Wrong Department, by Megs

Chapter 2
Chapter Two – Paging Teen-wear on Line One...

Chapter Description: By Megs

Tina had never considered just how hard going to the bathroom could be. She had never, in her entire life, been as heavy as she was right now. Her pregnant belly was jutting out in front of her, a mammoth mound of taught flesh that threatened to never stop growing for all Tina could tell. With some time and effort, Tina hiked up the white maternity dress and squatted ungracefully on the toilet. The stall felt small and close, and while she did her business Tina considered her options.

She was pregnant. Of that there was little doubt. While her mind and heart were racing, she just didn’t feel like she was either dreaming or having a hallucination. She knew, without a doubt, that this had something to do with Woolson; he acted far too sapient about her condition for her to assume otherwise. This meant that not only did Woolson know she hadn’t been pregnant, and that people just don’t swell up like mother-balloons, it also meant that Woolson knew he was responsible, and if so how to stop and (hopefully) reverse it. It was impossible to consider that Woolson had this kind of power, but here it was. Apparently the store manager of her local Z-Mart could force people’s bodies to change, or at least Tina’s body. She knew that if she didn’t co-operate with his despicable demands she would be unemployed and very possibly left pregnant. Her choices seemed obvious; she either co-operated and went about her shift (and duties) as if this was par for the course, or she ran screaming out of the store in hopes it would stop or vanish in doing so.

The latter choice seemed very, very attractive to Tina at the moment. Tina had imagined being a mother every once in a while, but without the requisite father in the picture, it wasn’t something she was hunting for. Being made into a mother-to-be so suddenly, and against her will, was infuriating and terrifying in the same breath. It was worse that Woolson, the toad-faced retail Mussolini, had done it to her. She should leave, run to the police and try to get them to believe her story...

But then, regardless, Tina would be out of a job. She would not get a reference, and to top it all off, she might be pregnant. Very pregnant. Tina looked down at her swelled belly, felt another kick from inside. There was a baby in there, against all reason. Whether she liked it or not, she had another mouth to feed if this was a permanent development. Before she thought any better of it Tina rose, walked forth from the bathroom and began marching to the maternity department to continue her job. It wasn’t easy to walk; she had to waddle, and her comfortable work shoes didn’t seem to fit quite and nicely anymore. Likewise, her bra was feeling a tad too snug. Tina took a deep breath, marveling at the difficulty in drawing a complete lung, and walked as proud as she could into the rows of dressed, pants and shirts for women in her condition.

Two more people came through the section in the next couple of hours. There was no sign of Woolson in this time, but by the time noon was approaching Tina felt both hungry and sore; her feet had swollen with the pregnancy, and the ’eating for two’ expression suddenly seemed a lot more relevant to her. She recalled that Woolson had told her to come see him at noon, and so (after waiting until exactly the noon hour), Tina waddled to the back of the store, easing herself up the stairs towards Woolson’s office a step at a time. As she approached she noticed the door was open, and Woolson was waiting at his desk.

"Good day Tina," he greeted, still sitting. Tina came and sat across from him, easing herself into the chair. She was ready to jump out her skin in anticipation of some explanation. The baby kicked. Woolson stood and went over to his filing cabinet, pulling out a folder and looking over his shoulder at Tina. "How did you find your morning?" he queried.

Tina swallowed. "It was... ummm... strange, sir," she replied blandly. She rubbed her belly, disliking being in Woolson’s presence as much as she disliked her sudden pregnancy.

Woolson returned to his chair, sitting down in the fine leather and putting the folder in front of him. "Well, so far I feel your new position suits you, but it’s hardly the department we have the most theft in. I’m going to put you in a different department for this afternoon."

Tina nodded. "Um, what department do you want me in this afternoon, Mr. Woolson?" This was madness!

"After your lunch, Tina, head down to Teen Wear. I want you to spend the rest of the day there, and you and I can talk at five and see how this turned out. I’ll bring down some new clothes down for you to wear," Woolson dryly instructed.

"But, sir!" Tina protested. "I’m... pregnant!"

Woolson rolled his eyes. "I’m sure I can find something that will fit you, Tina," he replied, then rose. "Go take your lunch, I have a meeting to go to."

And so, with that, Tina was out of the office and even more bewildered than when she had entered. She was, indeed, hungry enough to eat a horse, so she began the slow waddle down the stairs. It felt like she had to lean backwards to avoid falling forward and down. Tina paused as she got near the break room; she hadn’t brought a lunch today, expecting somehow for this to have been her last day anyways. She would have to go into the attached mall, to the food court. It took her five minutes to get to the food court, aware of all the people staring at her. No one really knew Tina to notice she hadn’t been pregnant just that morning – it was pure fascination at her prodigious belly that caused the gape. Regardless, it made Tina very self-conscious, and she got a chinese plate and sat eating it alone.

As her lunch went by Tina felt better, and much to her shock and relief, the belly began to shrink. It was barely noticable at first, but by the time she was finished her meal the dress was fitting looser, the belly was still tight under her hands but it didn’t protrude passed her breasts any longer. Tina wondered what the fate was of the child that had been within her. Was it all just some kind of illusion, some strange pregnancy-like suggestion all the time? Was Tina going nuts? Standing up, Tina pulled the dress snug to herself and walked calmly back into the store, heading for the break room to meet Woolson. She was going to get some answers now that she wasn’t two steps from giving birth!

When Tina walked into the break room she found Woolson waiting there with a few articles of clothing. Not paying any attention to it, Tina walked up and folded her arms. "What is going on?" she boldly demanded.

Woolson pushed the clothing over to her. "This is your new job, Tina, and unless you want to start pounding the pavement again, you’ll stop being so bull-headed and just do as your told."

Tina shook her head. "No, no, Mr. Woolson. Women don’t just get pregnant out of nowhere and then loose it all over the noon-hour. This is weird shit, and I want to know how and why!" She was angry, furious at being fooled around with so casually. She had the words I quit on the tip of her tongue.

Woolson shrugged. "No, women don’t, Tina. They do, however, get put under spells to make them blend in. And maybe if you stop acting like such a child about it, you’ll work here long enough to appreciate it. Now put these on and get over to Teen Wear."

Tina blinked. That had been straight forward and dismissive at the same time. Woolson walked out of the break room as Tina looked over the clothes he had left her. She turned up her nose. A pair of black leggings, some bright pink canvas shoes, a pink-decorated bra and panties set and a white t-shirt with Edward Cullen on the front. She would have to dress like a teen to work in the teen department? Grabbing the clothes with a sigh, Tina trudged into the bathroom to change. She pulled off the maternity dress, hanging it over the edge of the stall. She looked at the bra and panties... they were far too small for her, teen sized. She didn’t even know why Woolson had grabbed them for her.

Then it struck her. She was going to shrink. She looked down at her body, suddenly terrified. The belly was completely gone, with no sign it had ever been there. She didn’t look any smaller, but her heart was already pounding. She carefully pulled off her panties, working to shimmy on the smaller teen-sized ones. They bit into her thighs, leaving large indents and fitting with an uncomfortable snugness against her vagina. Was she just going crazy? She unlatched her bra; her breasts seemed to have settled back down to their proper size. The teen bra didn’t cup them properly whatsoever. It was too small for her, but with some effort she managed to get it latched. Pulling on the leggings (snug, but stretchy), then the shirt (which didn’t even make it over her slightly pudgy belly). Last, the shoes. Tina had to work to get her feet into the tight canvas sneakers but with time (and a few grunts), they were on. She stepped out of the stall and looked at herself in the mirror.

An adult woman dressed like a teen. She looked absurd. She took her shoes, bra and panties in hand, draped the maternity dress over her shoulder and dropped off her own articles in her locker, leaving the dress on the break room table. Then, with heavy heart she walked out onto the floor. The teen section was just off of women’s wear, with an obviously large section for girl’s clothing and a not soinsignificant section for boys. Currently a group of girls, somewhere in their mid-teens, was wandering through the section. Tina made sure to keep racks of clothing between her and them. Still, embarassed or not, she had a job to do.

She watched them for several minutes before one of the girls noticed her staring. She rolled her eyes and the group of them left. They had caught onto her. Had they stolen something already? As Tina wandered after them, she suddenly felt the bra settling into place. The panties dug in less. The shoes seemed to suddenly gain some room, so much so that Tina tripped and fell to the floor. "Whoa!" she heard a voice say from nearby.

Tina picked herself up to find herself looking at one of the girls. She had come back when Tina had fallen, and now held out her hand to help her up. "Are you okay?" the girl asked. Tina was speechless. She looked down at herself as she rose. The t-shirt was no longer pulled tight over her adult belly. Now it was fitting perfectly, hanging to just above her butt. She looked at the girl and nodded dumbly. "Umm, yeah, just fell over my own feet I guess."

"Yeah, well, no wonder," commented the teen. "Your shoes aren’t laced up right."

Tina glanced down. She had needed to keep them loosely laced to get her feets in before. Now they were sliding around slightly inside the shoes. "Oh, yeah, just got these today and I’m still getting used to them," she lamely replied. The teen, however, seemed to giggle.

"That’s okay, I do the same thing, don’t like `em too tight," she related. And without another word the teen wandered back to her friends who were heading for the checkouts. Without a moment to waste Tina rushed over to the courtesy mirrors. She nearly screamed when she saw herself. Her face was slightly thinner, having lost some of the weight she had packed on post-college. Her freckles were back, and the blush of youth was back in the eyes looking back at her. From top to toe she looked for all the world like she was sixteen again. Nervous, Tina turned sideways, checking out her profile. Her generous breasts had dwindled somewhat, down to perky teenage "boobs". Her thighs were just a suggestion now, and the leggings were no longer stretched so tight as to be shiny. Now they fit perfectly...

With shaking hands Tina knelt and fixed the laces on her shoes. She was a teen until five pm, she knew that now. Woolson was some kind of wizard, or alien, or something. This was madness. Yet in ignorance of her mental turmoil, she remained twenty years younger than she aught to be. Tina paced all over the department, nervously watching other teens as they came and went. At first she watched the girls, keeping her eyes on them like a hawk. But as the hours poured on Tina began to watch for the boys. They came in, glanced at jeans or shoes, usually in small packs, laughing and making crude jokes or incessant chatter about sports.

One of them noticed her watching and walked over to her. He was fifteen or so, a thin guy with a good smile in a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. "Hey," he introduced himself. "What’s your name?"

Tina nearly gushed. The boy was way too young for her (normally), but at the moment his smile and simple charm was having an effect. "Tina," she replied, smiling winsomely at him. The boy chuckled.

"I’m Kyle," he offered. "What school you go to?"

Tina blinked. In a sudden hope to keep down his suspicions (like he would believe the truth), she said the name of her old school. "Willowdale," she said lowly, kicking herself internally for acting like such a... girl.

"Sweet," he replied, as if that was good news. "Wanna come hang with my crew? We’re heading out to the `court to grab some fries or somethin’," he lazily suggested, giving her a once over that seemed to pay indiscrete amounts of attention to her breasts. Tina had to bite her tongue to avoid saying yes. She was working... this was work, she wasn’t a teen and going out to hang out with a bunch of teen guys was ridiculous.

"Umm, maybe in a bit," she avoided. "I’ve got some shopping to do first."

"Oh," said Kyle, seeming disappointed. "When will you be done that?" he followed, hopefully.

"Five thirty?" Tina said, realizing she was twirling her hair. Her heart was racing in excitement.

"Awesome, I’ll come hunt for you in here around then, `kay?" he said, questioningly. Tina nodded in confirmation and watched Kyle return to his friends before nearly bolting out of the teen section. Her head was swimming. A teenage guy had been coming onto her, and she was tickled with it. She wished, briefly, this wasn’t just temporary and she could stay like this. When life was simpler...

Tina shook her head. She had to focus. She had a job. An apartment to pay for. Bills, food, rent, WOMAN stuff. She wasn’t some hormone-brained bimbo.. was she? She wandered out of the teen section into the tween wear, figuring Woolson included that as well. They weren’t really different sections; tween wear was like the teen wear, just in smaller sizes and (generally) less risque. As she walked through it she spied two tween girls hanging around the fashion jewlery. One slipped one into her pocket, then suddenly noticed Tina watching. She took it out quickly, dropped it and the two girls scurried away, panicked looks on their faces.

Tina felt elated. She hoped Woolson was watching her first loss prevention exercise. She walked over to the discarded bracelet; it was a purple plastic thing, but looked nice enough. Tina tried it on; it was small, a tad too tight for her wrists. Tina spent a moment looking over the rack, trying to figure out where on the rack the bracelet should be put back to.

The bracelet suddenly went a little more slack around her wrist. At the same time Tina felt her bra shift. It didn’t feel right; the cup had drawn away from her breast somewhat, as if the bra had become too large. With a slow, haunting look downwards, Tina noted the t-shirt had become baggy, the tights had too much give on the leg. Remembering a small mirror was situated at the top of the jewelry rack; looking in it Tina felt her heart stop in place completely. Her throat closed and she croaked.

A thirteen year old girl was looking back at her from the mirror.