “Since you’re a girl as well as a boy, you get the best of both worlds. Imagine being full of milk, your butt swollen up with food, and your belly ballooned full of cum. You’ll be a big, fat, squishy cowgirl. It’ll be wonderful.”

“Mmm... I can’t wait.” I said through mouthfuls of pancakes.

“Your larder can also hold a ton of food. How much you can hold increases as you get older, but for all of us, thankfully, we can hide our cud. Just like we hide milk. All you have to do is close your eyes and concentrate on your body slimming back down. The cud inside you will slip into the spirit world, like your milk does, and leave you as a slim-looking human once again.”

I tried it as she ate. I closed my eyes and imagined my bottom slimming back down once again, my stored food slipping away to the spirit world, leaving me trim again. I felt a squishing sensation in my rump and opened my eyes. My hips and butt had slimmed back down to super-model slimness once again. I frowned slightly at it. It was indeed attractively slim, but I found I liked having a plump backside. I released the cud, watching my hips and rear end slide outwards and swell back up quickly.

“Wow...” I was dumbstruck. Not only did I have multiple ballooning boobs and udders, but my butt could swell up bigger, as well as my belly. I could literally turn into a massive balloon of flesh, fat, and milk. The prospect of it made me moist between the legs.

“As long as you’re not holding too much cud,” Kate continued, “you can hold it pretty much all day, like with your milk. The more you carry, though, the harder it gets to hide it all. Just remember though, if you go to sleep or fall unconscious, all of your milk and cud floods back into your body, blimping you right back up. So remember to take your clothes off before you go to sleep or they’ll be torn wide open. And don’t ever spend the night with anyone who isn’t a Tauros.”

“Good to know.” I said, returning to my pancakes.

We ate in silence for a few more minutes. I pounded down several more stacks of pancakes, eager to plump up my rear end more. It seemed to work. Having filled and emptied my plate half a dozen times, my rear was much larger than it had been earlier. My hips flared out wider and my soft curving butt was fuller and rounder than it had been. Once all the pancakes were gone, Kate turned to regard me.

“I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided that ‘Louis’ is just not a girl’s name.” She smiled at me. “We need a new name for you.”

I was a bit surprised. I hadn’t actually considered that yet, but I had no idea what name to chose. All of them were open to me. I was restarting in life so I could pick one from anything I wished. But with so many options available, I couldn’t choose anything.

“I’m thinking,” Kate continued, “That you have a European look to you. Southern Europe, like maybe Italy. Perhaps an Italian name? I’ve noticed that we Americans aren’t really good on geography, though, so you could vary that quite a bit and get away with it. Maybe an eastern block country, like Romania or Poland or something?”

“That’s a good idea.” I replied. “At least as far as an origin goes. I mean, I don’t exactly look ‘domestic’. Perhaps I could have come from eastern Europe. Or even Asia, like Siberia or something.” I paused for a moment. “But I don’t know any names from those places.”

“Well, that’s probably a good thing. That means most everyone else won’t know either. But if you’re looking for a Russian name, how about Petra or Tatyanna?”

“Oh, those are pretty names.” I thought for a moment, imagining signing my name as Tatyanna. It somehow didn’t feel right though. “I still don’t know...”

“How about a classic name? Do you have any favorite characters from literature or anything? Shakespeare names or anything? Or maybe Greek mythology?”

“Ooh, Medusa would be a cool name! Or maybe Ophelia or Hermione? Tisiphone? Persephone?” I said, struggling to recall all of the beautiful names I had heard in historic literature. “Hera? Aphrodite?”

“Blah, Medusa was hideously ugly.” Kate said. “Hermione might be interesting though. Since you’re a hermaphrodite. Hermione. Hermaphrodite. Maybe... I don’t know.” I frowned at that. “What about a neutral name?” She asked. “Like Diamond, or Ruby? Or maybe even Lavender? Loads of the girls at the farm have simple, cow-like names. Things like Daisy, Clover, or Buttercup.”

“Hmmm, that’s an idea too. Plus it leaves my origin open for interpretation.” I pondered it. “But I think I like longer names. Ruby would be too short I think. How about something more primal? More elemental?” We sat in thought for a few minutes, tossing names back and forth and brainstorming. Suddenly Kate’s face lit up.

“I’ve got it!” She exclaimed, a smile spreading across her face. “Mercury.”

The name hit me like a hammer. “Ooh! That’s perfect!” I squealed. “Oh, I love it. Mercury.” It felt right. Something exotic, yet familiar. Definitely rare enough to define it’s owner. Not too many bronze bombshells with white hair and violet eyes walking around. Yet it was ambiguous too. Mercury had been around since the dawn of man. Early alchemists used it and gave it great reverence in it’s mystical powers. Every civilized culture knows of it. “It’s pretty ambiguous too. I could be from anywhere with a name like that. Well... any English speaking country, I guess.”

“Well, now that I have a name,” I continued, “What’s our story for how you found me? How will the society react to my existence?”

“I have not a clue.” She admitted. “I think I’ll have to work on that one. We’ll give it a few days, maybe a month, before we make the first move.” She bit her lip, thinking of something. “One thing’s for sure, though, the quicker we can vacate this apartment, the better off we’ll be. If any of your friends come by or even your family, we’ll have a lot of explaining to do about why there are two girls here instead of ‘Louis’.”

I thought of my family then, wondering how I would cope with never seeing them again, and how they

“I think the first thing we should do, however, is clean out your bank account.” Kate continued. “We’ll get all of your cash and buy you some clothes and necessities. There’s a lot more stuff you’ll need if you’re going to be a proper girl.” She smiled at me.

“I’m worried about my family.” I said.

“I was wondering about that. It may seem cruel, but you know you can’t ever see them again. Right?” She said. “First of all they wouldn’t understand how you transformed, and second, it might expose the whole Tauros society to the world. I’m afraid even I couldn’t let you do that.”

I nodded in understanding. “I don’t want to endanger us at all. After all, I’m the first one they’d start poking and prodding with needles if I was discovered. You can trust me that I will never reveal our secret.”

“I think perhaps the best thing to do is simply disappear.” Kate offered. “It’s the option that puts the least stress on you and leaves the least amount of guesswork for us. If we faked your death, we’d have to make sure it was believable, and that can get dangerous if we had to torch the apartment or something.” She thought for a moment. “Nah, I say we leave your car, take as few things as possible from here, so no one will suspect foul play, and just walk away.”

“I think you’re right.” I said. “But where will we go? We can’t go to the farm until we find a way to break the news, and that might take a while.”

“Well, I’ve got quite a bit of money to put you up at a place, but not enough time to teach you about being a Tauros, without drawing suspicion for being gone so long from the farm. I think, what we need is another player in the game.” She smiled wickedly and snatched her discarded coat up from the back of the chair. She plucked a cell phone out of one of the pockets and started fiddling with it.

“Who are you calling?” I asked.

“Well, we’re kind of between a rock and a hard place, but I have a friend who is as trustworthy as anyone I could imagine.” She said. “I’m going to give her a call and see if maybe we can have you stay with her. She’s a kinfolk, and if you stay with her, she can teach you about being a Tauros, and I can get back to the farm and maintain appearances.” She beeped the phone and pressed it to her ear.

I heard Ka’lea behind me, giggling at our dilemma. I sighed a bit and waved at the sprite. The shimmering pink pixie fluttered up to me, spinning and dancing through the air. She hugged my cheek and giggled, then perched on my shoulder.

“What about Ka’lea?” I asked.

“Oh, the sprite.” Kate responded. “Well, whatever happens with her happens. Most likely she’ll follow you. She seems to like you. But we can no more control her than... Hello? Jenna?” She focused her attention on the phone, caught up in a new conversation. I listened in.

“Hi, this is Kate, from the farm... Yes, yes, good to talk to you too. Listen, Jenna, I have a favor to ask... No, I don’t want that. I’ve got a friend I want you to meet, and I think you’ll like her... Yeah, she’s a lot like me. You’ll see. Are you free today?... Okay, okay. Well, if things work out, she might need a place to stay... No, no. Nothing like that. This is way important, but I can’t tell the matrons about it yet... Because, it’s really a special circumstance... I’ll tell you about it later, we just need to meet you for now... Okay, this afternoon then... Perfect... Yeah, we’ll do some shopping and meet you about, oh, say five?... Okay then, we’ll see you then... Kisses.” And with that she clapped the phone shut.

“Alright!” she celebrated. “Looks like prospects are good. Jenna’s like my sister. She’ll help us out, I’m sure of it. She’s the biggest sweetheart you can imagine.” I doubted that, believing that Kate was the sweetest woman I’d ever met.

“And she’s a kinfolk?” I asked.

“Yes. She knows all about the farm and the society and how we operate. In fact, she’s an awesome seamstress and could probably fix you up with a few nice outfits.” She glanced at her phone quickly. “Hmm, almost noon. Well, let’s get fixed up and ready to head out for some shopping. I’m excited to see what kind of clothes you’ll buy being a new woman. I can even help you pick things out! Oh my, it will be so much fun. We can get a manicure and a pedicure, and everything!”

She led me to the bathroom and she quickly helped me tie up my hair. I thought even for a quick hair-do, it looked pretty stunning. Several loose strands dangled down from a short pony tail tied behind my head. It somewhat reminded me of a samurai topknot. The back portion of my hair hung straight down to well past my shoulders. The effect was quite attractive. I already loved the possibilities of having long hair to do things with.

Kate was worried about me holding my milk for the entire first day, so she decided we should milk me down to empty just to ensure a smooth day. I took Labrix form and she quickly and expertly milked my few remaining gallons of milk into the bathtub. Her small hands felt heavenly as they pulled and kneaded my fleshy udders.

“Well, we don’t have any makeup, but we’ll get some at the store.” Kate said, rinsing the tub quickly. “You and I look decent enough as it is, I don’t think we really need any for the moment. Oh, that will be fun too, I get to teach you how to use makeup! Oh wow, this is like Christmas or something, I’m having too much fun!” She giggled and I shared in her mirth, but I was mostly giggling about her being so giddy. She was so cute to watch.

“Now for something to wear. Do you have anything that’s kind of gender neutral. Anything we could use to cover those?” She asked, pointing to my chest.

“Well, let’s go check out my closet. Perhaps we can find something you like. I wouldn’t know what to look for.” I said.

I led her over to my bedroom closet and flipped on the light. Thankfully it was a walk-in closet and we both stepped inside. She immediately grabbed a couple of white tees and handed them to me. “Put these on, one over the other.”

I unfolded the shirt and looked at it. Kate explained. “Without a bra to hold them, your breasts might attract too much attention. Doubling up on those tight T-shirts might do the trick.”

I slipped the tee over my head and pulled the taut shirt down over my boobs. The first shirt helped to constrict them, but doubling the shirts up proved to be an effective way to hold them in place. Bouncing a bit on my feet, I found they jiggled slightly, but didn’t get out of control.

Kate continued to dig through my closet. She passed over my work pants which were all the same, and my work shirts which hung above them. She glanced to the top shelf and pulled down a white cable-knit sweater. “This will work.” She said, tossing the pullover to me.

“But it’s summer.” I said.

“Oh...” she stopped. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Would indeed look a bit odd.” She placed the sweater back on the shelf, continuing the search. “Guess we might just have to chance the double T-shirt for a top. I just don’t want too many eyes on you on your first day... at least until we can get you geared up to own it.”

She regarded the T-shirts on me, gently rubbing her fingers over my nipples. They poked out a little bit, probably more than I would want. “Better make it three.” She said, pulling another tee down.

“Now for a bottom.” She pulled out a pair of jeans from the rack and handed them to me with some hesitation. “Well it’s worth a shot. The rest are all khaki cargo pants... which suck.” I laughed at her honesty, cherishing the fact that I had such a fashion guru to help me. “Might want to tuck that up, too.” She said, gesturing at my penis. I inserted it up into my pussy and gently pushed it into it’s ‘stored’ position.

I struggled into the jeans, which were cut wrong and hung oddly on my new body. My butt and hips stretched the fabric, but the lower legs were loose and baggy, as well as the waistline. Kate grabbed my belt off the hanger and threaded it through the loops, cinching the black belt down as tight as it would go. It seemed to work, the fabric at the top bunched up, but hugged my curves enough to pass for girls pants... at least, at a distance. I checked them out in the mirror. My butt and hips were scrunched into the pants uncomfortably.

“Do these pants make my butt look fat?” I asked Kate. Instantly I started laughing. There I was staring at a mirror, wondering if my ass looked fat! It was the most girly thing I think I could imagine doing. I nearly collapsed to the floor from laughing so hard, my lungs burning for air. Right then I knew I was going to make it. The transition to feminine life was going to work.

Kate smiled at my laughter, wondering what was so funny. “No, you don’t look fat. They’ll work until we can get you some real jeans.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and watched Kate get dressed in her sexy black latex dress. She pulled it up over her hips , throwing the straps over her shoulders. Her cute rounded butt caused the material to stretch slightly, becoming like liquid skin pulled over her shapely curves. She reached behind herself and zipped up the dress.

I slipped on some socks and grabbed my shoes, but I realized they were like canoes now. They flopped around on my foot. I wouldn’t be able to wear these anywhere. I dug through the closet... work-boots, tennis shoes, dress shoes, all of them were hopelessly guy shoes.

Then I found a pair of flip-flops in the back corner. I had forgotten about them, but they might work. Slipping into my sandals, I found they were big and floppy, but I should be able to walk in them until we could find something else.

Kate was still dressing in the living room, shimmying into her latex dress. It still enraptured me to watch her curves move and shake in that shiny material. I decided that was the look for me. I hoped there was a store in the mall that carried something like that. She slipped on her jacket, made of the same shiny black plastic as her dress.

“All right then!” She said, zipping up the coat half way. She regarded me quickly. “Looking good, cutie!”

“Same to you, babe!” I complimented back. We both giggled at that.

“Grab your ATM card and let’s roll!”

I plucked my debit card out of my wallet and tucked it in my pocket. Quickly looking around at the apartment, I wondered if there was anything I should take. It was probably the last time I’d ever be here. I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without so I followed Kate out the door and left it unlocked.