Page 6 of Facade

“I thought that was why you came here now,” Harry said. He must have seen the confusion on her face, because he chuckled and shook his head. “Did you never pay attention to the inventory? Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

Her dad brewed potions. Harry was a caster who specialized in charms. They both made a wide variety of products. When she helped at the store, Clarke usually ran the cash register. She didn’t pay close attention to everything they sold.

Harry came back with a box in one hand and a large tray in the other. He set the tray on the table in front of her. It held an assortment of bracelets, rings, pendants, cufflinks, and tie clips in masculine designs.

“Charlie and I keep specialty items in the back that generate a lot of our business. I thought you knew about them,” Harry said. “Pick a few things you like off of the tray.”

These had to be charms that Harry had made, but they just looked like normal jewelry. She selected a leather bracelet with beads.

“What does it do?”

“That is an ultra-masculinity charm,” Harry replied. “When you wear any of these, everything you do will seem manly.”

“Seriously? What’s in the box?” Clarke asked.

Harry withdrew a glass bottle with an eyedropper attached to the screw-on top. Subtle lettering on the bottle read DSV. “This is the deep sexy voice potion,” Harry said. “A drop or two of this in water every morning will last about twelve hours. You should try one first, and add a second if you want your voice to be deeper.”

Clarke blinked in surprise as Harry went to get a small cup of water. If these items worked the way he said they did, she really might be able to pull this off for as long as necessary.

“I can’t believe you guys carry this stuff and I didn’t know about it,” Clarke said.

“We try to be discreet in regard to these items since most of our customers who buy the products don’t want it to be common knowledge that they use enhancers. They are completely legal, though. You’d be amazed how many men, especially unevolved men, aren’t confident in their masculinity,” Harry said.

Nervously, Clarke unscrewed the top, and squeezed one drop of potion into the water, then drank it. Almost immediately, she felt a tingle in her vocal cords.

“It’s already working,” she said, and her voice was deeper. Clarke wasn’t sure she sounded manly yet, but they both decided that she shouldn’t experiment until after the interview since the potion would last all day.

“You probably won’t need a charm for a video interview, but take as many as you want,” Harry said. “The charms do wear off eventually. I’ll stock you up before you leave, and pull the DSV potion off the shelves so we don’t run out.”

Hannah texted that Dale could fit her in before the interview, in case Clarke needed an updated ID immediately. So, Clarke hugged Harry again, took the bag of products he handed her, and drove straight to the registration office.

Clarke was wearing a short-sleeved grey t-shirt that should work for the photo. It was gender neutral rather than feminine. Two hours later, she was home with a new ID stating that she was Clark Voudrie, gender male.

She took Slob for a walk, hoping that would tide him over until after the interview. But she hadn’t thought about clothes. Groaning with frustration, Clarke went into her dad’s room to grab a button-down shirt. It would be large, but hopefully that wouldn’t be glaringly obvious on a video call.

She had to make a good impression. There was no other option.

Having the charm and potion did increase her confidence. Not needing to deliberately deepen her voice or worry about acting manly would make this easier. She could focus on the interview, and answering the assistant dean’s questions.

When the call came in, she had to fight a wave of nerves, but managed to center herself. Clarke felt like it went smoothly. Per the assistant dean’s request, she digitally signed a consent form for a background check. Then Clarke sent a picture of her new ID, glad that was already taken care of.

She reported in to Hannah and Harry immediately afterward, and accepted an invitation to dinner at Hannah’s house. Harry sent a thumbs-up, and told her she had this in the bag. Clarke was trying not to get her hopes up, but Sofia, Dale, and Hannah were also optimistic.

“Clarke, I want to take your measurements,” Sofia said. “There will be a dress code, and as a member of the faculty, you can’t look sloppy. I have ideas on how to disguise your figure.”

“I wore a high-impact sports bra under one of Dad’s shirts for the interview,” Clarke said.

“Good. Bring one of them to me tomorrow,” Sofia said. “That will help.” After retrieving a fabric tape measure from her craft room, Sofia took Clarke’s measurements and wrote them down.

They tested the DSV potion, deciding that two drops were perfect for Clarke. Three were too much, making her voice sound unnatural.

The next day heralded a request for a second interview at the end of the week, this time with Dean Stanhope. Nervous but hopeful, Clarke brought Sofia one of the sports bras that squished her boobs the most. Clarke then drove to the next town, where she was less likely to run into people she knew.

She wore one of the bracelets that Harry had charmed, and purchased two button-down shirts in her size. The cashier addressed her as sir, making a point to touch Clarke’s fingers when she handed over the bag.

Clarke was momentarily startled, but glad that had happened. Mate bonds, another phenomenon resulting from the meteor barrage, were detected through skin-to-skin contact. Touching fingers was a polite, non-invasive way of doing that.

And it wasn’t just evolved humans who had the possibility of that connection. Sofia was fully human, but both her husbands were bonded mates, though she hadn’t met Dale until after Hannah’s father had died.